Line 6 Helix

handsomerik

There was no mention of it in the update, (I expect because they don’t want to open a can of worms) but I am pretty certain the tuner has been tweaked. Seems much more stable and less jumpy now. I actually used it playing in church this evening instead of my polytune clip!
I know lots were happy with the tuner on here which is great but until now I found it almost unusable. Very happy they tweaked it again.
But not as happy as I am with the excellent new reverbs. Best product I’ve ever bought this Helix and now all its weaknesses for me at least seem to have been firmly dealt with. :-)

hubobulous

I think if they improve the pitch algorithms, add Freeze type functionality, perhaps things like the Eventide Harpeggiator and step sequencers they'll have closed all those holes for me.

Pitch looks like it's on the cards with those new personnel hires. I still think they can do more with reverb, delay etc when you consider what Source Audio, Meris and Strymon offer, but that's really just crazy icing on the cake

sgosden

you can get helix to do some crazy ambient stuff using the routing options and multiple blocks, but it used a fair bit of space/dsp.

I've always twigged it as more of a utility thing.

Need a phaser? heres a few options of classics and some that can be tweaked a bit more

need a bit more boost? no problem, have a few flavours

want to dial in the perfect delay down to miniscule undetectable details ? get a fractal or something with 60 parameters per block... or use the pedal in a loop... controlled via midi.

Its a good step into the modelling world where the block editing is mostly limited (plus a few options) to the knobs and switches you'd see on a pedal/ amp etc

hubobulous

sgosden said:

you can get helix to do some crazy ambient stuff using the routing options and multiple blocks, but it used a fair bit of space/dsp.

I've always twigged it as more of a utility thing.

Need a phaser? heres a few options of classics and some that can be tweaked a bit more

need a bit more boost? no problem, have a few flavours

want to dial in the perfect delay down to miniscule undetectable details ? get a fractal or something with 60 parameters per block... or use the pedal in a loop... controlled via midi.

Its a good step into the modelling world where the block editing is mostly limited (plus a few options) to the knobs and switches you'd see on a pedal/ amp etc

I agree, and to my ears the point at which the desire for miniscule tweaking kicks in, the ability/imagination of the player and playing has more effect.

duotone

BRISTOL86 said:

Psyched to finally have time coming up over the weekend to actually start exploring the Helix. 

Any recommendations of ‘must try’ presets or anything? I look forward to creating my own tones in due course obviously but any highlights from the preset stuff that I should look at?

Finally got around to trying my Helix through my studio monitors...yes most of the presets are awful.

Created individual patches with just the different Amp & Cabs, so I can go through them and see what amp/cabs I really like before I start playing with the Mic's & adding other effects.

Vaiai

Gigged my Helix into an unknown PA - i.e the venue's house PA - had my Alto on stage - it sounded fecking awesome! I have only used it in our own band PA so was a bit worried

 I love this thing - even tho it does a million cool tricks and has complex routing etc - at its core - it's the perfect replacement for amp and pedals for a gigging musician. The sound in a PA is so good - cuts better than any amp I have used and makes you feel like a rock god at the size of the sound

John_A

Vaiai said:

Gigged my Helix into an unknown PA - i.e the venue's house PA - had my Alto on stage - it sounded fecking awesome! I have only used it in our own band PA so was a bit worried

 I love this thing - even tho it does a million cool tricks and has complex routing etc - at its core - it's the perfect replacement for amp and pedals for a gigging musician. The sound in a PA is so good - cuts better than any amp I have used and makes you feel like a rock god at the size of the sound

Pretty much my feelings too, don't use a lot of the 'cool tricks' but it sounds amazing

BRISTOL86

duotone said:

BRISTOL86 said:

Psyched to finally have time coming up over the weekend to actually start exploring the Helix. 

Any recommendations of ‘must try’ presets or anything? I look forward to creating my own tones in due course obviously but any highlights from the preset stuff that I should look at?

Finally got around to trying my Helix through my studio monitors...yes most of the presets are awful.

Created individual patches with just the different Amp & Cabs, so I can go through them and see what amp/cabs I really like before I start playing with the Mic's & adding other effects.

Yeah I agree the presets sound pretty poor. I’ve hardly done any tweaking at all yet as bizarrely I’ve been actually practicing hard and caring more about playing than tweaking. I’m not doing this right am I?!  

Having said that, I’m really trying to nail the Gary Moore Parisienne Walkways/SGTB tone if anyone has any pointers! 

hubobulous

I think the SGTB was a cranked JTM45 with Guvnor in front. May be wrong on this, but it should give a pretty good approximation

BRISTOL86

hubobulous said:

I think the SGTB was a cranked JTM45 with Guvnor in front. May be wrong on this, but it should give a pretty good approximation

Thanks!

simonk

BRISTOL86 said:

duotone said:

BRISTOL86 said:

Psyched to finally have time coming up over the weekend to actually start exploring the Helix. 

Any recommendations of ‘must try’ presets or anything? I look forward to creating my own tones in due course obviously but any highlights from the preset stuff that I should look at?

Finally got around to trying my Helix through my studio monitors...yes most of the presets are awful.

Created individual patches with just the different Amp & Cabs, so I can go through them and see what amp/cabs I really like before I start playing with the Mic's & adding other effects.

Yeah I agree the presets sound pretty poor. I’ve hardly done any tweaking at all yet as bizarrely I’ve been actually practicing hard and caring more about playing than tweaking. I’m not doing this right am I?!  

Having said that, I’m really trying to nail the Gary Moore Parisienne Walkways/SGTB tone if anyone has any pointers! 

I’d try: Kinky Boost > 808 > Plexi Bright (gain 6ish, bass 2, mid 10, treble 10, presence 4-6, volume high).

Or, the Solo Lead model will get you in the right area. GM was using two SLO100’s on the Blues Alive tour.

BRISTOL86

simonk said:

BRISTOL86 said:

duotone said:

BRISTOL86 said:

Psyched to finally have time coming up over the weekend to actually start exploring the Helix. 

Any recommendations of ‘must try’ presets or anything? I look forward to creating my own tones in due course obviously but any highlights from the preset stuff that I should look at?

Finally got around to trying my Helix through my studio monitors...yes most of the presets are awful.

Created individual patches with just the different Amp & Cabs, so I can go through them and see what amp/cabs I really like before I start playing with the Mic's & adding other effects.

Yeah I agree the presets sound pretty poor. I’ve hardly done any tweaking at all yet as bizarrely I’ve been actually practicing hard and caring more about playing than tweaking. I’m not doing this right am I?!  

Having said that, I’m really trying to nail the Gary Moore Parisienne Walkways/SGTB tone if anyone has any pointers! 

I’d try: Kinky Boost > 808 > Plexi Bright (gain 6ish, bass 2, mid 10, treble 10, presence 4-6, volume high)

Thanks chap, will try that later

sgosden

Gig gremlins got me last night.

phantom power from the desk - it really does add some nasty ringing

wah on for the first minute of the set - its an old cry baby I modded, it needs some sort of spring return next!!!

other than that, a very complimentary sound guy, and I'm very much enjoying the BE/HBE!

digitalscream

Just in case anyone's considering getting Native because of the sale they announced today...the sale code only works if you don't already have the discount from owning a Helix in the first place. So, for example, if you have a Helix LT, you're entitled to Native at $299, but you can't have another 30% off that in the sale (unlike the Black Friday sale, when you could).

Love it when companies reward their existing customers...

stratman3142

digitalscream said:

Just in case anyone's considering getting Native because of the sale they announced today...the sale code only works if you don't already have the discount from owning a Helix in the first place. So, for example, if you have a Helix LT, you're entitled to Native at $299, but you can't have another 30% off that in the sale (unlike the Black Friday sale, when you could).

Love it when companies reward their existing customers...

Yes, I just discovered that. I might have taken the plunge but alas not yet

gibsongretschfan

digitalscream said:

Just in case anyone's considering getting Native because of the sale they announced today...the sale code only works if you don't already have the discount from owning a Helix in the first place. So, for example, if you have a Helix LT, you're entitled to Native at $299, but you can't have another 30% off that in the sale (unlike the Black Friday sale, when you could).

Love it when companies reward their existing customers...

It should be working now

Digital_Igloo

gibsongretschfan said:

digitalscream said:

Just in case anyone's considering getting Native because of the sale they announced today...the sale code only works if you don't already have the discount from owning a Helix in the first place. So, for example, if you have a Helix LT, you're entitled to Native at $299, but you can't have another 30% off that in the sale (unlike the Black Friday sale, when you could).

Love it when companies reward their existing customers...

It should be working now

Yeah, you should be able to stack discounts. Frank said everything is fixed. If it still doesn't work, send me a PM.

digitalscream

Digital_Igloo said:

gibsongretschfan said:

digitalscream said:

Just in case anyone's considering getting Native because of the sale they announced today...the sale code only works if you don't already have the discount from owning a Helix in the first place. So, for example, if you have a Helix LT, you're entitled to Native at $299, but you can't have another 30% off that in the sale (unlike the Black Friday sale, when you could).

Love it when companies reward their existing customers...

It should be working now

Yeah, you should be able to stack discounts. Frank said everything is fixed. If it still doesn't work, send me a PM.

It's working now, cheers...also, I did send you a PM earlier

Teetonetal

Damn it. Looks like the new HX edit doesn' run on mavericks

Teetonetal

I wish there was an option to say no presets please... just to reduce the update time. Never use the things anyway!