Here is a quick demo video of the new Line6 HELIX. You can get a good lead tone in 5 minutes. I just selected presets of each block. Recorded by HELIX USB.
I just stumbled on this video cause I'm planning to get a Helix LT. Anyway, real amp or modeling amps, Jack always has his tone. In my opinion, if it sounds "digital" to others, is because you hear the sound directly to your monitors, or earphones. Where as in a real amp, there's a factor of the distance, ambient noise, dynamics on picking, the angle where you're standing, open back, closed back, etc.. for me, if you get the sound you like, it doesn't matter to whether it's amp modeler or real amp. The end results is what matters. Great playing as always Jack! Cheers!
I know possibilities are endless with helix but this proves that you can cut all complex BS about Ir’s , thousands paths, endless tweaking etc and get a straight forward mega tone if you know what you’re doing. You can’t sound bad with an OCD , a Mesa rectifier and an Echoplex... nice video.
Would you consider posting some of your patches on the line 6 custom tone page? or maybe doing a few more tone demos of your favorite tone settings on the HELIX? That would be AWESOME, and greatly appreciated. You're an incredible guitarist, and I absolutely LOVE your tones.
This video is a great reminder of how easy it is to dial in a great tone on the Helix. I will say that I've struggled more with the clean tones than the gain tones and I use clean tones a lot more. I'd like to see your take on some clean tones. Thanks!
Have you updated the firmware and gotten the Matchless amps? To my ears, so far, they produce a very balanced and sweet clean tone as either a standalone or base tone for fx.
+David E clean tones are much easier when using really good FRFR speakers. Im using 2 matrix q12a's and its quite nice.check youtube for some clean tone presets. i think the helix channel has one video of this.
for those who dont like to fiddle with units like these its very simple throw down 20 bucks and get custom artist patches everything is already done for you except maybe some minor adj. more playing less fiddling . but really this shows you how easy it is to pull up a great tone from the helix. FRFR speakers make the biggest difference in a live setting with any of these units. none will sound exactly right thru a normal amp cab.
Hi jack thanks for this awesome video! I was wondering if you could share your preset as the tone I get by following the parameters onscreen sounds fairly different - I use a PRS P22. Not sure if it's the high out put of your PUs that makes the tone very hot. Awesome job anyways and love your playing!
I'm trying to build my own patches with the Helix by following the steps in RU-vid tutorials. And the problem is no matter how much I tweak things, my Helix doesn't remotely sound like what I hear in the videos. I'm listening in the same headphones that I use to watch the videos, and I follow the instructions step by step, and yet I'm not getting anywhere beyond the harsh, unpleasant, digital tones coming out of my Helix. How come all these people on RU-vid get amazing tones with little to no tweaking?!
They post-process the sound to make it sounds good, marketing i guess. The same happened to me with the laney irt studio, did not sound at all like the video. Anyway i think with tweaking you can obtain good tones anyway, just need more effort...also some people can make sounds good anything. I have an hx stomp and some tones are very good. What i do for the harshiness is to cut the hi-freq to 7k or less, try that, also the impedence of the input set to 230K
I don’t think it is processed, I have had pretty similar tones with my hx stomp but you must know that there are a lot of things that may change depending on your gear, anyway check your general eq settings, your input and output settings and maybe you can ad an eq at the beginning of the chain.
+rick jones "inferring." i blame autocorrect. Thanks for the answer. I've spent plenty of time with the amps and IRs and getting my basic tones down, that I've really not done enough on the routing options. Very pleased so far...
So do you think this sounds ANYTHING like a Mesa when he selects cali rectifier? Try the Bogner models. If THATS what those amps sounded like they wouldnt have sold one. Helix will do one or two descent sounds but for the most part just sounds awful. Unless of course you are using IRs....but then its not helix that is actually creating the sound then.
Seriously what on earth are you talking about? Being able to use IR's in the helix is one of its features. So I suppose the kemper is also useless because everything that it does is external to the actual unit. Your logic is seriously flawed!
This pedal seems very much much like the BOSS GT-10 which I used to have. Unfortunately the sounds come out very "digital" sounding and don't produce any real tones. It's just another pedal with 1000 functions that don't suit a real musicians needs. Thanks for the review Jack. Also, when will you be doing some more original songs for youtube? It's been a while and I would love to see some more of your stuff!
+fretsonflames I agree, every aspect of it sounds digital right from the pick attack to the body of the sound it all seems flat and predictable; nothing to do with Jack's playing as that is great as always. I did not get a proper sound until I bought my first all valve Marshall JCM2555 head and JCM900 Lead 1960A cab. The sounds I got from that have been impossible to recreate with modern virtual technology. Also the way my guitars respond to being near the cab / speakers is TOTALLY different, and is yet another thing I cannot recreate with virtual tech.
+EgoShredder As with all of these digital amp modelers and the Kemper profiler, you do not get the sound of playing with your amp in the room. This is something different. It's the sound of playing your amp and hearing it through a microphone(s) and studio monitors. It's a final recorded sound. Even when playing live, the audience doesn't hear your amp (at least they shouldn't), they hear the sound of your amp through a mic and then through a full range pa system. It's not a digital sound, it's a recording or an audience sound.
+EgoShredder As with all of these digital amp modelers and the Kemper profiler, you do not get the sound of playing with your amp in the room. This is something different. It's the sound of playing your amp and hearing it through a microphone(s) and studio monitors. It's a final recorded sound. Even when playing live, the audience doesn't hear your amp (at least they shouldn't), they hear the sound of your amp through a mic and then through a full range pa system. It's not a digital sound, it's a recording or an audience sound.
David E I've got a high quality home studio setup and have done recording of guitars through headphones since 1991. So yes it does sound very different through headphones, but the final recording results still sound better than the virtual stuff.
I think it's quite expensive for the sound it can achieve, if I'd get one of these units for the convenience I'd rather get a HD500 or a GT100 for a fraction of the price.
When you compare apples to apples ie comparing the Helix to the Axe FX II, which is a more realistic comparison, you're actually saving $1,000. The HD500 is a toy compared to these units. I've never used a GT100 so I don't know about that one. Not trying to insult, just bringing you up to speed!
There's no comparing axe fx to anything else on the market. you must mean helix and ax8. the axe fx is no doubt worth 1k more, no question about that. in a league by itself.
It used to be in a league by itself. I own it and the MFC101. I have the Helix rack and the floorboard. I run the Helix with a Mesa JP2C. I've been in the music biz for 30 years so it is my opinion that the Helix actually gets the edge here. The axe fx may have some tonal qualities that only music stiffs will point out. The person in the audience will never know. They both use the the two dsp chips and are very good at what they do. I give the Helix the edge because it's far easier to program and move around. The user interface is better and the floorboard smokes the mfc as far as programming. I'm not the only one who feels this way....
look on ebay and see what holds value best. lots of people losing cash on helix not axe. check dsp you will find axe much more powerful, not the same animal. i have both and find l6 support sucks with hardly any new updates since it s been out. you can try to justify a purchase but the facts are what they are. axe all over the world on the big stages. l6 never will get that far just because its l6. they drop the ball on most everything they put out. i have owned several products and find they all have this l6 sound that i cant really put my finger on but its always there. I tried to like it and even talked my self into how good it was but finally owned up to the facts. Im dumping mine and will take a loss like all the rest that bought these. check ebay for ax8 verses helix on sales pricing. I can also get questions answered from the owner of fractal try that with l6..lol helix is easy to use i give it that with lots of fancy lights and what not but for accurate modeling axe fx is king. heck i even tone matched my diaz cd-100 with my axe fx and it was spot on awesome.are you even using cab ir's or amp sims? kinda hard when using a regular amp. my axe with my friedman asm-12 and cab/amp sims cant be beat. heck i hardly ever gig with my amp/cabs anymore the axe is just so fricking awesome.You can always sell you axe fx on ebay, im betting someone with a helix will buy it..lol
I followed your setting and clean tone was pretty much the same, adding amp+cap and it was still about the same. Then it started to sound very different than your tone and when I added reverb it also lowered the volume very much. I dont know what is the problem with my gear but the result was totally from a different world. I think the only variables are the guitar and the monitor. I have carvin and les Paul so they are not bad guitars and I use KRK Rokit 6 monitor. I am so disappointed to Helix, all that money that I saved and what I got, a piece of shit. Sorry my rude words but I am just so frustrated with this. Not a single good preset and not a single good tone no matter how I tweak it.
bogse you must be doing something wrong. Set guitar output to line. Global EQ High cut around 7khz, low cut at 90hz. Do the same cuts on the cabs. It should sound really good.
@@pedroguimaraesguitar: I am new to Helix and I am now using the Helix Native plugin. Is there a way to adjust Global EQ within Native in the way you are doing it with the 'hardware' Helix units? I too am suffering from tinny, digital tones and I am having trouble finding anything I can live with even if I EQ them in the mix. Thanks for any tips you can offer.
