Originally Posted By: Jim Fogle
Pat, that's a nice guitar. The thumb wheel control to select twelve alternate tunings is pretty neat. I believe the Line 6 Helix has a Variax digital cable port. The Variax port may be able to provide power to the Variax electronic circuitry. So you don't need to have a battery power pack installed in the guitar. The Variax can send a digital audio signal through the cable and an analog audio signal through the guitar plug.

One thing many people may not realize is that Yamaha bought Line 6. Yamaha has improved the Line 6 quality control.


Thanks for weighing in Jim. As an engineer, you always have interesting observations to make.

On the Line6 user forum, a lot of long standing users have commented on the favorable change in quality since Yamaha took over. I'm a big fan of Yamaha products. My last gear acquisition before buying the Helix was a Yamaha acoustic (AC5R), which I researched a lot before buying an acoustic. I love it. The electronics are amazing, the Japanese workmanship is flawless, the action is as low as my electric, the acoustic tone is the best I've heard... and paired with the helix, it really delivers a nice sound. The Helix lets me combine a plugged signal and a mic signal and add separate effects to each path. Again, you can get any sound you want.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ey71h8ep047758h/AAC12jNM0Hz9Q8zsh5iDeqNHa?dl=0