TC Helicon Play Acoustic - Navigating and Customizing

This is a basic 'how-to' video for the new user of the TC Helicon Play Acoustic. I show how to access some of the features, make your own adjustments and tweaks and how to save your setting for future use to 'make it your own'. I hope this helps. I tried to find something like this when I first purchased mine, but nothing was out there. I have another video on this unit titled 'TC Helicon Play Acoustic - Getting Started' to show how to connect and use right out of the box

[@Sven-mh3lw]

Helicon should delete their tutorials and just refer to this video. Awesome stuff, helped me a lot, thanks!

[@randyweaver3250]

Bought mine a couple years ago and got so frustrated I put it away. I am FINALLY setting up a real studio for me with amp, mic, music stand, reading light, oriental rug due here tomorrow, drummers seat, music books and sheet rack (jefferson on castors) two guitar stands, one wall mounted so I can for the first time have all three of my acoustic guitars out at the same time. Two old Guilds, 74 and 84, and a pretty new Taylor. 18 and just had to break this out again and try. I FOUND YOU! THANK YOU!! I used to be in factory automation used many parameter devices and controllers and could not believe I was humiliated and embarrassed and intimidated by this damn thing!!! Sorry. I digressed.... You saved me and my esteem, too!!!! Awesome delivery.

[@ppalm951]

Glad it helped. I was in the same situation when I bought mine. It seemed overwhelming. Sure, I could flip through the presets, but didn't really like most of them since they are so specialized for particular songs. TC Helicon has a lot of info on WHAT the unit will do, but very little on HOW to make it work. My experience is mostly trial and error on my own. I figured others would have the same frustrations that I did. I perform with our classic rock band 1/wk and 90% of the songs we do, I use only a couple of setups that I created (2 highs above my voice and 1 higher 1 lower than my voice). I didn't actually create them, but I tweaked one of the presets to the way I liked it (Take it Easy - Eagles harmonies). I then tweaked the reverb and changed the harmonies (2 higher). I try and use my same preset to create my other harmonies so the basic vocal is the same. I also have 1 higher for a basic harmony. Depends on the song. But, if you play with it, you'll hopefully find what suits you. I also made another vid on "GETTING STARTED", showing what the inputs do and settings to look for. Best of luck. ROCK ON!

[@roderickharter8204]

Very, very helpful. Many thanks for taking the time to walk folks through this maze of settings.

[@themusicman.fromcanada.9550]

Of all the so called pro's This is the best information out there yet , keep up the good work mr. P.Palm

[@mawortman72]

I just bought one to do shows, with backing tracks. Thank you so much for your tutorial, and if you have any others, please post. Again, thank you and have a rockin day.

[@ppalm951]

The only other one I've made is on 'Getting Started' (how to setup)

[@casualslacksband]

Brilliant once again. Invaluable tutorials that are very much much appreciated!

[@eduardovega1648]

Thanks for your video, just got my new play acoustic and this saved me a lot of time. Great work. Really appreciate it.

[@robertwebell]

Thanks for the video Mr Palm. My kids got me this pedal and I am still learning but this is so much better than TC just showing off the features. Now I actually understand how the interface works. Sending much Karma your way!

[@ppalm951]

Thanks Robert. I can use all the good karma I can get! Glad it helped you

[@paulthornton918]

Thanks, out of all the videos on play acoustic yours is the most helpful.

[@ppalm951]

That's why I did it. I felt the same way. Couldn't find any good resources online for how to use it. I learned through trial & error. ALL of these tweaks and features and TC Helicon doesn't bother to explain anything. 🙁

[@robertbonini]

Thank you so much! Your videos are extremely helpful! It seems like videos like yours are the only way to learn how to operate this unit!

[@ppalm951]

I too was lost when I first got mine. Glad it helped you. ROCK ON!

[@manelseneviratne3675]

Thank you very useful video. I am still trying to work my way through it. I've had it for a couple of years did not do much with it but now, I just realised what a valuable piece of equipment this is for guitarists !!!

[@ppalm951]

It IS a bit confusing and overwhelming at first. I just dived in and started exploring. Most of my knowledge is from trial and error. But, now that I have it setup, I rarely need to do much else. But once you get it set up to your liking you need to connect to a PC and backup all of your settings. That would have to be another vid. If your unit crashes and you have a backup you can easily restore all of your tweaks and settings. Gives peace of mind. Especially if you are gigging with it like I am. If there was a problem you'd want it back up and running by the next gig. Would be difficult to recreate everything. Best of luck!

[@manelseneviratne3675]

@@ppalm951 Thank you so much for all that information. Very much appreciated. Looking forward to another video from you with the next step! Some people have tutorials and blabber their way through because they know it all, but yours' was different because you did it through trial and error and it works really well for beginners, thank you once again and good luck !

[@IGLinc]

Man this helped me a lot I've been sitting on one for 6 years now. Thanks.

[@ppalm951]

Exactly why I made it. There are no real online instructions. Frustrating. Its not a pro vid at all. Just setup my phone one evening and started going through how to use it. I figured others were likely just as frustrated as me. Had been gigging with the thing for over a year by then and mostly learned by trial and error. Figured others would benefit from not having to do the same.

[@ronandhisguitarcovers]

Thank you for these two videos. I have just purchased a TC to upgrade from my current setup I have been using for sometime. Very helpful. 😃

[@ppalm951]

Glad they helped you

[@thedogchoir]

What a great tutorial. Helped me enourmously. TC Helicon should pay you!

[@ppalm951]

Nothing SO FAR. Lol BTW - I made another vid about the Play Acoustic called - Getting Started. May help you as well. Best of luck with your unit. Merry Christmas and rock on!

[@bernardofernandez6138]

Thank you for this videos, I just ordered one of these and I never had one before I mainly will be using it for Harmony so I found your videos really helpful, thanks a lot

[@ppalm951]

Glad it helped you. I hope you good use from your TCH unit. ROCK ON!

[@bernardofernandez6138]

@@ppalm951 thank you! I can't wait to get it and start playing round with it.

[@timlittle5103]

Nice job. Very clear explanation of the system. Thanks!

[@ppalm951]

Thanks. Glad it helped. I made another vid on 'Getting Started' if that will help at all

[@steverangihuna4965]

Thank you for an easy to follow breakdown.

[@ergonzales]

Thanks very much! My TC Helicon Play Acoustic has just arrived today and this helps👍

[@ppalm951]

Been gigging with my 'backup singers' for several years now. Enjoy

[@jlaurain]

Thanks so much for the video... This really helped....Not much instruction came with this unit. Greatly appreciated.

[@ppalm951]

Exactly why I made it. I was frustrated just the same. Not a pro KZbin vid. I just kicked on my phone cam one day and decided to do a walkthrough to share what I've learned about it. Glad it helped. ROCK ON!

[@tomblaze2]

Thanks for these videos - helpful for getting started

[@ppalm951]

No problem. Glad it helped!

[@whiskeyflowersband8789]

Thank you for posting this video - this is the information I was looking for but couldn't find, nor are many of the reps knowledgable about this. I have an older TC Helicon VoiceTone Harmony GXT which i love, but cannot control levels because it is an analog/rotary knob to control level of FX, Harmony, Guitar FX, Double, etc. So it looks like this pedal will give me the option to create presets and adjust the level of each of those settings from preset to preset (for song to song).

[@ppalm951]

Nice. As I've stated before, TC Helicon are great at showing you WHAT this unit can do, but they are failures at showing HOW to do it and how to make it work. Rock on!

[@davidluke4082]

Thank you for making this! Saved me a lot of time.

[@ppalm951]

Glad it helped David. ROCK ON!

[@larry3019]

Awesome video. Thanks for putting it together.

[@GodsMan500]

Nice video, thanks. I’m starting with the Play Acoustic after years of using the advanced but incredible delicate Voicelive 3 Extreme. It was my turn for the dreaded Blue Screen of Death. You have a great voice, by the way, both speaking and singing. I was not blessed with such a nice, pleasant voice so these pedals at least make me tolerable to an audience. Thanks again for your two setup videos and for your great performance vids too.

[@ppalm951]

Thanks for the kind words. Glad they helped you. Speaking of crashes, or blue screen of death; the Play Acoustic has a backup feature. Super easy. Download the little app to your PC and connect the unit. Once connected you can backup your current settings and also rearrange your different effects by dragging/dropping as I recall. If this unit were to crash, you could simply buy a new one and load up your backup settings and be back in business in minutes. I know I've invested plenty of time in creating and tweaking my effects and harmonies. Wouldn't want to have to re-create them all over again. Great feature to have, but also have to remember to backup periodically if making changes. I rarely make any changes these days. Most of the harmonies and effects I have created work for pretty much any song. Best of luck. ROCK ON!

[@roneilken6668]

This is great instruction. The manual is useless! Hope you do more of these!

[@ppalm951]

Thanks Ron. Glad it helped you. Not really a pro KZbin vid. Just decided one evening that other people were probably like me, frustrated with lack of instruction from TC Helicon. So I just setup my phone and tripod and told what I had learned about the unit on my own. I made another vid called Getting Started, but you may already be familiar with most of the setup. ROCK ON!

[@wacvader]

Thank you. Very informative. I was kind of stumped with mine. But one thing I have not heard anybody mention is the fact that this petal comes with mics on both sides. You have to look close though. It is just in case you don't have a guitar plugged in. There is a setting for that feature in the setup mode. I think it's a room setting.

[@ppalm951]

Good observation. Wasn't aware. I know you can use ambient sound for it to detect key and notes instead of running a guitar through it. But I never rely on the ambient sound feature. Going to get more accurate harmonies by reading guitar. There IS a setting for gain for ambient sound. But again. I'm not very experienced in using it.

[@hanserikkratholmrasmussen6623]

Thanks for the vid. Just bought this sucker from Thomann, Germany, looking forward to start working with it.

[@ppalm951]

That's great Hans. I've been gigging with mine for several years now. I made another vid called Getting Started. You may want to check that out. Rock on!

[@creamdoormusicschool1642]

❤❤❤ very detailed explanation tq very very much

[@JolietJakeBlues64]

Thank you for your video's. This is extremely helpful. Great.

[@ppalm951]

Glad it helped!

[@micktmusic]

You’re an actual legend 🎸✌🏻 I’ve tried to get my head around this and like you, I only want this tweaked to use very subtle settings. Coincidentally, The Eagles pre sets are the ones I use, along with I’ve Just Seen a Face and the Weight. Other than this, high and low harmony. This all sounds great through my head phones, but, when it comes to the PA, I can’t get the sound right. I’m still learning but thank you for your helpful videos ✌🏻

[@ppalm951]

Thanks Mick! Just trying to help others who may need as lost as I was. In spite of that, I still get some thumbs down for my vid. Haters gonna hate! ROCK ON!

[@ItsMe-ik8vj]

Did you ever work out the best way to do this? ie get the sound out of the PA that replicates what you get in your headphones. Please break it down here if you can, as I was considering doing some solo gigs with this pedal.

[@OffShoreProductions1]

tx for terrific tutorial. Really helpful

[@ppalm951]

Glad it was helpful!

[@stevekennysound]

Just bought one Used. Your Part 1 & 2 are a tremendous help. Thanks a bunch!

[@ppalm951]

Glad it helped you. That's precisely why I did this. I couldn't find any resources to get started either when I bought mine

[@folkfingerstylefreddy2154]

Thanks for sharing brother. I have subscribed too. Just got one of these, trying to work it out!

[@ppalm951]

I hope it helps. I have another video on 'Getting Started'. This particular one is on customizing sounds and saving them. Best of luck. ROCK ON!

[@philhoffower5408]

I shall name all my presets Phil 🎸 hahaha thank you for the instruction! 🎸

[@ppalm951]

Feel free to name them what you want, but I'd be honored to have you name them after ME. LOL. I hope it helped you

[@efina325]

Thanks for sharing. VERY helpful!

[@ppalm951]

Glad it helped

[@bassdale17]

Thanks! I came real close to sell it because there was no user info like this on you-tube.

[@ppalm951]

I couldn't find any either. I was quite surprised and disappointed that TC Helicon hadn't taken time to produce something for beginners. They have vids to show WHAT it can do, but not HOW to do it. I'm not an expert, but I've had mine for about a year. I don't tweak it all the time, but I know enough to be dangerous ;)

[@billwing6917]

Thanks. Good start. Tell it like it is!!!!!

[@Radio80s]

Thanks for the tutorial! Much appreciated :)

[@ppalm951]

I hope it helped

[@RV-Rus]

Thanks for the good instructions!

[@ppalm951]

Glad it helped you. I made another vid on 'Getting Started' that you may find helpful. ROCK ON!

[@jamesantoine4318]

awesome job

[@ppalm951]

Thanks James. Hope it helped you

[@jamescurnutt1628]

Thanks! Just bought one.

[@ppalm951]

GREAT! These vids (I also have one on 'Getting Started') should help. ROCK ON!

[@revivalworship]

Very helpful. Thanks!

[@ppalm951]

Glad it helped!

[@ourbabyjb7277]

Amazing thanks!

[@multiblueridge]

Thank you ..helps ah lot! Blessings

[@ppalm951]

Glad it helped you out Tommy. I was lost too! ROCK ON

[@kevinsmemory]

Your a funny dude. Thank you for this overview. Very helpful!

[@ppalm951]

Thanks Kevin. Glad it helped you. And no matter how much you try and help people, some still give a thumbs down. Lol. It's not professionally produced. I just put my phone on a tripod one evening and started talking. I figured many were likely as lost as I was when I first got mine. ROCK ON!

[@kathuntermusicchannel]

Thank you 🙏🏼 very helpful

[@ppalm951]

Glad it helped Kat. Best of luck. ROCK ON!

[@ppalm951]

I made another vid on "getting started". You may want to check it out. There are a few things in there you may want to know too. Glad it helped

[@maripole]

Hi, a question that maybe you can answer me, why there is a noise like a explosion when i pass from a preset that have a lot of reverb and delay to another that not, for example from"total immersion" to "tape echo". thanks for the video,greeting.

[@ppalm951]

Not sure what could be causing that. May have to try and reach out to TC Helicon

[@Nancyplee]

Thank you SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much!!!!

[@rodgertripp7854]

Great Video. I've learned a lot from your videos. Question. Yesterday I was learning how to use the looper. It was awesome. The loop played back at the right volume and I could jam with it. I started messing around with all the functions after watching your video and now I can't get the looper to play back at a descent volume. I appreciate any help with this.

[@ppalm951]

Not familiar with the looper at all. Sorry about that. You may be able to call or reach out to TC Helicon directly for some quick help

[@rodgertripp7854]

@@ppalm951 Thanks. I actually got my answer from one of your other videos.

[@user-lf7qb7xx2p]

Thanks for the video. I have questions: Can I use wireless microphone instead of cable mic? Which one is better? using wireless or cable mic? Thank you so much

[@ppalm951]

You should be able to use wireless mic without a problem as long as you plug receiver into 'mic input' on the back of the unit and are activating harmonies with footswitch. I have a wireless and have used it. But if you are just sitting and playing guitar then you won't necessarily need a wireless.

[@user-lf7qb7xx2p]

@@ppalm951 Thank you so much for your help

[@lovettfan]

Thanks!

[@borninlafc]

Fantastic video. Quick question about the silver pedal switches. Can the up and down switches be reassigned as effects? Let’s say I want reverb on one and delay on another; is that possible or is the hit switch the only button that activates effects? 🙏🏼

[@ppalm951]

No. The pedal buttons only move you from one preset to another and then the HIT button turns effect ON/OFF. But what you CAN do is put your 2 effects next to each other and you could use the footswitch to go up/down from one to the other and back again. I do this with vocal effects for certain songs that need a couple of different sounds

[@borninlafc]

Thank you. If I use the up and down arrows to switch sound effects, does the effect cutoff or is the sound transition smooth with some sort of trail? Thanks again.

[@ppalm951]

@@borninlafc The transition is pretty immediate but I don't typically change the effect during a vocal line. Typically right in between phrases. It's pretty seamless in my opinion. If you were holding a note and then switched, yes you could tell a difference between sounds

[@sienta000]

Thanks for your video, but why I hear some electronic noise. My play electric have same problem. Would you make a video how to record using USB or line out

[@ppalm951]

Hello Eddie, the faint 'hum' you may hear in the background of the vid is actually my PA system. The head/mixer has always produced a sort of loud hum. Quite annoying, but it's NOT the Acoustic Play unit causing it. Best of luck

[@peteregetemaier2239]

Great! Thanks.

[@matthaberek]

I mainly wanted to get this pedal to be able to use the adaptive eq and reverb and some pitch correction live purposes against backing tracks. Would this pedal be able to do that ? Don’t need harmony maybe if I use it to record .I was looking at the voice tone c1 but you can only set it to major keys only . Can this one be set to any key both minor and majors ? I don’t play acoustic much but have read ppl are upset with the pedal cause supposedly you can’t separate what effects u use on vocals and guitar at same time. Idk if it’s true. Would I be able to use same effects on vocals and play acoustic dry no effects ? Interested in how they say the pitch correction can follow your chords

[@ppalm951]

The guitar and vocs are primarily separate as far as settings. It does read guitar for harmonies and notes. I believe you can kill the effects for guitar. You can also just use ambient sound (background music) for reading harmonies. Now as far as pitch correction there is a setting. I'm not certain what it relies on for pitch, but without guitar I'm guessing it would just rely on your voice. Unless you are pitch perfect it could be a challenge. I'm in a band and I have one of our guitarists run a lead to the unit to read harmonies and help with pitch. There has been a few times where it wasn't reading the guitar and I could tell the harmonies weren't tracking well. But again, not sure if that would affect pitch correction. I have pretty good pitch. I believe my pitch correction is set about 20% for just a little help. Otherwise you'll sound like autotune. I hope that helps

[@matthaberek]

Can you set the key to both minor and major? For example the tc helicon voice tone c1 strictly only sets MAJOR keys it doesn’t offer any minor what do ever so you’d have to look up the relative major to the minor key you want. C1 is all major keys and I want to be free to set both major and minor. I normally use that type of effect around 60ish percent on vst plugins basically meanly your can hear it some for effect purposes but still having some natural feel in it. I never crank it to 100 for that t pain effect not my style but yeah around 60 to 70 percent

[@ppalm951]

@@matthaberek Sorry, I have 0 knowledge or experience with setting the key and doing what you are asking. I wish I was more help.

[@lowellirish]

Thanks guy!

[@ppalm951]

I hope it helped you. ROCK ON!

[@Mj-bg2uj]

Thanks for the informative videos .. this unit is a bit overwhelming.. when you changed your reverb to always on does that mean that without any other effects on or harmonies engaged that you will always have that reverb setting ? I’m trying to figure out how to adjust my vocal settings to just add some reverb and that be my normal setting if I have nothing else engaged .

[@ppalm951]

YES. You can have the reverb always 'ON' if you like. For each of the effects you are tweaking, there is an option (I believe at the bottom right) for ON, OFF or HIT. ON means you want it to always be on. OFF of course, just the opposite. You don't want it to ever come on. HIT, means you want it to activate only when you stomp the HIT button (when the light is on). And it will turn off when you stomp again to turn off the light. But something like reverb you would likely always want to be on to provide that enhancement to your voice. But it's your choice of course. Best of luck

[@Mj-bg2uj]

P Palm thanks so much for getting back to me .. I’m sitting here staring at all of these options going crazy .. I switched from a boss ve-8 to this so it’s my first day .. just another quick question , is there a way to quickly adjust your vocal volume if it’s not loud enough or do u have to increase the volume on the speakers? The boss had seperate knobs for vocal volume , and guitar volume that you could just simply adjust and I’m just trying to see how to do that on this unit

[@ppalm951]

@@Mj-bg2uj I don't have time to go into detail, but I've made 2 You Tube videos about the Play Acoustic. One of them addresses how to set 'input' volume (coming into the unit) and also 'output' volume (going to the PA) Be careful not to overpower the 'input' as you will experience clipping and distortion on your vocals (the little light to the left of the display will tell you. If it goes to red, you're input is too HOT). If you need to boost more volume going OUT, then boost the output volume. One of the vids shows how.

[@Mj-bg2uj]

P Palm ok thanks again for your time

[@markchazal877]

There is a vocal gain knob on the side of the unit.

[@davidseagal8773]

Thanks Brother P Palm

[@donnyrichardsonsacousticch1988]

Thanks for your vid. I too only use a few things. I have a question. The vocals and guitar are coming out of the same out put. Any idea how to change that?

[@ppalm951]

There are separate outputs (XLR) for guitar and vocal on back of the unit. I run each to a separate channel in my mixer. You also are able to adjust the input/output of voc and guitar separately in the Helicon unit (I believe I described in my vid)

[@donnyrichardsonsacousticch1988]

@@ppalm951 thx!

[@donnyrichardsonsacousticch1988]

Actually, do you know the page and setting? Im not finding it. Im smart, I promise...

[@ppalm951]

@@donnyrichardsonsacousticch1988 WHAT in particular are you trying to do? I'm not sure where to direct you. You can email me at [e-mail] might be easier

[@aqualane1]

I wish I could figure out the compression settings in the advanced settings for guitar.

[@ppalm951]

Sorry. Not really familiar with those settings. I run my acoustic through the unit and it sounds just fine. Haven't had to tinker with those at all

[@krisisherburn7793]

We recently purchased this TC Helicon...we have it going into an EV 50m, we are able to adjust vocal volume, but nothing with the guitar? Any suggestions?

[@ppalm951]

I run my vocs and guitar into the unit and back out again (so the Helicon can read the chords for harmonies). But I run both out of the unit and into a simple Yamaha MG10 mixer. The mixer allows you to adjust voc and guitar volume separately as needed. I then run a lead from the output of the mixer to my Bose L1 (similar to your EV50 tower). This gives you much more volume control. As far as trying to 'boost' acoustic guitar, hopefully you have onboard volume adjustment on it? That being said, there are 2 ways to adjust your guitar through the unit. 1) Input level - press the 'setup' button at the right of the display. Now, press the 'mix' button and 'guitar' should be highlighted on the display. You may now use the center knob to increase or decrease your guitar Input level. You need to be careful here not to come in too 'hot'. You need to play rather loudly (or at your peak strumming) and should be seeing the tiny 'In' light glowing to the left of the display. If that indicator starts going orange or red on a regular basis, you need to cal down to where it stays in green. Otherwise your signal.can start clipping (bad). When done adjusting, press the 'back' button and it will save your input level settings. 2) Output volume - press the 'mix' button to the left of the display and you should see 'guitar level' at the top left. You will need to press the 'vocal fx' button next to it, and should highlight 'guitar level'. Now again, use the center knob to raise/lower your OUTPUT volume. And again, when done, press the 'Back' button to save and go to main screen. You have now adjusted the INPUT to maximize the volume coming in, and then boosted the output volume to push more guitar out. I hope this helps (and I hope this LONG note gets through). Best of luck

[@krisisherburn7793]

@@ppalm951 My husband says this makes perfect sense! He's been messing around for days, thinking it had to be in settings somewhere. Thank you so very much for taking the time to explain all that, it's very much appreciated!!!!!!

[@ppalm951]

@@krisisherburn7793 You are welcome!

[@BlakeHassebrock]

Can you bypass the "always on" reverb when you want to talk to your audience? Thank you for taking the time to put this video together!

[@ppalm951]

I'm not certain about that. I don't believe so. You may want to consider a separate effect for just talking to the audience? But you would have to flip to it. My reverb is always on for most of my presets, but it's not overpowering enough to sound weird. Unless I'm doing Pink Floyd or Purple Rain 😀

[@BlakeHassebrock]

@@ppalm951 I see, like setting preset 1 specifically for talking to the audience and just going to it in between songs, I’ll likely only have two settings one for addressing the audience and one for simple songs. Thank you!

[@thebandwatkins]

@@BlakeHassebrock yes you can, you hold the hit button down which puts all FX on hold until tapped again!

[@babyboomeracousticcovers]

When you make a custom preset and then you send it to a blank number and save it does it also change the original preset you were using?

[@ppalm951]

I'm guessing you are tweaking a current effect and want to save the results to another slot? You just need to make sure you are watching each step in the save process. It will give you the option of selecting what number you want to save it to. HOWEVER, it will default to your current slot. This means if you don't select another number, it will overwrite your current settings. But, if you choose another preset number (and you'll want to rename it), it will send it to THAT number and your current effect should remain unchanged. Think of it like saving a file on a PC. You can either 'save' your changes and it will change your existing file OR you can 'SAVE AS' and save it as a totally new and separate file. As long as you select and designate a new number (and name) you should be fine. I hope this helps

[@babyboomeracousticcovers]

@@ppalm951 Thank you

[@Jill_SmokeandMirrors]

@@ppalm951 Bingo! I've been trawling through the instructions and every Play Acoustic video on here to find that information -thank you!

[@sunchaiwattanakul8435]

Thank you so much.

[@ppalm951]

Glad it helped you! ROCK ON!

[@sunchaiwattanakul8435]

@@ppalm951 I just got this unit yesterday.and want yous help in many function.Thank you so much.

[@mondoupagne2373]

In the presets, my guitar always sounds the same! Can't I make guitarsettings for every song separately?

[@ppalm951]

Not certain about that. I believe guitar effects are 'universal'. Not my forte. I run my acoustic through the unit, but don't use it to change guitar effects. An effects pedal would likely be in order. I think this unit is primarily for vocal effects

[@neruda12345]

Thanks, can be a good choise to use a FRFR box with tc helicon play acoustic? I use at home or with friends!

[@ppalm951]

I'm not familiar with FRFR box. Sorry.

[@neruda12345]

What you use like a acoustic box?

[@ppalm951]

@@neruda12345 I run mine through a simple mixer and the mixer goes through a small PA. You could use any powered speaker, but your vocals are coming out as XLR and so is guitar. Your powered speaker would need 2 XLR inputs. Hence, the small mixer.

[@neruda12345]

Thanks a lot :)

[@mijomatic]

THANK YOU MAN

[@ppalm951]

I hope it helped you. ROCK ON!

[@attilajonas9321]

Hi, I have a problem seeing if you can help. I want the HIT button to be active only when I hold down the button. When I hold my foot on the button I turn on the effect. If I take my foot off the button, turn off the effect. I think it's a very simple setup but I can't find it anywhere. Where can I set this? Thanks for your help.

[@ppalm951]

I believe the foot switch is a basic on/off stomp switch. When you press it down, it clicks and you remove your foot it stays ON. Then you do the same to turn it OFF. I don't believe you can only hold it down to activate. It's going to click ON and stay on. I just click it ON/OFF real quick for some things. But I don't believe it can do what you are wanting it to do and ONLY be pressure activated

[@attilajonas9321]

​@@ppalm951 Thank you so much then I didn't find it either. Well, unfortunately. I really miss this feature. While playing guitar, I can’t concentrate on turning on and off. It would be much easier for me to hold down while the effect is needed. Thank you for your fast and correct help :)

[@waynedeaton]

can you make the switches momentary or latching?

[@ppalm951]

Not sure what you are referring to. Sorry

[@commonsensemillennial985]

Hey for me when I change the settings on guitar effects the delay and such stay the same no matter the preset. Not sure what I’m doing wrong??

[@ppalm951]

I wish I could help you, but I don't tinker with guitar effects much.

[@ppalm951]

In thinking about it, I just realized that the guitar settings are NOT meant to change. Since it's meant for acoustic, you are meant to dial in your acoustic sound and that's IT. The various presets ONLY affect harmonies and vocals. Sorry about that

[@commonsensemillennial985]

@@ppalm951 thanks I just realized that myself right after I commented lol but appreciate you responding

[@mriyanfd]

If we use looper mode, how many sample we can make?

[@ppalm951]

Sorry. Haven't used the looper much. Wouldn't be much help there

[@markojumbomusic5707]

Thanks 💪🏻

[@ppalm951]

I hope it helped you

[@jarcidiacono1]

Just curious, how much more accurate does running your guitar through the unit make the harmonies? I am mostly an electric guitar player and front man, they don’t make the “play electric” anymore for running your electric guitar through, I’m probably going to get this unit as I do the occasional acoustic gig but I probably shouldn’t be running my electric guitar through it. Are the harmonies still pretty accurate and useable? 🤔

[@ppalm951]

In my experience it makes a pretty big difference. Been using this unit for a few years now. Without the guitar you have to be 'spot on' with your notes for the harmonies to sound right. The harmonies are less forgiving. WITH the guitar, they seem to track better. The harmonies can read the notes from the guitar to know where they are supposed to be. Without it, they are guessing by using only your voice. Any variation of your voice can throw them off. You likely can use your electric for harmonies. The unit is designed to 'enhance' raw acoustic guitar when it runs through the unit. And it DOES work well. However, one doesn't HAVE to run the guitar THROUGH the unit to make it work. I'm in an acoustic band and only do vocs for the band. One of our guitarists splits his output signal with a 'Y' jack and sends a line to my Play Acoustic. The unit only reads the guitar signal for harmonies. It's not going through the unit to the PA. He has his own acoustic processor and runs direct to the mixer. Can likely do the same with electric. Just t have to adjust your input signal to make sure it's not too 'hot'. Likely best to have a clean signal, but I'm guessing it would work

[@jarcidiacono1]

@@ppalm951 great info thanks for the fast response! Yeah that’s a good call. I wonder if I get a splitter and just send a dry line straight from guitar into the unit

[@ppalm951]

@@jarcidiacono1 You may need to have 'some' sort of signal from your elec guitar. A dry elec may be too faint. The unit needs to be able to pick it up. To the left of the main display is a tiny little light marked as 'in'. If it is not lighting up while guitar is strumming or playing then your signal won't work. The light should be green when guitar is strummed. The way to do it is to strum at peak level as if actually playing. To adjust input level, have unit on, PRESS Setup button to right of display. Now PRESS Mix button on left side. The display should highlight the 'GUITAR' setting. Now use the center knob to increase/decrease guitar input level. NO light (while strummimg) means no signal. RED light means TOO MUCH signal. Use the knob to increase, decrease. You want to see it lighting up green, but not peaking at red (or even yellow if you can avoid). This is why you also want a steady signal for your feed. On electric, if your kicking in overdrive, it's likely to shoot your level into the red zone. Best of luck

[@jarcidiacono1]

@@ppalm951 thx!! Once I adjust the input gain from the setup menu on the right, how do I engage the whole guitar matching the vocal harmonies thing? Or does it do it automatically? Also….do u know how to restore the device to factory settings if i dick around with it?

[@ppalm951]

@@jarcidiacono1 The harmonies should read automatically going by your voice and also trying to match with guitar as long as it is reading guitar signal (Green indicator). There IS a way to restore but I'm not well versed on it. You can also backup your settings and changes to PC. That's very handy. I try to back mine up occasionally because having used it for a few years I've tweaked a number of things to my liking. If your unit craps out on you, can buy a new one and reload everything in minutes. I gig regularly and would hate to have to lose everything start from scratch. So if you make changes you like, then you may want to eventually do a backup

[@sybarra67]

thank you

[@ppalm951]

Glad it helped! ROCK ON!

[@saxvilleavenue]

Please help somehow I hit a button that say showcase, it appears in the window number 1 High Harmony. This seems to stop the full range of the programs i can only go to 1, 5, 10, 13, 49 that all. How can I get rid of that showcase and get back to all of the programs? 10-18-22

[@ppalm951]

Sorry brother. Wish I could help but I've never encountered that message. Wouldn't know how to help. I would suggest going to www.tc-helicon.com. They have a 'support' tab. You may be able to get some help on a forum there or maybe if you can chat with a tech? Best of luck

[@saxvilleavenue]

@@ppalm951 Thanks sooooo mush that's help, I will go there right now!!!!!!!!!! 1:52 AM 10-19-22

[@saxvilleavenue]

@@ppalm951 Found this on the internet: When powering up the unit, press and hold "Back" and "Store" buttons down at the same time. Any changes you have made to presets or setup information will be erased. Sounds like you need to unplug, and then when you plug back in, hold down those 2 buttons this works!!!

[@jimkimsey06kimsey75]

Can I reorganize the existing profiles in a different order so i can have my few good ones all in a row?

[@ppalm951]

YES you can. That's the way I have mine setup. I'm in a classic rock cover band (and also do solo stuff). I have over 300 songs in my library but only use maybe 10 different effects (basically only 2 of them 80% of the time). So I have the ones I use most in my first 15 slots. The easiest way to do all that customizing and sorting is by connecting your unit to your PC. Are you familiar with how to do that?

[@ppalm951]

In case you are not, here's how to do it: -You'll first want to make sure you have the "Voice Support 2' app installed on your laptop or PC (free from Google Play store as I recall) -Use the cable from the unit (or any USB cable that fits into the connection on rear of unit) -When you plug it into PC, it should recognize that something has been plugged in -NOW, open the Voice Support app -The app should 'SCAN' your unit and settings (bar at the bottom should be showing progress) -If it recognizes everything that's a good sign -FIRST before doing anything make a BACKUP of what you now have so you don't lose anything -Do this by clicking on PRESETS tab at the top -Now click on the icon that says 'BACKUP ALL' -On left hand side of app you should see BACKUPS and now one for today -What you can do now that you have a backup is begin making changes -By clicking on one of the preset names, you will see a line with PRESET NAME. You can rename here if you'd like -As far as rearranging the order, you can now try and drag/drop to new position. You will be given options to 'move, paste, insert or swap'. This is why having made a backup is important in case you booger something up you can restore your old backup easily. -Once you've made your intended changes DO ANOTHER BACKUP before disconnecting

[@jimkimsey06kimsey75]

@@ppalm951 I should be able to. Is there an app that I would need or it’s just files?

[@ppalm951]

@@jimkimsey06kimsey75 I replied again to your other comment with instructions. Check there

[@kjsummerville8791]

TY

[@danielkandela]

Tell me, when I do a hardtune IT sometimes doing to much..... Is there a setting i cannturnnit half for example?

[@ppalm951]

You should be able to go into settings and change the intensity of the auto-tune. My vid shows how to get to the auto-tune settings. Use the button next to the 'level' setting to highlight it and then use the dial knob to change the intensity of the auto tune

[@danielkandela]

​@@ppalm951 In the hardtune settinga theres only, shift and gender settinga on the right. Theres a setting of pitch correction percentage in the input section in the main settings, but i'm not sure IT Has something to do with the hardtune

[@ppalm951]

@@danielkandela Sorry. Not very familiar with the autotune setting and not able to look at it right now. Maybe later.

[@ppalm951]

@@danielkandela I just checked and I believe the 'shift' setting is what you are looking for. If it's 'shifting' your voice too much, press the button next to it to highlight, and then use the knob to turn down the shift effect. See if that works

[@craigmcmorrow3034]

anyone know how to hard reset play acoustic if the hold down store and back buttons doesn't work

[@ppalm951]

Sorry man. I have 0 experience with reset. I hope someone can help you out

[@elclubdewallace3770]

I’m frustrated with this device , I want it to work using always gourgeous hall that is one the presets but I want it to play harmony when using the Hit button but I haven’t figured it out how to🤦🏻‍♂️

[@ppalm951]

If 'Gorgeous Hall' is one of the numbered presets you can certainly do what you are asking. Start at about 1:25 and follow along closely. I show how to get into your settings for a given preset. I then show how to flip through the different 'pages' of your preset settings. Go to the page for harmonies (Page 1 of 7), select the type of harmony you want, also set the harmony LEVEL and then set it for "HIT" (go to 2:20 to learn how to set harmonies for HIT only). This should do what you are looking for. (Harmonies only on when you HIT the button). I show how to do all of this in the vid. MAKE SURE TO SAVE YOUR NEW SETTINGS. To save the new settings just press "STORE" 2X. I also show how to do that in the vid. I hope this helps.

[@writerwill]

How do I adjust the microphone sensitivity? Thanks

[@ppalm951]

That's easy (but not obvious). If you look on the left hand side of the unit itself you will find a dial. That dial is your GAIN for the mic input. Hopefully you know what gain is. That sets how much sound is coming from the mic. If you have a soft voice, you may need to turn it clockwise. I do kind of power vocs on many songs. Mine is set with the marker about the 9 o'clock position. Is that what you were asking?

[@writerwillable]

@@ppalm951 Thanks, just watched your 1st video. Very helpful. Thanks again.

[@writerwill]

Update: I found the button. It has been two years since I have used the acoustic play, At my age I often have to relearn my devices when I have been away from them for awhile. Thanks again….

[@petrinaentertainmentandsinger]

How many hits can you have on one presetting? is it just the one?

[@ppalm951]

Not sure what you mean by 'how many hits'? The effects are either 1) on ALL the time 2) off ALL the time 3) off until you activate the HIT button. It's just ON or OFF. Are you looking to do something different during a song? I have a couple of songs with my band that I use 2 different presets during the song. (1 has octave voice and the other is harmonies) I just arrange the presets to be next to each other in order. I go from ONE preset and then switch UP to the other preset and maybe back again. You can toggle different presets that way, but you have to be able to be mindful during the song to switch presets. Is that what you mean?

[@petrinaentertainmentandsinger]

@@ppalm951 Yes that helps thank you. I was thinking you could have many hits but wasn't sure how to program them in order within the preset. You have explained it perfectly thank you

[@Jill_SmokeandMirrors]

@@petrinaentertainmentandsinger I'd wondered about this too. I want the same basic present to have harmony on the hit button for part of one song and delay (with no harmony) for part of another song so having a Hit 1 and a Hit 2 button etc would make sense but I think I'm going to have to duplicate and rename the same preset but assign the two different hit effects to the two different presets instead.

[@MileGuerrini]

Thnx for tutorial! But didn,'t explain how to use manual KEY setting?! I' m accordion player and need to have settings wothout guitar or imput key detection...

[@ppalm951]

What you may be looking for is RoomSense. It listens to the ambient music being played and tries to work off of it

[@MileGuerrini]

@@ppalm951 I red the manual, and it has option to manualy set harmony key, (maj and min)... But I dont't know can it be stored as user presset?

[@ppalm951]

@@MileGuerrini Sorry. I'd be no help there. I would just navigate through the settings and see if you can find what you need and see if it saves it. But would be troublesome to have to edit the key for every song.

[@ppalm951]

@@MileGuerrini But now I see what you are getting at. If you can save a harmony preset in C and another in G and another in Bm. But again, I'm no help there.

[@MileGuerrini]

@@ppalm951 thnx any way! Best regards!

[@VinceWestMusic]

Train 1st & efficiently itemize your delivery for effectiveness & economy of motion. This is meant to be constructive criticism. If you prefer scathing, you’ll have to pursue further. Thank you! IT IS A VERY NICE & RELIABLE PERFORMANCE PRODUCT!

[@mina_ise6893]

I wanted to ask if the bass guitar can be used with this device

[@ppalm951]

I'm sure you could run a bass through it. But it is specifically made to enhance acoustic guitar. I couldn't say how well harmonies would read the signal. Would likely have to bypass and turn off acoustic effects and try and get a straight signal. I believe you can do that on one of the settings pages.

[@mina_ise6893]

@@ppalm951 Can this device handle an electric guitar? Would harmony work?

[@ppalm951]

@@mina_ise6893 It likely would read the signal from electric guitar and do harmonies accordingly. However, if you run the elec guitar signal back out of the unit, it likely won't sound great. I'm in a band (as a vocalist only). You can still input a guitar so the harmonies will track the chords without sending the guitar through the unit. What we've done is, bought a 1/4" Y jack (splitter). On the output of guitarist effects board we come out with the Y jack. We send one cable to the INPUT of the Play Acoustic so it can 'hear' chords. (DO NOT RUN XLR GUITAR OUT from back of unit).Instead, the other cable from the Y jack he sends directly to the PA for his own sound. This way you get the best of both worlds. Your vocal unit can hear the guitar, but yet, his electric guitar doesn't have to be 'processed' through the Play Acoustic.They stay separate. I hope that makes sense. It's working for us

[@mina_ise6893]

@@ppalm951 Do you also have experience with VOICELIVE 3 EXTREME? Unable to decide at this time which device to buy ...

[@ppalm951]

@@mina_ise6893 Sorry, I do NOT

[@scotthoyt8970]

How many presets are there??? Nobody ever mentions that.

[@ppalm951]

Sorry, I've been out of town. Mine has 137 presets. I believe the first 50 slots are customizable. But not sure exactly. I just know that you can tweak and customize effects and move them to the first however many slots. I gig regularly with a band and don't use more than 20 of the first slots.

[@faustorossi5524]

Could it be used battery powered?

[@ppalm951]

I am not aware that is inherently capable of running on battery. As far as I know, it's A/C only. That's something you'd have to check with TC Helicon

[@saxvilleavenue]

Is there a factory reset button on this unit?

[@ppalm951]

Found this on the internet: When powering up the unit, press and hold "Back" and "Store" buttons down at the same time. Any changes you have made to presets or setup information will be erased. Sounds like you need to unplug, and then when you plug back in, hold down those 2 buttons and wait and see if anything happens

[@ppalm951]

Sax, this is also why you need to backup your unit regularly (especially after making the tweaks you like). There is a free PC app called Voice Support 2 that you load onto your PC and can plug in your unit to your PC and save all of your settings. You can do multiple backups and keep them. If you have future problems, you simply reload your saved settings. Hard lesson to learn, but if you get your problem fixed and redo your effects, SAVE THEM! Your problem here could likely be set back to how you had it in 10 min

[@saxvilleavenue]

@@ppalm951 Thank you sooooo mush that work!!!!!

[@paulpotter9867]

Apparently, the vocal numbers, like I've just seen a face, do not work on the guitar

[@johnerickson5512]

I guess listening to an actual song is out of the question huh? No good to me. I want to hear it live.

[@ppalm951]

That's a good idea. I'll have to record a couple of songs so people can hear what it does and how it sounds.

[@ppalm951]

As a matter of fact, I use the Play Acoustic with my band and I have some footage of some performances. Will be posting them now

[@bolocanalberto]

No transgenders on TC Helicon menu. Just kiddin! 🤣 Did you ever use a 12 String Guitar with it?

[@ppalm951]

Ha. No. Have not tried it with 12 string

[@sunnydeyaliofficial]

no eq no comp.wtf

[@ppalm951]

Hey Sunny, I haven't looked for those features because I run my voc and guitar out of the Play Acoustic and into a small Yamaha mixer. I can EQ with the mixer. Then out through the speakers. That's the best setup.

[@zakkT91]

Where’s the gender neutral option?

[@truckfump9434]

Hahahahaha

[@bayu2224]

"Don't know what the hell is that in the lower?" !!! 🤔 You don't recognize Bob Ross when you see him? What's wrong with you?

[@ppalm951]

Ha! "We don't make mistakes, just happy little accidents" - Bob Ross

[@normanbates1669]

Usless