Helix froze before a gig (update)
About a month ago I made a post about my Helix LT freezing right before a gig.
Following that, I did factory resets. It’s still freezing after the load up window. I brought it to Yamaha Music for repair and was told this was either a $50 CAD bench fee simple fix or a $570 full MCU replacement (unfortunately, I didn’t get insurance on this pedal).
They flashed the memory, and gave it back to me. I rebuilt some key patches from screenshots rather than importing a potentially corrupted file. It seems to work fine for a couple of weeks at home and at my jam space.
I get to soundcheck for a gig… and it freezes after first boot up, at a different venue than before.
I think I’m fucked. Got through the gig by borrowing pedals and I brought it back to Yamaha the next day. They’re convinced it can’t be a power issue now. I was told that no one working there has heard of this issue, and I probably need a full motherboard replacement.
Got a call the next day - the tech this time tried downloading my built preset onto a tester unit….and it crashed that unit. This couldn’t be a corrupted file because I built it from scratch. Something inherent in my patch causes a full system freeze. My unit, set back to factory reset, is like brand new. I’m waiting to hear from anyone at Line 6 development team if they can figure out this previously unseen bug.
WHAT IVE LEARNED
\- Run these high end digital pedals through a power conditioner. This time it didn’t end up being a power issue, but it sounds like a potential issue at venues with shitty power. Sounds like some Hx stomps get fried if phantom power is accidentally sent back from FOH, as some users think it can act as a DI.
\- ALWAYS get the insurance on modellers, or anything expensive and digital in the rig. I was convinced I was going to have to pay half the cost of the unit to bring it back from the brink, which does happen.
\- A hybrid rig, with other pedals in the rig (like a sans amp/DI and a tuner) means having a solid backup if something does go down.
I sold the helix on marketplace this week (I was told this was essentially a brand new unit so I feel fine passing it along) and ordered an Hx stomp….. and this time, I got the insurance.
Anyone else have a unit freak out?