Line 6 POD

[Smitty]

What's the big craze about these guys? I"ve heard of alot of people using the POD XT Live setups as their amps and everything. I just can't see how this will produce a good sound, it sounds too digital to me. It almost seems to have a sound as if you're running it through about 5 multi fx pedals with a buttload of compression on it. Also, I've recently been reading reviews of how people are RECOMMENDING that you run a POD through your setup for the guitar sounds. Why? I'm lost.

[Matt]

Smitty, you know me well enough to know that I'm an old school analog freak. That being said...I think they sound horrid.

The two stompboxes i have and the knobs on my guitars and Fender amp provide plenty of different tones for me...

-Matt

[dach]

Pods sould like ass poured through a spring reverb. Pod XT's can actually sound cool live in the right hands but I don't know how it sounds recorded. I am still in love with anything tube or tape and have - have/access to a gazillion tube amps. I also have a Vetta 2 which was just upgraded to v2.5 by Line 6. It's really something to check out if you need a variety of sounds that require 10 tube amps and a ton of pedals. Forget the presets and start building 1 amp/cabinet at a time. I usually mic the amp & one of my cabs but I ran a couple of things direct the other night and was amazed! My favorite amp I "still" own is my JCM 800 which I have used for years. After tweaking the L6, The darn JCM 800 model sounds almost like mine. It's one of the few digital things I actually recommend... Bang for the buck for what it can do I give it a 9.5. Never the same as tube, sometimes better, sometimes worse.. but the most versatile guitar accessory I have ever encountered.

[dach]

MAtt,

don't get me wrong... some things like a great tele/strat played through a twin or super reverb can not be duplicated. Their Fender recreations just don't get those tube sounds but some of the other amps are nailed. What's really cool is you forget pigeon holing a sound and create a new one from scratch that matches what you want. They just introduced a L6 Orange model... so what... I had an Orange for 10 years that I believe now is at home at Albini's courtsey of J. Sardone.... and it will never be close.... but I bet I can make some really cool sounds out of that model.

[brandondrury]

While not everyone is going to go as wild as I have, I just thrown together a guitar fort which surrounds my cabinets in huge Rockwool stacks. I now have no volume limit on my guitar recordings. The Rockwool knocks the levels down amazingly well.

I started out getting just a little aggressive with volumes. That has all changed.

I now start out with the amp all the way up on 10.

There is no way that a Line 6 can compete with this setup now.

Brandon

[dach]

So you like it loud?

This is what I do to move air:
http://www.gearslutz.com/board/showthread.php?t=38246 (see last post)

doesn't matter what amp I use - Marshall, Fender, 5150, Dumble, GK, Mesa or L6 - It all can sound good... and at 10

There is also a Hiwatt cab in the room and a leslie cab.... but the Marshall and Fender Cab move air at a higher volume

[Matt]

I've never played a modeling amp or totally solid state amp that had the 'touch sensitivity' of a GOOD tube amp.

They just don't react like a good tube amp does to dynamic variations like softer picking, volume adjustments on the guitar, etc.

I'm sure they're fine in certain situations (definitely not mine)...but NOTHING beats the organic feel that you can only get from a tube amp.

-Matt

[Smitty]

I agree with you Matt, you definitely can't get the little things out of the solid state amps like you can out of the tube amps. I noticed how bad it was when I was playing with Glastetter once and how my little solid state combo just didn't "sing" on the solos like his would. It was just really bland, I guess would be the best word for it.

[dach]

I certainly don't argue with anything said... There's not much more satisfying than playing a great rig.... but in the real world, with real deadlines, speed and versatility is just as important as that extra 10%.

What ultimately matters is that only "I" am missing that 10%... sometimes it's actually better and I can't get the sound from a tube amp... The clients are certainly not missing anything. If I only played or recorded for "me" and my personal satisfaction, I might have a much different attitude. A modelling amp is a tool much like a mic or compressor. If you don't know how to work your tools or know when it is appropriate to use them, you will probably not get very good results with them. The V2.5 is a great amp... For you guys that actually do music on a deadline, I am throwing you a bone...

[brandondrury]

Good topic!

On the other side of the coin, there are things that solid state amps can do that tube amps can not do. If I was doing a blue / rock record, a collection of old tube amps woud be a must. When we start talking about industrial tones, many tube amps don't have it in them. A good friend of mine has a Randall head which is very similar to the ones that Dimebag used to play. In fact, it may even be the same model.

Anyway, it's lacking a certain something that my Marshall, Rivera, and 5150 have, but it does something that none of them can't. Again, it depends on the music. Without a doubt, the amps is "faster" sounding.

As Dach mentioned, these are all tools. I'm not sure if getting an amp to "sing" during a solo makes much difference whether it's solid state or tube. It's an issue (as Dach said) of knowing the tools. I've gotten some kick ass sounds out of certain solid state amps that would be good for just about any genre (I'm talking lead guitar here) but there are tricks to squeezing the right tone out of these boxes.

The same thing occurs when young players who are used to playing their Crate 1x10" amps buy their first Marshall or Boogie stack. In almost every case, there is work that has to be done to get the amps happening. Most of the time, the player has to learn how to get tone out of the amp.

Brandon