Line 6 HX Effects

[gregmon79]

I'm in the process of recording bass at home for an upcoming release, and on one of the tracks there is a bass solo that I think should be distorted, and have some reverb, etc, like a "traditional" heavy metal guitar solo, if you get what I'm aiming at.

Does anyone have any good suggestions for patches/settings in the HX to use for this purpose?

Thanks!

I’d suggest the timmy if you want a more natural, tube driven sound or the OCD clone for a little more direct and harsher sound. Dial up the tone a bit on the OCD to push it forward in the mix and run it in hi mode. Love those two models. Mostly the ones I go to.

You may want to experiment with a couple of the fuzzes too. You could find something there that’ll sit in the mix well. Especially for a bass solo.

 

[gregmon79]

So here’s where I’m at atm. I need a better board. Planning on getting a PT2. Hopefully. But so far, I think it’s a good start.

 

[eyvindwa]

Cool setup! You've dropped the HX FX in favor of the Stomp?

 

[gregmon79]

Cool setup! You've dropped the HX FX in favor of the Stomp?

Nah. I just needed/wanted to downsize for now. For home studio style setups. It’s just a lot easier to bring a smaller board and have all my tones in one, compact setup.

 

[been_effected]

Well, I finally bit the bullet, I have a stomp on the way!! Pretty stoked.

I'm honestly surprised it took you this long. Welcome to the club! Or well, sorry, since then I moved on to a full Helix (LT), so technically I'm no longer a member either

 

[gregmon79]

I'm honestly surprised it took you this long. Welcome to the club! Or well, sorry, since then I moved on to a full Helix (LT), so technically I'm no longer a member either

haha me too. Me too man

 

[JES]

Greetings all. I've been messing around with the HXFX and have more questions:

--for those using parallel processing, is there a way to rig up a workable non-resonant low pass filter that goes below 1K? That's the lowest setting on the high/low pass EQ. The filters all seem to be effects I'm interesting in running a parallel channel with fuzz, but I only want the bottom clean.

--how are people getting on with the Industrial Fuzz? On my scope it looks like it preserves low end (and it sounds like it) but I haven't yet tried it in a band situation. There's not a lot of chat about it in this thread.

 

[Diegombass]

3 band compressor

 

[JES]

I'm back! More issues:

1. I am using a fuzz pedal that I want to move around in sequence. The problem is that it seems like the effects loop return doesn't allow enough headroom for the additional level that comes out of the fuzz. Have people found workarounds?

2. Ok, imagine you're playing a gig. You've got different presets for different songs because that's how you roll. At sound check, the sound engineer says "could you drop the level on your distortion a little?" which you use in 3 different presets. What do you do--edit all 3 presets?

 

[dave_bass5]

I'm back! More issues:

2. Ok, imagine you're playing a gig. You've got different presets for different songs because that's how you roll. At sound check, the sound engineer says "could you drop the level on your distortion a little?" which you use in 3 different presets. What do you do--edit all 3 presets?

Yep, and its a pain. You can edit one and cut and paste the new setting to the others, one at a time, but if its just a case of one knob adjustment then it might be faster to just do that 3 times, especially if other blocks effect the amount of distortion.
Its times like this where it pays to simplify.

 

[jbybj]

I'm back! More issues:

1. I am using a fuzz pedal that I want to move around in sequence. The problem is that it seems like the effects loop return doesn't allow enough headroom for the additional level that comes out of the fuzz. Have people found workarounds?

2. Ok, imagine you're playing a gig. You've got different presets for different songs because that's how you roll. At sound check, the sound engineer says "could you drop the level on your distortion a little?" which you use in 3 different presets. What do you do--edit all 3 presets?

Tell the “Sound” Engineer that it sounds fine coming out of your HX. He should simply do his job. Maybe stop drinking at work.

 

[fivestringgecko]

At sound check, the sound engineer says "could you drop the level on your distortion a little?" which you use in 3 different presets. What do you do--edit all 3 presets?

Like @dave_bass5 said, I'd probably edit because I'm OCD about my sounds all being "unity" unless I specifically want something to be a bit louder for solos or some part that needs to be heard more.

Tell the “Sound” Engineer that it sounds fine coming out of your HX. He should simply do his job. Maybe stop drinking at work.

You never know, the sound engineer may have a point. I'd certainly be open to that kind of feedback because we may hear things differently at home or from the stage than the engineer hears from house, and I'd definitely want to know if something was off.

Where I have issues with sound engineers is when they start telling me how to do my job as a bassist. I don't tell them how to do theirs. The sound engineer(s) at a recent gig split my signal after hearing me use effects during sound check. They added the 2nd DI to my chain so that the house sound guy always had my dry signal in the mains. But this gig was with my main cover band, and I've got synth/filter patches that don't sound right with clean bass mixed in. I got the vibe from the engineer running the monitor board that the house guy was super traditional, and believed that bass "shouldn't have effects."

The "request" caught me off guard so I didn't argue at the time, but I've got my argument prepared to push back if that ever happens again.

5sg.

 

[dave_bass5]

Like @dave_bass5 said, I'd probably edit because I'm OCD about my sounds all being "unity" unless I specifically want something to be a bit louder for solos or some part that needs to be heard more.

5sg.

Im the same. I have 3 patches that are all pretty similar, and find its a pain to tweak the blocks at a gig/Rehearsal. It would be great to have them linked to a master version.

 

[JES]

Thanks for the replies so far. I mostly run at unity but have 3 different higher gain sounds. At the same time, I accept that gain staging that works well in my amp might need to be tweaked FOH depending on PA and venue. I play all originals but similarly wouldn't want a "clean" sound mixed in unless I intended that.

 

[aledeville]

Tell the “Sound” Engineer that it sounds fine coming out of your HX. He should simply do his job. Maybe stop drinking at work.

Sound in the cable is not in the room. One cannot really estimate while playing with a 212 cabinet what that hugely complex PA system with subs and even infras will do with your sound that "sounded right when you adjusted it at home." Especially with distortion, where attack, compression, transients and whatnot play a huge role with regard to the perceived loudness and the quality to cut through the mix.

 

[MObasshead]

Please forgive me if this has been discussed already in this monster of thread. I’m on the fence between a stomp and the hxfx. What I’m wondering is if you can run parallel signal paths with the hxfx. Can I split my signal from input and run a mostly dry path and put all my effects on the other path. Thanks.

 

[jbybj]

Sound in the cable is not in the room. One cannot really estimate while playing with a 212 cabinet what that hugely complex PA system with subs and even infras will do with your sound that "sounded right when you adjusted it at home." Especially with distortion, where attack, compression, transients and whatnot play a huge role with regard to the perceived loudness and the quality to cut through the mix.

I don’t know, when I was the house sound guy, I guess I didn’t know how to do it right. I would take what they gave me, and make it sound glorious. The only thing that some bands needed to hear, was that if their stage volume was twice as loud as the PA could produce, I wouldn’t be able to dial in a good mix, and the audience would be in pain. Once a basic mix is dialed in, there was always things changing in the bands levels and sound character. That’s why I would stand at the console and mix.
The bands responsibility is to play their material the way they intend it. My responsibility was to make it work in my room. I always found that arrangement successful. If a sound person asked me to make small incremental changes in some of my patches, I would be suspect of their commitment and skills.

 

[aledeville]

I completely agree but there are weird PAs and not so talented sound guys. And there are bass players that don't have levelled channels. However, I tend to see more guitar and key players that have the problem with volume differences between clean and gainy sounds.

 

[gregmon79]

Please forgive me if this has been discussed already in this monster of thread. I’m on the fence between a stomp and the hxfx. What I’m wondering is if you can run parallel signal paths with the hxfx. Can I split my signal from input and run a mostly dry path and put all my effects on the other path. Thanks.

Yes, you can do this on both units. It's easier to do on the HXFX IMO. On the Stomp, you kinda have to do these types of things in the Editor. But in the HXFX, it's super simple to do on the unit itself.

 

[jbybj]

I love that I keep finding new ways to utilizing this device. I set up my expression pedal to boost 6db from heel to toe. Trying it out tomorrow at rehearsal.