Helix LT Broken EXP pedal

[justafewguitars]

Does anybody know how long repairs take at Yamaha Canada for Line 6 Helix LTs? I sent mine in back in July for a broken expression pedal and a non-co-operative tap tempo switch. Still no word, and rental units are becoming costly. 

[silverhead]

I would open a support ticket. Perhaps Line 6 can intervene on your behalf to expedite things.

[justafewguitars]

Still no updates. Line 6/Yamaha Canada has my unit. A support ticket was opened and closed with Line 6 saying “Contact the store which you sent the unit for repair through.” That’s been zero help. I’m seriously rethinking my decision  about purchasing any further Line 6 or Yamaha product. Over a KNOWN and well documented problem. The store has no answers, Yamaha Canada has no answers…not sure where I should turn to.

[theElevators]

You can give Line 6 a call.  I've done that in the past after a horrible experience with the authorized repair shop.  They opened a ticket for me over the phone, and I was able to add more detail to the ticket afterwards.  The whole issue was swiftly resolved for me.  So you may try that. 

 

I don't know your financial situation, but I got a second Helix shortly after buying an LT, to use as a backup.  Every serious musician must always have a backup for such situations.  Good news is that the LT is pretty inexpensive nowadays...

 

In terms of reliability of an LT, in my experience the unit is quite solid.  I bought a used unit and the expression pedal is working fine after 6 years.  I do not stomp on it, however, meaning I do not use the footswitch to change between EXP 1/2.  That may explain why my pedal is still intact.  If it ever broke, I'd take the unit apart, remove the pedal and velcro a small expression pedal in its place.... 

 

In terms of the tap tempo button not working reliably, it's the tactile microswitch inside that gets gunked up. You need to have these microswitches cleaned with DeoxIT from time to time.  

 

[codamedia]

On 10/8/2025 at 5:32 AM, justafewguitars said:

Still no updates. Line 6/Yamaha Canada has my unit. A support ticket was opened and closed with Line 6 saying “Contact the store which you sent the unit for repair through.” That’s been zero help.

 

That is not my experience with Line 6 support at all.... just saying. 

Try a new ticket... be stern by polite. Line 6 support is limited due to international agreements, but they can still swing a big hammer when needed. 

 

My example(s): When I was searching for a Variax JTV battery Line 6 kindly pointed me to Yamaha Canada because they were not allowed to sell to me directly. Yamaha Canada was unresponsive so I went back to Line 6.... the next business day I had an invoice for a new battery from Yamaha Canada in my email and within a week it was in my hands.  

 

In another instance back in 2018 Long & McQuade used to be the distributer/repair depot. I had a problem with an HX Effects and got the run around from L&M.... Line 6 support kicked their proverbial butt until I was taken care of.... and I was taken care of really well! 

[datacommando]

On 10/8/2025 at 11:32 AM, justafewguitars said:

not sure where I should turn to.

Hi,

 

This is a user to user forum. There are no Line 6 staff here and only very occasionally do they visit these forums - (See the “sticky comment” in the black banner stripe at the top of this page entitled “Welcome to the Line 6 forums”).

 

If you feel the need to kick up a fuss, the best way to get a result is to go to a Helix specific thread in the “Digital & Modeling Gear” section of The Gear Page website and state your case, and target your post for the attention of both Frank Ritchotte and  Eric Klein (Digital_Igloo). They are the 2 top guys at Line 6 who are in a position to kick some butt and expedite a fix for your issue.

Way back in the early days of the Helix LT, there were quite a number of them that had faulty/broken expression pedals, and IIRC they were all replaced for new ones - no quibbles. 

 

Hope this helps makes sense.

[vstrattomusic]

On 9/26/2025 at 3:00 PM, justafewguitars said:

Does anybody know how long repairs take at Yamaha Canada for Line 6 Helix LTs? I sent mine in back in July for a broken expression pedal and a non-co-operative tap tempo switch. Still no word, and rental units are becoming costly. 

I sent mine to the service center in April and still nothing. 6 months now with no Helix.

 

Also a Helix LT with a broken pedal, it's one of the older ones and they agreed to give me a replacement...but yeah 6 months and I'm still waiting. 

[vstrattomusic]

On 10/12/2025 at 10:58 AM, datacommando said:

If you feel the need to kick up a fuss, the best way to get a result is to go to a Helix specific thread in the “Digital & Modeling Gear” section of The Gear Page website and state your case, and target your post for the attention of both Frank Ritchotte and  Eric Klein (Digital_Igloo). They are the 2 top guys at Line 6 who are in a position to kick some butt and expedite a fix for your issue.

I asked DI on another forum and he said that they can't help me since I'm in Europe and this is Yamaha's business. If I wasn't calling the service center every month and sending tickets to customer suport then it would have been total silence. And after half a year they still can't tell me when it will arrive.

 

 

[datacommando]

On 11/1/2025 at 12:58 AM, vstrattomusic said:

I asked DI on another forum and he said that they can't help me since I'm in Europe and this is Yamaha's business. If I wasn't calling the service center every month and sending tickets to customer suport then it would have been total silence. And after half a year they still can't tell me when it will arrive.

Hmm… six months, that’s quite extraordinary!

 

You mention that you’re in Europe, but no precise location, but the main Yamaha HQ for U.K. and Ireland is based in Milton Keynes. Their website contains a lot of information about the “Yamaha Guarantee for customers”, and how to deal with a situation such as “What to do in a Warranty/Non-Warranty Case?”, which might be worth following up.

 

This seems like an issue that requires taking right to the top - especially since you have been told the faulty product will be replaced. 
 

Don’t know how it works in the rest of Europe, but in the U.K. we have the “Sale of Goods Act” (The Consumer Rights Act 2015) where items sold to consumers have to be of “satisfactory quality” and “fit for purpose”. They have legal responsibility to sort this issue out, and in the U.K. the threat of the “Small Claims Court” usually gets the ball rolling. You might also like to remind Yamaha of their “Making Waves” brand promise- you can make a few waves of your own!

 

Hope this helps/makes sense.

[vstrattomusic]

On 11/1/2025 at 3:25 PM, datacommando said:

Hmm… six months, that’s quite extraordinary!

 

You mention that you’re in Europe, but no precise location, but the main Yamaha HQ for U.K. and Ireland is based in Milton Keynes. Their website contains a lot of information about the “Yamaha Guarantee for customers”, and how to deal with a situation such as “What to do in a Warranty/Non-Warranty Case?”, which might be worth following up.

 

This seems like an issue that requires taking right to the top - especially since you have been told the faulty product will be replaced. 
 

Don’t know how it works in the rest of Europe, but in the U.K. we have the “Sale of Goods Act” (The Consumer Rights Act 2015) where items sold to consumers have to be of “satisfactory quality” and “fit for purpose”. They have legal responsibility to sort this issue out, and in the U.K. the threat of the “Small Claims Court” usually gets the ball rolling. You might also like to remind Yamaha of their “Making Waves” brand promise- you can make a few waves of your own!

 

Hope this helps/makes sense.

I'm in Spain. I've looked at Yamaha's website trying to find a contact but I can't find anything that could be related to my case or Line 6. Or it directs me to the service center that I'm already in contact with. The thing is I'm not a legal savvy person so it's not like I can start saying things I don't know the real meaning of. What I can do, is complain about it on the forums. That seemed to be useful at least a few years ago, but now it's getting me nowhere.

 

Usually people would complain in the forums and a person from Line 6 would help out with the ticket. But DI told me basically since I'm in Europe it's Yamaha's operation and they can't get involved. So I bother the customer support and they say "Sorry for the delays, there's nothing we can do.", ask the service center and "We don't know, it's not here yet, we'll send Yamaha a mail".

 

I can't seem to raise a big enough ruckus. But I will always remember this, and I will tell this to every person, every review of every place involved in this, I will make sure to warn people.

 

They could have told me to lollipop off and not given me a replacement, and I would have been stuck with the broken pedal. But here, they agree to give me a replacement if I bring the LT to the service center, so I did, and they make me wait 6 month so far without a unit. This is nothing like the wonderful stories that you hear online about L6 and their customer support.

[datacommando]

On 11/1/2025 at 7:40 PM, vstrattomusic said:

I'm in Spain. I've looked at Yamaha's website trying to find a contact but I can't find anything that could be related to my case or Line 6. Or it directs me to the service center that I'm already in contact with. The thing is I'm not a legal savvy person so it's not like I can start saying things I don't know the real meaning of. What I can do, is complain about it on the forums. That seemed to be useful at least a few years ago, but now it's getting me nowhere.

 

Usually people would complain in the forums and a person from Line 6 would help out with the ticket. But DI told me basically since I'm in Europe it's Yamaha's operation and they can't get involved. So I bother the customer support and they say "Sorry for the delays, there's nothing we can do.", ask the service center and "We don't know, it's not here yet, we'll send Yamaha a mail".

 

I can't seem to raise a big enough ruckus. But I will always remember this, and I will tell this to every person, every review of every place involved in this, I will make sure to warn people.

 

They could have told me to lollipop off and not given me a replacement, and I would have been stuck with the broken pedal. But here, they agree to give me a replacement if I bring the LT to the service center, so I did, and they make me wait 6 month so far without a unit. This is nothing like the wonderful stories that you hear online about L6 and their customer support.

 

Hi, again,

 

You may want to read through this:

 

https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/consumers/shopping/guarantees/index_en.htm#inline-nav-1

 

It would appear to me that the same rules apply in the EU as in theU.K. 

When you buy a product, your contract is with the seller, and the seller must repair or replace them at no cost.

They must also do this within a reasonable time and without significant inconvenience to you, if not you are entitled to a full or partial refund. 

 

The thing that confuses me with your situation is that you sent your Helix LT to the service center in April. Someone, somewhere authorised that to to happen.

 

You must still have the email, or whatever, that told you to do this, and also authorised the service techs to accept the job of replacing the faulty unit. Surely this information will contain all the relevant names and authorisation numbers for you to be able to chase this further up the line. If you contact the service centre and you get the reply that they cannot help, simply ask to speak to the Service Centre manager. If the manager still cannot help, then ask for the name and contact details of their superior, and raise the issue with them. Still no progress, ask for the contact details of the top person who can do something. Don't let them bullsh!t you - Don't give up!

 

This situation is outrageous and should not be happening. Try kicking up a fuss on the Facebook Group - they have almost 47,000 members that you could potentially reach. See if you can get them onside.

 

Line 6® Helix® Stadium® Family User Group OFFICIAL and ORIGINAL 

 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/line6helixusergroup

 

Hope this helps/makes sense.

[vstrattomusic]

On 11/2/2025 at 5:11 PM, datacommando said:

 

Hi, again,

 

You may want to read through this:

 

https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/consumers/shopping/guarantees/index_en.htm#inline-nav-1

 

It would appear to me that the same rules apply in the EU as in theU.K. 

When you buy a product, your contract is with the seller, and the seller must repair or replace them at no cost.

They must also do this within a reasonable time and without significant inconvenience to you, if not you are entitled to a full or partial refund. 

 

The thing that confuses me with your situation is that you sent your Helix LT to the service center in April. Someone, somewhere authorised that to to happen.

 

You must still have the email, or whatever, that told you to do this, and also authorised the service techs to accept the job of replacing the faulty unit. Surely this information will contain all the relevant names and authorisation numbers for you to be able to chase this further up the line. If you contact the service centre and you get the reply that they cannot help, simply ask to speak to the Service Centre manager. If the manager still cannot help, then ask for the name and contact details of their superior, and raise the issue with them. Still no progress, ask for the contact details of the top person who can do something. Don't let them bullsh!t you - Don't give up!

 

This situation is outrageous and should not be happening. Try kicking up a fuss on the Facebook Group - they have almost 47,000 members that you could potentially reach. See if you can get them onside.

 

Line 6® Helix® Stadium® Family User Group OFFICIAL and ORIGINAL 

 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/line6helixusergroup

 

Hope this helps/makes sense.

All right, thank you for your help!

I'll explain to you how this went.

 

The seller has no responsibility to replace or repair anything at this point, I bought the device on January 2018. I remember reading about the expression pedal problems and Line 6 saying that if this happens to you they will replace the unit even if it's out of warranty.

 

When it happened to me in April 2025, I opened a ticket with customer support asking if this was still the case. They said that I have to bring the unit to a service center, and when they confirm that the pedal brackets have snapped, they will replace the unit for free considering it a "goodwill repair".

So I brought the unit to a service center, and within a few days they ordered a replacement. After that, they were saying Yamaha were reorganizing warehouses and incorporating a new ERP so it could take up to a month.
Now it has been 6 months. I write to customer support once a month saying I still don't have the unit, and at this point they are giving me copy paste replies. You know, the usual apology for the delay, stay in touch with the service center, etc. The service center doesn't know anything either. At the 6 month mark, they did say that this was very strange and that they were going to get in touch with Yamaha. Now I'm waiting for them to get back to me.

 

I don't have a Facebook so I'd have to create an account just for this, but from what I've seen these problems usually get sorted by DI or Frank, and DI already told me they can't help me. So idk what to do, I have no choice but to start being a Karen and ask to speak with the manager, but I'm not sure what that's going to get me.

[datacommando]

On 11/3/2025 at 6:38 PM, vstrattomusic said:

I don't have a Facebook so I'd have to create an account just for this, but from what I've seen these problems usually get sorted by DI or Frank, and DI already told me they can't help me. So idk what to do, I have no choice but to start being a Karen and ask to speak with the manager, but I'm not sure what that's going to get me.

Ah, it seems there is more to it than first appeared.

 

Anyhow, this is a very old thread (link below) on TGP, but it contains stuff pertinent to what you say about getting Frank to solve it. A few days back someone posted about a busted Exp pedal on a Helix LT,  and how to raise a ticket about fixing it. If you are that guy, “ago1979” try again, it you’re not that guy, still try by targeting Frank R directly on the thread. He is the Senior Director of Operations -Yamaha Guitar Group.

 

https://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?threads/paging-frank-richotte.2051371/#post-42265023

 

Sorry, I have run out of ideas now.