bigcraigie_1 Posted April 17, 2019 Share Posted April 17, 2019 .... but even better and more suited for a different genre than originally intended. So the other day I sat down by the Helix with the intension of creating a patch suited for classic/hard rock lead playing. I decided that, just for a bit of fun, I'd challenge myself and use an amp that I had never used or perhaps only glanced on while surfing the factory presets. I settled on the German Mahadeva (Bognor Shiva) which is an amp I honestly knew nothing about or what its best suited for. Anyway, after a bit of tinkering and placing the Compulsive Drive in front with a little delay and plate reverb at the back, I ended up with a lead blues patch which I named "Gary & Albert". The patch reminded me so much of "Oh Pretty Woman" on Garry Moore's "Still Got the Blues" album. With he compulsive drive off, it was very close to Albert Kings parts and when engaged it absolutely ripped like Gary's parts and both tones not that far off the record. Needless to say, I now need to take a break from playing for a couple of days until my fingers recover from the hours of fun I had, jamming to my JamTrackCentral collection of blues backing tracks. So, any of you guys have similar stories to share around the Helix camp fire of chat? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
somebodyelse Posted April 17, 2019 Share Posted April 17, 2019 Yes and no... ebfore I relate my experience, what guitar are you using? I'm not a Helix user, yet - still mulling it over. My 'rig' is Mesa Triaxis based rack setup. I usually play a custom made ESP HSS Strat-a-like through it. Despite the gear appearance, I'm NOT a metal player, I can assure you. I roll between clean to bluesy levels of OD, I guess and as you should expect with the amount of dough spent, it sounds incredible. Now, I'm not getting any younger and I don't play 'the rig' at home. A few months back, I 'treated' myself to an Epiphone Dot. Yeah, it's cheap, but it plays well and I can't really justify a couple of grand for the real thing, just for home. I play it through a Vox AC4TV and it sounds pleasant enough. It's had pots and caps, picikup adjustments and improved massively. New pickups made a slight difference... Anyhoo, speaker went in one of 'Deep Thought's' cabs a few weeks back, so decided it was time for a change in them and bought a pair of V30s. Installed, in my living room, connected everything up and grabbed the nearest guitar - the Epi... Hells Teeth!!! That thing sounds devastating. Moral of the story, if your guitar sounds 'Meh', don't waste money on pickups. Get a better amp. Another one, FWIW, I use a 'well known amp simulation plugin' in my DAW and get a really good bass sound by feeding the DI through an 'AC30' with a 'EL34' power stage and a 4x15 cab - an approximation of an AC50, I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigcraigie_1 Posted April 17, 2019 Author Share Posted April 17, 2019 Hi Somebodyelse, I was using my heavily modded PRS SE Custom 24 which to be fair sounds great in any set up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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