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Gig ready Backup for my Helix


LewisK1975
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Hey all,

Had the Helix cut out on me a couple of times over 2 gigs, so I've put a ticket into Line 6 and I'm awaiting their response now.

Had it on at home for hours on end and it's not cut out even once since.  Had no problems with it at all for 18 months since I got it.

Got me thinking I should really have something to hand which is easy to carry around & can be setup quickly should the helix fail again ( I play ampless these days).

Used to have a Tech21 Para Driver when I was using a traditional pedal board and was always really impressed, so that's one for my list.

I also like the Dug Pinnick preamp thing too.

I'll be buying used if possible, and on paper the Para Driver seems to be the winner as it'll be cheaper and can be phantom powered.

From your own experiences, Any others I should consider?  I'm specifically thinking about something with a DI out.  Don't want 2 boxes!

Ideally no more than £150-ish too!

Cheers!

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I use the Para Driver, it’s the one but of kit that whilst I obviously could live without it, it would really really upset my day and my sound if anything happened to it. I’ve had numerous preamp/DI pedals (Aguilar Tonehammer, Sansamp Bass Driver, VTDI, Behringer BDI21, MXR M80) and the trusty Para Driver for me is the king of them all. 

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I had a spot of bother with my Helix Stomp recently, I ended up doing a couple of gigs using my Zoom MS-60B. I'm also ampless too. It's not Helix quality sound wise but it's certainly capable enough in its own right. I don't use a million sounds or effects, just a solid one size fits all bass sound. Once the band fired up the bass sounded fine and sat well in the mix, a sound similar to the one you use on your CD 😀

The cheap Zoom has a number of different amp and cab models which you can mix and match, there's even a decent Sansamp model plus various other pre-amps, EQ' s and a couple of really good compressors too and the essential tuner. The unit is metal cased and the size of a single stomp box so not obtrusive to carry around. They go for around £40-50 used. If you're looking for a back up unit I cannot recommend this enough. 

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1 hour ago, Osiris said:

I had a spot of bother with my Helix Stomp recently...

Did you have the same thing as Lewis did on his i.e. the Stomp cut out mid set? Ouch! Did you manage to get to the bottom of why it cut out - a bit worrying given that your Stomp is practically brand new?!

18 hours ago, LewisK1975 said:

From your own experiences, Any others I should consider?  I'm specifically thinking about something with a DI out.  Don't want 2 boxes!

Ideally no more than £150-ish too! Cheers!

The Zoom boxes are very good value but none of the current production models (e.g. B3n, B1-4, MS-60B) have a DI out. 

Not had one myself, but seems to be a fair bit of love for the TC Spectradrive from one of my BC mates. This doubles up as a headphone amp with aux in and headphone out. Has the much loved Spectracomp on board + drive + 4 band EQ + DI out. New £137 and used around £90 to £100. 

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I'll be getting a replacement Stomp any day now, it was covered under warranty so no issues in that regard. 

As for a DI out, that's not a problem. The MS-60B doesn't have an XLR out, that's true, I just use a regular guitar cable to the the combi inputs on our desk. Seeing as most gigs I do I'm rarely more than a few meters from the desk it's not essential to have a balanced signal. If anything the signal from the Zoom was hotter than the one from my Stomp, but that could simply be down to setting up a rough and ready patch on the fly. No issues with noise from an unbalanced signal either. 

Edited by Osiris
Because I can't spell.
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