I know you suggested that I use quality headphones, but I just played it at a low volume on my phone speakers while my kid ran around the room banging plastic toys together. I couldn’t hear any difference. I didn’t feel the difference either, on account of the fact that you were playing the guitar and not me. This video is trash. Thumbs down.
@Gordon - You actually contradicted yourself. Read back what you wrote and you may wanna delete it. But don't be embarrassed. Its fine. @Jason - Never mind. The difference is subtle but noticeable. I tend to use it a lot along with Bias for my lead tones and I fully agree with you. They have a magical impact on the core texture of the tone. Great Video.🙂
@@purplelusture so, just out of curiosity: how many jokes do I have to put in about listening on bad speakers in a noisy room before you realize that I’m kidding about the video being trash? I mean, I said I couldn’t feel the difference because he was playing the guitar and not me. Come on.
@@JasonSadites 😀 oh good. That other comment had me worried. Seriously a great video. The tip about volume matching is invaluable. You’re the first person I’ve seen actually demonstrate the (admittedly somewhat subtle) changes that come from adjusting the bias and sag.
@@Newnodrogbob The English language is very easily misconstrued when spoken, and it gets worse when written, where you lose tonal and timing cues, facial expression, and body language. Layer on top of that, humor, an advanced concept, is being attempted. It can be very easy for different people to get different messages from the same text.
I had to make a pit stop in the bathroom while you were running through the 3 snapshots, and even from there, I could easily tell which snapshot you were using at all times. Thanks for running this demo so carefully. I have been ignoring sag and several other amp tweaks in my Line6 HX Stomp XL. I will at least know what sag does to the tone now.
I tend to add sag to make my rock tones feel better, but reduce it for metal. Your videos are terrific and I’m so glad you keep making Helix videos after all this time. Always stuff to learn. 👌
Inspired by this video, I started playing around with this to try to hear and feel the difference, as I couldn't really tell very much. In my experimentation, the easiest way to tell a difference wasn't heavy palm mutes as I would have expected, but fast legato runs. High sag made this feel MUCH easier and liquid. Low sag made it feel very difficult.
Great video this was one of my issues with Helix,.the feel and getting the eq to make the unit feel.and sound more like a amp in the room type unit great start for getting it dialed in
One of the first things I do when starting a preset is to crank the sag up. Without it, I find the HX has a 'stiff' feel. Tube compressor between amp and cab helps as well. Can't quite get rid of that tight feeling but maybe that's the frfr I'm using, or just the nature of modelling. I'm learning to live with it though, as the price to pay for creating so many fantastic tones.
Love your knowledge and also your channel - very helpful! But I'd like to suggest that showing things on the editor is not helpful. Even on full screen of a decent size monitor (or not on full screen for that matter) none of the text parameters are legible. Please consider using the Helix window which is very easy to read and will make your channel even more enjoyable.
A lower sag (4.4) favors playing in chords or fifths Saturated by a little more attack, a more open, less messy sound; Nolly/QC way, Djent. And in the opposite direction, by increasing the sag, the sound seems more compressed, the bass and the low mids are less well defined, more rough. I don't find much benefit in increasing the sag. Thank you very much Jason for this very interesting exploration of the Sag.
To my ears, much more obvious when played live rather than demo'd on a loop. That would suggest that "feel" makes a difference to the player. Good exploration of how the sag parameter works.
I believe I read in the manual that Bias also affected the sag behaviour, and I think it was much more pronounced with higher master volume. Try it at home with master at 9 or so, and compensate between snapshots with channel volume as in the video, if needed.
I will say that the sag is fun. I use the amp sims in the HX in front of clean tube amps. I use the eq from the amp and adjust the eq in the HX quite lower than if using it by itself. Then adjust the sag for flavor.
When I initially started using my HX Stomp and was trying to get a better "feel," I did look into the Sag settings. And though they did help, they didn't provide the dramatic difference I was looking for. I didn't appreciate the relationship with Sag and Volume parameters until this video. Thanks for clarifying that. Recently, I've had good success using the Low/High EQ Block to liven up and get the kind of "feel" I was really looking for.
low/high with low pushed at 150Hz between amp and cabinet makes it sound warmer, like being in the room with the amp. I saw it in another youtube channel.
I didn't really here anything different....listening on studio monitors....maybe my ears are old....the only thing I have noticed with sag is a change in the higher frequencies from one end to the other but I didn't match the volumes either....
Sag 0 has an unnatural attack speed, like what we associate with a DI sound. Sag 10 feels too mushy. Low sag might be good to djent, and high sag might be good for blues.
My old JCM 800 would sometimes have this mili second of latency or lag…I always thought this was what was meant by “sag”…it made playing that amp incredibly fun…I’m not sure if thats what sag is …I’m no expert on these things 😳
Yeah, my understanding is it's like a VERY short reverse reverb, or super fast swell. Which is why people are saying they like it maxed for Rock or more feely type jams, and zeroed out for the super tight more rhythmic or percussive type guitar like Metal.
If the differences are that subtle that you have to use high-quality headphones to hear, then in all likelihood those differences will be lost in a live mix.
Yes, because the sag is more a "feel" thing, than a "sound" thing. It's more about how the guitar reacts when you play. So of course in a mix you won't tell the differences, but as a guitarist you will clearly feel the differences.
I must be deaf man, because my ear pallet is not catching any dif at all.... sounds the same to me no matter what you set the sag to. im going to plug in and see if I can hear/ feel the dif in person..... I'm new to electric guitar and have never owned an amp, I have a Helix floor and a power cab with a Fender Ultra Luxe Strat, and I am not even sure what it mean when people are talking about the amp in the room "feeling"
In this demo, the higher the sag, the louder the sustain sounds to me. Lower sag sounds to me like the amp has a less pronounced sustain, adding to the perceived attack sensitivity.
I know you suggested that I use quality headphones, but I just played it at a low volume on my phone speakers while my kid ran around the room banging plastic toys together. I couldn’t hear any difference. I didn’t feel the difference either, on account of the fact that you were playing the guitar and not me. This video is trash. Thumbs down.
@Gordon - You actually contradicted yourself. Read back what you wrote and you may wanna delete it. But don't be embarrassed. Its fine.
@Jason - Never mind. The difference is subtle but noticeable. I tend to use it a lot along with Bias for my lead tones and I fully agree with you. They have a magical impact on the core texture of the tone.
Great Video.🙂
@@purplelusture so, just out of curiosity: how many jokes do I have to put in about listening on bad speakers in a noisy room before you realize that I’m kidding about the video being trash? I mean, I said I couldn’t feel the difference because he was playing the guitar and not me. Come on.
I figured it was a joke, that is why I pinned the best 🤣
@@JasonSadites 😀 oh good. That other comment had me worried. Seriously a great video. The tip about volume matching is invaluable. You’re the first person I’ve seen actually demonstrate the (admittedly somewhat subtle) changes that come from adjusting the bias and sag.
@@Newnodrogbob The English language is very easily misconstrued when spoken, and it gets worse when written, where you lose tonal and timing cues, facial expression, and body language. Layer on top of that, humor, an advanced concept, is being attempted. It can be very easy for different people to get different messages from the same text.
I had to make a pit stop in the bathroom while you were running through the 3 snapshots, and even from there, I could easily tell which snapshot you were using at all times. Thanks for running this demo so carefully. I have been ignoring sag and several other amp tweaks in my Line6 HX Stomp XL. I will at least know what sag does to the tone now.
I tend to add sag to make my rock tones feel better, but reduce it for metal. Your videos are terrific and I’m so glad you keep making Helix videos after all this time. Always stuff to learn. 👌
What he said
I learn so much from your videos. There's a few of you guys that Line 6 owes a huge debt of gratitude. So much better than the manuals.
agreed!
High sag seems to be almost like a compressor with a fast attack and fast release. Cuts the transients. Nice demo.
Inspired by this video, I started playing around with this to try to hear and feel the difference, as I couldn't really tell very much.
In my experimentation, the easiest way to tell a difference wasn't heavy palm mutes as I would have expected, but fast legato runs. High sag made this feel MUCH easier and liquid. Low sag made it feel very difficult.
No sag = more revealing of playing mistakes or inconsistancies.
Great video this was one of my issues with Helix,.the feel and getting the eq to make the unit feel.and sound more like a amp in the room type unit great start for getting it dialed in
One of the first things I do when starting a preset is to crank the sag up. Without it, I find the HX has a 'stiff' feel. Tube compressor between amp and cab helps as well. Can't quite get rid of that tight feeling but maybe that's the frfr I'm using, or just the nature of modelling. I'm learning to live with it though, as the price to pay for creating so many fantastic tones.
Love your knowledge and also your channel - very helpful! But I'd like to suggest that showing things on the editor is not helpful. Even on full screen of a decent size monitor (or not on full screen for that matter) none of the text parameters are legible. Please consider using the Helix window which is very easy to read and will make your channel even more enjoyable.
Thx 4 explaing that. Always Was looking for explanation for that subject. That is most time one of them controls you hardly ever touch or use.
A lower sag (4.4) favors playing in chords or fifths Saturated by a little more attack, a more open, less messy sound; Nolly/QC way, Djent. And in the opposite direction, by increasing the sag, the sound seems more compressed, the bass and the low mids are less well defined, more rough. I don't find much benefit in increasing the sag.
Thank you very much Jason for this very interesting exploration of the Sag.
To my ears, much more obvious when played live rather than demo'd on a loop. That would suggest that "feel" makes a difference to the player. Good exploration of how the sag parameter works.
Sag at 1 sounds best to me.
Hum at zero.
I believe I read in the manual that Bias also affected the sag behaviour, and I think it was much more pronounced with higher master volume. Try it at home with master at 9 or so, and compensate between snapshots with channel volume as in the video, if needed.
Which amp models would you crank up the sag and which ones would you turn it down? 🙏😊🎸
I will say that the sag is fun. I use the amp sims in the HX in front of clean tube amps. I use the eq from the amp and adjust the eq in the HX quite lower than if using it by itself. Then adjust the sag for flavor.
When I initially started using my HX Stomp and was trying to get a better "feel," I did look into the Sag settings. And though they did help, they didn't provide the dramatic difference I was looking for. I didn't appreciate the relationship with Sag and Volume parameters until this video. Thanks for clarifying that.
Recently, I've had good success using the Low/High EQ Block to liven up and get the kind of "feel" I was really looking for.
low/high with low pushed at 150Hz between amp and cabinet makes it sound warmer, like being in the room with the amp. I saw it in another youtube channel.
Wouldn't the master control being at 100% make the differences in sag easier to hear?
@@ronsom1976 he meant master at 9 all the time. And Bias also affects sag.
I can't understand how people think that tubes are what moves the air in the room... That's what speakers do.
great video!!!
I didn't really here anything different....listening on studio monitors....maybe my ears are old....the only thing I have noticed with sag is a change in the higher frequencies from one end to the other but I didn't match the volumes either....
Sag 0 has an unnatural attack speed, like what we associate with a DI sound. Sag 10 feels too mushy. Low sag might be good to djent, and high sag might be good for blues.
My old JCM 800 would sometimes have this mili second of latency or lag…I always thought this was what was meant by “sag”…it made playing that amp incredibly fun…I’m not sure if thats what sag is …I’m no expert on these things 😳
Yeah, my understanding is it's like a VERY short reverse reverb, or super fast swell. Which is why people are saying they like it maxed for Rock or more feely type jams, and zeroed out for the super tight more rhythmic or percussive type guitar like Metal.
Yo incluso desde el movil note diferencia 😂😂
If the differences are that subtle that you have to use high-quality headphones to hear, then in all likelihood those differences will be lost in a live mix.
Yes, because the sag is more a "feel" thing, than a "sound" thing. It's more about how the guitar reacts when you play.
So of course in a mix you won't tell the differences, but as a guitarist you will clearly feel the differences.
I must be deaf man, because my ear pallet is not catching any dif at all.... sounds the same to me no matter what you set the sag to. im going to plug in and see if I can hear/ feel the dif in person..... I'm new to electric guitar and have never owned an amp, I have a Helix floor and a power cab with a Fender Ultra Luxe Strat, and I am not even sure what it mean when people are talking about the amp in the room "feeling"
I think it's a beautiful bass end, maybe because of the low freqs bouncing a little inside the room, I don't know.
In this demo, the higher the sag, the louder the sustain sounds to me. Lower sag sounds to me like the amp has a less pronounced sustain, adding to the perceived attack sensitivity.
Not gonna lie.... No difference to ny ear lol
first
Buy an amp?
🤣🤣😂😂