Using same preset multiple times in one setlist?

[tekhed]

(I've looked all over but can't find an answer to this)

 

Is there a way to use the same patch in multiple spots in a set list? I.E. I've got one preset for my acoustic guitar, one that handles my basic rock sounds for my elec, and a couple that are song specific. What I want in my set list is (for instance):

Song 1: Preset 1 - Basic rock setting

Song 2: Preset 2 - Acoustic guitar setting

Song 3: Preset 1 - Basic rock preset

Song 4: Preset 3 - Specific preset for this song

Song 5: Preset 2  Acoustic guitar preset

etc...

Then I just advance through the set with the up / down buttons.

 

So if I decide to tweak my acoustic sound, for instance, I don't have to manually perform the same tweaks on a bunch of different copies of the same sound. Same for Elec, etc. All I can see is a way to re-order a set list. I must be missing something.

 

Thoughts? Thanks!

[silverhead]

Not sure I'm understanding your terminology so I'll make an assumption: when you say Song 1 Preset1 - basic Rock setting and Song 3 Preset 1 - Basic rock preset you are using the same preset/settings with no tonal differences between Song 1 and Song 3. If that's correct ....

 

Yes you can manually move through your songs by selecting the appropriate preset using no copies of presets. However in the example you provide above you won't always be 'advancing' through your presets and it will sometimes take more than one tap on the up/down buttons.  In your example you would arrange your presets to be in the same bank, say Bank 1, and since you are only using 3 presets so far you would assign them to footswitches/presets A through C. You would begin Song 1 using Preset 1A. You would move to Song 2 and hit the Up button to advance to preset 1B (having used the Global Footswitch settings to have the Up/Down buttons move through presets rather than through Banks or Snapshots). For Song 3 you would use the Down button to go back to Preset 1A. Then for Song 4 you would hit the Up button twice to select Preset 1C, then Song 5 would be the Down button to go 'back' to preset 1B.

 

More Up/Down button pushes will be required as your setlist expands to include say 15 songs using say 8 or more different presets in 2 or more Banks. In that case you can experiment with the Global Footswitch settings to use the Up/Down buttons to move between Banks rather than Presets and use the A-D buttons to select a specific Preset within the given Bank.

 

If you want to arrange your setlist so that you consistently use only the Up button to change presets between songs you will need to make copies of presets and arrange them in the appropriate order. As you say, this makes future edits more complicated.

[codamedia]

IMO - Setlists don't make sense to the majority of bands that don't strictly follow a setlist from start to finish. I'd be doomed in any one of the bands I played with :) (just sayin')

 

That said - your setup looks similar to mine. I use one primary patch for my tele, one primary patch for my strat, one primary patch for my acoustic, etc... etc...  I just label them as "Tele", "Strat", "Acoustic", etc... and choose the right patch to match the instrument I grabbed. There are always exceptions and I may need a special patch for something special, but for basic setups that is my approach. 

 

[HonestOpinion]

4 hours ago, tekhed said:

(I've looked all over but can't find an answer to this)

 

Is there a way to use the same patch in multiple spots in a set list? I.E. I've got one preset for my acoustic guitar, one that handles my basic rock sounds for my elec, and a couple that are song specific. What I want in my set list is (for instance):

Song 1: Preset 1 - Basic rock setting

Song 2: Preset 2 - Acoustic guitar setting

Song 3: Preset 1 - Basic rock preset

Song 4: Preset 3 - Specific preset for this song

Song 5: Preset 2  Acoustic guitar preset

etc...

Then I just advance through the set with the up / down buttons.

 

So if I decide to tweak my acoustic sound, for instance, I don't have to manually perform the same tweaks on a bunch of different copies of the same sound. Same for Elec, etc. All I can see is a way to re-order a set list. I must be missing something.

 

Thoughts? Thanks!

 

As has been indicated you can copy & paste the same preset to multiple locations but eventually keeping any modifications to those presets in synch does become a pain. Best to keep a master version of the preset, only modify that one, and just recopy it whenever you need. Ultimately it would be great if Line6 would decouple the actual presets from the setlists such that the entry in the setlist was only a pointer to the preset. That way you just change the preset in one place and any setlist entries pointing to it would inherit the changes.

 

Vote for it here: https://line6.ideascale.com/a/dtd/Add-Setlists-to-Helix/911976-23508#idea-tab-comments

[tekhed]

Thanks all for the quick replies. 

 

What I'm trying to do is have a couple basic elec patches, an acoustic patch and about 20-30 custom "per song" patches. I should have been more clear. Because I sing lead and play all the guitar parts (elec and acoustic) I really like the idea of "create the set and just step through the songs in the order they'll be played". 

At our last gig our sound guy said "your acoustic is a bit to bright", but because I have to have a different preset for every acoustic song, I've got about 12 of them. So now I've got to edit / save 12 presets. Same can happen with some of the electric presets.

 

@codamedia - I think you've got the right answer; ditch the set lists all together, write the preset number next to the song title on the actual set list (piece of paper) and just deal with it. Until L6 addresses this, it's the best solution.

 

Thanks all!

[MusicLaw]

Voted this up long ago.

Good to see it gaining more attention. 

The more votes the better.

Looking forward to this in future firmware.

1 hour ago, HonestOpinion said:

Ultimately it would be great if Line6 would decouple the actual preset from the setlists such that the entry in the setlist was only a pointer to the preset. That way you just change the preset in one place and any setlist entries pointing to it would inherit the changes.

 

Vote for it here: https://line6.ideascale.com/a/dtd/Add-Setlists-to-Helix/911976-23508#idea-tab-comments

[HonestOpinion]

43 minutes ago, MusicLaw said:

Voted this up long ago.

Good to see it gaining more attention. 

The more votes the better.

Looking forward to this in future firmware.

 

Agreed & thx for voting!

[jbuhajla]

I use one main preset template. I copy this template to the first 4-6 preset slots in a setlist, so they are presets per song. I make minor tweaks to each based upon the needs of each song. I don't change the name of the preset, so all the slots have the same name presets. 

[johnbeamon]

This suggestion seems obvious, but I don't see it being said. You can also rename presets arbitrarily. "Save" your Lonestar patch for Mustang Sally, edit the location to be User1->05A or whatever, and change its title to "MstngSly-Lnstr". Set the delay and vibe times to match the song's BPM, name your snapshots V/CH/BRG/Solo if needed, and Save again. Then save a copy under User5 with that song's title and BPM preserved for future reference. Next time you do Mustang Sally in a set list, copy from User5 by name. Eventually, User5 has 128 of your song titles in it. FWIW, the "setlists" can be renamed as well. My "User5" is now called "Preset Archive" and contains only the generic "gear" names, and my other lists have more specific purposes.

 

All this would be even more awesome if the "setlists" were actual setlists with pointers back to locations in Preset storage. It does become a pain when you need to fix reverb on all your songs after a firmware update.

[amsdenj]

I generally use a small number of presets that represent my own general tone groups: acoustic, low-gain, mid-gain and high-gain. I tend to use the mid-gain patch for most songs, and use the volume control on my guitar to clean it up when needed. All of these patches have similar effects in the same position in the signal chain and assigned to the same foot switches, with the pretty close to the same name. These are the effects I use 95% of the time. 

 

There are however a few songs we do that require pretty different configurations. One starts with a drop-D 12-string acoustic followed by a Les Paul slide tone. I use a separate patch for this song. Another song uses MIDI Guitar 2 in MainStage for a horn section that I play in one part of the song. Footswitch 7 turns that horn section off and on, but otherwise its my mid-gain patch. I probably have less than 6 songs that need really song specific patches. I can generally get to these by using 4 stomps/4 snapshots and just banking up and down to find the patch. 

 

I use 10 stomp mode, and within each patch, I can get at the effects I need similar to how one would use a traditional pedalboard. I use 4 snapshots in the patch for unusual things that require more changes: standard, open tunings for slide (I use a JTV-69S), quick acoustic, and Leslie.

 

So my approach is to develop my own core tones, and use a minimum number of patches in a given gig. This keeps Helix from becoming a distraction while providing my own interpretation of the songs. Then I minimize the number of song-specific patches I need and keep them clustered closely in a set list so I can get to them quickly if the song comes up.