BigRedX

Martin Sims

Thanks! I'm finding the whole Line 6 site fairly un-user-friendly for new users. Once I've figured out (or been told) where the relevant information is, I'm OK but finding exactly what I want and where to look isn't as simple as it should be. It isn't helped by various parts of the site being off-line at times over the last week or so. And am I the only one who thinks that since Line 6 are now only supplying manuals as PDFs they should be updated more often? Supplying the Firmware V1 manual with a Firmware V2.1 Helix is pretty bad, but there should also be more frequent updates - especially when something major like the 2.5 firmware with loads of new modules is released.

All I'm going to say is that there have been times when the combined value of all the musical equipment (Guitars, Basses, Keyboards and Recording Equipment) I owned exceeded that of my home...

First rehearsal done, the Helix and RCF745 performed very well. However it has thrown up a niggle with the way the volume pedal works with the Helix. It appears that position of the pedal is being saved as part of the patch, so if I fade a song out at the end using the pedal, when I select the next patch the volume is immediately set to full (because that is how it was saved) even though the pedal is in the minimum volume position. This could be a problem if I need to use the pedal on the next song because as soon as I move it the value jumps to the pedal position, and on one song it should start with me fading in a very noisy overdriven sound, but instead it comes on abruptly at full volume as soon as I select the patch. Is there a way to make the volume pedal work like it does on the BassPod with the Shortboard, where it acts as a non-programmable output volume? I had a look in the Global settings but couldn't see anything obvious. Which also brings up another point. The PDF manual which was on the memory stick that came with the Helix is now very out of date (it's for Firmware V1.0). Is there a more up to date manual? I can't see one in the downloads section of the Line6 site.

I'm registered (from ages ago) but haven't had an email.

What is Ideascale and where do I join? Multiple versions of patches are no good to me as I have between 1 and 4 patches for each song. Also, since one of the bands I'm in uses backing, I'm hoping to sync the patch changes via MIDI so I don't actually have use the footswitches live. And therefore I need to ability to do a master EQ tweak that I can save an recall without simply writing down the settings. And BTW I found a way of setting the footswitch assignment to one row of patches and one row of stomp switches so the bank select just moves one bank at a time. Success! Slowly but surely getting there. I'll be using my new set up for the first time at rehearsal tonight. I've got most of the major variations in sound set up and copied to the relevant locations I'll tweak them as we practice the songs. From the Helix Edit application I saved a Set List. Has that backed all my patches up to my Mac? It wasn't very obvious. EDIT: and the routing suggestion worked although I did have to play a lot with the gain structure to get everything sounding right. BTW is there any visual indication of clipping in the signal path? I've found that it's possible with some modules to add a lot of signal boost. The BassPod had a section of the LCD display that lit up if you were overloading at any point.

It doesn't matter. It's so vastly overpriced given the condition that it won't sell.

All PMs from before the forum update have gone.

Not at all 70s glam rock. Did you mean 80s?

Can't see anything on their website or Facebook page.

Send them an invoice for the use of your photography. £150 per image used should be about right. :-)

This K & M small mixer stand is the best I've come across.

Right after a lot of head scratching I think I might have an answer: Path 1 Guitar Input > Return 1 > Main chain of effects > Output Path 2 Aux Input > EQ > Send 1 > physical patch cable going from send 1 to return 1 Helix gurus, does that sound feasible? Anything I should look out for? And now another stupid question: Is it possible to save the settings for each individual FX module so I have a set of presets for each module that I can choose from when making a new patch? And most importantly can I save the settings for the global EQ module? This will be most useful when I have to use someone else's amp and cab at a gig, so I can create a set of global EQ presets which can be loaded quickly at the soundcheck.

Not as much as the wonky pickup. That one on eBay is made from what is probably the blandest piece of wood never to have been covered by a solid paint finish.

And some more stupid questions... I want to use the Guitar and Aux inputs to allow me to have both my main bass and backup connected permanently to the Helix. So i've set the top path input to Guitar and bottom path input to Aux. I've then added a Volume and EQ section on the bottom path which will even out the volume and tonal differences between the two basses. Now I want to route the bottom path so that it merges with the top path before the first effect on the top path, but I can't work out how to do this. The manual has a page of info on Split and Merge modules but I can't work out how to add them. I'm obviously doing something very stupid here. Any help? Secondly. Is it possible to set the bank control to move the banks up and down one at a time rather than two? I simply can't use the upper set of foot switches because the lower ones are in the way and from my experience with the Shortboard, I'm always pressing a lower switch by accident with my heel when I'm trying to press an upper one with my toe. So at the moment any patches in the even number banks are wasted spaces unless I can work out a way to move them to the lower set of switches. Any ideas?

It's already been released. The keyboard player in one of my bands has one. I think the problem at the moment is they can't make them fast enough to keep up with demand. If you want one, you'll either need to pre-order one of the next available batch or wait until later in the year when hopefully the demand won't be quite so high (and maybe there will be some on the second hand market).

Some questions for the OP that may help to tailor the advice more specifically to his needs 1. Is this for The Angry Badgers or is it a solo project? 2. Are you going to gig the songs? And if so will you be doing the complete album from start to finish? 3. What packaging do you have in mind for the album?

Those look great. Proper well-thought out presentation. Unfortunately, too often, home made means chopped out with a pair of blunt safety scissors and crappy obvious recycled images where the design is mostly about being able to get all the information as big as possible in the available space.

But even if you are going for the artisan image do it well and it look like you've put some effort into the look of the product as well as the music. I have a copy of the original Kid Carpet "Sh!t Dope" EP which comes in a CD "wallet" made by folding up a piece of wallpaper and sticking typewritten bits of paper to it. As an artefact, it looks fantastic and completely matches the home-made from toys feel of the music on it. OtOH I have several very obviously home-made CDRs from unsigned bands that are just cheap and nasty with no ideas or effort gone into the presentation. Unlike the Kid Carpet CD I probably won't bother keeping any of these when I complete my next round of uncompressed digitisation of my music collection.

But IMO it's also about having the right tools for the job. And the right tool for this job is a Roland TB303 (or a sequencer and sound module that sounds like it) and not a bass guitar. I've just had a look at a few "bass covers" of this song on YouTube and while the players are all very accomplished and have got playing the bassline down pretty well, none of them have come even remotely close to the sound on the recording, which is equally important in getting the feel of the song right.

If you need a power conditioner in the UK then there is something fundamentally wrong with your mains wiring and you should get a proper electrician in ASAP.

Having had another thought about this, I'm reluctant to suggest DIY print on demand unless the OP has some serious graphic skills. For me and I suspect a lot of people who buy physical product, one of the main attractions of this over simply getting a download is the packaging. So unless your creative skills are up to designing something extra special and then being able to produce it perfectly yourself every time someone orders a copy of the CD, I'd be tempted to leave this to someone who can do the job properly. For me a CDR in a jewel case with a home printed cover an insert simply doesn't cut it as a desirable item. Besides I know from experience that cutting and creasing tray inserts by hand to fit perfectly in the jewel case base isn't the simplest of jobs.

Print on demand doesn't work for CDs because the production process is too complicated (especially compared to books where PoD works very well). If you really don't think you can justify the cost of a run of 100 manufactured CDs, then maybe do the PoD demand yourself at home. Buy a decent inkjet printer that will also print directly onto CDs (Canon do them for under £100) and a cake of printable CDRs.

Gigs. From experience all the bands I've been in have sold far more CDs/Vinyl/Cassettes at gigs than all our on-line sources put together by a factor of about 20. Make sure that you have an attractive merch display set up with the price of your products clearly marked and someone to stand there and serve people all the time, because your main selling time will be immediately after you have finished playing, when many bands are too busy putting away their instruments and/or clearing the stage for the next act. Every minute at this point in the evening when there isn't someone on your merch table is potentially another sale lost. For on-line sales use Bandcamp, and have the links clearly marked on all your social media pages and your band website. If you've got the skills make a merch page on your band's website too, although I've found that more people prefer to buy on-line from somewhere like Bandcamp even if the same products are cheaper on your website. You only need to have your CDs for sale on line in one place. Don't use anyone who wants to take actual copies of your CD for them to sell. IME you'll never see your CDs again or get any money for them, and you certainly won't get as good a deal as Bandcamp let alone selling them from your band's website. For digital downloads and getting onto the streaming services whichever Aggregator gives you the best deal for your projected sales. I use CD Baby and Catapult.

I like it too - in fact it's one of my all-time favourite songs. However I have no desire whatsoever to learn how to play the bass line, especially when I could program it up in minutes and it would sound exactly like the recording. If I was going to play learn anything from that song it would be the piano part.