Helix cabs... share your settings/tips/tricks

[sleewell]

Just curious what yall are using. Maybe include what genres you play too.

I use one Uber 4x12 w t75s and another Uber 4x12 w v30s. 57 mics. Center or off edge I'm still back and forth on that. The v30 is the angled mic to kinda mimick the fredman technique. Hardcore type of stuff. 80 low cut 10k high cut.

 

[laxu]

Always use dual cab with different mics. They might be the same cab with different mics/position, or two different cabs. That's about it.

 

[EOengineer]

This isn’t a silver bullet or anything, but thinking about cabs/IR as layers and then trying to composite a couple layers like one might try to build a layered image in photoshop has worked well for me. It’s a mental shift though.

My best results tend to involve using one amp with one cab and multiple mics, approximating what you’d use in the physical world with a couple mics on a cab in a room. Heavier tones tend to use less ambiance but mixing in early reflections on one or both of the mics can add depth.

If I’m chasing a Tom Petty tone or something like that I’ll probably use more reflections or even room verbs on both tracks and blend them to aim for something natural sounding that feels seated in a real space. Occasionally I’ll use 2 amps or 2 cabs but I generally find that introduces enough extra variability that things can become hard to control.

I also generally keep the mics panned together instead of elaborate stereo panning. I’m almost always working with multiple guitar parts and a pile of stereo panned tracks just gets messy to work with.

One last tip - don’t be afraid to invert the polarity on a mic and play with placement, distance, and level (how aggressively it phase cancels in this case). Phase cancellation can be a very effective tool in broadly sculpting tones where you want to dip out certain portions of the spectrum that aren’t necessarily useful in a dense mix.

 

[ragingplatypi]

I haven’t tried this with the Helix Cabs yet, but I recently started switching between 2 different IRs of the same cabinet for lead and rhythm tones. This was for a patch to cop Ty Tabor’s tone, so it basically 2 flavors of dirt using 2 different mic mixes on a G12K-100.
I’m looking forward to trying this out with some of the Helix cabs where my lead and rhythm tones are basically 2 versions of dirt. I’ll report back when I get a chance.

 

[BahamaDada]

I really like the Mandarin (Orange) 2x12 with the 2 V30s.

Said it in another thread some time ago, but that cab (the "PPC" IIRC?) was pretty popular in Germany for a reason: Nice tone, solid stuff, reasonable price and can be handled by 1 person. It's the "Mesa Oversize" for me, when I don't want a Mesa OS (e.g. to sound more "unique").

Other than that:
Uber V30. 47Fet mic. Distance and position both at 2.5. Sounds super nice overall. Not my idea, read it somewhere aftervthe 3.5/3.6 update.

 

[Rocco Crocco]

I like the Moon cab with stock settings. Probably the one I use the most.

 

[ian_dissonance]

Playing heavy stuff most of my live patches have two XXL v30 cabs with 57s, same distance/position and one 45 degree. Usually with a Revv model of the invective, low cut at 80, high cut at 9khz, approximately. For recording I’ll mess with everything, but the v30 “fredman” just works live.

 

[Lele]

It seems I'm much more extremist about lo/hi cuts, but without them in a live & loud context for me it's really difficult to get a nice sound.
My initial settings are often as follows (in the Helix cab block):

single cab 2x12 Match H30
mic: 7 Dynamic
position: cap edge
distance: 2.50"
angle: 0°
low cut: between 100-130 Hz
high cut: between 3800-4000 Hz

then sometimes I try other cabs, but most times with the same or similar settings for the other parameters.
Rock, pop, hard rock, no metal music (main amp sims: Litigator, Matchstick, Lonestar, Mail Order Twin, Interstate Zed, Brit 2203, Placater, Ventoux)

 

[sleewell]

i have def thought about more low and hi cuts, imma mess around with that tonight!!!

 

[kartikg3]

i have def thought about more low and hi cuts, imma mess around with that tonight!!!

For hotter pickups, the low and hi cuts are Godsends!

I am also fudging around more with the mic positions for the second cabs with the delay parameter set to "auto" (to simulate real world delay w.r.t mic distance. This is mainly to learn about how distance affects the delay, and how in turn that affects the overall perceived tone, isolated, and in mixes.

 

[DieSchmalle]

Here are some single cab settings that work nicely for me with my Strat:

cab	mic	pos	dist	angle	locut	hicut	tip
112 Fullerton	7 Dyn	6.5	1.75	45	115	off	try Fullerton Brt
112 Open Cream	121 R	1.9	5.25	0	115	off	try GrammaticoLG Brt
112 Blue Bell	7 Dyn	0.7	1.5	45	100	off	try Essex / Matchstick / Carillon!
212 Silver Bell	7 Dyn	1.0	1.25	45	110	off	similar to 112 Blue Bell with slightly less lower mids
212 Jazz Rivet	7 Dyn	2.4	2.00	45	105	off	try Jazz Rivet / Clarity
112 Open Cast	7 Dyn	2.3	1.00	45	100	off	sweet Dumble mids

*this list might grow over time so don't quote.

 

[Lele]

Here are some single cab settings that work nicely for me with my Strat:

cab	mic	pos	dist	angle	locut	hicut	tip
112 Fullerton	7 Dyn	6.5	1.75	45	115	off	try Fullerton Brt
112 Open Cream	121 R	1.9	5.25	0	115	off	try GrammaticoLG Brt
112 Blue Bell	7 Dyn	0.7	1.5	45	100	off	try Essex or Matchstick

*this list might grow over time so don't quote.

When I test sounds with my Helix I also have a preference for Helix 1x12 speakers. The cabs with multiple speakers often have large frequency dips, but I guess this is expected behavior, due to the combo effect.
Perhaps in certain mixing conditions those speakers with big dips in the frequency spectrum could be advantageous, but in a (live) band context or even in my bedroom they give me less excitement.
As I had shown in some graphs in the past, among the Helix cab simulations I can list the following with less big frequency dips or peaks (except for the 1.4kHz dip that is typical with almost all guitar speakers):
1x10 US Princess
1x12 Blue Bell
1x12 Cali IV
1x12 Open Cream
2x12 Match H30
2x12 Match G25
2x12 Silver Bell
4x10 Tweed (that has anyway powerful highs)
4x12 Brit V30 (that has anyway powerful lows)
4x12 Uber T75 (that has anyway powerful lows)
4x12 Blackback 30 (that has anyway powerful lows)
Everything above is strictly imho and ymmv!

 

[DieSchmalle]

[...]Perhaps in certain mixing conditions those speakers with big dips in the frequency spectrum could be advantageous, but in a (live) band context or even in my bedroom they give me less excitement.
As I had shown in some graphs in the past, among the Helix cab simulations I can list the following with less big frequency dips or peaks (except for the 1.4kHz dip that is typical with almost all guitar speakers)[...]

Yes. I'm a more vintage oriented player. For me in a loud live environment the crucial component in the sound is full mids. That's where the guitar has to sit - then I can afford treble / high end. And it makes me perceive those peaks in the upper mids differently - they can change from being annoying to adding character. Full mids are my main concern when choosing live ready cab mics / IRs.

The 1.4kHz dip is less present in V30s - that nasaly sound often gives them away.