Looking to upgrade to an AX-8 (or Helix) and build a rig around it. Where to start?

Moving to a Helix or AX8 will be vast improvement over your GT-8 but I will say the AX8 sounds better then the Helix and far better than the GT-8 by orders of magnitude. Everything else you are concerned with aside from monitoring solutions seem trivial.

As a 9 year vet of FAS products I can say that they have the best sounding modeler on the planet bar none!
 
I had a Helix since last October or whenever they came out. I was on the wait list for the AX8 and just got it a few weeks ago. The Helix is gone.

For the Helix I feel like this - when the initial videos were released it blew me away. I saw it at summer NAMM through Line 6 L2T speakers and the tones really let me down - but I wrote it off due to floor noise, beta release, etc...

Getting it home once ordered my NAMM feelings were only amplified. The interface was cool, but the sounds - I'll tell you this - I almost just returned it and kept my Boss GT-100. But, I wanted to give it some time so I kept it. It never got any better. Something about the sound of the amp models just rubbed me the wrong way. The only model I really liked was the JC120 if that tells you anything. I have never heard it in person sound anything like the videos - and that includes going to a Helix demonstration and training session at Guitar Center resented by Line 6.

Wanna know what it sounds like - look at normal channels on youtube. I like this one:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpJrfCxQmio6zyjut4n0qRw

Yep, sounds pretty much just like that. Not bad, but not near the level of my AX8.

The AX8 is way more interesting and sounds amazing. The presets are ok, but the real good stuff is in making your own.
 
Yes, what Nimbus and Gzilla said.

In the end a person's economy (meaning the value they place on any of the given features of any product) will vary from one person to the other greatly. So much so that often times the water gets pretty murky when trying to hash through the extensive list of features any of these units have. Assigning the appropriate amount of value to any one feature is exhausting at times. There is no right or wrong answer really to many of the questions I see posted on any of the forums when people are trying to gather all the data they can to make an informed decision on a purchase. There is certainly no harm in asking the questions. Even if I don't mind spending a few extra bucks on an external pedal like the H9 to supplement the AX8 when another person would find that counter productive in an apples to apples comparison makes no real difference in the end.

For me personally if I had thought the sound and feel of the Helix was on par with the AX8 I would have been foolish to offload the Helix and keep the AX8. However, that wasn't the case at all. Another thing that I don't see talked enough about are the qualities one device may have that just cannot be captured or understood by watching even the best of demo videos, and that is how the modeler responds to your individual playing style. That aspect is HUGE in my book.

Because I was an early adopter of the Helix I will just end by echoing what Nimbus said and that I wanted to like it, I did, and I praised it for as long as I had it on the TGP forum. If I had never tried the AX8, I would still be rocking it, and working with it to try and get it sounding just right. Even now that I own an AX8 I will not bash the Helix, because it is an amazing product that checks a lot of boxes, and I am absolutely confident it will continue to grow as a platform and get better and better. Line 6 has really turned a corner as a innovative business, and their customer interaction is stellar, just like FAS. FAS, Kemper, L6, and Atomic are not sitting on their laurels basking in the success of yesterday, and we are the recipient of their tireless dedication to tone.

I have no idea why I finished off this post with such a diatribe, made me feel like I'm running for office or something.

Carry On.
 
sold my helix waiting for XL+ and MFC now. helix was cool , lots of flashing lights, nice screen but the amps.. meh . scribble strips were cool.but we buy for tone right? helix was a bummer for me. There is a reason you see AFX on the big stages it's Fractals constant push for perfection and Fractal updates keep it at the top. I doubt helix will ever get over the L6 hump even with yamahas help. it's a great little unit for ease of use, lots of routing ect..It wasn't for me. just my opinion.
 
Get the CLR...I would get something that can move air (which you don't currently have). You can use with your existing setup with it and no matter which modeler you pick, you can use it. In fact 10 years from now you'll probably still be using the CLR but you will most def have a different modeler.
 
If you are only playing at home I am going to strongly suggest you invest in a high end comfortable and quality set of studio headphones, a Steinburg UR22 USB audio interface and, a computer based modeler (BIAS AMP etc) as this will save you a lot money and get you into a modern modeler quick.

Don't stress so much about your gear, focus on your playing.

Take your telecaster to a guitar tech and make sure there are no issues with it for example. This is far more beneficial than a new pedal.

But if you must, buy the AX8 first.
 
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I have both an AX8 and Helix.. I have gigged the AX8 a good number of times... I'm gigging the Helix this weekend we'll see how my performance goes. I monitor through IEM with no stage volume... I had the AX8 first and I'm able to get good tones out of both... they have different work flows and they have different feature sets. Right now I could take either one and be happy... They both have their strong points... different strong points though.
 
Nimbas said:
I had a Helix since last October or whenever they came out. I was on the wait list for the AX8 and just got it a few weeks ago. The Helix is gone.

For the Helix I feel like this - when the initial videos were released it blew me away. I saw it at summer NAMM through Line 6 L2T speakers and the tones really let me down - but I wrote it off due to floor noise, beta release, etc...

Getting it home once ordered my NAMM feelings were only amplified. The interface was cool, but the sounds - I'll tell you this - I almost just returned it and kept my Boss GT-100. But, I wanted to give it some time so I kept it. It never got any better. Something about the sound of the amp models just rubbed me the wrong way. The only model I really liked was the JC120 if that tells you anything. I have never heard it in person sound anything like the videos - and that includes going to a Helix demonstration and training session at Guitar Center resented by Line 6.

Wanna know what it sounds like - look at normal channels on youtube. I like this one:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpJrfCxQmio6zyjut4n0qRw

Yep, sounds pretty much just like that. Not bad, but not near the level of my AX8.

The AX8 is way more interesting and sounds amazing. The presets are ok, but the real good stuff is in making your own.
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+1!

I had pretty much the exact same experience & impression. I was going to make a long post about it but decided I didn't want to product bash or get into pissing matches with Helix users. Some love it, I just feel way more "in tune" with the AX8.
 
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