Line 6 Helix Stadium Pre-Launch Discussion

[JiveTurkey]

The buckeye burl one looks extra sweet, but Fluyff's tones were my least favorite of the bunch - no surprise, as I feel that way about how he dials real amps and cabs as well. I did dig his REVV Purple, but that's a hard amp to screw up.

Pete Thorn did a great job representing hard rock with his 2203, Solo 100 and German Xtra Red clips. His Plexi was also really good.

I do not play 127-string guitar like Javier Reyes, but his REVV clips were very good, and his EV Panama Red was fantastic.

Waiting for Gift of Sweatpants preset

 

[Mongillo19]

is "the most accurate,"

I know you can't say but I figured we were talking about NDSP.

I can't think of many NDSP users who claim the QC is the most accurate so maybe it's another box.

 

[Tito83]

Fighting modelers for what seems like a decade + (AT LEAST) is a good recipe for just sticking with a traditional amp.

If it wasn't a requirement for me to do my job, belive me, I would play nothing else.

 

[2dor]

Damn

FINALLY:

Damn, that sounds sweet!

That 2203MV

... and the Solid100

 

[ian_dissonance]

FINALLY:

The 5150 and the Revv sound great. Can’t say I’ve ever particularly liked AAL guitar tones but the 8 string did sound clearer than Helix IMO. I’m not a Marshall guy for the most part, and I’m not sure I would be able to tell the difference between Agoura or HX versions in a video.

The biggest problem with modelers is that they put a job of a mixing engineer on the hands of the guitar player. Personally I hate it. My job should stop at the speaker. I have made plenty of bad decisions tone wise in a recording environment while I don't really have that problem working with just an amp.

I wish that for once a modeler had an extensive review by someone like Eric Valentine. I want presets done not by a great guitar player, I want some by a great actual mixing engineer.

Then just get an amp/cab and leave it at that. IME live audio engineers aren’t dialing in stuff for the guitar player, they’re dialing in the guitar sound to the room and that will always change from space to space and studio tones are so dependent on context and other mix elements that a “dialed-in” studio tone from someone like CLA or Will Putney is going to sound like ass and balls in the room unless you also have the cymbals eq’d and the bass tone that matches and the guitar has the right pickups and is in the right tuning etc. Not that it wouldn’t be useful to see how they go there, but the chances of it sounding good loud in the room or through a PA is very tiny. Especially with high gain and dense music. Just get an amp and some speakers you like if that’s as hard as you want to think about it. There’s nothing wrong with that, not everyone should be or wants to be an engineer.
Edited to say the NDSP tones that so many people like as “plug and play” only work for them because they’re also using the same GGD drums and bass tones/samples as everyone else, too. Aside from Nameless all the NDSP stuff in demo’s that had glowing reviews was pretty trash for what I like to hear.

 

[TheTrueZoltan!]

FINALLY:

Good video, but to be honest, most of the tones sounded more like mid than high gain to me, and quite tame. It could do with a bit more Satan and saturation.

 

[Tito83]

But you can stop at the speaker by plugging into a cab?

If they was the case I'd use a real amp and that's not really an option for most the lives gigs I play. Actually currently every steady gig I'm involved with require a DI solution/no amp.

The 5150 and the Revv sound great. Can’t say I’ve ever particularly liked AAL guitar tones but the 8 string did sound clearer than Helix IMO. I’m not a Marshall guy for the most part, and I’m not sure I would be able to tell the difference between Agoura or HX versions in a video.

Then just get an amp/cab and leave it at that. IME live audio engineers aren’t dialing in stuff for the guitar player, they’re dialing in the guitar sound to the room and that will always change from space to space and studio tones are so dependent on context and other mix elements that a “dialed-in” studio tone from someone like CLA or Will Putney is going to sound like ass and balls in the room unless you also have the cymbals eq’d and the bass tone that matches and the guitar has the right pickups and is in the right tuning etc. Not that it wouldn’t be useful to see how they go there, but the chances of it sounding good loud in the room or through a PA is very tiny. Especially with high gain and dense music. Just get an amp and some speakers you like if that’s as hard as you want to think about it. There’s nothing wrong with that, not everyone should be or wants to be an engineer.

Agree that it's not guaranteed it will sound good in a particular situation, but I'd argue it's way more helpful to see how a recording engineer dials in a recorded guitar sound vs what a guitar player does. I'm not saying there can't be an overlap though.

 

[ian_dissonance]

Good video, but to be honest, most of the tones sounded more like mid than high gain to me, and quite tame. It could do with a bit more Satan and saturation.

Yeah, I don’t think L6 is going to feature too many chainsaws and fuzz-boosted 5150s. Definitely not getting a slamming brutal death metal demo any time soon. And as an aficionado of those types of music, no special gear or modeling required. That reminds me though, does Line 6 have a modeled Swollen Pickle? Those Will Putney breakdown tones are very popular these days.

 

[Digital Igloo]

That reminds me though, does Line 6 have a modeled Swollen Pickle? Those Will Putney breakdown tones are very popular these days.

The Swollen Pickle's been in our backlog since before Helix was announced, along with dozens (hundreds?) of other pedals. I'll move it up the list a few spots for ya'.

 

[2dor]

The Swollen Pickle's been in our backlog since before Helix was announced, along with dozens (hundreds?) of other pedals. I'll move it up the list a few spots for ya'.

Awesome!

This place sure love its pickles

 

[holoholo]

If they was the case I'd use a real amp and that's not really an option for most the lives gigs I play. Actually currently every steady gig I'm involved with require a DI solution/no amp.

It sounds like the problem isn't the modeler, it sounds like it's the output system you prefer to play but can't due to your situation.

 

[ian_dissonance]

The Swollen Pickle's been in our backlog since before Helix was announced, along with dozens (hundreds?) of other pedals. I'll move it up the list a few spots for ya'.

It can wait until the Stompium, I’m not after anything new until sometime next year.

 

[sashimi]

I can’t wait to see what new pedals get added to stadium, especially the ones that are going to also get added to my hx stomp, since I won’t be upgrading until the stompium bbq pool party comes out.

 

[mikah912]

Good video, but to be honest, most of the tones sounded more like mid than high gain to me, and quite tame. It could do with a bit more Satan and saturation.

I, for one, appreciated the inclusion of hard rock tones alongside outright metal. Us 80s-loving cats needed that (and look forward to more when Leon Todd does his videos).

That being said, I would classify every Javier Reyes clip as high-gain/modern metal. Same for every EV Panama Red and REVV 120 Red clip.

 

[Digital Igloo]

It sounds like the problem isn't the modeler, it sounds like it's the output system you prefer to play but can't due to your situation.

You rang?

 

[Tito83]

It sounds like the problem isn't the modeler, it sounds like it's the output system you prefer to play but can't due to your situation.

I played valve amps through a reactive load and IRs through the same output system (pair of Yamaha hs80) I played my old OG Helix for years. The problem was never the output system.

 

[Karl Houseknecht]

Please send one over to that guy who I can’t pronounce his last name and speaks in single words

Me?

 

[EOengineer]

That high gain video was solid. Definitely picking up a more realistic sense of weight in those big power chords, and there’s solidity in those palm mutes that I def am not getting from current gen.

The YouTube comment section is a vat of boiling diarrhea personified

 

[jmcecil]

I find the tone cork sniffing amusing. There are so many variables between when given player hits some set of strings on some guitar and whatever you are listening back on that the idea that you can tell anything other than yep that's a guitar tone seems ridiculous to me for some reason.

Anyhow, all of todays modelers and cloners sound amazing. If you can't get something you like out of them it seems more about user disconnect than anything actually wrong with the piece of hardware and its ability to generate a guitar tone. I'm just looking for something that provides the least friction between the guitar and the amp/cab/pa. Stadium seems a logical step forward in both simplicity and complexity. Choose how deep down the rabbit hole you want to go.

 

[Digital Igloo]

There are so many variables between when given player hits some set of strings on some guitar and whatever you are listening back on that the idea that you can tell anything other than yep that's a guitar tone seems ridiculous to me for some reason.

Some guy at Guitar Summit casually mentioned how he didn't like the sound of a Stadium video released that very day. I said "Cleary you haven't had access to a good playback system today, so were you listening on AirPods or something?" He sheepishly admitted to listening to his phone's speaker.

YouTube clips are a necessary, but ultimately worthless evil.