Helix Talk

[Sascha Franck]

But doing that might also take away from that amp sound

As usual: Trial'n'Error is your best friend.

 

[banned]

If you can't "feel" it with the volume at zero, you're not actually "feeling" anything, no semantics there. You're 100% hearing it and you should be able to describe what you're hearing. There is no magic in what's coming out of guitar speakers. They're just pushing air like any other speakers.
It's especially counterproductive to talk to someone about tone, trying to explain what you're getting from your amp/modeler/device and how to achieve the same, and boil it down to "feel".

I'm an engineer but not a electrical/electronics engineer. I did take a course on control systems and I tried to describe using the little I know. To me, with the sag knob dialed up on the Helix, the time response of the signal changes (in some cases, also the frequency response). Here's a simple 1st order filter in time-domain -

Very basic stuff - I feel this is what the signal is doing in part - the dynamic response changes and I perceive that as bloom, sag etc. This to me, is what makes for great guitar tone (my style of playing is like Andy Timmons, JNC etc.) which is highly feel-oriented lead playing.

As to what Line6 is doing? I really don't know. If you're an experienced guitarist, you will CLEARLY feel the effects of sag at 8 vs 5. Again, for my style, I almost always prefer the sag knob at around 8 (through guitar cab). I really don't touch bias, ripple, hum etc. Sag is the complete difference maker for me on the Helix.

Thanks for your point about the feel coming through in the tone - I think most people recognize that. If you know more, please do add. Otherwise, we'll have to wait for more knowledgeable people to chime in.

 

[molul]

Oh my... When I thought I was done searching for a better tone, now I'll have to mess with sag in all my amps

 

[holoholo]

If they named the control “perky” instead of sag, would more players tweak it?

 

[molul]

Should I assume an amp's default setting's sag value is the best for that amp?

 

[laxu]

Should I assume an amp's default setting's sag value is the best for that amp?

No, you can assume that whatever setting you prefer is the best. But the default setting can be part of the vibe of that amp.

 

[mercifulfuzziness]

Should I assume an amp's default setting's sag value is the best for that amp?

Yes just do that (to keep your mental sanity)

 

[mercifulfuzziness]

No, you can assume that whatever setting you prefer is the best. But the default setting can be part of the vibe of that amp.

So 5 is authentic… phewwww lets just keep the sag at 5 ;-)

 

[sashimi]

If you're an experienced guitarist, you will CLEARLY feel the effects of sag at 8 vs 5.

25 years playing guitar, I can’t hear or feel a difference at 8 vs 5 or even at 10 vs 0. But I don’t play through a guitar cab unless it’s one of my tube amps, I usually play helix through studio monitors.