Helix LT is now available for order. Cut down version - ish.

fretmeister

Apparently the discount for Native will be smaller if you buy the LT.

Instead of $99 with the full Helix, its will be $299.

Not seen officially yet, but have seen it on a couple of forums

Sporky

That's confirmed on the Line6 forum.

guitarfishbay

guitarfishbay said:

I can't see any UK stockists yet but in the US it is $999.99 vs $1499.99 for the regular Helix (from Sweetwater).

But note this - 

• Registered Helix LT owners can purchase the Helix Native plug-in for $299 (normally $399; registered Helix and Helix Rack owners get it for $99)

So if you were going to get Native anyway it is worth bearing that in mind, makes the total price a little closer.

Yep and here, already posted it on page 1, read from the link you posted!

Bridgehouse

Don't forget - this will get all the Helix firmware updates yet to come - all that future goodness. 

So so far the updates have been really good for feature additions

fretmeister

The bass stuff is amazing now. The Acoustic 360 model (whatever L6 called it) is superb.

Sassafras

DesVegas said:

That is a sexy beast

Yeah, although I didn't like his sleeve tattoo.
Makes him look cheap.

BintyTwanger77

So all the amp/cab blocks and all the effects for £849? I mean, I'm not a Helix fan but that is very impressive for the price.

Cabicular

Teetonetal said:

digitalscream said:

Voxman said:

Shame it doesn't have the tag labels though as that's a very useful feature for gigging.  Otherwise, how do you know what button does what?  

The coloured rings around each switch are user-configurable according to the effect block just like the full-fat Helix (I think), so there's still a visual cue.

And most pedal board switchers only have foot switches, so it's not too unusual. You could also easily come up with a system.

The screen is switchable to a block display that matches the pedalboard layout
so you have a visual display of what switch is doing what.
makes sense as the main display is a bit redundant during a live performance
it looks clever

longi

Voxman said:

Shame it doesn't have the tag labels though as that's a very useful feature for gigging.  Otherwise, how do you know what button does what?  

Somewhere on Ebay luminous, sticker labels are available to buy, I got some for my GT100. It looks great, I can't afford one or justify one but I'd really like one. Maybe in a year or two.........

Ohh it does amp channel switching too! They kept that from the full fat version, nice touch.

https://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?threads/helix-lt.1812620/page-3#post-23860021

welshboyo

I'm sure the Kicktags bloke is prepared for this, to me the whole performance screen thing is very much like the AX8/FX8 and the LED rings around the switches just add to the party as far as that is concerned

Which also means the AX8 and FX8 have just taken a kick in the balls IMO

Good work by Line 6 here to bring out a low fat model of the Helix, it makes total sense for anyone who needs a simpler ride - possibly ideal for gigging? 

stickyfiddle

£839 in Dawsons. THe price war begineth!

Am seriously trying to weigh up how much I'd miss scribble strips and more loops. I think actually quite a lot. Hrmph :-s

Sporky

stickyfiddle said:

Am seriously trying to weigh up how much I'd miss scribble strips and more loops. I think actually quite a lot. Hrmph :-s

The onboard effects are good enough for a lot of people that the loops don't get used. Mine just have patch leads so that I can do more complex routing and feedback loops, and two would be enough for that.

The scribble strips are nice though; I think they're worth it if you use a lot of patches with different footswitch assignments. If you can be a bit more organised so each footswitch does a similar thing in all your patches (fer example, FS1 is always dirt, FS5 is always modulation) then you'd be fine without scribbe strips.

Teetonetal

stickyfiddle said:

£839 in Dawsons. THe price war begineth!

Am seriously trying to weigh up how much I'd miss scribble strips and more loops. I think actually quite a lot. Hrmph :-s

I don't think you would miss scribble strips at all.
As for the loops, that depends. What would you be sticking in there?

From a gigging perspective, helix doesn't have anything that is weak enough that I couldn't just use on-board sounds... however the loops are useful for recording or home use, when you want to add in specific pedals.

No question for me, this is the version of helix I would prefer to have if I was buying now. 

stickyfiddle

I suspect the thing I'd miss with the scribble strips is the "ooh pretty" aspect, rather than the functionality of it... It doesn't help that the LT looks a bit less nice overall than the regular Helix, which I'm sure is partly intentional, and partly a function of the cheaper box they're putting it it.

Loop-wise it's really just whether I might want to use 4cm plus my Rat and homemade boost all at once and all in different places, but honestly I probably don't need to, not least because I've literally never used an fx loop in my life. I don't have anything else fancy that the Helix can't do itself. I really want to have a go at the Deco/Mimiq, double-tracked thing but half the attraction of the Helix is that I could build something that would do basically that anyway.

I was also wondering about the loss of the mic preamp in relation to recording acoustics, but since I don't have any microphones and my acoustic has a Baggs active pickup in it I can't see that being a problem. I literally never record anything at the moment, so I don't think that's something I should be worrying about right now. I'm being silly. 

Sporky

As I often tell customers, "I might want to..." is a very expensive phrase.

The RAT block in the Helix is ace and there must be twenty ways to do a boost with whatever flavour you want.

Teetonetal

@stickyfiddle ;
Well, you could potentially have both the rat and boost in 1 loop and still use loop 2 for the 4CM.

Not sure how well you'd get the double tracked sound out of helix, but who knows they might put in an fx block at some point.

You could also use an IR to make your Baggs sound more natural, I've had some good results with the free taylor IRs that are floating about.

digitalscream

stickyfiddle said:

I really want to have a go at the Deco/Mimiq, double-tracked thing but half the attraction of the Helix is that I could build something that would do basically that anyway.

You could easily use the Mimiq with it - use the Guitar In as one input and Return 1 as the second. I believe the loops are stereo (I think Hindmarsh said that in the L6 video), so you could still have a Deco running in stereo on both channels.

Sporky

I don't think the loops are stereo, I think it's that you can combine the two mono loops to act as one stereo one.

digitalscream

Sporky said:

I don't think the loops are stereo, I think it's that you can combine the two mono loops to act as one stereo one.

It's very possible I'm imagining it. I'm somewhat sleep-deprived right now

Sporky

The Line6 forum says:

2 Sends/Returns as opposed to 4 (can be stereo linked)