k2mia Posted October 5, 2020 Share Posted October 5, 2020 Hi All, I just got a Variax last week and I have been testing it with my existing presets, the magnetic pickups are much hotter than what I have been using (a mid-80s Squier). I tried adjusting the guitar-in-z and i reduced the volume by a bit but it still sounds much dirtier than how I want my presets to sound. This is all new to me - What is the best approach for adjusting presets for hotter pickups? Thank you, Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schmalle Posted October 5, 2020 Share Posted October 5, 2020 Drive on the Helix amps is the control that on real counterparts can have other labels like gain, volume etc. Reducing it makes the sound less overdriven (=dirty) and usually brighter as well. If your preset uses a Distortion block, reduce it's gain first and/or it's volume. Also make sure that you didn't accidentally change Global Settings -> Ins/Outs -> Input Level. It should be set to Inst for magnetic pickups. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reginaldStjohn Posted October 5, 2020 Share Posted October 5, 2020 In global settings you can also enable the "pad" which will reduce the guitar input 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k2mia Posted October 5, 2020 Author Share Posted October 5, 2020 Thank you for the help, I will try these suggestions ! : -Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
codamedia Posted October 5, 2020 Share Posted October 5, 2020 I use a GAIN block in the first position on my Helix to manage this scenario. I prefer the control it provides over the input pad which is just a fixed decrease in level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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