Thank God for POD!
Review by Alan McGuinness
The
POD has landed !!!!!
Brief Highlights
Q: Does it sound as good as they say?
A: Does the Pope pray?
Q: Are there any obvious flaws with it?
A: Just one...being diciplined enough to put it down long enough
to sleep, and refusing the urge to take it to bed with you!
Picture the scene.......your aging hippie uncle, who used to be in some
obscure rock band in the 70's...Led Zeppelin or something like that, decides
you're his favourite nephew, and he's gonna leave you his priceless collection
of vintage amps. He is also gonna throw in his best sound engineer to
make sure that they are all mic'd up correctly. All you gotta do is turn
up when you feel the need and play.
OK stop dreaming !...just go out and buy a POD !!!
OK so you're probably thinking...does this guy work for Line 6...has
he got any financial interest in the company...NO...believe me, if it
was anything less than what I have said, I would say so !
But you gotta give credit where credit is due.
Anywaze...more later, I'm off now to explore the POD some more...thing
is I cant make my mind up.....whether to play the Mesa Boogie dual rectifier,
the 1959 Fender Bassman, or the Marshall "plexi"......maybe
I'll play them all for the hell of it!!!!
The Full Monty (I Mean, Review)
This is just my objective opinion of POD. This is not
meant to be a re-write of the info and instructions that you can read
in the manual or on their web site (www.line6.com).
The Idea is to give you an honest opinion of the product from a person
who is using it.
As a potential buyer of the POD you will want to know,
as I did, is it worth the investment and what, if anything does it offer
over and above the vast array of guitar multi FX that are on the market.
You will probably have an Idea of what "you" want POD to do
for you. Whilst this is a personal matter, my basic shortlist went like
this.
Questions
1 Does it sound and "feel"
better than the multi fx I am currently using (Boss ME 8) and for that
matter, any other fx on the market for around the same price?
2 Will it give me more scope
when recording (tone, feel and atmosphere)?
3 I don't want to have to
have a degree in rocket science to be able to use it.
4 Will it sound as good
when recorded as it does through the headphones, ie less or no editing
once in the track?
Answers
1 In a nutshell the sound
and "feel" is far superior to any other multi fx I have ever
heard. Including some almost three times the price.
2 As for scope when recording
it is an inspiration! The tone, feel and atmosphere are superb.
3 Easy to use? Toys-R-Us
would be proud of how simple it is to work with, helped in no small way
by the excellent manual that comes with it. The manual is in clear plain
English and idiot proof (hey, even I understood it) and will have you
up and running in less time than it takes to pour the coffee.
4 As for recorded sound
quality, this is where POD comes into its own. What you hear is what you
get. Put the headphones on and twiddle around till you get "that"
sound you're looking for ( believe me they are all in there and it won't
take long). Make sure your record levels are ok, just tweak around with
the output level knob on POD. Don't worry you get the same tone and quality
at any level (within reason). Then hit record and go for it. As yet I
have never had to edit a track once recorded!
Conclusions
So to sum up, I think POD is the best piece of equipment
I have ever purchased. It has provided me with no end of inspiration,
and a palette of tones, atmosphere and sounds that is bordering on endless.
As a package it is very impressive and I have not even touched on its
MIDI features, software or live capabilities. If you have already got
one you will know what I mean. If you choose not to get one or can't afford
it. Then you're gonna be pretty sick when your friends who have got one
play you their demos. It's that good !
Let's face it we are all looking to get "that"
sound, the one you remember hearing on all those albums you've listened
to, or one that is similar to that but with your own subtle input. Well
unless you had a budget equal to that of NASA, before POD it was pretty
dam near impossible.
It was always "just not quite right". Endless
hours, and huge amounts of caffeine and nicotine trying to get the set-up
just right. Meanwhile the drummer wanders off bored only to have some
bizarre fatal gardening accident.
Anywaze as you might have gathered by know, I am a convert
to the world of POD. I have a strong feeling you will be too once you
get to use one.
Have fun Alan o )
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