Should I buy a Helix, Amplifire, AX8, ...

monquixote

Having been to the show I'm seriously considering buying a Helix.

The very helpful Paul Hindmarsh walked me through it and I was seriously impressed. 

My band use in ear monitoring so we have silent practice which currently involves bringing a head and a load box as well as a pedalboard.

A Helix would mean I could just bring one relatively light box and then for gigs I would have the choice of straight to PA for small space and sound limited gigs or out to a valve power amp + my 2x12 cab for big gigs. 

The only issue is I'd have to buy it on interest free credit and sell off my pedalboard to pay for it. 

So would you do it and if you did would it be a Helix that you bought?

dindude

Out of the three, the AX8 would likely be my choice, just because it looks like a solid bit of pro level kit with a track record and I really like the rotary encoders - give me as big a screen as you want but seeing knob positions from standing height would make a bigger differnece IMO. Helix looks great though, the Amplifire a little limited.

Having said that, and despite the awesome Clarky getting some awseome high gain tones out of his AxeFX, when I plugged into it myself all that was to be had from my fingers was an undynamic one-dimensional tone that I'm sure passers by thought was 1st generation Zoom tech.

Meanwhile, next door at the Thorpy stand: those pedals into that MJW and I was in heaven.

I know which side my bread is buttered.

 

octatonic

AX8 for me.

As I said at the show, every piece of Line 6 gear I've owned had problems standing up with the rigours of gigging and touring.

I really don't think you can make much of an objective assessment of tone in that environment- it is too crowded and noisy.

If you want to check out the Axe FX 2 and FX8 here you are more than welcome.

monquixote

octatonic said:

AX8 for me.

As I said at the show, every piece of Line 6 gear I've owned had problems standing up with the rigours of gigging and touring.

I really don't think you can make much of an objective assessment of tone in that environment- it is too crowded and noisy.

If you want to check out the Axe FX 2 and FX8 here you are more then welcome.

Cheers much appreciated. 

I do agree that I've been very wary of the build quality of L6 gear in the past, but I'm hoping the Yamaha influence will help that.

Luckily the L6 booth had decent headphones so I felt like I got some appreciation of the Helix.

digitalscream

The problem I've always had with units like these - particularly for pub gigs - is that you've got a very expensive piece of equipment on the floor, right in the drunk-asshole-who-thinks-he's-funny firing line. For that reason, I'll always prefer something that's behind me with a relatively cheap (and replaceable) controller at the front.

Having heard all of them except the Amplifire, I'm still convinced that my current best-of-all-worlds approach is the ideal compromise - a lightweight cab (OK, that's still to come), decent rack effects with minimal patch latency (GSP1101) and a valve amp (Kraken for me, but whatever works here is good).

It's not especially onerous to set up, it sounds great and it's simple to control. The only thing that'd need adding for silent work is a dummy load and that can easily fit in a rack, even if it's not made to be rack-mountable. Sure, it's a few minutes worse than a single modeller in terms of setup time, but it can be done comfortably within a 10 minute changeover slot. If you're playing single-band gigs, that's not an issue either.

hugbot

My friend lost his two subdecay prometheus pedals to a drunken beer.

monquixote

digitalscream said:

The problem I've always had with units like these - particularly for pub gigs - is that you've got a very expensive piece of equipment on the floor, right in the drunk-asshole-who-thinks-he's-funny firing line. For that reason, I'll always prefer something that's behind me with a relatively cheap (and replaceable) controller at the front.

Having seen a pint dumped over a pedalboard on more than one occasion I must say that is a concern to me as well. 

I would quite like a separate rack and MIDI box, but that's always in the realms of the insanely expensive.

fretmeister

Helix rack then with the controller.

monquixote

fretmeister said:

Helix rack then with the controller.

It's a shitload more expensive. 

fretmeister

monquixote said:

fretmeister said:

Helix rack then with the controller.

It's a shitload more expensive. 

From the advertised prices at the moment - £240 more expensive.

Yes that's a bit of cash, but it's also only a couple of nice pedals more expensive.

Strat_a_tat_tat

The controller for the rack version doesn't appear to include an expression pedal... so that's additional expense.

monquixote

I should also note that if I got an Amplifire I'd probably just use it for rehearsal and stick with an amp for live

fretmeister

Strat_a_tat_tat said:

The controller for the rack version doesn't appear to include an expression pedal... so that's additional expense.

Good point - I hadn't actually noticed that.

So a good expression pedal is what - another £150 ish?

That is quite a bit then.

I'm in the same boat about not wanting the brain on the floor. I'd rather rack it too.

fretmeister

monquixote said:

I should also note that if I got an Amplifire I'd probably just use it for rehearsal and stick with an amp for live

A mate of mine doing rock covers is using one into the FX return of a little Egnater head. Sounds excellent.

monquixote

Ooo it's tempting and very cheap

The only problem is short of driving to Andertons I can't try the bloody thing

John_A

Gone through pretty much the same dilemma and decided to hang on to my pedalboard and amps and bought a AMT SS-11A and CP100 for about £300.  That gets you a great sounding 3 channel valve pre-amp that is very versatile and an excellent cab emulation that will play happily with my current pedals and allow me to go direct/silent if required.

I know if I sell all my pedals I'll miss them, and depreciation on something like a Helix is a concern too. The Amplifire also looks great as a possibility, and is a lump cheaper so maybe you could hang on to your other gear.

Having said all of this I think I'm going to crack and get either a Helix or AX8

sgosden

can the helix run direct output into a guitar cab?

monquixote

sgosden said:

can the helix run direct output into a guitar cab?

It doesn't have a power amp so you need some kind of make it louder device.

Drew_TNBD

None of them.

monquixote

Drew_fx said:

None of them.

It's an entirely valid answer. 

John_P

I did an in ears dep gig last friday with the ax8 so used the full modelling - it was great.   

Seems very well built and endless reports that fractal or G66 will sort things quickly if there is a problem.    

If I was playing somewhere with the audience (and their drinks) right on top of me I might be tempted to either put it at the side out of the way or just take a few pedals.   I do worry a bit about damage being on the floor - I had a line 6 xtlive and x3live have footswitch failures so that's partly why I won't trust another one.        

If you can manage with 3 footswitches then I'd get the amplifire - I'd want 4 or 5 so it was knocked off my list but I like the sounds I've heard in clips.