LINE 6 HX STOMP

£558

The flagship Helix Floor was a genuinely watershed bit of guitar kit when it came out in October. And though it joins a now rather crowded range of Helixderived devices, the HX Stomp (see review, p106), which puts all of the ‘big’ Helix’s amp models and effects in a box you can put on a ’board, may well cause another seismic shift – just through its small size. As a fly-in rig you can drop in your coat pocket, it’s formidable. Or maybe it joins a couple of choice analogue drives on a conventional ’board as a massively tone-expanding effects unit that can also serve as backup for your valve amp if it goes down? Or maybe it sits on your desktop in a home studio and lets you quietly get on with recording a myriad of solid guitar tracks without fuss. You can see how small size alone has moved the Helix game on another yard or two towards the goal line and, though it’s a recent launch, that’s why the HX Stomp effortlessly makes the cut in our Gear Of The Year. www.line6.com