Helix Stomp or individual pedals

[about41hz]

HX + pedals! It’s like jack-of-all-trades of pedals, but it’s doing much better if you add some pedals to it. In my case 3Leaf Audio Octabvre in left FX loop of HX and SA C4 in right FX loop. +midi controller + comp + exp pedal and I’m all set.

 

[BassikLee]

My rig is an HX Stomp, C4, and a Paint Audio Midi Captain, running those two wirelessly.

 

[direwolf333]

I see some reunion tours using all digital because they can't afford a big crew to move all that vintage gear. Helix is a great headphone practice rig and a great backup rig. Helix has global LINE OUT or INSTRUMENT OUT that needs to be set properly. I played guitar through the front end of 150 watt GT amp and it sounded real bad like I was out of tune. Any good bass tone packs out there? I'm still using a SVT preset from L6 custom tone.

 

[kyral210]

Pod Go + pedals!

my signal path is:
Tuner pedal > compression pedal > pod go.

it gets the job done!

 

[bigthemat]

I recently did the switch to the stomp and no regerts at all. I kept my tuner because I didn't love the hx tuner, and I wanted to use that button for something else. Also got the extra footswitches for extra buttons. I guess I could have done the XL and solved all of that lol but I do love the stomp. So I still have a small pedal board with tuner, buttons, and a DI but it's super portable and I can always pull out the stomp if I really need to pack light.

 

[Tonecaster]

If you decide to go that route I strongly recommend adding a simple expression pedal. You can set every effect to have any parameter controlled by the pedal (or two if you want to go nuts). So your overdrive could go from "light dirt" to "chainsaw Armageddon" via the expression pedal, or your octaver could go up or down like an old pitch shifter. There's so much you can do with that extra control, it really opens up space to get multiple levels of tone from each programmed effect.

Great suggestion about the expression pedal. Thanks!
Ed

 

[Tonecaster]

Also in a cover band and I love my HX Stomp. Get the extra dual footswitch and use those to scroll up and down through the presets. There’s so much you can do with the HX Stomp.

Which dual foot switch did you go with?
Thanks!
Ed

 

[Tonecaster]

I've got the extra two foot switches from Pedalnetics, one I use for tuner/tap and the other as another sound option like an oscillating delay for big transitions.

Hey,
Thanks for the reply!
How are you using a second switch? Not sure I see how...
Thanks!
Ed

 

[Tonecaster]

I had a bunch of pedals and always thought it was a hassle… I switched and started with the Stomp then added a Morningstar 6 button… then the XL came out with the extra buttons and that was a perfect fit for me. Use it for a cover band (80s-2000s rock). In addition to the usual stomps, I use the pitch shifter too… I play a 5 and have a couple of songs where I need to drop 1/2 step so I have low Bb, or need to drop an Eb for open string droning and it works well. I’ve been using it since it was introduced. I then picked up a second one to use at home so I don’t have to unpack my gigging board. Also use it for guitar, it covers all of my needs.
View attachment 5224289

There’s a good community here and for synth tones you may want to consider picking up Ian Allison’s tone packs or just build your own.

Thanks for your reply Barticus!
Would you consider the XL a worthwhile upgrade to the Stomp then?
Thanks!
Ed

 

[Tonecaster]

I'd love to try single pedals as well with the C4 synth and a Midi controller being an option for a bunch of sounds but for the money you can get an HX and then immediately have things like compressors, chorus, etc. at your disposal as well...

My thought as well Daniel.
Thanks,
Ed

 

[Tonecaster]

The nice thing about switching exclusively to digital multi-effects is that it takes pedal GAS out of the picture entirely. Make the best of the options available within one single device.
Going with the LT/Floor would give you more flexibility with assigns. Could have everything you need in one patch and use snapshots to enable/disable effects and change parameters as necessary. But many ways to do what you need.

A very good point. Of course I might be trading gas for the "rabbit-hole" in my case... ;-)
And yet another option!
Thanks!
Ed

 

[Tonecaster]

My rig is an HX Stomp, C4, and a Paint Audio Midi Captain, running those two wirelessly.

Thanks for your reply!
What do you use the C4 for that the Helix doesn't cover adequately?
Thanks!
Ed

 

[Tonecaster]

I see some reunion tours using all digital because they can't afford a big crew to move all that vintage gear. Helix is a great headphone practice rig and a great backup rig. Helix has global LINE OUT or INSTRUMENT OUT that needs to be set properly. I played guitar through the front end of 150 watt GT amp and it sounded real bad like I was out of tune. Any good bass tone packs out there? I'm still using a SVT preset from L6 custom tone.

Great question Direwolf!
What are the good tone/effexts packs out there? There are a lot for guitar, but I rarely see any other than very specific effects (IA, JG), packs...
Thanks!
Ed

 

[chiphaleonbass]

Hey,
Thanks for the reply!
How are you using a second switch? Not sure I see how...
Thanks!
Ed

Pedalnetics makes these great added buttons that just stick to your HX Stomp. So I was saying that I've assigned button 5 to my tuner/tap and button 4 I use to trigger any other effect that I want; currently it's being used as an oscillating delay that if I hold down 4 it'll ramp up and then turn off when I let it go.

 

[bigthemat]

Which dual foot switch did you go with?
Thanks!
Ed

I got the hotone ampero. And I'm mad it's $8 cheaper now haha. I use mine just to scroll through the presets and then I have the three main buttons for the stomps I want for that preset

 

[boze]

I'm in the same boat as OP. For a coverband I could use a few effects (the usuals like Sledgehammer, or most of the pop songs from the last 30 years that were synthier), I've been also been getting frustrated with having to go down a half-step for some songs like Chaka Khan's Ain't Nobody. I've swapped basses at gigs but it's still time consuming and can really ruin the flow of a set, having a patch with a -1/2 step pitch shift and some added effects to complete the sound would be ideal. My TC BH800 amp has 2 slots for toneprints, having just one knob to adjust an unknown parameter is getting a bit annoying, plus it not having a pitch shifter as an option is a bummer too.

I've been looking at an HX stomp (XL), or maybe a TC plethora but the lack of drives and filters has slightly put me off them. What I find difficult is that in my area there are no music shops that carry of these, I just have to get one online and either return it or sell it on (depending on if I go 2nd hand or new). It's a difficult issue that likely has no single solution for everyone. I'd love to try single pedals as well with the C4 synth and a Midi controller being an option for a bunch of sounds but for the money you can get an HX and then immediately have things like compressors, chorus, etc. at your disposal as well...

I'm a singer who plays jazz and gypsy guitar and I have/use/love the HX Stomp. It taught me that I never spent enough money on amps.

It's true that you can go down a tone sculpting rabbit hole and spend more time designing your patches than you do playing. For me even that falls into the "problems you want to have" category because the amp selection (for guitar, mind you) is so generous you can always find the amp/cab combo you want and dial it in with the same knobs available on the original amp.

I play through a Bose S1 Pro+ (because I'd never sing through a guitar amp) and the Stomp gets me there with pristine tones for jazz. I hate the Bose DSP and try not to even use its eq so the Stomp saves the day for my use case.

More on topic for you and the OP, I also have an old Roadstar II P bass I'm learning on and I think the more limited selection of bass amps are just great. I'm using an Ampeg SVT model and it's just what I'd hoped the P would sound like.

 

[Tonecaster]

I'm a singer who plays jazz and gypsy guitar and I have/use/love the HX Stomp. It taught me that I never spent enough money on amps.

It's true that you can go down a tone sculpting rabbit hole and spend more time designing your patches than you do playing. For me even that falls into the "problems you want to have" category because the amp selection (for guitar, mind you) is so generous you can always find the amp/cab combo you want and dial it in with the same knobs available on the original amp.

I play through a Bose S1 Pro+ (because I'd never sing through a guitar amp) and the Stomp gets me there with pristine tones for jazz. I hate the Bose DSP and try not to even use its eq so the Stomp saves the day for my use case.

More on topic for you and the OP, I also have an old Roadstar II P bass I'm learning on and I think the more limited selection of bass amps are just great. I'm using an Ampeg SVT model and it's just what I'd hoped the P would sound like.

Great review Boze!
Thanks!
Ed

 

[Barticus]

Thanks for your reply Barticus!
Would you consider the XL a worthwhile upgrade to the Stomp then?
Thanks!
Ed

I do, because I feel like the additional buttons are needed… even with snapshots it’s just easier to deal with having a full six buttons instead of effectively only two on the normal stomp.

 

[secondbestcody]

Which dual foot switch did you go with?
Thanks!
Ed

I was using just a generic one from Amazon, but @Pedalnetics made me a custom one that works flawlessly. Definitely check out his stuff. My board just consists of a Boss tuner > HX Stomp with the footswitch.

Personally, I would advise using a standalone tuner rather than the one on the stomp so you can use the third stomp switch for something else. I use my third switch for paging through snapshots.

 

[singlemalt]

In my crystal ball I see a future with a large screen ipad or other tablet mounted on a mike stand with the whole modeling program, your cheat sheet charts, set lists, and lyrics….with wireless switching at your feet. Wireless connection to the bass or guitar.

A few years back, I bought a used line6 hd500x for $300. Built like a tank, and I’m still finding new things it can do. Most of these multi’s kind of neglect the bass player, but I added a bunch of classic bass amp models for a few bucks. The tiny led screen is no bonus, but it is enough to work with, and mostly I use the editing software. The new units with big displays and labeled foot switches tempt, that would be a big improvement.

I picked up a guitar in January and decided to get serious about it. Holy crap! The amp models are just amazing. If I want a sound, I can search YouTube and somebody has made a patch. This is ten year old tech, but it still does an awesome job, and for cheap.

Tech moves so fast these days. Today’s hot shizzle product is tomorrow’s screaming deal on the used market. The quad cortex is beautiful, maybe, one day, it’ll be mine. But for now….I’m good.