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Expression pedals..


uk_lefty
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So I've convinced myself that I don't need multi effects for bass, guitar and electro acoustic guitar, three separate boxes with their own power supplies, one with a huge flight case. I'm selling all 3, and maybe my bass mono synth, to fund a Helix Stomp. I've been persuaded also by the rave reviews of the Helix Stomp on this forum.

I do like a bit of bass Wah though, and I like to control it by foot, not just by playing dynamics on an auto Wah. So if I got a stomp I'd need an expression pedal. Now I thought these would be cheap as chips, just a rocking pedal with some jack sockets. Nearly 160 quid for the one recommended for the Stomp?! Why? What am I missing here?! 

Some more info... I programmed my Boss multi to always have a bass Wah on tap when I needed it, just engage the built in "expression pedal" and it's the Wah sound I want. On effects that need pitch bend or volume swell then it does that, but I rarely ever used those. 

I did consider buying a Jim Dunlop bass Wah to go alongside the Stomp. £50 second hand. But I'm guessing and 99% certain, that it won't do volume, pitch bend etc just it's own sound. I'm not looking for anything special from the expression pedal, but it would be good to have one for the effects that need it. I'm not bothered about volume control because I have that on my bass, I bet it's easy to mute the stomp, and my amp has a big volume knob too, so alongside controlling my heavy hand I don't think it's necessary for me to control volume with the expression pedal. 

Edited by uk_lefty
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1 hour ago, itu said:

HoTone Soul Press has three modes, expression works without batteries, and the size is pretty small.

Just had a look, £58 on Thomann and significantly more elsewhere. So it does 3 in 1 things, I get it. But, why are all expression pedals so expensive? What am I missing? Is a cheap £28 expression pedal going to be any good hooked up to a Helix Stomp or do I need additional functionality or responsiveness of the £160 expression pedal? I'm confused as to what you get for your money with these. 

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There's the Zoom FP-02 as well for about £50-ish.

Have you looked at the POD Go instead of the Helix Stomp? There's the same amp/cab/effects models, just a slight reduction in functions (single amp/effects chain IIRC), but it does have a built in expression pedal. These aren't much more than the HX Stomp.

A fair bit more is the Helix LT, but it does have the full Helix functionality, as well as increased connectivity options and the expression pedal.

To achieve a similar outcome, but with less outlay, have a look at the old HD500x, though you do need to buy the HD Bass pack. You can pick one up a good second hand one for about £200-250. Add about £20 for the Bass pack, or about £75 for the Fully Loaded pack, it will give you loads of options, as well as having loads of connectivity options for studio/live uses. Been running one for a good few years now, still very happy with it.

Edited by Skybone
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Bear in mind that the expression pedal hasn’t got any audio signal running through it, so there’s no signal degradation in whatever you use - whether it costs £17 or £170, it’s just a potentiometer, some connecting wire, and a pedal with a hinge.

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Just be aware that most expression pedals require a TRS cable, whereas Line 6 pedals generally use a standard TS connector (At least all the older pedals did, so I'm assuming that the Helix is the same), so you need to get a pedal that is compatible. Some pedals like the DOD expression pedal have a switch that you can swap between the TS and TRS, but otherwise you need to get the right one. I bought a Line 6 Expression pedal for about £30, used. It works great with my M5, but won't work properly with other pedals because of the connection.

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I've got the Hotone Bass Press. Great little wah pedal, much better sounding than the Dunlop 105Q in my opinion.

Are any of the Helix wah models decent on bass? I've not tried them but I know there aren't any bass-specific ones. You could of course blend it with clean or have it on the high channel of a crossover if you had the blocks to spare.

It does the job as an expression pedal, but the Dunlop DVP4 Mini outclasses it in every respect. Wider, smoother, more stable, more travel, built like it would last forever.

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5 hours ago, dannybuoy said:

I've got the Hotone Bass Press. Great little wah pedal, much better sounding than the Dunlop 105Q in my opinion.

Are any of the Helix wah models decent on bass? I've not tried them but I know there aren't any bass-specific ones. You could of course blend it with clean or have it on the high channel of a crossover if you had the blocks to spare.

It does the job as an expression pedal, but the Dunlop DVP4 Mini outclasses it in every respect. Wider, smoother, more stable, more travel, built like it would last forever.

Haven't bought a Helix yet but my Boss was shipped to its new home today. Just a few weeks after I've set up custom patches for the 80s covers I'm learning! Nevermind. Anyhow, am hoping that though there aren't any bass wahs now on the Helix some bright spark somewhere might programme one in the near future. 

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If you have the full sized Helix then you'll have more blocks at your disposal to be able to use a guitar way effectively in a parallel chain... but even with the Helix Stomp, I believe the latest firmware increases the number of blocks available so you might be ok!

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6 minutes ago, dannybuoy said:

If you have the full sized Helix then you'll have more blocks at your disposal to be able to use a guitar way effectively in a parallel chain... but even with the Helix Stomp, I believe the latest firmware increases the number of blocks available so you might be ok!

Just preordered mine now, expecting it at the end of the month. Off to read the 60 odd pages of thread on here now! 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Well there we go. Ordered Wednesday, arrived today (Friday). Plug in, calibrate, program an expression CC into the MC6 and voila! Foot control of filter frequency... and any other function on the C4. For £12.90 this can be considered no brainer of the month.

62E5DCA2-CC93-44D7-A5DE-33BB2C93DC1E.jpeg

Edited by moley6knipe
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