A week in with the Stomp

[regalpierot]

Background. I owned a full helix floor. A lot I loved about it, but the size was just too much to be useful and I worried about all those morning parts. Sold it. When the HX Effects came out I thought it was the perfect solution, it's pretty great, but I really missed the amp and cab sims side, and really really missed the headphone jack (one thing I loved about the helix was how great things sounded through headphones, as well as allowing me to play when the kids were in bed I firmly believe the better the tone, the more creativity gets encouraged in those small windows most of us have to play...and well be creative). I also missed the audio interface side of things.

 

Roll on a few months and the stomp was released I initially saw the price tag, and the limited number of blocks and foot switches and thought, zero interest. Recently I got a really nice gist token to sweetwater from work so, well, thought I'd give the stomp a try. A week in, it's just truly won me over. Headphone and USB interface back. What I thought was a block limitation, is absolutely not an issue. It makes me think how bizarre I approached the full helix and HX Effects, the choices were

 

1. Build one monster preset and just map the blocks to foots switches, use it like a single pedal board for shows. 

2. Build a preset for every song, use blocks for the sake of using blocks when in reality most songs don't need that much signal altering or changes.

 

Option 1 was like having a Ferrari you never took out of first gear, Option 2 was like having a Ferrari that you'd changed into third gear while still in the driveway.

 

Different for different folks, but the six blocks on Stomp just simplifies everything, five or so presets gets me through an entire set (I try to keep a consistency in my tone for tracks we do, keep the bands sound somewhat constant).

 

It's absolutely the perfect solution, really is. Wish I'd had this years ago

[Kilrahi]

I agree. I bought the Stomp hoping to be satisfied with it, and I'm more blown away by it than I expected. My only complaint is it's given me Helix longing syndrome which I'd never really felt before.

 

I'm always amazed at the players who can use the full range of the Helix. They're out there - heck, a lot of them are on this board. I can watch their youtube stuff over and over again hoping to glean something of their skills as I do. It's pretty amazing.

 

Realistically though, it's just far more complicated than I ever get, and the Stomp totally hits the mark 99% of the time. Some of my favorite tones of all time were done by a simple amp and some reverb - this thing nails every single one of those. Most of my faves, and the personal stuff I like to do, never go much beyond a compressor, distortion pedal, amp, delay, and reverb. A phaser here and there - and the Stomp has endless permutations on that.  My only gripe with the Stomp is I truly think they need a way to have FX send blocks not count towards your six, and I do miss the Variax possibilities with the Helix (which is why I keep having Helix longing syndrome now that I know what the Stomp can, and can not, do).

 

Plus my wife has slept better since I could move to a headphone setup, and our house is less often a mess of cables going everywhere.

[PeterHamm]

When I first got Stomp, I thought it would be way less useful to me as it has turned out to be. I play at my church, and now it's the only thing I ever bring.

[MusicLaw]

Thanks for posting! As a 2 year Helix Floor owner, I am enjoying reading your experiences as I await my HX Stomp. Keep the positive posts coming!

[regalpierot]

Of course what would a new purchase be without a few wish list things. As it’s hardware, not happening, but v 2.0

 

1. A VDI input, really like to run my Variax that way. Nice to have 

 

2. A dedicated button for switching between modes (Preset, Stomp, Snapshot etc). If one more footswich could have been fit on the upper right or the likes that would have been great. Hopping between preset and stomp mode is big for me and hate leaning down and fiddling about on stage. 

 

And actually worth asking, does HX Edit have an Undo. I keep doing stupid things like getting a block perfect, then by mistake having it highlighted as I select another effect and immediately overwriting. Even a message for ‘want to overwrite existing block’. Too easy to do. 

[PeterHamm]

8 hours ago, regalpierot said:

Of course what would a new purchase be without a few wish list things. As it’s hardware, not happening, but v 2.0

 

1. A VDI input, really like to run my Variax that way. Nice to have 

 

2. A dedicated button for switching between modes (Preset, Stomp, Snapshot etc). If one more footswich could have been fit on the upper right or the likes that would have been great. Hopping between preset and stomp mode is big for me and hate leaning down and fiddling about on stage. 

 

And actually worth asking, does HX Edit have an Undo. I keep doing stupid things like getting a block perfect, then by mistake having it highlighted as I select another effect and immediately overwriting. Even a message for ‘want to overwrite existing block’. Too easy to do. 

1. VDI input would raise the cost (and size) of stomp so much that... (wait for it...) it'd be darn near as much as an LT. If you need VDI, I don't think it's making its way to something that small anytime soon.

 

2. I LOVE that idea. put it on idea scale!

 

and no, no Undo, as Edit is just a remote control for the unit. Save often.

[Kilrahi]

 

12 hours ago, regalpierot said:

Of course what would a new purchase be without a few wish list things. As it’s hardware, not happening, but v 2.0

 

1. A VDI input, really like to run my Variax that way. Nice to have 

 

2. A dedicated button for switching between modes (Preset, Stomp, Snapshot etc). If one more footswich could have been fit on the upper right or the likes that would have been great. Hopping between preset and stomp mode is big for me and hate leaning down and fiddling about on stage. 

 

And actually worth asking, does HX Edit have an Undo. I keep doing stupid things like getting a block perfect, then by mistake having it highlighted as I select another effect and immediately overwriting. Even a message for ‘want to overwrite existing block’. Too easy to do. 

 

1. Yeah . . . I miss the VDI input too. I get it . . . doesn't mean I don't miss it. It'd be nice if there was some sort of portable VDI adapter Varaix adopters could buy to at least give you some of that functionality (maybe not the power option, but perhaps snap it into the guitar, connect a phone to it, change tunings and guitar models on the fly through an app, etc.). Dunno what type of market there is for that, but I'd buy it.

 

2. Yeah I agree. It's hard to cram anymore on that thing though, but some of those top buttons protrude and can be pushed down. Might be useful to change something so that pushing one of them in changed modes. To me that's the only limitation, because I like have a dual stomp and snapshot mode going on with an attached footswitch, but then there's no easy way to change to a new preset. Yeah, put it up on ideascale and I'd vote it.

[Kevin-M]

I’ve had mine for a few weeks now and really like it as is. I’ve built a pedal board around it now....MidiMouse, Strymon BigSky, nano POG, and Mission Engineering pedal. The Helix editor is awesome and I can build quality patches easily and quickly  on it.  

[Droopy_TX]

I am a bass player. We're probably in the minority here. I think Line 6 should proactively promote the Stomp as the perfect Helix for bassists. I am really loving mine, and hope that Line 6 understands this marketing demo and continues to grow its capabilities for us.

 

We don't generally run as many effects as a guitarist, nor are we necessarily concerned about changing preset mid song and issues with trails or spillover. So, the 6 block limit isn't too restrictive, other than running separate paths/outputs to FOH and stage amp.