Sponsored Thread: Justin Chancellor 🌀 TOOL 🌀 Lateralus Helix Pack

[plasson]

Hey everyone,

 

here's something I’ve been working on for a while: a Helix preset pack that captures Justin Chancellor’s tone from Lateralus.

 

This pack emulates his spaceship of a pedalboard of course, but the real challenge was striking the right balance of aggression, clarity, and "weight" in the amp/DI chain. I also included some elements of his Wal's circuit that are key to his tone, plus a user manual for those who want to explore the minute details of each patch. All 4 Helix paths are employed, so this won't work on HX Stomp and the rest of the HX family.

 

Presets are not for everyone, and I get it. But this was not some weekend project. The amount of time I spent on it makes no financial sense. This truly was a labor of love for my all time favourite album that took hundreds and hundreds of hours of critical listening, building, destroying, and figuring out how to make these complex patches as authentic and useful as possible, both for people who want to plug and play, and for those who want to dig deeper and adapt them to their own workflow.

 

The result, I feel, is a great rock tone that is not just for Tool cover bands (hint: this is also a great Flea's Blood Sugar Sex Magik starting preset).

You can check out the tone in the video below. There is a bass-only version available on HelixPresets.com, where you can also find more details, a FAQ section, and of course, the option to purchase the pack.

 

I’ll be posting full song play throughs (starting with The Grudge) soon, and if I can get my act together, I’ll include tabs too.

I'm very much open to incorporating user ideas into the pack if feasible, so constructive feedback is very appreciated!

 

 

 

Edited December 20, 2024 by plasson

[Al Krow]

Great job!

[Bigwan]

Will these work with HX Stomp? Enquiring minds and all that!

[plasson]

Unfortunately, no.

All presets use 4 paths (and 2 amps, 1 DI, and plenty of effects use a ton of DSP).

It's on the purchase page, but I should make it clear from the post, so thanks for asking!

 

I tried doing a stripped down version for HX, but I wasn't happy with the results. I might give it a shot later on.

I am considering doing an effects-only version for people who use their own amp, but I'm not sure what the demand is for that.

[Al Krow]

You mention that the pack allows us to dig deeper. Do you provide details of the actual patches and settings in the pack?

 

Appreciate if the answer is "no" to protect your IP (although I guess anyone buying the patch will be able to see what the settings are from their Helix?)

 

However if is yes, then there are probably several of us who don't own a Full Helix who might be interested in finding out what patches and settings you have used to try to recreate it on other pedals and multifx (I have a GT1000 core) and be happy to pay you an appropriate fee for just details the patches and settings in each of the 4 pathways and potentially be another income stream for you. Just a thought!

Edited December 18, 2024 by Al Krow

[plasson]

The manual does a few things:

• helps users calibrate the presets to match their bass output
• explains things that might feel confusing if you want to tweak your tone
• lists every single footwswitch ON/OFF moment in each song, down to the second
• answers a few frequently asked questions
• sheds light on performance details that not anyone might catch whe listening to the songs
• explains the function of little extras features. One example that comes to mind is a reverb I’ve included that people might like to use in The Grudge, right before THE scream, to imitate the mix/production buildup (which I don't think comes from the bass on the record, but this is quite effective)

 

That being said, it's still just a manual and I don't want you to think that it's going to change the way you look at Lateralus. But I genuinely think it's a nice addition to the pack. I also thought it would take me a fraction of the time to write, but that's another story.

 

The manual does go over the signal flow, but the truth is that there isn't anything particularly complicated about it... or at least any more complicated than what you might think. The four paths do exactly what you'd expect as a JC fan: an effects path, a DI path, a clean amp path, and an amp path with a RAT distortion. It's pretty much 1:1 what Justin is doing.

The real, excruciating work is in properly setting each and every parameter so that each path is delegated to a specific portion of the sound, but that's all about listening and tweaking, there is no trick. Even if I wanted to sell you tips to achieve the tone on another platform, I really wouldn't know how I could possibly contribute.

 

One thing I might be able to help with if you are building this for another platform is this: don't use the GK800. This is a controversial take, I'm aware, and I go into the details for my choice in the manual (I can copy and paste it if you're interested), but the short explanation is that the 800RB's Contour is significantly different than the 2000RB, to the point of making it unfeasable to get that JC tone, in my humble opinion. I'll go so far as to say that trying to stick with the 800 is the reason why this pack was delayed 3 years.

 

This is the signal path for Lateralus.

Edited December 20, 2024 by plasson

[plasson]

Here's The Grudge, in full, with play along tabs.

 

 

 

And the isolated version here. This really brings out how... woolly the execution is.

 

 

Edited March 26 by plasson

[Russ]

On 18/12/2024 at 09:05, plasson said:

Unfortunately, no.

All presets use 4 paths (and 2 amps, 1 DI, and plenty of effects use a ton of DSP).

It's on the purchase page, but I should make it clear from the post, so thanks for asking!

 

I tried doing a stripped down version for HX, but I wasn't happy with the results. I might give it a shot later on.

I am considering doing an effects-only version for people who use their own amp, but I'm not sure what the demand is for that.

If it won't work on the Stomp, will it work on the Helix LT? I believe that has a cut-down signal path compared to the full-fat Helix too. 

[plasson]

8 hours ago, Russ said:

If it won't work on the Stomp, will it work on the Helix LT? I believe that has a cut-down signal path compared to the full-fat Helix too. 

Yes, it'll work perfectly on the Helix LT. In fact, that's what I've designed the patches on.

LT and flagship Helix are the same exact unit in terms of processing power.

[plasson]

Schism is out now: