My plans to build a great a pedal board are now under review after I have added up the cost of pedals and
my lack of funds meaning it could take me 18 months or more to fund.....
This is because of Mr. Helix and his new sibling Helix LT.
I have not purchased yet....(a daliance for 24 hours two months ago left me thinking it was a jump too far - I sent it back)
Realizing the Helix products work at home and through amp and PA ......silent playing through headphones etc.
I am sold......financial sense, but had thought it might be a lesser audio choice.
Anyone else in this ponderous position?
Jon
Comments
is it crazy how saying sentences backwards creates backwards sentences saying how crazy it is?
View my feedback at www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/comment/1201922
Used my LT at rehearsal last night, it sounded great. I'm really happy with the drives, they work great into my amp and I've never liked digital drives before, much better than the M5 which I have had previously. No regrets from me so far, the LT can do so much compared to the relatively basic board I had. Ironically the pedal I'll probably miss most will be the POG, which is digital anyway. I've kept a few pedals and my small board and PSU, so might slowly populate it in parallel to the Helix but in all honesty I don't really need to.
The Helix plays very nice into a valve amp, so no looking back from me....
I have a feeling the digital market will continue to grow very quickly, which also means new models. This will leave the older models losing value compared to a set of pedals, which in some circumstances may even gain value. Not that it is all about value!
Whilst I would like to try a Helix, I do love just plugging a pedal into a tube amp.
The thing is, to get the range of effects in the Helix with a pedalboard, you'd have to spend 2 - 3 times as much, so I think value is a moot point. Sure your £850 investment will depreciate over time, but if you spent 2k - 3k on new pedals, so would they.
With regards plugging a pedal into a tube amp, that's what I'm doing, the Helix is a pedal and I'm using it into a valve amp
The days of any pedals increasing are long behind us.
And if we all bought such things as an investment then we are buying them as a investor rather than a musician....
The whole "Pedal into a Tube Amp" thing is a little cliche now...and thats coming from a valve amp snob...
If someone offered me a helix in exchange for my board, spare pedals (bar one or two specials I wouldn't sell), cables, power supply AND handwired valve amp, I'd take it.
It's the perfect solution for me, as an obsessive bedroom warrior.
It's not just the sound I like, it's having lots of separate effects all built especially for (usually) one function, and I really enjoy actually have the physical pedal in front of me....sounds silly but it is a bit like playing a record....
...and I'm not one for constantly looking into the past as all of my bass amp gear is super lightweight Class D and I sold my bass tube amp...
It's not even tube amps...I like using individual pedals anyway for some bizarre reason.
I might even venture into something like Helix but I'm going to wait another few years and see how things change.
Also, have you tried selling pedals lately, they go for peanuts
Absolutely the same for me, reading all the positive reviews on the Helix makes it attractive, and I'm far from a luddite - I've worked in IT my whole life, love my Apple watch etc.
I own, and really like the Timeline and Mobius.
But I just don't like the experience of changing settings, the sound quality is amazing now - for the first time, we now have the pedals interacting properly - I always found previously that yes it sounds like a Tubescreamer, but it doesn't impact the amplifier the way a TS would.
Now that's fixed.
But for me, bending down and changing a setting on a pedal is a different experience to on the Helix/Fractal - yes the UI is amazing and it's easy to do, but the act of looking at a screen engages another part of my brain and I just don't enjoy it so much.
One day I'll get a Helix for headphone use (at the moment I use my iPhone and Amplitube) - but for me, I like the pedals, and the idea that I can buy (or sell) anything I like is part of the hobby I enjoy.