More amps for helix

[Rickholbert]

question solved. AxeFX has 270+ amp models. Helix has 75+. Headrush has 34+. Kemper has as many as you wish to profile.

That's my point. if line 6 wants to stay competitive they have to get up to at the least AxeFX. I choose to give the helix the chance so I'll see what happens next year if not up to par I will be switching.  

[cruisinon2]

16 minutes ago, Rickholbert said:

question solved. AxeFX has 270+ amp models. Helix has 75+. Headrush has 34+. Kemper has as many as you wish to profile.

That's my point. if line 6 wants to stay competitive they have to get up to at the least AxeFX. I choose to give the helix the chance so I'll see what happens next year if not up to par I will be switching.  

 

Allow me to spare you the suspense...Helix will not have an additional 200 amps a year from now, so you might as well break out the credit card and beat the Christmas rush. 

[foxmeister]

4 minutes ago, Rickholbert said:

question solved. AxeFX has 270+ amp models. Helix has 75+. Headrush has 34+. Kemper has as many as you wish to profile.

That's my point. if line 6 wants to stay competitive they have to get up to at the least AxeFX. I choose to give the helix the chance so I'll see what happens next year if not up to par I will be switching.  

 

There's no way Line6 are going to be adding 200 odd additional amp models to Helix. I doubt that there's enough space in ROM to get even close to that number, so you might just as well switch now.

 

What they will do is add a few more amps and effects here and there as they release new firmware. Some of them might be ones that you want, but others might not be.

AxeFX is AxeFX and Helix is Helix, with different strengths and weaknesses. 

 

[DunedinDragon]

22 minutes ago, Rickholbert said:

question solved. AxeFX has 270+ amp models. Helix has 75+. Headrush has 34+. Kemper has as many as you wish to profile.

That's my point. if line 6 wants to stay competitive they have to get up to at the least AxeFX. I choose to give the helix the chance so I'll see what happens next year if not up to par I will be switching.  

 

Well after many decades working in and around Fortune 500 businesses I can pretty much assure you that Line 6/Yamaha's thoughts on this would be, "some customers just aren't worth having...."

[silverhead]

2 hours ago, Rickholbert said:

Not one person has answered my question.

 

Steve Vai , Joe satriani , John Petrucci, Metallica so on and so on uses Fractual why not Line 6 HELIX?

 

,Here's the surprising answer..... because they prefer it. So it seems do you. Why not get it and be happy?

[gunpointmetal]

2 hours ago, Rickholbert said:

Not one person has answered my question.

 

Steve Vai , Joe satriani , John Petrucci, Metallica so on and so on uses Fractual why not Line 6 HELIX?

Because they bought the product that did what what they wanted it to do out of the box, not what they were hoping it might do a year from now (barring the fact that they may actually be getting them with an artist deal), probably? 

If you're just sitting at home dialing through amp models on the Helix and are thinking "god damn, I really wish this thing had 200 more amp models in it" I'm guessing you should probably be spending more time playing your guitar, or that you don't actually spend time playing your guitar, just dialing in presets and futzing with hardware. In that case you should probably get an AMP and throw out the digital stuff so you have time to, ya know, play guitar. Having 200+ more amp models isn't going to make you sound better. I mean, why don't those guys use the Kemper? There's literally THOUSANDS of amp profiles for the Kemper. 

 

TL;DR - Threatening a message board with "Do this or I'm buying something else!" makes a person look like a grade-school child. You in your return period? Then return it and get a FRACTUAL. Are you out of your return period? Then why the f*&^ would L6 care if you go buy something else? They already got your money.

[phil_m]

1 hour ago, Rickholbert said:

question solved. AxeFX has 270+ amp models. Helix has 75+. Headrush has 34+. Kemper has as many as you wish to profile.

That's my point. if line 6 wants to stay competitive they have to get up to at the least AxeFX. I choose to give the helix the chance so I'll see what happens next year if not up to par I will be switching.  

 

Stay competitive? They’re actually probably the number one modeling brand in the world based on sales alone... So they’re already competing and winning. I just don’t think they about being able have a bulletin point that says they have the most amps modeled just for the sake of having it.

 

Honestly, I’ve played through the AX8, and having that many amps to sort through is almost as a hindrance as much as it’s a feature. The differences between a lot of the models are very minor in the grand scheme of things, and, honestly, even with half the amp models the Fractal products would still be great. To me, the sheer number if amps isn’t a major selling point. It really comes down to how you want to use the unit and how easy it is for you to do what you want to do.

[Kilrahi]

2 hours ago, Rickholbert said:

question solved. AxeFX has 270+ amp models. Helix has 75+. Headrush has 34+. Kemper has as many as you wish to profile.

That's my point. if line 6 wants to stay competitive they have to get up to at the least AxeFX. I choose to give the helix the chance so I'll see what happens next year if not up to par I will be switching.  

 

I realize you're probably not really looking for an answer, but I'll bite and get all business speak with you for a moment. Line 6 IS the dominant modeler. They pretty much started the biz, and they have been "winning" for quite a while now. It's clearly part of why Yamaha wanted to buy them. For other companies who want to compete with Line 6, they only have a few directions they can try to win that fight. They can try to be cheaper, argue that they have "better" sound (which as time goes on will become increasingly hard to win on that front as all systems start to reach a parity of diminishing returns), compete as being easier to use than the Helix, or compete as being premium (selling fewer units but commanding a higher price).

 

Clearly groups like Headrush are trying to compete at the same price level and be easier, with their advantage focus being UI. Boss with the GT-1000 is also trying to compete on Line 6's level (and in my opinion presenting a VERY mixed message about how they're different which probably impacts sales).  Fractal and Kemper are clearly trying to compete on the premium "professional" grade level (more, more, more but you're going to PAY for it).

 

The fact that these different groups exist is not a sign that Line 6 is losing. In fact, you can clearly see Line 6's dominance by how ALL of these companies set up their business practices around Line 6, as well as by the varied and immense product line that Line 6 offers. Simply put, Line 6 already has the power to compete in every single market. For the low budget musician, they have Pods, Firehawks, and now even the Stomp which is kind of a bridge between the Helix and older gear, and for the professional they have the more affordable LT and the premium Helix floor. Where is the affordable Kemper?  Kemper can't even focus on that market right now, and Fractal can only kind of reach it by selling its older gear. Line 6 even competes in the professional premium overkill market with Kemper and Fractal by being the more affordable of the big three as the full Helix is still considered a valid choice between it, Kemper, and Fractal. Especially with IRs, to be frank the NEED to go completely bonkers with a Fractal is a head scratcher to me, but I guess if your the Edge from U2 you probably have more money than you legitimately know what to do with.

 

For any musician out there Helix is probably even overkill for what they REALLY need. It's awesome to live in a time where you can turn all your guitar gear knobs up to 11 and go completely overkill bonkers on choices (Kemper/Fractal, and arguably even Helix) and it's great that there are companies out there who meet those needs, but it really can distract you from the reason we all got into it anyway, which was to enjoy playing awesome music for ourselves and others.

 

I can hook up the ancient Pod kidney bean and plug it into a cheap 90's amp and have my family and friends singing along in seconds. They don't seem to give a damn about any of this.

 

The take away for you though, is you should NOT own a Helix. It was the wrong product for you. I don't know how you got off the beaten path, but you clearly NEED to be drowning in choices, and that clearly puts you in the "premium" overkill market. I have no idea what your income level is, but be prepared to pay for it to be happy. I hear kidneys go for good prices these days in most major city back alleys. Since it's near Christmas perhaps all you'll need to do is pawn off half your liver.  

[Lachdanan0121]

Speaking only on "amp" models below.

 

270 amps? That is a lot. I don't know if I would want that, that would be a lot to shift through. I am also a studio musician, and mixing engineer, so that is coming from someone that uses quite a wide spectrum of sound, and many different styles.

 

Fairly, the helix currently has most of what I want/need. I can pretty much get close to the sound I want already. That said, I can think of about a dozen amps for additional flavors that I would want in the helix (many of which are mentioned in WilljRock's list). But I also know that there are some amps I haven't even thought about that I may really enjoy.

 

100-ish amps total in Helix over the next few years is not an unreasonable want. But almost triple that is too many Imo.

 

[erniedenov]

On 11/19/2018 at 2:51 PM, TRENDKILLCFH333 said:

 

  It already has the Dual Rec and Mark IV - so no need for a Triple Rec or Mark II. 

 

 

A Dual Rectifier sounds very similar to a Triple Rectifier, but the Boogie Mark II and Mark IV are very different beasts. Mark IV has more options but Mark II has a couple of incredible tones that I could never get out of a Mark IV. 

 

That said, I'm fine with the amps that are already in there. With all of the various equalization options in Helix, you can get in the ballpark of making one amp sound pretty close to some others, even from a different company/manufacturer.

[foxmeister]

12 minutes ago, erniedenov said:

That said, I'm fine with the amps that are already in there. With all of the various equalization options in Helix, you can get in the ballpark of making one amp sound pretty close to some others, even from a different company/manufacturer.

^- This!

 

I have a Blues Junior. Helix doesn't have a model for one.

 

However, I've managed to tweak one of Helix's existing models so that it sounds close enough in my opinion, and I think in a mix it would be practically indistinguishable, and it took just a few minutes. If I was prepared to expend more effort, I could probably get it closer, but it is a law of diminishing returns.

 

Oftentimes, close enough is genuinely close enough!