Helix Floor/LT/HX/Stomp/PodGo owners' Club - Tips, Ideas & Patches

[Al Krow]

I guess sometimes you need to take one step back to take several forward. In my case that's involved swapping HX Stomp --> HX Effects, but already feeling happy that I've gone 'Neanderthal' so to speak.

Probably a throwback to my Zoom B3N days, but I'm loving having sight of a bank of four FX in one go which for me means a lot less needing to remember exactly what patch comes after what which I would have had to do with the Stomp (and was also the case with my old Zoom MS-60B pedal).

I'll likely go for a set up where my selection of top 12 FX are in the first three banks (which should be plenty) and then follow on with banks providing a choice of particular FX (e.g. 4 drives, 4 filters etc). 

I guess other folks may go for one patch per song? Be interested in how you've got yours arranged.

But with 32 banks x 4 patches available there shouldn't be any practical limitation on the variations possible!

[dave_bass5]

Ive got two general patches.

Each has LA comp (not on at the moment), Kinky Boost, BDDI and Filter along the top. At the moment the BDDI has a footswitch but I'm going to change that once i get more comfortable with it. It's on all the time but If its not on a switch then its harder to access for tweaking. At the end of each patch is a Parametric, which at the moment is just used for the HPF feature.

Kinky Boost is used to drive the BDDI when i need a bit more gain, but that will normally only be when the guitarist is soloing, or we are playing songs like Vertigo, Should i stay etc. 

Bottom row of each is either Octave down, or Simple Pitch shift set to 1 octave higher. Both are on Path B so the BDDI's low end boost doesn't effect them. Next to that is 70's Chorus, and then Script Phaser. So the only difference between the two patches is the pitch shifting. 

There is a 3rd patch, used for just one song, which has the Vermin Dist with quite a high gain, and pitch whammy. This is me trying to emulate the main guitar part in Lonely Boy. My guitarist doesn't have a whammy bar or pedal that can do the dive so i do it. Sounds quite cool. I have Vermin and my standard BDDI set to footswitch 4, so when I turn Vermin off the BDDI comes on. love this feature. Also got a noise gate at the end of this patch, for obvious reasons. 

Saying all that, ive yet to gig this yet. That's tonight. Tonight will be the first gig with the new amp, cab and FX (and even 360 camera to capture it all). 

Edited November 23, 2019 by dave_bass5

[41Hz]

4 hours ago, Al Krow said:

Just spotted that if I rejig my little gigging board there's going to be space for an an expression pedal which my Boss SY-1 could certainly make use of, but just wondering if LT owners are making much use of the on board expression pedal and same question to HX Effects and Stomp owners if you've added an expression pedal to your set ups?

Yes, I got an m-audio exp, a bargain at £14 and works well with the hx effects. Mainly use it for adjusting the volume - do this on the compressor block so I don’t need a separate volume block 

 

[dave_bass5]

Just now, 41Hz said:

Yes, I got an m-audio exp, a bargain at £14 and works well with the hx effects. Mainly use it for adjusting the volume - do this on the compressor block so I don’t need a separate volume block 

 

I was thinking of getting the pedal, but still need to find a need for it first lol. 

[41Hz]

1 hour ago, dave_bass5 said:

I was thinking of getting the pedal, but still need to find a need for it first lol. 

To be honest, I could probably do without it and have a footswitch for a volume boost, but it’s so cheap I thought I’d get one.

[ratman]

I had an expression pedal for a bit but I found that I was mainly using it to change parameters from one value to another. I can do that with a switch.

[41Hz]

4 hours ago, Al Krow said:

 

I guess other folks may go for one patch per song? Be interested in how you've got yours arranged.

But with 32 banks x 4 patches available there shouldn't be any practical limitation on the variations possible!

I’m still pretty new to the HXFX and effects in general, but I use it in pedal mode. I created a single board with comp, HPF, various drives etc. I then saved it into the other 3 parches and had a hidden always on pitch shift for each patch with different tuning, so I have a standard, Eb, D and C tuned board. I’m not massively into effects and could probably live without the comp/LPF/Drives, however I’ve been sucked in by the pitch shifter which means it has kind of become essential for me now.

[dave_bass5]

2 minutes ago, 41Hz said:

I’m still pretty new to the HXFX and effects in general, but I use it in pedal mode. I created a single board with comp, HPF, various drives etc. I then saved it into the other 3 parches and had a hidden always on pitch shift for each patch with different tuning, so I have a standard, Eb, D and C tuned board. I’m not massively into effects and could probably live without the comp/LPF/Drives, however I’ve been sucked in by the pitch shifter which means it has kind of become essential for me now.

I'm pretty much like you, at the moment I'm using pitch shifting for the first time and really enjoying it. You can actually adjust the pitch etc using just your feet rather than having to bend down, but ive not tried that yet. 

[41Hz]

2 minutes ago, dave_bass5 said:

I'm pretty much like you, at the moment I'm using pitch shifting for the first time and really enjoying it. You can actually adjust the pitch etc using just your feet rather than having to bend down, but ive not tried that yet. 

Yes, I started doing that at first, but then realised by having 4 identical patches/pedal boards with different tunings I would save a footswitch as I don’t need to have the pitch shift assigned to a footswitch

[dave_bass5]

Just now, 41Hz said:

Yes, I started doing that at first, but then realised by having 4 identical patches/pedal boards with different tunings I would save a footswitch as I don’t need to have the pitch shift assigned to a footswitch

No, I meant you can edit/tweak all the settings in the different blocks using just the foot switches while still playing. Probably not relevant in your case though. I plan on doing it tonight to get the Blend set right in the BDDI. Easier to do while actually playing rather than bending down to do it. I think i this is one of the coolest features on the FX. 

[41Hz]

3 hours ago, dave_bass5 said:

 I have Vermin and my standard BDDI set to footswitch 4, so when I turn Vermin off the BDDI comes on. love this feature. Also got a noise gate at the end of this patch, for obvious reasons. 

That sounds really useful - I didn’t think that was possible, I know you can have 2 effects turned on with one footswitch, but didn’t know you could have them so they switch in opposition, how do you do that?

[41Hz]

6 minutes ago, dave_bass5 said:

No, I meant you can edit/tweak all the settings in the different blocks using just the foot switches while still playing. Probably not relevant in your case though. I plan on doing it tonight to get the Blend set right in the BDDI. Easier to do while actually playing rather than bending down to do it. I think i this is one of the coolest features on the FX. 

Yeah, using pedal edit mode - that’s what I was doing previously. It was 3 clicks taking around 2-3 seconds to change the pitch.

[dave_bass5]

12 minutes ago, 41Hz said:

That sounds really useful - I didn’t think that was possible, I know you can have 2 effects turned on with one footswitch, but didn’t know you could have them so they switch in opposition, how do you do that?

Just set both to the same switch and then turn one off. The switch just then alternates them. Simple once you get your head around all this lol. 

Edited November 23, 2019 by dave_bass5

[dave_bass5]

2 minutes ago, 41Hz said:

Yeah, using pedal edit mode - that’s what I was doing previously. It was 3 clicks taking around 2-3 seconds to change the pitch.

Well we arent  short on space so i guess your way is the neatest. I'm waiting of Eros to do a song when ill actually need to shift the whole bass in to a different key. I mainly use it at home for leaning songs in different keys. 

[stoo]

On 23/11/2019 at 09:25, Al Krow said:

Just spotted that if I rejig my little gigging board there's going to be space for an an expression pedal which my Boss SY-1 could certainly make use of, but just wondering if LT owners are making much use of the on board expression pedal and same question to HX Effects and Stomp owners if you've added an expression pedal to your set ups?

Working on that at the moment..... 

 

[Al Krow]

Octave down

Recommendation from @GisserD to check out the simple pitch effect and set at -12.

Works a treat.

I've combined with a clean slap patch I set up, which is just a low cut + EQ with mids slightly cut and treble boosted, at the start. This provides a clear top end with a nice thickening octave down without getting muddy. Tracks really well without glitching and minimal latency all the way down to a low E (and lower in fact) which is actually better than a lot of the dedicated octave pedals. Looks like I've just talked myself out of splashing out on the Aggie Octamizer in the FS! 

[krispn]

Better than a dedicated pedal *gasp*

[Al Krow]

4 minutes ago, krispn said:

Better than a dedicated pedal *gasp*

Haha quite. As far as I can, I do try to tell it like it is!

Interestingly the Helix effects are not quite so good on octave up (nor have the Zoom multis been, which was perhaps more expected) in terms of authenticity / tone compared to certain dedicated pedals, which is why my Digitech Mosaic has survived on my board for so long  

[krispn]

You’ll have to whack up a demonic bass+mosaic clip and let us hear what it’s doing for you especially if using it with your band. Like I’ve mentioned  in the pedal board thread it’s really useful to hear some of these effects in context and there’s no denying the EHX pedals POG, B9, C9 Etc and the Mosaic do the octave/doubling thing well.  
 

eagerly awaiting audio!

[Frank Blank]

On 05/10/2019 at 10:12, krispn said:

It’s all about what we can bring to the party 😀

A Party Seven whilst simultaneously forgetting a can opener.

Edited November 27, 2019 by Frank Blank

[krispn]

5 minutes ago, Frank Blank said:

A Party Seven whilst simultaneously forgetting a can opener.

Call back!

 

[Al Krow]

59 minutes ago, krispn said:

You’ll have to whack up a demonic bass+mosaic clip and let us hear what it’s doing for you especially if using it with your band. Like I’ve mentioned  in the pedal board thread it’s really useful to hear some of these effects in context and there’s no denying the EHX pedals POG, B9, C9 Etc and the Mosaic do the octave/doubling thing well.  
 

eagerly awaiting audio!

The only EHX octave pedal I've had has been the Pitchfork. Seriously versatile for the money. But was also seriously synthetic / tinny.

You've had clips of the Mosaic pedal already in this thread:

 

[Bigwan]

Err... Merchant City Music have the Helix Floor up on their website for £760... It MUST be a misprint at that price!!!

EDIT: As you were... Up to £1144 now...

Edited November 28, 2019 by Bigwan

[PatrickJ]

Picked up my HX Effects from PMT Oxford earlier today.  I've run through the firmware updates and had a quick play, first impressions are really positive - quality of some of the patches I've tried are excellent (Octave, Overdrive, Fuzz, Chorus).

[dave_bass5]

5 minutes ago, PJ-Bassist said:

Picked up my HX Effects from PMT Oxford earlier today.  I've run through the firmware updates and had a quick play, first impressions are really positive - quality of some of the patches I've tried are excellent (Octave, Overdrive, Fuzz, Chorus).

Welcome aboard 🙂