Missing essentials

[Fuzzface69]

I've bought a Helix LT and am quite happy with it. Great unit, but for me it's lacking some essential effects.

First, I was surprised there is no boost pedal to be found in the Helix. I previously owned a Kemper powerrack and a boost pedal

has become an essential part for me when building a sound. So I'm wishing for a few great boost pedals.

To name a few: MXR micro amp, Xotic EP booster or AC booster. 

 

Second, I have a hard time finding a great drive pedal in the collection. Especially the fuzz pedals I find particularly useless, whereas an original Fuzzface (i.e.) can sound awesome. On the Helix all definition is lost and even with the fuzz/gain turned all the way down. On other moddeling units they sounded more natural and definitely more usable.

So, in addition to an overhaul of the stock fuzz pedals, I would very much like one or two drive pedals that sound great, like the Xotic BB preamp or Fulltone Fulldrive. So far the only distortions I use are the Timmy, Klon and TS models. The others are not and have never been my cup of tea (RAT for example).

 

As far as the other effects, so far I am pretty happy. Love the fact that I can use IRs, but find that 128 memory slots proved to be not enough when sorting out my IRs. That's become a long tedious proces of loading, sorting/playing and deleting. And repeat. Still, love that I can use IRs to sculp my sound to my own taste.

[zooey]

While I find many of the drives quite useful, I do agree that some have way more gain than I want even at minimum. Try putting a gain block before it, turning down the signal going in. For more flexibility, make it an EQ, try cutting lows etc. You can make that up later in the chain if you want.

[jbuhajla]

I use a gain block for "boost". 

 

You will have to play around with the drive pedal models to get them to your liking. None of the models are going to sound magical to your ears with default settings. Helix and Kemper are two completely different beasts. Helix will require tweaking to your liking. 

[phil_m]

Well, there aren't necessarily dedicated boost pedals modeled in Helix, but there's a ton of ways you can create a boost. I kind of think guitarists make too much about what specific clean boost pedals actually do. I've owned a bunch of them, and I've come to the conclusion that beyond actually boosting the level, they aren't necessarily adding anything magical to the signal. Anyway, I do like using the Klon with a very low gain setting as boost.

[ADBrown]

One option is to use a gain block in place of a boost. Are using global EQ or making any cuts? This can tighten things up and help with bad fuzz tones.

 

I'd like to see something like the EP preamp/ Xotic Ep in Helix too. https://line6.ideascale.com/ is a good place to post product suggestions and vote on them.

[Fuzzface69]

Well, there aren't necessarily dedicated boost pedals modeled in Helix, but there's a ton of ways you can create a boost. I kind of think guitarists make too much about what specific clean boost pedals actually do. I've owned a bunch of them, and I've come to the conclusion that beyond actually boosting the level, they aren't necessarily adding anything magical to the signal. Anyway, I do like using the Klon with a very low gain setting as boost.

I disagree in that boost pedals don't do something other than boost the signal. I've just heard a guy play through an EP booster with the boost turned all the way down. When turning on the pedal, it did something tasty to the sound. It was subtle but it was there nonetheless. And using a treble boost will definitely result in an audible difference.

But I guess we're all guitarists to some extend, so I'm not telling anyone anything new.

Using a drive pedal to boost just doesn't work the same. I also tried using a volume block with a set gain increase and this kinda works as a clean boost.

But in general I don't understand that Line 6 decided not to model a few boost pedals is just beyond me, since every player I know uses them. So in my opinion it would be a real usefull addition if they would consider this in a future update.

I'll see if I can post something on the Ideascale site. Thanks for the tip.

[FlyingsCool]

I disagree in that boost pedals don't do something other than boost the signal. I've just heard a guy play through an EP booster with the boost turned all the way down. When turning on the pedal, it did something tasty to the sound. It was subtle but it was there nonetheless. And using a treble boost will definitely result in an audible difference.

But I guess we're all guitarists to some extend, so I'm not telling anyone anything new.

Using a drive pedal to boost just doesn't work the same. I also tried using a volume block with a set gain increase and this kinda works as a clean boost.

But in general I don't understand that Line 6 decided not to model a few boost pedals is just beyond me, since every player I know uses them. So in my opinion it would be a real usefull addition if they would consider this in a future update.

I'll see if I can post something on the Ideascale site. Thanks for the tip.

 

In that case, perhaps trying using an EQ with gain set as needed to add taste?  As was noted above

 

Why aren't the exact pedals you want in the first release?... Well, there's only so much time in a day.  They put in as much as they could get done, they have their own list of what they'd like to add in the future, and it's our job to use ideascale to vote for what we want them to work on going forward. And in this case for these pedals, they knew we could get at least close to what we need with EQ and gain blocks.

 

Oh, and definitely check out the recent thread on the Industrial Fuzz/Zvex Fuzz Factory block.  I had tried this pedal before and was wondering what everyone was "raving" about liking it, but it didn't do much for me, too dirty.  But, turns out I didn't know what I was doing.  I can't wait to sit down and go through all the settings that Chrisjw5 put out there.

 

Prior to this, I haven't had a problem using combinations of gain/EQ/Klon/Timmy/etc.  to get the boosts I need.  I admit up to now there are some fuzz tones I've been looking for that I haven't found yet, but hopefully with this new info I can get them :)

[Fuzzface69]

In that case, perhaps trying using an EQ with gain set as needed to add taste?  As was noted above

 

Why aren't the exact pedals you want in the first release?... Well, there's only so much time in a day.  They put in as much as they could get done, they have their own list of what they'd like to add in the future, and it's our job to use ideascale to vote for what we want them to work on going forward. And in this case for these pedals, they knew we could get at least close to what we need with EQ and gain blocks.

 

Oh, and definitely check out the recent thread on the Industrial Fuzz/Zvex Fuzz Factory block.  I had tried this pedal before and was wondering what everyone was "raving" about liking it, but it didn't do much for me, too dirty.  But, turns out I didn't know what I was doing.  I can't wait to sit down and go through all the settings that Chrisjw5 put out there.

 

Prior to this, I haven't had a problem using combinations of gain/EQ/Klon/Timmy/etc.  to get the boosts I need.  I admit up to now there are some fuzz tones I've been looking for that I haven't found yet, but hopefully with this new info I can get them :)

You make a fair point. And since there's no debating sound, I'd best not do so.

I'll be sure to check out the fuzz topic you mentioned. Thanks for the tip.

[PeterHamm]

First, I was surprised there is no boost pedal to be found in the Helix. I previously owned a Kemper powerrack and a boost pedal

has become an essential part for me when building a sound. So I'm wishing for a few great boost pedals.

To name a few: MXR micro amp, Xotic EP booster or AC booster. 

 

 

The gain block has been mentioned, but I have found that the Minotaur (Klon), set all the way clean, and setting the tone control to taste, is my favorite boost pedal possibility in there. It simply works magic. Teemah! (Timmy) is also good for this.

 

Second, I have a hard time finding a great drive pedal in the collection. Especially the fuzz pedals I find particularly useless, whereas an original Fuzzface (i.e.) can sound awesome. On the Helix all definition is lost and even with the fuzz/gain turned all the way down. On other moddeling units they sounded more natural and definitely more usable.

So, in addition to an overhaul of the stock fuzz pedals, I would very much like one or two drive pedals that sound great, like the Xotic BB preamp or Fulltone Fulldrive. So far the only distortions I use are the Timmy, Klon and TS models. The others are not and have never been my cup of tea (RAT for example).

 

 

I agree about the others not being my cup of tea either. IMHO, though, the Timmy and Klon can both be made to do practically anything, and stacking one of each is total magic. 

 

Fuzz must be first in the chain and your input impedance must be set to auto or whatever that fuzz requires to make it work best. Otherwise, it just doesn't cut it.

 

All that said, Helix has 4 loops. So if you MUST have a specific pedal, just add it in there!