hookys6stringbass Posted April 3, 2020 Share Posted April 3, 2020 I'm about to pull the plug on one of these... As a Boss fan of many many years my heart is telling me to buy the GT... However my head is telling me to buy the Line 6 Helix lt.... I used to use the GT 6B/ GT 10B live and am very familiar with how to program it to get the sounds I want.... I've watched loads of reviews and they both sound great..... Has anyone had chance to use both....??? I want to use them live.... when things return to normal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fretmeister Posted April 3, 2020 Share Posted April 3, 2020 You won’t find any pro bassists using the boss live. There are many for Helix. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uk_lefty Posted April 9, 2020 Share Posted April 9, 2020 Will watch this keenly in case there are more contributions... I have a Boss Gt10b which is old tech but it does billions more things than I need, I just know its all there in case I ever need it. However it is old tech, it's big and its heavy. I also mainly like the amp sims and don't really use the effects, looper etc. Was thinking of going for the new boss, though heard its just "OK", that might be enough for me! But am drawn to the possibilities of the Helix, even though I might only use 2 or 3 percent of what it does! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodyratm Posted April 9, 2020 Share Posted April 9, 2020 22 minutes ago, uk_lefty said: Will watch this keenly in case there are more contributions... I have a Boss Gt10b which is old tech but it does billions more things than I need, I just know its all there in case I ever need it. However it is old tech, it's big and its heavy. I also mainly like the amp sims and don't really use the effects, looper etc. Was thinking of going for the new boss, though heard its just "OK", that might be enough for me! But am drawn to the possibilities of the Helix, even though I might only use 2 or 3 percent of what it does! What about the HX Stomp? Baby brother of the helix and LT. I just ordered one the other day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uk_lefty Posted April 9, 2020 Share Posted April 9, 2020 7 minutes ago, woodyratm said: What about the HX Stomp? Baby brother of the helix and LT. I just ordered one the other day. I would go for the smallest form factor, just worried I'd miss my wah pedal. Then again for about six months I have used no effects at all, just a tuner/ mute! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodyratm Posted April 9, 2020 Share Posted April 9, 2020 Just now, uk_lefty said: I would go for the smallest form factor, just worried I'd miss my wah pedal. Then again for about six months I have used no effects at all, just a tuner/ mute! There’s an effects loop on the side. So you could keep the wah and launch it anywhere in your chain. My board right now is stupid complex, so hoping the stomp will make life easier. No doubt in 6 months I’ll miss it and come back hah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uk_lefty Posted April 9, 2020 Share Posted April 9, 2020 35 minutes ago, woodyratm said: There’s an effects loop on the side. So you could keep the wah and launch it anywhere in your chain. My board right now is stupid complex, so hoping the stomp will make life easier. No doubt in 6 months I’ll miss it and come back hah Yeah this is what I want to avoid, creating complexity! I went from individual pedals to the GT10B thinking I'd never need to change back, but it's just so big, heavy, and needs a lot of time spent on tweaking. I think the Helix should be more intuitive to change patches and so on? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Krow Posted April 9, 2020 Share Posted April 9, 2020 15 minutes ago, uk_lefty said: Yeah this is what I want to avoid, creating complexity! I went from individual pedals to the GT10B thinking I'd never need to change back, but it's just so big, heavy, and needs a lot of time spent on tweaking. I think the Helix should be more intuitive to change patches and so on? If you're only going to be using a small fraction of the Helix's capability (to be fair that's true for many of us, me included!) maybe worth checking out this latest offering from Zoom? Amazing value at < £80 posted for a capable multi-fx with tuner, wah pedal, drum machine and looper included in the mix and which doubles up as an excellent headphone amp. I've got a Helix HX for some of the more sophisticated stuff e.g. parallel loops and high quality pitch shifting, but the Zoom is pretty nifty and I love the compact and very lightweight form factor. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uk_lefty Posted April 10, 2020 Share Posted April 10, 2020 21 hours ago, Al Krow said: If you're only going to be using a small fraction of the Helix's capability (to be fair that's true for many of us, me included!) maybe worth checking out this latest offering from Zoom? Amazing value at < £80 posted for a capable multi-fx with tuner, wah pedal, drum machine and looper included in the mix and which doubles up as an excellent headphone amp. I've got a Helix HX for some of the more sophisticated stuff e.g. parallel loops and high quality pitch shifting, but the Zoom is pretty nifty and I love the compact and very lightweight form factor. I had the BFX-708 for years! I think things have moved on a lot since those days. How are the amp sisms? I think I'd miss my trace elliot and "super flat" amp sims that I get on the Boss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skybone Posted April 10, 2020 Share Posted April 10, 2020 (edited) Caveat alert: IME, I never managed to get a decent sound out of the BOSS pedals & multi's I've owned (but that is going back some time!), where I have managed to get some great sounds from Line6 products. If you don't want to go the expense of buying a Helix, then have a look for a good second hand POD HD500X. Make sure you then buy yourself the HD Bass pack. It's a thoroughly underrated device, great sounds, etc. The downside is, it's no longer being developed (in favour of Helix), and the bass amp/cab sims are limited, however, at around £200-250 for a second hand model, it's well worth a punt. I've been using mine for 2-3 years now, love it. Use it for everything, put it into the FX Return of my amp (bypass the amps pre-amp), and bypassed the amp for recording. Saying that, I would consider getting the Helix LT (there's one in the Effects For Sale), but I can't afford one, and am really happy with the sounds I get from the HD500X. Edited April 10, 2020 by Skybone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hookys6stringbass Posted April 10, 2020 Author Share Posted April 10, 2020 On 09/04/2020 at 08:23, uk_lefty said: Will watch this keenly in case there are more contributions... I have a Boss Gt10b which is old tech but it does billions more things than I need, I just know its all there in case I ever need it. However it is old tech, it's big and its heavy. I also mainly like the amp sims and don't really use the effects, looper etc. Was thinking of going for the new boss, though heard its just "OK", that might be enough for me! But am drawn to the possibilities of the Helix, even though I might only use 2 or 3 percent of what it does! I used the GT 10B live for years... great bit of kit.... I remember at the Fleece in Bristol they recorded our sound check and played it back to us.... sounded great.... all that effort I put in tweaking paid off.... I've just realised I still have my Line 6 XT pro rack in my loft.... I wonder how that compares to the modern line 6 gear???? I must dig it out... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skybone Posted April 10, 2020 Share Posted April 10, 2020 I compared my old Pod XT Live with the HD500X, no contest at all. I'd imagine that comparing an XT against a Helix would be like chalk & cheese. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoirBass Posted April 11, 2020 Share Posted April 11, 2020 16 hours ago, Skybone said: I compared my old Pod XT Live with the HD500X, no contest at all. I'd imagine that comparing an XT against a Helix would be like chalk & cheese. Yeah, you can definitely hear the difference between the POD XT pro and the HD500X. Less so between Helix and HD500X for my money. Helix still wins though. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hookys6stringbass Posted April 11, 2020 Author Share Posted April 11, 2020 14 minutes ago, NoirBass said: Yeah, you can definitely hear the difference between the POD XT pro and the HD500X. Less so between Helix and HD500X for my money. Helix still wins though. That's interesting... in what way is the XT different to the HD500x.... ??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoirBass Posted April 11, 2020 Share Posted April 11, 2020 1 hour ago, hookys6stringbass said: That's interesting... in what way is the XT different to the HD500x.... ??? I can hear digital artefacts, a sort of buzzy, fizzy quality on the XT compared to the HD amp models. For me the HD was a giant leap forward for both the effects and the amp models. I still really rate the HD500x and use it all the time. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Krow Posted April 11, 2020 Share Posted April 11, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, NoirBass said: I can hear digital artefacts, a sort of buzzy, fizzy quality on the XT compared to the HD amp models. For me the HD was a giant leap forward for both the effects and the amp models. I still really rate the HD500x and use it all the time. Aha! What @ped referred to as 'digital noise behind the effect' which is also there on the current generation Zoom pedals (e.g. my Zoom B1X-4) and more pronounced with some of the patches (and particularly noticeable if there are high treble settings). I've concluded that this is a function of the cheaper / lower processing power on older multifx or their budget modern day counterparts, as is the quality of the sims.; the higher-end models with their more powerful chipset can be in a different league e.g. the Zoom struggles with pitch shifting, Helix handles it with aplomb. Edited April 11, 2020 by Al Krow 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hookys6stringbass Posted April 11, 2020 Author Share Posted April 11, 2020 1 hour ago, NoirBass said: I can hear digital artefacts, a sort of buzzy, fizzy quality on the XT compared to the HD amp models. For me the HD was a giant leap forward for both the effects and the amp models. I still really rate the HD500x and use it all the time. Thanks that makes sense.... I still haven't got the XT out of the loft yet....damn this good weather.... I remember I couldn't get a good chorus on the XT it sounded really thin... Looking through the amp list of the LT I noticed that there was quite a lot of amps missing from the Helix lt that were in the XT...I really liked the Alchemist Alembic F2 b clone in the XT ....shame it isn't in the Helix... I wonder if they'll add some of the earlier amps cabs etc at some point... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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