Ambient songwriting with the Line6 Helix [Feedbacker, Retro Reel, US Dripman NRM, and more!]

The litmus test for most any piece of gear that comes into the studio is: how does it work in a songwriting context? Does the workflow allow for smooth, creative flow? Do the sounds inspire a sonic direction or feel? Is the variety and quality of the sounds exceptional? Well, after some time with the Line6 Helix the answer to all of these questions seems a resounding "YES".
The foundation of this piece is a "home base" preset that I've been refining. Leaning into the US Dripman NRM amp (find it in the BASS catalog - USE it on guitar 👍🏻) with some ambience from the Transistor Tape and Dynamic Hall effects. The secret sauce, however is just a touch of Retro Reel - adding some flutter and light saturation to glue everything together. It's becoming the "sound in my head" when it comes to Helix.
From there I wanted to experiment with the Feedbacker, and for fans of sustainers or EBow sounds this thing is GREAT. There's a ton of control over the effect, octave, attack/release, etc. I quickly found an octave up effect I liked, engaged the Kill Dry, rolled my tone back a bit and was loving the textures I was getting.
To complement the more washy ambient sounds, there are plenty of more traditional guitar tones, one of which was built around the Matchstick CH2 amp for the B-section lead guitar. Its warmth and bite, mid-range presence and sparkle were basically all I needed for gain, and that's the backbone of the lead guitar and B-section chord work.
And I'd be remised if I didn't mention the Josh Williams Mockingbird you see/hear throughout. I bought this from ‪@coreycongilio‬ and like to kind of think it's living its second life here, trading ripping blues and rock licks for more mellow ambient playing. And man, does it do that well too.
Much more from the Line6 Helix coming soon, so subscribe so you don't miss it, and drop any questions/comments/curiosities you have about Helix below! 👇
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GEAR
Josh Williams Guitars Mockingbird
Yamaha Pacifica Standard Plus
Fender Vintera II Mustang Bass
Line6 Helix
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[@DeathBeak]

Retro Reel! Like you said. Sounds great!

[@AmbientEndeavors]

My brother in Christ - it is SO good. Haha :) 90% of the time HX one is on, it’s retro reel.

[@signalpath]

So cool to see a fresh take on this platform. So many good sounds in this thing

[@SethDStanley]

As a guy who doesn't have time or money to curate pedalboards with all the amazing pedals out there, the Helix is an indispensable tool for creativity like this! The additive synthesis model of stacking blocks to create complex effects is so powerful! I just wish they had a better way to store favorites...like if you could store a delay/chorus/reverb 3 block combo as an "effect" and be able to load that into a preset. I once copied the Earthquaker Avalanche Run with Helix blocks and it sounded identical, but it took a few blocks and is cumbersome to try to apply to other patches.

[@AmbientEndeavors]

Oo, yeah that is a really interesting point. I could see that being incredibly useful. I did quickly find that to make the ambient effects I'm wanting to hear, I'm patching a few effects together in specific chains, but then having the option to bundle/copy/paste those across presets would be really cool.

[@andsoistopped]

Got a Stomp in 2022 for recording. Fantastic tool.

[@AmbientEndeavors]

It really is - so much you can do with it in short order. The Stomp feels like about the most optimized and economical multi-fx option out there

[@andsoistopped]

@@AmbientEndeavors 100%. Used it for two albums since I got it.

[@MattLawhonMusic]

Love my helix. Don’t think I’ll ever sell it

[@AmbientEndeavors]

such a powerful tool. There are just near-endless possibilities with all the effects and amps and signal routing options. I've been enjoying diving into it.

[@rendiw143]

Likelihood of getting those presets???? :)

[@AmbientEndeavors]

hey! Keep asking...perhaps down the road - I think if the interest is there I'd be willing to put em together and release a pack. Thanks for your interest!

[@kavenstpierre]

Sold already!

[@wheresallthezombies]

Pretty cool. Sounds great. I love line 6 effects. I just can’t get into their modeling. The way it feels just isn’t there. The effects are amazing though.

[@AmbientEndeavors]

Fair enough! I find myself shedding the "does this model sound exactly like amp xyz?" a little and more so just being like ...this sounds *good* whatever it is. But I can understand the feel piece. Honestly nothing digital I've played *feels* like a real amp, but it's getting so much better.

[@wheresallthezombies]

@@AmbientEndeavors yes! I did forget to mention that I actually do like the sounds of the line 6 amp modeling. And you’re right, no modeling is exactly there when it comes to feel.

[@dkijc]

@@wheresallthezombies I think AxeFx has the closest feel and the dynamic of a real amp, out of all the modellers I've tried (QC, Helix, AxeFx)