| Author |
Topic: Helix HX |
Leo Melanson
From:
Massachusetts, USA
|
Posted 12 Jun 2018 6:19 am |
|
Anybody try the Line 6 Helix HX effects processor for steel?
Seems like a lot of great effects options as well as amp control in one box.
_________________
Boston area country musician
Mullen G2 player |
|
|
|
Stephen Kuester
From:
Virginia, USA
|
Posted 17 Jun 2018 7:05 am
|
|
I purchased an HX unit a couple months ago—the unit without amp modeling. I haven’t used an analog pedal since. I love it. There are so many useful effects that I’m still discovering. It’s intuitive and easy to use, compact enough to fit in my pac a seat, and the effects sound awesome. Initially I was concerned about how the unit would interact with the volume pedal. Not a problem. I connect my VP to one of the two effects loops which allows you to place various effects anywhere in the signal chain—before or after the VP.
Analog pedals are designed for guitar players to engage with their feet. I’ve always had a love hate relationship with them. Love the sound of effects used tastefully, but leaning over the things turning them off and on, adjusting knobs with my finger picks on sucks. The HX unit is so practical and easy to use, it’s almost as if it was made specifically for pedal steel players. You can get some huge sounds out of this thing. Two thumbs up! |
|
|
|
Jim Palenscar
From:
Oceanside, Calif, USA
|
Posted 17 Jun 2018 8:07 am
|
|
| Joe Rogers touted them to me at the Dallas show. I've looked into them and was impressed however I would prefer a rack mount version which is not yet available. |
|
|
|
Leo Melanson
From:
Massachusetts, USA
|
Posted 22 Jun 2018 10:18 am First Gig with Helix HX
|
|
Played first gig with the pedal and am pleased. I have wanted a setup that gives me multiple types of delays and reverbs for certain songs ... plus distortion/overdrive for a song or two ... and oh yeah .. dobro simulator would be nice.
For this gig I used only 1 bank (there are dozens of banks available) ... with:
1. Short Delay (slap-back)
2. Long ambient delay
3. Spring reverb
4. Overdrive - Tubescreamer style
5. Dobro simulation
6. EQ - Low end boost
You can also program some effects (ie. EQ, Compression) to always be on.
For dobro simulation .. I connected a Fishman Aura pedal (with dobro images) to the HX via the effects loop and created a block/footswitch for dobro. This is IMHO the best sounding simulation.
The tones were great. Need to do a little more deep editing/tweaking to get them dialed in. The flexibility is fantastic, with so many effects at your disposal and infinite programability and many banks for presets.
The form factor (more like a desktop ) than a traditional pedal, fit nicely into my floor board and I was able to switch effects with my right (vol pedal) foot while playing.
Gripes:
LED scribble strips were hard to see in full sun
Programming takes a few hours to get the hang of it
Would love to have 9v power for pedals added via FX Loop
Praise:
Love the programmable colors for the foot-switches
More (high quality) effects than I will ever use
Signal flow control .. can set before/after the volume pedal if using in loop
_________________
Boston area country musician
Mullen G2 player |
|
|
|
