Line 6 Helix

Cirrus

neilg said:

Cirrus said:

Secondly, I wish you could save your own default settings, because it would make setting up new patches and choosing between amps way, way faster.

In Richie Castellano's NAMM review video he mentioned that at the invite only Line 6 event they were told that this would be coming in the next software update but one.

That is genuinely excellent news. Especially the way the rotary encoders are set up - you load an amp, the bass is on 8 and you want it on 2.3, and you end up spinning that encoder like you're trying to turn a 16th century galley out of the path of a storm.

guitarmangler

I currently am only using the dual rec model, with snapshots for clean (gain almost off and an eq) mid gain-ish, chunky metal rhythm with a tubescreamer model, and a sort of Allan Holdsworth lead sound (again with eq) all with a mix of two stock cabs. Sounds great.

The snapshots can change so many features (such as sag etc) that it makes it really easy sound good. Which useful, as I’m very lazy! I only got fiddling with this after line 6 announced the pod go and I thought I’d have a go at a mock signal chain in my LT.

Cirrus

rossyamaha said:

I see a lot of people saying they don't like some of the high gain stuff and the same models keep coming up so here's my 2 penneth. 

Dual Rectifier 

This has come up so many times it's mental. But heres the thing. There are sooooo many dual rectifers. Loads of versions or revisions as they call it and more often than not, the sound of a rectifier in your head is more often than not the amp boosted with, usually a tube screamer. It's also quite picky about cabs. I've found a couple of the free Ownhammer ones work really well but you will need to use the low cut to tighten things up a bit more. 
I have no idea which version we have but there are good ones and bad ones and the ones that people pay huge money for Rev F I think that one is. 

Mark IV

Another one that out of the box doesn't sound quite right. The default settings on all models are a compromise. I like this better, but I like this better etc. There are so many variations of how people set these up it's impossible to get a default setting everyone likes. The trick to this one, like the real amp, is using the 5 band graphic in conjunction with the amp controls. Mark series amps are notoriously hard to dial in and the model, albeit easier, is still tricky. Everything works together and changing one things makes lots of other things happen so you have to compensate. Again, play with the IR's as well as stock cabs. 

JCM 800

This unfortunately again, is one of those amps where there have been many different versions and some are liked more than others. I believe the one we have is a later one rather than the much more desirable earlier post JMP one. Which is an awesome amp! Like other models, be aware of the "master volume" of the model. That can change things dramatically. Turn the gain down and the master up. Or the other way round. The gain character changes quite a lot. 

Either of the Bogners!

Bogner amps are normally quite dark so similar to the Boogie models, you may find you have settings quite extreme. This is normal. 

As I said earlier, the actual defaults will rarely please everyone. Some of them actually changed in the last firmware update. The next one will let you store your own defaults which is pretty cool. As we get more feedback, things will continue to get better so don't be afraid to post about it. We're always watching/ listening. 

There are so many great, great amp models in that thing. It's fine for the recto to be a bit of a dud. I'm also aware that out there will be players who make the Recto model sound better than anything I will ever create on the guitar.

You know what I've been loving recently? The Tweed Bright channel. It's amazing. Takes the pedal models so well, and I've got it going into parallel IRs - a 2x12 vox blue and a 1x12 with a fane speaker. Absolutely love how it floats in the mix with my Gretsch w/filtertrons, and my Strat.

Cabicular

rossyamaha said:

I see a lot of people saying they don't like some of the high gain stuff and the same models keep coming up so here's my 2 penneth. 

Dual Rectifier 

This has come up so many times it's mental. But heres the thing. There are sooooo many dual rectifers. Loads of versions or revisions as they call it and more often than not, the sound of a rectifier in your head is more often than not the amp boosted with, usually a tube screamer. It's also quite picky about cabs. I've found a couple of the free Ownhammer ones work really well but you will need to use the low cut to tighten things up a bit more. 
I have no idea which version we have but there are good ones and bad ones and the ones that people pay huge money for Rev F I think that one is. 

Mark IV

Another one that out of the box doesn't sound quite right. The default settings on all models are a compromise. I like this better, but I like this better etc. There are so many variations of how people set these up it's impossible to get a default setting everyone likes. The trick to this one, like the real amp, is using the 5 band graphic in conjunction with the amp controls. Mark series amps are notoriously hard to dial in and the model, albeit easier, is still tricky. Everything works together and changing one things makes lots of other things happen so you have to compensate. Again, play with the IR's as well as stock cabs. 

JCM 800

This unfortunately again, is one of those amps where there have been many different versions and some are liked more than others. I believe the one we have is a later one rather than the much more desirable earlier post JMP one. Which is an awesome amp! Like other models, be aware of the "master volume" of the model. That can change things dramatically. Turn the gain down and the master up. Or the other way round. The gain character changes quite a lot. 

Either of the Bogners!

Bogner amps are normally quite dark so similar to the Boogie models, you may find you have settings quite extreme. This is normal. 

As I said earlier, the actual defaults will rarely please everyone. Some of them actually changed in the last firmware update. The next one will let you store your own defaults which is pretty cool. As we get more feedback, things will continue to get better so don't be afraid to post about it. We're always watching/ listening. 

I’ve got a real Mark IV and confirm it is a real challenge to get right.
so much so I can’t actually be arsed with it

TTBZ

My favourite high gain amp was the Placater boosted with an SD1, or the Badonk when I wanted something more modern. I didn't rate the JCM800 model at all, it doesn't have any of the raw aggression or punch of the real thing and I felt like Mercurial Spark plugin did a much much better job for anything Marshally - which proves it can be done. The P75 was much better though. 

Miss my Stomp for times like this where my real amp is redundant! 

guitargeek62

Are many people using these with power amps and guitar cabs at all? I'm not convinced I would "need" the full features of a powercab, although I see the potential for using it as an FRFR/IR-loader too.

Beexter

guitargeek62 said:

Are many people using these with power amps and guitar cabs at all? I'm not convinced I would "need" the full features of a powercab, although I see the potential for using it as an FRFR/IR-loader too.

I've used my Stomp into a SD170 poweramp to a pair of Bluguitar Nanocab's which worked really well and made for a very compact setup.

Cirrus

Laney LFR-112 here. It's loud, punchy, reasonably transparent, and has a cool LED strip above the grill cloth.

guitargeek62

Cirrus said:

Laney LFR-112 here. It's loud, punchy, reasonably transparent, and has a cool LED strip above the grill cloth.

Sold. 

drpbier

Is there a way of marking a snapshot for a given preset as 'default' so that when I switch to that preset it automatically selects the default snapshot?

Dontgiveupyourdayjob

drpbier said:

Is there a way of marking a snapshot for a given preset as 'default' so that when I switch to that preset it automatically selects the default snapshot?

Does it not just automatically go to whichever snapshot you had it on when you last pressed 'save' on that preset? Haven't checked it, but pretty sure I've noticed that's how it works in my Stomp. 

PolarityMan

Dontgiveupyourdayjob said:

drpbier said:

Is there a way of marking a snapshot for a given preset as 'default' so that when I switch to that preset it automatically selects the default snapshot?

Does it not just automatically go to whichever snapshot you had it on when you last pressed 'save' on that preset? Haven't checked it, but pretty sure I've noticed that's how it works in my Stomp. 

that's what the helix floor does so i assume so.

PolarityMan

How is everyone finding the tap tempo btw? On the floor I find it really temperamental/. 

mark_jwedge

Beexter said:

guitargeek62 said:

Are many people using these with power amps and guitar cabs at all? I'm not convinced I would "need" the full features of a powercab, although I see the potential for using it as an FRFR/IR-loader too.

I've used my Stomp into a SD170 poweramp to a pair of Bluguitar Nanocab's which worked really well and made for a very compact setup.

Same here, HX stomp into an SD170 into my 2x12 cab. Sounds great and is very portable as it all fits in the back of the 2x12 to carry to gigs 

chris45

@rossyamaha hi Ross thanks for the detailed post.  What's the best way to register requests for new functionality?

rossyamaha

chris45 said:

@rossyamaha hi Ross thanks for the detailed post.  What's the best way to register requests for new functionality?

We have a dedicated site for all product ideas here https://line6.ideascale.com/

Fill yer boots. You can also post something on the official Helix user group on facebook. It all gets seen. 

John_A

Dontgiveupyourdayjob said:

drpbier said:

Is there a way of marking a snapshot for a given preset as 'default' so that when I switch to that preset it automatically selects the default snapshot?

Does it not just automatically go to whichever snapshot you had it on when you last pressed 'save' on that preset? Haven't checked it, but pretty sure I've noticed that's how it works in my Stomp. 

Yes, that's exactly what it does

drpbier

Dontgiveupyourdayjob said:

drpbier said:

Is there a way of marking a snapshot for a given preset as 'default' so that when I switch to that preset it automatically selects the default snapshot?

Does it not just automatically go to whichever snapshot you had it on when you last pressed 'save' on that preset? Haven't checked it, but pretty sure I've noticed that's how it works in my Stomp. 

Brilliant...worked a treat!

Heartfeltdawn

Cabin fever is kicking in and I keep looking at the Helix LT and wondering whether to drop the pounds... the Helix Stomp is hard to find right now. Andertons are selling at £500, nearly £100 above everywhere else that had them .Hmmm. 

Dontgiveupyourdayjob

Heartfeltdawn said:

Cabin fever is kicking in and I keep looking at the Helix LT and wondering whether to drop the pounds... the Helix Stomp is hard to find right now. Andertons are selling at £500, nearly £100 above everywhere else that had them .Hmmm. 

I believe the Pod Go has started shipping out from the factory to vendors in anticipation of its release. I'd keep your powder dry for another week or two and see if you can get your hands on one of them.