SeafoamJones

No, you won’t regret it unless you sell pedals that are niche or hard to come by again. Definitely keep your fuzzes.

Helix has a ton of great FX and the quality of most are nearly indiscernible form their pedal counterparts. The fuzz in all modelers isn’t quite right in my experience. I’ve got an HX Stomp (had the older Fractal floor unit before that) and I have kept my favorite pedals and a couple of niche or rare-ish pedals not in the Helix library. I’ve sold off the majority of my pedals.

After 6-7 years into my modeling journey (had a Fractal AX8 before the Helix), I am now into a less is more mindset. I still prefer a real amp with as few pedals as possible. I own amps that don’t need additional drives, EQs, or boosts. They either have a great built-in attenuator or a usable sweep in the master volume for bedroom use. 99% of the time I’m going guitar->amp these days. For that reason, I’ve only fired up the Stomp for updates. I don’t want to fiddle with things. I just want to play.

Congratulations! Those are really nice.

I, too, have the 000-15sm. Amazing sounding guitar that sounds better and better every time I pick it up. It’s the perfect size for me.

I went on a long and expensive pick quest a number of years ago and have tried just about every type of pick I could get my hands on. Different materials, different thicknesses, different shapes, etc. I learned a lot and these days I’ve settled on 3 or 4 picks that I use depending on the guitar that I’m using or the style of music I’m playing.

With that said, I’ve been playing 1.20mm Pick Boy Home Plate picks mainly. Herco Holy Grail and Dunlop Heavy Gels are my 2nd choices. I also like the Dunlop Flows. I have a few different versions ranging in thicknesses and materials from Tortex to Primetone. I’ve been experimenting with some thumb picks as of late, too.

EDITED: Forgot to include Dunlop Flow picks

That’s interesting that the Avalanche Run was sold out and shops didn’t have ETAs. I guess it’s still in demand. You can’t go wrong with the Strymon, though. It’s an amazing unit that does everything.

That’s good to hear that you like the MXR Trem. I had been looking at a few trem pedals and this one seemed to sound good in all modes and has a ton of versatility based on the online demos. I’ll have to see if the Mission Engineering expression pedal will work with this MXR. I can’t wait to experiment with it more.

The TrueTone stuff is really good. I had a CS7 before and it powered a lot of stuff. But I did need a similar versatility with different scaling that you’re running into and got the Cioks for that reason. Your board is bigger than mine, so I can totally see the Fender Power Engine being a great upgrade. Of course a GigRig would be amazing, too.

I really like the Hizumitas. I’m not a huge fuzz person, but this one can do a lot. Nice wide range of fuzz tones. I like the wall of fuzz type tones it can produce and it’s how I’m using it. It is a very close 2nd to my KittyCaster FX Groovy Wizard. I’ll probably be swapping those fuzzes back and forth depending on what I’m playing and the type of fuzz I’m in the mood for.

I love the Dispatch Master. Being a 2-for-1 pedal doing reverb and delay so well is why I dig it so much. It works great in front of an amp or in the loop. I like to put it on for leads or to add some spread to rhythm parts. I’m not chasing super ambient or layered shoegaze type tones, so it works perfectly for me. If one were to be looking for longer, crazier delay/reverb stuff, I’d suggest the Avalanche Run or Afterneath depending on how many features are needed.

Nice board. I just got that MXR Tremolo for Xmas. What are you powering the board with?

I started out the year mainly using my HX Stomp out of convenience. I used a Mission Engineering expression pedal with it, along with a 3 button MIDI controller for expanded functionality. I had some presets using the amp models and FX in the Stomp. Other presets were just FX and either all in front of an amp or utilizing the 4CM.

A few months ago I was stuck in a bit of an uninspired rut and decided to put a board back together. Right now it’s a TC Polytune Mini Noir -> Dunlop Fasel wah -> EQD Hizumitas -> EQD Grand Orbiter -> Mythos Wildwood Mjolner -> EQD Dispatch Master. I need to squeeze the MXR Trem in there. All powered by a Cioks power supply.

I have played with my picking hand fingers more flared out like an “ok” sign and tend to anchor my pinky finger against the body at all times. I’m not opposed to maintaining an anchored pinky for certain techniques, but curling my fingers more like a fist instead of an “ok” sign is helping control unwanted string noise. It also is changing (for the better) how I attack the strings with a more controlled angle.

I also pinched the pick (for lack of a better description) between my index finger’s tip and my thumb. My index finger was more straight than curled. Now I’m trying to hold the pick with the pick against my index finger’s first knuckle (after the finger nail) and the side of the finger while curled vs the pinching method.

I hope that makes sense.

Working on my picking hand. I’ve always felt my picking hand was pretty accurate, but I know I have some bad habits that should be addressed. I started to become more focused on how I hold a pick, the type of pick I use, and adjusting things to improve my attack, technique, and overall accuracy.

In some ways, it’s a little like starting over after 30+ years of playing. I can’t play every riff, solo, or full song as well as I do when I fall back on “bad habits”, but I know the persistence will pay off. The YouTuber and pro-musician, Bernth, was a bit of an inspiration for me to assess my picking hand technique and start the process of improvement.