Are any artists ACTUALLY using the Helix?

[studiox19]

Kenji Suzuki, who plays with Simply Red, has uploaded a few tones to customtone. He posted a vid on youtube comparing helix cabs with irs. Not sure if he uses the helix live though. Awesome guitarist.

[vmoncebaiz]

I recently saw Jeff Loomis announce he is now using Helix into Seymour Duncan power amps on tour (Arch Enemy, Solo Artist and Former Nevermore guitarist).  I know some folk tend to discredit the high-gain shredder category, but he's been playing/touring for so long now and is a pretty big name in that arena.  I'm just excited to see one of my favorite players on the roster.

[Lachdanan0121]

I recently saw Jeff Loomis announce he is now using Helix into Seymour Duncan power amps on tour (Arch Enemy, Solo Artist and Former Nevermore guitarist).  I know some folk tend to discredit the high-gain shredder category, but he's been playing/touring for so long now and is a pretty big name in that arena.  I'm just excited to see one of my favorite players on the roster.

No one in their right mind can discredit Jeff Loomis as a guitarist. He is one hell of a guitar player.  Those trying to discredit high-gain shredders are also beyond tiresome...  :rolleyes:

 

I got to meet him one night in Houston during Nevermore's Obsidian Conspiracy tour, nice guy. I am curious to see what he adds to Arch Enemies next studio album. I am just not convinced that it is all that great of a styles mash up. Jeff tends to play quite differently than any of Arch Enemies guitarists. Though I wait for the next studio album to see if I am wrong on that. 

I liked his solo/colab work, but I miss him in Nevermore. I think Nevermore is where he really shined.

 

EDIT: I see the new album has already released, and I just missed it, giving it a go now.

[kreator1972]

Twelve foot Ninja uses Line6 Helix and variax guitars

[ronaldk6]

Paulo Mendonca, Leo from Frogleap, Rabea Massaad, Billy Sheehan (Bass Player), ...

[codamedia]

There is a Line 6 Artist page if anyone really needs to know who uses their gear.

https://line6.com/artists/ 

 

It's not immediate as to who is using a Helix, but clicking on the artist will display the L6 gear they use.

At a glance, there are many notable players using the Helix... just keep in mind that what is notable to me may not mean anything to you and vice versa.

[Jmears10]

The Helix is being used by Phil Walker on 'The Story Of Guitar Heroes' live show in the UK, it is a great show and the Helix does a super job on stage.

 

 

 

[tedulrich]

I'd never heard of the guy, but if he was featured on Mesa Engineering's Instagram, he's gotta be somebody.

 

 

[brue58ski]

Has the recent Doobie Brothers tour been mentioned? Johm McFee. And he's holding a JTV Variax.

 

 

[codamedia]

18 hours ago, brue58ski said:

John McFee. And he's holding a JTV Variax.

 

John McFee is one of the early adopters of Line 6 gear... not to mention he's an absolute monster of a musician. His guitar work on Elvis Costello's first albums is likely his most iconic, but nobody even knows it's him. Southern Pacific was his baby ... some amazing guitar, pedal steel and fiddle work on those 4 albums from the late 80's. John is also a very quiet guitar player, he does not play loud at all and likes to hear himself the way the audience would... "in the mix with a refined (studio) tone". He dropped the amps (a pair of Musicman HD130 heads/cabs) to go direct with the POD XT Live and has never looked back since. 

 

Another musician that uses the Helix / Variax is Corey Churko. A consummate sideman that plays with Shania Twain and Kelly Clarkson. I wouldn't suggest anybody call his bluff :) 

 

I also see Kenny Greenberg on the Artist page with a Helix.... A Nashville Studio musician that also tours with Kenny Chesney. Probably the player we hear most and just don't know it. 

 

IMO - that's a triple crown of highly respected musicians that have adopted the Helix and other Line 6 gear. 

[amsdenj]

Its great to see professional, seasoned musicians using Helix. But that's not a big metric for me. Gigging in a local club band 2 to 3 times a month with JTV-69S and Helix is just so flexible, and sounds so great. I'm happy enough with that.

[arkieboy]

Like people said above - its 'real' people at and just above your level that matter.  

In the UK - where its not that easy to test Axe gear - I've been seeing a fair few people in the Prog scene using either the full fat or the LT version.  Thinking particularly Mike Holmes from iQ.  Not a huge band on the global scene but they continue to release albums that sustain the band, and frequently and successfully tour the mid-range club scene in Europe - they fill the Boerderij, Zotemeer in the Netherlands for instance (lovely gig, played there twice in support).  They don't have big record company money, so if Mike uses a Helix then it's a better endorsement than a big name who has been paid money for an endorsement ...

Personally that pretty much sold the Helix to me - Mike and I used GR700s back when they could be bought new and we've always ended up using the same sort of gear pretty much independently.  So when I see he's using something I've been independently considering pretty seriously then that's pretty much a wrap ...

[phil_m]

Check out the HX Effects in Billy Corgan's and Jeff Schroeder's rigs from Fallon last night!

 

 

[ADBrown]

51 minutes ago, phil_m said:

Check out the HX Effects in Billy Corgan's and Jeff Schroeder's rigs from Fallon last night!

 

 

Jeff is also running two Helix Racks in back! 

[mikebruno]

On 10/3/2016 at 10:19 PM, elsvoboda said:

Greetings,
Like the title asks, are any artists using the Helix? Don't get me wrong, this is a great unit. Sitting in a bedroom with all these sounds is awesome. However, I am curious of who is using it?

I know that line 6 did all the invites and asked people to listen to the Helix and they have posted what they have said. I am curious if any of the "tone guys", "the players" are actually using it. Maybe the drop D guys with 1 finger chords use it (maybe, have not seen any but not really looking for those guys).
Take Pete Thorn. His recent live rig does not have the Helix. He says he uses one at home, (well, "keeps" one at home - with Ownhammer IR's) but it appears at home he really uses the Kemper. Studio and live it is his amp and other pedals. I looked up Oz Noy and Josh Smith (even saw Josh Smith) and they record without the Helix and it is NOT part of their Live rig. The Vertical Horizon guy did not have it at his last gig and on and on. Are there any actual pics of the tone monsters really using it? Not getting paid to say something nice or getting a free Relay to say something nice but REALLY using it.
Please don't start freaking out. For the bedroom guy, or this bedroom guy, this thing is a beast. I am NOT knocking the Helix. I am not going to knock the Helix to others and I will NEVER sell the Helix.
I am just curious. I have just happened to see a couple of folks that Line 6 makes it appear that they use the Helix (after looking further they just gave a comment) do not actually use the Helix. Then I went looking for others. The closest thing I have found was one of their own.....and he used the Helix for everything but amps/cabs live ..... which is cool. But, are there any artists that find the amps/cabs/tones, are good enough to record or tour with? Again, I bet with some research the low tuned 1 finger guys might tour with one but I really just want to know if anyone knows of any great player/known for tone guy uses a Helix. 
Any pics or articles would be great because I am sure there are a ton of I know a guy that knows a guy that saw so and so.
My apologies to anyone that feels I am trashing the Helix. As you can tell, I know someone is going to take it that way. This is innocent and simply began bouncing in my head when I saw that a few artists listed for Helix do not actually use the Helix. 
Thank you to anyone that can point me to someone....... 

 

I have 3 Helix floorboards. 

One kept in the studio 

One on stage in my pedalboard and 

One for back up in road case following me on tour just in case. 

No , I don’t have to carryover my rig 

i don’t have to setup on stage. 

I have my Helix models and Fx out for 

200w X2 in 2x 212 cabs on both sides. 

It is louder than a full Marshall stack. 

 

I love my Helix’s !!! 

 

[dotpc]

Didn't see this one, but maybe I missed it ... Jared Scharff:

 

[Platypus]

The fantastic Daniel Gildenlöw of Pain of Salvation uses a Helix live.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0A0IUnHXoP8

[Kingbozo]

Vernon Reid

[Lachdanan0121]

Leo Moracchioli is using Helix, and so is his other guitarist.  I want to say they both used the Variax Shuriken setups with their Helix setups with their 2018 ventures.

He is one of the most amazing multi-instrumentalist I have ever seen, and quite possibly the best cover artist I have ever come across. 

[sparkyERTW]

Someone recently posted on the Facebook group - and I confirmed it via other sites/sources - that Lovelytheband's guitar tech Alex Strabala shared that both guitarists and the bass player are running Helix units to FOH, with amps just for stage volume.

[BlueD]

On 9/26/2018 at 5:30 PM, Kingbozo said:

Vernon Reid

Looks like he uses everything.

[Bluesman143]

Check out a youtube rig rundown on the link below with Steve Howe who clearly uses Line 6 multi effects units live on stage. I am in no doubt he will have upgraded to the Helix now.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VH8u5peWsyk

 

 

[rlama5150]

I have asked myself the same question because recently I have been looking into the Helix. It seems that most "big names" (Phil Collen, Metallica etc) are using AxeFx. I wonder if they could tell the difference in a blind tone test or in a mix.  I wonder if its that the Helix /Line6 is considered more of an affordable "consumer" level product and AxeFx is considered more of a "pro" level product that is out of reach for many people?

[tearitupbaby]

there are many musicians using the helix but not many huge acts. I am still waiting for premier guitar rig rundown to come across a guitar player rig review where the guy just has a helix and thats it.!!!!  that would be fun to see but havent seen it yet.

[Kingbozo]

On 5/21/2018 at 12:00 PM, Jmears10 said:

The Helix is being used by Phil Walker on 'The Story Of Guitar Heroes' live show in the UK, it is a great show and the Helix does a super job on stage.

 

 

 

Pretty sure I saw him on a cruise ship in Alaska a few years back.

[undercurrent35]

Bill Kelliher of Mastodon in this Reverb listing he recently put up: "excellent working condition. this is my personal Axe FX II, MFC 101 and pedal board, unit used on Emperor of sand, and years of touring. hate to give it up but i am using a Helix now." I wonder what won him over?

 

https://reverb.com/item/16569912-fractal-audio-axe-fx-ii-and-mfc101-foot-controller-2015-black-bill-kelliher

[gunpointmetal]

18 hours ago, undercurrent35 said:

Bill Kelliher of Mastodon in this Reverb listing he recently put up: "excellent working condition. this is my personal Axe FX II, MFC 101 and pedal board, unit used on Emperor of sand, and years of touring. hate to give it up but i am using a Helix now." I wonder what won him over?

 

https://reverb.com/item/16569912-fractal-audio-axe-fx-ii-and-mfc101-foot-controller-2015-black-bill-kelliher

Probably the ease of use. I think he's mostly using it for FX.

[Kilrahi]

I caught the Goo Goo Dolls "Dizzy Up the Girl" 20th anniversary show at the Paramount theater in Seattle on Saturday. Their lead guitarist, Brad Fernquist, appeared to be using some sort of multi effects processor on the ground. I was unfortunately too far back to confirm if it was a Helix, but it does look like they've used Line 6 before in some way.

 

https://line6.com/news/artist/1198/

 

This is kind of a challenging question though, because on one hand . . . I mean should we care? I don't mean that to attack the question because the original poster long ago admitted that wasn't the end all be all. Hell, I ask the question too. We naturally want to appeal to authority figures, and besides that, as more use it, it allows Line 6 to expand what they can offer. 

 

Ultimately though, if Helix is awesome (and it is) and powerful (which it is) and sounds good (which it does) and I'm the only person on the planet who "gets it," I mean, I should still be proud of using it.

[Guitarmaniac64]

Bumblefoot looks to be using Helix live nowadays

In this clip from a live show in Lyon in august we see a Helix laying on the floor and if i am correct it is NOT Billy Sheehans Helix.

https://www.facebook.com/bumblefoot/videos/342512949640018/

[MonkeyXT]

6 hours ago, Guitarmaniac64 said:

Bumblefoot looks to be using Helix live nowadays

In this clip from a live show in Lyon in august we see a Helix laying on the floor and if i am correct it is NOT Billy Sheehans Helix.

https://www.facebook.com/bumblefoot/videos/342512949640018/

 

... Billy always keeps his up on top of his power amp etc - never been on the floor in any rig shots / rundowns that I've ever seen.

Perhaps Billy's use inspired Bumblefoot to get onboard.

[tonydianna0700]

Billy Bush of Garbage uses Helix Rack

[codamedia]

On 10/18/2018 at 11:55 AM, tearitupbaby said:

there are many musicians using the helix but not many huge acts. I am still waiting for premier guitar rig rundown to come across a guitar player rig review where the guy just has a helix and thats it.!!!!  that would be fun to see but havent seen it yet.

 

Define "huge"! Does it have to be a guitar hero in a modern group with 1 million units sold, or can it be a lesser known player that's played on/with many groups over the years collectively selling 50 Million units? 

 

For the latter... I will re-submit John McFee's name, currently on his 2nd stint with the Doobie Brothers. In that rig rundown his section is a VARIAX and a HELIX... that's it! 

He has a very storied history (Clover, Elvis Costello, Doobies, Steve Miller, Southern Pacific, etc... etc..) but stayed low key during it all. Does staying low key disqualify him? 

 

 

[vstrattomusic]

It makes no sense for very big name artists to use the Helix if they have enough budget to buy an Axe FX, and even then they probably use it as effects only with a tube amp, not all of them of course, but I did watch an interview of Mark Tremonti a long time ago, he had an Axe FX II in his rig for effects only, using a Triple Rec and a Bogner Uberschall for his tones, said that indoors the modellers do ok but outside in festivals and all you could still hear the difference, or was it the other way around? I don't remember.

 

For small bands a ton of them use the Helix and the Axe live I'm sure, I think for me I'll stick to the Helix at home for recording and buy a small tube amp with a good cab to play live, because I'm not sure if the Helix would sound good when turning up the volume really loud, I don't want to worry about not sounding warm or cutting out high freqs and all. The dudes in Periphery use their Axe FX live using a Peavy as a poweramp and I remember hearing someone saying that they cut their highs at like 6kHz or something, very crazy.

[Kilrahi]

1 hour ago, vstrattomusic said:

It makes no sense for very big name artists to use the Helix if they have enough budget to buy an Axe FX, and even then they probably use it as effects only with a tube amp, not all of them of course, but I did watch an interview of Mark Tremonti a long time ago, he had an Axe FX II in his rig for effects only, using a Triple Rec and a Bogner Uberschall for his tones, said that indoors the modellers do ok but outside in festivals and all you could still hear the difference, or was it the other way around? I don't remember.

 

For small bands a ton of them use the Helix and the Axe live I'm sure, I think for me I'll stick to the Helix at home for recording and buy a small tube amp with a good cab to play live, because I'm not sure if the Helix would sound good when turning up the volume really loud, I don't want to worry about not sounding warm or cutting out high freqs and all. The dudes in Periphery use their Axe FX live using a Peavy as a poweramp and I remember hearing someone saying that they cut their highs at like 6kHz or something, very crazy.

 

Did you read the post? It mentions plenty of big groups that use the Helix.

 

Not everyone, myself included, think the Axe Effects is the bees knees. Just in terms of routing power, a lot of us think the Helix kills it.

 

Most of the big acts I see are ditching their amps ... period. 

[Lachdanan0121]

I had to post this. If I violate something by posting the video I will take it down. 

 

This is the 3rd documentary video on Devin Townsend's Empath record.  In the video you can clearly see he has an Axe FX II XL+ (can see the editor at 04:38 to 04:42), and you can clearly see the Helix Rack at 06:35 to 06:39, both in his studio setup.  So more and more big name people are using it for various reasons.

 

 

[Griffo_]

Sure I saw a video where Chris Letchford from Scale the Summit said he now uses helix.

[the_bees_knees22]

I'm a little late to the party, but Robby Baca from the Contortionists has used it during touring overseas.  (these guys might be my new favourite band.  They've been around for a while, but I just find them a few weeks ago.)

He was basically using his mesa as a power amp...just going straight into the fx return.  ha..  Seems kinda funny to do that with a dual rec, but I guess it worked well for him.

https://blog.andertons.co.uk/industry/interview-with-robby-baca-from-the-contortionist

 

[gunpointmetal]

On 2/9/2019 at 5:33 PM, the_bees_knees22 said:

I'm a little late to the party, but Robby Baca from the Contortionists has used it during touring overseas.  (these guys might be my new favourite band.  They've been around for a while, but I just find them a few weeks ago.)

He was basically using his mesa as a power amp...just going straight into the fx return.  ha..  Seems kinda funny to do that with a dual rec, but I guess it worked well for him.

https://blog.andertons.co.uk/industry/interview-with-robby-baca-from-the-contortionist

 

I saw them last spring and there were at least two Helix Racks in their big stage rack along with the X32 they use for IEMs. I believe Skyharbor had one Helix Rack and one AFX in their guitar rack, too. I'm not sure why someone's budget would determine if they use a Helix or a Fractal modeler. IME the difference in tone from Fractal to Helix is nowhere near worth the price difference, and allowing IR loading pretty much makes it a preference thing. I haven't used an AFX III yet, but even if I had the money I'd have taken a Helix over the flagship AFX that was available at the time, just because the Helix UI and user experience is 10x better. Even guys in big bands like to get their hands on the gear and Helix ease-of-use for how powerful it is whoops AFX lollipop for functionality, for me, anyways. 

[littleeden]

Apologies if I’ve missed it, but did anyone mention Richie Castellano of Blue Oyster Cult yet?  To an old rocker like me, they’re a pretty big deal band.

[sparkyERTW]

Rhett Shull has gone Helix + PowerCab on his latest tour with Noah Gutherie. Sounds like he's digging it.