mdc wrote: Fri Jul 14, 2023 3:52 pm That rig rundown was pretty fun! Quite funny to see Kurt being Kurt and simultaneously talking intensely about Helix presets for 20min while also talking about getting to a place where gear doesn't really matter, and then switching over to Nate being the embodiment of not caring about gear.

Not sure I follow your point as I'm probably not going to watch all those videos you posted.

Kinda want to try of these little Spider 20s now. Thanks, Ben!

Don't feel weird about blast'n on here. I love seeing what you are up to. This is the only thing anything like social media that I take part in so you nerds are gonna see every tiny stupid thing I ever do broadcasted at top volume forever. LIke it or not.

It’s always wild to see this stuff out there and recall Ben is all up in it. Damn, that stuff sounds good! Like mentioned in the rig rundown, the practical portability aspect has to be a big draw.

All that new stuff is a little rich for my blood though, also way overkill for my basic needs. I’ve always thought the DL-4 was super cool, and the new one looks really awesome too. I have thought about some of the smaller M series models thought to have a number of lower priority effects in an efficient package. I’ll say the layout of the modern line 6 stuff looks nice and clean.

I get what twelve point is getting at with the menus and all that. I enjoy using synths and stuff on my iPad, but the more menu heavy or preset oriented things get the more my brain sorta fogs over and I just don’t use it enough. It’s just so much more satisfying to tweak my MS-20, but that thing is a bigger pain in the ass to drag over to the couch for casual experimentation. But that’s the dynamic at hand.

But that preference seems even less rational with stomp boxes where you usually aren’t playing the knobs as on a synth. 95% of the time I’m using the same settings on all my guitar pedals, so you’d think I’d be cool with presets. Gear and rationality rarely get along, however.

Honestly, I think it’s more a matter of “out of sight, out of mind.” The way I work is I just lose track of options and things when they aren’t ready-to-eye. It’s a challenge in many areas of my life. It makes paperless workflow difficult despite obvious advantages. It’s far harder to pick an album to put on in the evening from a digital archive than by just walking up to a shelf and scanning a collection. Everybody’s got to balance that how they see fit.

twelvepoint wrote: Fri Jul 14, 2023 8:05 am First, I do not like screens and menus when playing music. That whole thing kinda messes with the enjoyment of working with my hands. Screens in general are very distracting and take me out of my creative space.

The other thing is multi-effects/amp-sims introduce some choice paralysis for me and having fewer options, I'm spending more time playing and less time auditioning virtual doodads. I could probably be happy the rest of my life with tele>4-5 regular-ass boss pedals>princeton reverb.

I can relate to most of this as well. I think there have been major strides in the last several years in terms of sound, but that menu thing is a real one for me. I know it’s former Line 6 people, but that Strymon Iridium has just about got me pulling the trigger. They’ve reduced it to something I can totally get behind. I’m not a tweaker and I hate menu screens. I also don’t deep dive in DAWs either. I like upper level easy routing (I just learned how to simply use busses last year!). I basically find my sound on a pedal or amp and leave the thing there forever. Maybe slightly tweak the volume, bass, or treble for a different room or guitar. And luckily the 3 amps I’d even give a shit about are what’s on that thing. Now, is it convincing enough for me?

As for Ben, I think it’s awesome he’s in this community and has the job he does. I enjoy hearing about projects. I’m convinced his presence has helped move things where they are. Salut!

Without having ever dug too deep into the Helix stuff or checked out many demos, I gotta say this "Beast Claw" bass set up with an OD->SVT->8x10 & Mesa 2x15 sounds pretty damn good!

Honestly having a Mesa cab setting makes this extra appealing for me!

I use my HX Stomp all the time.

Ben ended my search for dual, independent delays that a) could be triggered in a truly "spot" fashion by b) a keyboard-style foot pedal controller and c) were in one box and not Ibanez rackmounts made in the 80s that only did that trick by mistake.

I literally tried everything before he built that shit into the HX!

The various delays are very good. I also use both the spring reverb and the optical tremolo (both credible Fender substitutes).

I stuck the HX Stomp on top of a dual foot pedal thing to make this 6" high monstrosity. It's on there with 3M Dual Lock now (not duct tape).

I think the hand-wringing about “menu-diving” is based on fear which is based on ignorance. The shit is not that complicated if you just give it a try.

ChudFusk wrote: Tue Jul 18, 2023 4:02 pm I think the hand-wringing about “menu-diving” is based on fear which is based on ignorance. The shit is not that complicated if you just give it a try.

No, I have a Zoom H4N that my mind just cannot deal with, it's a real thing! Similar deal with a Boss looper.