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

[Al Krow]

Question for any Pod Go owners: does the pedal also provide a signal / volume boosting preamp as well as being a tone shaping preamp? 

Edited March 26, 2022 by Al Krow

[LukeFRC]

On 26/03/2022 at 07:19, LukeFRC said:

Anyone any idea if these would work on a helix? https://pasttofuturereverbs.gumroad.com/l/iskwl
 

im after trying to get the tone I was getting from the Helborg preamp I should never have sold - (yes I know that the Helborg was not based on the neve circuit )

I think I may end up spending the £10 to find out... 

Of interest these "Neve EQ IRs" from here https://line6.com/support/topic/23483-neve-tone-shaping-irs/ are very nice and do lovely things to my tone, exp later on the signal path.

[krispn]

26 minutes ago, LukeFRC said:

I think I may end up spending the £10 to find out... 

Of interest these "Neve EQ IRs" from here https://line6.com/support/topic/23483-neve-tone-shaping-irs/ are very nice and do lovely things to my tone, exp later on the signal path.

 Luke are you just adding them

at the end of your signal chain on the HX device? 
 

Im gonna give those line 6 ones a look 👍🏼

[LukeFRC]

47 minutes ago, krispn said:

 Luke are you just adding them

at the end of your signal chain on the HX device? 
 

Im gonna give those line 6 ones a look 👍🏼

erm for me - brackets are switchable …

(overdrive pedal) - amp model - eq block - compressor - IR - (reverb/chorus/delay)

 

def sounded better after the compressor 

[LukeFRC]

On 27/03/2022 at 14:52, LukeFRC said:

I think I may end up spending the £10 to find out... 

I did - will report back how they go

[LukeFRC]

so this evening... 

Jon Willis has some new amp settings using two amps blocks... downloaded and tried them... he says "additional clarity and dimension" - sound ok... touch sensitivity when you dig in is different in a nice way. Not amazing. 

 

past future reverbs of Neve desk...  longer than helix IRs so truncated... get the free EQ ones I linked too if you're interested first...
I used to have a Helborg preamp that did lovely things to my sound, although not based on a Neve at all the nice thing was the tone of the transformer so that more warm studio transformers sound  is something that has interested me ever since. Not enough to start buying studio gear but you know what I mean (though if you've got a hellebore pre spare.... get in touch) 
The EQ ones I had had for ages and not really played with them - when I was messing around with some patches I copied an amp block into a patch I had already and it sounded great... The IR was on... it just seemed to hold together nicely. 
These ones are cleaner but add something almost inperceptable. I don't know, I was playing and it's the sound of a clean preamp strip... but things sound a bit nicer with it on. Worth the £10? Probably not, the free ones are nice enough.. I'll find out... 

[LukeFRC]

Ok take two... on it's own it sounds ok and is subtle. After other stuff it does lovely things.

Edited March 31, 2022 by LukeFRC

[Skybone]

Downloaded the Celestion Pulse 10 IR's yesterday. Wow, totally tansformed the sounds without touching the amp model EQ's.

[krispn]

Good to know. 👍🏼

[Skybone]

Downloaded both the 4x10 & 2x10 IR's, the 4x10's are full bodied, where the 2x10's are a bit punchier.

 

Really liking the 4x10 sounds, really need to experiment, but added a couple of the cab models to some presets, and used them in rehearsal last night. Sounded great, really cut through.

[Skybone]

The band have been in doing some recording, and I have to say that the bass sounds ace (IMO of course).

 

Really sits in the mix well. 👍🤘

Edited May 1, 2022 by Skybone

[BigRedX]

On 26/03/2022 at 20:05, Al Krow said:

Question for any Pod Go owners: does the pedal also provide a signal / volume boosting preamp as well as being a tone shaping preamp? 

 

You don't need one on programmable effects. You simply change the output level on the last effect in the chain and save it as a new patch or snapshot.

[thisisswanbon]

On 01/05/2022 at 20:58, Skybone said:

The band have been in doing some recording, and I have to say that the bass sounds ace (IMO of course).

 

Really sits in the mix well. 👍🤘

 

Awesome!  Still using the celestion IRs?  I've just got my hands on an HX stomp, and was underwhelmed by the stock cab sims and the majority of the free offerings.  I found a decent Aguilar SL112 IR from Tyler Spicer which is much better, but I'm not convinced that it's the pinnacle and I'm sure there must be better out there...

 

[Skybone]

Yes, really pleased with the Celestion IR's. Bought the Pulse 4x10 & 2x10 pack, and you get quite a few different choices in that lot. Just a case of working through them all, and finding the one(s) that work best for you.

[LukeFRC]

8 hours ago, thisisswanbon said:

 

Awesome!  Still using the celestion IRs?  I've just got my hands on an HX stomp, and was underwhelmed by the stock cab sims and the majority of the free offerings.  I found a decent Aguilar SL112 IR from Tyler Spicer which is much better, but I'm not convinced that it's the pinnacle and I'm sure there must be better out there...

 

Have You tried Jon Willis’ eq block based cabs? Worth the time trying out to see if that gets you what you’re looking for…

[thisisswanbon]

12 hours ago, Skybone said:

Yes, really pleased with the Celestion IR's. Bought the Pulse 4x10 & 2x10 pack, and you get quite a few different choices in that lot. Just a case of working through them all, and finding the one(s) that work best for you.

I'm hugely tempted... haven't played with it through my amp as yet though so not even sure if the IR will be needed, it's all new to me!  It was nice not having to take my amp to the last festival gig we did though.

[thisisswanbon]

12 hours ago, LukeFRC said:

Have You tried Jon Willis’ eq block based cabs? Worth the time trying out to see if that gets you what you’re looking for…

Everyone has recommended the Dr Tone site to me.  Some of the EQ guides have been really helpful, but I've found most of the demo videos he's posted to be very mid scooped.  Maybe I'm approaching it wrong though for the amount of people who'd recommended it.

[LukeFRC]

1 hour ago, thisisswanbon said:

Everyone has recommended the Dr Tone site to me.  Some of the EQ guides have been really helpful, but I've found most of the demo videos he's posted to be very mid scooped.  Maybe I'm approaching it wrong though for the amount of people who'd recommended it.

he's playing with things for his setup... the amp settings and the eq-block-cabs are great... 
Also for ideas..... but he's not giving you plug and play... you have to backward engineer it the Yamaha bass out of it and work your sound in...

But it's free and full of ideas in a world where people seemingly will spend money on a set of presets for Helix it's possibly worth looking at it and spending some time. Forexample the amp settings are a better starting place than the preset ones line6 used! 

[Skybone]

2 hours ago, thisisswanbon said:

I'm hugely tempted... haven't played with it through my amp as yet though so not even sure if the IR will be needed, it's all new to me!  It was nice not having to take my amp to the last festival gig we did though.

 

I still use my amp, but I route the POD Go through the Effects Return, rather than into the Pre-amp. Doesn't colour the sound quite as much as going through the Pre-amp.

[thisisswanbon]

51 minutes ago, LukeFRC said:

he's playing with things for his setup... the amp settings and the eq-block-cabs are great... 
Also for ideas..... but he's not giving you plug and play... you have to backward engineer it the Yamaha bass out of it and work your sound in...

But it's free and full of ideas in a world where people seemingly will spend money on a set of presets for Helix it's possibly worth looking at it and spending some time. Forexample the amp settings are a better starting place than the preset ones line6 used! 

That's very true. I can't get my head around people paying for presets;  IR responses fine, but not so much presets.  I did find his flat response amp settings beneficial.  I'll definitely have another look at it!

[thisisswanbon]

3 minutes ago, Skybone said:

 

I still use my amp, but I route the POD Go through the Effects Return, rather than into the Pre-amp. Doesn't colour the sound quite as much as going through the Pre-amp.

 

That's my plan... my set up is a GK 1001RB-II into a Barefaced Big Twin II, which I believe is a pretty flat response cab so hopefully it comes through faithfully if I use the effects return.  I've never done this set up before though, does the input gain and pad impact or is it literally just the master output?

[Skybone]

3 hours ago, thisisswanbon said:

 

That's my plan... my set up is a GK 1001RB-II into a Barefaced Big Twin II, which I believe is a pretty flat response cab so hopefully it comes through faithfully if I use the effects return.  I've never done this set up before though, does the input gain and pad impact or is it literally just the master output?

 

Instead of using the amp's pre-amp, you're using the HX Stomp instead to shape your sound.

 

By plugging directly into the Effects Return, you are going straight into the Power Amp, so it is literally just the Master Volume (though you can control the level from the HX Stomp). I'd advise start with the HX Output set to about 9 o'clock, and turn the MV up from 0 til it's loud enough.

 

Running the POD Go into the Effects Return of an Ashdown MAG 300 combo, with the amp's MV at about 9 o'clock, and the PG output at around 9 o'clock, it's easily loud enough.

[thisisswanbon]

16 hours ago, Skybone said:

 

Instead of using the amp's pre-amp, you're using the HX Stomp instead to shape your sound.

 

By plugging directly into the Effects Return, you are going straight into the Power Amp, so it is literally just the Master Volume (though you can control the level from the HX Stomp). I'd advise start with the HX Output set to about 9 o'clock, and turn the MV up from 0 til it's loud enough.

 

Running the POD Go into the Effects Return of an Ashdown MAG 300 combo, with the amp's MV at about 9 o'clock, and the PG output at around 9 o'clock, it's easily loud enough.

 

Sounds perfect!  Downloaded those Celestion IR's last night Opted to try the 4x10 option first, you get A LOT of options in there!  Some of them sound great but I'm struggling to get them to play nice with my synthy and parallel drive stuff.  Think I'll try the Pulse12s or 15s and see if there's much difference.

[thisisswanbon]

Does anyone know if it's possible on the stomp to change how FS3 is assigned per patch?  I use the tap tempo for 1 track, but it seems a shame to lose that footswitch on every patch because of 1 song.

 

Also, editing snapshops on the editor seems to be a bit of a slog... has anyone tried changing the function of a path split from crossover back to Y in a snapshot?

[uk_lefty]

Almost 18 months with a Helix Stomp now... These are my reflections and experiences:

 

1. Ease of use. It's easy to use IF you invest the time getting under the skin and seeing how the presets are made up and experimenting with all the different variations on some effects, like the autowah which can do each vowel sound with either an upward or downward inflection. I find the PC editor more intuitive than editing on the pedal itself. Still, I often cannot be bothered to get out the PC and connect it all up. I wish they did an app for connecting. 

 

2. Presets. I mainly use the presets as my starting point and then bring other effects in and out by footswitch as I need them. I tweak some of these to suit what I'm playing. Generally I find the presets pretty good and I'm happily gigging with Del Sol as a default sound, adding on drive or fuzz as needed.

 

3. Wah? I could never get an external expression pedal to function as a wah so had to buy a wah pedal. Almost every previous multi I've used had a built in wah pedal and I knew I'd miss that on the stomp. I don't use a wah much but when I do I want it to sound good.

 

4. Synths. I play covers and we try to add a lot of detail to some of the more well-worn songs, so for me that means synths to replicate sounds off the original records a lot of the time, or to cover up for missing backing parts. I had to buy a Boss SY-1 and add this to the pedalboard, and use an expression pedal for it. Since then Line6 improved their synth offering but I've not had much chance to play with that yet. I've not found a good OC-2 type effect yet either. It's really lacking here for me, but I guess not for the majority of their market.

 

5. Switches. I had to buy external switches. This 1 box solution is far from it. The more I can talk myself out of buying additional pedals, but I got rid of all my pedals to buy the helix stomp. My board now has:

Harley Benton tuner/mute;

Line 6 helix stomp;

Two button footswitch for the stomp;

Boss SY 1 synth pedal;

Expression pedal for boss synth;

Wireless receiver;

AMT Bass Wah;

Calibe power supply for everything except the Helix.

 

6. Downloadable patches and stuff... I paid for a package off Sigma Audio and that was.... Ok. I don't think I use any of their settings actually!! I did for a while but not now. I paid for a Trace Elliot IR too but unless I do any recording I can't see me using that either. I've had mixed experience with downloading free patches off the Line6 forum and Dr Tone. Dr Tone stuff is not suited for me on the basses I play or the style of music. Some of the free ones off the Line6 community have been ok but again I'm not using any of these live. I'm sticking with the tried and tested presets with my tweaks. 

 

Overall is it worth keeping...? Well, I can't spend my time buying pedals to discover they sound nothing like the demos or they don't interact well with my other pedals. Or buying pedals for a song then never rehearsing or gigging that song again. So the Helix has saved me there. I would like to try the Boss and Zoom multis but I don't see a massive improvement there either. Yes, they may address some issues but then there's the whole learning curve to go on again. 

 

What does the Helix do better than any individual pedal? Hard to say. The only answer is variety. It has so much more variety than individual pedals. I cannot say it's a better preamp than any of the preamp pedals I've had before, except it has so many more options. It can do all my guitar stuff too, which is a bonus, so it's not a bass specific pedal. 

 

Would I upgrade to the more expensive Helix stuff? Only if I got a stonking good deal secondhand and even then it would be a push. It's the learning curve again, and knowing I'd need to add one or two other pedals.

 

Would I buy it again if it were lost, stolen, or most likely damaged by a punter spilling drink on it? No. There's more choice now than there was 18 months ago, I'd probably go for the Zoom or Boss multis out of curiosity on what I've missed out on and hope they suit me better. Or maybe even the Pod Go as it has wireless and wah built in.