This HX Stomp Amp Model Changed My Mind On Line 6
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- čas přidán 7. 07. 2024
- I was recently playing with the Litigator model and it opened up what I think are some great tones that stand shoulder to shoulder with some of my FM3 presets.
Download the presets here bit.ly/3U8GoMM
Download the backing track to the intro jam here bit.ly/3u9615u
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Get long form guitar courses and tutorials from my website bit.ly/3xx1lFb
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The Guitar Hour Podcast bit.ly/3eDvgW0 - Hudba
It's been a long road with this thing, but consistent firmware improvements and @johnnathancordy constantly telling me how great it is, has considerably warmed me up to it over its lifespan. So thought I'd talk about my journey with it and muse on what the future holds for the little brick that eventually could. Anyone else gone on a radical arc with a piece of gear?
Nice guitar. What model is it?
Thanks! This is a custom model I designed with Fibenare, obviously based on a more classic s-type. Tt was originally a one off, but it's becoming part of their regular options very soon!@@MusicFed
@@DavidBeebee thanks! love it
@@DavidBeebee Good news! Thanks
I got the stomp about 2 years ago, i couldn’t get the thing to sound good for ages, couldn’t get thickness in my tones and everything was super harsh but slowly as I learned all of the somewhat counterintuitive tips like crazy 5.5k high cuts and impulse responses, I have an absolutely brutal metal tone coming out of the thing, hands down best amp for metal is the vitriol lead amp, thing sounds amazing
What a player! Completely forgot I was watching an HX stomp video! What a melodic player...wonderful!
Thanks for the kinds words, glad you enjoyed the intro track! :)
Been an owner since launch and it definitely has come a long way. The 8 blocks, improved cabs, and new amps have really extended the life of it. I was expecting 5 years to be the max it would be supported and even then I never expected all these usable updates. I this one will have a legacy years from now (maybe even more than the full floor unit) because it is so accessible and such a strong tool.
Line6 did with the Helix what Blackmagic does with most of their Cameras. Deliver a great product on release, that gets improved via firmware-updates over the years. This for me has become an important factor, when I´m buying gear. Knowing that the developers are listening to the users and knowing that you have their support is great. So Line6 deserves the praise.
Apple too!
Such a beautiful Intro! I could listen to it all day long! 🤯
Thanks for the kind words, glad you liked the intro!
Same! I cannot believe how amazing the recent update has Blessed my Pod Go!
GREAT!! THANK YOU!!
Thank you for this. I must have rewatch your intro jam 10 times. Love your playing, and your tone is great as well!
Thanks for the views and kind words, glad you liked the video! 👍🏻🙏🏻
My journey with the HX Stomp started a little more than 3 years ago. Like many users, I had problems with the Stock Presets sounding too bright/harsh. I went down many a rabbit hole chasing a solution. Finally, Brian Wampler tipped me off to the "Frequency Response" of real guitar speakers versus what is typically used in the Cab Block of Modelers. Turning down the Cab "High Cut" solved most of my treble issues.
I really like the thickness, and absence of treble/thin spikiness of sound of Presets on the Fractal Modelers. I haven't found a way to directly dial that in on the HX Stomp, but I may have found a solution by just turning down the Tone Knob on my guitar from 10 to about 7 or 8. Simply, and so far effective. I love the sounds I get these days from my HX Stomp, and it is by far the best value of any gear I've ever purchased.
That sounds very similar to my experience. Always the spiky harshness with the stomp that required careful 3rd party IRs or a severe cab block cut. Something I've never needed to do with the fractal stuff.
What impresses me so much about the stomp is the big cab block update means it now doesn't NEED a severe cut to be pleasant. I'm not gonna go so far as to say it sounds or feels as good as the fractals, but for the money its incredible tone/value.
For me it was love at first sight back in 2020, started creating presets immediately since I updated it and managed to lose all stock presets 😂 the cab firmware has been my favorite so far.
Wowowowow! Beautiful melody. Really great preset. I can't wait to try this one out. Thank you!
Aww thanks, glad you like the tune. Enjoy jamming the preset :)
Absolutely marvelous presets David. You have a great ear for tone. Many thanks for the preset! Added to my Stomp this morning!
Thanks, and you’re welcome, have fun with them!
Wonderful sound marvelous playing, the mastery over the volume of the notes made me smile. 🙂
Beautiful playing
Thank you very much!
What an epic intro man! Im a full HX Stomp convert thanks to JNC!
thank you! glad you liked the intro :)
Litigator is incredibly useful. Not only does it sound amazing, it covers a very wide gain range and is VERY low DSP.
Beautiful ❤
🤗🙏🏻
Great preset and playing. Thank you!
Thanks, glad you liked the vid 👍🏻
Very nice vid, Beebee! John's vids have been very useful in regards to the hx stomp, I'm glad your mind has changed over time
Thanks Joe, glad you liked the vid. Cordy certainly convinced me to break it out the cupboard and persevere with it, the last few updates did the rest!
@@DavidBeebee I imagine the peer pressure was immense from John haha 😄
This is the first time I have heard you play. You sound a lot like John Nathan Cordy. Excellent playing David. I have been using the Stomp now for close to 5 years. As of now I have no reason to move to anything else. The updates have made it a fantastic tool.
thanks jack, appreciate the kind words 👍🏻 thats what puzzles me though, have they made it too good, at some they'll need to sell a new version right?! haha
He’s also using the same amp model in the helix that Cordy uses the most.
This preset sounds great Beebs! Going to be a fun Backing Track to noodle around to as well. Thank you for going into the deep dive with each parameter too. Great Video! 🔥🤘🏼
Thanks dude! Ohhh I forgot to link the backing track!
Awesome stuff BeeBee!
Cheers! 🍻 🙏🏻
Great intro. Love my HX Stomp. The updates have been excellent. It’s my favourite bit of gear.
Thanks John! 🙏🏻👍🏻
really great preset and playing
🙏🏻 thanks, glad you liked it.
amazing way to play ...
thank you!
That intro was fantastic.
I watch guitar videos all the time and while a lot of them feature truly talented players, this is the first time I've actually been blown away! They may be as talented as you but something about your style is light years ahead of the pack in my opinion. I really enjoyed that opening and I almost never make it through watching them. Yours had me riveted!
Easy on the butter
I meant every word of it. Eat a fat one 🙂@@mlewmisc
Thanks for the kind words, really glad you liked the playing/video!
@DavidBeebee awesome video!!!!!!!!! You did such a fantastic job at giving the needed detail without it feeling like a physics lecture. You have an amazing smooth tone, not just your playing, but your piece to camera delivery is epic. Please keep giving us more. I would love for you to do a video like this for a lead tone with the SLO.
Cheers 🍻!
Ahh thank for the kind words, glad you enjoyed the video!
Ive only ever owned 3 modelers / multi fx. I had a zoom 505 back in the mid 90s, anyone else of my vintage will remember those . I had a line 6 something or other a few years ago. Both just awful pieces of gear. I bought the hx stomp only a few months ago though and am blown away by it. Takes a little bit of work but the tones achievable are genuinely brilliant. Love it. As always, fantastic playing Mr. BeeBee
I had the zoom 2020 circa 1995! What a time, I thought when I bought that I’d never need another pedal again! Haha thanks for the kind words 🙏🏻
Litigator goes so tuff. Without ever having played a real dumble, it's what in my head an ideal dumble sound would be.
It's really great. I think the aristocrat is also killer, and can get a bit more drive without needing a pedal.
What a fantastic tone! I shall be having a play with this myself, oh and flawless playing as usual Beebs
Thanks mate! Have fun, hope you’re keeping well and shredding with doddy 😃🎸👍🏻
It's amazing, what Line6 did with this! I wish all companies would care about their products and customers that much!!
Yea it's something that's really cool change in the company since Yamaha bought them I think. I remember 15-20 years ago with the Pod lines, they would repackage and rebadge products quite often and charge for minor improvements. The Helix family and branding has offered insane value for money, kudos to them. The only head scratcher is it's almost a bit tooo generous? Like you can't iterate free improvements forever as it's costing more and more in development etc. I'll shut up now before they hear and stop haha
Kemper updates their profiler for 13 years already. Still the same device, new features with the firmware.
I guess that is true now I think about it! However I think the Kemper has always been fantastic, and I don't think it's had quite as many updates as L6 or Fractal products? The thing that impresses me so much with the HX Stomp is how I've gone from hating it to loving it through those updates.@@graycolors2879
@@DavidBeebeeI guess the thing is they’re still in production and selling them at a rate that must be sustainable
yea that it, and I also now I think some more, the price is the same yet you would assume initial r&d is recouped and the production costs streamline and go down. So maybe that helps fund firmware improvements too.@@BobJones-bh9qz
Great man
thanks!
Great melodic phrasing. Subscribed!
Much appreciated!
Sounds great love the track 👌. Yes similar with me I’ve come late to the party with the HX Stomp, it’s a fantastic tool.
thanks James! good to keep an open mind, and better late to the party than miss it altogether!
I have to say that the fact that they keep putting out firmware updates, and theyre GOOD ones, convince me to recommend the POD GO, in my case, to others. Maybe that's their plan. The only thing I could see them improving on the POD GO hardware are new types of knobs, a different power supply, and a different location for the power supply. Otherwise, it's still great!
Come to think of it, the power supply on the stomp always leaves me a bit worried. I guess there are 3rd party options but I still don't like the little barrel connector thingy. That said the durability has impressed me. I've thrown it in my suitcase hold luggage without a case many times and it's all over the world in the bottom of the airplane. So far so good!
David, thank you for offering the presets. I have a PRS dc3 very strat-like pre Mayer model. I have been stuggling to get some great tones. I am not all that shimmery ... but after tweaking a bit I found some great stuff. Best
Thanks for the in depth share of the parameters, always appreciated and so much more useful than "just" a another preset.
I'm an enormous fan of the HX Stomp, biggest issue with it is that it didn't come out about six months earlier as then I'd probably not have spent the money on the Helix LT first
which, while a great unit, I find too large for live use.
Cheers.
Yea the LT was a great cheaper option feature wise when it came out but it is big enough for rose and jack to both survive on post titanic sinking.
😄@@DavidBeebee
Absolutely beautiful warm tone. I might have to get me one! Excellent playing and great explanation! 👍👍or 🥓whichever you prefer!
Thanks Casey, glad you enjoyed the tones! hah its breakfast time here, now I'm hungry for bacon!
Lovely stuff Beebs! I remember grabbing my Stomp at a guitar show for a great price and I've always kept it at arms reach, as a weird and vastly over-qualified 'just in case' mini-rig. Super flexible but very quirky. Properly shook up the modelling game though!
cheers Sam, I think I was at that show when you got it! Vaguely rings a bell, yea I always keep it in the gig bag for emergencies!
@@DavidBeebee Ah yeah it was the Birmingham show! Crazy, heady days!
For me the Archetype clean is one of the more unsung and hugely overlooked heroes of the helix models... crank the drive on it up a bit and gain stage some overdrive and distortion into it for heaps of clarity and articulation. Depends on your needs of course.
Interesting, I'm guilty of overlooking that one too. I'll bare it in mind when I next fire up the Stomp!
I was totally turned OFF to Line 6. But have an HX Stomp on order as my "fly" pedal. I'm looking forward to trying it again - your tone is amazing!
Thanks, glad you like the tones! Have fun with the stomp.
Zoom have also kept the MS50G in their lineup. They made the presets from the other 3 pedals available for the MS50G, and some newer ones from later pedals, although there's only enough memory for a selection. It's not in the Helix and similar class, but it's probably the 'most in the smallest single pedal' package, and relatively easy to tweak. You can also have duplicate fx in any order up to 6, so you can splice in eqs etc., to mod the stock fx tones. Also runs off 2xAA or USB power as well as9v centre negative.
that's interesting, I've not really followed zoom for guitar products, although my first ever guitar effects was a zoom 2020 in 1995 haha! Wow, flashbacks. I do really love the zoom portable recorders though, super useful.
If you like the Litigator, you should try the Aristocrat. Very similar only better.
Agreed I love the aristocrat now too, I just decided to do the litigator in this video because it was the first line 6 amp model that changed my opinion on the hx stomp.
I love my HX stomp but Ive always struggled with edge of breakup tones. I enjoy tone x amp captures so i’m using the tone x thru the FX loop of the stomp and using the effects of the stomp, but you can get away with some nice dual amp rigs with the tone x and the stomp.
Cool idea, I’ve done similar hybrid setups before!
Damn. You’re a badass. Subbed
haha thanks John!
It sucks that it wasn't good enough when you first bought it. I might well have sold it or left it in a drawer indefinitely rather than giving it another go years down the line. I'd happily consider buying one of these now over a more modern modeller, as it's all about the firmware. Thanks for the video David.
Nice JOB for JNC friend David B. I especially liked that ping pong effect Halo delay. It is no secret this was and may still be the Amp. JNC calls no.1, but lately he has really embraced that 68 dripman/which is 68 fender bassman amp. He never really did much with the 2 15 jbl cabinet with it, but I have heard others do that. All I do know if Cordy and BeeBee ever did a together CD/Album, it might be one for the AGES. I know if anyone ever got in a contest with JNC, they might find out he has that 2nd HIDDEN GEAR, that if he Kicks it in, LOOK out, he is very Humble but I sense that GEAR is there, and his EAR is really well Honed. When the Grammatico came out I thought that would be his new no.1. Between you two UK monsters, Your Phrasings are OFF the Charts. BE BLESSED, and as YOU UK'ers say CHEERS!!! WE are Entering a Guitar Renaissance to say the least.
Thanks ksharpe! Glad you liked the video :) You're absolutely right, Cordy has great ears for melody and fretboard connection! Maybe he and I can get another hotel jam in sometimes!
Hey @davidbeebee
How did you create the preset foot switch assignment on the clean one?🙏
Nice hook on the intro.
Cheers! 🙏🏻
I went with the stomp XL. It seemed to work better for me with the extra buttons.
stomp xl is almost perfect functionality wise, but yea little too big for my travel use case. I do wish I had that 4th snapshot sometimes though!
great informative video and amazing play in the intro :)
I have HX Stomp and Helix LT and I love them both ... I actually use Litigator amp model in most of my songs and even with the live band (including loud drummer and live piano) I dont have any issues with the dynamics with this model. I will gladly test your preset.
keep it going :) subscribed now
Thanks, hope you like it! Yea it's a super versatile amp model.
woooow!!! just played for a while with your lead and clean tone.
You really did an amazing job with this. I love the sound of the lead. its a well balanced preset. Im going to buy an additional footswitch so that I can use it to go between lead and clean preset.
Thank you so much for this preset :) @@DavidBeebee
Clicked watch thinking who’s this muppet. Then Saw the playing thought wow. Then listened to someone that talked normally without patronising the listener. Subscribed and will keep watching. Well done 👍 I’ve just bought one for my music room and a spark for the lounge, also started taking lessons hopefully be as good as you guys one day lol. Or maybe not.
haha thanks Mike! Reading this comment was a rollercoaster of emotion lol glad you enjoyed the video. Congrats on the spark, and good luck with the lessons!
Thanks so much for sharing! Sounds amazing, and love the melody. How do you get by without the gate? Noiseless pickups?
Thank you, glad you enjoyed the intro jam. Pickups are not noiseless, I'm not using THAT much gain tbh, and any noise is getting hidden in the mix when the gain is higher. I'm really not a fan of gates, so try to avoid using them if at all possible!
Some blues presets would be great
I’m not really a legit blues guy, but I’ll have a play maybe come up with some stuff. What kind of blues though? What’s blues mean to you?
Beautiful song and playing! (but that I already knew cuz I've been following you and this guy - you might have heard of him - last name Quayle - for like 10 years haha) Now the preset? It has to be the most balanced one I've heard so far. Although my playing setting is church, we don't do Worship style music (personally not my fav style lol) Really appreciate you sharing both the preset and the awesome track. Keep it up man!
haha very kind sir! Glad you enjoyed the preset and the track. Will try to keep videos coming!
Been with HXSTOMP from the very start, currently run two of them in a mini rig
Interesting, how/why are you doing that? Is it for more dsp or??
@@DavidBeebee I'm working on an all wireless rig so 1 stomp feeds a katana air ex and 1 feeds a regular kat air. Midi ties presets of all 4 together into a sort of quad stereo rig. Ish... All battery powered. Managed via iOS apps
@@DavidBeebee czcams.com/video/tVgjDj5xoVY/video.htmlsi=06JoUP3MRz_W5nyW
@AlecBourneMidiMadScientist haha wow your screen name makes total sense now!
1:48 this run is crazy
🤪🙏🏻👍🏻 thanks!
Have you checked out the Gramitico GSG 100? It's also a dumble style amp, very dynamic and extremely responsive. Probably the most versatile amp in the Helix, it replaced the Litigator for me.
I have yea, also really good. I have a couple of presets with the gramatico that work really well. Also I've found the aristocrat to be another great d-style rivalling the lit perhaps.
Started with floor helix which I still have
Then stomp then stomp xl
Most often use 2 stomp xl now. Either split the signal so one mono xl to a speaker with vastly different settings. Connected via midi to chande presets at the same time
Or one for guitar and one for synths. Control centre is great for midi
Nice! sounds like a serious rig!
Great tone. Have you checked out the even newer Dumble style amp in Helix called the Grammatico GSG ? And then there is also the Line 6 Aristocrat keep it up
Thanks! Yea, the GSG is cool too, I have a few nice presets worked out with that one. Aristocrat is probably the new fave tbh, as it's reminiscent of the litigator but can get a bit more drive without needing pedal juice. I chose the litigator for this video just because it was the first model in the stomp that turned me.
Great tone and lovely playing. I also liked the drums sound you used in the verse of the backing track. Which virtual instrument did you use? Thanks and kudos! ;-)
Hey, thanks for noticing the drums! I wanted to get that contrast between the verse and "big" section! I used EZdrummer 3 with the tight room, and then the bright room for the big bit.
Rubbery slippage!
Yea! Haha deep cut!
Any day now... The replacement to the HX line.
Beautiful sound, playing and guitar. I don’t see that guitar anywhere on their site. Their usual fare is a bit exotic for my taste
Thank you! Yea this guitar was a prototype new model we had worked on, for specific gigs I had that didn't require the usual exotic Fibenare flare as you put it! Turned out so well it kinda became my go-to solid body. So it was originally just as a one off, but that could be changing very soon! (Maybe take another look at the website next week :D)
Is that kind of a lake placid blue? Lovely guitar
Wow…subbed! Great preset and playing! Who makes that external foot switch?
Cheers! The switch is made by bright onion effects. Basic two button switch but keeps similar aesthetic to the stomp
What is this finish color? I love that shade of blue.
great video David ! What camera do you use to film?
Thanks! I used Sony a7iii, a6600 and sigma lenses. Cheers!
@@DavidBeebee thanks mate !
Thanks for sharing this. What external switch are you using?
you're welcome, thanks for watching. It's a basic 2 button switch from bright onion effects. Well made, does the job, matches the aesthetic of the stomp.
People are still playing on old amps… no reason this should be replaced. I also rediscovered my hx-stomp… only bought it as an IR loader but then found it to be much more usefull…
Sir, this is one of the greatest works in HX Stomp ever, Thanks a lot. A question about volume; what are your global settings? How are you using big volume knob? Main+HP or Headphones? Your point about unity gain? And finally, did you try these two presets live in a band situation? Thanks again
Thanks, glad you enjoyed the video. Big knob is set for Main vol. Not sure what you mean about unity gain? And finally, nope not tried the presets with a band yet, but I might when gig season starts back up again. Thanks again for watching.
I tried your presets in the studio for rehearsal and they worked great. (Three of them) Please share them with us if you have other presets...@@DavidBeebee
This is why i sold my FM3. 🙂🙏
😲 I personally wouldn’t go that far yet, maybe by firmware 10.5! 😆
Really great presets! I like how balanced your tone is. I often find the overall response of the stomp to be too bassy, maybe should I try to mess with the impedance.
How did you manage to have two different presets under the feet without getting rid of the tap tempo?
Thanks! Glad you like the tones. Tbh I've always found the opposite the stomp not having the low end oomph, but I'd fixed that with a low shelf between the amp and cab block like cordy recommends.
Yea had to record the clean intro separate to the melody and solo for that very reason. Although I guess I could have assigned a preset change to the external 2 button switch on the right now I think about it.
I think that the guitar palys a big role in this. What are you using? I am using a PRS CE24 in split coil mode , still a lot of sounds come off as too bassy, and more gainy than the ones I see here.
@@mei_music I use a telecaster partcaster with 2 bare knuckle (p90+humbucker configuration). I know these pickups tend to be quite dark so I turn down some of the boxy low mids around 230hz with a parametric eq and it seems to be the best solution.
Hi David, how you recorded the intro guitar? HX stomp directly in PC, or with another audio interface? Thanks
I was recording the outputs of the HX stronk into my audio interface, a presonis 1824c. Thanks for watching!
Absolutely beautiful. Would love to know what camera and lighting you use!
many thanks! using Sony a7iii and a6600. Aperture 120d and Amran 200d. Cheers
@@DavidBeebeecan I ask what mic you used for your voice? Sounds very clear and perfectly EQ’d
I’ve got an original HX stomp that’s not been used or updated. Can I update to the latest firmware or do I need to go step by step with the older ones first. Excited to try it now. Really enjoyed your playing too.
I thiiiink you should just be able to plug your stomp into the computer and HX edit software will tell you what you need to do (assuming you have that installed)
@@DavidBeebee thanks David
Thoughts on the new Grammatico GSG?
I like it a lot, but it is a bit more ‘fiddly’ lots more options. I think the new aristocrat is the good middle ground for the dumble thing. The aristocrat can get more drive than litigator but not as many options and maybe a bit less flubby than the gsg
It really depends on the amp model. Im a high gain guy and i find the mesa, engl, and marshall(besides the newest) stuff still arent great.
The rockerverb, friedman, diezel, prs models are as good if not better than other modelers
Yea agreed somewhat. I still don’t think the stomp is perfect and it does seem to be model dependent, although I did think the mesas can be pretty good.
Can the presets be used on the line 6 podgo as well? You are an incredible player I really like your style 🙏😊 cheers from Denmark
Thanks! I’m actually not sure if the preset could be loaded in, I don’t have a pod go. I think you could probably copy settings manually though from the breakdown I do. I do know the podgo has the litigator model. Not sure about the latest cab block.
Thanks David 🙏
Great lead tones but for chord strumming they have too much bass (for my ears). Would you normally do a different preset for strumming or just reduce the bass in your lead tone presets?
Yep, I wouldn't play riffs or dense chords with this kind of a tone, definitely reduce the low end in one of the snapshots if you want a rhythm kind of sound.
Kemper does that since 2011, when it was released. There is only one Kemper (only few form factors). They've been adding new features with free firmware updates.
Bro you been drinking?
what's a snapshot?
It’s a way of having multiple settings of the same parameters in a preset. So you can press a button and have the drive knob for example go from 2 to 7. The HX stomp has 3 snapshots per preset. Think of it a little bit like a 3 presets within a preset.
So it took you a few years to realize what the rest of us have known all along? The Helix is truly a better mousetrap. If Line 6 hadn’t had the reputation damage of decades of cheesy products to overcome, this bit of kit would have been worshipped like the Strymon bits have been right out of the gate. The one thing you’re still missing is the power of the dual processor full Helix. It makes a difference in how much you can do with the machine.
I'm a slow learner! You hit the nail on the head with prior decades of cheese and re-badging existing technology over and over. I think bad experiences in the early 2000s put me off giving the helix a chance when it launched.
'Promosm'
Its 600 quid, not 450-500.