By Owen McCabe
What are Digital Amp Modelers?
Digital amp and effects processors have been around for just over two decades (Line 6 AxSYS 212, Line 6 POD), but haven’t seen a great reception from the guitar community until more recent years.
In the early 2000’s, amp modelers were mainly used by musicians who needed to play with headphones on so as not to disturb their neighbors, or by people who needed a portable effects and amp unit and couldn’t afford an entire pedalboard along with a boutique combo tube amplifier. From around 2010 onwards, we have seen developments in digital amp modeling that rival the sounds from the analogue world; regardless of these advancements, there will always be those who defend analogue amplification and effects pedals, but I would like to argue that digital is not anathema to traditional amplification.
Line 6 Helix
One of the most widely used processors in the digital world is the line 6 helix, specifically the stomp (the smaller more portable unit). It is packaged as a pedal but contains everything from effects processing to digital amp modeling.
The benefit of this pedal is that it allows guitarists to build a whole signal chain including the amp and cab, and directly output into the PA and Monitors at gigs, or even play through studio monitors at home. But there is also the option of using it just as an effects processor, and running it through a traditional amp of your choice, thus marrying both the digital world and the analogue world. The question is not ‘digital or analogue?’ but in fact, ‘what works for me?’ Pedals like the HX Stomp mean that guitarists can turn up to any venue with only one pedal and always have a backline that they’re in control of — without amp disasters or inefficient equipment.
What are its Uses?
Portable and Easy to Carry
Digital units have a variety of uses that can be useful specifically for music students, as most of the time, studying guitarists don’t have a crew of roadies and a van to carry their Marshall Stacks. Digital modeling can mean that transporting a desired rig is much easier, with the HX Stomp and other units (e.g. Mooer GE200, Headrush MX5, Boss GT1000 core) being designed for portability. Often I have had to carry both an amp and my pedalboard as well as my guitar across London at rush-hour, and have almost been driven to put down the guitar and take up the ukulele to avoid this problem.
In-the-Box Versatility
Another huge benefit of having one of these digital pedals is that guitarists can craft a tone and rig without the limitations of not having certain pedals or effects. Now, one can dial in a tone that is as close to any guitar recording that they desire without having to spend a fortune on boutique guitar pedals and vintage amplifiers just to sound like Jeff Beck. These pedals also allow for guitarists to completely change their sound throughout a live performance by pressing one footswitch, as opposed to the tap dancing that one may have to perform in order to turn off the three overdrives in time for the RnB section of the song. The Line 6 Helix has a function called Snapshots, this function means that each pedal switch can be assigned to completely different signal chains, say if one wants to change the settings on each effect or completely change the amplifier used by pressing one footswitch.
Don’t Wake the Baby
Aside from the benefits digital units can have on a performance environment, another plus is their practicality at home — whether it be for home recording or for practice. Digital processors can be DI’d straight into an interface and the sound can already be dialed in, so the computer doesn’t need to run any amp modeling software and use more RAM or processing power (creating latency issues or a myriad of other problems on less powerful computers). This also eliminates the need to mic up an amplifier, mute the monitors, and play through headphones, or even the entire ordeal of having to mic something up in the first place. This is particularly helpful when all one is recording are guide tracks or small ideas.
Tones for Days
A final point is how much fun a guitarist can have with digital processing. It is a real joy to sit at home and practice through a rig that you could have only dreamt of playing through before. From a personal experience, I can’t express the satisfaction of trying to replicate the tones that I hear on my favorite records. Tone really does affect the amount of joy one can have when practicing or writing music; as musicians, we need to hear sounds that inspire us to play, and digital modeling can really do this for us. This also means that we can rip solos with as much distortion as we desire in the dead of night by simply plugging in a pair of headphones.
My Experience with the Helix?
I have mentioned the Line 6 Helix Stomp multiple times throughout this article and I think I should probably talk about it and its features. I am biased towards this pedal as it is the primary part of my rig. I personally bought the Helix due to my frustration with my pedalboards always going through repair and my constantly changing line-up of amplifiers that I had to drag around London, but after purchasing it, I found that it had far more to offer than just a simple replacement for my amp and pedalboard.
A quick word on my usage of the Helix: I have often paired the Helix with an analogue pedal that I particularly like the sound of.
The Helix has allowed me to play directly into my chosen DAW without having to worry about my laptop overheating. In recent months, I have taken to using the Helix with a small practice amp so that I can have the experience of playing through an amplifier whilst still attaining the tones that I enjoy from the pedal. Additionally, due to the inbuilt interface in the Helix, I can plug this directly into my laptop and still capture a great guitar sound when creating recordings. This has been particularly useful when practicing as I can quickly create my own backing tracks to play over. This allows me to practice over chord changes that I find particularly difficult in a fun and engaging way outside of just playing along to a metronome and running scale exercises. Practice has become as much about making music as it is about technique and theory and has allowed me to find creative and interesting ways to navigate certain musical concepts without boring myself.
The Helix also has a great interface as well as a plethora of users that have made extremely useful videos online, ranging from the basic usage of the pedal to videos exploring different tones and sounds. These content creators tend to have their own custom-made presets for sale, allowing guitarists to play the same presets as the people they see in the videos.
In Conclusion
I would like to conclude this article by answering the question that I posed at the beginning, ‘what works for me?’ Digital processing means that guitarists have a portable rig that can be adapted to a variety of different situations without excluding the analogue options, thereby significantly reducing the expenses on equipment when creating desired guitar tones. I have often paired the two worlds together in order to get a truly custom sound but the helix allows me to not have to carry a heavy amplifier nor an entire pedalboard around with me when I am playing smaller gigs at venues that might not be well equipped for certain genres of music. It has meant that I never have to worry about a venue having a terrible amp, nor do I have to worry about not having a good amp at home when practicing and feeling uninspired by my guitar tone.