OzMike

I came across this useful pack of bass cab IRs: https://shift-line.com/irpackbass ... with a 'pay what you want' pricing model. Quite handy for headphones based practice (as otherwise the Helix patches I have sound completely different without being played via amp / cab), and it's easy to load them all up and flick between them in HX Edit or on your device (I have a an FX) until you find something you like. Not sure how true they are to the original cabs, but in general the tonal differences makes sense (i.e. B15 = less bass more mids, EBS = fairly neutral, Ampeg 8x10s = fat and big etc).

What about an Aerodyne Jazz? I have one, and only use the P pickup (recently updated with the Geezer Butler P/j set). It's light, and the neck is a 'jazz' version which is almost identical in feel to my early 2000s Mexico jazz.

A lot of the pop music in Estonia is written to that format... unfortunately. Eurovision is seem as the ultimate goal for a lot of the pop performers here. Vanilla Ninja were, in the early 2000s, originally a more legit light rock band, and could / can actually play instruments and sing. Most importantly these days, images of younger versions of themselves grace the wrapper of my most favourite budget ice-cream. 😄

I've been working through the electric bass jazz lessons by John Patitucci: https://artistworks.com/jazz-bass-lessons-john-patitucci This starts from a very basic, practically zero ability level, and has three levels - beginner, intermediate, advanced - each with a number of lessons I don't play acoustic but the subscription - $105 for 3 months is the plan I'm on - gives you access to the acoustic course also, plus a 4 lesson basic theory lesson. There are videos for each lesson, and PDFs (notation only, no tab) for most lessons, as well as some backing tracks. John is a good teacher, and has relaxed and friendly style. The real bonus is that you can submit several of your own videos, and he'll respond personally, providing feedback on where you should improve. I've been too much of a coward to utilise this option, but for more courageous players this would be worth the $105 all by itself IMO (as I guess he'd charged a mint for personal lessons). The videos are well filmed and produced. Very information-dense and no b/s, recommended, especially if you are an old-school / jazz-wanna-be.

(edit - I'm all sorted out now, thank you) I'm wondering if there is any current Stomp owner running v2.82 that might be able to help me out. Recently my Stomp was stolen, and as I wasn't using the amp or cab models anyway I decide to replace it with the HX Effects. I have backups of my Stomp patches, but only as a 'total' backup, and these can't be accessed unless I actually have a Stomp connected. Unfortunately no-one I know in Estonia owns a Stomp, so I was wondering if there is some kind Stomp-owning soul here that might be able to take my 'total' backup, restore it to their Stomp and then dump out around 30-40 of my patches to separate preset files? I'd be willing to compensate you for your time and effort; I guess it's about a 30 minute job from start to finish. Please send me a PM if you'd be willing to help me out, thanks!

I found this info on TGP: https://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?threads/timmy-toggle-switch-what-does-what.1006178/ " Asymmetrical (up) leaves 1 diode in for clipping, as opposed to none in the middle, and 2 in the down position (most compressed). "

Try different EQ settings to bring out a distinctive frequency or two. I setup patches in a rough way at home, but then always do the next round of tweaking at rehearsals at volume using a parametric EQ block, dialing in (quite often) a mid-frequency boost that brings out the tone of the bass or FX. Without an EQ it's easy for the guitarist to blot out any tonal nuances. That's another aspect of the Helix Stomp / LT etc, one can configure it so that the EQ changes only come on with the chorus or whatever, or you can leave the EQ on all the time. Way better than the old days of buying a new chorus pedal, having it sound great in isolation at home and then have it be completely lost in the mix live. Every one of my patches has at least one EQ block and most have two (the second one being for a kind of cap sim which IMO sound better and more consistent live than the cab models).

How was the HX connected to FOH? I use a passive DI box to provide a feed for the sound guy, haven't once had any troubles this way and don't need to worry if phantom power is on or not. My stomp is definitely saving me money; for a new project I need some delay and reverb, and the Helix has plenty of viable options. It's pretty easy to whip up a patch even in rehearsal. Maybe I'd be happy with some other manufacturer's gear, but the HX is what I've got and there's no reason to change. Featherweight amps, small light and loud cabs, plus DSP boxes like the HX; a pretty good time to be a bass player.

Strymon Ojai R30 with parallel cable from two of the outputs plus voltage polarity reverse cable does the job for me. It does have a sizable outboard power brick though.

That custom / proto G&L does't seem to have the standard G&L headstock. Is that common with their 'special' basses?

This covers master vs channel volume for the general Helix ecosystem: https://helixhelp.com/2017/04/28/tip-master-vs-channel-volume/

I believe that was a point that Jon made also; IME that's what a 'clean' setup on these amps gives you IRL too. The tonal and response differences seem more apparent to me at rehearsal volume as opposed to through headphones. I didn't personally find problems with volumes but this may depend on what instrument is being used to drive the Stomp and input impedance settings. And ss posted above, these are known starting points rather than finished patches, and personally I found them much more useful than the overdriven Line6 defaults for each amp. One good thing about the Stomp is that's easy to do some trial and error, so if you don't like what you hear it's not much time wasted.

With the several presets I've programmed in using Jon's settings it seems the channel and / or master volumes are bumped up to make up for the lower drive values. Across each of the settings above the volumes are pretty much identical, and are also roughly in line with the other non-Jon patches I've got setup.

All of the amps on the Stomp, for me at least, had the drive controls too far up and sounded too muddy on the presets and when the amp is selected into an empty block. There is a chap by the name of Jon Willis who has done a lot of work providing bass patches and settings for the Helix series within a couple of groups on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/669957523419623/ and https://www.facebook.com/groups/145604946038429/ If use you Jon's settings in the images below - for which I take no credit and that are available via the first group above - the amps are much cleaner and it's possible to work from a more useful starting point. These 'clean' settings come into their own, I've found, at proper volume through an amp (via the FX return) and cab.