Helix 3.0?

[veryzer]

I sold my only amp a beloved Princeton Reverb Reissue to fund my purchase of the Helix a couple years ago. "Getting it back" has definitely given me some feelings. Anyone else notice that it doesn't have the farty low end? I wonder if they modeled one that had a transformer upgrade.

Edit: And I'm talking about the 1x10 cab, not the 1x12.

 

[weedzzz]

Princeton? Really? It’s a great amp, but wouldn’t anyone wanting a Princeton model just use a Twin?

no Mark II, the Recto, the Orange,PRS, two rock?

I don’t find them to be that similar.

Well I only use a HX FX so I can’t hear the models but when it actually comes to recording real amps, I always really loved recording with a Princeton but not so much with a twin, even though I really like playing a twin in a live situation

 

[Odrive]

Make sure your bypass/controller assignments for it didn’t get funky or disappear somehow? And/or try changing the polarity setting for FS?

Also did you try just turning it off and back on? IT support instruction #1

Thanks, figured it out. Yes, bypass assignments got wiped out, but I had already fixed them. Also rebooted a couple of times.

The trick was to go into Global Settings > Preferences and reset EXP1 to FS4.

This has happened before during a couple of previous firmware updates. Should I be loading the backup file I made before updating? Is that the way to restore my global prefs? Or is this a bug? It's annoying, but maybe firmware updates cannot preserve user prefs?

 

[weedzzz]

really love the new Fuzz models

still wish they would model the Rat again though. The Vermin just doesn’t sound like a good rat in my opinion. The old DM4 version in the legacy section is better but still not there. Considering how great all the other models are, I find the rat to be poor.

 

[lgbbq]

really love the new Fuzz models

still wish they would model the Rat again though. The Vermin just doesn’t sound like a good rat in my opinion. The old DM4 version in the legacy section is better but still not there. Considering how great all the other models are, I find the rat to be poor.

The crappy rat is in the release notes as a known issue, it'll hopefully be fixed next update

 

[Holdsworthy]

really love the new Fuzz models

still wish they would model the Rat again though. The Vermin just doesn’t sound like a good rat in my opinion. The old DM4 version in the legacy section is better but still not there. Considering how great all the other models are, I find the rat to be poor.

Yamaha ripped Line 6 a new one and they will be correcting the Rat in 3.1.

 

[SwirlyMaple]

I'm really enjoying the virtual capo for tuning down a step or two. Works amazingly well. And that new Ram's Head fuzz is glorious. If you like warm juicy fuzzes and you haven't tried it yet, you're missing out!

 

[phil_m]

Yamaha ripped Line 6 a new one and they will be correcting the Rat in 3.1.

You’re too much...

Regarding Yamaha, though, I was at the Line 6 booth at NAMM back in January when the CEO of Yamaha, like all of Yamaha, came in with the whole entourage... I don’t think they were checking in on the Rat model, though.

 

[Gtrman100]

When I first got the HX Stomp I did a clean amp shootout and the Deluxe reverb normal channel won against the twin and every other clean amp in the box. IMO The twin is too big in the lows and too bright on top which also makes it too scooped in the mids as well. The DR Norm has more controlled bass, more mids and smoother treble

Today I did a 3 way shootout with the Princeton, DR norm and Twin. First off the Princeton is DARK. On both the DR and the twin I have the presence OFF and the treble around 5-6 usually. On the Princeton I ended up with the treble on 8 and the presence on 5 and its still smoother than the other 2 which is not a bad thing but man you have to jack the treble to even get it close to the other amps.

The Princeton also has more low mids than the DR so its a fuller, more woody tone than the DR. At this point I am happy with either the DR or the Princeton as my clean tone so I made favorites for both.

FYI I am running the HX through a PS170 poweramp and a celestion 1x12 cab - no IR's.

P.S. I would also love a Two Rock or Fuchs ODS model in the future.

I don't know which amp they modeled but the one they have doesn't sound like the Princeton I had. It's a very dark amp model and the cabinet is dark too. I am using an IR and it's working fine but the tone stack should be identical to a Deluxe reverb. It's not.

 

[John Mark Painter]

I have a couple things to see if they are able to be replicated as they may be bugs.

First off I will say that the new High gain mega channel amp is fantastic.

Now the issues:
I have had my helix rack on since I updated it this afternoon between 4 & 5 hours ago, so these issues may be tied to this. I started building my first patch about an hour ago.
1. First thing I noticed was the gain reduction meters were off, (sync wise) by about 2 seconds.
2. I noticed the same thing happening with the tuner. Though it was worse, it was about 3 seconds, and seem to get worse as time went on.
3. The new Delay - the glitch one - I was using it in mono after a slight reverb (serial) and it seemed real finicky with the octaves parameters, and the mix parameters. It seemed if I reduced either of these too much without my guitar playing sound like sustaining an open couple of strings that the octaves would completely disappear. I then have to pull both back up pretty high, then walk them back down with my guitar sustaining open strings to get them to my desired level. If I just set those parameters to those settings instantly with no sound from guitar at the time, the octaves completely disappear. (even when I go to play the guitar again they are not there)

My chain was pretty basic.
Guitar - input w minimal gate - high/low cut eq (aggressive 275low cut)- Benzin Mega channel - tilt eq (slight treb) - path split for two different York IRs in parallel - merge back into path for 3-band compression - mono Ganymead (low mix) reverb - mono Glitch Delay (low mix). This is all on the top path btw. The output was panned all to the right, but that is after the Glitch Delay so I doubt that has anything to do with any of this.

Those problems aside, It does sound stellar.

That Tuner and Meter lag is a known issue.
They’re still working on it.
Generally requires a reboot

 

[John Mark Painter]

really love the new Fuzz models

still wish they would model the Rat again though. The Vermin just doesn’t sound like a good rat in my opinion. The old DM4 version in the legacy section is better but still not there. Considering how great all the other models are, I find the rat to be poor.

DI actually posted here that they were working on a new Rat but weren’t happy with it just yet. So that will be fun when it does happen

 

[Lution]

Odd. Maybe the “global” noise gate is on and interacting with the capo in an unpleasant way? I don’t use that gate, and ensured it was back off after updating. A quick strum-through after just reading this and I didn’t have any issues with sustain or choking. I use passive pickups and turned everything else off.

Where do I find this global gate on my Stomp? How do I navigate to it? I know of the input noise gate on each preset which I use and the noise gate effect block which I don’t use.

 

[ejohnson76]

You’re too much...

Regarding Yamaha, though, I was at the Line 6 booth at NAMM back in January when the CEO of Yamaha, like all of Yamaha, came in with the whole entourage... I don’t think they were checking in on the Rat model, though.

Correct. Yamaha usually has a control on the bigger roadmap, but not really on a specific effect / amp model.

 

[Madmax25]

Really pumped about this update! It’s all I wanted and more (literally...) for my HX Stomp! Thanks, Line 6!

One question: I have an external FS5 to switch between modes, but I only really want to switch between snapshot and stomp mode. Is there any way to make the newly added command center for Stomp do this? Thanks in advance.

Anyone? Bueller... Bueller...

 

[James Freeman]

I have a sense that Line 6 investing so much time and money into the current Helix software, not only to give us free updates 5 years after we purchased the current hardware, but to prepare a solid foundation for the next line of modelers that will be using the same engine with maybe a different user interface.

That means they could provide even longer lifespan for the current hardware line despite the bigger difference in DSP power, and retain more customers that will consider to upgrade to the newer hardware after being able to actually experience the new models on older hardware.

So the HX echo system might not render old hardware obsolete immediately on release of new hardware, but allow the customer base to make a smooth transition, which they will.

 

[James Freeman]

I don't know which amp they modeled but the one they have doesn't sound like the Princeton I had.

EDIT:
I think I'm wrong on this.
See further post.
/edit

Princeton Reverb and Deluxe Reverb Normal have the exact same tonestack and no bright caps, so I compared the preamps only.
Tone stack sounds the same.
Princeton Drive knob behavior is different, because it has another triode stage after the reverb recovery stage, but when preamp is not clipping the sound right about the same.
Princeton Drive has to be set lower to be as clean as Deluxe Nrm, so try around 1-2.

Also notice the Princeton and Deluxe Vib are about the same DSP usage since they have one more triode stage compared to Deluxe Nrm channel.
* I added a few pedals to eat the DSP and see if it was indeed the case, which it is.

Moreover the Deluxe Vib channel has slightly less Drive because of the 3.3M and 470k||220k divider compared to Princeton 3.3M and 470k divider,, but more drive than the Norm channel.
* I assume Line6 skipped the reverb circuitry entirely, which is 3 triode stages that would eat DSP and do nothing.

The Phase Inverter on the Princeton is Cathodyne type which makes the amp a different animal than the Deluxe Reverb,, and adds another type of Fender amp topology to the Helix that was missing.

So everything corresponds to the schematic DSP-wise and it measures and sounds like so too.
I think Helix now has just about every Fender amp topology across the years Fender had to offer.

 

[Jaakko]

Hi everyone! Just updated my HX Stomp to 3.0 and fooled around with some of the new sounds, made a clip demoing them (link below). Really love the new drives/fuzzes. Poly patches work extremely well, even though they seem to utilize most of the DSP on the Stomp. Acoustic sim sound fun when mixed together with the electric signal! Glitch Delay seems fun as well, kinda like Strymon Ice presets but more interesting and the fact that you're able to tweak it endlessly makes it way more intriuging.

 

[hugbot]

I wasnt sure how to use shuffle looper but I'm coming around to the idea that the best way is to just play something insanely simple- like a chord, and just let it do its thing

Not my video:

 

[kdm1218]

Thanks, figured it out. Yes, bypass assignments got wiped out, but I had already fixed them. Also rebooted a couple of times.

The trick was to go into Global Settings > Preferences and reset EXP1 to FS4.

This has happened before during a couple of previous firmware updates. Should I be loading the backup file I made before updating? Is that the way to restore my global prefs? Or is this a bug? It's annoying, but maybe firmware updates cannot preserve user prefs?

In HX edit you can restore from backup but choose only your global settings and it will bring those back in. I haven’t had enough time in it yet to see if any footswitch assignments got weird with mine, but the first few presets I looked at were fine.

 

[SwirlyMaple]

Hi everyone! Just updated my HX Stomp to 3.0 and fooled around with some of the new sounds, made a clip demoing them (link below). Really love the new drives/fuzzes. Poly patches work extremely well, even though they seem to utilize most of the DSP on the Stomp. Acoustic sim sound fun when mixed together with the electric signal! Glitch Delay seems fun as well, kinda like Strymon Ice presets but more interesting and the fact that you're able to tweak it endlessly makes it way more intriuging.

Nice playing dude!