Line 6 POD

First of all, this isn't my unit. I'm test driving it for a friend of mine who is visually impared. Ok, blind. I know what he looks for in a sound, and design it for him. Personally, I don't care for the unit, but I'm trying to be objective about it.

It's hard to get a really good clean sound out of it. Distortions, overdrive, no problem. But that "ultra clean" tone similar to that of the Police, or jazz, not so well. The effects, without the software, are lame at best. It only allows 2 effects at one time, and you have no choice in the matter. I WOULD NOT recommend this as an effects pedal/unit. With the software, well, it's better. (Still not as good as my trusty Digitech RP-3 that I've had since the day it came out.) NOTE: THE SOFTWARE OUT OF THE BOX HATES WINDOWS XP!! Download the latest verion, and you're cool.

Things that SHOULD be available on board the unit can only be accessed via the software, and that's somewhat limiting. Especially in a live setting where the size of the room can really affect the sound. (What sounds perfect through the 10 watt practice amp in your room, may not work through the 100 watt live rig.)

Recording is where this thing is supposed to shine, and in a way, I guess it does. The different distortions, and overdriven amps, (Of which there are far too many examples of.) sound realistic, though I think that the reverbs suck. The cabinet models sound good, but there is something lacking to my ear. Some sound great, while others you just shake your head and wonder "What kind of crappy 4x12 cabinet is THAT supposed to be?" My Ibanez and Aria like the cleaner amps, while the Electra and the Penco go for the dirt. (Although, after much tweaking, I was able to get a good jazz tone that everything liked.)

In it's defence, I have to admit that it's the first thing that has ever been able to allow me to record my bass, a '80 Kramer DMZ6000B, without any problem what-so-ever. It recorded chrystal clean!

I've been using it with a '93 Ibanez EX1500 (2 Ibanez powersound humbuckers and a single coil), '78 Electra X350 ( DiMarzio PAF's humbuckers coil tapped), '72 Penco Paul (Stock humbuckers), '87 Aria Pro(EMG Singles and a humbuckers), and the afforementioned Kramer (Dimarzio specially designed bass humbuckers).

This is the POD 2.0 with the 32 amp models, effects, and all the digital nonesense. Memory storage for your settings, blah blah blah. Too much to go into here.

It's digital, so the only thing that would hurt it, would be overheating during a daytime gig in the bright sunshine in August. Personally, I wouldn't use it in a gigging situation. It's not meant for that.

Very helpfull! Downloads, user presets, online help, all done easily and quickly.

I've been playing over twenty four or five years now. Other than the guitars listed above, I also play a Roland G707 Guitar synth through a Roland CM64 and D-110 sound modules, and a 62 Dan Electro longhorn bass. Again, I really don't care about it. If it were mine, and it was stolen, I'd be pissed about losing the money spent on it, but not about the unit itself.

In general, the effects on this thing are about the lamest I've ever heard. Clean sounds are hard to develope, and that you can only access some of the features onboard is a major drawback.

Distortions are fine, and recording is it's purpose in life. It really is quite good at that, but I still prefer my Digitech.

The first thing I want to say is that anyone who is saying that it is impossible to get a good sound is simply a freaking idiot. It is hard to get started on; i.e. learning all the details of it. But once you get going on it, it's a breeze. I never liked it through an amp until I REALLY spent some time working with it. The trick for me is running it through a 450watt Fender Ultra Chorus. I use a Shure UT-14 Wireless system into the POD and out into the return of the mono effects channel. I don't use the input of the amp at all. I turn the amp modulation off as well. This way I am modeling the POD instead of use it as an amp modeler AND the amp I am using. I am using the POD as the pre-amp and using my speakers directly. It makes a lot more sense. So anyone who says you can't get a good sound is straight up retarded.

i am using 2 les pauls with detailed customizing. 1 handmade custom guitar built from an expert in Austin, Texas. 1 Fender American Fat Strat. 1 B.C Rich Warlock. 1 Ibanez AX-120 and a slew of others but those mainly. It defiently needs a seperate noise gate. I use it running directly into a P.A. usually and if I use amps it's either a crate, peavy, fender, or marshall. The downside of this is that there is not a good tremelo nor a phaser. The delay is good as well as the reverb. It has a lot of good qualities but it also sucks with SOME sounds.

This thing is built better than a tank. you can play Baseball with this thing and take it to a gig the next day. I never use a backup. The only backup I ever use is a gain channel on an amp in case my ADD catches up with me and I forget to bring it to a show.

Never had to work with them. They might be jerks for all I know.

I play with lots of people and bands. I have played with Slash from GnR in Vegas as well as Jack Black here in Austin...at NerdStock :-) I also am the lead gunner is Signs of Immanuel (rated the 2nd best Youth Band in America) (I'm 17 btw) I alsp play in CrossFish, Test of Silence, and several others. I would buy it again if it got stolen. Again I really wish it had a phaser and a good tremelo. Also a noise gate.

I play mostly neoclassical metal and classic rock. I mainly bought the POD for one thing: the Modern HiGain setting. To me, this is the "shining star" feature; very heavy distortion, but DEFINED as opposed to being muddy sounding. It's modelled after a Soldano SLO 100. I have two Jacksons, a Charvel, and an 80's Kramer. The POD sounds excellent with all of them.

DO NOT listen to the people who say that the POD "sucks through an amp." They haven't tweaked it enough. I have a Marshall JCM 800 2210 twin-channel half stack. I spent an hour pulling my hair out one night trying to get the POD to sound decent across the Marshall, i.e. like it sounded through the headphones. Believe it or not, the magic tweak was to set it on "Direct" (as opposed to "Amp") and set the cab emulation for 1x8. No, that's not a typo. 1x8 was the best sounding speaker emulation to me.

I recently discovered THE clean sound, as well. Like a moron, I forgot what amp setting it was, but I had the presence of mind to save the setting as a preset. I'm talking about a Fender-like, sparkling clean and that's on a Jackson with EMG pickups! All I remember is that it's at about 8-9 o'clock on the "alternate" amp models (the ones you access by holding the Tap switch while turning the amp model switch). I wish I could remember it exactly, so sorry....

Don't get me wrong, I think that the POD most definitely has some sucky, unusable sounds (like Tube Preamp, for example), but the GREAT sounds available more than make up for it.

POD 2.3, bought in December 2003 for $249.00 at Guitar Center. 32 amp models, 16 effect settings, headphone jack, stereo outs, A.I.R switch, several others I can't think of at the moment.

I've heard some weak things about Line 6 gear, not only in their reliability, but in poor customer service, as well. In fact, TWO of my local music stores recently stopped carrying Line 6 products for this reason. In all fairness, though, since I haven't yet had a problem I'll refrain from rating in this category.

See above.

I've played off and on for 20+ years. I've owned several amps at different times; a Carvin X100B head, a Crate G1500 head, a Dean Markley combo, my current Marshall, not to mention trying probably over a hundred amps in stores over the years. I honestly believe that the POD holds its own against anything I've ever played on. Or at least at "living room" volume levels.

See my guitar inventory above.

If it were lost or stolen, I would DEFINITELY have to get another one. I also did some (computer) recording with it recently and was impressed with the way the recorded sound came out exactly like what came across the speakers (I use a CD jam box as my PC speakers).

As for comparisons, yes, I played it back to back against the Behringer V-Amp. Believe me, I WANTED to like the V-Amp more because it retailed for only $139.00 including the footswitch and carrying bag which both cost extra on the POD. Unfortunately..... the V-Amp wasn't even in the ballpark to me. Not knocking the V-Amp here. It sounded okay, but it just didn't have THE sound I was looking for. Plus, the V-Amp has a plastic cover as opposed to the metal cover on the POD.

Epilogue.... I don't give out "10" ratings easily. I honestly believe that the POD deserves it, though. I've also tried the PODxt and didn't like the overdriven sounds or the usability nearly as much. I think the POD 2.0 (2.3 currently) is a much better sounding amp than the xt.

I am constantly finding new and useful sounds by tweaking this thing. You must read the book to be able to access all of the features. I use the manual setting to produce some tones that would otherwise caost me hundreds and hundreds of dollars to reproduce.

I found that it is best to use this unit through an amplifier that has no personality. I use a peavey bandit that does not color the pod tone. The effects are ok, especially if you are using them for subtle coloring. I use this with a mosrite combo, and i can get a nice rockabilly twang with it. with a les paul, emg pickups, nice metal crunch. The cab simulations sound great. If you are looking for exact duplication you will not find it here , but you can dial in a lot of really great sounds. just tweak the thing.

this is a tank. If you treat it reasonably it going to be fine. Mines been dropped, no damage.

never had to deal with the company

I play a wide variety of music. I do not have a whole lot of money to put into gear. I would love to have a couple dozen vintage tube amps but for 200 hundred dollars you cant beat the vesatility of the pod. I have not gigged with this but it seems like if you get the right tweaks and setup you could definatley get useful live sounds from this. If you plug in, turn it to your favorite amp model, and expect perfection you will be dissapointed. Play around, learn how to use it, make it work for you. Once you find a few quality sounds, set them as presets. This has improved my playing because I have been so frustrated with my sound in the past.I use this through the effects loop of my amp, or through headphones. It is very satisfying to have this many sounds available.

I bought this based on its reputation and the guy on the Mike Bullard show was rockin' with his.
I disliked it from the get-go,and tried to get with it,but I liked the blackface model and one of the Marshall settings,but not enough to keep it.I traded it back to the store for a microphone.Everything else left me wanting...big disappointment !!

Tons of stuff.....

N/a

N/A

I wanted to like it,but it was a big drag.I am not a vintage snob,and love convenience,but the sounds were synthetic to a fault.
At the risk of hypocrisy,I love the Guitar Port !! An awesome toy,and learning tool,even for a guy with tons of experience.Maybe I'm spoiled as I use a Badcat combo live,but I consider myself to have good ears,and the Pod sucked the joint out...perhaps the recording application is where it shines,but as far as judging the sounds on their own merit,I have yet to get excited over this thing.Same with the digital amps(Vox inluded).It's more of how it feels than how it sounds...and it feels brittle and spikey.
Food analogy:fresh tuna is great...canned tuna is convenient.Class A is great....Line 6 is canned tuna.

Enough already!
Maybe it doesn't sound as good as the real things, I don't know, the only decent amps I've ever played through were a gorgeous vintage fender Twin and a Marshall something or other. I will never own a Soldano or a Marshall stack unless I win the lottery.
Using a Pod 1.0 and after five years of fiddling, I can still find new and inspiring tones.
Very easy to use, software is great and you could tweak all day.

Use it direct to my pc, or occasionally through my Fender Princeton Chorus, always sounds great. Fender Strats and Gibson ES335 copy along with a Les Paul Junior type of guitar I built myselfare my usual guitars. Also use separate Wah pedal, Boss EQ pedal and a Zoom 9002 for basic EQ, compression,etc. just to get a slightly wider sound than Pod alone.

Never let me down.

never had reason to try them.

I love this unit, beginning to think about moving to an XT, only because the Pod 1 is no longer supported for tones on the net, and my muti-effects unit is dying, the on-board effects are a little limited.
OK, maybe it doesn't sound EXACTLY like the amps its modelling, but I can get all the sounds I want out of it (usually lower gain stuff like Clapton, Pink Floyd, Blues, Knopfler, etc.)
32 amps for #300, if that isnt value for money, I dont know what is!
Up against my mates Boogie, I cant tell the difference and as I said, I'll never afford all the amps modelled here, or have room for them in my home studio, even if I did, would I want to keep getting up. going over and re-plugging in all my FX's and guitars every time inspiration led me in a different direction?
No, probably not.
Todays rant has been brought to you by the word, COMPROMISE, learn it its a good one!
And if you like one or two sounds, go and buy the real thing, but otherwise I'll meet you on the crossroads with 32 amps in my gig-bag!

General Notes:
I play heavy metal (Along the lines of Metallica <sg>, Dream Theater, Symphony X, Megadeth, Slayer).

I like JP's tone on Awake and ACOS, but not on his other albums (especially Train Of Thought). I like MJR's tone. I don't like Slayer's tone much, and I love Metallica's tone on Ride The Lightning and Master of Puppets (but not on Kill Em' All or ...And Justice For All). I hate Dave Mustaine's tone on RIP. So keep in mind I will be judging the POD against the tones I like. I don't consider myself a tube snob.

You can get good tones out of this box, but it will take A LOT of tweaking. I mean this to contrast with crappy practice amps which take very little tweaking to get their best tone, which still sucks.

The Bad:
The POD sounds a little fake or solid state even at its very best tweaking. I'd say they are about 90-95% there in emulating a tube sound.

The factory presets SUCK. They are simply awful. Do not judge the POD by it's awful factory presets. You need to spend half an hour figuring out how it works in general, find an amp model and spend 45 minutes or an hour trying to dial in a tone you like).

The POD doesn't automatically sit well in the mix. It is difficult as well to find the proper reverb for your recording, so I'd recommend adding the reverb after recording the dry track.

I'd like more amp models. They only model two Mesas, one model very similar but slightly worse than the other.

Too noisy to gig with without a separate noise gate. (You won't notice the noise unless you are amplifying the whole signal a lot, or you've turned up the POD the whole way with a very high gain channel.)

The Good:
The POD sounds better than the V-Amp, but not as good as the Triaxis (or the more advanced Line 6 stuff).

The clean sounds are easier to dial in and sound better than the dirty sounds, and are clean even when cranked all the way.
You can make most of the sounds you want for metal (or at least I could). There's no auto-wah, and the chorus sucks, but you can get a decent rhythm tone and decent lead, clean or dirty, with or without delay (reverb, &c).

NOTE: I DON'T easily give high ratings. 5 is average to me (but you want a good amp, not an average one). I am rating the amp based only on my personal experience.

I prefer an amp that has enough features to produce the sounds I like. I'm not much into copying other people's tones (even though I have tried with some success).

And now about the POD 2.0...
General Notes:
I don't know when it was made or where it comes from. But I got it from the Guitar Center as a factory-refurbished model for $200. Mono input, stereo output for direct recording (with microphone and recording space simulation) or feeding the signal into an amp. Stereo headphone jack (note: you cannot use the headphone jack without turning on the microphone and recording space simulation--which means if you are gonna use the heaphone jack, it's probably gonna sound bad through an amp). There are 9 banks, each of which has an A, B, C and D channel (So 36 total channels. I only use a 6 or 7). I use the pod for direct recording, playing through my brother's solid state practice bass amp, and using with headphones. I'd say it sounds best through an amp.

The Bad:
Brief pause between channel switches that forget the delay you've been using. In other words: NO DELAY SPILLOVER. It's hard to tell exactly what the settings are on a preset that you've stored (even though it is possible).
The effects are OK, and the distortion is mediocre.
The POD needs some better distortion (but note: it's gonna sound bad anyway if you use too much. They give you room to add too much gain).
The POD's design isn't especially aesthetically appealing to me (but if you're into kidney-bean shaped amps...).
I would like more of an EQ, but 3 bands is probably enough for most people. They offer an on/off presence toggle, but it

doesn't do much.
The POD is a lot trickier to record than Line 6 might claim. But it's still essentially the easiest thing you'll find.
They screw you over with an expensive floorboard to get access to certain features which only the floorboard (or separate MIDI controllers) can access.

The Good:
Very intuitive design. Easy to learn and use.
More patches than you'll ever need.
Inexpensive.
Many effects to choose from (the delay is good).
You already have an idea of what tone you like. You just have to find it, and this box will not let you find it (if you like a lot of distortion), but it WILL let you approximate it.
No tubes to replace or maintain.
Light.
Full MIDI support.
Durable.
Small.
Excellent manual.
Great for practicing at home with heaphones (But be careful of using too much compression, in can disguise your mistakes).

The POD has treated me well so far. I have had no problems with it.

I would not go on a gig with this without a backup. In fact, I wouldn't gig with this as a primary amp. Maybe this would be my backup. There is no FX loop, but it is not especially necessary.

IF I were to gig with this, say with a noise gate, OF COURSE I'd use a backup. I wouldn't take any reviews seriously that advocate the use of an amp--especially a modeler or tube amp--without a backup.

The warranty is somewhere between 1 and 3 years, I believe, but I'm not sure.

NOTE: I DON'T easily give high ratings. 5 is average to me (but you want a good amp, not an average one). I am rating the amp based only on my personal experience. (I think I gave the POD a good rating.)

I play heavy metal (Along the lines of Metallica <sg>, Dream Theater, Symphony X, Megadeth, Slayer).

I like JP's tone on Awake and ACOS, but not on his other albums (especially Train Of Thought). I like MJR's tone. I don't like Slayer's tone much, and I love Metallica's tone on Ride The Lightning and Master of Puppets (but not on Kill Em' All or ...And Justice For All). I hate Dave Mustaine's tone on RIP. So keep in mind I will be judging the POD against the tones I
like. I don't consider myself a tube snob.

I prefer an amp that has enough features to produce the sounds I like. I'm not much into copying other people's tones (even though I have tried with some success).

I own this, a Marshall MS-2 (The cheap Mini-stack. I mean hey, it's battery powered! I'll save that for another review though...). I play an Ibanez S-Series Prestige with the crappy stock humbucking pickups. Well, just the bridge one. The neck pickups sounds REALLY fake with any appreciable amount of distortion.

Overall, the POD 2.0 sounds good and is cost-effective, especially for practice, or amateur or low-budget recording. I'd recommend the PODxt instead though, in general.

If it were stolen/lost, I'd buy a PODxt. The xt sounds better. If I had more money, I'd buy a Vetta II or something.

OK, here we go. There are ALOT of sounds in this thing. As I've said, I've had this for over a year now, and find that when I'm setting up my sound, I don't even care what amp model it is on. LISTEN WITH YOUR EARS. If it sounds good, then it sounds good. With that saod, I find I'm always landing on the Marshall or the Mesa. You can tell alot of time was spend on those models in particular.

I use the POD exclusively live, and I did notice the same weird EQ crap-out thing that others have wrote about when at loud volumes. This is easily explainable, and even more easily remedied. The frequencies normally associated with "bass" and "treble" actually increase as you increase the volume. Imagine turning your volume up, and turning your bass and treble to '15' if it existed. This is the same thing that will happen in your car...max out your car stereo, what happens? Your woofers might blow, your speakers will crackle, and the high end will make your ears ring. Put your Marshall tube stack on 1...sounds like crap. No "woof", no "bite", unless you turn it up...

So, if you are going to play live with this, and play loud, first make sure the swith is on "Amp". TURN OFF THE CAB MODELING. At low volumes, the Line 6 cab model is amazing, but the bass and treb EQ is so cranked in this cab model, that it will sound like junk live. Flip it to "bypass" and stick to the "stock" eq section of the amp model itself.

I'm running it this way into a Marshall 80/80 valvestate power amp, or the effects return of a JCM900 head, into a Marshall 4X12 cab. If you got a good cab, with some good Celestions, why put a cab model on that?

V 2.3. Had this POD for almost a year, and still experimenting with the features...amp/cab mod, some OK built in effects, live/direct use. Layout similar to normal amp-knob set up. EQ response itself is even modeled after the selected amp...pretty sweet.

Could have use some seperate controls for the "hidden" features (delay decay/time/intensity, presence, gain boost, etc.)

Year old, stored uncovered in a dusty, cold basement (I know, shoot me). No prob's yet.

Never had to deal with them.

If you want to use this live as a preamp, try to ignore the bells and whistles, and use it just as a preamp. Pick a good amp model, set the eq to your liking, add some effects (I'm into verb and some delay), crank it up and rip. Leave that cab modeling stuff for recording, not live. Remember the old ADA's and SGX? They didn't have cab modeling, and they sounded great live, so take from their lead.

Using emg81 at bridge. I play hard rock , metal ( metallica influence ) , AC/DC tones. Yes, i can get pretty close tones. And i have a good ear. Nice chunky 'And Justice for All' tone , is hard to get , but with proper EQ and backround , is achievable.

Heres the deallie-yo - The POD at first , to me , sucked. Until i found the AIR switch ! What a difference when connected to a PA ! I own a peavey 5150 and use to own a dualrec (im broke now). I play in a band , and i cant bring the 5150 everywhere ( 85lbs , anoying as fcuk to lug around ) so i use to bring a couple of effect pedals and feed direct through PA ... Sounds like shite ! So long story short , POD sounds amazing compared.

PPL out there saying this sounds bad , ok whatever , you probably didnt even know there is a TAP function on this. It gives you extra amp models to choose from , extra cabs , options for drive boost wich gives more distortion , critical to get a thick overdriven sound. Read the manual , i used the thing for 2 months before discovering i could change the presence of the amps as well !

This thing sounds pretty good. I say its good enough for a gig , but you need to know how to set it up !! I tell ya , its very easy to get a crappy sound when you dont know what your doing .

Its not a tube preamp. But getting closer , and closer. Inexpensive solution.

Craploads - Its almost impossible to use all of them.

Its a peice of metal with a couple knobs.

So many factors influence the sound that will come out of a rig. Guitar , pickup , amp etc... Most importantly , your own fingers. I say during a gig , 98% of ppl wont even notice the difference between a 'pink-face PLexi-9million' , a Quadruple rectifier , and a POD. Hell , 50% wouldnt notice a fuzz box to a Soldano.

Its not the best sounding out there , but what matters is your own opinion about your sound , and nothing else.

Feel free to comment, inquire.

primary guitars are 76 reissue gibson explorer,2 reissue fender strats61,62.i play mostly gary moore stye blues rock,and some eric johnson stuff with standard 60"s british blues.this is the 3 pod ive owned the xt i sold because i needed the $at the time still have first and second versions.now for my 2cents worth..many people either love or hate these things if used through the front of a guitar amp at band levels it embarressed me and i wanted to throw it in the trash.throuh a marshall 9100 tube power amp unbelievable..i own a boogie mk3 simil-class,a marshall 2204jcm800,marshall1987x50watt plxi reissue through 2 mesa slant2x12 cabs with celstion v-30s.the pod is so close for the $ and lack of weight,carrying these amps for me with out a lot of help is out of the question {disc injurys}i can manange the pod with the power amp althogh its a screach.got ver 2.3 epprom from line 6 for free and hate it it makes the marshall models sound mid heavy and farty no clarity or crispnes of the 2.2 with was immeadtly put back in 2.3 tonality is just not there.also turn of cab simulator,and most important TUNE CAB SETTING ON POD TO {B} REGARDLESS OF THE CAB TYPE YOU ARE USEING THE OTHER ONES ARE AWFULL THEY SOUND LIKE A CHEAP TRANSISTOR RADIO REGADLESS OF THE CAB YOU USE....OTHER REVIEWERS HAVE MENTIONED THIS AND IT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT TING BESIDE TURNING OFF THE CAB SIMULATOR IF BEING USED FOR LIVE SOFTWARE VERSIONS 2.2 AND LOWER ARE THE TICKET.

ver2.0 with2.2 epprom.

Never had a problem

i have allways been able to get a tech on the phone at line 6 and ive called a lot when setting up the sounddiver edit software they walked me through it and it took at least 45 mins setting up the computer,midi cable ,installation etc,etc.they have been great to me with out exception....

it would be replaced as soon as possible but only one with the right software version it does make that much difference tone wise.althouth this version does have that wierd thing with the vol when changing channels in manual mode ..it still worth it.i under stand from line 6 that only the early pod pros had a software version that sounded like 2.2 so watch out, Im looking for an old one myself.IT SMOKE ADA MP-1 witch i own but sits in the closet.