Line 6 Helix

John_A

Musicman20 said:

Beware - Newbie Helix post - I might get one.

I unfortunately don't have an effects loop on my Fender or Orange amps, although I suppose I could use the Katana. Bass wise, I could quite easily use the effects loop. I don't really want more speakers/cabs in my house at the moment, so how does the Helix sound straight into the front of an amp, like say a Fender 68 Custom Deluxe?

I really like my current amps so I don't want to go down the route of no amp and just the Helix and an FRFR type setup. My feeling was I could use it as a guitar effects board, bass effects board, add the odd pedal in, and use it in the practice room straight into the PA for now.

Helix as FX only straight in to an amp is great, but see post directly above, FRFR is where it really shines IMO.  I didnt want to get rid of my amps, but I have done.  TRy it in to your Katana, or maybe even your bass amp until you crack and go the FRFR route

menamestom

John_A said:

menamestom said:

John_A said:

  I loved my amp too - main one was a JTM45 until I tried the Helix FRFR.  It really is the way forward IMO.  When I first got it I spent the afternoon trying to make my Helix sound like my amp then spent the evening trying to make my amp sound like the Helix

What FRFR do you use?

I'd keep my amps anyway, as I do small acoustic gigs straight into the Princeton, sometimes floor space is an issue and I only need a nice clean sound.  In that scenario taking a Helix and FRFR amp to a gig would be more hassle than the solution it replaces.  But yes, it will be good to add an FRFR system to the equation.

menamestom

Musicman20 said:

Beware - Newbie Helix post - I might get one.

I unfortunately don't have an effects loop on my Fender or Orange amps, although I suppose I could use the Katana. Bass wise, I could quite easily use the effects loop. I don't really want more speakers/cabs in my house at the moment, so how does the Helix sound straight into the front of an amp, like say a Fender 68 Custom Deluxe?

I really like my current amps so I don't want to go down the route of no amp and just the Helix and an FRFR type setup. My feeling was I could use it as a guitar effects board, bass effects board, add the odd pedal in, and use it in the practice room straight into the PA for now.

Sounds great into an amp as an effect only system.  That's how I use mine, recording I use the amps models and live just into an amp.  I use the models for recording and practise. 

John_A

menamestom said:

John_A said:

menamestom said:

John_A said:

  I loved my amp too - main one was a JTM45 until I tried the Helix FRFR.  It really is the way forward IMO.  When I first got it I spent the afternoon trying to make my Helix sound like my amp then spent the evening trying to make my amp sound like the Helix

What FRFR do you use?

I'd keep my amps anyway, as I do small acoustic gigs straight into the Princeton, sometimes floor space is an issue and I only need a nice clean sound.  In that scenario taking a Helix and FRFR amp to a gig would be more hassle than the solution it replaces.  But yes, it will be good to add an FRFR system to the equation.

Using a DXR10 for monitoring and so the rest of the band can hear me so I have it behind me.  For the acoustic gigs you could just DI, probably wouldn't need a dedicated monitor?  The Princeton is a lovely sounding amp though, and if it covers everything you need for the gig then  it makes sense to use it.

fretmeister

Andertons are showing the full fat at about £400 more than loads of other places.

GG is at just over 1k.

what's going on?

Bridgehouse

fretmeister said:

Andertons are showing the full fat at about £400 more than loads of other places.

GG is at just over 1k.

what's going on?

Yamahas prices are all over the place - there's a thread on basschat about their bass prices doing the same

FarleyUK

Tried using the Archetype last night at rehearsal - bit of a departure for me, as I normally use the 2204 / modded 2204 amps.

Ran a TS in front, gain at 0 and level at 10, and it sounded pretty sweet Think I'll try it for tonight's gig!

Musicman20

Apparently it will become the normal price....Yamaha have bumped prices. PMT showing the same.

FarleyUK

I'm still trying to simulate a Rocket Fuel Majik Box OD / Boost with the Helix... I'd have thought that it'd be a case of having a gain boost in front of an OD pedal (typically a TS clone) - anyone else tried it, or anything like it?

Cabicular

FarleyUK said:

I'm still trying to simulate a Rocket Fuel Majik Box OD / Boost with the Helix... I'd have thought that it'd be a case of having a gain boost in front of an OD pedal (typically a TS clone) - anyone else tried it, or anything like it?

Sorry mate I have no idea what one of them is!
however don't discount the low gain loveless of the OCD in front rather than a straight TS clone
slightly full ranged

Musicman20

OK - took the plunge. Richtone just got the standard floor Helix in at their warehouse again and managed to snag one for under £1k. Almost £450cheaper than Andertons.

Cabicular

Welcome aboard the rollercoaster
the initial disappointment in the presets sounds
the wondering why you are running out of dsp and then the elation when it all works out and you slowly realise you can't play without it

FarleyUK

Cabicular said:

FarleyUK said:

I'm still trying to simulate a Rocket Fuel Majik Box OD / Boost with the Helix... I'd have thought that it'd be a case of having a gain boost in front of an OD pedal (typically a TS clone) - anyone else tried it, or anything like it?

Sorry mate I have no idea what one of them is!
however don't discount the low gain loveless of the OCD in front rather than a straight TS clone
slightly full ranged

No worries It's basically a TS clone without diodes in one circuit, and a boost before it in a seperate circuit. So I guess the better question is - is there a OD in the Helix that simulates a TS clone without diodes?

menamestom

So people who use the Helix into a clean amp or model, what dirt pedals do you use?  I've been using the Timmy into the OCD, liking the combination but not totally settled.   It occurred to me the other day that the Timmy is my favourite so the revelation struck me I could just use 2 Timmy's and that worked really well. 

I've not used much of the other drive pedals, any killer combinations I'm missing out on?

paganskins

Musicman20 said:

OK - took the plunge. Richtone just got the standard floor Helix in at their warehouse again and managed to snag one for under £1k. Almost £450cheaper than Andertons.

Me too, last one they had I think at £1037

firepaulmusic

Red Sound RS-LG12 looks interesting, any one else tried one with Helix?

MtB

That's going to have to be seriously good for £780 of my money.

neilg

Is there an idiots guide to using the looper, I've read the manual but that didn't help and any attempts that seem to do what I want have just been a case of trying different things until something works.  I'll also add I haven't used a looper before getting the helix.

Drew_TNBD

Figured I'd throw this out again, been a while:

neilg said:

Is there an idiots guide to using the looper, I've read the manual but that didn't help and any attempts that seem to do what I want have just been a case of trying different things until something works.  I'll also add I haven't used a looper before getting the helix.

What do you want to do?? Put the looper in a patch, assign it to a footswitch, and that will let you enter 'looper' mode. Hit the record button when playing to loop some audio. It's fairly straight forward.

gearaddict

Well my LT turned up yesterday - first thing I did was go to a new patch and add in the Cali Rectifire model on it's own...compared to the HD500X it just sounds way more like a real amp. No comparison really. It makes me wonder how others manage to make them sound so similar.

Slightly unsure as to how many models I would actually use...flicking through the models (without any other fx, eq etc) there were probably only a handful that sounded 'real' to me. It felt a bit like doing the same thing on the Pod...a lot of the models sound kind of nasal or muffled or processed. Just not open and real-sounding. But maybe that is how the actual amps sound...I don't really know.

Chucking in some delay and reverb produces some really great sounds...the fx just seem to sit really well with the amps in a way they don't really on the Pod. I can see how you can get some really awesome tones out of this thing.

I need to RTFM...it's not super intuitive...took me a while to figure out how to do the basics and it feels like I have a bit of a learning curve in front of me.

I'm a little unsure atm...bit of buyers remorse probably and I'm not fully committed to modelling so I always have a voice in my head telling me to go back to amp and pedals so part of me isn't sure if this is for me and it's quite a lot of dosh for something you're not sure about.