Line 6 Helix - How To Create A Great Tone - Pt. 4 - Using Sag, Hum, Ripple, Bias etc. 

Jason...these vids are 3 yrs old but still relevant today...these are a valuable resource since guitarists like myself are coming into modeling in their own time...thanks for all you do my brother!!!!!

An important aspect of biasx and sag is that they are dynamic - meaning they have more effect on tone as the amp is driven harder. For example, if you bias the amp hot (higher bias), it will have a bit less gain and the distortion will be a bit warmer, incliding more even order harmonics resulting from tube saturation instead of cutoff. If you set biasx high, the the bias voltage will sag when the amp is driven hard, make the amp biased even hotter (less negative voltage). What's cool about this is you get a nice warm tone from the power amp when it distorts, but if you turn your guitar volume down (or reduce the drive), the power amp will clean up, the bias will be colder, and them brightness will come back. Just what you want - a dynamic tone control in the power amp. Negative feedback is another interesting amp control, but Helix doesn’t provide that yet. So these power amp controls won’t have much effect if the master is turned down and the power amp isn’t distorting.

Thank you so much for this! I’ve been confused about these parameters but the way you demonstrated them answered all my questions!

Great video-thank you for making my move from tube to Helix this year a less cumbersome.

Thanks for your hard work, Jason! Awesome and very useful :)

Very cool, educational, in-depth analysis of these deep features! Well done. Thanks!

What a great video again! Really learning a lot on this channel, not only about my Helix LT but also about amps in general, thanks so much!

Thank you. I’ve had no idea what any of that meant. This helps a great deal.

Thanks Jason, that is a really helpful guide to demystify these settings. Quite subtle on their own but in combination as you showed at the end you can tune the sound from warm vintage to a more modern aggressive distortion. I've only recently got a Helix LT and my mind is boggled with the attention to detail that line 6 have put into this device. Some inspiring playing there too!

Diving into the taboo settings, thanks for taking us along. Once again a very useful lesson 🤓

Great videos Jason, clear, friendly, very informative and helpful. Thanks so much.

Thank you a lot for this series! i just moved from real amp to helix and i love your tutorials. Grat, amazing job! Best for you!

Jason. This whole series has been phenomenal! Thanks for taking the time to share your knowledge and experience with the rest of us! And to your comment later in the video about guitar lessons and approaches to lead playing, yes Yes YES please!!!

Awesome video! You helped me a lot with dialing in my Helix-Sounds. Thank you very much for your great work man!

Loving your series. So helpful with me getting to know the Helix. A lot of these settings were on the HD500 as well, but I never really messed with the power amp settings. Thanks for going over them in such detail!

Nice vid--I've played with those parameters a bit, but you went much deeper...loved the extreme examples. Thanks!

Wow man! Thanks for clearing that up for me! Also I love that their is a new debate with my friends who prefer the sound of an analog amp.

Thanks so much! Just got a Helix and love the explanations you provide! Great video man!

This is one of the videos I watched before I got my Stomp. It helped convince me to buy it. But at first I was using it on a pedal board and messing with these features didn't really translate. Now that I'm using monitors I can really tell, so revisiting this video is going to help a lot. I've just worked with one preset and am so much happier with it. Thanks!

Can we just take a moment and acknowledge how badass this amp sounds without even trying. I don’t ever even use the Brit models, but this tone is just damn good.

top Man Jason !!! i have a much better understanding now, i have always used tube amps but came to the conclusion I would rather a shit load of amps than just a couple, this has helped me dial in the sort of sounds I want, be well brother

Jason, thank you for sharing your skills, cheers!

Thank you very much for this great explanation 👍🏻 helps a lot.

Thank you for such an incredibly useful video. I'm a teacher (art) - you have an excellent teaching manner yourself. Very clear and easy to follow.

Thank you Jason. These effects are quite subtle. I like running the bias 'hotter' makes for a much warmer tone in my opinion and a more pleasing tone to my ears. Of course tone is a subjective thing, what suits one may not suit another. This is what makes the helix such a superb 'toy'. I would to love to hear and see anything you have to offer regarding helix/guitar playing and music in general. Having devoted so much of my life to this art, some 50 years now and still counting, I find I have an unquenchable thirst for knowledge on the subject. Thanks again for the time you give and look forward to the next instalment...regards James 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

Was looking for a detailed explanation and demo of all these parameters and found this gem of a video. Great explanation and demoing Jason sir. (and that's coming from someone with a PhD in Physics and Electronics.)

Great video these help alot to understand all the helix controls and parameters

Wow, I never expected those to make such a difference!

Great demo. Very significant.

I love this. Why? Getting the right sound by choosing the right as “early” in the chain as possible does wonders. The player followed by the the guitar and amp choices has such a drastic impact upon the sound. Once those bits are “right,” choices of EQ, compression, or other pedals are the icing on the cake (still important but they’re not holding the cake together).

Thanks Jason. I've used the Helix for 3 years now but learned a few things here for sure. Don't know if you teach professionally, but I find you thorough, clear and basically have a nice, down to earth vibe in your presentation. That and killer chops to boot, which sure don't hurt. I'm new to your channel but look fwd to watching more and have subscribed as well. Much respect and best wishes to you.

Great video! Thanks Jason! My understanding of Bias x = Bias Excursion, so they just shortened the name a bit. As you mentioned, it's essentially the same concept as sag, but applied to the tube bias current instead of the entire power supply. It changes how much the bias current deviates on transients as you dig in.

Fantastic Jason, thank you. Would definitely love to see some videos on how you approach lead playing

Really good video! Thanks

Very informative Jason! Thank you

Very interesting video Jason it will really help fine tuning the amp output. I have also heard Increased Sag and Bias helps improve the sustain. Personally I would love a sustain block as I set up patches with my guitar volume on 4 and don't get much unless I crank the volume. Sometimes that's undesirable. Thanks again for all the work you put in to help us Helix users get the workings of our patches sorted. Cheers Mike

You're doing such a nice thourough job. It helped a lot! Thank you so much! I suscribe.

I never used the sag to the more extreme settings and then turned up the channel volume to compensate and I have to say although I was happy enough it has changed everything for me! I am getting the more compressed sounds and attack and clarity that I like now! The Helix has been one of the best if not the best gear purchase I've ever made.

Thanks for all the information!

Tremendously useful...thank you!

Brilliant! Thanks so much for this!

so nice comparison Thanks!

Really cool and interesting experiment. The final parameter test tones were very interesting: warm and dynamic (almost vintage) v cold and sharper (a little bit more modern). Just shows you that those parameters are there for a reason.

I use to love when my old marshal would sag...it felt like it gave me a split second to adjust my fingering if I kinda missed a chord...it is more if a feel thing...I loved that about a tube amp!!!!

That vintage sound vs the modern sound in the full parameter test really showed off just how versatile Helix can be. Those P90’s sounds gorgeous and warm on the vintage snapshot but really came to life with bite and edge on the more modern settings.

I've been playing guitar for 40+ years but I always love getting a different perspective and / or learning about a player's style. Would love for you to do some lesson videos.

Thank you very much for your series of videos Jason! It helped me already to find the tones that I want to hear, but did not know how to get on the Helix LT. You mentioned that you are considering doing some lesson on your approach to playing, e.g. lead playing - I would be really interested in that!

This is gold. Thank you! I definitely prefer the higher/vintage settings. Sounds more like a real amp to my ears... I feel like the “stiffness” that is often ascribed to digital processing can be eliminated by upping the sag and can be further softened by raising the Hum and ripple. Whereas the “digital artifacts” that are often associated with digital gear can be removed by upping the Bias and Bias X. Together I believe these settings will result in a more authentic amp sound.

Thoroughly Enjoying this series of Videos. You have a wonderful approach to teaching. Thanks. I just picked up the Helix LT and a Headrush to give them a try. I love the Helix for its flexibility and its ease of use compared to my POD HD500X. However, I love the interface and construction of the Headrush, however it lacks the amount of flexibility and options the Helix Provides. . I still have a month to decide which I want to keep.

This is so great. Thanks man!

Crazy how much difference it all makes. Especially with the master cranked like that. I never crank the master on any of my settings, but perhaps now when I'm dialing in a sound I'll start with it that way, and then back off the master a touch once I've dialed those settings in to my liking. Bias x however seems very apparent at most settings on the master. I used it to add some warmth to the otherwise very sharp sounding peavey 5150 model.

Great video, brother! Great way of explaining these ambiguous parameters. Somewhere between an audiophile and a regular guitar player. Cheers!

cool man this is so useful 🙏

I actually like all of the parameters near-zero. Love this coldness

Nice tutorial Jason.

Golden! Thanks again!

makes a huge difference in dialing in an amp. I also use just one guitar in one setting typically on my Pod Go, so I used the global noise gate to clean it up and save a pedal space, but often still use horizon gate instead.

wonderful walkthrough:-)

Very Informative Thanks.

Very helpful

THANK YOU! This was what I was looking for. So after watching this one Jason, I cannot help but wonder if I should be using these rather than our beloved EQ at the end. One line of thought would be to make it sound eq'd like a recording. The other line of thought would be, try to get that tone in 6 blocks. I think, I am going to experiment with these effects demonstrated here to remove the EQ block at the end.

Love HUM 10! Adds a good kind of nasty to my sound.

Omg, that is very interesting , should re think the sound I want to get

Thanks Jason! The Sag values is what I was searching for, and I learned a lot more about the other settings along the way.

Thx a lot sir... nice explanation

Great video, more please :)

Great job Jason ;0)

Great stuff

Great Video, thank you.

Really good job!! ;)

Great job Jason, You said that Helix Native you should have your interfaces input level set to 0 and that was super helpful. So thank you!!! How would you set the hx stomp going into my focusrite Scarlett interface? I don’t like using HX stomp as my interface I like the sound of the Scarlett much more. I’m really looking for a slightly broken up deluxe reverb.

8:40 when he finally starts switching between snapshots.

Thank you :)

Hey Jason. Just wanted to know if it’s normal to hear some scratchy artifacts (maybe clipping?) when on patches with light-medium breakup/OD - especially with chords. I’ve tried unity gain, hi and lo cuts, and turning guitar pad on - but it’s still there. I can’t tell if it’s an intentional sound or I have a defective unit. I’m on a Pod Go, an insight would help, thanks!

If I had to guess, "Bias X" might have something to do with the crossover distortion of a tube poweramp.

I've noticed even with a bare-bones patch, the tone in your videos is very nice. At home I run the 1/4 inch out from the Helix to a little Rolls "mixer" and from there to headphones ( AKG K 240 Semi-Open Studio Headphones ). The Rolls allows me to mix in an mp3 for the song I'm rehearsing. I could use the headphone out from the Helix but I thought using the 1/4 is what I use at church and would be best for dialing in tones. Doesn't sound as good as what I'm hearing here -- good, just not as good. I have a decent powered speaker but need to use that when the wife isn't home :-) Could just be newbie issues since I've only owned the Helix 3 weeks.

Ripple and hum on high settings work pretty good for heartbreaker eh? Nasty and rock and roll for sure.

Hey Jason it would be great if you could create a series like this for bass tones and effects. Using multiple bass amps in parallel, one low and thump and the other high and gritty with different effects and how they effect the bass. I realize the concepts are a lot of the same thing. It would just be cool to see you put jam it and put it together. - Cheers DDE

Lowering Hum and ripple have reduce the noise when playing breakup tones but I lose some of that organic feel and tone. do you find that these parameters affect different guitar pickups instead of the amp model?

Another great video, quick question. I saw u where changing the bias amount thru your snapshots. Are u able to change the amount of gain on the amp in thru snapshots? I tried doing it but it wasn’t moving the level change and was wondering if I was doing it wrong

Jason - this is awesome. Do you think these parameters have the same effect on a clean amp sound as they clearly do on a dirty sounding amp? Thank You!

So appreciate your videos. They've been incredibly helpful. Question, though ... what screen capture software are you using to make these videos? I'm trying to do something for a friend and am having trouble getting my screen capture software to pick up the Helix.

wow, to my ears the Bias X, makes an Amp. sound much Sweeter sounding. Getting rid of some of that Nasally sounding stuff. I know there was also such a thing as SAG with the Rectifier tube vs. a Solid State Rectifier, which really only had an effect with Amps. pushed to breakup and beyond .

Please make a video about using Helix as a pedalboard when plugged in to the front of the amp please I need help.

I think bias is make tube sound like tonelab's vr gain. I love vr gain. so i will love bias knob

I just bought the Helix LT , can I use the info in these videos on the Lt? Or is this only for the Helix? Thanks for any info!!

Jason,its mean that for metal better sag is about 7 or 10?

Any Chance of a video explaining EQ Jason parametric and the likes MID Q, High Q low High cut and the likes ...

I'm curious if you do anything different when running through headphones versus Poweramp/monitors. I work the night shift so the family sleeps when I come home and start jamming.

Hey I noticed that with my Strat my Helix is lacking a lot when it comes to low end, it's as huge and punchy as I want, what should I do?

Woh. ¿What Headphones are you using there?

I'm a new HX Stomp user and was wondering what those settings were 😆 I have an unrelated question if you could help please. I've had to send my Stomp back for replacement because it died on me during a firmware update so now's a good time to find out. My original firmware was 2.65 and the new update was 2.82. I know that the 2.80 update was a major one, so my question is can I update directly to 2.82 from 2.65? I can't understand why my Stomp developed such a fatal fault unless it was just it's time to die. So as I can't find much info about my question I thought I'd ask some experienced users. So what do you think about updating a large leap in firmware? Thanks for any help 👍

Is there somewhere I can download this preset to play around with it?

Great video, but for modern metal or "djent" tones what would you recommend setting these values at as a general?

I definitely preferred zero sag, hum and ripple, but maximum bias. and I think maximum biasX

the bias lower is less headroom and quicker amp break up. Higher bias is more headroom. Bias X Compresses the power amp. This is my understanding of it.

I believe you'll get more poweramps distortion from a hot biased amp.

23:48 I thought cleaning up picking is based on the sag

So.... what settings should I use?.... :) F'in Helix!

I think sag etc is something that you need to be actually playing with, to feel it, more than being a listener