I'm actually kinda sad..Helix content

[end user]

I still own about 40 analog pedals and 17 amps, and one of the things I enjoy doing is putting together a pedal board. I call it musicians lego's. It's kind of therapeutic to sit down and pick out 7-10 pedals and assemble them in an order that I think will work well, then get all the wires routed and neatly arranged. Plug into an amp and tear some stuff up.

Well.. I have been fully assimilated into the Line 6 Helix because no matter what I do I cannot get my analog gear to do what my Helix does but I can get the Helix to do what my analog gear does and then 100x more if I want. I have the Helix so dialed in for everything I do, or want to do that it has literally displaced all my analog gear for what I need to do on a gig to gig or recording basis.

Even playing through my Mark V which is my favorite amp, I start pining for my Helix after about 10 minutes or so.

Obviously it's not a "tone" thing. There's nothing I can do with Helix to fully recreate the odd harmonics and warmth of a loud tube amp. No it's a diversity thing and the ease of getting that diversity. With the click of a single button I can go from a cranked Princeton to a Plexi to a Dual Rec or Revv Gen Red and also do every possible effect I could ever need (and I need quite a few to be accurate with all the covers I do) the amps aren't 100% there of course but some are 90+ percent there and all I have tried are at least 80% there.


It's just a no brainer that I have been fighting for awhile now with direct to PA solutions. I walk in to a gig, set my Helix down, apply power, then hook an XLR into FOH and I am done with set up and will sound great all night and have every tone I can ever need ready to go at my feet with a few switches. It helps a ton that I have also been running sound for decades so I know how to dial my gear to fit well in the mix and sound good. No hassling from the sound person because my gear is set to be at or near unity on pretty much any desk it's hooked in to.

If I have it loud enough through my wedge or IEM's (depends on the gig) I still get my high volume jollies.

I love(d)? The challenge of putting together a pedalboard and amp combo that will work for a certain gig. I play a huge variety of stuff ranging from The Beatles to Metallica and also a lot of newer stuff like Pink, No Doubt and others. For awhile I was using my analog boards and a tube amp when I felt like it. I just don't feel like it any more and honestly it saddens me.

 

[FleshOnGear]

Sorry you’re sad, man. Any chance you could do a tribute band where you only need a certain range of tones? Something that lets you easily use an analog board to cover?

 

[end user]

Sorry you’re sad, man. Any chance you could do a tribute band where you only need a certain range of tones? Something that lets you easily use an analog board to cover?

I am in 2 Tribute Bands. I suppose I could use just a 100w head and a half stack with a few pedals as those 2 are similar. Dio and Judas Priest. At the moment I am in 5 bands. 6 if I count the remote recording project I am involved in.

 

[Edgar Frog]

I can definitely see one of those things being good in your situation. It turned out different for me after over a year of my HX Stomp on my board along with my other pedals. I removed it months ago now and don't plan on ever hooking it up to my rig again. I prefer my tube amp and stomp boxes much more. Didn't realize it till I removed it. I don't gig though and only play 70's-80's rock ,hard rock, metal ,thrash and dig 80's pop and synth pop.

I don't try to copy any artists tones exactly just the overall tone feel of those decades, if that makes any since? It now lives in my entertainment center hooked up to a hifi ran through some Klipsch reference monitors. If I gigged I would still use my regular rig though since I'm not playing as diverse of a lineup as you are and don't care to expand lol. I'm just an at home hack as they call it not looking to impress anyone.

 

[ampeq]

I still own about 40 analog pedals and 17 amps, and one of the things I enjoy doing is putting together a pedal board. I call it musicians lego's. It's kind of therapeutic to sit down and pick out 7-10 pedals and assemble them in an order that I think will work well, then get all the wires routed and neatly arranged. Plug into an amp and tear some stuff up.

Well.. I have been fully assimilated into the Line 6 Helix because no matter what I do I cannot get my analog gear to do what my Helix does but I can get the Helix to do what my analog gear does and then 100x more if I want. I have the Helix so dialed in for everything I do, or want to do that it has literally displaced all my analog gear for what I need to do on a gig to gig or recording basis.

Even playing through my Mark V which is my favorite amp, I start pining for my Helix after about 10 minutes or so.

Obviously it's not a "tone" thing. There's nothing I can do with Helix to fully recreate the odd harmonics and warmth of a loud tube amp. No it's a diversity thing and the ease of getting that diversity. With the click of a single button I can go from a cranked Princeton to a Plexi to a Dual Rec or Revv Gen Red and also do every possible effect I could ever need (and I need quite a few to be accurate with all the covers I do) the amps aren't 100% there of course but some are 90+ percent there and all I have tried are at least 80% there.


It's just a no brainer that I have been fighting for awhile now with direct to PA solutions. I walk in to a gig, set my Helix down, apply power, then hook an XLR into FOH and I am done with set up and will sound great all night and have every tone I can ever need ready to go at my feet with a few switches. It helps a ton that I have also been running sound for decades so I know how to dial my gear to fit well in the mix and sound good. No hassling from the sound person because my gear is set to be at or near unity on pretty much any desk it's hooked in to.

If I have it loud enough through my wedge or IEM's (depends on the gig) I still get my high volume jollies.

I love(d)? The challenge of putting together a pedalboard and amp combo that will work for a certain gig. I play a huge variety of stuff ranging from The Beatles to Metallica and also a lot of newer stuff like Pink, No Doubt and others. For awhile I was using my analog boards and a tube amp when I felt like it. I just don't feel like it any more and honestly it saddens me.

I see where your coming from, but ease of set up is important. I had a Helix LT and it was fantastic but way overkill for me. I also have an FX-8 that works incredible but it too will be going. I now use the HX Effects which is my favorite so far. I like my tube amps and will always use them. For effects I only play around with them for the most part and find pedal boards a PITA. I'v tried most all the good effects units but I really like this one. It's small, rugged, upgradeable, has every effect you could ever want as well as things you may need like switching, tuning, memory to set up many boards for different stuff plus you can set several things to turn on with just 1 switch. They sound every bit as good, (or better), than any effect I ever used and you have so many different variations of each style of effect you can get any sound you want. This thing even fit's in the back of a combo amp all set up for the 4cm. If I ever did start playing out all the time again I would probably do just as you are doing, they are hard to beat. In my case, where are you going to get a pedal board with about 250 pedals for $600? Ha,ha,ha..

Edit: I remember when I got my 1st Helix LT and played it for a couple nights. Next I went to Reverb and listed every pedal I had, it was a no-brainer for me.

 

[end user]

I see where your coming from, but ease of set up is important. I had a Helix LT and it was fantastic but way overkill for me. I also have an FX-8 that works incredible but it too will be going. I now use the HX Effects which is my favorite so far. I like my tube amps and will always use them. For effects I only play around with them for the most part and find pedal boards a PITA. I'v tried most all the good effects units but I really like this one. It's small, rugged, upgradeable, has every effect you could ever want as well as things you may need like switching, tuning, memory to set up many boards for different stuff plus you can set several things to turn on with just 1 switch. They sound every bit as good, (or better), than any effect I ever used and you have so many different variations of each style of effect you can get any sound you want. This thing even fit's in the back of a combo amp all set up for the 4cm. If I ever did start playing out all the time again I would probably do just as you are doing, they are hard to beat. In my case, where are you going to get a pedal board with about 250 pedals for $600? Ha,ha,ha..

Edit: I remember when I got my 1st Helix LT and played it for a couple nights. Next I went to Reverb and listed every pedal I had, it was a no-brainer for me.

Very cool I loved the HX Effects when I had it. I just decided to try and go all in with direct to PA. I have used Helix LT off and on since 2018 and it wasn't til the 3.0 update where I was able to go fully in. I spent a lot of time with 3.0 (Beta testing) before it was released so I have a good amount of time with the new updates that increased the sound quality across the board.

 

[Matthews Guitars]

I've held the opinion for a while now, that one of the smartest things the various manufacturers could do would be to repackage their modelling amp products as dedicated effects units, that don't replace your amplifier, but instead simply function as an all-in-one effects unit that's the best you ever imagine.

Not only that, but configure them so that they can be used either to the amp's input or in the amp's effects loop.

 

[end user]

I've held the opinion for a while now, that one of the smartest things the various manufacturers could do would be to repackage their modelling amp products as dedicated effects units, that don't replace your amplifier, but instead simply function as an all-in-one effects unit that's the best you ever imagine.

Not only that, but configure them so that they can be used either to the amp's input or in the amp's effects loop.

We are definitely living in the Golden Age of guitar gear.

 

[saxon68]

I've held the opinion for a while now, that one of the smartest things the various manufacturers could do would be to repackage their modelling amp products as dedicated effects units, that don't replace your amplifier, but instead simply function as an all-in-one effects unit that's the best you ever imagine.

Not only that, but configure them so that they can be used either to the amp's input or in the amp's effects loop.

HX Effects from Line 6 is pretty much what you’re describing.

@OP I know what you’re describing, I started with a tube head and got Helix floor to avoid buying a bunch of pedals.
Tested the models to see how it’d be for my amp backup also. Sounded great, move the tube head along.

fast forward a couple years, hadn’t been gigging for 6 months or so and was scraping all the extra cash I could for my house purchase, not so much for down payment as to have extra for other costs, and I sold the helix. Got a HX stomp to use in the meantime till I got a big rig again.

big rig time came and I decided to grab a Kemper stage since it was new and hot. Played that but never really bonded with the interface/setup.

bought a JVM half stack, loved it and moved the Kemper along.

got a HX Stomp XL for effects, used it at rehearsal with a small speaker and they thought I was still on the Marshall.
But the XL doesn’t have the features and DSP of Helix floor. So last night I ordered a new floor.

Wife says I can’t sell the Marshall because of nostalgia, it’s all paid for and doesn’t hurt anything to keep it and jam once in awhile lol.

I’ve come full circle and I think I’ll stay with Helix now, great interface and sounds great, and a LOT easier to lug around than the JVM half stack.

 

[ampeq]

I've held the opinion for a while now, that one of the smartest things the various manufacturers could do would be to repackage their modelling amp products as dedicated effects units, that don't replace your amplifier, but instead simply function as an all-in-one effects unit that's the best you ever imagine.

Not only that, but configure them so that they can be used either to the amp's input or in the amp's effects loop.

Yep Matt, that is what they have now, especially with the last update as bobpick68 said. I use mine in a 4cm set up with dirt up front and time in the loop. I still want my amps and only want effects in the pedal, no amps, speakers, etc.. The HX Effects works great for that, I was glad they kept all the effects stuff from the Helix. I even have a 12 string guitar effect in it now, fairly cool to play with. The unit even has loops in it so you can add your favorite outboard pedal + 2 inputs for your own vol. & wah pedal's which you can also control some of the effects with. Strobe tuner, noise gates, ch. switching you name it, and you can make up a bunch of different pedal boards. These are great for all kinds of different playing and it's easy to swap out a pedal for something new. (I do this a lot and as long as you don't save it you'll still have the board you were playing with.) When you think what 3-4 pedals cost today they are pretty cheap.

 

[ampeq]

Very cool I loved the HX Effects when I had it. I just decided to try and go all in with direct to PA. I have used Helix LT off and on since 2018 and it wasn't til the 3.0 update where I was able to go fully in. I spent a lot of time with 3.0 (Beta testing) before it was released so I have a good amount of time with the new updates that increased the sound quality across the board.

Yes, that new update was a good one. I usually don't even update most stuff, but this is easy and they are always adding & improving. The Axe stuff is excellent as well, I have an FX-8 which is also just effects, but I'll be moving it pretty soon because it's like new and I never use it.

 

[Sir Don]

I sure love my GT1000 with 4CM through the JVM410HJS.

 

[ibmorjamn]

I am in 2 Tribute Bands. I suppose I could use just a 100w head and a half stack with a few pedals as those 2 are similar. Dio and Judas Priest. At the moment I am in 5 bands. 6 if I count the remote recording project I am involved in.

Man , that is cool. How do you keep up with all those bands and 2 great choices for tribute bands. What Marshall do you use for Priest or do you use other amp model?
I would like come see your tribute bands but I doubt you are west coast ?

 

[ibmorjamn]

I do like this kind of thread. Not about your sadness but change out of necessity or convenience. Stepping outside the box. Traveling has got to be so much easier.
I would like to be able to hear your rig through the PA.

 

[ibmorjamn]

My only issue with my HX stomp is they should add one foot switch and 2 xLR connections. I can use it just fine in my DAW but if I want to use the amp there is no mic connection. The size is small but it replaces the pedal board entirely. It could be 4” longer to add xlr and one foot switch.

 

[Edgar Frog]

My only issue with my HX stomp is they should add one foot switch and 2 xLR connections. I can use it just fine in my DAW but if I want to use the amp there is no mic connection. The size is small but it replaces the pedal board entirely. It could be 4” longer to add xlr and one foot switch.

It has the connection to use either 1 or 2 extra switches or a switch and expression pedal or 2 expression pedals. So you should be good on that part. You can also deactivate the 3rd switch from being a tuner and use it as another effect as well giving you a total of 5 effects switches.

 

[ampeq]

My only issue with my HX stomp is they should add one foot switch and 2 xLR connections. I can use it just fine in my DAW but if I want to use the amp there is no mic connection. The size is small but it replaces the pedal board entirely. It could be 4” longer to add xlr and one foot switch.

I'm not sure about the "stomp", every time I see people saying they don't like the Helix stuff it's one of those. I'v never tried it myself. Why? They seem like a good fill for a regular pedal board.

 

[Edgar Frog]

I'm not sure about the "stomp", every time I see people saying they don't like the Helix stuff it's one of those. I'v never tried it myself. Why? They seem like a good fill for a regular pedal board.

The HX Stomps have the exact same quality of effects as the HX effects/Helix. It's just smaller. If people don't like the sound of the Stomp then it would be no different with the other.

 

[ibmorjamn]

It has the connection to use either 1 or 2 extra switches or a switch and expression pedal or 2 expression pedals. So you should be good on that part. You can also deactivate the 3rd switch from being a tuner and use it as another effect as well giving you a total of 5 effects switches.

I have seen work arounds , I still think a fourth on board and XLR’s for mics would be great. It does everything else real well.
I will un -arm the tuner button.

 

[end user]

Man , that is cool. How do you keep up with all those bands and 2 great choices for tribute bands. What Marshall do you use for Priest or do you use other amp model?
I would like come see your tribute bands but I doubt you are west coast ?

I am retired from the workforce so I have the spare time. Both of the Tributes are brand new but there will be videos down the road for sure. I use the Park 75 brt amp for most stuff and goose it with TS and OCD.