What would you say is the most diverse amp in Helix?

[Bob Zaod]

My vote is the Cali Rhythm 2. So much you can do with snapshots on this one. Awesome through the entire gain spectrum from snappy cleans, to low-mid gain crunch, into vintage high gain territory and with an OD block... searing high gain that can either mix great with other instruments or cut through for solos. Not frugal in DSP, but not super high either. I believe this was a V1 amp and if right that's pretty crazy how right they got that one out the gate. I will say though that to me Line6 has never had a problem nailing a lot of Mesa Boogie stuff going all the way back to my POD XT Live.

I have never had a Mark IV (played through em many times) but have owned a Mark III blue stripe, a Mark V 90, a Tremoverb and a DC30. Being such a Mesa Boogie fan and long time user, I know when I am experiencing dead on modeling and it's there for sure. I'm a bit disappointed we didn't see a Badlander or even a Roadking in the latest update but the Mark IV rhythm 2 makes me so happy in this realm that it's no biggie in the end.

If you know of a model in Helix that can do all this let me know. I admittedly haven't experimented all that much with other amps because I am so happy with this one. Heck I didn't try the ENGL til a couple weeks ago and I have owned an LT a total of 6 years or so.

 

[Blix]

Hmm, for the way I play I would say Derailed Ingrid. Sweet Marshall-ish crunch and cleans up beautifully.

 

[Alex Kenivel]

Hmm, for the way I play I would say Derailed Ingrid. Sweet Marshall-ish crunch and cleans up beautifully.

This, if Marshall is your flavor. BMT all on 10 and ride the Drive. Stupor OD to goose it and Bob's your uncle.

Essex A30 can get clean and fairly dirty, goosed with the right OD that lops off a bunch of top end.

I can coax a good clean sound from the Placater Dirty if I pad the input with a compressor.

I'd love to see more amps that can go from clean to mean without sacrificing other elements of tone.

 

[Fireproof]

Hmm, for the way I play I would say Derailed Ingrid. Sweet Marshall-ish crunch and cleans up beautifully.

Yeah, when I had the Helix - I played that Trainwreck model a LOT.

 

[dk_ace]

Plexi bright, the train wreck, and the park will cover the range of gain that you describe.

D

 

[Sleezy E]

German Mahadeva (Shiva)

Awesome cleans and crunch, pedals to taste.
Rinse and repeat

 

[Bob Zaod]

the park will cover the range of gain that you describe.

I must have done something wrong I couldnt get any usable clean out of the Park 75 amp.

 

[Digital Igloo]

Cartographer, by a country mile.

 

[V|J]

I think the Line 6 original amps are are more versatile than the modeled ones.

Litigator, Badonk have insane gain range & clean up with vol knob.

They literally go from pristine clean to high gain on one channel.

 

[James Freeman]

I say Cali Texas and Cali IV.

 

[dk_ace]

I must have done something wrong I couldnt get any usable clean out of the Park 75 amp.

Hmmm, I’ll revisit today, maybe I imagined it…. Plexi bright definitely does it.

Cartographer, how did I forget to mention that???

D

 

[Alex Kenivel]

Cartographer does the clean/mean gain thing but I don't jive with the sound of the amp personally

 

[dk_ace]

I must have done something wrong I couldnt get any usable clean out of the Park 75 amp.

I checked again, and it definitely does nice cleans for me. Take the drive control from .5-1.5 depending on the pickups you’re using and how clean you want to be. I was using some PAF style humbuckers and it was spanky clean for me if I wanted it to be even with aggressive picking.

D

 

[Alex Kenivel]

Cartographer does the clean/mean gain thing but I don't jive with the sound of the amp personally

I'll eat my words - I haven't given this model a chance lately and it really comes alive with a Low/High Shelf EQ before it.

 

[Bob Zaod]

I'll eat my words - I haven't given this model a chance lately and it really comes alive with a Low/High Shelf EQ before it.

I have not really tried it yet. Definitely going to today.

 

[HotRats]

Cali texas ch 2 is a great amp model that can do anything.

Is like having a classic marshall amp with a different voice, I love it.

 

[Mooselake]

Hmm. Maybe I should revisit the Cartographer. Initially it didn't grab me but I didn't spend a lot of time with it.

With the caveat that true "modern" high gain is not an arena I play in I too like the Cali Texas (ch1+ch2), and lately have been exploring the Ventoux and have been very happy with it's breadth. Post 3.50 I have a patch I've put together that I can switch between (not quite pristine) clean through a good late 70s/early-mid 80s hard rock tone with a couple of interim points all of which I like a lot. Dunno if it chugs though.

Actually, a lot of the Helix amp models paired with a couple of gain pedals using snapshots have versatility beyond my day-to-day needs, so maybe I'm not the best participant to jump into this thread. But since I took the time to type up a couple sentences, I'll leave it up.

 

[Alex Kenivel]

I have not really tried it yet. Definitely going to today.

Still isn't quite my thing when pushed to high gain, too much low mid congestion at that point. It does give me a nice chimy low gain spank and good classic rock/hard rock tones that I enjoy. Can get a similar rock sound out of the Placater and I just now used the Cartographer's spank to help me dial in a better low gain tone on the Placater.

 

[Hush]

I've been using the Placater Clean with various dirt boxes in front.

 

[Bob Zaod]

I've been using the Placater Clean with various dirt boxes in front.

I did that for awhile. it's a great pedal amp block for sure.