Talk me out of this...

[Aahzz]

Or heck, talk me into it.

I love my tone at the moment. PRS Vela, into a VHT D-50. For effects, I'm using a Line 6 HX Effects. The tone is awesome.

That said, I'm wondering about going back to an analog pedal board. Budgetarily, at the moment, I'd need to sell the HX Effects to finance the pedal board. Still, I'm looking for a band, and the HX hits me as a single point of failure that'd bring down a bunch of my tones if it failed. On an analog board, if one pedal goes down, everything else works. I only use 1 preset in the HX. It's got a Wah, Timmy, a Tube Screamer, a Rat, a Chorus, a Phaser, and Reverb. That covers me. I can replace those pretty affordably. I already have a board, power supply, tuner, and chorus, so those are covered. An MXR Timmy is roughly $100 used. I love the EHX Wailer Wah, that's $70 new. It looks like people really like the Joyo Vintage Overdrive for the TS position, $35. The Joyo Vintage Phaser sounds great and gets good reviews, another $35. The Rat isn't necessarily my favorite, but for that level of gain I need something, and I'm seeing great stuff about the Joyo Ui, essentially a Friedman BE clone, and I love the BE. Another $50. That leaves me to find a Reverb....and so far, I'm only out $290.

Thoughts?

 

[letterk]

I’m a Helix guy, so…

 

[sergiodeblanc]

The tone is awesome.

Then why would you f@ck with it?

 

[dmatthews]

You said it already... The tone is awesome.
Double edged sword. If a cable goes bad in the chain on the board, everything after that is scuppered.
If you like the board better, go for it, but I'd find a used HX Effects on the cheap as a backup.

 

[Aahzz]

Then why would you f@ck with it?

Good point.

 

[alantig]

What these guys have said. If you’re happy, don’t mess with it. Single point of failure, yes, but a pedal board introduces multiple points of failure. And if you wake up one day and some aspect of your sound isn’t doing it for you, you turn a know on the Helix versus buying another pedal.

Obviously, you should do what makes you happy. But if your tone is good - well, if it ain’t broke…

 

[Maxime Bousquet]

If it sounds good, stay.
If you're worried about needing a spare crankset, the good thing is that you can take the time to build it.

I had a hx fx which I used quite heavily for a few years with no problems! Fairly reliable and well-built unit.

Anyway many things can happen during the show, the tube amp, cable, guitar string that breaks... What an artist's life!

 

[ScottR]

Meh, if the HX takes a poop while your on stage, just set something on fire or dive into the drummers kit...basically go all Kerouac on thier a$$es. Punk Rock it up, live in the moment and send video from the show, especially if you have to go the above route. Easy peasy.

 

[Mark Ray]

I'm in the camp of saying Go For It! An analog board works for me, and has for decades.

 

[Prs Mods too]

I'm with Mark Ray. Go for it.

Multiple failure points with individual pedals sure, but bring a few different length patch cables and you should be set to bypass a bunk pedal or bad cable. If the HX bites it then you're done... unless you get another for backup...

 

[RickP]

…find a used HX Effects on the cheap as a backup.

^^^ This would be my thought if taking your post at face value.

On the other hand, you’re an intelligent guy who doesn’t strike me as particularly gear-flighty, so I’m kind of hearing “I don’t know what it is, I’m happy with the sound, but something isn’t quite there.” If that’s the case, a round of pedal playing won’t hurt you and you can always go back to a Helix later if you’d like.

I don’t know anything about Joyo pedals, but short of something stupid(ly expensive) like a real Klon I’d go for the authentic pedal you like in the Helix. “Just like” always leaves me in the cold somehow. Life’s to short… scratch the itch.

 

[LunarRock]

You can do both Aahzz, over time, flip the HX effects for a stomp, it has enough dsp for your goto patch and identical sound, but you can then built up a pedal board around it. Meanwhile you are in same place as its same HX stuff

Bonus is you can play with the amp models into your effects return too, the friedman BE is in there.

 

[GADonis]

I'd agree with the "find an inexpensive used one for backup." I have no idea what that price point is but if you are happy, don't try to fix something that isn't broken.

But I love analog pedals and if you do go that route check out The Dude for an overdrive or a Blue Note for light to medium distortion. Although they may be a bit of a budget buster.

 

[Aahzz]

Glad I posted this, because all of the responses got me thinking, and I'm now feeling much more logical. I have to remind myself, frequently, that it doesn't need to be done as an all-or-nothing, right now - be it this or anything else. I have time. So, I'm going to go with a hybrid approach. Also, taking a slower approach lets me avoid the Joyo stuff and go with more mainstream brands. First up will be a Wah, because I don't care for the way the HX Wah works with the expression pedal, and then probably a Timmy. After that, thinking Boss SD-1 for the Tube-Screamer-ish slot. Probably a Rat. Keep the HX for the time based effects, the swirls and shimmers...and then go from there. Thanks for the input!!

 

[John F]

Every phone I own has had a different connection to a computer/charger. My computers have changed to FireWire, USB, then USB 2 then USB 3. Windows 10 won’t work with older files, and they are pushing Windows 11 and telling me my older computers won’t be supported soon. So what happens when all this modeling hardware can’t be updated because of upgrades to connectors, software, computers, and when the manufacturer goes out of business?

The 1/4 inch connectors on my guitar, pedals and tube amps will work just fine. Those standards haven’t changed much since I’m guessing close to 90 years? Ok, I admit the power plug went to 3 prong grounded over that time…

 

[alantig]

Every phone I own has had a different connection to a computer/charger. My computers have changed to FireWire, USB, then USB 2 then USB 3. Windows 10 won’t work with older files, and they are pushing Windows 11 and telling me my older computers won’t be supported soon. So what happens when all this modeling hardware can’t be updated because of upgrades to connectors, software, computers, and when the manufacturer goes out of business?

The 1/4 inch connectors on my guitar, pedals and tube amps will work just fine. Those standards haven’t changed much since I’m guessing close to 90 years? Ok, I admit the power plug went to 3 prong grounded over that time…

Well, that's where I'm at w/my G-System. No longer supported, no new updates for years.

Still sounds great, so no issues for me. The sound is the important thing.

If you edit your presets w/an editor or librarian, that's obviously more of an issue. But if not, as long as it works and it sounds good...

 

[László]

There are things digital does well: Time-based effects like delays and reverbs; pitch effects; maybe a few emergency presets just in case.

Everything else sounds appreciably better in the analog world, especially overdrives and fuzzes.

As a result, I'm happily ensconced in Hybrid Pedalboard World with a pair of Eventide H9s, and everything else analog. Here‘s a shot of my board:

https://imgur.com/zEmAL5C

I say use the best tool for a given job, so hybrid makes sense. Except for one pedal, this board has been unchanged since 2018. That’s a good run!

 

[BrianC]

I had an HX effects and I currently also have a HX Pod Go.

They do a lot and are a great value.

I would rather have just my Strymon Timeline through the right amp for a big gig than the rest. That is more of a tone conversation though.

As far as things breaking down I would not worry about it. A use Pod Go is pretty cheap and is the same tone as what you are use to. It could be a back up to the HX and your amp.

 

[John F]

I have some headphone devices for guitar that are modeler based, the best of them is the Waza Air headphones. I also have a small Fender portable battery modeling amp I took to my first year of guitar lessons. None of them sound as good as a tube amp in my very humble opinion. I admit I have zero experience on a good modeling platform, so please don’t assume I am disputing anyone’s views on a proper modeller.

I have one digital pedal which is a looper. So far all the rest are analog based across the 25 or so I have which include reverb, delays, chorus, phaser, flanger, etc. I am considering a Fryette Power Station 100 for a load box since it uses an analog signal chain. The Ox Box and Boss Tube Amp Expander convert the analog signal to digital then back to analog for IRs, mic and speaker emulation so I’m passing on those. The Fryette will give me a switchable true bypass effects loop, plus the ability to mix and match different amp and speaker impedances. Also it can take a low wattage amp and increase the output to 100 watts with an internal output tube amp.

If I were going to go digital, I would go Kemper and keep the chain all digital within the Kemper and go back to analog at the final output. I feel that each conversion across the digital/analog domains introduces errors that shouldn’t be there and loses some of the original signal. I acknowledge that improvements in sampling frequency and bit count closes the gap between analog and digital, but I don’t think the gap is small enough yet. Case in point, I just watched a video of Ozzie listening to his original analog recording of Crazy Train and even with YouTube playback the sound was incredible. I would consider that one generation of conversion analog to digital to analog.

I’m also suspecting that what people love about wet/dry rigs is that the all analog dry signal restores what is missing from the wet side. Just a hunch on my part that people don’t know what they are missing until they hear it. Vinyl is in comeback, but be careful not to buy digital recordings cut on vinyl, look for the analog vintage ones.

 

[McMahon67]

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it…. Or you will be. Lol