helix Helix long time professional use

[hausi_117]

Hey there!

so I wanted to ask, what are your experiences in the long run with the helix, especially in professional use/touring?

Right now I am a Kemper + pedalboard player as well as the Boss GT 1000, but never got quite statisfied. But having tried the helix more recently I was very happy with the sounds I got as well as the flexibility.

Since I am professionally gigging musician my question is:

Did you have any major issues, freezing, parts breaking, errors during shows, total dropouts etc.

I had a HX Stomp and a HX Effects, both times I had the bad luck of a faulty unit. Gear failure just must not happen for me.

So what are the opinions on the helix of the touring musicians out here, since the helix has been out for a few years? (Sound, reliability, build quality) :)

[phil_m]

What type of issues did you have with the HX Effects and HX Stomp?

 

I'm not a professional musician and don't tour, but I've played quite a few gigs with my Helix over the last four years.

 

Alex Strabala is pretty active in the big Helix Facebook group, and I think he said he's played over 600 shows with his Helix with his band (http://lovelytheband.com/). They had four Helices on their last tour. https://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?posts/28345881/

 

[hausi_117]

The HX Stomp had broken outputs where I was just getting noise and the HX Effects had a faulty footswitch which caused the unit to freeze, but I am still not giving up on line6 since I hear so many great things!

 

thanks a lot!

[gunpointmetal]

I've had mine since a few months after launch with daily use, transporting 3-5 days a week on a pedalboard to rehearsal and shows, and haven't had an issue.

That being said, if you rely on your gear for your paycheck and you're using it everyday and traveling, you need to have a backup with all your settings update alongside your main unit. Anything less would be irresponsible.

[hausi_117]

2 minutes ago, gunpointmetal said:

I've had mine since a few months after launch with daily use, transporting 3-5 days a week on a pedalboard to rehearsal and shows, and haven't had an issue.

That being said, if you rely on your gear for your paycheck and you're using it everyday and traveling, you need to have a backup with all your settings update alongside your main unit. Anything less would be irresponsible.

Thanks your your respone, sounds great, do you have a stomp or a floor?

 

yeah, I always keep a little preamp and cabsim in my pocket as a backup! Luckily never needes it but would get me through the gig.

[gunpointmetal]

I have the Floor. It's been rock solid live and for recording since I got it. My only problem was GC not honoring their preorder and sending units to "Platinum Stores" for sale instead of to the people who paid up front.

[codamedia]

I gig regularly (about 120 shows a year) and tour on occasion. I've owned my LT for a little more than a year and have not had any issues. it has been as reliable as any other piece of gear I've owned. 

 

I have an old HD500 that goes to all shows (local or tours) as a back up, and has NEVER been called to action (knock on wood). I fire it up once every couple weeks just to make sure it's still working :)  My faith in the Helix is rooted in the Line 6 quality over the years. Before the Helix my HD500 was in full use for about 3 - 4 years, and before that was an X3 Live for about the same amount of time. I simply have never had any problems. 

[markdenman123]

I have been using a Helix Rack/Helix Control since they were introduced.  I have done about 400 shows with them, locally and throughout the south eastern US.  I have NEVER had an issue with my Helix gear.  I keep my Helix Rack in a TSA-approved 4 space rack with a power conditioner and a G50 wireless hidden in the back.  It has been an incredibly stable rig that has provided me with a consistent tone across every venue.  I play original music, so I'm really only using one tone with some snapshots.  Each song in our set has it's own preset of that rig with specific effects that work for that song - controlled by the snapshots.  It has been a wonderful switch.  Prior to the Helix I was using a Rivera-based rig with a 12 space rack that was MIDI controlled by a GCX/Ground Control Pro unit.  I was able to replace 8 stomp boxes and three rack effects units, a stereo tube head and multiple cabs with the Helix Rack/Control and an EV ZLX12P wedge.  I couldn't be happier.

[lungho]

I've been playing 100+ shows a year locally with my Helix floor that I purchased in Feb of '16 and I haven't had any issues at all.  Before that, I was using an X3 Live.  I rarely tour these days, so I do not have any opinions in regards to the Helix's durability on the road.  Since migrating to modelers, I've never had any issues with Line 6's quality or reliability.  

[DunedinDragon]

I play about 100 shows per year, some touring but mostly local with my Helix floor over the last 4 years.  The only failure I've had was in the first year when the joystick quit responding to pushes.  I sent the unit in on Monday and got it back on Friday fixed.  I wasn't sure about getting it back in time for my weekend shows so I bought a second Helix floor as a backup, but I ended up not needing to use it and used my original repaired unit.  That original units is still my active live unit to this day.  I have the backup and use it in my studio, but I've yet to need to use it for a live show, but it gets used pretty much daily in the studio.

[erniedenov]

About half of my gigs are on tour and the other half are in town (Chicago). I took the Helix Floor on tour when it was brand new and our soundman didn't like it because it was noisy. That was my fault; I hadn't started using the noise gate yet (duh!) I've been planning on taking it on tour again sometime in the near future (been using rented Mesa Triple Rectifier half stacks with my Line 6 M13).

 

I do use it on all of my local gigs; direct to FOH (while using in-ear monitors) in my wedding/corporate party band and with my Alto FRFR speaker at jazz and rock clubs. Been doing that for over 2 years and the only issues I've had were again, me being stupid; stuff like tweaking on the fly and pressing "save" while the pedal was in the heel position.

 

Helix is built like a tank and I've found it to be completely reliable so far.

[amsdenj]

I've used Helix for the last four years, about 30 gigs a year. I've never had a problem other than patches not working quite as I expected, and some unreliable foot switches. I had a lot more issues with my tube amp back in the day. And I seen a lot of people kicking wires to get their pedal board working.  

[rzumwalt]

On 9/25/2019 at 4:22 PM, amsdenj said:

I've used Helix for the last four years, about 30 gigs a year. I've never had a problem other than patches not working quite as I expected, and some unreliable foot switches. I had a lot more issues with my tube amp back in the day. And I seen a lot of people kicking wires to get their pedal board working.  

 

I've had just about the same experience. I also have a two-year old who likes to pound on buttons and anything shiny in indiscriminate manner when his dad isn't looking. I have one footswitch that needs to be pressed juuuuuuuuuuust right. Otherwise no problems since I got it when it was first released.