Mini Helix - HX Stomp...

[Muzz]

21 hours ago, RichardH said:

Yes, that does sound useful - my band's talking about doing some QoSA, so a drop tuning would be very handy!

No One Knows...I'd had a bass set up in Drop C#, but hated the flappy strings (and the spare bass for one song); got the Stomp, took the relevant preset, dropped the pitch to C#, saved it as another preset, job done 😀

[ratman]

Here's a Simple Pitch block from one of my presets. Just drop it into any one of your own. You'll need to alter the Interval parameter (the 1st one) for the required drop tuning. The lower you go, you'll feel the latency increase slightly, but overall it's a great tool to get those low notes.

SIMPLE PITCH.hlx

[Dood]

I have one of these sat on my desk at the moment. I'll be back down in the studio doing more bass reviews this week, so I'll be doing something on the Stomp too. Looking forward to it!

[Graham]

Got some questions about these, sorry if the answers are in the thread, I looked back across the last 10 pages but couldn't read 35 😁

This is what I'm thinking, as there are only three footswitches, create different patches for the sounds/FX I'd want to use and then use switches one and two to switch between patches as required and footswitch three to trigger an effect on the patch.

Does the unit work this way?

So, my thoughts are:

patch one - muted tuner

Patch two - core clean tone with an envelope filter that can be engaged from footswitch three

Patch three - fuzzed up amp for when I need fuzz/distortion

Patch four - "rock" tone - SVT with overdrive that can be engaged from footswitch three

 

Have I got the right end of the stick? Is the switching between patches instantaneous enough to be like switching on a fuzz pedal mid song?Also, can you load your own/third party cab IRs if you have some?

I'm really liking the idea of making my stage footprint (even) smaller and adding a load of amp/cab/effects sims options in to boot.

Thanks all

[stoo]

You can set it so that two footswitches are used for preset up/down, and the other toggles an effect within a patch.

The built in tuner isn't an effect block, and doesn't require a dedicated patch. The default setup is to have footswitch 3 as a tap/tempo switch, but you don't need to have this..... but if you don't, then you'd need to press the action and page right buttons together to engage the tuner (or use an external footswitch or midi controller). I normally have FS3 setup as a regular effect block toggle - I don't usually need to retune so frequently that bending down to press the buttons by hand is much of an inconvenience.

Switching between patches does cause a brief pause in output. It's pretty quick though (about 0.1s), so assuming you're going to change patches between notes rather than in the middle of one it's not likely to be an issue.

If it is, you might be able to use the Snapshot feature to workaround this... you could have a single patch with an amp sim, an envelope filter a fuzz pedal and whatever else in it, and then have 3 snapshots setup within that patch so for example -

snapshot 1 could be the amp set to a clean sound,

snapshot 2 could be same clean sound but with the envelope filter engaged as well,

snapshot 3 could have the envelope filter off, fuzz pedal on, and also up the gain and back off the master volume on the amp sim.

 

You can add 3rd party IR .WAVs via the HX edit software - you can load up to 128 onto the Stomp, but it's worth being careful about how they're named before you add them in, as you only get to see the 1st 16 or so characters of the filename. If you use HX edit you can still see the whole filename, but on the stomp screen itself there's only so much room... but if you're tweaking sounds away from your computer, it can be tricky to pick between 100 different variants of "CelestionGreenb" or whatever

 

 

[Graham]

Thanks very much, that's very interesting, and potentially very bad for the wallet 😁

[Muzz]

I have FS3 set as the (muted) tuner all the time, and if I needed an effect within a patch, I'd just create a second patch  with that effect added. I use FS1 and 2 as Patch up/down...so taking the above example:

Patch one: Core clean tone

Patch two: Core clean tone with envelope filter added

Patch three: fuzzed up amp

Patch four: SVT rock tone

Patch five: SVT rock tone with overdrive.

I have probably half a dozen core tone patches, and I also have them duplicated in drop Eb, D, and even C.

It's very very easy to copy, paste and reorder patches as you might need them...

[Chiliwailer]

22 hours ago, Graham said:

Got some questions about these, sorry if the answers are in the thread, I looked back across the last 10 pages but couldn't read 35 😁

This is what I'm thinking, as there are only three footswitches, create different patches for the sounds/FX I'd want to use and then use switches one and two to switch between patches as required and footswitch three to trigger an effect on the patch.

Does the unit work this way?

So, my thoughts are:

patch one - muted tuner

Patch two - core clean tone with an envelope filter that can be engaged from footswitch three

Patch three - fuzzed up amp for when I need fuzz/distortion

Patch four - "rock" tone - SVT with overdrive that can be engaged from footswitch three

 

Have I got the right end of the stick? Is the switching between patches instantaneous enough to be like switching on a fuzz pedal mid song?Also, can you load your own/third party cab IRs if you have some?

I'm really liking the idea of making my stage footprint (even) smaller and adding a load of amp/cab/effects sims options in to boot.

Thanks all

For just a tiny extra bit of footprint you can add two more switches. I got mine off eBay but they have a website - it’s called Skinny Little Twins

As above, snapshots would be better if you don’t want latency when switching patches. 

[Graham]

I foresee a delicate discussion with the wife coming on.....

I've just seen that there's no XLR out, I'd assumed there was; how are you guys connecting it to the PA? DI box, or unbalanced jack cable?

[stoo]

1 minute ago, Graham said:

I foresee a delicate discussion with the wife coming on.....

I've just seen that there's no XLR out, I'd assumed there was; how are you guys connecting it to the PA? DI box, or unbalanced jack cable?

It's got balanced out via TRS jacks so you can get a TRS to XLR cable and not need a DI box

[Muzz]

Our PA has combi inputs, so I just use a jack to jack, tho I have an adapter juuuuust in case I'm depping...

[EBS_freak]

10 minutes ago, Graham said:

I foresee a delicate discussion with the wife coming on.....

I've just seen that there's no XLR out, I'd assumed there was; how are you guys connecting it to the PA? DI box, or unbalanced jack cable

I use a trs to xlr adapter to keep with standard cables. I’ll find a link.

- something like this - but you’ll get four for the price of this one off eBay...

https://www.pennelcomonline.com/Mobile/en/Neutrik-Adaptor-XLR-Male-to-14in-Stereo-Jack-Plug-NA3MP/m-m-4355.aspx?PartnerID=10&gclid=CKmnovWz1eICFQVE0wod0p8PGg&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=UnitedKingdom

Edited June 6, 2019 by EBS_freak

[stoo]

Just now, EBS_freak said:

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F362645443286

use these to keep with standard cables. 2 spare too... perfect.

Those pics show a TS jack rather than a TRS one...... so they wouldn't be balanced...

[EBS_freak]

Just now, stoo said:

Those pics show a TS jack rather than a TRS one...... so they wouldn't be balanced...

Feck you beat me in the edit...

[Graham]

Cheers chaps

[Al Krow]

HX Edit

Probably been mentioned already several times before, but my understanding is that HX Edit + Stomp = HX Native 

i.e. HX Edit isn't some cut down version of HX Native in terms of what it allows you to do. Other than, of course, HX Native doesn't require the pedal hardware to generate sound!

HX Edit is completely free to download. And it's going to make the Stomp a lot more accessible (for me anyway!) and a lot more fun. Just like ToneLib with a Zoom B1X-4 or MS-60B.

Game on  

[CameronJ]

18 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

HX Edit

Probably been mentioned already several times before, but my understanding is that HX Edit + Stomp = HX Native 

i.e. HX Edit isn't some cut down version of HX Native in terms of what it allows you to do. Other than, of course, HX Native doesn't require the pedal hardware to generate sound!

HX Edit is completely free to download. And it's going to make the Stomp a lot more accessible (for me anyway!) and a lot more fun. Just like ToneLib with a Zoom B1X-4 or MS-60B.

Game on  

Still baffled that you never installed HX Edit when you last had a Stomp 

[Woodinblack]

23 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

HX Edit

Probably been mentioned already several times before, but my understanding is that HX Edit + Stomp = HX Native 

i.e. HX Edit isn't some cut down version of HX Native in terms of what it allows you to do.

Your understanding is very wrong then unless you mean just in a a way to access the presets.

HX Native = Full helix on a computer.

HX Edit = patch editor for HX style effects pedals

Quote

HX Edit is completely free to download. And it's going to make the Stomp a lot more accessible (for me anyway!) and a lot more fun. Just like ToneLib with a Zoom B1X-4 or MS-60B.

Game on  

Are you saying you didn't use HX edit when you had your stomp? I assumed it was the first thing you would do, I can't imagine editing on the stomp itself with its little screen

Edited June 10, 2019 by Woodinblack

[Al Krow]

12 minutes ago, CameronJ said:

Still baffled that you never installed HX Edit when you last had a Stomp 

 

9 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

Are you saying you didn't use HX edit when you had your stomp? I assumed it was the first thing you would do, I can't imagine editing on the stomp itself with its little screen

Oh I agree! 

You'd be surprised how many Stomp / Helix LT / Helix Full Fat owners haven't ventured into HX Edit. Why do you think there is a regular stream of Helix's in the FS?

And I've got other software progs to download yet (Source Audio, Future Impact).

You gotta remember that not all bassists' primary goal in life is to be spending vasts quantities of their lives computer editing; and that's a big attraction of dedicated analogue pedals, right?

Workflow

[Woodinblack]

29 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

You'd be surprised how many Stomp / Helix LT / Helix Full Fat owners haven't ventured into HX Edit. Why do you think there is a regular stream of Helix's in the FS?

I can understand with Helix and Lt, in that they both have large screens and a lot of buttons - frankly they are easy enough to edit (probably less so on rack), but the stomp doesn't have much real estate.

However, I wouldn't say that is the reason for selling them - people change things, sometimes you buy something and it doesn't work out, sometimes it makes you realise you want something different. 

29 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

And I've got other software progs to download yet (Source Audio, Future Impact).

You gotta remember that not all bassists' primary goal in life is to be spending vasts quantities of their lives computer editing; and that's a big attraction of dedicated analogue pedals, right?

Well, sometimes there are no more posts to read on a forum so you got to look at some other software!

[Osiris]

Having owned a Stomp for a couple of months now I find that editing on the unit itself is a doddle, I can see that having the editing software could be useful but I prefer to know my way around the pedal interface so I can make changes on the gig without having to think about what I'm doing. The limited controls have been implemented in a simple and intuitive way making edits on the fly quick and easy. 

[M@23]

35 minutes ago, Osiris said:

Having owned a Stomp for a couple of months now I find that editing on the unit itself is a doddle, I can see that having the editing software could be useful but I prefer to know my way around the pedal interface so I can make changes on the gig without having to think about what I'm doing. The limited controls have been implemented in a simple and intuitive way making edits on the fly quick and easy. 

Same! I downloaded the software and have used it, but it's more intuitive, quicker and useful for me to build patches on the Stomp. 

As you would with separates, bit of playing, bit of tweaking, save. 

[la bam]

Agreed. It takes a bit to make sense and remember, but when you do, its amazingly easy to edit on the fly.

[Al Krow]

14 hours ago, CameronJ said:

Still baffled that you never installed HX Edit when you last had a Stomp 

Haha - there you go. Clearly multiple ways to skin a cat. And no right answer to which end you should crack open an egg. 

I'm much happier with the software editor, others prefer the pedal interface. Whatever works, eh? 😄 

[CameronJ]

5 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

...And no right answer to which end you should crack open an egg. 

On its side, always. But only after updating its firmware.