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User Defaults vs Favorites - Amp settings


themetallikid
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I myself have struggled with this a bit.  I get the difference between them of course.  I use favorites for settings that I use within my presets t0 help with preset setup and building.  This also makes leveling presets much easier.  

 

I've never really played with the user defaults on the amps.  I would prefer not to 'clutter' my favorites with amp block favorites....however, what do you do with the amps that have multiple 'best' settings for you?  Amps like JC120, likely have a good central setting for a tone, but others for sure are not the 'one trick ponies' they can be written off as.  So how do you approach saving settings in this situation?

 

Just looking for ideas as I'd like to use this feature but do it 'smartly'.

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When I have differently configured versions of the same Block, I'll save each to Favorites using a slightly different Prefix or Suffix to indicate Cln, Drv, Bst, etc.

 

If I feel that any Factory Default Block is not to my liking, after adjusting it, I save that personalize version as my User Model Default. Now whenever I choose that Block from the Block Selection List, my version is what I get -- not the Factory Version. Subsequently, if I want to make further changes to that UMD yet I do not want to start from scratch (i.e. Factory Default parameter settings), I'll first save that User Model Default as a Favorite (appropriately named with a suffix of: UMD1 or UMD2, etc.) Then, I'll proceed to further adjust any parameters and resave it as my User Model Default. Sometimes I'll also save it as Favorite as Favorites are quick to access. Should I ever want to revert a UMD to Factory Default, it's a quick click to do so. 

 

Hope this helps...

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On 12/2/2022 at 4:54 PM, MusicLaw said:

When I have differently configured versions of the same Block, I'll save each to Favorites using a slightly different Prefix or Suffix to indicate Cln, Drv, Bst, etc.

 

If I feel that any Factory Default Block is not to my liking, after adjusting it, I save that personalize version as my User Model Default. Now whenever I choose that Block from the Block Selection List, my version is what I get -- not the Factory Version. Subsequently, if I want to make further changes to that UMD yet I do not want to start from scratch (i.e. Factory Default parameter settings), I'll first save that User Model Default as a Favorite (appropriately named with a suffix of: UMD1 or UMD2, etc.) Then, I'll proceed to further adjust any parameters and resave it as my User Model Default. Sometimes I'll also save it as Favorite as Favorites are quick to access. Should I ever want to revert a UMD to Factory Default, it's a quick click to do so. 

 

Hope this helps...

It does and it doesn't...lol, I'll explain...   Your method matches how I envisioned using it and have tried using it in the past.  My 'issue' (if you can even call it that) is that I can't get over the hurdle of having 2 locations to look for an amp sound.  I'd rather just see them all together.  I know, picky....but it's how my mind likes to organize and look for things.  I keep my selists/presets/favorites well kept and organized.  

 

Side question....is there a limit to the number of favorites we can have saved?  128?

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Yeah, so.... over the weekend I went through Factory List 1 and removed the effects from the Amp presets and came up with a Clean/Gritty/Pushed/Crunch/Rock/Heavy Cab selections that I liked.  Using those cab selections, I then went through and saved the amps in their sound versions (Twin Clean, Rockerverb - Crunch, etc) and have them grouped in my favorites by the sound type (clean, gritty, etc).  

 

I'm up to about 70 presets.  There are a few amps that I did not find in those stock presets I need to go through yet that I'd really like to add in there.  

 

My next step I think is to go through each of the sound type selections and this is where I'm stuck.  Either sort each category from a tone perspective...or resort the presets by amp name, so I'd have all of the Twins together, all of the Placatars together.  Because I do a preset/song approach, I think having them sorted by sound type makes more sense.  Rather than thinking, "oh I need a Twin for this song", I tend to think "oh, I need a gritty type picking tone' and then choose from those amps I've already saved.  

 

I think I'll keep the Defaults as the Factory Defaults.  Though if I get around to it, I may save more of my fave tone of each amp type. IDK though on this one.  

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Quite a lot of work! If I'm understanding you correctly, your Favorites now contain Amp&Cab Blocks named by sound type so that they group accordingly. You also have the remaining Factory List 1 Preset's devoid of FX Blocks? Are your approx 70 Presets in Factory List 1? Or, did you place them into a differently named Presets List?

 

Would be a good idea, if not already done, to rename the edited Factory List 1 to something else. This would avoid confusion when a new firmware update is released -- whenever that may be -- (or should you need to reinstall the firmware) so when the Factory Reset is done and the Factory List 1 is replaced with the actual Factory List 1 Default Presets, your customized efforts won't be confused. Of course, the Backup done at the start of a new firmware install also performs a Backup which would contain the same name Factory List 1 of your customized or repositioned presets. Always best to rename your edited Preset Lists so they are meaningful to you! When doing a Restore from Backups, you can select any Preset List, Favorites, and User Model Defaults (UMD), as well as Global Settings.

 

Your "preset/song approach, <snip> having them sorted by sound type makes more sense.  Rather than thinking, "oh I need a Twin for this song", I tend to think "oh, I need a gritty type picking tone' and then choose from those amps I've already saved{.}" seems to be the answer to your question. 

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On a somewhat related note, here's one thing that drives me nuts in the Helix.  

 

When I'm editing a patch and I want to move to the next block on the right or left of the current block, I often (by accident) turn the joystick knob rather than pushing it left or right. Doing so changes the current block to the next effect in the list.  When you turn the knob in the the opposite diection to get back to the original effect that was there, all of the its parameters have reverted back to factory settings.  The only way to retrieve the original settings you had is to exit from the patch and return to it.  If you had made multiple changes within the patch, those changes will be lost.

 

I know this is just a matter of me being a dumba$$ by turning when I should be pushing, but I've been using a Boss GT-100/GT-1000 processors for years now (I still use the GT-1000) and on the Boss units you turn a knob to navigate between patches, so its just second nature to me.  It would be nice if the effect parameters could remembered at least as long as you're still within a patch.  The instant that you turn that knob you lose all of the parameters that had been set for the current block. 

 

This also makes it difficult to compare one effect to another.  Let's say you want to add a delay to your patch but you're not sure which specific delay.  You pick one of them (we'll call it "A"), you adjust the time/feedback/etc to your liking, and now you want to audition a different delay effect (call it "B").  "B" comes in with factory default parameters which are all different so you must adjust the time/feedback/etc parameters similar to what you had on delay "A".  You listen to "B" and now you want to listen to "A" again.  When you turn the knob back to delay "A", its settings have all reverted back to the factory settings.  Its like trying to A-B compare two stompbox effects, but every time you switch between them some little kid reaches over and twists all the knobs. 

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On 12/5/2022 at 1:52 PM, MusicLaw said:

Quite a lot of work! If I'm understanding you correctly, your Favorites now contain Amp&Cab Blocks named by sound type so that they group accordingly. You also have the remaining Factory List 1 Preset's devoid of FX Blocks? Are your approx 70 Presets in Factory List 1? Or, did you place them into a differently named Presets List?

 

Would be a good idea, if not already done, to rename the edited Factory List 1 to something else. This would avoid confusion when a new firmware update is released -- whenever that may be -- (or should you need to reinstall the firmware) so when the Factory Reset is done and the Factory List 1 is replaced with the actual Factory List 1 Default Presets, your customized efforts won't be confused. Of course, the Backup done at the start of a new firmware install also performs a Backup which would contain the same name Factory List 1 of your customized or repositioned presets. Always best to rename your edited Preset Lists so they are meaningful to you! When doing a Restore from Backups, you can select any Preset List, Favorites, and User Model Defaults (UMD), as well as Global Settings.

 

Your "preset/song approach, <snip> having them sorted by sound type makes more sense.  Rather than thinking, "oh I need a Twin for this song", I tend to think "oh, I need a gritty type picking tone' and then choose from those amps I've already saved{.}" seems to be the answer to your question. 

Yeah I didnt word that first part well.  lol....   I took the presets that were not 'artist' inspired presets and deleted the FX out of those, leaving just the Amps/Cabs.  I then went through the amps showcased in those presets and got every type of tone that I'd use and saved it as a new preset.  For example, using the Placatar Dirty I got 4 tones out of it.  Gritty/Pushed/Crunch/Rock.  Labeled as Placatar Gritty/Pushed etc.  But because this amp is so versatile, I also did a 'Saturated' version with a 2 at the end of the name.  So I got 8 presets out of the Placatar Dirty Model.  

 

The cabs I have 5 that seemed to work well with each tone I was looking for.  I got that idea from Steve Sterlacci (sp?).  He did a review of the 3.5 update and the cabs where he just chose a solid cab/mic option and no matter what type of amp you threw at it, it sounded good with minimal tweaking.  So I started there.  All my cleans use the same cab combination, same with other tone styles.  Is it perfect, no...but i'm basically creating 'better' starting blocks for me to be consistent with preset building.  

 

Time consuming you bet, lol, but I'm not done yet.  Few amps to go, then going to try and best level them by ear (not perfectly but at least ballpark.  As once you drop them in a song preset there could be other things to throw the volume off a bit anyway.  Also gonna drop in the Dynamic Ambience on each preset from a favorite block I have.  

 

THEN...after that, resave the setlist as my Core Setlist.  I'll probably go back through my saved presets list and narrow down what I've saved a bit and remove ones that seem to duplicate to another or really didnt dial in well.  That will give me a nice libary to create some favorites from.   

 

I'm not really in a full project right now, so I have time...lol.  

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On 12/5/2022 at 2:42 PM, MojoAxe said:

On a somewhat related note, here's one thing that drives me nuts in the Helix.  

 

When I'm editing a patch and I want to move to the next block on the right or left of the current block, I often (by accident) turn the joystick knob rather than pushing it left or right. Doing so changes the current block to the next effect in the list.  When you turn the knob in the the opposite diection to get back to the original effect that was there, all of the its parameters have reverted back to factory settings.  The only way to retrieve the original settings you had is to exit and return to the patch.  The problem is that if you had made multiple changes within the patch, those changes will be lost.

 

I know this is just a matter of me being a dumba$$, but I've been using a Boss GT-100/GT-1000 processors for years now (I still use the GT-1000) and on the Boss units you turn a knob to navigate between patches, so its just second nature to me.  It would be nice if the effect parameters could remembered at least as long as you're still within a patch.  The instant that you turn that knob you lose all of the effects settings for the current block. 

 

This also makes it difficult to compare one effect to another.  Let's say you want to add a delay to your patch but you're not sure which specific delay.  You pick one of them (we'll call it "A"), you adjust the time/feedback/etc to your liking, and now you want to audition a different delay effect (call it "B").  "B" comes in with factory default parameters which are all different so you must adjust the time/feedback/etc parameters to what you had on "A".  You listen to "B" and now you want to listen to "A" again.  When you turn the knob back to delay "A", its settings have all reverted back to the factory settings.  Its like trying to A-B compare two stompbox effects, but every time you switch between them some little kid reaches over and twists all the knobs on you. 

There is a global setting introduced a few versions ago where you can change the behavior of that knob.  I did that as well for awhile.  I think you can change it to 'relocate' a block instead of 'choose' next block or something.  

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On 12/5/2022 at 3:42 PM, MojoAxe said:

On a somewhat related note, here's one thing that drives me nuts in the Helix.  

 

When I'm editing a patch and I want to move to the next block on the right or left of the current block, I often (by accident) turn the joystick knob rather than pushing it left or right. Doing so changes the current block to the next effect in the list.  When you turn the knob in the the opposite diection to get back to the original effect that was there, all of the its parameters have reverted back to factory settings.  The only way to retrieve the original settings you had is to exit from the patch and return to it.  If you had made multiple changes within the patch, those changes will be lost.

 

I know this is just a matter of me being a dumba$$ by turning when I should be pushing, but I've been using a Boss GT-100/GT-1000 processors for years now (I still use the GT-1000) and on the Boss units you turn a knob to navigate between patches, so its just second nature to me.  It would be nice if the effect parameters could remembered at least as long as you're still within a patch.  The instant that you turn that knob you lose all of the parameters that had been set for the current block. 

 

This also makes it difficult to compare one effect to another.  Let's say you want to add a delay to your patch but you're not sure which specific delay.  You pick one of them (we'll call it "A"), you adjust the time/feedback/etc to your liking, and now you want to audition a different delay effect (call it "B").  "B" comes in with factory default parameters which are all different so you must adjust the time/feedback/etc parameters similar to what you had on delay "A".  You listen to "B" and now you want to listen to "A" again.  When you turn the knob back to delay "A", its settings have all reverted back to the factory settings.  Its like trying to A-B compare two stompbox effects, but every time you switch between them some little kid reaches over and twists all the knobs. 

 

On 12/5/2022 at 3:45 PM, themetallikid said:

There is a global setting introduced a few versions ago where you can change the behavior of that knob.  I did that as well for awhile.  I think you can change it to 'relocate' a block instead of 'choose' next block or something.  

 

Go to global settings Preferences --> 'Joystick Encoder' and change the setting.

 

From the manual:

"Joystick Encoder - Determines the joystick behavior when a block is selected within the Home screen - signal flow. For “Model” (the default), turning the joystick knob scrolls through available models for the selected block. For “Selection,” turning the joystick knob quickly navigates selecting blocks across the signal flow. SHORTCUT: Pressing while turning the joystick reverses the current joystick behavior"

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On 12/5/2022 at 3:45 PM, themetallikid said:

There is a global setting introduced a few versions ago where you can change the behavior of that knob.  I did that as well for awhile.  I think you can change it to 'relocate' a block instead of 'choose' next block or something.  

Thanks for the tip.  That's a feature that I was unware of.  I sold my Helix a couple years ago when the firmware was at 2.70.  After reading all of the fanfare about the 3.50 CAB update I decided to give the Helix a second chance so I bought another one last month and I'm still catching up on the changes.

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