POD to an amp?

[Afficianado]

I'm considering purchasing a Line 6 POD for direct input recording into my Delta 44. I've read about the successes people have had with the amp modeler and DI recording, and thought I would head down to Guitar Center and listen to it. (mind you, I probably won't buy from GC - but trying out stuff can be relatively hassle -free) I assume the POD box is a simple line-in line-out for a guitar cable.

My question is, if I wanted to use the POD as an effects box to an amp to be mic'ed or for a live performance, is there a particular amp that would work well with this (in the 40-65 watt range)? Since the POD is itself an "amp modeler", all I would want from the amp/cabinet is a clean sound with a wide range of body that will reflect what the POD is trying to accomplish. Thoughts?

 

[gvarko]

Here you go

I'm considering purchasing a Line 6 POD for direct input recording into my Delta 44. I've read about the successes people have had with the amp modeler and DI recording, and thought I would head down to Guitar Center and listen to it. (mind you, I probably won't buy from GC - but trying out stuff can be relatively hassle -free) I assume the POD box is a simple line-in line-out for a guitar cable.

My question is, if I wanted to use the POD as an effects box to an amp to be mic'ed or for a live performance, is there a particular amp that would work well with this (in the 40-65 watt range)? Since the POD is itself an "amp modeler", all I would want from the amp/cabinet is a clean sound with a wide range of body that will reflect what the POD is trying to accomplish. Thoughts?

http://www.bananas.com/productdetail.asp/pid_1981/productname_Atomic-Reactor-112-Tube-Guitar-Amp

 

[Ed Dixon]

I use POD gear both for recording and for live use. For live use, I use a power amp and speakers. Using a guitar amp is sometimes harder to get the sound you want.

Ed

 

[Afficianado]

Heh

Heh, wow. That's pretty schnazzy-looking. And they pretty much mention all my needs in the press snippet. They mention that it's a "a pure, loud 18 watts", which is nice, but seems underpowered to me. I know that wattage is an overused marketing term, but still...

I can't find any sound samples, and I'm almost certain GC doesn't carry them to listen to. I'm naturally leary of buying something I can't hear first. What's the word on this item? And are there any other amps that people have used with the POD?

 

[Afficianado]

Thanks Ed

Oh, and thanks Ed for the reply. I was kinda afraid that was the case with guitar amps. Oh well. I should at least be able to test it out sound-wise on a Fender Stage, Princeton, and Blues Jr.

 

[Ed Dixon]

Some get good results with guitar amps that have an effects loop. In that case, it works much better, but even this varies by amp.

A number of players use a small PA amp and PA speakers.

Ed

 

[Ed Dixon]

The Atomic Amp has been around discussion forums for some time, but few folks have ever seen/heard one.

At $500 for a low power amp and single speaker, it kind of pricy. One still has to buy a POD go get sound. For a POD XT user, that ends up being about $900 before one get a foot controller to control things. Add the foot controller, and you're over a grand.

Ed

 

[Richard Monroe]

It works just fine. All you need is a power amp, the clean type your mommy told you were for studio monitors, not guitars. Make sure that it is bridgeable to 8 ohms. Most monitors are looking for 4 ohms. Some cabs, especially bass extension cabs, also want 4 ohms. However, most guitar and PA cabs want 8 ohms. If the amp is bridgeable, you can get 2 channels of 4 ohms, or one of 8 ohms, so the amp will be useable with a variety of cabs. Then set the POD for "live" mode, which disables the cabinet model, and you're good to go. Larger power amps were meant for PA's, not monotors, and will work fine, giving you more power, but often are noisier and not as clean. Just make sure that the cab can handle the output of whatever power amp you select.
Most of my work is in the studio, so I don't need tons of power. I use a Carver PM125 and a Marshall 1X12 cab with a Celestion vintage 30 in it. That gives me about 65 watts, which is plenty. I use the same rig for bass, except the cab is an Ampeg 1X10 bass extension cab. For the guitar, I use either the POD or a VAMP-2, for bass I use Bass VAMP Pro. For live, I just run the VAMP-2 into the PA, but this is a solo act, not a band, so I don't have much else going through the PA, except 1 vocal. I use the VAMP more for clean sounds, and the POD for distortion.-Richie

 

[Hard2Hear]

I used the POD a few times for live, but I found that with the bigger shows it was getting lost behind the JCM2000tsl or Chieftan of the other guitar player. This was running it through a Fender combo or a Mesa Heartbreaker. This was also full-on concert PA application, hired crew, pro engineers, etc. Seems like the mids just weren't there on the POD to hold up to the real thing. I used both the kidney and the POD pro, same result.

That being said, for smaller gigs it has worked pretty well for me. I had to find an amp that stage mic'd had alot of midrange on its own. Funny thing is the little Pro Jr did a good job, as it has not much bass or high response, and it's about ALL mid. I could hear that ok on small setups as long as I had both self monotoring AND the Pro Jr pointed backwards at my face.

Back at home, I still love it when I'm writing to workout guitar parts and to find which tones work in a song. Nothing beats it for that, quick and easy.

H2H

 

[gvarko]

Don't dismiss so fast...

They mention that it's a "a pure, loud 18 watts", which is nice, but seems underpowered to me. I know that wattage is an overused marketing term, but still...

I haven't heard one, but I bet that 18 watts sounds like Peavey's 60...

http://www.atomicamps.com/

I think they have sounds samples here...

 

[Ed Dixon]

The Atomic site has said that for quite some time now, but no samples exist. I have some doubts about a company that introduces a new amp, with great sounds, and then after some months can't get even one on their web site.

Ed

 

[Richard Monroe]

Also, their spiel is full of obvious bullshit. "Solid State amps sound sterile." Yeah, like my Avalon. They're just playing on tube fad frenzy there. If the modeler is emulating a tube amp, it'll sound a lot like a tube amp, unless the colored amp you are sending the signal to messes with it. An alternative, as mentioned above, is a small PA. I use a Fender Passport PD250, but for just a guitar amp, a PD150 would be very adequate. A PA "just can't cut it"- yeah. I'm here to tell you that a good PA, even a small one, *can* cut it. I do it every day.-Richie

 

[Afficianado]

FX Loop

>>Some get good results with guitar amps that have an effects loop.

Yeah, I wondered about this. Most amps with effects loops that I've seen are so-called "acoustic" amps. I've plugged my Les Paul into a Fender acoustic amp and gotten a nice sound, but what worries me is the range of tone. Mostly I worry I won't get enough low end out of an acoustic amp, but I've never really worked with them much. Has anyone here plugged an electric guitar into a POD w/ an acoustic amp? (That might be a bit of a stretch, but I've seen stranger things in these forums ) I guess, for that matter, what has people's overall experience been with acoustic amps?

 

[GONZO-X]

i use a POD XT into the effects return loop of a Mesa Boogie Mark2b 60 watt head, and that into (2) 1x12 with celestion 30 watt speakers.

This is a wonderful setup, as i get the coloration that i want from the power section of the boogie, but with the tone shaping power of the xt.

i like this sound better, than the boogie by itself, or the xt direct.

i can marry all of the modeled amps, with the boogie character, and this gives me something that is a bit different from everything else.

which is exactly what i'm looking for.

not a jcm-800, but a hybrid of that sound and the sound of my boogie and choice of speaker arrangment.

there are so many variables, including the fact that if you played my rig, you'd still sound like you, and vice versa...

but exchange my speakers for your speakers, my guitar, etc, etc, and you can see that it's infinitely variable, and when you're looking for your own voice in something, don't you want the most variables that you can get, to refine your sound?

sometimes, i prefer to take the simpler approach, and grab a fender champ, and plug in, and i get what i get....

but sometimes, i really want to tweak, and having the xt into my boogie gives me a lot of options.

throw an old boss DS-1 in front of the boogie, and then you've got another hours worth of tweaking........ LOL

 

[Afficianado]

Hrm..

>>Mesa Boogie Mark2b 60 watt head

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's OOPR (out of price range).

 

[gvarko]

Keep it simple

Just get whatever amp you can afford that has a great clean sound. Since you will rely mostly on the effects in the POD, you don't need built in modelling. I would look at a Peavey or perhaps Vox in your price range.

 

[SteveMcB]

I have to chime in about the effects loop. I often use my Johnson J-station live with my fender pro 185 (80's red knob 2x12 fender), directly into the power amp in/effects return. Sounds pretty good to me!

However I'm also looking at a low powered tube amp (particularly a mesa subway blues) for practice/recording/running in this manner.

Is there any way that using the power amp only could damage the preamp in a tube combo (like you can damage the power amp by running it with no speaker attached?

Steve

 

[Lt. Bob]

Lots of amps have a power amp input which will work essentially like that Atomic rig.
Or an FX loop should work fine also.
I don't really agree that you can't just run the POD into a guitar amps front end without having a loop. The only thing is, you need to know a little about setting tone controls and levels to get a fairly neutral sound but it can be done.

I also don't agree that a modeler will sound like a tube amp if that's the model. It will be an approximation of a tube amp but it won't sound exactly like one IMO.
I use my POD for recording where I like it quite a bit.
I also use it live but only for gigs where I don't want to hassle with too much gear. IMO it doesn't sound nearly as good as any of my nice tube amps.
I'm not sure why that is ....... for recording it's great but doesn't cut it live for me .......... seems to not be dynamically responsive enough and often won't cut thru like my amps will. I hear the same thing when I hear other people using them.
Of course, these things are a matter of personal taste.

 

[Afficianado]

Thanks all for the input. I took a trip to Guitar Center over the weekend and came away with a different result than what I'd intended. What I'd intended to do was just listen to the POD, the V-Amp, some guitar FX, and maybe some amps while I was there. What I did was buy a used Peavey Classic 30 in tip-top shape. The tubes were in pristine condition (except for one which is slightly cloudy), and the sound was way better than what I would have expected out of a <$400 amp.

So my needs might be shifting. I'm going to try to mic my Les Paul + Classic 30 with an SM57 tonight and see what kinds of sounds I can get. If I can get a good sound, I might forget direct input for now. Funny how stuff like this happens, isn't it?

 

[GONZO-X]

ah, so now you're a purist, eh?!



good for you.

sometimes, the quickest path between two points is a straight line.

not everybody needs, or wants, a thousand amp combinations...

sometimes, one is enough.

by the way, i'd sell you my mesa mark2b for $500.