Helix with synth pedal

[jcmathews]

Hi - I've been using the Helix LT live for about 9 months now, but I've barely scratched the surface of it, so pardon me if these are dumb questions. I'm thinking of adding a synth pedal (EHX Synth9 or Boss SY-1) to emulate some keyboard parts (I've been playing some keyboards on stage, but I'm giving that up). If any of you have tried this setup, how do you rig the pedal with your Helix so that you can have synth only, guitar only, and guitar + synth (with the synth not mixed into the guitar signal but as its own separate signal)?

 

Some of these synth pedals seem quite amazing, and might help me avoide lugging around the 58 pound Alesis QS 8.1 I've been using on about 12 songs per night.

 

Thanks in advance and cheers!

J.C. 

[guitarnstuff]

I have the Boss SY300 in a effects loop of the helix. Can use the in and out any spot in the signal chain and mix it from full to zero. Snapshots to taste on each section of the song. Commands from midi per snapshots to switch presets on SY300 or switch SY300 on patch change. Tempo sync per midi etc. Pretty incredible. 
 

[scotterp]

I use the Synth9 in a similar fashion but without the midi, as it does not support midi (more on that later). I have it where I can have only guitar, only synth, or a mix of the 2 with snapshots and external expression pedal. I get comments/questions just about every gig asking if we are using backing tracks, or how am I generating the keyboard sounds. I wish the Helix could produce polyphonic synth sounds - maybe one day - but for now, the Synth9 does a fantastic job for me. 

 

Since the Synth9 is not programmable, I actually use 2 of them set at different pre-configured sounds. I don't want to be changing knobs between songs. I have ordered one of these, and looking forward to being able to use midi in the Helix to control the Synth9 and make use of more sounds: https://www.microdesignum.cz/EN/Products/MIDI-Modules/MIDI-Control-for-Electro-Harmonix-x9