Factory presets are preserving my sanity

[marmatkat]

(Just a thought here - encouragement/comments welcome.) I'm a new LT owner coming from non-pedalboard tube combo land, and I'm struggling a bit to climb the Helix learning curve. For starters I just want a few general tones from a handful of categories like clean, breaking up, distorted, and saturated (and I got generous help on this topic on another thread) so I can get out and play. I've tried the "bake it from scratch" approach with no luck so far. There is simply too much to learn right now - basic amp settings (to say nothing about sag and etc!) stock cab vs. IR, mic selection, mic distance, which EQ/boost/distortion to add to the chain, etc. Plus of course a ton of amp choices (which is awesome of course, but overwhelming). That's why I'm having the most luck getting usable tones by starting with factory presets. I realize they receive criticism, but as when learning nearly anything, examples are super helpful. They do two things: 1) Give me workable tones, and 2) help me learn how chains are (typically?) assembled. I'll eventually get to the roll your own level, but for now, I just need to play! (On top of that, I'm currently focusing on getting rid of some low freq boominess in my QSC K10, so I'm learning global EQ vs. cab low cut vs. parametric EQ at end of chain vs. cab choice vs. mic choice and placement). I'm confident that the Helix will do what I want, and I'm really excited about my switch to modeling. Thanks for listening!

[Lachdanan0121]

I don't use the presets much. The Helix can seem overwhelming at first, and I come from a mixing background as well.  But it is so intuitive it really helps make up for it. Since about 2 weeks into it I have been building all my patches from scratch. Going on about 9 months now.

 

That said I have read in threads here that the factory presets have been significantly improved since initial release. If you are a LT owner then you all your presets are 2.20 or 2.21 firmware. 

When the unit first launched the presets were pretty bad, and that is largely where a lot of the criticism is directed. 

[R_Z1]

Gratz on the Helix. The hardest part, buying the Helix, is over. Now comes the fun part, learning. I am a novice when it comes to building tones. When I owned the Pod X3, the only thing I did was download custom tones from the site and add them to the empty slots. Now I am having a blast creating presets. Watch every YouTube video you can find. Open up a user preset and start dropping amps and cabinets. Figure out how to adjust the tone to your liking and then pop in effects and your choice of options. Save rinse repeat. Really just take your time and dive in. Have fun.

[rvroberts]

Hi, I got straight into the Helix with very little problem.

I think that is because I've used a wide range of amps and pedal in my playing career.

The Helix just simulates them - it is pretty much that simple!

Now, I think I'm hearing 2 types of problems from new users - those with a live amp and pedalboard background and just don't get that the Helix is that in a recording studio, and people who don't have the real world analogue experience and therefore don't know how to put amps and pedals together.

Sounds like you are from the second group?

I think the presets are a great place to start.  I also think there are some great presets to download from people like Glenn DeLaune - at a price - be cautious of some of the freebies, they can be more trouble than they are worth - some are great - but you are not yet ready for figuring that out!

That gets you up and running.

Then, I think you should go look at "That Pedal Show" on YouTube - (start at their early shows) you will learn tons of stuff about pedals and amps in the real world - and it almost all translates 100% to the Helix.

There are also plenty of videos on building patches etc - take your time and enjoy!