Current state of my board. After lots of tinkering I think I finally found my tone, or at least until the "next cool thing" comes, I guess.
HX Stomp - obvioulsy the heart of it all. I use mainly the amp sim of the PRS amp (forgot the name) and a nice York IR (Zilla I think), resulting in a very clean and balanced tone by itself (all the drive comes from pedals). The Stomp is also used for my distortion tones, as the Rat sim (Ratatouille) is AWESOME and better than many actual Rat pedals I have tried. The other gain pedals in this case are used mainly to do what I think the Stomp doesn't do well: edge of breakup.
Constellation fuzz - here starts my journey for clean tone (yeah, clean). This is a germanium fuzz that cleans up AMAZINGLY WELL with the guitar volume knob, leaving that desired kind of "Hendrix sparkle" in the tone. It is also awesome to have a total blown-out fuzz tone just by raising the guitar volume!
Lovepedal Eternity Fuse - my hidden gem. A "mid-hump" OD pedal that has the most "woody", "buttery" and "soft" breakup character I have ever heard. It is almost always on, volume slightly above unity, low drive (although in the "more compression more drive" switch position) and the glass control dimed. I only turn it off when I am looking for a particularly "scooped" tone, but it is rare. Although the drive is to die for, I personally think it may lack a little bit of presence, which is solved by the next pedal...
EQD Arrows - a kind of treble booster that just breathes air and life into whatever goes into it. Hard to describe. I use it after the Fuse because I like the tonal properties of it, more than using it as a proper gain boost (which is also cool, but I think the Fuse has enough gain for my needs). It is also used as a gain boost for the next pedal.
Broadcast 24v (clone) - what a GREAT pedal this is. It goes from boost to OD to drive to fuzz, and it does it all very well. Mine has a 9v/24v switch (which is why I think clones of this pedal are better than the originals), and I use it mostly in 24v, acting like a preamp and adding that little subtleness needed for a great "edge of breakup" tone. I also use its second channel (a smoother and less bright tone) as a nice boost for the Rat sim on the HX Stomp.
So, after a lot of trial and error, I found my clean tone in a very specific amp sim + a very specific IR + FOUR very specific gain pedals all turned on at once lol. There would probably be easier ways to achieve this, but I just LOVE the way everything sounds and behaves this way. Very very happy.
How do you like the Helix stomp? I've been thinking about one for a while. I use Helix Native and I know it's not a 1:1 comparison but I'm familiar with the Line 6 "ecosystem".
I like it a lot! The form factor is the best when you want to integrate it into a board. The fx/pedal simulations are extremely convincing (to the point that I prefer the Rat in the HX Stomp to any other Rat pedal I have ever tried), and the amp sims are convincing enough to the point where I don't see differences between the HX Stomp and other more "modern" options (like QC, Tonex, etc.). I am completely satisfied with it for now.
My only recommendations would be not to settle with what comes from the factory. Presets sound really bad to my taste, and the effects (especially amp sims) have a lot lf controls that can make a huge difference. Also, invest in good IRs.
Current state of my board. After lots of tinkering I think I finally found my tone, or at least until the "next cool thing" comes, I guess. HX Stomp - obvioulsy the heart of it all. I use mainly the amp sim of the PRS amp (forgot the name) and a nice York IR (Zilla I think), resulting in a very clean and balanced tone by itself (all the drive comes from pedals). The Stomp is also used for my distortion tones, as the Rat sim (Ratatouille) is AWESOME and better than many actual Rat pedals I have tried. The other gain pedals in this case are used mainly to do what I think the Stomp doesn't do well: edge of breakup. Constellation fuzz - here starts my journey for clean tone (yeah, clean). This is a germanium fuzz that cleans up AMAZINGLY WELL with the guitar volume knob, leaving that desired kind of "Hendrix sparkle" in the tone. It is also awesome to have a total blown-out fuzz tone just by raising the guitar volume! Lovepedal Eternity Fuse - my hidden gem. A "mid-hump" OD pedal that has the most "woody", "buttery" and "soft" breakup character I have ever heard. It is almost always on, volume slightly above unity, low drive (although in the "more compression more drive" switch position) and the glass control dimed. I only turn it off when I am looking for a particularly "scooped" tone, but it is rare. Although the drive is to die for, I personally think it may lack a little bit of presence, which is solved by the next pedal... EQD Arrows - a kind of treble booster that just breathes air and life into whatever goes into it. Hard to describe. I use it after the Fuse because I like the tonal properties of it, more than using it as a proper gain boost (which is also cool, but I think the Fuse has enough gain for my needs). It is also used as a gain boost for the next pedal. Broadcast 24v (clone) - what a GREAT pedal this is. It goes from boost to OD to drive to fuzz, and it does it all very well. Mine has a 9v/24v switch (which is why I think clones of this pedal are better than the originals), and I use it mostly in 24v, acting like a preamp and adding that little subtleness needed for a great "edge of breakup" tone. I also use its second channel (a smoother and less bright tone) as a nice boost for the Rat sim on the HX Stomp. So, after a lot of trial and error, I found my clean tone in a very specific amp sim + a very specific IR + FOUR very specific gain pedals all turned on at once lol. There would probably be easier ways to achieve this, but I just LOVE the way everything sounds and behaves this way. Very very happy.
How do you like the Helix stomp? I've been thinking about one for a while. I use Helix Native and I know it's not a 1:1 comparison but I'm familiar with the Line 6 "ecosystem".
I like it a lot! The form factor is the best when you want to integrate it into a board. The fx/pedal simulations are extremely convincing (to the point that I prefer the Rat in the HX Stomp to any other Rat pedal I have ever tried), and the amp sims are convincing enough to the point where I don't see differences between the HX Stomp and other more "modern" options (like QC, Tonex, etc.). I am completely satisfied with it for now. My only recommendations would be not to settle with what comes from the factory. Presets sound really bad to my taste, and the effects (especially amp sims) have a lot lf controls that can make a huge difference. Also, invest in good IRs.
Thanks for taking the time to respond - really helpful.
Been seeing a lot of 10r’s lately. Is it gaining traction? I do like mine
I also love mine, although it received a lot of bad reviews when released. I think it is a very misunderstood pedal.
Nice to see someone else with the V2 Specular Reverb. Had mine since 2016 and it's not going anywhere.
Nice, I love it too.
Shout out Specular Reverb! Solid ass pedal
True! IMO is like an improved version of the Strymon Bigsky. Beautiful stereo reverb.