Safelanding Records Oh man I’m so sorry I didn’t notice your comment for a long time. Please forgive me... Anyway I am happy to say that this is the Best Buy I have ever done. I even went out and bought a James Tyler Variax the week after. And now I can pretty much make any tone or play style... When our band are out on gigs then we like to make medley songs where we throw in 3-5 songs which mean I had to change guitars quite often... But now I don’t need to. Summer of 69. Rock on. Maybe play some Dolly Parton right after, no problem one press of a button and I have a banjo. Acoustic. 12 string etc etc... if our voices are tired after a long gig week and can’t reach the high notes, then I can easily tune down the guitar in matter of seconds. Awesome feature... And they sound so close to the real deal, that I had guitar players coming up to the stage after a gig asking if I was doing playback, cause they didn’t believe what they heard at first hahaha... So yeah I’m super happy with the Helix and my variax. Best money spend in my opinion that is😄
Great video. I'm getting one soon and I was wondering if besides the headphones should I test the tone through my amp or through my Pa speaker? I have a Fender champion 100 add an Electro Voice zlx with a 12 and a horn in it
what added value to the line 6 as a reference brand was to invest heavily in demos with amps , that is , as a guitarist and user of line 6 for 20 years , I am often confronted by young people who can not even get close to the sound of guitar that you present in these demos. In other words, young people buy line 6 and are frustrated with the sound.I give some examples taking into account what I see and watch in the country where I live; many young people buy the helix, stomp etc thinking it will be plug and play, but when they get home and connect it to the amplifier, the sound does not match, some do not use the amp preamp to try to make the most of the simulations but even then they do not succeed. For example for users of the best selling amps in the world: Fender Deluxe 5E3 «Tweed» Vox AC30 Top Boost. Fender Bassman 5F6A '59 «Tweed» Marshall JTM45. Fender Twin Reverb «Blackface» Fender Deluxe Reverb «Blackface» Marshall 'Plexi' 1959SLP Super Lead. Hiwatt Custom 100 DR103. line 6 should provide an equalization setting for users to come home and connect to the front (or just to the pre (using only the amp's power)) and be immediately satisfied with the result. And the same should be done to the 3 types of guitars , les paul , strat and tele This little job for line 6 would double sales. Hugs and thanks for your attention.
Hey Line 6, you forget to model the most fav Preamp of the 90s and that's the ADA MP1 pre amp. I'm still using it right now and nothing beats that..........
Interesting demo. Excellent guitarist and very authentic sounding tones. I'd be curious to know if I can turn the cabinet emulation/IR off and plug this puppy in EFFECTS RETURN of my amp and still sound really good? I suspect unit of this caliber would sound great into P.A. or FRFR speaker, but I'm still prejudice. I believe half my tone comes from my speaker/cabinet moving air.
+lpgoog never forget that this is an evolution of sounds that if a person knows how to use very well with your amplifier will play 'always great method 4 cables use real amp with effects helix or use your amp helix with final amp true.
+lpgoog The great thing about the Helix is, not only can you turn off any cab sims, but it also has a Preamp model section. I would use just the preamp models if I were going to be using an external tube power amp and speaker cab.
Merci mon gars. J'aurais du commencer par toi, au lieu de perdre des semaines à chercher! J'ai l'impression q'Helix préfère les simples bobinages (single coils) aux humbuckers. Am I right or am I wrong? Cio
G'day Sean, can snapshots be set up to use both single (either modelled JTV or Mag) sounds and split JTV modelled and Mag tones in the same set of snapshot patches? I believe it is possible, but nobody has been able to show me how to achieve this, stores have no clue, the Aussie rep is unresponsive, and the manual may as well be in Chinese to me. I've been using the Line 6 gear for nearly 10 years, but still feel way more comfortable with old school pedals in line, so the whole digital thing does my head in. I have spent literally days on end working through these units, and still not gotten anywhere. I have set up a heap of snapshots (as best I can), but need a split harmonised patch edited into the snapshots, with JTV modelled tone on one side through one amp sound, and Mag pickup on the other with a distinctly different amp tone, and a slight (milliseconds) delay to make it seem more like two guitars playing together rather than an obvious duplicate patch. Or another I want to edit in is to get a crisp Acoustic with a touch of compression on one side, and a crunch driven Mag sound on the other, with Wah able to be used on the mag side. That same thing would be replicated as a 12 string / electric patch. My original band has several Country crossover (think Smokie or even some of Bon Jovi ) styled songs, where I need to be both acoustic and electric or 12 string and electric simultaneously. So then I need to be able to switch back and forth from the twin input /output tones, and the standard single input tones. The splits need to be panned about 70% or so either way to allow some bleed across the field, but still maintain some degree of stereo separation. The reason for the bleed is purely because in the past when I used the HD500X / JTV set up, I found that even though I had purposely set the sounds so for example the acoustic in a split patch may have been louder or softer than the electric on that same patch to suit the song,.. because I had the sounds panned hard left / right, the mixing guy would think I had fucked up the patch since one was not loud enough (to him) or too loud (again according to him) and he would instantly bump one side up / down, then when I switched patches, the next patch would be all out of whack. As I am sure you realise, most of the time we want different stereo tones at different levels to achieve what we have in mind or to reproduce what is on the recording, but try explaining that to an overzealous FOH engineer. Hence if I only pan them 70% L/R then they can't screw with it the same way as there will always be some of each sound bleeding across the spread. Or if you know a better way to achieve this sort of outcome, i am happy to try that also. I have seen a lot of your clips and you seem to get great separation, even on non stereo specific tones, and that is through shitty Macbook speakers, so I am sure if I went into the monitors it would be more evident. I've explained this many times to locals who use Helix gear, but I am possibly the only guy in Perth WA with both the JTV and Helix, definitely the only one using Snapshots, so they glaze over as they have no experience using the JTV in conjunction with the Helix, and snapshots, forget about it, they don't know where to begin. I figure if I am going to go down this modelling path, I want it to do the most it can do, otherwise I may as well be plugging a Strat, pedals and amp rig in, with my acoustic on an chest stand as I did for years rather than this fancy shit.
I use it with a tube amp. Fender blues deluxe reissue. I go directly into the power amp. I run the tube preamp through an efects loop and can run it as a normal amp with one foot tap.
Tried out an ax8 great bit of kit but a bitch to edit on the fly I would just say you can't to be honest seriously considering the helix to edit on the fly I think it might not sound as good but the user friendly interface might actually be a better reason to buy it, too many options with ax8 as well its a nightmare just to "play around" with I didn't like the hd500 so I'm kind of worried about getting a line 6 product. Haha
Hey, this is great! I have the Helix Floor, does anyone know how to get that great fuzz tone intro of the Rolling Stones Satifaction? Thank you for posting this.
Keith played a FZ-1 into a Twin for that sound, I believe. For the fuzz try either a "Buzz Saw" or "Line 6 Drive" (both found in Legacy Distortion section) into a "US Double Norm" Amp/Cab - from there it should just be tone tweaking within the pedal, the amp/cab and your guitar. Happy playing!
It would be nice to have a little more love for those of us that have already spent a small fortune on HD500 and DT series amps. A little more effort on some DT integration work-arounds would be nice. I realize the architecture is completely different with the helix, but give us a little something more to work with please. It's really the only reason I'm not planning on buying a Helix.
+Stratomacaster Yeah! Another one here. Until the DT integration isn't as good as in the POD HD500 and there is no decent GUI to tweak Helix on a PC, I'm not even thinking of buying Helix. A shame because Helix is maybe the best floor unit on the market, period.
They developed an entire new class of product, and it is obviously not designed to be an incremental change from the old stuff. Demanding integration with the other lines is really unreasonable from my perspective, and would steal resources from making the HELIX the best it can be.
+The Guitar Geek So, why did they bother adding a L6 link output there? Only to integrate with StageSource? The L6 is a Blend of audio out with Midi messages where we don't have to know nothing about Midi. It doesn' require any significant processing power. I can't understand Line6 option, really
+Nuno Carmona The L6 FRFR speaker output is exactly the reason why the output is there. The HD500 was never meant to be compatible with HELIX, but the speakers are. Just be cautious when claiming how "easy" it is for a company to add, code, test and support features.
I would like to see a more basic run through. I haven't spent the last 10 years of my life playing video games or running through software programs. Do you have an instructional video for people who have never touched this thing? You move so fast through this demo that only someone who has used it before would be able to follow you. In that case why would they need your help - they can probably already do these "simple" edits. Where is the video that is more like the "pilots manual' or quick start? Thanks from the tech challenged public.
Hi there 78tag - it is indeed assumed that you have watched the other videos before viewing this one. My suggestion would be to look out for video titles that are more general: The Overview video is here: ruclips.net/video/T6w41qFLB88/видео.html and a video specifically about navigating the user interface is here: ruclips.net/video/OCKEHkXhfhk/видео.html If you watch those you should get a better idea of how things work. Hope that helps!
Thanks for the quick response - I have all the updates loaded now and I am finding it much easier to noodle around in the HELIX EDIT program. Still some things I don't get but I now have a much better feel for interface of the board after screwing around with it on the monitor screen and watching what happens on the board. Now I have to spend some time getting the knobs down. I think the controls will be more intuitive now that I see what can be done in the EDITOR. I have a pretty good idea what you guys went through to make the board usable by leaving out as many windows/screens as possible. That's the reason (like many others) that I started looking at the HELIX. Great job! I forgot to mention that I am looking at the JTV 69 variax guitars. I have read many threads on the subject and have come to the conclusion that it is a matter of luck whether you get one that doesn't have manufacturer problems with either the build of the guitar or the electronics. I'm sure you've heard it all but can you recommend a particular year or setup (HSS or SSS) that might be less likely to have problems? Supposedly the KOREAN made necks have a problem with irregular shapes and some of the electronics/hardware on any given model can have problems. Any comments on this? I know I can't be the only one asking this question - don't mean to offend. I also realize the silent majority that haven't had any problems and are happy with the guitar don't end up saying anything because they don't need to. Thanks, Tom W
I shot the Eleven Rack videos in 2009 (I was at Digi/Avid for nine years, from 2003-2011), and I shot these Helix videos in early 2015 (I was at Line 6 from 2011-2016). To assume that anything I said in 2009 would still be relevant to my daily musical life nearly ten years later is a stretch, I think. I'm glad you've enjoyed the videos though.
Thanks for your videos Sean. Love your playing and you are one of THE best demonstrators of any guitar gear. Got my Helix coming in tomorrow. The HD500 served me well. Just watched some of your videos on the new Positive Grid Bio-Amp2 release. That is very fascinating guitar geeky stuff, may have to check that out as well. What a great day and age to be a musician!
Bass sounded pretty farty and flubby.....I'm sure that could be tweaked though. Not bad. I still think Fractal kicks Line 6's ass. Just from my own experience.
Sounds great, Sean. Great demo. I look forward to trying a Helix out one day soon (I hope!)
Im buying one tomorrow. Im so exited.
kubel83 how has it treated you?
Safelanding Records Oh man I’m so sorry I didn’t notice your comment for a long time. Please forgive me... Anyway I am happy to say that this is the Best Buy I have ever done. I even went out and bought a James Tyler Variax the week after. And now I can pretty much make any tone or play style... When our band are out on gigs then we like to make medley songs where we throw in 3-5 songs which mean I had to change guitars quite often... But now I don’t need to. Summer of 69. Rock on. Maybe play some Dolly Parton right after, no problem one press of a button and I have a banjo. Acoustic. 12 string etc etc... if our voices are tired after a long gig week and can’t reach the high notes, then I can easily tune down the guitar in matter of seconds. Awesome feature... And they sound so close to the real deal, that I had guitar players coming up to the stage after a gig asking if I was doing playback, cause they didn’t believe what they heard at first hahaha... So yeah I’m super happy with the Helix and my variax. Best money spend in my opinion that is😄
Great demo and playing Sean. I love helix too
really? can I see some samples?
Great video. I'm getting one soon and I was wondering if besides the headphones should I test the tone through my amp or through my Pa speaker? I have a Fender champion 100 add an Electro Voice zlx with a 12 and a horn in it
wow, that brit plexi is still one of the best sounds you can possibly get out of the helix units. I really miss Sean`s presentations!
what added value to the line 6 as a reference brand was to invest heavily in demos with amps , that is , as a guitarist and user of line 6 for 20 years , I am often confronted by young people who can not even get close to the sound of guitar that you present in these demos. In other words, young people buy line 6 and are frustrated with the sound.I give some examples taking into account what I see and watch in the country where I live;
many young people buy the helix, stomp etc thinking it will be plug and play, but when they get home and connect it to the amplifier, the sound does not match, some do not use the amp preamp to try to make the most of the simulations but even then they do not succeed.
For example for users of the best selling amps in the world: Fender Deluxe 5E3 «Tweed»
Vox AC30 Top Boost.
Fender Bassman 5F6A '59 «Tweed»
Marshall JTM45.
Fender Twin Reverb «Blackface»
Fender Deluxe Reverb «Blackface»
Marshall 'Plexi' 1959SLP Super Lead.
Hiwatt Custom 100 DR103.
line 6 should provide an equalization setting for users to come home and connect to the front (or just to the pre (using only the amp's power)) and be immediately satisfied with the result.
And the same should be done to the 3 types of guitars , les paul , strat and tele
This little job for line 6 would double sales. Hugs and thanks for your attention.
Sean I admire you greatly, you are an amazing guitar player; hope one day be at least half as good as you are! my respect and apreciation to you!
Hey Line 6, you forget to model the most fav Preamp of the 90s and that's the ADA MP1 pre amp. I'm still using it right now and nothing beats that..........
Awesome info Sean😃
beautiful guitar
Yeh, all day. Every day.
Nice and real fast wow 🖐🏻🎸
Interesting demo. Excellent guitarist and very authentic sounding tones. I'd be curious to know if I can turn the cabinet emulation/IR off and plug this puppy in EFFECTS RETURN of my amp and still sound really good? I suspect unit of this caliber would sound great into P.A. or FRFR speaker, but I'm still prejudice. I believe half my tone comes from my speaker/cabinet moving air.
+lpgoog never forget that this is an evolution of sounds that if a person knows how to use very well with your amplifier will play 'always great method 4 cables use real amp with effects helix or use your amp helix with final amp true.
+lpgoog
The great thing about the Helix is, not only can you turn off any cab sims, but it also has a Preamp model section. I would use just the preamp models if I were going to be using an external tube power amp and speaker cab.
Merci mon gars. J'aurais du commencer par toi, au lieu de perdre des semaines à chercher! J'ai l'impression q'Helix préfère les simples bobinages (single coils) aux humbuckers. Am I right or am I wrong? Cio
sounds great whats the sound coming out of?
G'day Sean, can snapshots be set up to use both single (either modelled JTV or Mag) sounds and split JTV modelled and Mag tones in the same set of snapshot patches?
I believe it is possible, but nobody has been able to show me how to achieve this, stores have no clue, the Aussie rep is unresponsive, and the manual may as well be in Chinese to me. I've been using the Line 6 gear for nearly 10 years, but still feel way more comfortable with old school pedals in line, so the whole digital thing does my head in. I have spent literally days on end working through these units, and still not gotten anywhere.
I have set up a heap of snapshots (as best I can), but need a split harmonised patch edited into the snapshots, with JTV modelled tone on one side through one amp sound, and Mag pickup on the other with a distinctly different amp tone, and a slight (milliseconds) delay to make it seem more like two guitars playing together rather than an obvious duplicate patch.
Or another I want to edit in is to get a crisp Acoustic with a touch of compression on one side, and a crunch driven Mag sound on the other, with Wah able to be used on the mag side. That same thing would be replicated as a 12 string / electric patch. My original band has several Country crossover (think Smokie or even some of Bon Jovi ) styled songs, where I need to be both acoustic and electric or 12 string and electric simultaneously. So then I need to be able to switch back and forth from the twin input /output tones, and the standard single input tones. The splits need to be panned about 70% or so either way to allow some bleed across the field, but still maintain some degree of stereo separation. The reason for the bleed is purely because in the past when I used the HD500X / JTV set up, I found that even though I had purposely set the sounds so for example the acoustic in a split patch may have been louder or softer than the electric on that same patch to suit the song,.. because I had the sounds panned hard left / right, the mixing guy would think I had fucked up the patch since one was not loud enough (to him) or too loud (again according to him) and he would instantly bump one side up / down, then when I switched patches, the next patch would be all out of whack. As I am sure you realise, most of the time we want different stereo tones at different levels to achieve what we have in mind or to reproduce what is on the recording, but try explaining that to an overzealous FOH engineer. Hence if I only pan them 70% L/R then they can't screw with it the same way as there will always be some of each sound bleeding across the spread. Or if you know a better way to achieve this sort of outcome, i am happy to try that also. I have seen a lot of your clips and you seem to get great separation, even on non stereo specific tones, and that is through shitty Macbook speakers, so I am sure if I went into the monitors it would be more evident.
I've explained this many times to locals who use Helix gear, but I am possibly the only guy in Perth WA with both the JTV and Helix, definitely the only one using Snapshots, so they glaze over as they have no experience using the JTV in conjunction with the Helix, and snapshots, forget about it, they don't know where to begin. I figure if I am going to go down this modelling path, I want it to do the most it can do, otherwise I may as well be plugging a Strat, pedals and amp rig in, with my acoustic on an chest stand as I did for years rather than this fancy shit.
This must be for people who already went through Helix college.
I had finally convinced myself I wasn't going to buy a Helix...... then I watched this video.
Rather Be Flying give in to it!
It sounds fine without IR’s in my opinion. Just have to know how to tweak it. It sounds great with just an amp and cab. 🤔
Does the Helix have a Over Drive sound ala John Schofield ( playing The Blue note pedal)
sounds great tbh
What amp is the helix plugged into and is there a cab or is this running thru a DAW or something
Pretty sure it is direct in. Not positive, but pretty sure.
hi, please share your presets, very good job greetings.
Good stuff. Thanks
Which affect on the Helix is the "auto-wha" affect? By the way, your videos are just awesome. My Helix arrives tomorrow!
everything is easy with sean hands :)
What's Sean's name on custom tone so that we can look that up?
Here's the link - hope that helps: line6.com/customtone/profile/seanhalley/
Buzzy!
eargasm
Do you use this with a tube amp or can you?
I use it with a tube amp. Fender blues deluxe reissue. I go directly into the power amp. I run the tube preamp through an efects loop and can run it as a normal amp with one foot tap.
Brutal
Debating between Ax8 and helix
Tried out an ax8 great bit of kit but a bitch to edit on the fly I would just say you can't to be honest seriously considering the helix to edit on the fly I think it might not sound as good but the user friendly interface might actually be a better reason to buy it, too many options with ax8 as well its a nightmare just to "play around" with I didn't like the hd500 so I'm kind of worried about getting a line 6 product. Haha
AX8. Chalk and cheese on actual tone. Faaaar superior
Nonsense
Out of curiosity, how much Helix technology is packaged into the Firehawk?
Additionally, is that a custom build?
fantastic my new helix. for sale my ultra axe fractal
+ROBYRH4 Hi! Im thinking to buy one, I have and old axe standard, how is compared?
+ David González Sanroman amico io consiglio helix è un'altro pianeta suoni e sopratutto dinamica sotto le dita come un' ampli reale
+ROBYRH4 no me he entrado de nada, pero supongo que si lo vendes será por algo
Hey, this is great! I have the Helix Floor, does anyone know how to get that great fuzz tone intro of the Rolling Stones Satifaction? Thank you for posting this.
Keith played a FZ-1 into a Twin for that sound, I believe. For the fuzz try either a "Buzz Saw" or "Line 6 Drive" (both found in Legacy Distortion section) into a "US Double Norm" Amp/Cab - from there it should just be tone tweaking within the pedal, the amp/cab and your guitar. Happy playing!
@@ItsPhilH Thank You!
Are the switches easily replaceable?
It would be nice to have a little more love for those of us that have already spent a small fortune on HD500 and DT series amps. A little more effort on some DT integration work-arounds would be nice. I realize the architecture is completely different with the helix, but give us a little something more to work with please. It's really the only reason I'm not planning on buying a Helix.
+Stratomacaster Yeah! Another one here. Until the DT integration isn't as good as in the POD HD500 and there is no decent GUI to tweak Helix on a PC, I'm not even thinking of buying Helix. A shame because Helix is maybe the best floor unit on the market, period.
They developed an entire new class of product, and it is obviously not designed to be an incremental change from the old stuff. Demanding integration with the other lines is really unreasonable from my perspective, and would steal resources from making the HELIX the best it can be.
+The Guitar Geek So, why did they bother adding a L6 link output there? Only to integrate with StageSource? The L6 is a Blend of audio out with Midi messages where we don't have to know nothing about Midi. It doesn' require any significant processing power. I can't understand Line6 option, really
+Nuno Carmona The L6 FRFR speaker output is exactly the reason why the output is there. The HD500 was never meant to be compatible with HELIX, but the speakers are. Just be cautious when claiming how "easy" it is for a company to add, code, test and support features.
Easy or not it seems product management failure in that point to me.
If only there was pedal that made your playing sound as good as Sean’s 😂
👍👍
hermaan im 5 hours sober
I would like to see a more basic run through. I haven't spent the last 10 years of my life playing video games or running through software programs. Do you have an instructional video for people who have never touched this thing? You move so fast through this demo that only someone who has used it before would be able to follow you. In that case why would they need your help - they can probably already do these "simple" edits. Where is the video that is more like the "pilots manual' or quick start? Thanks from the tech challenged public.
Hi there 78tag - it is indeed assumed that you have watched the other videos before viewing this one. My suggestion would be to look out for video titles that are more general: The Overview video is here: ruclips.net/video/T6w41qFLB88/видео.html and a video specifically about navigating the user interface is here: ruclips.net/video/OCKEHkXhfhk/видео.html If you watch those you should get a better idea of how things work. Hope that helps!
Thanks for the quick response - I have all the updates loaded now and I am finding it much easier to noodle around in the HELIX EDIT program. Still some things I don't get but I now have a much better feel for interface of the board after screwing around with it on the monitor screen and watching what happens on the board. Now I have to spend some time getting the knobs down. I think the controls will be more intuitive now that I see what can be done in the EDITOR. I have a pretty good idea what you guys went through to make the board usable by leaving out as many windows/screens as possible. That's the reason (like many others) that I started looking at the HELIX. Great job!
I forgot to mention that I am looking at the JTV 69 variax guitars. I have read many threads on the subject and have come to the conclusion that it is a matter of luck whether you get one that doesn't have manufacturer problems with either the build of the guitar or the electronics. I'm sure you've heard it all but can you recommend a particular year or setup (HSS or SSS) that might be less likely to have problems? Supposedly the KOREAN made necks have a problem with irregular shapes and some of the electronics/hardware on any given model can have problems. Any comments on this? I know I can't be the only one asking this question - don't mean to offend. I also realize the silent majority that haven't had any problems and are happy with the guitar don't end up saying anything because they don't need to. Thanks, Tom W
Like the clean sound...these particular dirt patches not so much...this guy is a phenomenal guitarist, though...watch some of his other demos.
George Keller the high gain sound is actually pretty killer
Sean uses the Eleven rack every day, but also the Helix ..... And what else ??? Business ........ (but great player)
I shot the Eleven Rack videos in 2009 (I was at Digi/Avid for nine years, from 2003-2011), and I shot these Helix videos in early 2015 (I was at Line 6 from 2011-2016). To assume that anything I said in 2009 would still be relevant to my daily musical life nearly ten years later is a stretch, I think. I'm glad you've enjoyed the videos though.
Thanks for your videos Sean. Love your playing and you are one of THE best demonstrators of any guitar gear. Got my Helix coming in tomorrow. The HD500 served me well.
Just watched some of your videos on the new Positive Grid Bio-Amp2 release. That is very fascinating guitar geeky stuff, may have to check that out as well. What a great day and age to be a musician!
Sounds digital to my ears
4 FANS OF BOSS DON'T LIKE! rsrsrsrs
Sean it has bugged me for ages and ages since this video came out--who makes that tweed tele and where can I get one??? Thank youuuuu~
This is NOT profiling
It s funny the factory presets are so BAD . Actually, WHY did Line 6 even put the factory presets on the unit?
Why does this thing sound horrible. Gibson Les Paul 69, 80s Kramer. Can’t get anything that sounds real
Those tones sound horrid with expensive studio monitors. Maybe I need a super cheap pair?
Bass sounded pretty farty and flubby.....I'm sure that could be tweaked though. Not bad. I still think Fractal kicks Line 6's ass. Just from my own experience.
Awful tones. Cold, lifeless and harsh. I always start with models of amps I own or used a lot, and they just don't sound realistic to me.
I hate the Helix. It sounds like shit. Sorry to say that but it is the truth. The deeper you go the more fuzz you have.
it's not the helix that is the problem....