Getting started
Beta · Updated 23 October 2026
1. What it does, and what you need
You describe a tone in plain words. Preset Pilot builds a working Helix preset from it — amp, cab, drives, modulation, delay, reverb, snapshots — that you can download or load straight onto a slot.
To generate and download presets: any computer with a browser. The .hlx files load into a Helix Floor, LT or Rack through HX Edit, and into Helix Native 3.80 or newer.
To edit your Helix live from the browser:
- Windows 10 or 11, in Chrome or Edge.
- HX Edit installed and up to date (free from Line 6). It sets up the USB connection — there's nothing to install from us. Keep it closed while you use Preset Pilot.
- A Helix Floor or Helix LT. We've tested on firmware 3.80; if something misbehaves on another version, tell us.
2. Getting in
Anyone can sign up. Go to presetpilot.com/login and click Sign in with Google. That's your account, with no password to remember. Your first day is free: 24 hours of the whole thing, no card.
Got a beta invite link? Open it and sign in the same way: an invite makes your account a beta tester, free while the beta runs. Once you have an account, you never need the link again.
3. Your first preset
- Open the editor: Rigs → Helix, or go straight to presetpilot.com/edit.
- Click Generate preset (top of the editor). If no Helix is connected, the button in the middle of the page reads Generate a preset — same thing.
- Describe the sound the way you'd tell a bandmate. Name the amp, the pedal, the band or the song if you have one in mind: Edge-of-breakup Fender clean with a touch of spring reverb Modern metal rhythm, tight low end, scooped mids, V30 4x12 Ambient cleans, shimmer reverb, dotted-eighth delay, post-rock
- Under Generating for, pick your guitar if you've added one — pickups change what a preset should do.
- Click Generate. It takes a few seconds. You get the chain, the settings, and notes on anything that couldn't translate.
- Then either click Download .hlx to save the file, or — with live editing set up — Load onto Helix… and pick a slot.
Didn't land? Generate again with more detail: gain level, the room you want, which pickup you're on. Every preset you make is saved under Presets: open one and click Load onto Helix… to put it on a slot any time.
4. Loading an .hlx in HX Edit or Helix Native
- Open HX Edit with your Helix connected.
- Pick an empty slot in the preset list, or one you're happy to replace.
- Drag the .hlx file onto that slot — or use Import in HX Edit's preset menu.
- Close HX Edit before you come back to Preset Pilot. Only one program can talk to the Helix at a time.
Helix Native: use Import in Native's preset library and pick the .hlx. You need Native 3.80 or newer, set to Helix Floor/Rack/LT compatibility (not HX Stomp or HX Effects). We haven't tried every preset in Native ourselves yet, so if one won't import, tell us.
5. Live editing setup
Live editing reads and writes your Helix straight from the browser: switch presets, move knobs, swap models, save to slots, back up the whole unit. Set it up once:
- Close HX Edit. It and Preset Pilot can't hold the Helix at the same time.
- Plug the Helix into your computer over USB and open presetpilot.com/edit in Chrome or Edge.
- Click Connect your Helix. Your browser lists the USB devices it can see — pick your Helix and click Connect. The editor reads the current preset and your preset list.
The browser remembers that permission: next time, open the editor and it connects on its own. You can leave the tab open in the background while you play.
6. Using the editor
- Blocks: click a block to see its knobs, double-click to open it full size, right-click a slot to add, swap or remove a block, and drag a block to move it. Changes go to the Helix as you make them.
- Snapshots: click one in the snapshot bar to recall it; double-click to rename it.
- Save to Helix stores the preset in its slot, the way pressing Save on the unit does.
- ☁ Back up to cloud (in the preset list) reads all eight setlists and keeps the backup in your account. ⤓ Back up setlist saves just the one you're looking at.
- ☁ Cloud tab: your Helix on the left, your cloud library on the right. Drag a cloud preset onto any slot on the left to load it there.
- When you tweak a generated preset and save it, Preset Pilot learns from what you changed — your next presets start closer to how you dial things in.
7. When something's off
| You see | Do this |
|---|---|
| “Connect your Helix” keeps coming back | Check the USB cable and that the Helix is on, then click it again and pick the Helix in the list. |
| “Something else has your Helix” | Close HX Edit (or a second Preset Pilot tab). The editor connects within a few seconds. |
| The Helix never connects | Your Helix may be on an older Line 6 USB driver. Install the latest HX Edit from line6.com, unplug and replug the Helix, then reload the editor. |
| Your Helix isn't in the browser's list | Preset Pilot works with Helix Floor and Helix LT for now. Check the USB cable and that the Helix is switched on. |
| Presets don't switch on the Helix | Reload the editor. If it keeps happening, press the 🐞 button so we get the details. |
| Anything else | Press the 🐞 button in the app to send a report with the details attached, or use the contact form. A person reads every message. |
8. Your data
We keep your presets, backups and edits so the service works — nothing is sold or shared. The privacy policy has the details, and you can delete your account any time from your account page.
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