T H E GA S STATION HeadRush: user- and gig-friendly with some standout high-end effects like tape delay 96 Words Alex Lynham / Photography Olly Curtis HEAD TO HEAD lIne 6 helIx lt headrush pedalBoard Have these all-encompassing floor units finally nailed modelling at a realistic price point? ToTal GuiTar summer 2017 TGR296.gear_test.
the tg test 97 F or some time, professional players have been trading in their valve rigs for Axe-Fx and Kemper units that rely on amp, cabinet and microphone modelling to deliver consistent stage and studio sounds. Not only that, but with a wealth of guitar effects on tap and many otherwise difficult signal routing combinations on offer, these have allowed a revolution in dynamic and timbral shifts to occur in certain types of music, with no pedal tap-dancing or human error in sight.
T H E GA S STATION LINe 6 HeLIX Lt £932 With great power comes great responsibility The Helix LT integrates with the L6’s DT amp series and Variax guitars; the dedicated input is at the back of the unit Line 6 modelling? We’ve been here before... Line 6 is the company most associated with consumer-grade modelling. Some efforts have aged better than others, many have become workhorses and benchmarks for the industry, like the DL4 delay and looper. The Helix falls into the latter category.
the tg test HeadRUSH PedaLBoaRd £899 Turn it up to 11 With no bundled Pro Tools the HeadRush is clearly aimed at the gigging guitarist Has Avid made anything like this before? As it happens, yes, they have. The Eleven Rack was a standalone rack unit for guitar and effects processing that Avid released a few years back. It had a few issues, most notably that a floorboard and expression couldn’t be connected at the same time.
the tg test Easy navigation with the HeadRush interface Head to head Which unit leads the way as music’s top model? T 100 here’s more in common between these units than there are differences. For live performance, both units boast a ‘setlist’ feature, allowing you to organise your patches into a scrollable order. The scribble strips on the HeadRush make this slightly more user-friendly.
T H E GA S STATION FINaL VeRdICt Which modelling unit is the right one for you? t he world of modelling is now fully grown up. It’s commonplace to find records by small and touring bands that use fully modelled amplifiers – whether it be from a plug-in like Positive Grid’s BIAS, or a hardware rack unit like the Axe-Fx.
