Line 6 POD

It's easy to use and edit. But controlling the effects is quite a hard.Because there is only effect tweak button ,sound from effects is never going to be what you would want to have.
Knobs are easy to use.
Manual is good,but MIDI section is not! It is written like every user would have basic aknowledge about MIDI devices.
Getting good sound of it is easy.But thing that really turns me off to this unit is that you can't dial those 16 extra amp models from POD itself..

*I'm using am.std.strato '94 and keyboard amp.
*It's not noisy and noise gate really works surprisingly well.
*Amp models are quite good overall,there isn't much digital sound on it,but really comparing to tube amps,modelling will never be accurate,there is too much variables and things to get unit sound a tube amp.And you can't forget the thing that especially oldel players get part of their motivation from tube gear,and it would seriously affect their playing just to know that there is digital unit doing the sound even if the sound would be ok.
*But important thing is that you can get very usable sounds from it.
Overall sound is quite a trebly,too trebly with strat.I must alway turn tone knob to "0" when playin w bridge pickup.Then it sounds good.
*Tone controls DO NOT affect sound almost at all,i mean it's almost like joke!Any amp will respond way more when tweaking tone controls,with pod there is almost no change in sound.
*Tuner is crap,total crap,any multieffect unit has had better than this one.It does not track note at all,and is impossible to tune accurately with this thing.
*Amp models all have same problem..It's hard to get good clean sound or it's always very thinny.With Gt-3 it's opposite.
With distorted sounds ,sound is quite a good,but lower string playing always sound very mushu,fuzzy and unclear with this thing.
There lacks clarity and certain force from distortion.
But sounds are very usable and not sound digital.
Generally best modeled amp(pedal) models are rectifier,fuzz faze,black panel and marshall plexi.These have good dynamic range and volume control really affects to sound.Also soldano models are qood,but far away from accurate.
Jcm800-model is good,but lacks really much of the punch of the real amp. Ac30 models are not so good,sound is very cheap and fuzzy,no warmness of the real thing.LIne6 own models are actually best models in the category,they sound good clean and distorted and there are versalitiy in models.Unfortunately,overall sound of these models is quite a boring for long time playing.
*Effects are not so good compared to amp models.One big reason is that they sound all very digital "rack type" effects.Another reason is that there is no chances to tweak to sound,since there are no other control,than "effect tweak-button".
Reverb in this unit is average,spring reverb simulation is not so good,sound is very unclear especially with lot reverb using a'la black panel.No good surf sounds from here..
Delay sounds overly digital,but is good.Again,no tweakability.
Chorus sounds are pure rack stuff,faaar away from warm of ex. CE-2.
But still usable chorus sound is there.
Flanger is very dull and didital,far away from 70's jet swooshing,.
But again there is certain quality in this effect too,but digital.
Rotary speaker simulator is good,almost very good.It really has not typical digital sound and is very usable with all amp models.
ANother good effect is tremolo,which is not analog sounding at all,but smooth and nice. Compressor is average stuff..
Volume swell is really interesting and fun to play with.One of the pod's best part.
Getting sounds of familiar artists is very easy,BUT sound always will be only close call,not nearly a real thing.
One of the best things in this unit is that it's really quiet,and all of this thing reminds of studio quality.Not any of the effects or amp models sound cheap or processed.
For the price,pod sounds are absolutely fantastic.
Very usable,many many good sounds.

For home use this seems to be very reliable.For gigging,certain arrangements should be done or it would end like a catastrophe.
One of the funny things with this unit is that when input,output etc. are plugged pod takes quite a space since all the connections are different places in the unit and this is not good thing..that is the price of pod looking good.
Digital equipment usually can't use in cold,or places with humidity or vibration.Same is with pod,you must be careful if gigging with.
But overall i have always had feeling that it won't break suddendly as with using low price range zoom units had.

Good website support

It is very very good unit and offers so much usable sounds,and it's definitely 10 time worth of one stompbox in case of offering good and usable sounds.It has many things that could be better and there are things that never can be done better.But pod is usable in home playing,recording and maybe even gigging.
Effects are not anything special,amp models are good,but tone controls are poor besides tuner.
It' is very handy and portable unit and build with quality.
When using it,it always had the feeling of quality.And it is definitely fun for home playing and exploring different types of amps.
Very good product.

A bunch of pretty cool sounding presets. You can in fact recognize what actual tones they're trying to get at. For sitting at home in your room and screwing around, it's awesome- very flexible and lots of fun. For anything more than that, BUY A TUBE AMP. Why do you think they gear their entire marketing campaign at trying to convince you it sounds LIKE a tube amp? Why? Because tube amps simply sound better. Every sound you get out of this thing seems to have this digitally processed overtone that cannot be ignored. I've used the POD on it's Marshall presets, then I've plugged into my "real-life" 1987x and JCM800 amps, and believe me, there is NO comparison. I once tried to use the POD in practice- I stress ONCE. It absolutely sucked. But, for times when you don't need a pro-level sound, i.e. in the bedroom, this thing is top-notch.

You know what it has and does. I don't like the fact that you are so limited in how many effects you can turn on off in the same mode (tremolo/delay/flange/etc)- I have the big floorboard, and it's still pretty basic.

Floorboard pedal just about unraveled itself on it's own. Had to take it apart and tighten every screw in it. But, apart from that, it just sits on top of my cabinet and does fine.

Like I said, in the correct application (sitting at home), it rules. If I could have one amp that was for everything except rehearsal, studio use and playing live, it would be this. But, when push comes to shove and you need the real deal, I wouldn't be caught dead with this thing.

I've tried repeatedly to like this unit, but it just falls short of the mark for important situations. I want to like it -- it would be soooo convenient. I have tweaked and tweaked, but it still sounds like the Pod no matter what I do. Those of you who think this thing is ass-kicking cool, you've either never played through a good amp, have a hearing problem, or you wanted to like it even more than I did. You know -- like people who bought an Edsel and convinced themselves that they had a good car!

And as for my tweaking skills, while guitar is my main instrument, I am also a proficient keyboard player -- at one point, for a living, I taught people how to program their Korg M1s, O1/Ws, X-3s, DW8000s and so on. And I have picked apart synths, effects units, workstations, digital recorders, sequencers, samplers, software and so on from Roland, Korg, Alesis, Ensoniq, Yamaha, Akai... The Pod, in comparison, is actually quite simple. It just doesn't sound all that great no matter what you do to it.

In fairness, I do use mine for gigs when I'm hired as a keyboard player and just need to a play a bit of guitar on a few tracks. I also tend to use it for rehearsals into a PA. It makes any amp sound like crap. If you buy a footswitch, you'll learn that there is a nice long delay from the time you step on the switch to the time your sound actually changes...

Some of the clean tones are okay as long as you turn the reverb and effects off or use them sparingly. The high gain tones really leave alot to be desired. For the money, it's a decent piece of equipment, but you could also say that, for the money, a Kia is a decent car. It doesn't make it a ten, though.

People here need to stop over-rating this product and be realistic. I think what they are looking for here in a sound quality rating is... how good does it sound compared to everything that is available regardless of price? As opposed to how good does it sound in comparison to other shitty equipment. I guess compared to other shitty modeling devices, it would get a ten. But when the entire spectrum of gear that is available is added into the equation, I'd have to say that it barely gets a five -- and that's pushing it.

Lots of Bells and Whistles. They seem cool from a distance, but the closer you get, the less pretty they become -- owning one is kind of like waking up next to someone you thought was hot last night when you were intoxicated. Lots of effects that, frankly, are not particularly good. The tremolo is good, the reverse delay is cool. The reverbs all sound crappy. The choruses -- ehh. I will rate based on the quality of the features, not the quantity.

Doesn't handle vibration at all -- it will change channels and edit itself if you put it on top of anything that is resonating. Kind of shitty for stage use.

I bought this when it first came out and have tried repeatedly to like it. While I don't HATE it, I have found it to be only somewhat useful. I do encourage people to own one -- it IS a good product for the money and is convenient in situations where bringing along a real amp is not practical, it just doesn't sound like a ten. It's more Beau Bridges than Bo Derek, if you know what I mean.

If it were lost or stolen, I don't think I'd miss it. If I did, I would just get the behringer, which sounds identical, for a third of the price. I would definitely not get a Pod pro, xt, flextone or a vetta --now you're getting basically the same product, just with more bells and whistles, but now into a price-range where you can truely find something that is a ten in terms of sound.

I am an intermediate beginner I've been playing for a few years on and off taking lessons and all. I had tried a few different amps and found that i liked too many styles of music to only have one amp and then found this little jem. it is extreamly easy to use. Trust me coming from a beginner, if i can figure it out you can. What makes it even easier to use, i download tones off the net and use thoes to start and tweek to get my own. i hook it up to my computer with the midi cables and you can see the dials on the screen move as you turn them on the pod. It comes with a manual but the only thing i use it for is to tell me what the different amps are (tweed blues = 59' bassman ect...)

This is the key to the success of using the pod. DON'T PLAY THROUGH A GUITAR AMP!!!! it will sound like crap. I play through a roland kc 100 keyboard amp. It's like playing through a small P.A. the tone is incredible. I like everything from classic rock to metal, and I also play with the church praise team. We play some progressive stuff but also need to play clean and quiet. It does it all. the effects are cool. I have experimented with them a little but usualy I just crank the drive and add alittle reverb. (spring reverb usualy you can change it if you like it's one of the options when you hook it up to the computer.) I play a US fender strat with 2 hot humbuckers (invader in the bridge and tone zone in the neck) with hybrid strings 10-52 sounds great. And I also have a 96" jap strat with texas specials great bell like tones when playing through thoes old classics like vox ac-30 or a fender deluxe or jc 120.

The only problem i have had is when I got a new computer with windows xp. The software was not totaly compatable but I managed to work around it. Now I am thinking of the bass pod and I don't know if I can work with both pods on the computer or not. But thats a problem for tech support. Who are great by the way.

I have called there tech support alot, not because of problems just questions while doing research to buy the pod and my computer problem. They have always called back within 48 hours. Usually you can hold for about 10 min. and get right in. They have helped me imnensley. These guys are greate not like swr taking 2 weeks to awnser a simple e-mail.

If you only play one style of music and are going to set the amp to one setting and never touch it then go buy the amp suited for you. But if your like me and like everything then this is the amp for you. I can't say enough good things about this little wonder. If it were lost or stolen i would definitly buy it again, or mabe the pod pro. I have a friend who has the gt-6 and another with the vg-88 and they both do the same thing play through keyboard amps. Its the way to go.

I've owned my POD one to two years. I have found the sound driver software is not user friendly. I use the POD with the floorboard to adjust the sounds and it works pretty well. Patch editing is simple from the Pod itself. I always ignore the manual and do my own thing because I want to get my own sounds.I never went for the upgrade because the unit is fine for what it is.

I use one of two telecasters a Paul Reed Smith and a Eric Clapton Strat.Here's my beef you can't get a good clean sound. All the sounds are for light distortion to really hot distortion.Yes you can get a clean sound by turning down the guitar volume, but there's not much variety for those ultra clean fender sounds etc.Some of the higher gain settings are quite noisy, but the noise gate works really well to control this. I would never use this with a tube amp live. It doesn't really work for that in my opinion. A good tube amp sounds much better without it since it colors the sound of the amp.I really like the Fuzz Face. It sounds fairly close with more control of sustain tone etc than on an actual Fuzz Face. If you use the neck pickup of your guitar you can get that Eric Johnson tone. The effects are good but the spring reverb is disappointing.

I have had no problems with it. I wouldnt gig with it although I do always carry it as a backup incase my amp should ever crap out. I doesn't look road tough and I always pack it well.

I've never dealt with the company.

I play a wide variety of music from 40's to Country to Hard Rock and some Jazz. My original music is just as varied.I been playing for about 40 years, and still gig a few weekends a month year round.I may replace it but would probably shop around to find a unit with more clean sounds. The POD is my creative friend it helps me write music in different styles and I get different ideas from the wide range of sounds inside. Overall I like it. It is well woth the price, but you must consider it won't compete with something costing $1,000 or more. Also I feel that it may sound a little this compaired to an amp, however recording is an illusion. I've walked away from some of my recordings for a few days and came back and was really convinced that one could not tell if I was playing through a tube amp or not.

This is the problem as I see it:
This thing has no playing dynamics at all. It doesn't "follow your hands" when you play through this thing.
If you have a chance to try one of the amps the POD is trying to emulate and then switch to the original amp you'll see what I mean.
There is no air in the sound...its pretty horrible actually.
And here is something they complitely overlloked:
The fact that all the different brands of tubes sound different. Lets take the Marshall JCM 800 Lead Series amplifier as an example. Those of you who have been playing for alonger period of time are probably familiar with this fact. If you were to put lets say JJ poweramp tubes and mix that with for example sovtek pre-amp tubes it sound one way, swap the JJ's for Svetlanas and the sovteks for goldendragons it will sound another way. The differences are small butt audible, especially if you have experienced ears like some players do (me for one). Same thing with the cab emulations........it just gives you an idea of what a real 4x12 cab sounds like.

Loads of options........study the manual.

only use it for practice....so idon't really know how much abuse it can take...but so far so good.

More thing to be pissed of about:
The advertising for this thing is a bunch of hype.
The aplication this thing is ment for IMHO is this:
If you have to do a homerecording (a demo or just to record a riff for later use), you live in an apartment with paperthin walls, you don't have acces to a studio the next day where you could use a tube amp, and you absolutely have to use some device that plugs directly into your recorder. I personally would never use this thing for anything else than practicing at home, I would never take it to a gig and use it as a preamp or a "stompbox" type unit, there is other far superior stuff for that sort of use.
I do not really understand what has happened to peoples ideas of good tone lately. Partly it is the manufacturers fault that overhype their products. Adds like "a fullsized marshall stack in your 1x10" solidstate practice amp with this pedal"...oh please. If you want a halfstack sound buy the halfstack there is NO other way to achieve it....or get your AC30 sound from your pod - yeah right!
My advice to everyone out there: Buy a good, solid tube amp the really take you farther than you would think at first. Then when you have a good amp, then start adding effects that equal the quality of your amp (i don't use effects other than a wah-wah)...the foundations have to be in order. The bottom line is that good gear sounds good. If your gear is good and you still sound bad, blame yourself, not the gear.

The POD is easier to use than a lot of boxes that do a lot less than the POD does. It's very easy to edit and save settings. All you have to do is get the sound you want and hit a couple of buttons and you're there.
The manual is an easy read that explains everthing very well. But if you don't "get it" read it again.
The POD isn't an instant "everything" unit out of the box. You really have to spend the time and tweek the knobs. If you work at it you can get almost any sound you want out of it.

I use a Texas Special Strat with a Duncan Hot Rail in the bridge position. I have a Carvin X60, Fender Princeton and an old Gretsch model 6161 for amps.
My POD was very quiet. The noise gate works very well and hushes everything down very nicely.
I have to say that my favorite amp model is the one based on the Marshall JCM800. It responds remarkably like the real thing. It cleans up so good when I pull the volume back on my guitar that I would swear it was the a real JCM800. And when you kick it wide open it sounds amazing.
When it comes to clean sounds the model based on the '59 Bassman is my choice. It sounds great for blues and even chicken pickin' country.
As far as the effects go I can't imagine them being any better in a box that sells at this price. Of course they don't have the controllability that dedicated effects units have but that should be expected.

It's built like a tank. I've had no problems yet but if I were to use it on a gig I would probably take my Carvin and my Lexicon just in case(you never know).

I've never dealt with Line 6.

I've played for 30 years and in that time I have played just about every kind of misic you could imagine. Right now I do a lot of blues and some country also but love to wail upon occasion.
The POD does a lot of different styles well if you're willing to spend the time to get the sounds you need. If you're lazy maybe you should just move on. I also have a Yamaha DG Stomp and it sounds pretty good but the POD still blows it away when it comes to getting the closest to a real tube amp feel.
If you buy this unit expecting to get a million dollars worth of real tube amps in a convenient little red box you will probably be disappointed. If you buy it and use it for what it "REALLY" is you're going to fall in love with the POD.
I've seen so many reviews that are nothing more than someone whining about how POD does NOT sound just like a $3000.00 boutique amp. DUHHH! It's a $250.00 box! Get over it!
When it comes to getting what you pay for I thing the Line 6 POD would be VERY hard to beat. If I could give this thing an 11 rating I would. It's that good.

a lot of hidden functions. READ THE MANUAL! it is a must to fully open up this things capabilities. this is not a plug in and play great tone device, it takes some serious tweaking to get what your looking for but once you get it you'll be very please with the tone.

this is where my story begins, in my quest for "the perfect tone" i have been thru numerious 4x12 cabs and finnally settle with Carvin Legacy cabs with vintage 30s. i run 4 cabs total, 2 per side. then for the poer to push these babys i have been thru 4 differnt marshall valvestates, a 1973 marshall mk2 super lead and have settle on a marshall el34 100/100 power amp. then for a preamp i have gone thru a korg ax1000, a digitech gsp legend,, and a digitech 2120 artist and thought i had it pretty much nailed. oh buy the way i play through a 83 gibson explorer and a 84 gibson v both with the original dirtyfingers pickups. the we hired a new guy and he came in with a power amp and this little red kidney bean looking thing and blew my tone away! so i went down and got the pod oro rack mounted and sit down for 2 hrs and congured up a lot of squealing noise and was ready to take this thing back when he walks in and said, "it will help if you turn the cab simulator off" and within 5 minutes had my tone righted and me smiling! NOTE: IF YOU ARE USING THIS LIVE THRU A POWER AMP TURN THE CAB SIMULATOR OFF! any who , im sitting there feeling like an idiot but he tells me that he has spend many an hour in front of this thing making very minute changes in setting to get what he was looking for. this thing takes time to find that "perfect tone", but once you do you will be pleased. my rig now is one of the best ive heard and the punch and air movement is second to none. i have yet to use it live where i can open this baby up , but when i do i will have no problems leaving the first couple of rows exiting with a good case of ear ringing! needless to say this is a good preamp at a good price, but dont expect to find your tone without working for it.

have not used it long enough to really know but if it lasts like the rest of line 6's stuff it will be bullet proof

have never dealt with them so cant really say

we play 80's metal ie. priest, metallica, ozzy, black sabbath ect. and this thing hits it right on the head. it has bottom end that will shake the windows and highs that will blow them out. i have always heard that if you use a tube amp that you had to use a tube preamp and visa versa but i think i have got the best of both worlds. this preamp compliment my tube amp perfectly. REMEMBER: READ THE MANUAL AND FOR PLAYING LIVE TURN THAT DAMN CAB SIMULATOR OFF!

This is one of the first POD's. I use it live and recording at home on Cubase VST. I have been in alot of mid level recording studios, where they always want a Marshall recorded dry with a SM-57 and a bunch of ambient mikes. Then the so called "pro engineer/producer" adds his Lexicons and so on to get the so called big time guitar sound. This to me is delusional and a huge waste of money. Most of the time your band spends about $20,000 and walks out with a mix on a CD. Only the big time studios/producer/engineers can help you, and that is if you are already signed. So yeah I use it live and at home to work up my songs, and I am saving my $20,000 to buy my own Pro Tools home recording situation where I can be in control and not at the mercy of some thief.

Better than the 80's stuff by far. This has every amp/combo you can imagine and if you get a midi pedal you can switch between them at will for home or live. Since it was only $250 and has all that why would I spend $3000 on a 3 channel "Soldano/Bogner/VHT"? If you end up in a mid level studio you can just use there Marshall, and be dominated by there engineer.

Nothing has gone wrong yet, and I do use it without a backup.

I havent had to call them, there website is very comprehensive, and has patches you either downloade or view!

Like I said these things are great, sorry to all of the studios out there trying to make a living. I would rather spend my money on something tangible ie: digital home recording, and processor's/plug-ins!

I engineer in a recording studio, as well as play guitar.I've played since '84 , and I would like to think that I know a good tone when I hear it.Despite my age I like lots of modern hi-gain tones as much as "vintage" ones.When you work on 200 to 250 rock sessions a year, using conventional methods of miking amps, and someone insists that you try this pod thing, at first you wanna go w/ what you know.It is hard to justify the risk of abandoning a tried and true method when clients are paying hourly.However, I feel you shouldn't be resistant to change or finding an easier, better way to achieve a desired result.So, we bought a pod to test on our own time.This thing immediately reminded me of an old Digitech gsp 21 (at least I think that was the model) that everyone was using in the late 80's.Maybe a step closer to the real deal (a miked amp), but not by much.I could still hear the buzzy top end on the saturated settings and just a general lack of balls across the board.I was fooled once by the first generations of amp sims, but now I think it's a little tougher, to pull the wool over my eyes.I remember hearing those 80's processors thinking "damn that sounds great!" until I figured out how to get the sounds these boxes were trying to emulate on tape using the real thing.Anyway enough said I think, one step closer but not there yet.
I would not have written any review at all if it wasn't for all the people saying that this thing is exactly like a tube amp (or 20 kinds of) miked.I will object to using it (unless it means a client walking out) just to save the studio's reputation.Everyone always asks a band where they did their recording, and I don't want anyone thinking that is a representation of our guitar sound.Maybe good for writing songs to a 4 track or a small PC for composing purposes but,not for you finished product.

Not gonna bother you know the features...

Never broken down, maybe use it live for clean tones?Probably not on second thought.Can't really be objective here.

Nver called line 6, but did download the software from website and ran it w/ no problems.

Good for maybe practicing or writing parts late at night.Would not want it to represent my sound .