Pete Thorn did a demo of the Helix, I must say I'm impressed now.

  • It's the player, not the Helix, you are impressed by his musicianship. He just plays his guitar very well. Pete Thorn other gear demos sounds great too, some of them much better than this one.
    Of course many people will buy Helix after seeing this video, good for them. But what they are buying is an idea of being able to play like Pete Thorn, not Helix tones. He sounds good when he uses cheap amps as well, as any pro player does :thumbup:.

  • Probably 'cause all but the newest of newbies have certainly seen it, and have likely played the song portion over several times, Netheravon, but thank you for linking
    .


    yeah am sure lots have seen it but it seemed relevant to post it as it's the same guitarist demoing the two pieces of gear it's easy to hear the difference between the two

  • He certainly is a great player and all his demoes sound good, But I would still like to hear raw tones compared to raw tones of Kemper or Axfx or real amps


    Pete is in the demo'ing business... it wouldn't be in his best financial interest (or the interest of the companies he produces demos for) to declare one product inferior to another product. He might do a demo comparing feature sets, but he'll never come out and say one is better than the other.


    I often wondered if he just didn't like the AmpliFIRE because (a) he's said in the past that he doesn't do demos of products he doesn't think are great products and (b) we all know he had an AF in-house many moons ago, but has never demo'd it.

  • Nothing wrong with Helix ,if it cost +- 500 $ .


    The same thing (and price) with new Gibson guitars and many other such a tools in the same category.


    But, every price tag above that, will make those tools useless and money waste.


    Kemper will still cost what it costs , because of the same reason: value for the money factor.


    Simple as is .

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    2006 Steve Vai vwh moded with SS frets and Sustainac 2006 (Japan)

    2008 Fender YJM , moded (USA)

    2010 Tom Andersons Drop Top 2010 (made in California)

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  • Pete is in the demo'ing business... it wouldn't be in his best financial interest (or the interest of the companies he produces demos for) to declare one product inferior to another product. He might do a demo comparing feature sets, but he'll never come out and say one is better than the other.


    I often wondered if he just didn't like the AmpliFIRE because (a) he's said in the past that he doesn't do demos of products he doesn't think are great products and (b) we all know he had an AF in-house many moons ago, but has never demo'd it.


    Also, what would be the point? It's useless to know who likes what; what matters if YOU like what you hear

  • yeah am sure lots have seen it but it seemed relevant to post it as it's the same guitarist demoing the two pieces of gear it's easy to hear the difference between the two


    Agreed, and thank you again for posting the link, mate.


    IMHO, it's a pity that the Kemper one was overall a bit duller (less top-end); the tones weren't able to cut through in the same way as the Helix's, a way that would have done the Kemper justice and accentuated the difference between the two units. Nevertheless, the "organicness" of the Kemper, by comparison, is still evident IMHO.

  • Yeah, and interestingly for me, sometimes not listening gives the game away.


    By this I mean that if I turn my attention to something else, playing it in the background, the naturalness or "authenticititty" of the "valve" amps creates an atmosphere that's much more pleasing, and one that just seems to "belong". This is obviously most evident if one plays one device after the other, and not just one only, although it still holds true in the latter case.

  • The Helix is cool but It doesn't make me want to get one. Good video and PT. Is a very good guitarist.



    Im kinda distracted by his Bill and Ted's excellent Adventure/ Keanau Reeves hair cut in this video.

  • It does a good job masking the still mediocre amp modeling with tons of fx. Thats about it.
    I lost faith in line6 quite a long time ago.
    Fool me once shame on you. Fool me twice shame on me.

  • It does a good job masking the still mediocre amp modeling with tons of fx.


    You can hear it unmasked here:


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    Not that I expect to convert anyone here.

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    Not that I expect to convert anyone here.


    Hi Burningyen.


    I also am guilty of being disappointed by Line 6's past history of re-packing what is essentially the same tone engine through multiple (and relatively frequent) generations of modeling products. It may be unfair, but I have come to view Line 6 as a marketing company, first, versus an innovative leader in digital guitar technology. Again, probably unfair...but I can't shake the perception of Line 6 as "all flash, no substance".


    Unfortunately, for me, (and this of course is just my humble opinion) the tone exhibited at 03:54 features the same "digital" fingerprints and unnatural "fizz" that I have heard in previous Line 6 modeling products. The other sounds in the video were fine...but that characteristic Line 6 distortion jumped out at me, in the amp model that was engaged at 03:54.


    I fully admit I have not heard the Helix, first hand...and reserve the right to be change my opinion. ^^


    Cheers,
    John

  • I'm honestly quite surprised you can't hear all that signature line6 fizz in those distorted clips. It seems to me they have learned nothing at all in modeling crunch/overdrive. Maybe its because I've used several pods and the podfarm vst that I can hear it. To each his own I guess.

  • I own a Helix as well as a Kemper. They are both outstanding! The effects and routing capabilities in the helix are far superior in my opinion.


    Some of the effects in the Helix are IMO not good at all, but most are good standard effects (none is top level to me).
    The pitch and harmonizer in the Helix have very bad algorithms (just like previous pods) and the Kemper have much higher quality when comparing.
    The expensive dsp processor and power can't help the Helix. After all these years Line6 must come up with better algorithms and programming. Most of the effects I prefer in the Kemper over the Helix and just a few I prefer in the Helix (univibe and some drivepedals).