Acoustic /Electric A/B on FS + capo on/off w/ variax

[davebyers44]

Hello everyone. I am looking for 1 preset that would allow me to go back and forth from a standard electric that I can have modeled possibly with my variax of course clean and dirty, but then with a stomp of a footswitch go to an acoustic tone that would also be possibly capo'd. Press the fs again and I'm back to an uncapo'd, non acoustic variax modeled electric guitar. 

 

I messed around trying to assign one path to a fs and it shuts off the other path but that doesn't seem to do it. 

 

Looking for insight on how to attack this and hoping someone has already tackled this with a preset I can modify to me needs. 

 

Wondered if snapshots could be a better answer etc. but I'm still newbie enough to just be dangerous rather than effective. lol! 

 

Many thanks for your input. 

 

Dave

[cruisinon2]

Hello everyone. I am looking for 1 preset that would allow me to go back and forth from a standard electric that I can have modeled possibly with my variax of course clean and dirty, but then with a stomp of a footswitch go to an acoustic tone that would also be possibly capo'd. Press the fs again and I'm back to an uncapo'd, non acoustic variax modeled electric guitar.

 

I messed around trying to assign one path to a fs and it shuts off the other path but that doesn't seem to do it.

 

Looking for insight on how to attack this and hoping someone has already tackled this with a preset I can modify to me needs.

 

Wondered if snapshots could be a better answer etc. but I'm still newbie enough to just be dangerous rather than effective. lol!

 

Many thanks for your input.

 

Dave

One option is to have one path with the input set to Variax, and the other to Variax Mags. Use the mags for your electric tone(s) in standard tuning, then set the patch to trigger the acoustic model of your choice for the Variax path. Then you can toggle between the two paths with either snapshots, or assign each amp block's channel volume to the expression pedal and transition smoothly from one tone to the other. So for example, heel down would be your acoustic tone, and toe down your electric (or vice versa, whatever works). I tend to favor this approach, as the switch is a little less "abrupt". Even with snapshots, while the audio dropout that accompanies changing patches is eliminated, going from an acoustic tone to dirty electric is kinda jarring, even with no "gap". Fading from one to the other is much smoother, and works great live. Try it both ways and see what works for you.

[EdwinV]

There are several ways to accomplish what you want. You can do it by assigning the change to a footswitch, in which case you can introduce an A/B switch going into separate paths (e.g. 1A and 1B). If you have the paths merging before your delay and/or reverb, switching won't be so abrupt.

You can also set up the above with snapshots, which would be my preferred way of setting this up. I'm on my way to work, so can't check my Helix but I've created presets for for instance Hotel California with a 12 string acoustic with capo to a Les Paul in normal tuning.

 

Just experiment, you can't do anything wrong. If it doesn't work, just overwrite it with an empty preset and you can start from scratch. I like to use the mic Preamp with an acoustic signal and sometimes a compressor before that (although in general I don't like compressors that much). Although the variax can do usable capo tunings, I tend to prefer a real capo. The variax is very handy for alternate tunings as well, especially when you need a mid song change.

[SteveFrance]

If you wanna change the modeling variax guitar in the same preset, the snapshot is the best way t obtain that !

 

You can even pass from a strat on a fender amp to a gibson on a mesa, the only limit is the number of blocks.

 

Do you want to set it up with helix edit or on the helix itself ?

[chuskey]

Hello everyone. I am looking for 1 preset that would allow me to go back and forth from a standard electric that I can have modeled possibly with my variax of course clean and dirty, but then with a stomp of a footswitch go to an acoustic tone that would also be possibly capo'd. Press the fs again and I'm back to an uncapo'd, non acoustic variax modeled electric guitar. 

 

I messed around trying to assign one path to a fs and it shuts off the other path but that doesn't seem to do it. 

 

Looking for insight on how to attack this and hoping someone has already tackled this with a preset I can modify to me needs. 

 

Wondered if snapshots could be a better answer etc. but I'm still newbie enough to just be dangerous rather than effective. lol! 

 

Many thanks for your input. 

 

Dave

I have a patch that I use when my band covers Hotel California for this very purpose.  If I can remember I'll export it and load it to custom tone this evening. 

 

Basically I use snapshots for this.  I have all the electric guitar components on path 1 and all the acoustic components, as well as the final reverb, on path 2.  I have path 1 feeding into path 2. 

 

Snapshot one changes the Variax to acoustic capo'd on 7th fret and turns on all the acoustic blocks (compressor, studio pre, chorus, delay (chorus and delay in parallel), parametric eq, and reverb.  

 

Snapshot two changes the Variax to Les Paul bridge no capo and turns on compressor, amp, delay, cab, and the reverb stays on.  

 

It's not too hard to setup, but I'll be happy to share my patch.  I just have to remember to do it this evening  ;)

[Mturner]

Dave,

I posted this preset on the Helix Worship group on FB. (remove the .txt extension)

One small change would let you add the capo tunings to that.

I found that using snapshots was the easiest way to accomplish this.

I ran my chain on the same path so I could use the same volume pedal, delays, reverbs, etc.

The snapshots select the Variax model and also turn respective blocks on and off.

On the Helix or in HEX Edit you can assign the tuning offsets to snapshots as well for the virtual capo.

Mark

Come To Me M.hlx.txt

[davebyers44]

Dave,

I posted this preset on the Helix Worship group on FB. (remove the .txt extension)

One small change would let you add the capo tunings to that.

I found that using snapshots was the easiest way to accomplish this.

I ran my chain on the same path so I could use the same volume pedal, delays, reverbs, etc.

The snapshots select the Variax model and also turn respective blocks on and off.

On the Helix or in HEX Edit you can assign the tuning offsets to snapshots as well for the virtual capo.

Mark

Thx, but I keep getting this error in the file. Tried it on this one as well as the other time you attached it. :-(

 

Well I can't figure out how to attach a pic, but it says failed to import preset, a model used in the preset is not recognized code -8312

 

Dave

[davebyers44]

I have a patch that I use when my band covers Hotel California for this very purpose.  If I can remember I'll export it and load it to custom tone this evening. 

 

Basically I use snapshots for this.  I have all the electric guitar components on path 1 and all the acoustic components, as well as the final reverb, on path 2.  I have path 1 feeding into path 2. 

 

Snapshot one changes the Variax to acoustic capo'd on 7th fret and turns on all the acoustic blocks (compressor, studio pre, chorus, delay (chorus and delay in parallel), parametric eq, and reverb.  

 

Snapshot two changes the Variax to Les Paul bridge no capo and turns on compressor, amp, delay, cab, and the reverb stays on.  

 

It's not too hard to setup, but I'll be happy to share my patch.  I just have to remember to do it this evening  ;)

 

That would be awesome! Thx

 

I am still banging around but stuck figuring out how to save the variax's capo'd setting and it's model. 

[Mturner]

Thx, but I keep getting this error in the file. Tried it on this one as well as the other time you attached it. :-(

 

Well I can't figure out how to attach a pic, but it says failed to import preset, a model used in the preset is not recognized code -8312

 

Dave

Hmm, well that's no fun :) Are you running 2.50 firmware on your Helix?

Or,  I think I used a "/" in a scribble strip name ("Dot 1/8 Dly") maybe Helix doesn't like that...

[davebyers44]

Hmm, well that's no fun :) Are you running 2.50 firmware on your Helix?

 

Oh, no I'm a notch back. I'll update. 

[davebyers44]

 

I think I stumbled across how to save the variax settings, but I'm still missing something. It's not saving it and "sounding like an acoustic in drop d for instance. 

 

Dave

[Mturner]

You are almost there.

Use the 4-way knob to go down to Preset Variax Model. Press down the model select knob and turn it (don't hold it down too long before turning). White square brackets will appear around the model name. Once the brackets are there, the parameter value is saved with each snapshot.

 

Do the same thing with each of the 6 string tunings and those will be saved too.

 

Just realized you are in HX Edit, right click each parameter (model, string, etc) for a list of controllers. You should see "snapshots" as an option. Select that. You should then see the square brackets around the parameter.

[davebyers44]

You are almost there.

Use the 4-way knob to go down to Preset Variax Model. Press down the model select knob and turn it (don't hold it down too long before turning). White square brackets will appear around the model name. Once the brackets are there, the parameter value is saved with each snapshot.

 

Do the same thing with each of the 6 string tunings and those will be saved too.

 

Just realized you are in HX Edit, right click each parameter (model, string, etc) for a list of controllers. You should see "snapshots" as an option. Select that. You should then see the square brackets around the parameter.

 

Wow, I must be thick. lol! I did right click and selected snapshots on both preset variax model and preset variax tuning. Saved, but I still here electric guitar and mp drop d. 

 

Sorry. ..

[brue58ski]

The way to tell if snapshots is controlling things is to look for brackets around the parameter's choices. So you are missing, and should have, brackets (like this [  ]) around all of the string notes and the "Custom" parameter in Preset Variax tuning.

[Mturner]

Do the parameters show brackets around them now? That's the key to snapshots.

 

If so, then set the parameters how you want them for snapshot 1(Acoustic-5 for the model). Save the preset.

 

Next, select Snapshot 2.  Set the parameters the way you want them for snapshot 2, Lester-1 for example. Save the preset.

 

Now, if you alternately select snapshot 1 and 2 you should get two different guitar  models.

 

Using the same approach, you can turn blocks on and off separately in each snapshot. That's one way to make your signal chain match the model you are using.

[brue58ski]

Wow, I must be thick. lol! I did right click and selected snapshots on both preset variax model and preset variax tuning. Saved, but I still here electric guitar and mp drop d. 

 

Sorry. ..

 

Is your model selector selector switch lit? If it's not, you're using the magnetic pickups which, of course, aren't effected by the Helix and is your Varaix tuning selector switch on MODEL?

[Mturner]

And... your Variax must be connected with a VDI cable in order for this to work.

[brue58ski]

And... your Variax must be connected with a VDI cable in order for this to work.

 

Oooo. Good catch if it's not connected.

[davebyers44]

And... your Variax must be connected with a VDI cable in order for this to work.

Got that hooked up

[davebyers44]

So it's working in general now. One issue is that I can't keep a tuning in one snap shot that doesn't move over to the other snapshot. How do I keep them separate? 

 

 

Thx SO MUCH for the help folks!

 

Dave

[Mturner]

One you go to custom tuning you are "all in".

Goto the string parameters and assign them to snapshots as the controller (just like you did on the model).

Do that for all six strings.

 

Then set the tuning values to 0 for standard tuning in the appropriate snapshots.

 

You need to watch out going to other presets too. The default value for Preset Variax Tuning is "Don't Force". So, if you are on your drop-D acoustic and then switch presets, you'll still be in Drop D unless you set the new preset to Custom tuning and set standard tuning values.

[davebyers44]

Right, my hope though is to have the capo'd tuning "ONLY" for the acoustic. When I leave that snapshot I want to be in regular tuning. How can I get it to release that tuning when I leave that snapshot? I tinkered putting a tuning in a different snapshot but that took over the tuning in the acoustic snap shot. Needing these to be independent/per snapshot

 

Dave

[chuskey]

That would be awesome! Thx

 

I am still banging around but stuck figuring out how to save the variax's capo'd setting and it's model. 

Here's the patch that I built last night.  I'm using Custom Bank 1 for my electric sounds, so you may need to adjust the Variax model for snapshots 2 and 3. 

 

https://line6.com/customtone/tone/3680574/

[Mturner]

Right, my hope though is to have the capo'd tuning "ONLY" for the acoustic. When I leave that snapshot I want to be in regular tuning. How can I get it to release that tuning when I leave that snapshot? I tinkered putting a tuning in a different snapshot but that took over the tuning in the acoustic snap shot. Needing these to be independent/per snapshot

 

Dave

Do you see white brackets around the string tuning parameters?  You have to assign them to snapshots (that's what will make the brackets appear). What you are describing sounds like the strings are not assigned to snapshots and so they are changing for the whole preset instead of for a specific snapshot.

[davebyers44]

BINGO!!!! lol! Yes, that was it! I was just starting to type and noticed the new messages. I took your "build kingdom" preset and analyzed it over and over and noticed the strings were all white in helix edit. I right clicked and seen they were all snapshots as well. 

 

Changed that on my patch and viola! 

 

chuskey, thx I'll ck out your patch as well. Thx for sharing. 

 

Thank you so much everyone

 

Dave

[Mturner]

Awesome!  Glad you got it working!

 

Mark

[EdwinV]

You need to watch out going to other presets too. The default value for Preset Variax Tuning is "Don't Force". So, if you are on your drop-D acoustic and then switch presets, you'll still be in Drop D unless you set the new preset to Custom tuning and set standard tuning values.

 

This is an important remark and is easily overlooked. When you use multiple presets with your Variax and you don't want to keep the (custom) tuning from the preset/snapshot you were coming from, you have to set up (all) your presets with Preset Variax tuning to "Custom". Otherwise the tuning will be "inherited" from your previous preset.

[klangmaler]

Here's the patch that I built last night.  I'm using Custom Bank 1 for my electric sounds, so you may need to adjust the Variax model for snapshots 2 and 3. 

 

https://line6.com/customtone/tone/3680574/

Hey, thank you so much - 'prompt delivery' ;)

[davebyers44]

Awesome. I'm on a roll now. Just need to balance some volumes and tweak some tones and I hope to gig with it (using that preset w/ snapshots) Saturday. 

 

Hoped to kick it's tires some more today before work but ... life got in the way again... lol