Line 6 pod pro? Yay or nay?

  • Thread starter Thread starter metaljoseph
  • Start date Start date
metaljoseph

metaljoseph

Dedicated Member
I just purchased the line 6 pod pro rackmount unit and floor peal off ebay for 320$. Is this unit good for recording or should I try to sell it back to ebay for more?
 
It's a very nice unit. Give it a whirl and try and find your tone... there are alot there!


... If you sell it I wouldn't say no!
 
Do yourself a favor and dig into the "deep" controls - Tweak the gate (which is wonderful, when you tweak it, BTW) and the "A.I.R." control (I think that's what it's called - Been a while) - which IMO, is the difference between "direct sounding" and "Not bad..."
 
metaljoseph said:
I just purchased the line 6 pod pro rackmount unit and floor peal off ebay for 320$. Is this unit good for recording or should I try to sell it back to ebay for more?


You bought a pod pro for $320 and you didn't even know what it was FOR?? :eek: Dood - you picked up an extremely capable recording/processing tool that will make you very happy - IF you put in the effort to tweak your sounds. The pod pro has made some of best guitar sounds in metal that I have EVER heard......
 
Zed10R said:
You bought a pod pro for $320 and you didn't even know what it was FOR??

Good point. I don't understand why some folks buy gear and *then* post asking if it is any good. But you see that fairly regularily on message boards.

In the first place, ask questions before spending your money! In the second place, if you have bought the unit and now own it, why can't you just plug it in and find out for yourself whether it is any good for recording?

That said, there are some great sounds to be had with the Pod series. You just need to hook it up and start experimenting. My own opinion would be to hang onto it and work with it for a few months. Then at that point you might have a better idea whether it is the right processor for you.
 
Don't be afraid to record a real amp either though if you have one. Try taking a DI and sending one signal to your amp, and splitting a copy of the dry guitar to a seperate track. This way you can belnd between a real amp sound and an emulated one. I have found POD's are the most useful when they are used to help fill up a track, basically blending with a real amp.
 
Dude that was a friggin sweet deal....just make sure you take the time to tweak it...alot of people are discoureged by the intial sounds they get...but if you spend the time and paly with each amp they can all sound amazing.
 
Massive Master said:
Do yourself a favor and dig into the "deep" controls - Tweak the gate (which is wonderful, when you tweak it, BTW) and the "A.I.R." control (I think that's what it's called - Been a while) - which IMO, is the difference between "direct sounding" and "Not bad..."

Mass, is the POD XTL roughly the same in setting up as the rackmount pro? I just got a POD XTL for my B-day from my wife, and have played with it some, but haven't had the time to really delve into the settings much yet. If they are similar in setup, what do you suggest for some settings to get the "Not Bad"? Like I said, I haven't played with it much yet, but hope to get a chance in the next few days. I did download some presets that Line 6 had on there website, but I don't know if these change the A.I.R. control or not.
Thanks for any input.
Ed
 
I seem to be outnumbered here. Nay.

Pod guitars simply do not sound very good, and they have the added bonus of making all the other elements in the mix sound worse.

I am not saying a great Pod guitar sound has never existed but I have never heard it, and as a guy that mixes records for a living, its amzing how many times I have heard Pods just butcher albums. Its not so bad with the clean sounds, but any kind of gain is just really bad.

A good test is to mix a track where the guitars were done with a Pod and then mute the Pod track. Listen how all of a sudden everything else in the mix starts to sound better.

I say sell the pod and find an old used Fender.
 
Ronan said:
I seem to be outnumbered here. Nay.

Pod guitars simply do not sound very good, and they have the added bonus of making all the other elements in the mix sound worse.

I am not saying a great Pod guitar sound has never existed but I have never heard it, and as a guy that mixes records for a living, its amzing how many times I have heard Pods just butcher albums. Its not so bad with the clean sounds, but any kind of gain is just really bad.

A good test is to mix a track where the guitars were done with a Pod and then mute the Pod track. Listen how all of a sudden everything else in the mix starts to sound better.

I say sell the pod and find an old used Fender.

Actually, I won't say you are outnumbered, as I believe that a well mic'ed setup is the way to go. My problem, and some other peoples dilemma is noise. I have an old Carvin amp, but my room is small, and when I try and use it, its just too loud. I have to play within 3 feet of it, and it's old enough that it needs work. It hisses and buzzes all the time. And I had no good effects pedals, so my sound was just from an old Tube Screamer imitation that provided for very little distortion. My wife opted to get me the POD so I could at least get closer to the sound I wanted, and hopefully when I do replace the amp, and can mic it properly, and get out of the same room with it, use the POD as the stompbox type pedal I really need.
Ed
 
It's good if you can't mic up an amp. It also is useful to add into tracks that were really recordings of an amp. Great efx, etc. Like everyone else has said you really have to take the time to tweak it. It's a pretty good item to have in the studio though as there are a lot of uses.
 
As a session guitarist, I often use a Johnson J-Station that I've had for a few years. I love this thing. Easy to use, clean, very tweakable, and some settings for bass, too. With a bit of patience, I'm usually able to produce just what I need. Now discountinued, it must be available for well under the original $200 tag these days.

J.
 
I have the orignal POD 2, A Flextone II HD with 4x12 cab and now the POD Xtlive. So I am obvioulsy on the yah side. Let your ears decide, but the POD XT and XTL does take some tweaking, more so then the original POD 2. IMHO the presets are fair at best. The best way to get started is to log onto Line6 home page (line6.com) and go to the Custom Tone page. There you will find 1000's of user patches and line6 created custom patches of amp tones you can download. You will also need to download Line6 edit (which is free from Line6 site). With Line6 edit and a usb cable between your pc and the POD XT you can load any one of the 1000's tones directly to your POD XT and then only save it if you like the tone. Line6 edit also provides you a very nice PC graphical pc screen of all the settings for any patch. You will absolutley get up and running faster and will help lessen the time it takes you to tweak patches to your liking. There are some very good tones up there.
 
If you need to record guitar tracks directly, the Pod XT Pro is a capable box which can vary the sound of a good instrument enormously.
 
I have been using a vamp2 which is similar to the pod. I must say that I was very discouraged when I first got it. Once I played and tweaked enough I finally got a useable sound. Just keep at it and you will find something that will work for you.
 
Spaztic said:
I have been using a vamp2 which is similar to the pod. I must say that I was very discouraged when I first got it. Once I played and tweaked enough I finally got a useable sound. Just keep at it and you will find something that will work for you.

I wonder if you started to get good sounds or if you have started to get acustomed to the sound of the Pod? Have you had a chance to A/B some of your new Pod sounds with your pre-Pod sounds
 
Back
Top