Line 6 HX Stomp | Pete Thorn Unboxing and Demo

We met up with guitarist Pete Thorn at Line 6 HQ to get his first impressions and demo of the new HX Stomp Multi Effects Processor Pedal, including building presets and using the HX both with an amp and direct-recording.
This deceptively small multi-effects pedal features over 300 effects and models from Helix, M-Series, legacy Line 6 products, and more.
Line 6 HX Stomp: www.guitarcent...
Check out Pete's channel: / sinasl1

[@drmedwuast]

Every guitar related demo should be done by Pete Thorn, ever.

[@FuturoAnacronico]

you're so right

[@mykeharrison8353]

But then I couldn't also enjoy the amazing demos of Shawn Tubbs kzbin.info/www/bejne/fWWyq4t3gtaWh5Y

[@devondeswardt6239]

Pete and Mike Hermans, that’s all the demo goodness I’ll ever need 😎

[@AndrewCCM]

Seriously. Definitely a favorite of mine without a doubt. Just ordered one.

[@teddydavis3504]

Don’t forget Brett Kingman. But indeed, Pete Thorn is still the best. kzbin.info/www/bejne/pHPce5Wwn8RksJo

[@budgetguitarist]

I remember watching this video and thinking how cool the Stomp was, and now I have one. It's badass for the money.

[@MateoBakija]

Me too, I got it few days ago and love it already. Amazing little toy :)

[@shawnmarko7131]

How's the Stomps now, still using?

[@budgetguitarist]

@@shawnmarko7131 Definitely! It takes some tweaking, but it's still great.

[@budgetguitarist]

@@apostolicway2604 I paid $599 in 2020.

[@DavidDiMuzio]

Pete Thorn ...proving weekly on KZbin that if you're a good enough guitar player and you know what you're doing you can make anything sound amazing.

[@CareerDropout.]

I don't think he honestly liked this pedal

[@SteveRayMorse]

@@CareerDropout. he use a helix rack in his studio, also a Helix floor as backup when he's on tour just in case. So...I believe he enjoy this hx stomp

[@dr150]

Dude, in the FIRST minute he says "I'm a Helix fan". LOL.

[@AaronNGBnTech]

Ok... But line 6 actual generation is'nt just "anything"

[@wolfie316781]

Pete is absolute master of showing us cool stuff

[@andremellao4882]

nobody did a video using HX directly to a amp. I was looking for it for days because I don't use computers or interfaces, but a 1964 princeton. Thank you for the brilliant idea to show how good it works plugged into a real amp

[@bobbyodell8676]

You may have to flatten the eq, but I had a 64 Concert and I didn't like running processors right into it. It was good but not great. Id rather crank it and add stomps/effects. You could mod it to access the power amp only...it would sound great like that.

[@boatingforbeginners7949]

Pete Thorn.. You're costing me money young man.. SOLD! Thing with pete, is not only is he a great player, he's down to earth and a straight talker.. No BS.. Yet another awesome review !!

[@tomk3420]

Guitar Center and Line 6 are very lucky to have Canada's finest and most tasteful guitarist to demonstrate this new unit!!!!! Sounds like a dream in a box!!!!! (The Fender Deluxe certainly helps!)

[@bossa9]

He’s a down home American now! He gave up Tim Horton’s for Krispy Kreme. Deal with it, eh?

[@musicgearnetwork]

HX Stomp for the win. And of course Pete makes it sounds like audible heaven!

[@AndrewCCM]

@Sam Gowman Yes

[@rickyapasan1311]

I'm late at the party but I'm buying this... Pretty impressive sounds .

[@dojyr3130]

how do you like it?

[@lesweiss4273]

I worked at a music store in Edmonton in the 80’s and a young teen named Pete Thorn would come in and just blow us away even back then. He probably wouldn’t remember us but we were at Mothers Music and Steve Walker and I always loved listening to Pete. Very nice guy, super talented even back then. I think I’m going to pick one of these pedals up both for my limited guitar but better bass sounds. Thanks Pete, not surprised where you are at. Your albums are amazing. Cheers man! Les

[@MrVyrtuoso]

What was surprising was how extensive the connectivity and control options were on such a compact unit. 4 cable method retains. Parameter assignment to MIDI CC# or footswitches for toggling between min and max values rather than being limited to on/off states of blocks, and the snap shots feature gives 3 rig variations for saving and recalling different parameters for the rig. This pedal is great. The reduction of processing blocks to 6 is limiting, but I can appreciate having a built in gate at the input and I can patch my physical volume pedal into the series loop post amp and these free up blocks for other processors. If I need more effects I can just MIDI slave a 2nd unit. Exciting product.

[@tmuka]

great sounds as alway, Pete Thorn! Line 6 really has a home run here with the HX Stomp. It does feel funny to realize how much cooler the wide array of physical classic/modern amps in the background make this demo :)

[@tmuka]

oooh- this was filmed at Line 6, so those are the actual amps modeled in the Helix! Can't wait for the 65 Amps to get released!

[@rolibrother]

Frankly, this is the best video i ever watched introducing a guitar effect. Thank you so much for the professional job.

[@Xyrium]

Damn, Line6 is still crushing it after all this time. Now they've got another amazing talent (at every damned thing) demoing their gear. Killer combo.

[@groovyhanz]

Pete + Helix = brilliant awesome sound! Suhr makes it even sweeter 💣💥🔥

[@acemodean]

Geez, the deluxe with nothing sounds fantastic

[@ReignCharger]

I'm Suhr that his guitar doesn't hurt ;)

[@icenic_wolf]

Pete could play a broom through a toaster and it would still sound fantastic.

[@jakestewartmusic]

Agreed. I think that folks tend to forget how great plugging straight into an amp can sound, especially if you actually get the volume up high enough for some natural breakup and compression. No doubt that Pete's playing, the Suhr, this particular Deluxe, and the way it's recorded all sound exceptionally great though

[@PeteThorn]

It’s one of the coolest amps of all time, for sure... a good ol mid to late 60’s Deluxe Reverb. I love them.. One of those, along with an early 60s ac30, and a 68 plexi, and a modern gain kinda amp and you’re set to do basically anything.

[@RickDanner]

Michael its the best amp make

[@jwstout007]

Under 2 minutes & already looking for a place on Pete's board... a true musician's musician ;)

[@johnjonestheman]

Sacrificing the form factor and the expression pedal but still getting the full-blown functionality of the Helix for 600 bucks is awfully cool, and very tempting...

[@markbrooks7257]

This thing is fantastic. I've had mine for a couple weeks. Everything I need and nothing I don't.

[@oldguysguitarvlog183]

Pete will tell you that he reviews products without factory input. He tends to be very open about what he reviews, and won't review stuff that he wouldn't himself use. You should watch his KZbin channel and see what he writes about that on TGP. Just because he "gets all these things for free" doesn't mean he'd necessarily recommend them.

[@johnjonestheman]

@Old Guy I don't think you meant to reply to me... firstly, I wasn't the Cynical Sammy that claimed that Pete "gets all this stuff for free," and second I have been a subscriber of Pete's channel for several years now...

[@Tone2town]

They are competing in a 599.99 H9 market..Lol. Good and wise decisions from the company.

[@projectgoatse]

It's got half the DSP as the LT. This is proving to be more than enough for most players. For the people who need more than 8 simultaneous effects, go LT.

[@smoothsavage2870]

Recently stumbled across this guy when i was looking up what IRs are in relation to one of the features in my Line 6 Helix last weekend. Now i see him all the time lol. He seems like he's major in guitar or music production.

[@fredzungri5835]

Pete great demo... just bought it.. thank you for your awesome talent and knowledge as always!!!

[@jodyfree953]

Pete Thorn can make any product sound awesome!

[@codyfoster17]

I'm honestly shocked at how amazing this sounds.

[@xrmarty2005]

JESUS!!! I love that lick at 16:21 You should do a separate instructional video just on that lick!!

[@kmw5100]

I can't wait! mine is on its way. I have been using Bias FX for so long on my computer, now i'll have something I can take around with me, and something that sounds far better.

[@allendean9807]

Glad to see PT getting some respect from guitar center! The guy is incredible

[@jakestewartmusic]

The HX Stomp video that we need is demonstrating the unit in the context of a song. Guitar Center, please revisit the HX Stomp with a couple of well-known players and have them play a couple of songs each, dialing in all the tones they need for the song, breaking down their tones, but most importantly showing how they can bank up/down or use presets/snapshots to navigate the different sections of the song. We all get how great HX Stomp sounds, the features, etc. Show us how it actually functions and navigates in a real-world scenario! Because that is ultimately the difference that everyone cares about and nobody is addressing it in a practical demonstration yet.

[@RezaMatix]

I totally dont want that. not interesting to me at ALL. I want to hear what it sounds like by itself first!

[@alext9151]

Jake Stewart Music You are abslutely right! We all already figured out that the sound quality is top notch. Now it's more important to see whether it is comfortable to use this device onstage!

[@RezaMatix]

you never use pedals on stage before or something? yOU just step on it and it changes the sound...like ANY OTHER PEDAL.

[@jakestewartmusic]

Hey, there's no need to be a jerk. There are already tons of Helix demos out to demonstrate the sounds and you can try Helix Native out for free on a 15 day trial. If you want to know how it sounds, check that out because it's all pretty much the same thing. The main differences between this and Helix are the number of blocks available per preset and the number of footswitches you have to access blocks, snapshots, and presets. For folks like myself who play professional gigs as a sideman in multiple projects, it's important to see if these limitations will compromise the performance too much. For me, the sounds don't mean much if I can't efficiently activate and navigate them on stage. Someone like Pete would be a great demonstrator for this. He could play a couple of songs off his new Pete 2 record and we can hear the sound of the HX Stomp in the mix, watch how he controls the Stomp to get all the effects he needs, and then get a breakdown of how he dialed in his sounds. Would something like that really be so terrible to watch?

[@RezaMatix]

Jake Stewart Music lol.

[@Beermaker2000]

Sounds great! I'd be interested to see Pete's take on the Headrush Gigboard also.

[@spost26]

I want to watch Pete open presents on Christmas

[@davidelvis3901]

Pete Thorn is an authority with matters concerning line 6 helix. See how he made this unit sound awesome. This is a breakthrough technology project for line 6. I will love to watch a review by Marco Fanton

[@benlloyd3155]

The mission engineering expression pedal that is made for this product is available in a bundle at Sweetwater for $700.00. You save $50.00 buying it that way.

[@brandontadday6288]

That is helpful to know! Thanks!

[@ninjamagz]

is it the only working/compatible exp pedal for the hx stomp?

[@anthonydallarosa8314]

This thing is gonna be ace for bassists especially.

[@markecker135]

This is so very tempting. I have a five channel mixer and powered PA speaker that I run my amp Sim pedal (joyo British) through. I like that I can use my headphones and pratice quietly. This little bad boy would fit right in and I wouldn't necessarily need the 8 other petals that I want to add to my current setup like a cab Sim, fuzz, OCD to name a few. Then I would be a DAW away from recording..... Dear Santa...

[@jammergreg]

As soon as I saw Pete, I tuned in! Stellar as usual.

[@napalmspb]

Great video as always! Thanks Pete!

[@-thirteen]

in your first patch, the ambient one, I still hear the same Deluxe base tone. That's really cool because everything like this I've tried that tone would be gone. nice

[@watchyourtoneman5061]

Thank you for this video! Decision made

[@mikebledsoe2315]

*Pete brings it everytime.*

[@EssentialRIG]

Pete is my hero

[@effdpaul1815]

I had to send back my TONEX Pedal to IKM after 3 replacements. I agree with you that the equipment you invest in and rely on playing gigs MUST be reliable. Playing lead guitar since 1965 and having invested in a lot of great gear, I NEVER had a problem with reliability. Never had to call tech support .... and these days, it seems like "tech support" is staffed with folks who have NO technical expertise. If a product really is great, you will never need that tech support ... or warranty replacements. I find myself once again shopping for a good, realistic, reliable, and durable Amp/Cab modeler. When I decided on the TONEX, I had done a lot of research online and on You Tube .... including your review of that product. Unfortunately, that was not good enough. It's a big problem when you can't get a product in your hands before you buy it. These days, it seems like a gamble. Thanks for your videos Pete.

[@tannerboil6765]

Good point, sitting there all day wondering if it sounds exactly like this and like that is a waste of time. It is what it is, sounds good and its a cool unit.

[@Tone2town]

Not surprised how good it sounds... DL4 and DM4 were not really that bad of performing units. Good Demo Pete!!

[@dausblack2585]

Damn Pete,that sounds killer already with just 3 things on it.Here comes the clean,awesome too.I was watching Tim on one before I seen you were checking one out.Same way with Tim.LOVING EVERY MINUTE OF IT!!!Gonna be a huge seller.Love that guitar Pete.What do they sell for?If ya don't mind me asking?

[@fatherjacques]

Great video! I think it shows really well what we can do with the Helix Stomp

[@RobJMeronek]

Great demo Pete! Although the HX Stomp has all of the Helix's effects, according to it's review in the May 2019 Guitar World; "the only compromise is that the maximum number of blocks that can be used to construct sounds is six instead of 32, as in the high end Helix products." Not really a criticism, I just ordered an HX Stomp myself. : )

[@andre_stereo]

I think the only two details that will make this little one perfect is that it has XLR outputs and has AC power, the musicians who tour will be forever grateful

[@rangerdoc1029]

Well of course it's gonna sound awesome with Pete playing.

[@traciiguns442]

Great demo Pete !!!

[@FastRedPonyCar]

For the record, Per Nilsson is using this as the only real "amp" part of his rig while touring with Meshuggah :O

[@elmarieu566]

Very impressive! Per Nilsson is a beast of a player. 🤘

[@morrischau]

Damn Pete make everything sounds good 🔥

[@-thirteen]

I love the used prices on these.

[@berndkiltz]

Very well made demo! Have to wait antoher 5 weeks for mine to arrive. Looking forward to it!

[@JeremyVarao]

Great vid Pete/GC!

[@frankegollino]

The chords at the beginning of the video reminds me about The Rooster, by Alice in Chains! Great demo Pete, as always!

[@sandersander9009]

Yes, also mind's

[@DavidSmith-ne1zp]

Pete Thorn rules! And inspires!

[@thecalling667]

GREAT REVIEW! Thanks for posting, dude! :D

[@rommelrivera1186]

17:41 Can't wait to find out what effect that is! My HX Stomp is on the way. Great review!! Thank you.

[@countstoneula]

Rommel Rivera how do you like it?

[@8triagrammer]

Pete Thorn is the best, what a great guy.

[@itsallinthehands]

Wow, this video is great on so many levels! Nice pedal too :)

[@slickcross]

Pete can make a rock covered in slim sound good lol.

[@danielbell4007]

It would be great if someone could do a demo of the use of the HX stomp/HX effects synced with midi.

[@jmsclbwmn]

At that price, it would be foolish to NOT get the original Helix, or at least the LT.

[@thedudeofficial69]

I'd love to see this as well. If it's fully programmable with midi, that's an instant buy from me(already have a midi pedal for using with a midi amp head, & definitely don't need more than 6 blocks in a signal chain).

[@danielbell4007]

James Bowman except, I already have the HX effects, and even together the HX stomp/effects are cheaper than the helix floor. For me, the pairing is more than suitable. The only thing I’d potentially miss would be a stand-alone wet-dry-wet rig, which I’ve never really done or needed, it would just be nice.

[@taylorhansen9290]

That guitar sounds really nice too.

[@wolvesandguitars]

Can Pete sound Bad should be the demo !!!!!! Love You Petey..Your PT100 kills

[@nitevisionimages]

So Helix has 12 bocks and the HX Stomp has 6. Start with the HX Stomp and if you need more blocks then you could add HX FX, which has 9 blocks so you'd end up with 15 blocks for around the same price as the Helix. You'd loose the two amp signal chain ability though.

[@jasonkerr931]

I wish we could get these patches!

[@tomfoolery2082]

Lol, Thats a silvertone back n to ur right on its own 2x12 cab w/jensen speakers 60watts and the head slides into the cab n locks in, by danelectro thru sears roebuck . Hot dam is that close. I had 1 in high school,, played 2million dances parties and festivavals. Mayb not quite that many. Thats been a day or so.

[@autocrow]

I knew you'd make it sound good. You could plug in a potato and it would sound great. lol. Tried one at GC yesterday and I couldn't get any good sounds. I'd have to read the instruction manual. Guess you have to program presets? The M5 was easy to use right off the start. ….and this thing is like 600 bucks!!! M5 was 175.

[@Scott__C]

Will the presets Pete made be available for download? They sound cool.

[@bharp21]

Pete is the best!

[@JimmyNeedsCoffee]

I am waiting for an AX8 with this kind of size...

[@BeholdAri]

I'm waiting for a Kemper with this size.

[@thedudeofficial69]

I'd be surprised if fractal didn't compete with this. Even headrush has a tiny version...

[@TheJoecoool]

@@thedudeofficial69 Fractal ! thy are from other planet !!!! you cant compare gold with stone !

[@GuitarsAndSynths]

Should be interesting to see how it compares to the new Fractal FM3 which costs a lot more

[@jackleyton5504]

Sounds Great!!

[@sinnertrain7405]

I'm basically not a fan of Line 6 products (I still have a POD 2.0 and have owned or used most of the subsequent iterations). I loved the DL-4, but mine died some strange digital death. All that said, Pete Thorn makes me question my opinion, at least for the FX on this unit. It doesn't seem like there's any latency issues with this unit, unlike the Line 6 HD POD I owned briefly. Note: my only interest in these units is for direct recording at home and practice. (I really like my Avid Eleven Rack for the amp models, but would like to have more effect options, such as this HX pedal).

[@rauliciii]

Hi. I;m a strat player. I'm used to classic amp and pedals. I like that "strat-ness" in my sound. I love John Mayer tone (Belief, Gravity etc.)- stuff like that. I wander if you see a decrees in your feel or in the high end waves in used this digital setup. I'm thinking of buying a HX Stomp myself

[@robertsimpson5801]

Hahaha! I love Pete's gear demos! Could feel his pain when he was saying "Teemah." I always feel awkward calling that model by its name, so I just call it the "Timmy." :)

[@JammyGit]

The Stomp sounded great in this video, but by golly, it sounds a lot better since the 2.8 firmware update which apparently has rewritten the whole core of the whole thing.....whatever that means 😆

[@jessbalfour4312]

Yup, Line 6 defiantly tweaked it with the 2.8 update, It really took the whole Helix range up a notch...:)..

[@gordonparrishguitar413]

I want that placater setting!

[@nethbt]

It needs a part 2! This time with Heavy Rock and Metal sound

[@cpamiseso]

12:54 for direct PA. You're welcome

[@DannyBrooks1]

New gear to buy. Just what I need! 😂

[@bonusflaps1749]

I bought one of these hoping to use it to replace my current pedal board. But unfortunately it sounded terrible compared to my current reverb pedal, fuzz pedal, etc. There aren't many options for tweaking the presets and I just couldn't dial in effects I liked. The HX can do a lot but it doesn't seem to do any of it well.

[@metalcavy33]

Pete could plug into a Cheerios box and make it sound great.

[@fastra3621]

16:11 - AC-DC Flick of the Switch!

[@jamesincharlotte]

12:06 great lick Pete !!

[@MAC100PROOF]

When is line 6 going to make a pedal smaller than this that doesnt do effects at all. Only amp modeling, cab sims and IR's.

[@lessonswithjames]

Alex Church you mean the Strymon Iridium?

[@MAC100PROOF]

@@lessonswithjames that comment was made before that was released.

[@lessonswithjames]

Alex Church hahaha! Oops! My bad. 😂

[@blackie75]

It's a great thing, but a helix lt is only a few hundred more, so I think I'll just get that.

[@EmilioConesa]

Fantastic demo! How about sharing those patches? Thanks

[@BTsMusicChannel]

I have some older Line 6 pedals -- the DL4, MM4 & FM4. If found the the MM4 had some great mudulaion sounds, but it was unusable because the volume drop when you clicked it on was so bad. Imagine you are at the gig, you are about ready to click your swirlies on and scream, and the sound goes away. :/ So that pedal sits in my big bin of pedals that are not on my pedalboard at present, and I am not sure if will ever emerge from the bin. Has Line 6 fixed this problem? I cannot see using any pedal -- no matter how good its effects are -- if it is going to eat my signal.

[@byronperez2868]

Hey, I am very interested in buying an HXstomp but just wondering if it comes IR ready or if you have to purchase IR's separately?

[@dausblack2585]

Damitman,this is 2018?I'm always a day late & a dollar short.Hey Pete,That's a song rat dare.

[@JOYJEET.]

Love it.

[@tomulator]

The one thing it DOESN’T do (to my knowledge) is switch amp channels. This is a must if you want to want to run it in 4CM and not use a separate footswitch to change channels...🤷🏻‍♂️

[@SweetcornTA]

Tomulator it can switch channels on your amp via the expression input.

[@Speedzone23]

Hi there, with the stomp, can you connect a music player into in0ut and controll its volume with additional expressional pedal?

[@tattoofred]

Very cool

[@stephenmassie7]

Is that Celestion blues cab 1x12 IR(used to make the clean tone at the end of the video) built into the HX Stomp or is it a seperate IR that was downloaded into the HX Stomp? I love that clean tone!

[@danielphun7357]

Love the ambient swell effect at 2:53 Anyone knows if there is a patch similar to his?

[@FabrizioPeretti]

he makes everithing sound good even out of his own studio… fuck man...

[@frankegollino]

The arpeggio at 0.05 reminds me about Rooster by Alice in Chains! ;)

[@josephdavis4644]

Hey Pete, any chance of a full vid using the Placater (Friedman) patch using the ownhammer impulses? Thanks!

[@juka421]

6:42 I can’t believe they didn’t edit that part. A line 6 h9???

[@HypophyzH]

He was talking about the Line6 M9 I guess, not the Eventide. M9, H9, close enough !

[@PeteThorn]

Hey so I buggered up. Sorry, ha

[@juka421]

Pete Thorn I still love you Pete. :)

[@A.j.Rodriquez]

Hey but i need to know! How do you feel this pedal Stacks up against the Eventide H9??? I just purchased one new for $474 and I might sell my H9 is this thing stacks up well? @@PeteThorn

[@davidhillshafer3646]

I had an H9 Max and sold it. Now I own an HX Stomp and I’m ordering another H9 because Eventide’s reverbs and delays can’t be touched.

[@sumithramachandranwatchyou5045]

Your voice and the ‘Venus theory’ (KZbin)guy’s voice is so similar..