Helix Talk

ragingplatypi said:
Not crazy at all if you don’t mind spending the money, and managing the cables and power.
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Yeah, I already have a stomp and an LT but thinking about just selling the LT and moving to a dual stomp setup. Or just the one stomp with other pedals. The LT is great but it’s just so huge and I miss using my pedals.
 
sashimi said:
Yeah, I already have a stomp and an LT but thinking about just selling the LT and moving to a dual stomp setup. Or just the one stomp with other pedals. The LT is great but it’s just so huge and I miss using my pedals.
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I was using the Stomp and PodGo for a brief period and it was great but I wound up doing the opposite of you and getting an LT because I need to be able to set up and break down very quickly several times per week. Also I didn’t want to invest in all the accessories.
I think 2 Stomps would work great because of the flexibility in routing and small footprint.
 
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sashimi said:
Yeah, I already have a stomp and an LT but thinking about just selling the LT and moving to a dual stomp setup. Or just the one stomp with other pedals. The LT is great but it’s just so huge and I miss using my pedals.
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I'd rather do two setups. LT standalone for maximum convenience if needed and a Stomp setup with pedals. It's basically what I'm doing right now (just that the larger setup is something different, but in case I still had the Floor or would buy a Stadium, it'd be just a single unit) and I'm constantly amazed about how much mileage I'm getting out of just the Stomp with really not even a handful of presets.
I can play entire "functional" (hence requiring a certain flexibility) gigs with just my Stomp board using just one single patch (ok, whenever I need to bring an acoustic as well, it's two patches). And while I'm running into some shortcomings that way (fwiw, the most notable one being that my Wah/Vol pedal is the first thing in the signal chain, I'd vastly prefer the volume pedal to be post-dirt), it's still amazing me how much I enjoy that simplicity. By now I'm even using that setup for gigs when I could as well easily bring the big board. Seems to be true that limitation to a kinda barebones setup is a great thing at times. Makes me concentrate more on what I can actually do with my hands and guitar controls.
 
What’s everyone’s favorite chorus in Helix? Especially stereo chorus.

I don’t know what it is, but I always have trouble getting a chorus sound I’m happy with in the Helix. It’s always too muddy or congested or something, and I can’t say it’s a problem I’ve ever had with chorus before lol. Certainly not studio chorus effects, but not with pedals I’ve had before either.

The 70s Chorus / CE-1 model is okay and usable with the headroom adjusted, but even then I find myself preferring the Boss VB-2 model with the mix down for those sort of chorus sounds.

Or maybe it’s just me?

I’m seriously considering just getting an external stereo chorus pedal, but I figured I’d see what others are doing first.
 
Digital Igloo said:
Poly Detune or Ampeg Liquifier. Also like PlastiChorus.
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Thank you!

I'm pretty sure I somehow have not even tried (or noticed? lol) Liquifier haha. I'll try it tonight!

I like Poly Detune a lot for the more static, Dimension-y / Luxe-style sound, for sure, and I liked PlastiChorus as a mono pre-drive effect, but I think I need to spend more time with it as a stereo post-chorus.

Sascha Franck said:
None. But that's not the Helix's fault. I never use chorus, I rather use something univibe- or leslie-ish. And I love phasers.
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Yeah, I'm very off and on with chorus myself. A lot of times I really just want a relatively subtle BF-2 style "flanger chorus"... but then sometimes I really, really want a thick, sparkly, wide chorus, especially when I'm playing fingerstyle type stuff.

SillyOctpuss said:
If I want something a bit wobbly I tend to use retro reel. It's probably my favourite helix effect which isn't a delay.
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Thanks, I'll give that a try in stereo (I'm not sure that I have)!
 
Follow up ~

Liquifier was great. My favorite chorus sound on Helix by far. Very versatile too.

Still not a huge fan of Plastichorus, especially not in stereo, but I can see how it would work well for some people! For me it’s the same as my relationship with like MXR Flangers: can sound cool, but I only like a very narrow band of settings for my own playing.

Poly Detune is only mono (unless I’m missing something?), but sounds good for what it is :)

And Retro Reel doesn’t quite do what I want, but I like it a lot for other stuff. Sounds great!

So yeah, Liquifier (with headroom all the way up) does exactly what I was wanting. Thank you for the recommendations!
 
Digital Igloo said:
Poly Detune or Ampeg Liquifier. Also like PlastiChorus.
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Hi @Digital Igloo ,

My favourite chorus is the 70s Chorus. As much as I love it, I have it between a +6dB gain block and a -6dB gain block to account for the (technically accurate) effect it has on output a low input volumes. Would you ever consider adding a Headroom type parameter to it, that I could set to +6dB and clean up my signal chain? I think it would benefit everybody. Thanks!
 
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I was going to buy a used Helix Floor for a good price earlier this summer, but the deal fell through.

Now, I have a used HX Stomp on the way instead. I thought it would be a nice grab-and-go solution when I don’t want to bring or use my pedal boards.

According to the seller, he has not used the opportunity to buy Helix Native at the lower price, so getting that was also part of my reasoning for buying the Stomp.
 
Lysander said:
Retro Reel is easily my favorite effect in Helix. Love it to death.
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I'm still trying to understand how to use the stereo Retro Reel appropriately when used as the last block. If the level hitting it is too high (even when I keep all blocks at unity gain), then it quickly adds distorted artifacts which I don't like. Any Saturation above 2.5 adds artifacts, so I add Saturation until I hear those unwanted crackles. I keep Texture at zero, again because of the artifacts it adds in conjunction with the Saturation. I also reduce the block's level by about 5 dB to maintain unity gain.

When doing this, it glues everything together, changes the low-mid characteristics and cuts some of the highs.

Am I working it right? How are you using it?
 
I like to use ADT as a kind of subtle chorus/flange thing.

Retro reel is probably my favorite helix effect as well, but I do sometimes have a similar issue as @I S where I get unwanted distortion artifacts if I’m not careful about gain staging. I don’t really use the saturation for that reason, just subtle wobble. It helps if I put it before the amp block. I don’t think it has a headroom control, does it? If not maybe it should have one.
 
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