Line 6 Helix

Moltisanti

I had the same experience when I had an axe fx , I kept messing with the EQ live then one week used a real amp again and never went back

firepaulmusic

A very nice chap on the Line 6 stand demo'd this for me and my son at the Guitar Show on Sunday. Blown away by the ease of programming an d versatility. Just need to get my hands on one to know how it sounds both for fx into an amp and the modelling side for solo work...

Sporky

After just two or three hours of fiddling the interface is indeed excellent - working out what to do with all that flexibility will take rather longer. I made a rather nice patch today with a crossover split to take the low frequencies through an overdrive and amp, and the higher through a full-wet reverb, subtle vibrato and octave up. Very shimmery.

Also I was most relieved to find the new deluxe phaser block can be modulated via the expression pedal - ie turn the LFO depth to zero and map the "colour" to the pedal. Like wah but very odd sounding. Or two wahs at the same time, in opposite directions. So many possibilities.

monquixote

I tried one today and I have to say it's the real deal.

Superb sound quality, but it's the interface that really makes it. I was just straight into making sounds without any need for a manual.

Cabicular

Our bass player got all excited
He was hoping it had a telly

guitargeek62

@Sporky - pretty much anything can be controlled by the expression pedal - or even multiple things by it at the same time!

Drew_TNBD

I've seen it in action a few times now.

The effects sound really good.

Sporky

guitargeek62 said:

@Sporky - pretty much anything can be controlled by the expression pedal - or even multiple things by it at the same time!

Aye - but (unless I missed something) the 1.03 firmware it came with didn't have a phaser that could be manually swept, only the Phase90 emulation.

What'd be really nice would be an internal LFO and envelope generator that could be assigned to control parameters - I know the modulations generally have their own LFOs, but I'd like to control a wah with an LFO, fer instance. I'm fairly seriously considering the Source Audio Reflex for the LFO bit (and an extra expression pedal) but you'd think this could be built in.

fretmeister

I need to order one.

matt1973

Any Line6 StageSource user finding the L2/L3's a bit Hi-Fi? I use an L3M as a monitor for the Helix and compared to the bands KV2 mains the Line6 really lacks the warmth has very brittle sounding highs.

Id be very interested to hear if anyone else has had a similar experience.

Cabicular

matt1973 said:

Any Line6 StageSource user finding the L2/L3's a bit Hi-Fi? I use an L3M as a monitor for the Helix and compared to the bands KV2 mains the Line6 really lacks the warmth has very brittle sounding highs.

Id be very interested to hear if anyone else has had a similar experience.

Hi Matt

It works a hell of a lot better if you set it to guitar on the back panel

Also be aware (you probably already know this) but the Global EQ does NOT apply to the L6 link output

hugbot

I only had a brief time with an l3t in the store but to me it sounded awful until I took it OFF electric guitar mode. As I understand that simulates the sound of a guitar cab, so I assumed it was conflicting with the cab modelling the modeller was putting out. Cabicular, if youre running it in that mode maybe try turning the helix cabs off entirely?

Sporky

Guitar mode? Not guitar mode? There's only one way to decide!

https://world4justice.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/harry-hill-fight-ap-wdc5.jpg

Cabicular

hugbot;988020" said:

I only had a brief time with an l3t in the store but to me it sounded awful until I took it OFF electric guitar mode.



As I understand that simulates the sound of a guitar cab, so I assumed it was conflicting with the cab modelling the modeller was putting out.



Cabicular, if youre running it in that mode maybe try turning the helix cabs off entirely?

Im not but when I was testing it via L6 link it sounded a lot better
It basically shelves lows and highs (as does tilting an L2 on its side)

Paul_C

fretmeister said:

I need to order one.

having said that, I did buy a new bass today . . .

fretmeister

ah dammit.

Guilty.

Rig of Doom Mk5 is looking likely.

guitargeek62

\:D/ :-bd

Sporky

It's probably worth pointing out that Fret and I have been conversing on this subject, so I can reveal that RoDM5 will involve two Helix Racks, 6.5kW of amplification, and a rotary subwoofer.

One of the expression pedals will be devoted to controlling the phase of the moon.

guitargeek62

Only one moon, or all moons?

Sporky

That will be determined by another expression pedal.