Line 6 Helix

johnonguitar

fretmeister;1086363" said:

I really like the TS in it - far more than the actual pedals I've owned!

You can probably make it sound right for you by putting an EQ in front of it.

Yeah that's a good shout, it's a little nasally at times for me

Cabicular

Also remember you can use an amp pre amp block as a dirt pedal if you want more control

kjdowd

And you can assign a footswitch or exp pedal to wind up the amp gain/master/whatever to switch between crunch and lead

Cabicular

My overwhelming experience with the Helix is that there is always a way

johnonguitar

That's a good shout actually. Will give it a shot after this gig on Saturday. Dep gig with new gear is gonna take a little bit of forethought this afternoon!

johnonguitar

Btw, for those of you gigging your Helix, are you comfortable just sitting it on a stage floor? I thought I'd be ok with it but now that it's here it's really making me feel uneasy about it. I'm starting to feel that a board to get it off the deck and give it a little bumper area so that the jacks can't accidentally be kicked on the way past etc would be better.

fretmeister

That's why I bought the rack unit.

Cost a little more, but I'm much less scared of replacing the controller rather than the brain.

Cabicular

as you know I've put mine on a Novo 32 which is a bit longer than the helix at the back. I use right angle plugs (one into a humdinger as I run in stereo) 

I feel a bit safer with that

My main worry is someone (including me) dropping something onto the screen but other than that I feel safe from spillage related incidents

Sporky

johnonguitar said:

Yeah that's a good shout, it's a little nasally at times for me

I'd guess that your previous TS's had been modded to reduce the bass cut, so if the Helix one is authentic it will sound middy/honky/nasal.

johnny9fingers

johnonguitar said:

Btw, for those of you gigging your Helix, are you comfortable just sitting it on a stage floor? I thought I'd be ok with it but now that it's here it's really making me feel uneasy about it. I'm starting to feel that a board to get it off the deck and give it a little bumper area so that the jacks can't accidentally be kicked on the way past etc would be better.

Flight case it. I got one from Swan Cases (in the UK - cos I is a Londoner, innit) which you just put on the floor, take the lid off, and it sits flat on a protected pad with a small ridged edge.

johnonguitar

Sporky;1086649" said:

johnonguitar said:

Yeah that's a good shout, it's a little nasally at times for me





I'd guess that your previous TS's had been modded to reduce the bass cut, so if the Helix one is authentic it will sound middy/honky/nasal.

They all definitely still had the bass cut, the mids just seemed smoother though.

johnonguitar

johnny9fingers;1086773" said:

johnonguitar said:

Btw, for those of you gigging your Helix, are you comfortable just sitting it on a stage floor? I thought I'd be ok with it but now that it's here it's really making me feel uneasy about it. I'm starting to feel that a board to get it off the deck and give it a little bumper area so that the jacks can't accidentally be kicked on the way past etc would be better.












Flight case it. I got one from Swan Cases (in the UK - cos I is a Londoner, innit) which you just put on the floor, take the lid off, and it sits flat on a protected pad with a small ridged edge.

Yeah I think this is going to be the way. I'll just cancel my order for the helix back pack. It also means I'll throw on a couple of drive pedals and a way and expression. Why the hell not

johnonguitar

So I've been setting a patch up for 4cm with my amp to do a basic range of covers. So far this is my findings:

Tape delay- I'm using this set at 350ms with a low mix for a general delay for thickening single note lines and giving some body to particular rhythm sounds. At first I didn't find it quite bright enough... But then I remembered how annoying the TC tape emulation that I used for years was because it wouldn't darken up. Just depends on what you're used to I suppose!

Elephant Man- I use this delay for anything that needs delay as an actual effect and not just an ambient effect. It's cool, I always get on with DMM's and DMM emulsions on whatever unit I'm using

Deluxe Comp- this is GREAT. I set the mix at about 80 but everything else is default. Absolute belter of a compressor. Really impressed

Throaty wah- my favourite all time wah is my own Picture Wah so it's only natural I'd like the RMC emulation. The wahs are light years ahead of the M series ones (this is the point where someone tells me they are the exact same) and after a little tweak of the envelope it sounded very sweet. Vintage and sweet. Just the way I like it

Plate Reverb- not my favourite reverb by anymeans but for creating a little space in an all purpose, not getting in the way kinda situation then this suits. I turned the high pass up a little from the default

Chorus- great at default. Well done line 6

Script Phaser- also great at default. Very good!

Cabicular

The Grey Flanger ... After the drives
In stereo
Mmmmmm

sweepy

My setup for recording the Helix works very well indeed, main output in stereo to inputs 1 and 2 of the DAW, then Send 1 Send 2 to inputs 3 and 4 of the DAW. If the sends are pre any blocks, you get a nice unadulterated signal to mangle with Scuffham, BIAS or even re-amp it back through the helix afterwards, I did find that I had to boost the sends to +6db to drive my presonus cleanly, but it works a treat

Teetonetal

sweepy said:

My setup for recording the Helix works very well indeed, main output in stereo to inputs 1 and 2 of the DAW, then Send 1 Send 2 to inputs 3 and 4 of the DAW. If the sends are pre any blocks, you get a nice unadulterated signal to mangle with Scuffham, BIAS or even re-amp it back through the helix afterwards, I did find that I had to boost the sends to +6db to drive my presonus cleanly, but it works a treat

Any reason why you are not using the helix over USB and cutting out the presounus?

I think you can still do all of that with the USB. Just curious.

Cabicular

Yes you can
It also just gives you the dry guitar on pass thru
To be fair there have been some issues on Mac with drifting word clock but I understand them to be fixed now?

hugbot

johnonguitar said:

I tried the plexi preamp and thought it sucked, very different to what I'd been hearing going start to DAW. I realise now that most of the gain comes from the power amp the way I run plexi modellers so will try again tomorrow with the full amp model instead of just the preamp

Hows that sounding?

fretmeister

hugbot said:

johnonguitar said:

I tried the plexi preamp and thought it sucked, very different to what I'd been hearing going start to DAW. I realise now that most of the gain comes from the power amp the way I run plexi modellers so will try again tomorrow with the full amp model instead of just the preamp

Hows that sounding?

Try that

Then tweak to taste.

sweepy

I use the Presonus as my audio interface in Logic as it has 16 physical inputs with mic preamps, that's why I configure the Helix the way I do