Line 6 Helix with Acoustic Guitar: HOW TO

[@melki999]

Nice. That is talking to me, but I would have enjoyed to hear the sound :-)

[@kentmcnall320]

Thanks for the great video. Clear and easy to follow. I did not have that particular IR but found one that worked well and sounds great with our settings.

[@_Bachi_]

Thanks Peter, I programmed the whole thing without listening (minus the IR). Plugged in and sounded beautiful. For me, I left the modulation off as standard and made some minor tweaks on E/Q, but amazing preset settings. Great job

[@peterjhamm]

I'm so glad it was helpful!

[@MoorxCo]

This is so nice. Even without the IR and preamp blocks, this is such a nice baseline for acoustic! Thanks!

[@jeffhilliardmusic1767]

Peter thank you again. A lot of musicians are very grateful for your hard work saving them alot of time. You got a new fan. This video helped me a TON

[@redleg1376]

I just followed this using a 3 Sigma Audio Taylor 612 IR and my Eastman has never sounded this good. It’s absolutely amazing. Thank you.

[@djtaavihans]

Thank you very much! A great video, straight to the point, learned a lot with just 10 mins. Did my own setup for live use today and it sounds great.

[@thuyvu7717]

I just follow your instruction on my Helix Lt & Taylor 814 CE. Sound beautiful ! Thank you !

[@sbrod7469]

Just want to say THANKS! I appreciate you sharing your wisdom and your great IRs. I built a wonderful acoustic preset that sounds great live. Much appreciated!

[@peterjhamm]

So glad I was able to help you out!

[@mikeshuck4464]

Thank you! Just set it up with my taylor 914ce and with just a few tweaks sounds great. Although I like it better with the IR turned off

[@hippiehopper]

great sound, indeed!, thanks a lot!

[@scotthoupey4779]

Thanks so much for sharing you knowledge. Your correct, the secret to the sauce is the studio tube pre-amp. It really makes a huge difference in my tone!!!

[@fabianvasquezjr8852]

wow this has been on youtube for 3 years! its just what I've been looking for my Taylor never sounded so good plugged inti my Helix Rack! I paid good $$ buying Helix acoustic guitar presets never sounded this good! thanks Bro!!

[@peterjhamm]

THANKS! I hope this helps you make more awesome music!

[@Musicalpa]

I lead praise and worship in our community, but for decades I've been relatively simple with minimal equipment. When I say minimal, I mean a chorus pedal and a TC Helicon Harmony G-XT. Recently I've decided to step up the game and purchase a Helix LT, a BOSS VE-500, and a Beat Buddy in order to expand my capabilities. Well, let me tell you something I've learned about making such a large jump with equipment; OMG, THERE A HUGE LEARNING CURVE! I'm so lost with understanding the order of dynamics when setting up an acoustic guitar preset, and vocal presets. There's so much to learn, and I hope you have more videos, lol, I'll be watching them. Lord willing, I'll have a few more decades to continue developing my abilities with my new equipment. Thanks for the video guidance, as it's helped me tremendously with learning how to get started with making presets for my acoustic Takamine. I followed your setup and I loved it with the exception of leaving the low cut off. TODA, shalom aleichem

[@peterjhamm]

I am really happy that this info helped you!

[@ShreddingFinn]

In a small ensemble, 2-3 people, stereo makes a WORLD of difference for acoustic. It makes the room come alive, if you can make it work, like you said, in your particular sanctuary. I don't run stereo at my larger church as the width of the room is far too wide so people at the ends won't be hearing anything, but I play electric there

[@rolandgollenbeck263]

Peter, thank you very much for this video. I faced the same problem as many other HELIX users that for tech dummies (like me) it's not simple to get an acceptable acoustic guitar sound out of it. With your help - include the IR download - I was now able doing so. I appreciate that you disclosed your secrets to the public ;-)

[@peterjhamm]

I am SO glad it helps!

[@digitalchris6681]

Pure gold. Thanks very much for the IRS. Must admit though, to my ears the IR block is better placed after the preamp, eq, and comp.

[@drgordie]

Wow, I'm new to the helix and I'm excited to do with this and my acoustic

[@peterjhamm]

Thanks! Although I have presets for sale, if you learn Helix, you can make them yourself.

[@stevebaldick5581]

Needed to hear it!

[@ryanmaurer2630]

After trying tons of presets and trying to make my own I ended up using your recommendations here. I'm using a $300 Yamaha acoustic. I've found that using it with a 3 Sigma IR (Mart 45 1c - Mix: 30%; Level: -3.0db) really gives me a nice tone. The studio tube pre is also a really important part of this patch imo. Thanks for the great video!

[@peterjhamm]

really glad I could help.

[@simonhall2682]

Thanks so much for this- playing my acoustic tonight at an open mic and was struggling to get a decent sound. This sounds great and thanks for the IR which really makes the difference.

[@simonhall2682]

Update to this comment- played my acoustic with LR Baggs Anthem through Helix into Powercab and it sounded great, lots of positive comments from audience . Previously when i tried to make my own setup it sounded horrible. Thanks again! This is why i love youtube, people passing on information for everyone’s benefit.

[@pauloborbajunior]

Unbelievable! Congratulations!!

[@stefanhuffmanband]

the negative comments are from the fellas going 10 under in the left lane. a+ vid, couldn’t have been better, absolute wild to me how many clowns feel the need to leave negative comments on a perfect video. thanks brother!

[@peterjhamm]

Thanks man, doesn't bother me in the slightest. I know how many people this video has helped, because I hear from you awesome people all the time!

[@stevebaldick5581]

Awesome job Peter ... thanks ...works fabulously with all my acoustics including the nylon string guitar... haven’t downloaded the IR yet but it still sounds great..... cheers!! I have the Helix LT.

[@GingerLeftyGuitar]

This is excellent Peter. Thanks.

[@JohnMaklary]

Hey Peter! Thanks for the video! This is Lumpy BTW. I have a Taylor 414ce with the old ES pickup. The timing of this couldn't be better! I'll give it a go tonight to see if I can make this thing sound decent plugged in.

[@peterjhamm]

might want to lower the mix on the IR with the ES.

[@levigoodsite8613]

Still relevant now and a nice simple build that sounds good. You should add a demo though. Thanks.

[@peterjhamm]

Thanks! There are other videos on my channel that show how my presets sound, and they are even for sale in Marketplace.

[@GodzillaGoesGaga]

Nice. Gonna have to experiment now !! 😁

[@rubenbertossi2024]

thank you. It solved compleatly my sound.

[@peterjhamm]

Thanks. It's delightful to hear that!

[@justinTime077]

I agree so damn much with you on reverb. People slap that shit on everything automatically, and I’m like, are these people missing the cave they grew up in? The room provides real reverb!

[@forresthartmanmusic7064]

Thank you so much, Peter. I love your acoustic sounds. This is a wonderful tutorial. It's so nice of you to share your wisdom with everyone!

[@butchmartin2447]

Great video! Thank you

[@peterjhamm]

You are most welcome!

[@philf4086]

Great video, I wish you would have played a sample on a guitar, but all in all very helpful to a newbie! Thanks!!

[@RyanKolekMusic]

This helped tremendously, thanks for posting this and giving the clear step by step instruction with suggestions!

[@lekcjegitarybochnia]

I have build great tone with You. ! thanks

[@ElcoWeitering]

Awesome tutorial, thanks thuis helper me a lot.. I added a signal cross over split after the preamp tot process the low end seperately. Just before the verb block they join again. I use panning to widen the sound. I would be interested in your multiband compressor trick.

[@simonhall2682]

Sounds interesting, will try that. Helix is a very powerful device.

[@serenitynow66]

Thanks Peter!!

[@peterjhamm]

My pleasure! Thanks for watching!

[@d77sauce]

Very useful!

[@eShredz]

Where in the chain would i add the 12 string sim?

[@sbrod7469]

Thanks again for a great patch and video. I just used live with a trio and thought it worked very well for me. I do think I could use some high cut to tame a little piercing high end. If I was going to experiment with this, where would you recommend I do this in this patch? THANK YOU

[@peterjhamm]

Thanks for enjoying the video! If I were going to tame the high end in a preset, I go to the parametric EQ first. I MIGHT just use the hi cut, or I might re-purpose the hi band... sweep to find the frequency that bothers my ears (by boosting it a bunch and turning the frequency dial), and once it sounds REALLY bad, instead of boosting at that point, cut... but just a bit. You don't want to get lost in the mix.

[@sbrod7469]

Great pro tip. THANKS@@peterjhamm

[@kevinbrennen6773]

Was looking for a video such as this and this has lots of info so thank you. But why in the world wouldn't you play stuff to highlight some of the things you did?! Just giving you a hard time but thanks again, I'm going to give some of this a try. I attempted to make my own recently and I was just missing "something". Wondering if it's that Mic Preamp that I honestly didn't even know existed in the Helix, thanks!

[@peterjhamm]

Thanks. I do have other videos where I play stuff, but wanted this one to be as short and to the point as I could possibly make it. So glad you enjoyed it.

[@jeremeryjett4695]

Humm I don’t seem to have any IR inputs. Do I have to download those somehow? I’m new to Helix.

[@wadeva69]

Have you set up any acoustic patches for more percussive harder playing that work well? I literally beat on my open tuned 12 string like a drum and get a lot of low end happening using my SWR California Blonde, but would love to be able to dial in something similar via the Helix. Any thoughts or ideas on this? Thanks so much for your helpful tutorials.

[@peterjhamm]

Mine work well for medium strumming and finger style, but I never bang real yard much. I'd think that increasing the compression and dropping the high EQ a bit would help.

[@toti8811]

Can anyone explain why one would need an acoustic IR if you are actually plugging an acoustic guitar into the Helix? I mean, I have a Martin and I like the characteristics of that specific guitar so I don't want to have an IR for another guitar loaded and there's no real reason to buy a 3 Sigma Mart 45 IR, right? If, in this case, my guitar signal goes directly to the mic preamp it should actually replicate the sound of my own acoustic, no?

[@peterjhamm]

Thanks so much for askintg. The IR makes the electronic piezo sound more like a miked up acoustic guitar. That's real simple. Your piezo does not sound nearly as much like a miked up guitar.

[@barryleeharwood3523]

very very helpful Peter! if I could ask one favor ... your arm is blocking the view LOL if you moved to the other side maybe ?? ?

[@kjlee2112]

What pickup are you using again, Pete? I find the IR unnecessary with my Anthem pickup but with my ghost piezo equipped tele I am DEFINITELY trying this... especially those specific EQ values. I have trouble understanding how that all works but I am getting there. Thanks!

[@railcar123]

Any suggestions how to get a good acoustic sound, from a solid body guitar with HX Stomp?

[@peterjhamm]

Use the acoustic sim that is built in. Try it FIRST in the chain with some EQ and compression

[@szynszyl396]

Where is 102_big_body IR in folder? :(

[@wallacenock7423]

Really impressive. I’m about to buy the pro helix I just use a mini Maton and a Maton Nashville. Then I have a strat. So I felt to get one of these as an all in one unit. However can I buy these IRS that you mention above. Many thanks.

[@peterjhamm]

Thanks, there is a link above to download my IR for absolutely no cost. My presets, however, are for sale at Marketplace, and are not very expensive.

[@alecd2562]

Thanks so much for this! You sound like Saul Goodman lol

[@casey17w]

Hi. Nice work on the vid. For acoustic live gigs. What amp would sound best with helix stomp? Electric tube amp or an acoustic amp like a loudbox? Thankx

[@peterjhamm]

I recommend a full-range solution. PA or acoustic amp.

[@kimrkdals]

wow !! I'm figure out

[@sjsphotog]

Good stuff Thanks for the tutorial and free acoustic IRs. I will try this with my acoustic soon. Keep it up. BTW what acoustic guitar are you using with this?

[@peterjhamm]

a US Wechter and an Anderson Crowdster Plus 2

[@rjohnm1]

Very nice IR's, Peter. Although you haven't mentioned anything about the output block. I'd like to have a few more Db's of volume. If I increase the output level, would it affect my overall tone? Or is there a better way to do this? Thanks.

[@peterjhamm]

You can boost the output block if you want or need to, it will not affect tone unless you do it to such extremes that it affects the D/A converters, which I doubt you will do,

[@simonemarsden7067]

I am getting no sound of my XLR outs with this tutorial. What am I doing wrong?

[@peterjhamm]

Check your output block, maybe it is set wrong.

[@RealMarcosMiranda]

What does it sound like?

[@peterjhamm]

I have plenty of videos where I show that. This was for instruction and information on how to do it. Thanks for watching!

[@kentmcnall320]

By the way I looked for your IR's on Line6 Marketplace, couldn't find them. Their search is wonky, you search Acoustic and it pulls up Metal. Can you send a link to your IR's?

[@peterjhamm]

The link for my IR is NOT at Marketplace, only my acoustic and multi-voice preset sets are. The link to download my IR for free is in the KZbin text above.

[@MrLostboy6]

Why put IR before Preamp?? I thought you should always put it after?

[@peterjhamm]

In this case the IR is not simulating a speaker, but the soundboard of the guitar through a mic, so before the mic preamp makes sense, although I've done it both ways and the difference is subtle. Thanks for asking!

[@stefanvaneylen9488]

Do you go out to a amp, or frfr cab or active studio monitors?

[@peterjhamm]

Direct to PA, or to studio monitors, or to onstage FRFR, or... for that matter, headphones, depending on the needs of the moment. But never an actual "guitar amp", not for this.

[@stefanvaneylen9488]

@@peterjhamm thx for clear answer 👍

[@MrKornea]

Nice video but next time : we want to hear the sound and put your camera with another angle (to see the screen and not your hand)

[@peterjhamm]

I do that in other videos, this was ONLY to show the actual steps I go through to get an acoustic to sound great through Helix. But thanks.

[@Run_Deep]

Great you went through all the settings and then YOU DID NOT PLAY IT so we could hear the sound. What gives?

[@peterjhamm]

I have TONS of videos where I play using these principles. I wanted this to go RIGHT to the point.

[@peterjhamm]

but THANK you for taking the time!

[@digittydog]

So complicated

[@mariorojas3724]

Why don't you play?🙄

[@jeffrga]

Sorry, but no thanks! No Acoustic guitar sound?🤔 I'll pass 👎