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Brand New to Helix


flyboy101
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Hi - I am brand new to Line 6 Products and have the Helix floor unit. This seems totally awesome straight out of the box and use it with both my Faith electro-acoustic and Yamaha 820CR . ut am a bit overwhelmed with the depth of functionality. Where do I start in learning how to harness the power?

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This would be a great place to start.

 

https://www.youtube.com/user/gtr111/videos

 

He has a whole "How to create a great sounding tone series". Part 1 isn't numbered but after that he's up to part 17 right now. There are other things as well. Keep in mind, this is not the last word on this at all. This is just his method. But he's very thorough and will get you familiar with the unit.

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The manual is pretty good - but can be a bit focussed on what the functions do rather than how to get the best out of the tool. I have been reading it and sometimes it just isn't clear.

For example Ive been trying to get it onto Stompbox mode - I was hoping this would be totally clean guitar with the option of adding footswitch effects selected from the banks. If this is possible I cant find it. The manual just says press FS6 which only allows you to edit the foot switch variables already added to that preset.

 

 

 

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As you get more familiar with Helix Floor, the Helix 2.0 User Manual (Rev D) PDF becomes more helpful. Watch Jason Sadites' videos. They are excellent, and listed on Line 6's Helix Knowledgebase

 

Also see HelixHelp.com's > Release Notes for the items added, fixed, improved in subsequent firmware releases after the User Manual 2.0 (Rev D) PDF was released in July 2016. 

 

Line 6 has stated that a revised Helix User Manual would only be released with the release of a major firmware revision. So, the next one expected is whenever firmware 3.0 arrives.   

 

[Addendum: Each of Richie Castellano's Helix YouTube videos are outstanding and absolutely worth watching! My apology to Richie for not mentioning his vids in the first draft of this post.] 

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What they above said......

 

What is your experience with pedals and amps?

 

Treat it like analog pedals, amp, and cab.  Start building from an empty preset and you will learn quickly.

 

Then come back here and FB page to ask specific questions.  

 

https://facebook.com/groups/428105950706417?ref=bookmarks

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I agree with the above comments. Flyboy 101 has a good point about the manual- less marketing hype (you've already bought it) and more down to earth how tos would be nice but it's what we have to work with.

 

Watch every video from Jason Sadites, Glenn DeLaune, Paul Hindmarsh (Line 6) & Richie Castellano. A wealth of good info; I'm sure there are others.

 

Nothing can replace experience, but you don't want to learn on the gig. One idea- grab an unused preset and name it "test" or something. Then do a whole bunch of stuff that you'd never actually do, then don't save it. Create some multiple amp/cab sims, assign some bypassed blocks to control some parameters, use one switch to control multiple fx simultaneously, etc.

 

You get the idea, since you're not going to use that preset you (probably) won't do any harm. And if after doing this your HX edit won't backup properly remove all of the blocks and start over.

 

The guys over in the "that pedal show" YT channel have a saying that applies here: "Gotta get your hands dirty". Good luck & enjoy your new Helix!

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On 5/15/2018 at 8:17 AM, flyboy101 said:

The manual is pretty good - but can be a bit focussed on what the functions do rather than how to get the best out of the tool. 

 

 

 

 

The problem is that everybody's needs/ wants/desires/expectations are different...a universal definition for "getting the best out of it" doesn't really exist. With a unit that has as many options as Helix, there are 1000 ways to reach the same/similar end result...with just as many variables from one player to the next also factoring into the equation: different means of amplification (the biggest factor by far), guitars, pickups, playing styles, etc etc etc. It's nearly impossible to put together a one-size-fits-all template for how to set things up.

 

You needn't look any further than the factory presets and all the stuff on Customtone for proof...some might be useable with little or no adjustments, and others will sound grotesque and make you wish you'd taken up the bassoon instead. 

 

I'd love a shortcut too... there just aren't any. 

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I don't know how much experience you have with modelers but there is one concept that will help. If you are using it fully (i.e. going direct, not using it through a guitar amp) what you will be hearing is not a simulated guitar amp, but a guitar amp that has been mic'd in a studio, with you in an isolated control booth and hearing the mic'd amp on the control booth's monitors. It's a concept that has helped me.

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On 5/17/2018 at 3:21 AM, flyboy101 said:

I'm going from guitar into Helix and out to a small Boss AC30 at the moment but with just a clean channel. I know its not necessary but am saving up for a quality speaker to route to directly

 

One trick I've used when going through a guitar amp/cab is to at fist eliminate the speaker cab and mic from your patch. Once you get something you like, throw the cab into the patch and just scroll through and listen to all of the cabs. It does't always work but about 35% of the time, a good tone will suddenly pop out. It's like quickly running through a bunch of different sophisticated EQ curves. It doesn't take that long and sometimes results in some surprising tones.

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