Sticking an external distortion pedal in the Helix

[357mag]

It's my understanding that you can use an external pedal (like a distortion) in the Send and Return jacks at the back of the Helix. Is the resultant sound fairly good or is it quite bad?

[silverhead]

The results are good as far as the connections and technical aspects go. But if you’re using a bad sounding external pedal, or not configuring it appropriately for the Helix preset then yes, you can make it sound bad.

[cruisinon2]

On 9/27/2024 at 8:28 AM, 357mag said:

It's my understanding that you can use an external pedal (like a distortion) in the Send and Return jacks at the back of the Helix. Is the resultant sound fairly good or is it quite bad?

 

Good/bad is entirely subjective. Your definition of a pleasing guitar tone might sound like somebody rattling a coffee can full of nickels to me, and vice versa...and it has absolutely nothing to do with the gear. Perception is just weird, highly variable, and mostly unexplainable...but I digress.

 

For the purposes of this discussion I'll assume that we're not talking about some junk "experiment" of a distortion pedal from a company that's made nothing but toasters and microwaves for the last 50 years. That scenario aside, most gear combinations can be made to sound good. However, the exact same gear in different hands might sound like $hit...and when the results are lousy, 99.97% of the time it's because of user error and/or lack of experience. In other words if you don't have an understanding of what makes different types of gear sound the way they do, and what you might have to do in order to get any two units to play nice with each other, then the gear itself is almost irrelevant and you will struggle no matter what's in your rig. Your mileage will vary accordingly.

[ricstudioc]

On 9/27/2024 at 6:40 AM, cruisinon2 said:

might sound like somebody rattling a coffee can full of nickels to me

Did I see you at one of my shows?  :-)

[rd2rk]

IME putting an OD/DISTORTION pedal in the FX Loop tends to boost the small bit of noise that exists in the FX Loop. These pedals are meant to be placed between the guitar and amp and work best with Helix when placed between the guitar and Helix. YMMV.

[357mag]

"Not configuring it  appropriately for the  Helix preset..."

 

Can you elaborate a little?

 

I'm getting a POD X3 Pro also, which I believe has an FX Loop too.

[trhx]

On 9/27/2024 at 1:13 PM, rd2rk said:

IME putting an OD/DISTORTION pedal in the FX Loop tends to boost the small bit of noise that exists in the FX Loop. These pedals are meant to be placed between the guitar and amp and work best with Helix when placed between the guitar and Helix. YMMV.

 

If he wants to use a Helix compressor, wah or volume pedal before the distortion, that would be a reason to place the loop blocks after those.

[trhx]

On 9/27/2024 at 8:28 AM, 357mag said:

It's my understanding that you can use an external pedal (like a distortion) in the Send and Return jacks at the back of the Helix. Is the resultant sound fairly good or is it quite bad?

 

There's no reason the pedal should sound very different going through the loop than it would sound in a non-Helix chain. Are you considering the loop so you can place it after other Helix blocks (like compression), or some other reason?

[rd2rk]

On 9/30/2024 at 9:30 PM, trhx said:

 

If he wants to use a Helix compressor, wah or volume pedal before the distortion, that would be a reason to place the loop blocks after those.

 

On 9/30/2024 at 9:35 PM, trhx said:

 

There's no reason the pedal should sound very different going through the loop than it would sound in a non-Helix chain. Are you considering the loop so you can place it after other Helix blocks (like compression), or some other reason?

 

OP's question was "Is the resultant sound fairly good or is it quite bad?"

 

I didn't say that there was NO REASON to do it.

I said (I'll say it in more detail) that the FX loop adds a very small amount of noise to the signal and placing a GAIN boosting device (which always adds its own noise to the signal) in the loop then BOOSTS that small amount of noise. And THAT is the reason it sounds different putting it in the loop vs putting it before Helix. Adds and boosts extraneous noise.

 

IME means "In My Experience". It means that I've tried it. Part of the reason I'm digital is that I don't like extraneous noise.

 

But, hey, if it works for you, go for it! Here in the Digital Wonderland there's No Rules! If it sounds good to YOU, then it IS good! YMMV and all that.

 

 

[357mag]

The reason I asked the question about running a distortion in the FX Loop of a POD, is because I tried plugging my guitar into a distortion pedal or overdrive, and then going from that output into the guitar input of the POD.

 

If I remember correctly the resultant sound wasn't very good.

 

That's why I asked about running it in the loop.

[trhx]

OK. You said Helix in the first post, so I assumed Helix Floor or rack. I have a POD GO, but I don't know how similar the other POD models are to the Helix.

 

Assuming your POD works like the Helix, the only reason for the loop is to put an external pedal, etc in between other blocks. The loop shouldn't change the sound of the pedal itself, and as rd2rk said, it introduces a bit of noise when the loop is enabled so that's something to consider.

 

Hard to answer this question without more info. As you see from previous answers, we're all making some assumptions here. You should put your pedal through the loop and see how it sounds. If no good, we need to know whether the pedal sounds good with any other equipment (old amp or whatever). If not, I doubt you can make it sound good in the POD no matter how you connect it.

 

If you like the pedal with other equipment, tell us what the signal chain is in the pod AND what you're listening through. If guitar amp, normal input or bypassing the preamp? If computer, are you going through an audio interface? The more details you can give, the easier it is for us to answer without guessing.

[trhx]

On 10/1/2024 at 1:21 AM, rd2rk said:

OP's question was "Is the resultant sound fairly good or is it quite bad?"

 

I didn't say that there was NO REASON to do it.

I understand. I was trying to expand on your answer, not dispute what you said. As I posted back to him a few minutes ago, we're all guessing because he didn't have enough information in the OP.

[datacommando]

On 10/1/2024 at 1:56 PM, trhx said:

OK. You said Helix in the first post, so I assumed Helix Floor or rack. I have a POD GO, but I don't know how similar the other POD models are to the Helix.

 

On 10/1/2024 at 2:13 AM, 357mag said:

 

I'm getting a POD X3 Pro also, which I believe has an FX Loop too.

 

Hi,

 

Reading through the replies it actually appears that when he mentions the POD he is making reference to the POD X3 Pro, IIRC from way back in 2008 .

 

The POD X3 Family Pilot's Handbook > Section 3.22

 

"Effects Loop – the Effects Loop provides two jacks for stereo FX Send and two for stereo FX Return, operating at approximately 19.5 Volts peak-to-peak, making it optimal for line level devices. The loop can also be used with most stomp boxes by adjusting the send and return levels. Use the Left Return jack for mono return. The loop can run pre or post Amp Model, and if nothing is connected to it, POD X3 Pro is smart enough to disable the loop so you still get sound. See Chapter 5 for details."

 

Still, if it was me, I wouldn't stick a dirt pedal into an FX Loop, for the same reasons as described by @rd2rk in the earlier post above, but hey - whatever floats yer boat!

 

Hope this helps/makes sense.