Hx effects worth buying?

[Stevenbru]

Hello, 

I am thinking for a while know to buy a multi effect unit. I played guitar for a long time but I'm now switching to bass. Since I don't want to buy stomp boxes for both I want to have 1 effector i can use for both (which I understood I could use the hx effects for both bass and guitar) 

I only ever owned a boss me-25 which sounds... Not that good. But I heard good things from gt1000.,me-50 and this line 6.

 

I own a godin 59 custom with boss katana (for guitar ) and a yamaha trbx 505 with a peavey max 150 for bass. 

The sounds I play with friends are rhcp, black sabbath, twisted sisters and some more punk oriated bands we are adding more as we go. (mainly 70-80-90 punk, rock, hard Rock and a bit of metal). 

Setup would be, amps on clean/flat, everything signal wise I want to do on the multi effector so I don't have to stop and dial buttons on the amp. 

 

Is this line 6 product going to suit my needs and what can I expect from the quality that I will hear both for guitar and bass.

 

Also is it possible to have an eq setup pet patch and is this equilizer any good or just simple 3-band? Same question about the quality of a compressor in it if there is one. 

 

Thanks in advance, 

Steven

[rd2rk]

If you have a Katana 100 you can use the HXFX with "4 cable method - 4cm). That means that you can put some HXFX before the Katana amp, and other HXFX between the Katana amp and speakers. If you have a Katana 50 there's no FX Loop, so all the HXFX would have to be before the Katana, like an old-school pedal board and amp.

 

There's several choices of EQs, both graphic and parametric, and several compressors of varying degrees of complexity. How "good" they are depends mostly on how good YOU are at using them.

 

Keep in mind that the HXFX does NOT have amp sims. You'll be using the Katana's amps, so unless flat is where you like them, you'll either be twiddling dials old-school, or creating Katana presets. If you have the Katana head (or Artist) you can use the HXFX to switch Katana presets via MIDI. You can do that with the combos too via USB, but that requires a "USB Host" box.

 

The overall qualty of sound, like anything else having to do with the "quality" of sound, is entirely subjective. Obviously (based on sales) a lot of people really like the "quality of sound" of the Helix line.

 

As for Bass, I have the full fat Helix Floor. While it's great for guitar, I play bass through a FRFR112, and I find it much easier and more satisfying to dial in bass on my ancient Boss ME-50b. Probably more to do with familiarity than anything else - "If it ain't broke...." YMMV.

[Stevenbru]

Thanks for the answer rd2rk. I have the katana 100 with the fx loop. I thought to just put it on clean+flat eq and use the multi effects to shape the sound by setting pedals up. 

Is it viable for bass? I rather have just 1 for guitar and bass to keep it simple and so I don't have too much equipment lying around. 

[rd2rk]

The answer to both is "Try it and see". A realistically modeled guitar amp behaves differently at different volumes and with different tone stack settings, and at any of those infinitely variable settings interacts differently with different effects. Just like the REAL THING. What you're planning to do you might as well have a simple, flat, PA type amp. Then you could have whatever speaker cab tickles your fancy instead of being stuck with the one Katana open-back cab. You're kind of letting the concept of "simplicity" drive your tonal choices. Then,  if it doesn't provide the "quality of sound" that you're seeking, what, blame the HXFX?

 

It's my understanding that the bass effects will continue to be added to over time. In the name of "simplicity" I tried using Helix for bass. Lots of different amps, all those speaker cab/IR choices, it had to be better? Maybe, but several hours spent messing with it and I'm still happier with my ME-50b. Again, YMMV. Try it and see. The effects might be the perfect combination with YOUR amp.

 

[Stevenbru]

Thank you for the answer rd2rk. I want to keep it simple, meaning I don't want to tap dance on a pedal board or have 7 dials to setup 1 effect. I hope I'm explaining it in a good way. 

I don't mind putting effort in getting a good tone, I just not want to do it with a lot of equipment/settings/dials. 

 

I'm going to the the extra large keymusic shop tomorrow. See if I can try some of the multi effectors there. Problem is they have boss katana but no peavey bass amp. Might bring my amp with me to test.

[rd2rk]

If an effect, IRL, has 7 dials, the Helix modeled version of that effect will have 7 dials. That's what "modeled" means!

Imagine a pedal board with 9 effects with an average of 3 knobs each. Each song in your set requires different effects, and different settings of each effect for the different parts..

IRL, that's impossible to manage. With HXFX, each Preset can have 4 "Snapshots". A Snapshot is a completely different configuration of the 9 effects and ALL of their parameters.

By pressing 1 button. And you get 4 Snapshots per Preset.

Now imagine having 128 different pedal boards with that capability, switchable by pressing 1 button (presets). 

And, via MIDI, you can switch the presets in your Katana so that you can use different Katana amps/effects with each Snapshot.

 

That's a LOT of power. Simple? No. There's a learning curve, and there's time required to configure it all.

You want simple?

You already own simple! It's called Katana. And the ME series of BOSS multi-fx is also great.

 

I HIGHLY recommend that you DL and have a look at the HXFX manual BEFORE you go to test it. The manual is NOT highly technical, and will answer a lot of your questions.

[Stevenbru]

Looking at the manual as we speak. Kinda excited actually. 

Tomorrow is the day :-D

[amsdenj]

I use HX Effects in a Helix effects loop for front of the amp effects. I like having the extra footswitches and patch options.

 

[Stevenbru]

Aah late reply. I've been on holiday meanwhile. I got the helix 6 lt. For now I use it just as a stomp box + pre amp sim into the return of my peavey. I use amp + cab sim through headphones late at night. But the helix lt was a bit bigger than my gf anticipated and is complaining about too much material. Thinking I might sell my katana and peavey amp and get a qsc K12.2.