For anyone who is on the fence about the Line6 POD...

Bob Womack · #1 08-12-2002, 08:32 AM

I've put up a multi-page review of the POD at my website, listed below. The title page has a link directly to the POD page. Enjoy.

Bob

rbachman · #2 08-12-2002, 08:49 AM

bob,

Where is the link to your POd review?

Thanks, Rob

Bob Womack · #3 08-12-2002, 10:27 AM

I'm sorry, it is on the opening pages (frames and no-frames), once you get past the gateway page. BTW, Angelfire is a little slow today.

POD page Direct link

Bob

rbachman · #4 08-12-2002, 11:56 AM

Bob,

That is a great review. It sounds like quite a thing!! It could probably solve my problem of a strat without an amp.

The only problem is that I am not sure whether the electric thing is for me. $250 sounds like a real expensive experiment.

Anyway thanks for the review.

I'm Confused,
Rob

Bob Womack · #5 08-12-2002, 12:12 PM

Go down to the "big-box" stores like Mars. They typically have one on display with headphones and a guitar to try it. Mars has a display with a list of the channels. Spend a couple of hours playing...

Bob

Bob Womack · #6 08-13-2002, 07:48 AM

By the way, I'd appreciate your comments on this page. Thanks!

Bob

815C · #7 08-13-2002, 09:30 AM

Bob, I owned a POD, sold it, and then bought another one. The reason I sold the first one was when using the POD with a band, I could dial in some great sounding high gain sounds - until the band kicked in. What had sounded thick and awesome with just my solo guitar playing became thin squeeky tone when bass, drums, and keys joined in. It was as though some of the frequencies just could not cut through the mix.

When I purchased a home studio rig, I picked up a POD for recording straight into Pro Tools. I'm really satisfied with it for that use.

Also, I've learned how to get a better sound out of it live. I run it into my Mesa DC3 and set the tone controls on the MESA like this:

Treble - 0
Mid - 10
Bass - 0
5 band graphic - flat center

For some reason that seems to give a much more robust representation of the POD's tones in a live setting.

Have you tried using it in a live band setting yet? I'd like to hear from you or others who have figured out how to get a high gain tone to cut through the rest of the band.

BTW, You do a great review.

Peace.

trpullen · #8 08-13-2002, 09:52 AM

The key to using one live is to have a really fine monitor vs. using it with an amp. I play mine live all the time and have a biamped monitor right in front of me with a 12" and a 2" dia. compression driver on a horn. 400w on the lows and 220 on highs.

It is incredible. I use all my studio settings live without issue.

Doogie · #9 08-13-2002, 09:54 AM

waht is a biamped monitor?

trpullen · #10 08-13-2002, 10:04 AM

biamped is when you use a crossover to split the high and low frequency signals and send them to different amplifiers. It helps on efficiency.

monitor is a speaker used to hear yourself on stage vs. a PA speaker that is pointing towards the crowd.

rbachman · #11 08-13-2002, 10:49 AM

So are we saying here that the POD will not work directly into a board?

revkev · #12 08-13-2002, 11:51 AM

Bob,
That's a great page on the Pod (like I needed any more encouragement!). BTW I also like your page on influential guitarists. Very well written and informative. You and I have very similar tastes in players. I had forgotten about Camel. I always thought that guy could play. I also get a little misty-eyed thinking about Duane Allman. What a player. If he were alive today he'd still be leading the pack.

Bob Womack · #13 08-13-2002, 12:59 PM

Thanks RevKev. Duane was also a lefty playing righty... Camel is still going (with new material- not a tribute band) and is still fronted by the original guitarist/keyboardist/flutist Andy Latimer. They can be found at Camel Homepage

815C, I've heard this about modelling gear not cutting through a mix. A couple of years ago, a forum I frequented had George VanWagner, the customer service guru for Line6, as an active participant. He basically did the Beta for the AX2 and AXsys amps right there online, with people feeding back right after gigs. They invariably found that they had to tweak their "killer tones" the moment they put them in a band situation. Of course, we electric guitarists are used to just grabbing the master volume or mids and making it cut. It's a little more complex with modelling gear if you want it to be repeatable. But the phenomenon of out-of-context sounds not fitting in a band context and having to be changed isn't new to an old fart like me.

I haven't played it out live (still have to pickup a floorboard) but that's next.

rbachman, no the POD works great through a board. You just need to have your monitoring squared away.

Ciao,

Bob

rbachman · #14 08-13-2002, 01:35 PM

bob,

I'm sorry to sound like I have no idea but I don't really when it comes to this stuff.

The setup we have for our band over at my buddy's place is that we plug our guitars into a little box. This little black box feeds into the board (I am calling it a soundboard - but maybe it is a mixing board).

Now sometimes people plug their guitars into effects boxes and the effects are pluged into the little black box. Can I plug the guitar into the POD and the POD into the black box which will feed into the mixing board?

Am I an idiot explaining this or what?

Thanks for your help,
Rob

Bob Womack · #15 08-13-2002, 02:48 PM

Hi, rbachman,

Don't worry: Everyone has his specialty.

The little black box they plug into is called a "direct box". POD is different because it serves as your direct box. You electric goes into the POD and the output from the POD will directly feed the PA. Your cord needs a 1/4" three-connector plug (same as a large headphone plug) on one end of the cable, an XLR connector on the other, and three conductors (wires) inside. It would be called a "Balanced 1/4" to XLR" cord. To get a stereo feed from the POD, use two of these cables, one in each of the outputs, plugged into two inputs of the PA mixer.

Make sense?

Bob