Are you OVERTHINKING Your Tone? Line 6 Helix HX Stomp XL

[@SteveSterlacci]

Also, #1 rule is that there are no rules. Never be afraid to experiment and try things. Also, hit that sub button if you have not yet!

[@rumy6871]

Let me start by expressing my gratitude to Steve for sharing his experiences and insights with the HX Stomp. It really helps me a lot. I want suggest a way to monitor one's presets more accurately: Sonarworks SoundID Reference. It applies a filter to monitors and headphones to create a flat EQ curve. Why is this helpful? The rooms we work in and our headphones/monitors accentuate certain frequencies, which mislead us when making decisions about tone. The same holds true for mixing audio. When it comes to setting volume levels, check against a VU. Your sounds should be in the green. If your in the yellow, your risking digital clipping, which is unpleasant to say the least. Your volume among clean, crunch, and lead should be comparable. The lead sound only needs to be 2 to 3 DB louder. With that being said, everyone really should heed Steve's advice and check your sound against your final playback device: PA speakers, real cab, etc. After using Sonarworks, I have significantly fewer surprises at this final stage. Just an experience from a semi-pro player, engineer, guitar repairman.

[@SteveSterlacci]

Great suggestions!!! Thank you for the kind words as well

[@Justin-xl3yc]

This is probably the best video on this stuff I’ve seen. I’ve been wanting to put something out similar. We definitely over complicate things with all the power we get with these devices. Good video bro!

[@billhuang6506]

Another great video Steve. Safe travels on the tour! For anyone who has not heard of the Fletcher Munson Curve, do a search and a little reading about it. It is THE secret to getting a good live tone. This is why things sound different at different volume levels and why Steve's tip of going LOUD is exactly right.

[@SteveSterlacci]

Yep. Its easier to just explain how to hear it lol

[@CuZn7030]

Great advice - so many of the presets and tutorials out there are designed for RECORDING and not playing live. Wasting blocks on eqs, compressors- back to basics line up your effects and tweak the amp.

[@AwayWithWordsMusic]

I couldn't agree more with keeping your preset volume equal to your bypass volume! Thanks for all your insight.

[@brianlebrun2382]

Well said and well done. I've recently gone wireless again after 20 or 30 years of not doing so and I got a chance to go out front and hear myself. It wasn't muddy or harsh but my keyboard player was stomping on all the frequencies that make my sound mine. I use a powercab on stage and thought that's what people heard through the mains. I run sound for my projects (and for part of my living) and I found I had to change my eq on the board and try to occupy the frequencies that the board player didn't live in. You don't really have that luxury since you work with different people all the time but it really worked with me. When people make up or buy presets they really need to understand what else is going on through the PA and learn to adjust otherwise you'll get buried. Great job Steve, best of luck with the tour.

[@SteveSterlacci]

its great youre able to do that! Crank those mids to avoid the keyboards. Thanks so much Brian!

[@jaricklosey4607]

A couple thoughts, first I love that you led with monitoring issues being such a big cause of problems. For me that's huge as well, and I recently "downgraded" my monitors because it sounded better for playing guitar (even if they are less sexy). Second, love that you left in the pick drops and flubs, just something we all have on certain days!

[@SteveSterlacci]

Hello there! Thank you and I do agree, sometimes less sexy makes more sexy later? I try to keep it real in my vids. I hate the perceived perfection of social media LOL

[@gtrklem]

Just got the preset, really dig it. I usually play more high gain stuff but have been working on branching out and this is the perfect patch for it. (TBH, at first I just grabbed your cab settings from the vid, but I've been a fan for a bit and always get something out of your vids. This is the kind of sound I need, so I'm glad I got it.) All that to say, keep the vids coming! Great Stuff!!

[@SteveSterlacci]

Thanks so much for the kind words and support! The matchless really covers so much ground

[@michaelfolsom6654]

Awesome video, Steve. I love these kinds of practical tip talks.

[@kenny80s]

Great video Steve!

[@SteveSterlacci]

Thanks!

[@TaxExemptBinge]

Some good stuff there... thank you. Have fun with the tour : )

[@SteveSterlacci]

Thanks for checking it out! Hope to have earned your sub

[@sjsphotog]

Good stuff fellow SS. rock on.

[@AdrasteaOne]

Really helpful video! I still have not played live with my Stomp, but thinking about live application is always at the back of my mind when making a preset. I use a Headrush 108 for preset creation, but I plan to take my Stomp to a rehearsal place where I can crank it and really shape my tones better. Thanks for sharing all of your tips!

[@SteveSterlacci]

Just be careful if you're taking the same sound into a PA! Heed my warning 🤣😅

[@heikkileppanen9605]

Thanks bro for sharing touring pro experience & wisdom. Much appreciated! You rock!

[@SteveSterlacci]

Thank you! Hope it sounded good in person!

[@chameleon-dream-band-official]

Like you, my tone has got darker as the years have gone on. I think its the Fletcher-Munson curve which shows that frequencies in the range of ~2-4k are perceived (by humans) louder than others for the same input, so as the volume goes up, these frequencies become more pronounced, so things start to sound harsh (high ~3k is just nasty). At least I think that's the reason. Could be completely wrong!

[@SteveSterlacci]

Absolutely!

[@Beerjunkieguy]

Just grabbed your preset. I play only for fun but I like your thought process (and certainly, your awesome talent) so that's for making your preset so reasonable.

[@SteveSterlacci]

Hey man! That means a lot. Thank you so much

[@armandpelletier4068]

That was excellent Steve, great advice!

[@SteveSterlacci]

Thank you! I appreciate you watching

[@musicafteroldage]

Still to this date I have huge difficulties trying to "predict" how a preset is going to sound within the mix. Sometimes I get this nice sound, then against the mix is lacking something... good thing I enjoy the process lol on an unrelated note haha I noticed your squished headphones pads haha Been using mine for years and forgot I could get replacements!, so I did! Sir, it's a game changer. I got the SOULWIT Cooling Gel ones (not affiliated or sponsored lol just the ones I got) it's a dramatic change in how comfortable they are and the whole EQ of the headset changed. Hope you try them out and maybe do a video on your thoughts. Thanks for sharing Sir!

[@SteveSterlacci]

Oooo thats a cool idea! Mine are still pretty new, i just have a big head 😅🤣 but i like the idea of cooling! Try the cranking up the headphones thing i discussed here. You'll know right away

[@hughrocko6791]

Defo bro you know it awesome the tour is going well see you soon😂

[@SteveSterlacci]

Yessir!

[@Bridging_the_Political_Divide]

Great advice. Eddie and Vai were always experimenting with their tones, always evolving. Never be stagnant. 👍

[@SteveSterlacci]

Thanks Chris!

[@Bridging_the_Political_Divide]

@@SteveSterlacci We thank you Steve for doing these segments. Great channel. 👍

[@SteveSterlacci]

@@Bridging_the_Political_Divide i appreciate y'all being interested and watching! Thank you

[@martyshwaartz971]

Two things that took me embarrassingly long to figure out: set the high cut on your IR to 5k, put a moderate high shelf to taste around 3.5-4k. I wasted so much time with graphic eq and pedals ….

[@SteveSterlacci]

you can go a step further and ditch all the EQs with the new cab system IMO. I keep those cuts at 5-6k and then use the mic placement for all else

[@martyshwaartz971]

@@SteveSterlacci I will try that! Although I like being able change the ir per snapshot! Dont believe the functionality is there with the cabs !

[@SteveSterlacci]

Marty Shwaartz i take what I would in the real world. Id never be able to change cabs in the real world, so i dont stress over finding the perfect one for each

[@ericajohnson7535]

In Switzerland, they have weird laws regarding db limits... we had to stay within 100 db! If you go over, you pay a hefty fine. Also got stopped at the border for being over the weight limit. Great country :)

[@SteveSterlacci]

Theres that weird highway pass you need to buy at the border! We had to pay 40 bucks to just drive lol beautiful, but odd rules!

[@hellqvisten]

Hi! Love your work Steve! Just bought the touring present SS for stomp XL. Quick couple of questions. Do you have a humbucker version of that preset? And what is your approach to the global eq, do you use it live or leave it flat?

[@SteveSterlacci]

For humbuckers, i lower the tone to 3 and drop the gain a bit. Other than that, same exact ! Thanks for checking it out! Global EQ is my "oh sh*t" button in case anything goes wrong. Basically loose hi cuts but its bypassed 99% of the time. I have other vids on it too

[@BobCoss]

So one thing I noticed out of this video seems to be the simple answer of "how do I get my patches to the same level?". Are you balancing all of your snapshots the same way? Are you doing that also with the boost, overdrive and distortion pedals so that when you engage them vs off? (besides the obvious solo boost need ) . Thank you for sharing your practical experience!

[@SteveSterlacci]

Yes indeed. Always! I have some vids on that as well

[@samirhernandez6520]

Hey Steve, hope you are going great in your tour. Quick question, if I have a pod go and I Dial in my sound with headphones, do I just connect the headphones and turn the volume of the pod a little loud? Will that work ?

[@SteveSterlacci]

Should work just fine!

[@evangelannobilbrew7090]

Hi there Steve what headphones do you use with your Stomp and how do you plug them in the headphone out of the stomp?

[@robinsmart8567]

Guitar is awesome

[@Gurshenko]

Good video. Another question for me, its the mix for play live music with others.... Avoid very low and high frecuency . When I create a preset, I always play in context. Play only the preset, sounds great, but, innthe mix, in context with other instruments, yoy may hear if its, too low....

[@SteveSterlacci]

I think that's great from what you wrote, so what is the question? Thanks!

[@dekka8241]

Great video, interesting idea to use instrument out into a di box then into foh. I'm having a nightmare trying to get hx stomp xl to be useable to a monitor. My presets sound great through headphones but utter trash totally unusable, that makes the bypass raw guitar sound ten times better. I have yet to try a trs cable (I'm currently just using ts) and the impedance input is set to auto so I will try the 1 meg. But I can't understand why it sounds so different between headphones and line out and the bypass sounds as you would expect through headphones but sounds ok through the monitor (10 times better than any preset). For reference the monitor is digital but eq set flat. And the chain is guitar into a wah into blackstar valve overdrive dept. 10 then into hx stomp xl then into monitor. By utter trash, the sound isn't as loud nor as full bodied nor as sustained as the bypass raw guitar. There is a lot of hiss treble sizzle, it's not a pleasing distortion sound ahs doors not sound like an amp nor cab. The high and low end is cut in the cabinet settings, there are no overdrives or distortion blocks set in the hx. The Mic placement is not over the cap. It sounds completely different via headphones like an amp and cab in your ear. It happens to all presets not just mine, though some are worse than others. Any other suggestions on what I'm doing wrong would be appreciated.

[@SteveSterlacci]

Have you tried it in other FRFRs? What are you plugging it into?

[@dekka8241]

Thanks for your reply Steve. I'm plugging into a studiomaster sense 12A active floor monitor which has a 12 inch speaker with DSP. I have not tried any other monitor yet but will do soon and i have a trs patch cable and xlr Mic cable and neutrik xlr to trs Jack adapters on their way. However, I think it must be some setting as the bypass sound is full bodied and doesn't have the problem.

[@SteveSterlacci]

Interesting. Do you definitely have a cabinet or IR in the signal path? You do have to add them manually, or use an amp+cab block. They can easily be mixed up

[@dekka8241]

@@SteveSterlacci yes I have an amp block and a cab block. I have tried with trs patch cable and a balanced xlr cable into the monitor. Not a big difference. I changed the impedance to 1 meg from auto and that has helped a little. I had also set it to gtr pad on, turning this to global settings made a big improvement in volume and 'body' of sound thus resolving the majority of the issue but any overdrive in front of the stomp sounds unpleasingly harsh like monitor amp clipping/speaker distortion, even in bypass (No blocks amp or effects, So the issue might not be the stomp. I have yet to try without the patchbay as that is the only remaining equipment that is not in the signal path of the headphones. I will also amend the layout so the pedals will be in the loop of the stomp which will give me more versatility. Again, many thanks for your replies and suggestions

[@dekka8241]

Hi Steve, I tried the stomp in a rehearsal, same problem to the pa. I tried it as a test from the hradphones socket to the pa which was quieter but sounded the same. Turning the bass down on the over drive pedal helped a bit more. I tried without the overdrive pedal, and with out the patchbay, so straight from the stomp line out to the pa mixer and just using the amps in the stomp but they sounded harsh, tinny, wispery and thin. Turning the 1st bias up to 10 and the second bias (×?) To 0 gave a more natural feel and cleaned up the clipping distortion issue. However, the first rehearsal with the stomp gave me some issues. 1. The xlr cable I took with me was only a short one which I was intending to use to the monitor but due to the apauling sound, I decided not to use. So I had to borrow a longer cable to connect to foh. Some presets and trying different amps in the stomp were different levels which meant I had to adjust the channel volume each time (hence why I was intending to use the over drive pedal which I had set to a unity grain volume) whilst changing snapshots I accidentally caught the present down or up which changed to a different present that I didn't want to use and all hell broke loose. A way around this maybe to have an empty preset before and after the snapshot preset? My solution is to reset the stomp and download your presets and try those. If I still have a problem, I'm going back to a tube head and a real 2x12 cab, 4 cable method and just using the modulation, delays and reverbs from the stomp.

[@mmatthewias280]

Guns 💪🏻 and guitars episode lol

[@SteveSterlacci]

Yessir! Lol

[@pino_7428]

I really don’t overthink. After 7 years with the Helix there was nothing more to think about it. Sounds good but not great.

[@SteveSterlacci]

I think "great" comes from inspiration in moments. Good and solid tool for work is all I need, and if I happen to have a good night, it becomes great 😅

[@StratsRUs]

It is great.

[@BobbyCulpepper.srv3fender]

i was thinking, when i have a good preset that i take to a gig but i have to keep the level down low, theres too much distortion, so i dont want to turn the drives down because then i lose all the saturation. What if there was a HEADROOM setting on the main outputs, similar to what quilter does what what they call a limiter. Could save a lot of headache

[@SteveSterlacci]

I consider that the Channel Volume. You can crank the gain all you want and the channel volume doesn't affect saturation at all. That was supposed to be my point if I did not articulate it correctly 😅

[@BobbyCulpepper.srv3fender]

@@SteveSterlacci I don't think you got what I was saying, let's say I build a preset with the floor monitor volume at noon, then I have a gig where I have to turn it down to probably 9 o'clock. Now it sounds super distorted, if I lower the channel volume it wouldn't change anything, just be quieter but still distorted. I think because the bigger the waveform the less dirt you get and the smaller the waveform the more it sticks out.

[@jakestewartmusic]

Starting simple and making small adjustments over time is how I've come to prefer my HX Stomp over real amps. As Steve said, there's no secret or 'hack' - dialing in tones is a skill that you develop with time, patience, and practice

[@SteveSterlacci]

and when the skills are there, its just game over!

[@jasonplaysguitar1204]

If you want your Helix to sound good,.. I recommend playing good. 🤘

[@SteveSterlacci]

Okay then 🫸

[@christianlassen3948]

Short answer : YES ! Long answer : The thousands of clips (per month) dealing with "the ultimate tone", the constant hype around "vintage" guitars, amps, pedals, speakers and what have you - it ALL distracts from thinking about the RIGHT NOTES to play, in any given situation. The un-yielding barrage of new toys, plug-ins, new-found vintage gear etc. that the KZbin Tone-Guru-of-the-week is subjecting the public to - it's getting to be too much info, too much distraction, way too subjective and too often it's just a marketing ploy to open up the wallet.

[@SteveSterlacci]

Absolutely! Any guitarist with a few years experience has all they need most likely already

[@gainbear8853]

Steve …. It’s way harder to steal your licks when your guitar doesn’t have fret markers. Throw a brother a bone, would ya?

[@SteveSterlacci]

🤣🤣🤣 gotta count 😉

[@flytebandtampa2499]

Quit dropping the pick man!😅😅 Great video, well stated.

[@SteveSterlacci]

butterfingers from all the chocolate

[@ericajohnson7535]

Dial in your tone and leave it alone! As much as I hate Tom Morello as a hypocrite commie-wannabe, he figured out what worked for him and he's been using that same exact tone/rig/amp for decades. Stop trying to re-invent the wheel, is my advice. A lot of people are perpetual tweakers, however. I, myself, have figured out my main sound and left it alone for 3 years. I keep tweaking reverb/delay as I analyze how the presets sound live. But once I know that it works, it's also locked in and left alone. I do keep coming up with interesting tricks, like stereo sound effects, delay spillover, stereo-wah, feedback, or anything else that makes my sound resemble a polished well-mixed CD.

[@SteveSterlacci]

I have been doing the same! Been much more happy this way and enjoying the freedom that comes with it

[@StratsRUs]

Tom Morello uses a Helix live ? Anyone can dial in their sound easy in a real amp. I have great amps btw. Helix takes trial and error, as Steve says.

[@SteveSterlacci]

@@StratsRUs i think Ericas point is that he sticks with the same gear. Not a helix user as far as i know

[@soloracer]

Hypocrite?

[@SteveSterlacci]

@soloracer i think the comments referring to toms hatred of capitalism, but also has an expensive paid course to cash in on.