So I totally ditched my HX Stomp

mystixboi1

mystixboi1

Kick Henry Jackassowski
last year and bought an EVH 5150 iii 50 watt head and 112 cab. It was super fun, but I found myself playing it less and less due to a top end and mid-range honk I couldn't dial out. 2 weeks ago I sold the 5150 and bought a Synergy set up with the Vai and SLO modules. I'm sure going through a proper amp set up, it would sound killer, but I was running it through a FRFR and it sounded like doo doo.

I sent that back and bought a Marshall DSL40CR. Sounded ok, but too bright for my taste and didn't saturate as much as I was hoping.

This morning, I ordered another HX Stomp. don't know why I sold it in the first place!
 
What were you using to power the Synergy? A friend of mine has one with the Vai and another module and he says it sounds amazing and he has some killer amps.
 
ah man you didnt even give the snygery stuff a proper go. i have heard nothing but good things about them. a decent power amp with a cab and you would have been golden.


but the stomp is legit too. congrats!!
 
Well of course the Synergy sounded crap through an frfr. That's not what frfrs are for.
Welcome back to the HX club though.
 
sleewell said:
ah man you didnt even give the snygery stuff a proper go. i have heard nothing but good things about them. a decent power amp with a cab and you would have been golden.


but the stomp is legit too. congrats!!
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I might come around to it in the future but I really just dig the tones from the stomp
 
I have given up on the be-all-end-all for ANY piece of gear.

Each thing that is designed for a single purpose is always going to be the pinnacle for what it's supposed to do... like a Formula One Car or a Rickenbacker 12 string.... but if you try to cover EVERY base with a 5 pickup guitar with a multi function pedal board with IRs for Guitar, Mic, Cab, Etc etc etc.... jack of all trades master of none.

I think the best gear has one thing it can do fantastic, and is good enough to cover several other bases or can get you through a gig. Example.... a Superstrat and Flyrig (Kemper, Helix, HX, etc) will cover 98% of what you need in a cover gig... but if you're in the studio, you'll still get the best results if you use a LesPaul, a Strat, Esquire, Acoustic, 12 String, combo amp, full stack, etc etc etc.

I love my Kemper for what it can do on stage... but I'm not sold on the Full Range cabs when playing with a drummer, bass player, and a keyboard player with a loud monitor and his own sub mixer next to him. I like having my tube amp as the "monitor"... I would try out a powered guitar cab, or a solid state amp into a guitar cab... but I have zero interest in my guitar coming out of a vocal monitor towards my face. I also like the guitar and vocals coming at me from different directions so it's easier to keep separated in my brain (and also move right left fore and back to hear better.)
 
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baimun said:
I have given up on the be-all-end-all for ANY piece of gear.

Each thing that is designed for a single purpose is always going to be the pinnacle for what it's supposed to do... like a Formula One Car or a Rickenbacker 12 string.... but if you try to cover EVERY base with a 5 pickup guitar with a multi function pedal board with IRs for Guitar, Mic, Cab, Etc etc etc.... jack of all trades master of none.

I think the best gear has one thing it can do fantastic, and is good enough to cover several other bases or can get you through a gig. Example.... a Superstrat and Flyrig (Kemper, Helix, HX, etc) will cover 98% of what you need in a cover gig... but if you're in the studio, you'll still get the best results if you use a LesPaul, a Strat, Esquire, Acoustic, 12 String, combo amp, full stack, etc etc etc.

I love my Kemper for what it can do on stage... but I'm not sold on the Full Range cabs when playing with a drummer, bass player, and a keyboard player with a loud monitor and his own sub mixer next to him. I like having my tube amp as the "monitor"... I would try out a powered guitar cab, or a solid state amp into a guitar cab... but I have zero interest in my guitar coming out of a vocal monitor towards my face. I also like the guitar and vocals coming at me from different directions so it's easier to keep separated in my brain (and also move right left fore and back to hear better.)
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A buddy of mine has this: https://reverb.com/item/19280753-mission-engineering-gm-io-powered-guitar-speaker-cabinet-regular he runs it with https://atomicamps.com/amplifire-6/ and it sounds fantastic. He's brought that rig to jam at my neighbor's a few times, holds up great with other guitars, bass player and drums. It even sounded awesome when he used a bass setting on the Atomic thing and plugged a bass in.
 
Chad said:
A buddy of mine has this: https://reverb.com/item/19280753-mission-engineering-gm-io-powered-guitar-speaker-cabinet-regular he runs it with https://atomicamps.com/amplifire-6/ and it sounds fantastic. He's brought that rig to jam at my neighbor's a few times, holds up great with other guitars, bass player and drums. It even sounded awesome when he used a bass setting on the Atomic thing and plugged a bass in.
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The thing that is nice is that while it is powered and says "full range" it's still a 12" speaker in a guitar sized cab. So the frequency response isn't going to be a 15 and a horn... or a pair of 8" speakers.

I still think I prefer having a tube amp with a 60 or 80 watt speaker for my power that sags a bit when you hit it hard, but I accept the fact that it colors the sound slightly compared to a solid state and a tight 200 watt speaker.
 
baimun said:
I have given up on the be-all-end-all for ANY piece of gear.

Each thing that is designed for a single purpose is always going to be the pinnacle for what it's supposed to do... like a Formula One Car or a Rickenbacker 12 string.... but if you try to cover EVERY base with a 5 pickup guitar with a multi function pedal board with IRs for Guitar, Mic, Cab, Etc etc etc.... jack of all trades master of none.

I think the best gear has one thing it can do fantastic, and is good enough to cover several other bases or can get you through a gig. Example.... a Superstrat and Flyrig (Kemper, Helix, HX, etc) will cover 98% of what you need in a cover gig... but if you're in the studio, you'll still get the best results if you use a LesPaul, a Strat, Esquire, Acoustic, 12 String, combo amp, full stack, etc etc etc.

I love my Kemper for what it can do on stage... but I'm not sold on the Full Range cabs when playing with a drummer, bass player, and a keyboard player with a loud monitor and his own sub mixer next to him. I like having my tube amp as the "monitor"... I would try out a powered guitar cab, or a solid state amp into a guitar cab... but I have zero interest in my guitar coming out of a vocal monitor towards my face. I also like the guitar and vocals coming at me from different directions so it's easier to keep separated in my brain (and also move right left fore and back to hear better.)
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Yeah, there isn't any one perfect solution for everything. Don't try telling the Axe Fx guys that though. :grin:

Fwiw I love using the Kemper live when I'm able to use in ear monitoring. And I do find the FRFR cab works really well in low volume settings.
However, there's a big problem with the FRFR thing. It's too flat and "hifi". Once things start getting pretty loud, it just doesn't poke through as much as I want, and I find I have to turn it up painfully loud to hear myself. The little 8" speakers in the tiny enclosure also means it's extremely directional. If I move just a couple of feet to the side on a gig I can't hear fecking anything.

The Kemper kabinet is really good though. A bandmate of mine got one a few months back and the difference between that and my FRFR is quite something.
Looking at probably getting the powered Kabinet which has just come out, or possibly a 2x12" and a good power amp. A regular cab would be cool in that I can later grab myself a decent Marshall head or something like that for the occasional gig where that's the ticket. I do sometimes miss just plugging into a rock monster and just play. :embarrassed:
 
Dexter Inferno said:
Yeah, there isn't any one perfect solution for everything. Don't try telling the Axe Fx guys that though. :grin:

Fwiw I love using the Kemper live when I'm able to use in ear monitoring. And I do find the FRFR cab works really well in low volume settings.
However, there's a big problem with the FRFR thing. It's too flat and "hifi". Once things start getting pretty loud, it just doesn't poke through as much as I want, and I find I have to turn it up painfully loud to hear myself. The little 8" speakers in the tiny enclosure also means it's extremely directional. If I move just a couple of feet to the side on a gig I can't hear fecking anything.
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Exactly what happened for me with FRFR... it was great when I was live looping... but as soon as I played with the band, I had to stay in one exact spot to be able to hear myself, and when I turned it up it was audible razor blades (but the exact same signal sounded really good through FOH in the mix.

Looking forward to your results with the Kemper Kab.
 
I only use my frfr at home. Since hopefully I will be using my Helix live soon, it will only be direct. The Helix is ideal in a church situation where you need a ton of effects, but in many situations volume is a real concern. And everything at our church is via in-ears. The amps if you use one are not even on stage.

Sent from my XT1635-01 using Tapatalk
 
mystixboi1 said:
I got the stomp today.... love it! Don’t know why I stopped it BG it before
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The 3.1 update is awesome, if yours isn't already updated. The Orange Rockerverb model is outstanding.

Be sure to try it with the Cab bypassed into the power amp in jack on your Katana - I love using my Helix that way.
 
Aahzz said:
The 3.1 update is awesome, if yours isn't already updated. The Orange Rockerverb model is outstanding.

Be sure to try it with the Cab bypassed into the power amp in jack on your Katana - I love using my Helix that way.
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actually, I just ordered a powercab plus. I should have it tomorrow. Pretty stoked
 
Very nice, I wanna try one. Please post your results when you get it. Congrats!

Anyone on the helix fb group? pretty solid base of knowledge imo.

Taking my helix to go record our first single today, pretty excited.


For absolute fun and nonsense try the factory preset called the Big Monosnyth. It's fun.
 
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