Helix LT... my pedal board build plans have been halted and probably / maybe scrapped?

JonHosker

My plans to build a great a pedal board are now under review after I have added up the cost of pedals and 
my lack of funds meaning it could take me 18 months or more to fund.....
This is because of Mr. Helix and his new sibling Helix LT.
I have not purchased yet....(a daliance for 24 hours two months ago left me thinking it was a jump too far - I sent it back)
Realizing the Helix products work at home and through amp and PA ......silent playing through headphones etc.
I am sold......financial sense, but had thought it might be a lesser audio choice.
Anyone else in this ponderous position?
Jon 

Drew_TNBD

A lesser audio choice? Speak English my man!! Do you mean you think the Helix might not sound as good as a set of single stomps?

Megii

I've already built my pedal board, and I do like it, plus after some considerable time trying different drive pedals, I seem to have settled on a couple that really work for me. But ironically, having reached this point, yes something like the Helix LT is very tempting - it's probably still a lot cheaper than upgrading the delay/modulation bits of my board to Strymon or Eventide or whatever, plus all the advantages of easy patch switching and flexibility, not to mention not having all the connecting cables and stuff. So yes, I may well find myself going Helix LT before too long.

bloodandtears

all my pedals are being listed as soon as I can be bothered to... I then need to decide whether I have the desire to upgrade from my HD500X to a Helix..   practically and flexibilty are great with this route, modern modellers are brilliant.. albeit eggs in basket

Voxman

bloodandtears said:

all my pedals are being listed as soon as I can be bothered to... I then need to decide whether I have the desire to upgrade from my HD500X to a Helix..   practically and flexibilty are great with this route, moder modellers are brillianr.. albeit eggs in basket

But then the old English grammar and spelling ...perhaps not quite so brilliant!?  No idea what a moder modeller is or what eggs in basket has to do with pedals!?   Perhaps just a wee bit too much sherry after dinner there @bloodandtears ;?! 

jgmouton

I don't know about the Helix but I have at home a pedal board and an HD500X and I compared the two.  The analogue pedals sound much better, there's no doubt.  As to the Helix or another expensive modeller I cannot yet say but judging by YT comparisons between the Helix and the HD500X they do not sound very different.  But it's YT so...

Jonathanthomas83

@jgmouton I've owned a POD HD and have spent a lot of time with a Helix...trust me, they're VERY different!

menamestom

Used my LT at rehearsal last night, it sounded great.  I'm really happy with the drives, they work great into my amp and I've never liked digital drives before, much better than the M5 which I have had previously.  No regrets from me so far, the LT can do so much compared to the relatively basic board I had.  Ironically the pedal I'll probably miss most will be the POG, which is digital anyway.  I've kept a few pedals and my small board and PSU, so might slowly populate it in parallel to the Helix but in all honesty I don't really need to.

The Helix plays very nice into a valve amp, so no looking back from me....

Musicman20

I have a feeling the digital market will continue to grow very quickly, which also means new models. This will leave the older models losing value compared to a set of pedals, which in some circumstances may even gain value. Not that it is all about value!

Whilst I would like to try a Helix, I do love just plugging a pedal into a tube amp.

menamestom

Musicman20 said:

I have a feeling the digital market will continue to grow very quickly, which also means new models. This will leave the older models losing value compared to a set of pedals, which in some circumstances may even gain value. Not that it is all about value!

Whilst I would like to try a Helix, I do love just plugging a pedal into a tube amp.

The thing is, to get the range of effects in the Helix with a pedalboard, you'd have to spend 2 - 3 times as much, so I think value is a moot point.  Sure your £850 investment will depreciate over time, but if you spent 2k - 3k on new pedals, so would they.

With regards plugging a pedal into a tube amp, that's what I'm doing, the Helix is a pedal and I'm using it into a valve amp

welshboyo

Musicman20 said:

I have a feeling the digital market will continue to grow very quickly, which also means new models. This will leave the older models losing value compared to a set of pedals, which in some circumstances may even gain value. Not that it is all about value!

Whilst I would like to try a Helix, I do love just plugging a pedal into a tube amp.

With the amount of available technology these days all effects/units will never increase in value - this goes for everything - Strymons, Fractal, etc etc.

The days of any pedals increasing are long behind us.

And if we all bought such things as an investment then we are buying them as a investor rather than a musician....

The whole "Pedal into a Tube Amp" thing is a little cliche now...and thats coming from a valve amp snob...

ThePrettyDamned

No jokes, I finished my pedalboard last year and love how it sounds. 

If someone offered me a helix in exchange for my board, spare pedals (bar one or two specials I wouldn't sell), cables, power supply AND handwired valve amp, I'd take it. 

It's the perfect solution for me, as an obsessive bedroom warrior. 

Slartibartfarst42

I've always been a valve snob but no more. I currently use an Atomic AmpliFIRE and I have no desire at all to go back to a valve amp. Are the tones exactly the same as a valve amp? No, but they are VERY good amp tones in their own right anyway so it's not an issue. The effects also work well and for 95% of the time I only need to add a Wah to the Atomic. For those rare times I need a couple of other effects to experiment with or for particular songs, I added an RP360. Perhaps if I used loads of effects I might look at a different route but for me, I have no intention at all of ever going back to a valve amp with stompboxes.

Teetonetal

Dunno @welshboyo of modern pedals the moog mf104 analog man KOT and a few others seem to be doing quite nicely. 

Musicman20

welshboyo said:

Musicman20 said:

I have a feeling the digital market will continue to grow very quickly, which also means new models. This will leave the older models losing value compared to a set of pedals, which in some circumstances may even gain value. Not that it is all about value!

Whilst I would like to try a Helix, I do love just plugging a pedal into a tube amp.

With the amount of available technology these days all effects/units will never increase in value - this goes for everything - Strymons, Fractal, etc etc.

The days of any pedals increasing are long behind us.

And if we all bought such things as an investment then we are buying them as a investor rather than a musician....

The whole "Pedal into a Tube Amp" thing is a little cliche now...and thats coming from a valve amp snob...

It's not just the sound I like, it's having lots of separate effects all built especially for (usually) one function, and I really enjoy actually have the physical pedal in front of me....sounds silly but it is a bit like playing a record....

...and I'm not one for constantly looking into the past as all of my bass amp gear is super lightweight Class D and I sold my bass tube amp...

It's not even tube amps...I like using individual pedals anyway for some bizarre reason.

I might even venture into something like Helix but I'm going to wait another few years and see how things change.  

John_A

Musicman20 said:

I have a feeling the digital market will continue to grow very quickly, which also means new models. This will leave the older models losing value compared to a set of pedals, which in some circumstances may even gain value. Not that it is all about value!

Whilst I would like to try a Helix, I do love just plugging a pedal into a tube amp.

What I like is plugging in at a gig and sounding great with the minimum of fuss.  I've also found playing the guitar rather than fannying on with pedals is great fun.  Also anything lost in depreciation has been won back multiple time through not buying pedals I didn't need.

Also, have you tried selling pedals lately, they go for peanuts

JonHosker

Sold...Helix for me - full or Lt.

Winny_Pooh

Buy the helix, I have pedals but what you get for your money on the LT is insane

peteri

Musicman20 said:

welshboyo said:

Musicman20 said:

I have a feeling the digital market will continue to grow very quickly, which also means new models. This will leave the older models losing value compared to a set of pedals, which in some circumstances may even gain value. Not that it is all about value!

Whilst I would like to try a Helix, I do love just plugging a pedal into a tube amp.

With the amount of available technology these days all effects/units will never increase in value - this goes for everything - Strymons, Fractal, etc etc.

The days of any pedals increasing are long behind us.

And if we all bought such things as an investment then we are buying them as a investor rather than a musician....

The whole "Pedal into a Tube Amp" thing is a little cliche now...and thats coming from a valve amp snob...

It's not just the sound I like, it's having lots of separate effects all built especially for (usually) one function, and I really enjoy actually have the physical pedal in front of me....sounds silly but it is a bit like playing a record....

...and I'm not one for constantly looking into the past as all of my bass amp gear is super lightweight Class D and I sold my bass tube amp...

It's not even tube amps...I like using individual pedals anyway for some bizarre reason.

I might even venture into something like Helix but I'm going to wait another few years and see how things change.  

Absolutely the same for me, reading all the positive reviews on the Helix makes it attractive, and I'm far from a luddite - I've worked in IT my whole life, love my Apple watch etc.

I own, and really like the Timeline and Mobius.

But I just don't like the experience of changing settings, the sound quality is amazing now - for the first time, we now have the pedals interacting properly - I always found previously that yes it sounds like a Tubescreamer, but it doesn't impact the amplifier the way a TS would.

Now that's fixed.

But for me, bending down and changing a setting on a pedal is a different experience to on the Helix/Fractal - yes the UI is amazing and it's easy to do, but the act of looking at a screen engages another part of my brain and I just don't enjoy it so much.

One day I'll get a Helix for headphone use (at the moment I use my iPhone and Amplitube) - but for me, I like the pedals, and the idea that I can buy (or sell) anything I like is part of the hobby I enjoy.

John_A

peteri said:

One day I'll get a Helix for headphone use (at the moment I use my iPhone and Amplitube) - but for me, I like the pedals, and the idea that I can buy (or sell) anything I like is part of the hobby I enjoy.

Each to their own, but that's a bit like buying a Ferrari for dropping the kids off at school .  Personally I find the buying and selling a pain that detracts from actually making some music

John_A

JonHosker said:

Sold...Helix for me - full or Lt.

IMO the price difference isn't big enough to make the LT a consideration.  Even if the full has more than you need at the moment, it may not be the case in the future.  If you are planning buying Helix native as well the price difference between the LT and the full one just about dissapears