Line 6 Helix Stadium Talk

Wait so the 2203/4 are not JCM 800s? Now I'm really confused...

The JCM800 series (Models 2203, 2204, 2205, and 2210)

bluesbreaker model 1961 - the combo version of the jtm45
bluesbreaker model 1962 (bass version) - the combo version of the jtm45
the major - model 1967 (had a plexi face)
the major - model 1966 (PA version)



along with that there is the JTM side of things

1772997953748.png


this is a good read.

and

 
Last edited:
One thing though, I don't like the new tuner too much. The needle jumps way too nervous back and forth.

I haven't had that issue at all. The needle tuner is buttery smooth. I prefered the strobe tuner on OG Helix, but the needle tuner works very well for me on Stadium.
 
I had issues with it early on that tilted my perception of it in a less than glowing direction, mostly with the heavier tones. However, there was a bug in the cab impedance modeling in that early firmware that might have contributed and I haven’t circled back to take another look since the devs (I think) patched it. I’ve also since learned that L6’s reference amp is a reissue which has different GEQ tapers than the original. That might also have contributed to my perception that something seemed off.

The team did a great job capturing the full range of the clean channel along with all the push/pull functions. It has some of my favorite cleans in the Stadium platform, and there are countless incredible lower and mid gain tones in the lead channel that folks might overlook due to that amps association with metal.

I’ve not noticed a lack of bass. In fact the GEQ pretty much guarantees as much bass as you want, though cab and mic choice often matters more there than the amp.



No offense, but this is neither helpful nor valuable.
Hi - I just wanted to take the time out to thank you for your detailed description and your personal experience.
I got a chance to play it a Guitar Center this weekend and my experience very much matches yours!
I will just say that It sounds close and the other Agoura models sound good - however the sounds and selection are not my cup of tea right now.
 
Gotta disagree here. The old one sucked too. I had an opportunity to use both today and they’re both awful compared to literally anything else.
Well, the old one was also controversial, you're right, but I got used to it and it worked good enough to not bring a separate pedal to a gig.

Yesterday on Stadium, tunning between songs wasn't fun...and I will take my TC Poly Tune along next time
 
Hi - I just wanted to take the time out to thank you for your detailed description and your personal experience.
I got a chance to play it a Guitar Center this weekend and my experience very much matches yours!
I will just say that It sounds close and the other Agoura models sound good - however the sounds and selection are not my cup of tea right now.
Thanks for that, I’m glad all those words actually helped someone. Did you happen to catch which firmware version that device was running? Knowing GC it’s probably still an older version but perhaps not if it had the IIC+ model.

I was actually hoping to sit down with the IIC+ model again today to see how I was feeling about the higher gain tones after being away from it for a bit.
 
I don’t understand why it’s this way on either generation of Helix. Everyone else seems to be able to make a stable tuner. Fractal, Boss, Peterson, Kemper. Literally everyone else. Strobe mode is better, but not by much. It’s the one thing I hate about the unit.
Agreed. It’s quite twitchy.

I’d also like a live tuner somewhere. Really like that on every unit I have with one.
 
Agreed. It’s quite twitchy.

I’d also like a live tuner somewhere. Really like that on every unit I have with one.
I'd really like to have an "always on" tuner. It seems like there's room for it somewhere next to the preset name. I'd also like to have access to it from the editor, kind of like how it works in Helix Native.
 
Interesting, I have never had a problem with tuners on the stomp or LT.
There’s not a “problem” with it. It’s just twitchy, like you’re coming up to tune then it jumps past, then back very quickly. It’s kinda hard to explain but if you’re used to any other tuners it’s not great.

I’m not sure I’d buy the response that it’s twitchy because it’s hyper acccurate. I’ve used turbo tuners for years and also have a strobostomp HD and some polytunes (in strobe mode) I don’t find any of them as hard to nail as this one.

That being said..I don’t have much else to complain about so there’s that
 
A "accuracy/resolution/sensitivity" parameter would maybe help. The jumpiness must be happening because it's detecting any small variation, and I'm positive most of the tuners people consider great are just more contained, and are able to discard information that only confuses the user.

I remember having a long discussion with a luthier because I was having trouble tuning my guitar at home with the Helix, and he said he had none at all. I ended up going to his place and he showed me how it was with his 250€ tuner. That was butter in comparison. And the guitar was perfectly in tune. I had sold my poly tuner back then but I realized I couldn't rely on Helix's, and I ended up getting this clip tuner.

I hope Line6 takes this feedback about the tuner seriously. I haven't tried any other modeler tuner but I can say TC-Electronics' have always felt perfect.
 
FIrst major issue:
I loaded a few thousand IRs into the Stadium. The import went fine. Used the IRs with seemingly no issue. Next boot took about 10 minutes. Sat on the Helix Stadium banner screen seemingly forever. Then it came back. I performed a factory reset as I would assume this is unexpected behaviour. Restored. Re-added IRs. Same issue again. 10 minutes to start. Something terribly wrong here. Rebooted once more afterwards, timing seemed slightly better but this time was on the X banner screen.
Perhaps it validates all of the IRs recently added on its next boot but why so long. It doesn't explain why the future reboots kept taking so long.

Edit
Tried once more without folders, keeping everything in the main folder. Seems better. So far. Definitely a bug though. Tons of Google results for issues after IR imports (Helix Stadium stuck on banner screen)
 
Last edited:
Back
Top