Line 6 through a tube amp?

R

rgraves

New member
Hi everyone,

I went out this weekend with another friend this weekend with a goal of trying out this line 6 podxt pro in person, to see if it really sucks as bad as everyone says. I have ALWAYS hated every emulation product I have ever tried. For example all the BOSS GT3/GT6/GT8 and all other "effects" pedals, they usually just sound fricken awful (to me).

But supposedly the podxt pro or vetta 2 HD were supposed to be an improvement over most other pedals (I guess there are a couple considered even better, that tonelab thing or I can't remember the names of some of the others.)

So, here's the thing, we demo'd it expecting it to sound like a$$, but it didn't really...it actually sounded quite good. Certainly not as good as the real deal of the stuff it tries to emulate...but still quite good compared to other effect pedals I've heard. We both rather liked it.

So, what I am wondering now, is: We are thinking of getting the podxt pro and running it through a real nice fender tube amp. I was thinking, usually those modelers can't emulate that true clean tube sound, so what if we have the real deal on the clean tone (fender tube) and then all kinds of different sounds to have access to. Would that kind of solve the problem of the digital crappy sound that most of these emulators have?

What I am trying to do is have access to a wide variety of sounds at a reasonable cost, mostly for clients who want to record...in my area I seem to get a lot of people that want to record, from a wide variety of genre's, and it certainly would be beneficial to be able to find a tone that suits other's tastes.

When we tried out the unit, we used it through a solid state amp, so as not to give it any additional benefit of quality.

Any advice or opinions would be appreciated!
 
I've got an XT Live, and it's got a boatload of FX simulators. You can set it up to use just the FX, as though you had those stompboxes, and not use any of the amp sims, and go into the amp or your choice. What's slick is that you can setup channels that have different FXes and settings.
 
If the idea is to get an array of tonal options, then why not just get a versatile tube amp that can get you some different tones?

POD tones are kinda' like fast food. Very quick and convenient, but in the end, you're never truly filled up, and you wish you would have forked out just a little extra to get a real decent and satisfying meal.

.
 
chessrock said:
If the idea is to get an array of tonal options, then why not just get a versatile tube amp that can get you some different tones?

POD tones are kinda' like fast food. Very quick and convenient, but in the end, you're never truly filled up, and you wish you would have forked out just a little extra to get a real decent and satisfying meal.

.
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Hmm, I guess I could do that. Actually that's what most people I know recommended me to do, hehe. I had hoped to go down and try the POD XT PRO and have it sound like crap and be done with it...but it just seemed to sound so good. Hehe.

Well, here's the thing, I don't have a lot of experience with tube amps, I've always had solid state amps or I have a Marshall AVT150HD with a 1960 lead cab right now. I mean, that is supposedly "half" tube (tube preamps) but I pretty much think of it as a solid state amp. So, I don't have a clue what most tube amps sound like...I've only ever played through a 5150 and a fender tweed and a Marshall TSL100. So no clue how a lot of other amps sound, and figured I could save myself the hassle of figuring out what I like by getting the POD.

I like to make lots of high gain distortion stuff, and like the 5150 from my experience. But I hardly EVER record high distortion stuff for other people, so what I like would not help with my studio situation much. Also, both the 5150 and the Marshall TSL have not so great sounding clean tone. That's why I thought it would be cool to have the fender tube amp instead and the POD. Plus I don't have any stomp box effects or anything (I've always sold my previous effects pedals because I never liked the ones I had bought) and I am in need of a DI box and a reamp box, which I guess the POD XT PRO has. That would save me from buying a nice DI box (about 200 bucks) and a reamp box (200 bucks). And my current amp has built in effects, which I could sell and use the pod's effects as well.
Wow that would be cool, but I don't want to comprimise on the sound. That's why I am asking for opinions on this. Thanks
 
rgraves said:
Anyone else with some opinions? People that hate the POD or like it specific to my question??
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I've gotten some great usable tones out of a $70 Digitech RP-50. You can get great tones out of a POD, but not without some effort.
 
i be never done this before...but what if you had a solid state amp and you miced it with a LCD running into a tube pre-amp....will that warm things up?
 
I've been pissing off a lot of people with this lately but...








I wouldn't fuck up a good tube amp sound by putting a piece of shit POD in front of it. There, I said it again. :p
 
HangDawg said:
I wouldn't fuck up a good tube amp sound by putting a piece of shit POD in front of it. There, I said it again. :p
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Yea, but why don't you tell us how you really feel HangDawg? :D


Rgraves, if you've already got a 5150 head, then you've got the whole shredder thing covered. If you were to get yourself something like a Fender Blues Junior, then you'd have some of the clean, chimey Fender sound, along with the mildly-driven, ratty blues stuff.

Or you could get a personal fave of mine, the Marshall JCM2000 TSL combo amp. That alone will cover the Fender clean, the Blues Junior ratty / Blues distortion thing, and the overdrive channel will give you a much smoother, vintage-sounding overdrive that would contrast really well with the 5150's shred. Another similar offering could be had with a Mesa/Boogie Nomad.

Just a few ideas to throw out there.

.
 
A pod xt pro going into a mesa 9090 tube power amp is awsome. I've gotten great results with a Marshall tube power amp as well.

Running it into the front end of a Fender won't do it for you. The fender has a certain tone that will color everything you do on the pod. It will just sound like you are putting a distortion box in front of the amp. You need a power amp that is more full range than the fender would be. If you can get to the power section of the fender, that might be worth trying. The frequency response of the preamp in the amplifier will limit the sound of the pod.
 
chessrock said:
Yea, but why don't you tell us how you really feel HangDawg? :D


Rgraves, if you've already got a 5150 head, then you've got the whole shredder thing covered. If you were to get yourself something like a Fender Blues Junior, then you'd have some of the clean, chimey Fender sound, along with the mildly-driven, ratty blues stuff.

Or you could get a personal fave of mine, the Marshall JCM2000 TSL combo amp. That alone will cover the Fender clean, the Blues Junior ratty / Blues distortion thing, and the overdrive channel will give you a much smoother, vintage-sounding overdrive that would contrast really well with the 5150's shred. Another similar offering could be had with a Mesa/Boogie Nomad.

Just a few ideas to throw out there.

.
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I don't have a tube amp at all right now...maybe you read another thread where I made a joke about if you could make a 5150 sound like a POD...sorry it was my dry humor though...

I only own a marshall AVT150 right now.
 
Farview said:
A pod xt pro going into a mesa 9090 tube power amp is awsome. I've gotten great results with a Marshall tube power amp as well.

Running it into the front end of a Fender won't do it for you. The fender has a certain tone that will color everything you do on the pod. It will just sound like you are putting a distortion box in front of the amp. You need a power amp that is more full range than the fender would be. If you can get to the power section of the fender, that might be worth trying. The frequency response of the preamp in the amplifier will limit the sound of the pod.
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Thanks Farview...actually I usually play a lot of the stuff in the genre that you record...so, if you can get the POD thing to work I think I'll give it a try. Hmm, any recommendation then as to which Marshall might be good to get? I know you mentioned the mesa 9090, and chess mentioned the tsl100...I have been thinking of that tsl100...
 
rgraves said:
Thanks Farview...actually I usually play a lot of the stuff in the genre that you record...so, if you can get the POD thing to work I think I'll give it a try. Hmm, any recommendation then as to which Marshall might be good to get? I know you mentioned the mesa 9090, and chess mentioned the tsl100...I have been thinking of that tsl100...
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If you get the TSL, you probably won't need the pod. If you are going to use the pod, you need to get a tube power amp. (not a guitar amp) Like this. http://www.zzounds.com/a--2676837/item--MSHEL34100100

Any guitar amp that is designed to have your guitar plugged directly into it will compromise the sound of the pod.
 
rgraves said:
Thanks Farview...actually I usually play a lot of the stuff in the genre that you record...so, if you can get the POD thing to work I think I'll give it a try. Hmm, any recommendation then as to which Marshall might be good to get? I know you mentioned the mesa 9090, and chess mentioned the tsl100...I have been thinking of that tsl100...
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If you get the TSL just use it live, recording them isn't pretty and compared to all the other tube amps I've recorded it's by far the fizziest. DSL's are a little less so. If I were you I'd consider fireing up one of the reissue jcm800's, maybe Marshall didn't fuck those up like everything else.
 
chessrock said:
POD tones are kinda' like fast food. Very quick and convenient, but in the end, you're never truly filled up, and you wish you would have forked out just a little extra to get a real decent and satisfying meal.

.
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Hey dude, let's not drag the fast food industry through the mud just to make your point.

If it weren't for fast food, I'd look like one of those Ethiopians, but white! :mad:
 
jonnyc said:
If you get the TSL just use it live, recording them isn't pretty and compared to all the other tube amps I've recorded it's by far the fizziest. DSL's are a little less so. If I were you I'd consider fireing up one of the reissue jcm800's, maybe Marshall didn't fuck those up like everything else.
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I've had decent luck with TSL's. You have to turn off all that 'deep' and 'tone shift' garbage
 
IME modelling gear sounds best going straight into the board. The big mistake a lot of people make is thinking they can take a POD (etc) and plug it into their amp with the same settings on the amp as you normally use - doesn't work that way. You end up pretty much running the amp hifi, and that kinda defeats the purpose of having a guitar amplifier. Like Farview said get a power amp even, a guitar amp's pre amp section and EQ will just be a hinderance. The dial-a-sound convenience of Pods and the like are great but at best they're just a useful 'sketch' of the real deal, use them accordingly.
 
I have been using the original POD Pro Preamp since it came out.

I have a POD, Chrome POD, 2 POD Pros, a Bass POD Pro, and a Flextone II HD.

IMO the POD Pro and Flextone II are the best I have heard compared to my Ampeg VL-1002, Peavey 5150, Peavey XXX and Madison Divinty Heads Tube heads.

I used it with a Mesa Boogie Colisuem 300 Watt Tube Power Amp, through a QSC RMX850 Power Amp and Slaving the power amp of a Madison Divinity 100 Watt Tube head through the Return input.

It is awesome through all.

But you have to make sure you are not using cab emulation when you are running through a cab, and you must use cab emulation when you are running direct.

Otherwise it sounds processed.

I have never quite liked the Pod Pro XT or XT Live. They sound like other processor/floor boards.

I liked the idea of having 2 different amp models mixed but it seemed like they went backwards in sound on the distortion tones.

I felt more like I was playing a Johnson Millenium amp.

But you also have to know how to use these things.

How to add extra Distortion, Presense etc by holding the tap tempo knobs.

You can definately get some great tones by running it through a tube poweramp.

Also throwing in a good overdrive pedal like a Maxon OD808 or Ibanez Tube Screamer when help give it that extra special sound.

That's my 2 cents.
 
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