Why I Bought the Line 6 Helix in 2024

After going through a whole affair trying out different amp modelers, I wanted to talk about why I ended up purchasing a Line 6 Helix for music school instead of newer options.

Gear:
Ernie Ball Music Man Cutlass HSS
D'addario XS 10-46
Line 6 Helix
Focusrite 4i4 4th Gen

#guitar #line6 #djent #periphery #monuments #guitarist #music #guitargear

[JonnyDee]

Just starting my Helix journey with the LT bought last week. Awesome piece of gear. Great video. Lots of info delivered concisely. Thnx.

[TechyTimM]

You're spot on. Workflow, dependability, great tone, inspiration for creativity — all ingredients needed for making a living as a gigging musician. My helix floor model hasn't failed yet for seven years. The updates keep it current. Good video!

[revelationsoundstudio]

Its 2025 now as as a guitar player with 2 Boogie amps and a Fender, with analog pedals i wanted to also get a digital board. Reasons was that I didn't have Marshall's, green cabs, Vox and Orange amps, flangers and all these other effects at my fingertips.
In playing in a worship band I have clean, breakup rhty, and a lead sound with my Strymon pedals. Each song, each week it's the same sounds which is getting a little stale.

The 2 units I considered was the Quad Cortex and the Helix. The Quad has a little more realistic amp sounds but once you tweak them, they can fall apart as its only a snap shot of an amp sound.
The Helix has a great expression pedal with digital readout, scrubble strips, and the ability to change settings quickly live. All things the Quad does not have or cannot do well. For the Quad, I would have to buy a expression pedal and a pedal platform to put both units on. As the Quad already cost more than the Helix, this is getting more costly. Also the pedals on the Quad are small and close to each other.

The Helix still sounds great and with choosing cabs and different microphones, very flexible in getting your sound and not just amp snapshots that someone else took. The thousands of snap shots you can download is also great. The customer service with them is also very good.

[jasontieu]

I got the helix beginning of the year. No regrets at all. It’s unbelievable how much content is available within that floor board.

[shopexpert]

Hi Joshua, thanx for this great video. I am just getting deeper and deeper in Line6 gears ( Variax, FireHawk, Helix Native, PodFarm, etc.) and am also very satisfied. You just confirmed that I am on a right track with these gears. Thanx.

[Diego_Amorim]

You got the gift. Keep pushing in this channel, mate!

[robertlyle]

Everything changed for the better with release 3.5 ... when the new amp models and speaker cabs with variable mic placement were offered. Love that it's rugged, has all kinds of inputs and outputs, great amp models and effects. I team my Helix with a Behringer 205D which is a 150watt 2 channel mixer into a 5.25" driver. It sounds great. I'm NEVER too loud on stage and the front of house sound man isn't have to compensate for an amp blowing a too loud sound column into the middle of the audience when we play small rooms/venues.

[juddrizzo]

I bought a Line 6 Shuriken 3 years ago with the intention of one day buying a Helix. (I like the Shuriken.) One thing nobody talks about is that with the Helix you can actually change the tones, models, etc. on a Line 6 guitar. That is awesome! That is a killer feature that I don't think anyone else has had.

I have been playing it through just a couple of pedals into my Mesa Mark III combo.

I have not been as happy with the tones as I am running my Gibson V's. And ... I still need really good Strat tones.

I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of a Mooer GTRS P800 guitar. It has tons of guitar and amp models and effects built into the guitar itself. ... Interesting!

We'll see what I think of the P800 and whether I ultimately decide to go further down the road with Line 6 or start a new path with Mooer GTRS.

[DankenNordstrom]

Great video! I have a HX Stomp (bought in 2019) + a MIDI controller (Disaster Area DMC-8) which has 4 presets per bank. The snapshots is what changed everything for me, allowing me to have 3 variations per preset. Incredibly handy feature!

[NoLimitHonky]

Just bought my Helix LT last week and waiting for it to arrive. I was dead-set on the Quad Cortex until I saw the differences for bass players between the two, which is night and day. Yes I know there are tons of great IRs and patches you can BUY for the QC, but for what comes 'stock' in the Helix made it an easy choice. Plus I'm not needing to sync with lights, pyro, backing tracks etc. or another guitarist with a QC, all via MIDI, so the Helix LT made a lot more sense to just play at home and live.

[francoisventer]

Got a stomp xl, love it and the format.

[vdubbub]

I had a stomp xl for over a year. I then aquired a hx fx to run into it. Just sold both for a helix LT and am smitten. Also, really dig the Sleep Token shirt.

[MatthewApsey]

It's a nightmare trying to decide which multi-fx floorboard to get.

[robertomontoya]

I have it since 2016 and I want to use it for 20 years more at least

[StratsRUs]

I like to use a Room IR in parallel with a normal IR and blend the two straight after the amp.
Helix is cool for the price.
Like a lot of modellers, high gain is easy compared to the classic edge of OD sounds.So that is where the true creativity comes in when crafting a preset.
Jason Sadites was a huge help in using eq and compression

[Helix-Man]

Grreat tone right there bro 🎉 the Amps are great for various genre, my goto is Voltage and 2203

[FrankDeLalla]

Mine just died. I’m getting another. Love it.

[dpajc]

Agree 💯 percent...I would add that getting the Helix LT makes even more sense for many like me who don't need the full Helix floor IOs and the scripts etc but a lot cheaper

[smoothsavage]

Yea the Helix is great even after all these years. I got mine last Summer. I was just shopping for a multi-EFX unit when i got mine and realized i got so much more than that.

[ellleigh]

Pretty good playing for someone who hasn't been playing all that long! Some hard songs in there, over time you feel and looseness will develop over time, sounding good brother. Could you release the presets you've made? they all sound real good.