Who here can't stand PODs?

[JLagoon]

Re: Who here can't stand PODs?

Well, I'm not sure how the POD stuff has improved since version 2.0 Nevertheless, The non-XT POD (haven't tried the XT) is horrible. It's a good toy, but the sound has fake written all over it.

There's a guy who performed in my college with XT Live, I must say that it sounded decent, but was not good enough. Well, maybe he didn't tweak it enough, but who knows?

 

[MartinSixStringCustoms]

Re: Who here can't stand PODs?

I've owned them in the past and its fine for home practice, but I'd never dream of playing out with one.

 

[InstituteOfNoise]

Re: Who here can't stand PODs?

It's another tool in the shed to use. I've heard as many bad POD tones as real tube amp tones time and time again. It's all how you use it... tweaking or application. I've got plenty of tracks that you'd be hard pressed if at all be able to tell which is POD and which isn't in a real record mix.

I also use the XT in 2 Atomic Amps in stereo for club gigs and some recording that sounds better than 90% of the rigs I hear out in LA on any day. It's definitely one of the most versatile. I recently was lucky enough to play on some tracks on a session with master session player Dean Parks. I used the Atomic/XT combo on some parts. The producer requested it. You can't tell it's a POD by any shape or form. Blended right it works great! Sure I use plenty of tube gear too. Whatever is right for the job that's what's used.

Lately when using the PODxt direct in the studio, I have a stereo tube buffer device made my a guy who used to work for Kendrick Amps, that warms it up immensely and adds a small bit of gain if needed. Kind of like the missing link.

Here's a quickie clip I did using the Buffer and some of the new PODxt amp models when I was beta testing it for Line 6. It has the 18w Marshall, the Fawn AC30 NonTop boost for the rhythms, and the jumped Plexi for the lead. This is the Classic Collector model pack default called SexyPlexi which I did for Line 6. Aside from the type of music it is and whether you like it or not, you can't deny it doesn't sound decent in the least...

http://www.instituteofnoise.com/music/Tritunes_Funky_B.mp3

The link to the buffer it is http://www.redironamps.com and select new products on the upper right to read about it.

Sorry about the lousy pic quality here...

 

[ex-250]

Re: Who here can't stand PODs?

it does exactly what i need it to. i like churning out a bunch of recordings whenever i want, and micing up and amp, etc. just seems like so much effort (and money if you want it done right)

 

[RevJToad]

Re: Who here can't stand PODs?

They are great for home recording and practice

period. :>

 

[pinto79]

Re: Who here can't stand PODs?

At one point in my guitar playing life I got tired of dragging 18+ pedals and 2 half stacks to practice, so I started looking at single units to do this stuff... I tried the BOSS GX-700 and it did some things well, but nothing spectacular. The only other thing remotely close to my price range at the time was the BRAND NEW POD from Line 6. at the store, I plugged an Ibanez RG470 into the ting and selected "Rectified" and "Delay/Chorus 2".

I was in tone heaven. Exactly what I was looking for.

I traded in 18 pedals (Kept the wah, but please note that some of those pedals are now highly sought after, MIJ DS-1, Marshal Drive Master, Marshall Shred Master etc). This was when the Original Pod sold for over $400 Canadian.

Well, plugged it into my JCM800 running clean and it was OK. not great, not bad, but OK. After about 3 months, I'd grown tired of the weakness due to having to run the amp clean.

So, I gave it to my buddy who made a $400 down payment on my AX2. World of difference. More computing power, so the models sound more realistic.

Now 7 years later, I need tubes and Pedals. But I will keep the AX2 around for silent recording.

Trevor

 

[WhoFan]

Re: Who here can't stand PODs?

I'm not a huge POD fan but i do like them.... lots of good direct sounds.... Neat FX's..... Out of all the Multifx's units i have ever had my Pod 2.0 is the first i had that when you take all the delay based FX's off and have just the amp sounds it still sounds pretty good for an FX unit..

I grabbed my 2.0 used with a large board controller for a good price... when the XT was new a whole bunch of the 2.0's were being sold used for cheap so i grabbed one!!!! I don't use it very much but in my old band i used it on our demo recordings..... and i used to carry it in my gig bag in case something happened to my amp rig.... at least in a pinch i could still get a signal to the PA...

I will end up with more of these fx modelers as i come across them used.... i still wish to buy a Keyboard amp as a POD sounds WONDERFUL thru one... if i get a keyboard amp i could use various modelers for fooling around in my bedroom at low volumes but still sound like an amp...

 

[JeffB]

Re: Who here can't stand PODs?

great clip ION!

I'll say this much...the POD is VERY sensitive to just how good your guitar , electronics,and pickups are..much moreso than a "real" amp (tube/hybrid or SS).

With an exceptional instrument, it really comes to life, so to speak. My best guitars with excpetional wood, electronics and pups like my R8 and Hamer, REALLY sounded great through it...made the thing sound much more like a real amp through the Atomic. None of my imports sound half as good through it, though through a real amp, the diff isn't as great.

 

[Voxman]

Re: Who here can't stand PODs?

great clip ION!

I'll say this much...the POD is VERY sensitive to just how good your guitar , electronics,and pickups are..much moreso than a "real" amp (tube/hybrid or SS).

With an exceptional instrument, it really comes to life, so to speak. My best guitars with excpetional wood, electronics and pups like my R8 and Hamer, REALLY sounded great through it...made the thing sound much more like a real amp through the Atomic. None of my imports sound half as good through it, though through a real amp, the diff isn't as great.

That`s true,i get to know a lot about a guitar when plugging it into the pod

 

[OlinMusic]

Re: Who here can't stand PODs?

They have come a loooooooong way.

They won't replace tube amps, but daaaaaaaaaaaamn

People always think they have you fooled, but you work for hours mic-ing and post prod on a great tube guitar sound, nothing compares.

The POD XT and XT Live are really cool. You need to single out some sounds like the Diezel, Jubilee, Variac Plexi sounds - these work well and are responsive. The Univibe doesn't replace a Univibe.

I think you have to layer POD tracks far more to get a full sound. You will never surpass Brian May or Gilmour, Hendrix, Trower, Santana, Dickey Betts etc with these digi-tones, but man - no mic'ing and instant lazy success. hmmmmmmmmmmmm

 

[WhoFan]

Re: Who here can't stand PODs?

great clip ION!

I'll say this much...the POD is VERY sensitive to just how good your guitar , electronics,and pickups are..much moreso than a "real" amp (tube/hybrid or SS).

With an exceptional instrument, it really comes to life, so to speak. My best guitars with excpetional wood, electronics and pups like my R8 and Hamer, REALLY sounded great through it...made the thing sound much more like a real amp through the Atomic. None of my imports sound half as good through it, though through a real amp, the diff isn't as great.

i have a weird one for ya.... i have a 1996 TexMex strat...... these were basicly MIM standard wooden parts but had vintage looking paint colours and tinted neck, Plus vintage reissue style bridge and tuners and Tex Mex pickups....... The guitar is completely stock now after trying tons of different pickups trying to get it to sound better without any luck... i've been thinking of selling it for years but never have as it does not sound that great thru any of my amps and no matter what pickups are in it.....

But that same strat sounds killer thru the POD 2.0 i have!!! it really shines.....

 

[InstituteOfNoise]

Re: Who here can't stand PODs?

Thanks JeffB. The guitars were a Variax 500 for the rhythm parts (Strat for the clean and LP Jr for the rhythms) and the lead was on one of my #1's... a 95 Tele Special, which has a Duncan Lil 59 in the bridge. Has a Callahm bridge and brass saddles now. Stock Fender Humbucker which sounds great too!

WhoFan, I can believe that! I have certain guitars that I will use only with certain amps or even the POD as well. It just works! I dunno why either, but for that same reason I hold on to those combinations.

 

[Mephis]

Re: Who here can't stand PODs?

Maybe I didn't play around with it enough... But every single thing other than a true all tube amp sounds very digital to me.

 

[Matt Blackett]

Re: Who here can't stand PODs?

My main gripe with the POD has always been the way it feels when I'm playing. It just doesn't feel like an amp to me. I'm not crazy about the sounds but I will say this. They sound much better to my ears on playback than they do in the moment. I hear plenty of people get great results with them, though. Having said that, I can spot one pretty quickly on a commercial jingle.
For modeling, the best I've heard is still my Hughes&Kettner zenTera. It doesn't do 1/100th of what the current Line 6 stuff can do but it sounds and feels like a great amp. I take the direct recording out (which has their Red Box technology) right into the Focusrite mic pre on my MBox and it rules. No one has ever busted me on the tones not sounding amp-like.

 

[WhoFan]

Re: Who here can't stand PODs?

My main gripe with the POD has always been the way it feels when I'm playing. It just doesn't feel like an amp to me. I'm not crazy about the sounds but I will say this. They sound much better to my ears on playback than they do in the moment. I hear plenty of people get great results with them, though. Having said that, I can spot one pretty quickly on a commercial jingle.
For modeling, the best I've heard is still my Hughes&Kettner zenTera. It doesn't do 1/100th of what the current Line 6 stuff can do but it sounds and feels like a great amp. I take the direct recording out (which has their Red Box technology) right into the Focusrite mic pre on my MBox and it rules. No one has ever busted me on the tones not sounding amp-like.

ya that is my main X against the PODs too.... they don't feel like an amp..... The main reason i got one is when i heard Jeff Beck had used one on a few things of one of his newer albums... read an interview that Jeff and his producer where spending hours trying to mic up a Marshall for something and Jeff plugged into a POD 2.0 sitting in the studio and they ended up forgetting the Marshall and used the POD for something

 

[InstituteOfNoise]

Re: Who here can't stand PODs?

That's sort of why I use mine with my Atomic Amps. Best of both worlds. And when I go direct I use my POD Buffer. It helps tremendously with the feel too!

 

[these_go211]

Re: Who here can't stand PODs?

i like my guitar pod 2.0. have had it since 2001. yes, it needs to be tweaked. though i use a v-stack guitar preamp/od pedal as my main guitar sound now when recording the pod still has a place for sure. the jcm800 model sounds really good i think. someone talked about "layering the guitars." good point! what i like to do is split the signal and have vstack as the predominant tone with the pod as a secondary one.

the bottom line is do you think it sounds good? think about it guys, do 95% of the music fans out there, ie your target audience, even know exactly what the difference b/w a rectifier vs a marshall vs a vox sound like? the answer, of course not! so who cares if it represents a certain model fully. it doesn't actually. but if it sounds good to you than so what.

 

[WhoFan]

Re: Who here can't stand PODs?

i like my guitar pod 2.0. have had it since 2001. yes, it needs to be tweaked. though i use a v-stack guitar preamp/od pedal as my main guitar sound now when recording the pod still has a place for sure. the jcm800 model sounds really good i think. someone talked about "layering the guitars." good point! what i like to do is split the signal and have vstack as the predominant tone with the pod as a secondary one.

the bottom line is do you think it sounds good? think about it guys, do 95% of the music fans out there, ie your target audience, even know exactly what the difference b/w a rectifier vs a marshall vs a vox sound like? the answer, of course not! so who cares if it represents a certain model fully. it doesn't actually. but if it sounds good to you than so what.

Whenever i plug my POD 2.0 in i never have really figured out how to tweek the presets, since i bought it used no manual was with it... i mess around with the FX's-(Remove most of them most of the time)... i did figure out how to choose cabs... I really like the Mesa preset patch but then i change the EQ and settings until it sounds better... but never figured out how to save my changes and or recall them

 

[LesStrat]

Re: Who here can't stand PODs?

Robert said it best: It all depends on your purpose and perspective.

I enjoyed the POD 2.0. I bought the xt Live because it put everything in a self-contained unit (easier setup).

WOW! They really DID improve the models. The xt Live has amp knobs similar to an amplifier. Very responsive.

Is it a Celtic Franklin? Of course not. But it works for me.

OTOH, it also depends on WHAT you play through. Using a POD into a tube amp (or any other guitar amp) is not recommended.

1. Essentially, you are running a preamp into a preamp.
2. The POD is full range. Guitar speakers are voiced differently. Combine the two, and the sound is like :fart: in a meeting with your boss. Again, not recommended.

The best way to use a POD live is through a quality PA. Second best is through an amp MADE for modellers. Third is through a K/B or bass amp.

I play a POD xt Live in church. I use a Hartke B30 bass amp as a monitor. The monitor is ok. The PA sound is HUGE.

I never bought the POD to be a good tube amp. I bought it because it was VERSATILE and could cover a wide variety of sounds with minimal setup and no backache. It does that quite well.

If you are like CTR (Russ) and only need YOUR sound, stick with one good amp. If you are like me and need a variety of tones from song to song, use a modeller.

Robert nailed one point: What made you think a POD was a tube amp? How were you fooled?

 

[Aden]

Re: Who here can't stand PODs?

I can't stand ON them. They're a little too small. HA HA HA HA HA HA. I'm funny