Clarky and the Helix

Clarky

very much liking the transistor tape delay..
it's all fkd up and nasty
which to my ears is a thing of beauty..

I managed to get the hi-gain tones to feel a bit better by compressing the absolute shit out of the guitar before the signal enters the amp...

Clarky

through my studio monitors the hi-gain tones feel a little less stiff and 'mid-gainy'
this is normal for all processors though
through cans though the feel is not that nice.
the Axe and the 2120 feel so much better.. it's like night and day..
note though that the 2120 is not a modeller.. it's a valve preamp / multi-fx unit

Clarky

Question: is it possible to have a parameter controlled by an XP in one snapshot, but not in the others..
so the control is only active in specific snapshots?

Clarky

guitarfishbay said:

Sounds like you're making progress 

Are you going to be trying the Helix through your live cab set up?

That'd be an interesting comparison for sure, especially with regards to feel

I'd like to.. but I'm not sure I'll be able to between now and the day I have to return it..
I would certainly have to do this prior to buying one..
hearing and feeling the behaviour through my backline at grown-up volume is an absolute must

Clarky

one thing I will say that Line6 got so right
is that it's an absolute peace of piss to get to grips with..
it's an extremely friendly unit to learn how to use..
very intuitive.. unfussy.. the work flow is very nice..
the whole user interaction side of things is very well thought out

Benson

Is there anywhere on here to exchange presets? I'm also a new user to Helix and would be interested to hear what other more experienced folk hafe got from it. 

John_A

@benson. There's the line 6 customtone page, but other people's patches rarely work for me and there seems to be a lot of rubbish on there

hubobulous

What might be useful is some way of collating tips and tricks. For example, low/high cut settings, usage of global eq (or not)

Roland

Many of those tips will apply to other modellers too

Cabicular

Clarky said:

very much liking the transistor tape delay..
it's all fkd up and nasty
which to my ears is a thing of beauty..

I managed to get the hi-gain tones to feel a bit better by compressing the absolute shit out of the guitar before the signal enters the amp...

Quick Q
Do you have the guitar pad on or off in Global settings

Clarky

Cabicular said:

Clarky said:

very much liking the transistor tape delay..
it's all fkd up and nasty
which to my ears is a thing of beauty..

I managed to get the hi-gain tones to feel a bit better by compressing the absolute shit out of the guitar before the signal enters the amp...

Quick Q
Do you have the guitar pad on or off in Global settings

Dunno to be honest.
I'll check it

Clarky

hubobulous said:

What might be useful is some way of collating tips and tricks. For example, low/high cut settings, usage of global eq (or not)

Tips is a great idea
loading other users presets is often very disappointing because they were set up through their own monitoring with thier own guitars etc
also, most clips you hear are not just the unprocessed recording

guitarfishbay

Clarky said:

hubobulous said:

What might be useful is some way of collating tips and tricks. For example, low/high cut settings, usage of global eq (or not)

Tips is a great idea
loading other users presets is often very disappointing because they were set up through their own monitoring with thier own guitars etc
also, most clips you hear are not just the unprocessed recording

I think it's more important to understand concepts than rely on prescriptive tips, because at the end of the day there are way too many variables.

But I say this as someone who spent a long time searching out tips to get better at anything to do with sound, so I totally get the request as well.

sweepy

Benson said:

Is there anywhere on here to exchange presets? I'm also a new user to Helix and would be interested to hear what other more experienced folk hafe got from it. 

The problem with other peoples patches stems from the realisation that 2 different guitarists can sound radically different on the same guitar. I doubt tbh that they are even useful, certainly of the ones I have downloaded for my Axe-Fx and Helix, I think I can count on one hand those that i found useful

Clarky

guitarfishbay said:

Clarky said:

hubobulous said:

What might be useful is some way of collating tips and tricks. For example, low/high cut settings, usage of global eq (or not)

Tips is a great idea
loading other users presets is often very disappointing because they were set up through their own monitoring with thier own guitars etc
also, most clips you hear are not just the unprocessed recording

I think it's more important to understand concepts than rely on prescriptive tips, because at the end of the day there are way too many variables.

But I say this as someone who spent a long time searching out tips to get better at anything to do with sound, so I totally get the request as well.

And there is the problem.
tips / guidelines / rules of thumb / how to
all written
but we are dealing with sound and listening
I've read many books on mixing, mastering, sound design etc and most of it was only of limited use until I finally understood what to listen for.
and now that I know what to listen for it's still not much use now that my ears have been Marshall'd half to death... lol

Clarky

sweepy said:

Benson said:

Is there anywhere on here to exchange presets? I'm also a new user to Helix and would be interested to hear what other more experienced folk hafe got from it. 

The problem with other peoples patches stems from the realisation that 2 different guitarists can sound radically different on the same guitar. I doubt tbh that they are even useful, certainly of the ones I have downloaded for my Axe-Fx and Helix, I think I can count on one hand those that i found useful

So very true
if I played through  Vai's rig I reckon I'd sound exactly like me lol

Clarky

Tips and tricks are good when they are "how to"
like getting smoother tone transitions, more efficient chain / grid layouts, preset building strategies
some tone related stuff too like how to de-flub the low end in hi-gain tones and how to get more apparent low end without boosting, how to have a stronger but less intrusive delay etc
all simple things that are easy to hear

Cabicular

Clarky said:

Cabicular said:

Clarky said:

very much liking the transistor tape delay..
it's all fkd up and nasty
which to my ears is a thing of beauty..

I managed to get the hi-gain tones to feel a bit better by compressing the absolute shit out of the guitar before the signal enters the amp...

Quick Q
Do you have the guitar pad on or off in Global settings

Dunno to be honest.
I'll check it

I always run with it on
i don't know why my guitars are not particularly hot but it does seem to take the roughness out of the high gain tones

Clarky

Cabicular said:

Clarky said:

Cabicular said:

Clarky said:

very much liking the transistor tape delay..
it's all fkd up and nasty
which to my ears is a thing of beauty..

I managed to get the hi-gain tones to feel a bit better by compressing the absolute shit out of the guitar before the signal enters the amp...

Quick Q
Do you have the guitar pad on or off in Global settings

Dunno to be honest.
I'll check it

I always run with it on
i don't know why my guitars are not particularly hot but it does seem to take the roughness out of the high gain tones

so does pad on take out some of the strength out of the signal from the guitar?

Cabicular

Clarky said:

Cabicular said:

Clarky said:

Cabicular said:

Clarky said:

very much liking the transistor tape delay..
it's all fkd up and nasty
which to my ears is a thing of beauty..

I managed to get the hi-gain tones to feel a bit better by compressing the absolute shit out of the guitar before the signal enters the amp...

Quick Q
Do you have the guitar pad on or off in Global settings

Dunno to be honest.
I'll check it

I always run with it on
i don't know why my guitars are not particularly hot but it does seem to take the roughness out of the high gain tones

so does pad on take out some of the strength out of the signal from the guitar?

I'm kind of assuming that from the name
try it both ways though.its a significant difference