Helix Hx unusual use - amp advice

[Miserablegit]

I was a gigging musician who was forced to stop performing due to throat cancer.

 

Money was tight and I sold all my gear, except for a couple of high-end acoustics and an AER Mobile acoustic amp, with the intention of busking, playing instrumentals.

 

Recently my family, knowing how much I missed my Strat, clubbed together for a replacement, along wih the Helix HX, assuming I could use it with the AER, but there is no way the HX supplies a strong enough signal to give any volume. 

 

I can't ask for a donation for an amp as well, so does anyone have any ideas for a cheap solution to use the AER. Yes, an acoustic amp is not ideal I know, but it's what I have,  and I'll only be playing the strat with backing tracks at home anyway.

Edited September 17, 2019 by Miserablegit
Spelling errors

[rd2rk]

It depends what kind of sound you're going for. A Strat into an acoustic amp won't sound like a Triple Rec, but it's 60 watts, that's plenty of power, and it has an FX Loop, Yes?

Make sure the Output Level Setting in Global Settings matches the AER Input level - Inst or Line.

Connect the HXFX in 4cm* and stack some OD/Distortions in front of the FX Loop Block. For Clean sounds and shaping the Distorted sounds there's all sorts of compressors and EQs.

For busking you might need a pretty potent battery. Maybe someone else will chime in with what works? If not, try the Digital and Modeling forum over on The Gear Page.

 

*4cm - 4 cable method:

Guitar to HXFX In - OD/Dist/Comp/EQ Blocks - HXFX Send/Return Block - HX FX Send - Amp In - Amp FX Send - HXFX Return - Delay/Reverb/Comp/EQ Blocks - HX Out - Amp FX Return

 

[codamedia]

5 hours ago, Miserablegit said:

Recently my family, knowing how much I missed my Strat, clubbed together for a replacement, along wih the Helix HX, assuming I could use it with the AER, but there is no way the HX supplies a strong enough signal to give any volume. 

 

Why doesn't the HX supply enough signal to the AER... that doesn't seem right to me. 

There is no "amp sim" in the HX so the tone might not be exactly what you want (yet) but there should be plenty of signal. 

 

Check the global settings... make sure the inputs are set to "instrument". If they are set to line, your guitar will not have any signal. 

The outputs should work fine set to "instrument" but if you need more juice.... just set it to LINE and it will push the AER harder. 

 

NOW: Back to getting a decent electric tone out of the HX Effects into an Acoustic Amp. 

• Download the free ALLURE IR SPEAKER PACK from Line 6
• install the IR's on the HX Effects
• Insert an IR block near the end of the effect chain... experiment with different ones for different tones. 
  • That gives you speaker emulation... which is half the battle of getting good electric tones.....
• Now insert some common "amp style" controls on the HX Effects
  • Gain block
  • EQ 
  • Compressor
  • Overdrives...
  • Reverb
  • etc... etc...
• Those are all optional just suggestions... use what you want to shape a tone.

I've done this several times and it works fine. It's not as easy as an Amp Sim, but it is flexible and can sound very good. 

 

[Miserablegit]

Thanks for the info guys. Being an aged dyed in the wool stompbox man, this piece of kit is a whole new ball game, but I'll do some research to get my head around the suggestions you've given. 

 

Busking will be  for the acoustics only, so battery life is not an issu in this case, I just want to get some decent sounds to please me (and maybe the neighbours!).

 

Thanks again. I shall be back at some point to tell you how I got on.