Wah Sounds Bad

[dwayneline6]

Going to start of by saying Not my first day with the Helix.

"Looking for answers".

From day one I have been running my Helix 4 cable + Midi control to my JVM 410HJS. Have Used the Chrome Wah with no issues and the sound has been great.

I have wanted to Start running the Helix to FOH for some smaller gigs. (Note)Our rehersal space is set up just like we play on stage. So I am running the ANGL Amp And a IR for cab. Have everything sounding great untill I engage the Wah. Then it goes to crap. Sounds horrible. It is shrill and not usable and unrealistic sounding. I have tried every wah in the system tried changing the sweap, hi cut, every adjustment I can without adding another EQ just set up for the wah and not shure that will even work. Looking for guidance on what may be causing it. I need the amp sound close to the same tone when engaged but with a normal wah sound. Thanks

 

[cruisinon2]

That's a weird one...upload the patch, either to Customtone with a link here, or just attach it to directly to a post. That way others can load it up and see if it behaves the same way. 

[phil_m]

Is the wah sweep responding to the movement of the pedal? I've seen a few cases where people get the controller/bypass thing mixed up, so they're turning the wah on, but not actually sweeping the position. And if the wah is on with the position parameter in a set position high up on the sweep, that can sound pretty bad.

[mfalkler]

I had seen a case before where someone had inadvertently assigned the IR bypass to the toe switch, so when the wah came on the IR turned off. Not saying that's the issue here, but it's possible that more parameters are getting changed than you expect

[codamedia]

Most WAH pedals actually mix the wah and direct signals to varying degrees.... and they make the sweep a lot lower.... Line 6 leaves this control up to you. 

 

Try setting the MIX for the wah to 50%... then adjust from there. 

Lower the peak setting of the wah so it doesn't go into "ear piercing" territory. 

 

3 minutes ago, mfalkler said:

I had seen a case before where someone had inadvertently assigned the IR bypass to the toe switch, so when the wah came on the IR turned off. Not saying that's the issue here, but it's possible that more parameters are getting changed than you expect

 

That's a great point... never take anything for granted and always double/triple check parameters and controllers. I always start from an empty patch, just to make sure any assignments in place are assignments I have made. If a person is starting from a preset all bets are off. 

 

 

[HonestOpinion]

You may have tried any or all of these:

 

1. Try reducing the 'FC High' parameter on your wah block till it sounds right to you. This may cut some of the highs you don't like.
2. Make sure you don't have a 'Volume' and a 'Wah' block both assigned to the same expression input for example 'EXP 1' at the same time. This can definitely muck your sound and will be controlling both the volume and the wah simultaneously when you rock the pedal. You probably don't want that. By default Helix will set up the 'Volume' block on 'EXP 2' and the 'Wah' on 'EXP 1'.
3. Try making the Wah your first block in the signal chain with the impedance on the 'Input' block set to 'Auto'.
4. See #3 but you may want to experiment with where the wah pedal is positioned in your signal chain.

[dwayneline6]

Thanks guys! I found the issue. The patch was called Crunch Richie. And it was running two amps. The Dbl Norm on the main line then had the ANGL on a drop down under it using the same DSP line.The Wah was in the second position followed by a distortion pedal in the chain then the drop for the ANGL.  Under the Dbl Norm.  

Move a few things around and put both amps on the same line with out the drop And then presto no more ear piercing wah.