Clarky and the Helix

siremoon

Clarky said:

summary after a few days of goofing:
the Helix is a really nice unit to configure.. really easy and intuitive
and that sense I really like it..

in every other sense
- tone
- feel
- DSP power
- flexibility [the chains]
 it's "almost but not quite"

however… I'll continue to noodle with it to see if I can find another way..
after all I'm still rather new to this unit..

Re/ DSP Power.  You said earlier that you had both amps on Path 1 which means they are both on the same DSP.  Have you tried re-arranging so that you have one amp on each DSP?  *Might* free up some horsepower. 

Clarky

siremoon said:

Clarky said:

summary after a few days of goofing:
the Helix is a really nice unit to configure.. really easy and intuitive
and that sense I really like it..

in every other sense
- tone
- feel
- DSP power
- flexibility [the chains]
 it's "almost but not quite"

however… I'll continue to noodle with it to see if I can find another way..
after all I'm still rather new to this unit..

Re/ DSP Power.  You said earlier that you had both amps on Path 1 which means they are both on the same DSP.  Have you tried re-arranging so that you have one amp on each DSP?  *Might* free up some horsepower. 

I'm actually using 3 amps.. 2 on path 1 and 1 on path 2

Clarky

Cabicular said:

Clarky said:

Cabicular said:

Clarky said:

Cabicular said:

Clarky said:

very much liking the transistor tape delay..
it's all fkd up and nasty
which to my ears is a thing of beauty..

I managed to get the hi-gain tones to feel a bit better by compressing the absolute shit out of the guitar before the signal enters the amp...

Quick Q
Do you have the guitar pad on or off in Global settings

Dunno to be honest.
I'll check it

I always run with it on
i don't know why my guitars are not particularly hot but it does seem to take the roughness out of the high gain tones

so does pad on take out some of the strength out of the signal from the guitar?

I'm kind of assuming that from the name
try it both ways though.its a significant difference

I tried the pad setting… didn't seem to make a huge difference..
but then I guess the compressor is masking it..
when I get a mo, I'll turn the compressor off and try again [cos turning it off didn't occur to me at the time]

fretmeister

Clarky, can I try your preset? I'd love to compare it to mine.

Cabicular

Well I did yet another gig last night with the Helix alone
Again no one really noticed I didn't have a guitar amp (including me)
We did Spirit of Radio for the first time. I have 4 snapshots programmed with the 3 note generator to give me E F# G# and A bass notes
Snapshots are the only way to do that particular tune, especially the clean reggae section at the end

I have the same basic preset that I take copies of for things that are song specific that I can't fit on a single preset (e.g. I have a preset for the Trooper that has two harmony lines toggleable by a footswitch) or Moonage Daydream which has a stereo autopanner speed controlled by the exp pedal

I really can't imagine playing without it now..

firepaulmusic

Cabicular said:

Well I did yet another gig last night with the Helix alone
Again no one really noticed I didn't have a guitar amp (including me)
We did Spirit of Radio for the first time. I have 4 snapshots programmed with the 3 note generator to give me E F# G# and A bass notes
Snapshots are the only way to do that particular tune, especially the clean reggae section at the end

I have the same basic preset that I take copies of for things that are song specific that I can't fit on a single preset (e.g. I have a preset for the Trooper that has two harmony lines toggleable by a footswitch) or Moonage Daydream which has a stereo autopanner speed controlled by the exp pedal

I really can't imagine playing without it now..

Have you got any videos?

Clarky

fretmeister said:

Clarky, can I try your preset? I'd love to compare it to mine.

I guess I can email it t you

Cabicular

firepaulmusic said:

Cabicular said:

Well I did yet another gig last night with the Helix alone
Again no one really noticed I didn't have a guitar amp (including me)
We did Spirit of Radio for the first time. I have 4 snapshots programmed with the 3 note generator to give me E F# G# and A bass notes
Snapshots are the only way to do that particular tune, especially the clean reggae section at the end

I have the same basic preset that I take copies of for things that are song specific that I can't fit on a single preset (e.g. I have a preset for the Trooper that has two harmony lines toggleable by a footswitch) or Moonage Daydream which has a stereo autopanner speed controlled by the exp pedal

I really can't imagine playing without it now..

Have you got any videos?

Not
really apart from the immigrant song/heartbreaker one I posted a while back
I always mean to set up a camera but on the night I've got so much going on I forget
I'll set one up next gig 

Clarky

I think I can safely say that the Helix is one of the easiest units to configure from the front panel that I've ever encountered.
I don't think I've ever got to grips with a new fx unit quite so quickly

John_A

Clarky said:

I think I can safely say that the Helix is one of the easiest units to configure from the front panel that I've ever encountered.
I don't think I've ever got to grips with a new fx unit quite so quickly

Agree.  I hardly ever use the PC editor for anything other than a librarian, the navigation coupled with real knobs on the unit is easier IMO

guitarfishbay

Cool. So have you managed to get it doing what you need to yet? I guess you'll still have time to decide, but are you leaning towards a purchase yet Clarky?

Jonathanthomas83

Agree, the UI is fantastic. All things can be improved upon, of course, but it's light years ahead of other units.

Clarky

John_A said:

Clarky said:

I think I can safely say that the Helix is one of the easiest units to configure from the front panel that I've ever encountered.
I don't think I've ever got to grips with a new fx unit quite so quickly

Agree.  I hardly ever use the PC editor for anything other than a librarian, the navigation coupled with real knobs on the unit is easier IMO

I'm finding myself using 50/50 the front panel and editor
they compliment each other very well

Clarky

guitarfishbay said:

Cool. So have you managed to get it doing what you need to yet? I guess you'll still have time to decide, but are you leaning towards a purchase yet Clarky?

I'm liking what I hear, but not convinced about the feel
only 2 chains is a limitation, but adding a loop to a chain helps..
the thing that negates that limitation most is being able to control individual parameters via snapshots [which is a very powerful feature - one I've always wanted in the Axe-FX]
configuring it is wonderful, but it's lacking DSP power.. unless I can find another way of doing things..

right now, I'm not leaning towards buying one

Clarky

Jonathanthomas83 said:

Agree, the UI is fantastic. All things can be improved upon, of course, but it's light years ahead of other units.

programming the VG-99 is a very similar experience..
in a config sense, the Helix has the best bits of the VG-99 and the 2120
which is just wonderful

Drew_TNBD

It's not really two chains. It's four. It's just the way they're organised is more of a linear fashion than the Axe's 4x12 Grid. But imagine the top two rows on the Axe being linked, and the bottom two rows also being linked. It's kinda like that.

But you can roll them all together into a 32 slot super serial single chain. Works really well.

Clarky

Drew_TNBD said:

It's not really two chains. It's four. It's just the way they're organised is more of a linear fashion than the Axe's 4x12 Grid. But imagine the top two rows on the Axe being linked, and the bottom two rows also being linked. It's kinda like that.

But you can roll them all together into a 32 slot super serial single chain. Works really well.

haaa this is useful.. just figured out how to do that..
I'm still running out of DSP power though

Benson

Few years ago I bought some Ownhammer IRs back either in the days of the AxeFX Ultra or the early AxeFX II, don't remember which. They were cool but ultimately I ended up drifting back to the factory IRs which is where me and my Fractal products have remained since (including my current Ax8). Anyway I dusted those IRs off today, old as they may be, and tried them with the Helix and whoah  ...  huge difference. Gone is the nasaly digital tone and hello thick beefy amp in the room tone

guitarfishbay

The right IR can make all the difference. I think a good pack based on the real cab you'd use in real life is a great starting point for any direct solution - digital sim or loadbox. I use the OH pack based on the Mesa 212 the most since it's my favourite cab. If anything it's better mic'd and in a nicer room than I could manage, plus it's a huge time saver... totally worth the price IMO 

Clarky

you're both totally right.. choosing the right IR for a given amp is a killer decision