Scott Henderson Discussion

[Sandro]

Hi Scott, how are you? Hope to see you soon in Boston MA...

Was just wondering if you are familiar with the Line 6 HX Stomp or any of the HX series from Line 6, from the videos on YouTube it looks very promising, did you try it at all?

All the best!!!!!!

Sandro

[Scott Henderson]

I know about it but haven't tried it - this is more of a box for people who don't use real amps. It has some FX, but not as many as a dedicated multi-FX box, and the foot switches aren't needed (in my case) since my FX box sits on the amp and is controlled by midi.

I've said this a million times, but I wish someone would make a small, modern, midi-controlled multi-FX box with no amp modeling, just great FX. The last one made was the SE-70 and that was 30 years ago. I guess I'm just an old geezer who likes tube amps.

[Thumberstrummer]

Hi Scott.
Let me kindly disagree. I am owning an HX stomp for almost one year now.
And I’ve been a log time aficionado of the previous Line 6 multieffect series (particularly an M13), which I sold just because it is huge.
I am everything but a fan of modelling.
I use it in my FX loop and drive it with a midi pedalboard. Same as you wish to do. Nothing’s tricky there. A wonderful & powerful DSP allows you to use its several capabilities, either for a traditional guitar+peds+amp, as well as a modelling approach.
Let me say that you would appreciate a lot the HX stomp. Is tiny, more or less like your current device (probably smaller), has only 3 switches (which suggest to couple it with a midi pedalboard, whether you need to get beyong basic operations), has tons of awesome effects ready to go (including the heritage ones from M series), but fully adjustable and ALSO a section for modelling.
Being a user of the earlier M line, which was definitely aimed at giving (traditional, not modeller) guitarists a boxstomp-style multieffect, I can say there are a lot of effects on board the FX that, coming from that series, could really suit you.
Especially delays (some are really astonishing). But also modulations, reverbs, some synths... someone claims certain reverbs to be close to Strymon quality... I can’t confirm it though, not having any Strymon handy.
It offer ALSO modelling, but that comes as a plus feature, not necessarily the main one. By the way, it can host also third party IRs (I have uploaded a lot Celestion ones). It’s a permanent host of my board. When practicing at home, I hook up it to my home PA, switch to a different patch, set with a stunning plexi tone, and change output sensitivity from Inst, to Line. That’s all.
There’s a lot of misunderstanding, in my opinion, around this pedal.
Nowadays DSP power may allow things that were unbeliavable in the past.
This device simply can cover several territories, with no quality loss. Noting to do with pure modellers. This is a new generation machine.
BTW I am not a Line 6 reseller. Just a gear geek like you!
Fabio
_________________
Germino Club 40 plexi replica + EJ Strat w Suhr ML st. pups. I'm not asking for more so far (but... who knows...?)

[blackstratblues]

[Scott Henderson]

Thanks for the input guys, I'll check it out. Does anyone know how many presets it has, and does it have an editable midi map?

[Thumberstrummer]

Hi Scott.
"HX Stomp stores 42 banks of three presets (A, B, and C) for a total of 126 presets" (ecerpt from FX manual).
Plenty of room for creating your own things.
Each preset might host till 6 block, where a block is an effect type (e.g. Delay, Reverb, Phaser, etc...). How many blocks you are allowed to put in the same presets, it really depends on how much DSP power u are using. Normally when using it as a regular multieffects (NO modelling), I never face any constraint.
In each category you have the "legacy" effects that descend from the M line.
BTW the M line is the one seen on many pro's pedalboards (e.g. Mike Landau, Oz Noy, etc...), including the glorious M4, with its stunning collection of delays.
I also have an M5 hooked up front amp, kinda tiny swiss knife I use for mudulation effcts, synths, an awesome swell effect (I do not use a volume padal anymore) etc... While all my delays and verbs are provided by the FX Stomp in the FX loop.
FX is fully tweakable and upgradable, also via Mac through a dedicated free app. Midi is fully programmable too.
It can also be connected using the 4 cable method, splitting the unit in two, whereas some effects may go to the front of amp, while others go to the FX loop. But I find that this method sucks tone...
It can run in true bypass mode (btw signal passes through the unit also when switched off) or DSP bypass, which enables the 'trails' feature.
Cheers.
Fabio
_________________
Germino Club 40 plexi replica + EJ Strat w Suhr ML st. pups. I'm not asking for more so far (but... who knows...?)

[Scott Henderson]

Thanks Fabio, if you don't mind, I have a question. I downloaded the manual, and it seems to me that the midi control of presets isn't very flexible. It says that certain blocks or snapshots require specific midi control numbers, and those numbers have to be set on the midi control device. If that's true, the HX wouldn't work for me.

I have a very small pedalboard which only has room for a Tech 21 Midi Mouse. If I had an HX, it would be sitting on top of my amp - I'm very familiar with the Line 6 pedal simulations and there's nothing in there I would want to use in front of the amp.

I like to keep the switching between FX extremely easy, so I only hit one footswitch to change them - I use the 'Up" switch on the Midi Mouse to scroll through my FX presets in the correct order for the song. I have songs in which I hit that Up switch over 20 times, but out of those 20 presets, 10 of them might be just my standard reverb/ delay preset. The SE-70's midi-map allows me to take up only one space in the SE-70 for that reverb/ delay preset, instead of having to waste preset space by putting it into 10 different spaces as I step through the song. I don't see that capability in the HX, at least not in the manual. It seems like the HX was built to use as a pedal, more than an FX box which offers flexible midi control.

If I could figure out how to make it work in my situation, I have no doubt that it sounds much better than the SE-70. Maybe I can get one of the Line 6 guys to come over and give me a demo.

[Thumberstrummer]

Hello Scott.
I am a long time follower of this blog of yours, not mentioning how many times I have seen you live, therefore I know very well how simple and tidy (but toneful) your current live rig is.
If I get it right, you want to scroll through 2 or 3 presets on the HX by simply hitting the up/down switches on your midi mouse.
Well, with certain devices you could get there by setting your multieffect so that when a midi number comes from a controller (the MM in this case) it filters that midi info and redirect it to a certain fixed patch.
With the HX in my opinion you should get the same by storing your own patches in sequence, on memory locations close to each other (1, 2, etc...).
That way you should be able to scroll through a few presets on the HX by simply hitting the up/down switches on the MM.
However I will check my HX to understand if it has further midi features, complaining with your needs
Cheers
Fabio
_________________
Germino Club 40 plexi replica + EJ Strat w Suhr ML st. pups. I'm not asking for more so far (but... who knows...?)

[blackstratblues]

Scott, check out the manual for the HX Effects, not the stomp.
It works really well as a MIDI controller, you may not even need the MIDI mouse. In case you still need the SE70, the HX FX should be able to control it via MIDI.

[Thumberstrummer]

The cons I see in the HX effects vs the Stomp are
- is way bigger
- same price, more or less same features (or less). The Stomp is also an audio interface
- even though nobody here seems interested in amp modelling, it can be extremely helpful for practicing e.g. in a hotel room. It sounds really good, and may be benificial to practice on the same effects you use when playing live.
- both have a 60 seconds looper on board. I love it for practicing on chord changes or experiment new impromptu music.

Unfortunately Scott I do not see a chance for cycling though a fixed series of patches with a single switch push, with the Stomp.
But let me say that feature belongs to a previous generation of musical devices, not seen in any of the latest issues. I remember my Alesis Quadraverb doing the same
Cheers
Fabio
_________________
Germino Club 40 plexi replica + EJ Strat w Suhr ML st. pups. I'm not asking for more so far (but... who knows...?)

[Scott Henderson]

Thanks, I've also been told by some other HX Stomp users that it can't do what I need with midi control. I'm sure it's a great pedal and practice tool though. I use a Pandora PX5D which fits in my guitar case and also has loops to practice over. It's not as powerful as the HX but it's tiny and sounds great.

I'll keep hoping that someone will make a better and more modern version of the SE-70.