Line 6 Pocket POD

Alright so it's freaking tiny. So what? get used to the weird configuration! It's what you paid for. On the computer, there's a lot more freaking control. So stop whining. You shouldn't have bought this product expecting it to be easy. And of course you have to tweak it a lot to get a good sound. Its a POD!!!

I run my SG through this and some other effects (RAT, Rocktron Delay, Boss Phase Shifter) into my Marshall VS100 and custom guitar cabinet (brand is Osborne). I get some freaking awesome stuff out of this thing. It's what I base my tone off of. Sure it's noisy but every overdrive setting on any REAL amp is. Get over it! You need to sit down and mess with the AC30, the JCM 800, and the Plexi settings. Yes, nothing else is all that great. Be radical with your EQ. It's the only way to find the right tone. If you try that and tell me it sucks, you're an idiot. This is exactly what I needed and at a perfect price. If you're unhappy shut up and by the x3. You can have features coming out your ***.

Never broke on me...

Does what I need, and sounds freaking good.

I won't repeat what everyone else has written, I have found this a bit confusing to use, but the software is pretty easy to use, and kinda makes the whole pocket pod makes sense.

The manual is pretty poor, and editing the patches without the computer is a pain.

I play a PRS McCarty, Jackson Professional, and a Levison Blade, my main amps are a Mesa Boogie single recto head through a mesa cab, and also a little fender Hot Rod deluxe. I use a multitude of boosters and overdrives mainly by Fulltone.

Right this is the bit that I will get on my soap box for. I have been playing guitar for 15 years, have been on gig circuits on and off over the last ten years, I have owned many amps, and guitars, and regard my self to have an understanding of tone.

WHAT DO PEOPLE WANT FOR ??65!!!! MY GOD, I find it crazy that people want a ??65 unit to produce the sound of a ??1500+ amp! I never expected that the pocket POD would sound like a Dual Retifier, or Marshall JCM800, I just want a little practice tool so I don't annoy the Mrs!. For that and the price it is a lovely liitle thing which I think sounds; well, like a ??65 multi effects unit! I actually find it a little offensive that I have spent ??1000's upon ??1000's on guitars and amps, and then people complain that a little ??65 unit does not sound the same as a Vintage Dumble amp! or Mesa Dual Recto.

For what it is, it does perfectly well and if you want to feel the awesome power and your chest vibrating whilst standing in front of a wall of JCM 800's well go and buy that instead of the pocket POD!

Its pretty poorly made, but hey do people really expect a ??65 multi effects pedal mae in china to have the same build quality as a Fulltone fulldrive 2 10th ani edition!

for the money it is fine! Get a life some people!

Never dealt with them and for the money, if it broke I'd buy another!

Play in semi professional bands in the past, and currently do session work, I play a variety of music, and feel that this is a practice tool nother more, its fine, and I am fed up with people expecting a stomp box to sound like a tube amp! Get a life!

Main guitar is a Paul Reed Smith McCarty, Levision Blade, and when I am feeling shreddy a jackson professional! I play two amps, a mesa single rectifier head with mesa cab, and for smaller gigs a Fender hot rod deluxe with I use a multitude of overdrives with,

I don't use the POD for any live work or gigs, that would be pretty silly!

Easy to get decent rock/distorted sounds using the presets. Not so easy to dial in a good clean tone. The patch editing software (Vyzex) was pretty good on Windows. The Mac version still has known issues and features that are not yet fully implemented. Line6's website states that "future releases" would solve these problems, but the latest update is just a few days shy of a year old as of this writing!

The Windows version of the editing software worked nicely after I figured out how to set it up. Much easier than trying to program the thing via the hardware controls. I'm sure lots of folks probably needed help configuring it to connect with their Pocket Pods; It wasn't very straightforward.

I could not find updated firmware on Line6.com, surprising considering how long this product has been on the market.

Tried it with a Les Paul and a Tele with Joe Barden pickups. I didn't find it to be noisy. Distorted sounds were pretty good, nice and chunky, more than good enough for practicing with headphones.

Clean tones? Not good at all. I tried to coax convincing Fender cleans out of it, but it was not happening. Harsh and brittle is how I would describe the tone, not thick, warm and sparkly like one might expect.

Reverb? Guys: spring reverb doesn't have to mean sproingy and thin sounding. Listen to a nice vintage Fender Deluxe or Twin with the reverb on 2-3 to hear how lush, full and warm a good spring reverb can sound, then please try again.

The tremolo effect is not much better; it sounds nothing like a tube tremolo circuit.

I wouldn't use this device with an amp as I have several nice tube amps ranging in size from tiny to huge; I bought this for mobile practice. I auditioned the sounds through AKG K240DF Studio Monitor headphones, Bose OE phones and Shure SE210 buds with predictable results.

I bought it to play cleanish Tele thinking it might have some decent blackface tones. It totally misses the mark in this department, so I think it's going back to Sam Ash. If I wanted to play crunchy rock sounds I would consider keeping it.

Seems like it's built decent, but it rattles when I shake it. Not sure if it could withstand the rigors of being lugged around in my laptop case. One of the pots has a scratchy feel. I won't give it a rating in this category because I probably won't be keeping it long enough to know how long it can stand up to continued abuse.

I didn't deal directly with Line6, but didn't find their website's support and downloads sections to be very good. Latest versions of Vyzex software (even the Windows version) are almost a year old and have only been updated once since the initial release. I could not find a firmware update; still running 1.0.

I play Blues, classic Country and some Rock & Roll/Rockabilly. I'm mostly a Tele guy. The Pocket Pod not a good match for me.

I have a love/hate relationship with the form factor. It's small, but still bulky and awkwardly shaped. Even though it's called Pocket Pod, it's too big to fit in an actual pocket and a little bit too heavy.

If I have a favorite feature it's the Vyzex software, despite its shortcomings.

If you are used to using line6 equipment especially the previous pods you should find this easy to operate. It shares alot of similarities and functions. If you use the presets you can get stuck straight in and flick through the sounds installed on the pod. It is slightly harder to dial in a sound for example instantly find a black face or a hi gain setting.I guess you have to save your user presets and remember them. I have not used the editing software yet... I am saving that task for a rainy day or when students dont turn up!!

For what it is and what i use it for, which is teaching at a practise volume with a cheap 15 watt practise amp, it does the job fine. The clean sounds are better than the reviews say!! but the heavy gain sounds are a bit too fuzy for my liking. It can take the tone out of your guitar.. Delay, reverb and general effetcs are fine and quite impressive for a cheap unit. It does get a bit toppy when you turn it up but that is not what it is really made for.
For the price it sounds great.. Dont compare it to a real mesa boogie, cornford, fender etc etc compare it to what ??60 or $130 can buy you in the guitar world... not alot.... one boss pedal? 2 valves for an amp.... that is why i give it an 8/10

Well, fingers crossed.. It doesnt look like it could withstand being dropped too many times. I was hoping it would be made from that chunky pod metal casting but its just cheap plastic... dissapointing...

never needed to use them

Make it from metal next time not plastic! I think people would be prepared to pay the extra for a more solid build quality.

I teach the guitar 4 days a week and carry into school a practise amp, books, guitar, leads, pod version 2 plus power supply, mp3 player, laptop, blah blah blah.... this unit is so small it fits in my bag easily, does'nt contain a power supply and is light therefore its less to carry and prevents my shoulder from twisting from all the weight. This is a HUGE positve for me and that is the main reason why i bought it. nuff said

As the other reviewers have stated, there are loads of presets available, and just moving between those is straight forward with the 4way selector.

Changing settings can be more complex. EQ changes require the save button to be used, and after several months, I still end up with shift locked when I thought that I had released it. The rotary knobs behave like normal pots, so editing means that the control swings to wherever the knob is, rather than the current setting - this can be a real pain with the shift function too.

Editing the effects is limited to speed and amount when using this stand alone.

The CD/MP3 input is a pass through, so levels must be set on that to match POD output levels.

However, with the free downloaded Vyzex editor the whole thing is opened up, and editing, saving and managing sounds becomes incredibly easy. You can see what the settings are at a glance, and all sorts of tweaks to the effects can be introduced. This also gives access to the bright switch and presence control where they are available, and the three distortion, drive and EQ switches which add distortion, drive and a presence boost respectively. You can also change the speaker cab and the AIR setting using Vyzex. This is how I set up all my preferences.

I use the Pocket POD as a practise amp, for which it serves the purpose more than admirably, either outputting to headphones, HiFi speakers or Poweramp (remembering to cabinet tune when switching outputs). It works well with a variety of guitars and pick up configurations: Telecaster, hot Les Paul, Shergold all play through it nicely.

My experience of some of the classic amps modelled is limited, but I would say the higher gain sounds tend to be better than the lower gain models - I suspect that this is because of the compression that high gain introduces making the outputs less complex harmonically.

And damn this thing is bright - it has a kind of top end sparkle that seems to be all POD - maybe as a result of not hearing these models through a guitar speaker cab.

I had a real problem trying to clean sounds up using the drive control, but then I found out about the distortion switch, and that helped. In fact I rarely need to apply the switches to get classic rock and blues tones that I am looking for from any strength of pickup output.

Getting a clean or slightly crunchy rhythm tone is probably the most difficult thing to acheive with the Pocket POD, particularly if you are used to having the guitar dimed and using amp settings to control distortion - guitar volume is really important in controlling the clean tones.

The only noise comes from the higher gain settings, and the FX, delay and reverb don't add noise to the signal chain. All the FX are very useable, and can be dialled in from subtle chorus to wacky flanging. No Phaser, but the flanger 1 can be used subtly to get something close to a phaser effect. No possibility of using the compressor with the other FX is the single biggest gripe I have with the FX chain.

I don't like the preset distortion when switched in - it too harsh for my tastes. On the other hand the EQ switch can give a good approximation to using a treble booster.

Overall I like what I can acheive with the Pocket POD sounds, but you have to be prepared to spend some time to get just what you need from it.

I have had no problems with the Pocket POD, it is well built, and stands up to the occasional collision with the floor when I move around too much!

I wouldn't gig with this, because getting the sound adjusted right is too much of a pain, everything would have to be set up on consecutive presets, and there is no footswitch option. It has certainly made me consider one of the Floor PODs or a POD XT live if I were to start gigging again.

I had some problems getting the Pocket POD to talk to the PC, and they were very helpful and friendly - even though it was a problem with my PC, not a Line 6 problem.

The only downside was having to wade through entries on the bulletin board to check if others had had the same problem.

This is good for many musical styles, although it is biased towards the heavier and/or grungier styles of music, it is possible to get solid Heavy or classic rock tones, mellow jazz tones, sweetly distorted blues, twangy country all from a single package.

I've been playing for over twenty years, although I would describe my playing now as recreational. In that time I've been through quite a bit of gear, by way of amps, guitars and FX. As a multi FX practice amp it is ideal, and allows me to practice with good amp and effect tone without keeping the street up half the night.

It's bigger brothers have the features that it misses, but for the money and what this includes as a package it is excellent - I wish I'd had something like this when I started out...

If I lost it, or it was stolen I would probably replace it with a Floor POD+ or POD XT live...

I give it 7 because its not too easy but its not hard either.. If you know how to use computers and know about audio then you probably wont have any kind of trouble with this.. A good sound is pretty hard to make out of this actually.. the presets there arent too good so if you want a good sound, you have to download it or make it on your own which isnt that easy.. but you can do it if you want enough ;). The Manual doesnt give much info but who needs one ..

You can get good sound out of this if you know how to and if you have good enough systems.. probably not the best for live stuff.. but if you have a good quality soundcard in your computer, you can record with it and have good quality.. for practice with headphones this is a 10.. it has an amplifier built in and it doesnt sound too good with another amplifier.. its the best to plug it straight in to the soundcards line in.

It looks pretty weak.. but if you are careful with it, it will last.. I have actually dropped it two times, nothing happened to it.. But still, be careful.

It looks like they're active in the websites but I havent needed to use their support yet.

I play all kinds of music and this is suitable for everything. My guitar is a self-made telecaster which is really not good and i believe the quality could be much better with a better guitar, but still I'm statisfied with the sound. If i lost it i wouldn't probably buy the same again, I would buy a more expencive POD.. but this product made me like the line 6 POD.. so if it doesnt break, I will use it for a long time.

Well, like everything I have to say about this unit, it depends. If you just want to plug in and use the presets, then its easy. But as for tweaking things, it can get tricky. It's not complicated per se, just irritating because you hold the NES-pad type thing down one direction while hitting another button to to one thing, another direction/button for something else and it can be annoying remembering which button what way for which setting. Another thing is that you can only edit approx. half the settings via the unit itself. For the rest you need to hook it up to your computer via the included usd cable. So if you want to adjust the chorus depth or some such and you don't have a pc you're outta luck-

Again, hard to say. Hook up via headphones for practice jamming it sounded decent. Recording straight into my comp- not so much. Without rehashing the digital/analog debate we've all heard a billion times I'll just say this- For high-gain Mesa-type sounds it wasn't bad. For slightly overdriven Marshall-type stuff, it was very ok. For a clean Fender sound- forget it, not happening. The effects we're generally servicable, but very, um, effect-y. Not subtle, even turned down low. Reverb was half decent, modulation effects were just- too much. Felt like they swallowed my playing.

This thing it not built solid at all. The buttons/knobs are all mounted straight to the circuit board (I took it apart) and nothing feels sturdy. I had a weird glitch where the 1/8" would just make a ticking sound and it wasn't until I unplugged the cable, plugged a cable in and then out of the 1/4" out and then back into the 1/8" that I would get a sound out of it. Not a good sign. Plus if I jiggled the input cable at all it would shut the unit off and I would have to start again, re-navigating through the crappy interface trying to get back to my patch.

I didn't bother trying to fix/exchange it due to the glitch I had. Back to Guitar Center it went, thanks 30 day guarantee.

I wanted something for direct recording into my comp. I wanted more than anything a nice clean Fender tone to start with, because I have pedals for fuzz, etc. and it's hard (nigh impossible, really) getting a nice clean electric sound miking an amp at bedroom levels. I didn't get this. I could recommended this pedal for people trying to replicate newer, high-gain, heavy effects-type of rock music. The patch for 311's "Down" sounded quite good, and even Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" was decent. But the supposed SRV, Hendrix, Santana sounds were laughable. I know presets on things like this usually suck but if Line6's own engineers can't represent this sounds as a showcase, it's not a good sign.
Having said that there are a TON of possible combinations with this thing and for the price it's hard to complain to much. You're paying about 2% of the cost of all the amps, effects, cabs, etc. contained herein. But I'd rather have 5 things done right than 50 done poorly. As a headphones-only practice tool I could recommend this, but that's it.

Well, this little bugger sure needs some getting used to. But that's to be expected when you can do so much with only 2 buttons, 1 joystick button and 4 pots. The manual isn't always that clear either. So you have to spend some time learning the different combinations.

I play a H??fner 164IV (2 single coils, neck and bridge) and a Gibson/Epiphone SG (2 Humbuckers, neck and bridge). I bought this Pod to practice without amp (what it is constructed for imo)so this is how I rated it. The reproduction of the preset sounds greatly depends on what pickups you're using. You can't expect a preset to sound the same with single coils as with humbuckers can you? Thus If you don't play the same or comparable guitar as your favourite artist, it just might not sound the same. But when you do play a comparable guitar then the sounds comes close, very close...

Can't say anything on this matter for I've received the PP only a few days ago. But I bought it second hand and it is perfectly ok.

I've contacted Line6 before buying with a few questions. It took them a while to answer (about a week), but they DID answer all my questions and were very friendly.

I initially bought this thing to practice without irritating my family, but in time I suspect it might come in handy for a great many things. Ideal for demo song-recording on my pc for example, the reverb sounds great and since my amp doesn't have one I might hook it up with that. If you use it for what it's made for than you really get great value for your money...

This unit`s not as hard to use as some people make it out to be, especially for your basic features. You can get some great quick tones without tweaking a thing just by using the presets, especially when browsing the STYLES category. Pretty well everything you`ll need to adjust (if you even want to) can be accessed with the four knobs on the unit, each of which has a secondary function (like how a PC keyboard has a shift button). For a live gig it`s not very practical, of course this is not at all what the unit is for. For practicing at home next to your computer, it`s very handy.

I play this mostly with middle of the road kinda quality guitar, and also with a really low end no name brand one too, it sounds great on both. In fact what prompted me to write this review was because of people putting down the sound quality of it. No it`s not going to sound quite like your 4x12 stack, but for what it`s made for it`s awesome. I actually much prefer the sound of this over my real solid-state practice amp. It sounds best through headphones. I find if you try to play it through a guitar amp yes it does sound cheap and fake. Stick to something passive/flat for this unit (headphones, PA, good computer speakers).

Unlike some of their gigging units, I will admit the Pocket Pod is built cheap. It's made from light plastic. I wouldn't recommend taking it on the road, but for practicing at home with headphones for example, it's great. I use it for playing along with MP3s with my PC, and for that it's fantastic. It's even fallen off my desk before without breaking, but I still won't tote it around too carelessly like their heavy-duty products.

I've never had to contact them, but they have a very active website and community.

I mostly practice with heavier music, sometimes effected clean sounds. This unit delivers for both. I've tried other modeling products which were good too, but for playing with headphones this was by far the one that sounded best in that department. I love how much it packs into a small package without getting too complicated on the surface (but you can get pretty crazy in the advanced features). If it got lost or stolen, I may look at other products but probably still another Line 6 product for something in the modeling category.

Easy enough to navigate to get to presets, and lots of them. Would have liked more "Style" presets than "Band" ones. Haven't even heard of most of the bands. Sounds gimmicky, and it is. Surface level is easy, but to adjust EQ, amp model, or even EQ on the unit itself requires some reading (hold this button for more than 3 seconds while holding your left earlobe and singing God save the Queen, etc).

Vyzek Editor is quite good. Just download patches into PP, rather than have to dial them all in like on my GDEC amp. The Vyzek Editor is very user-friendly and self-explanatory. I like it. It's fun to play around with different amp and cab models. Getting a "good" sound is hard. Some of the amp simulations are very disappointing, especially the cleaner ones like Boutique and Fender ones.

Comes with very short pilot manual. Best to join up Custom Tone and read forums for hints on bugs, etc. Very easy to wipe all your patches. Haven't read the online manual, because I use Vyzek (the program to tweak settings on your PC) and it seems simple.

For ease of use on the unit: 4
For ease of use using Vyzek Editor on PC: 9

Use with Fender Telecaster and Yamaha Pacifica. Have used with headphones, a tiny 2W practice amp and a GDEC. Actually sounded best through the little 2W amp!
Not noisy unless using high gain (which is normal).
Clean effects are good, like chorus and flanger, etc, but don't compare to stomp-box quality. Compressor is OK. Delays aren't bad. I think it should have included some stomp-box models of OD and distortion like Pro Cat and Tube Screamer. I find the OD and distortions (produced by overdriving the amp simulation or just flicking a distortion switch with no customisability) to sound "false" ie worse than a cheap amp's built in distortion, until you get up to metal-level and it gets to be OK. Not stunning, OK.

I like Brian Setzer stuff. A big disappointment is the Customtone site. Patches like "Setzerbilly" got my pulse racing...till I tried them. One purported to be a 59 Bassman patch. You've got to be kidding me. Most of the downloadable tones are duplicates. It should be moderated and rateable. But Paulo Moreira (whoever that is) seems to submit good tones. Most of them completely suck!

If I get a nice OD out of it, or just a little Fender sparkle, or some Dumble boutiqueness, I'll let you know. Don't hold your breath, I'm used to modelling. Here's a rule of thumb: the bigger the device and the less it is supposed to do, the better the tone.

Plastic. Feels cheap. 90 day warranty is a real concern. Why only 90 days? I bought it and then didn't use it for a while. Wish I hadn't so I could return it. It still works. I had software issues too, but that was easy to fix. I expect less than a year out of it.

The tones are not good enough to gig with. Line 6 have built this thing up to be better than it is. It's a toy. Should have realised from the "dialed in by your favourite artists" (slaps forehead).

Now this I gotta say: The online forums are great. There are quite a few known issues, like the ability to wipe all of your own dialed in tones if you pull the cords out in the wrong order. But there are also patches and instructions for fixes. I think they're doing OK. The mods (who I assume work for Line 6) seem to be working on fixing the issues.

I have ecclectic tastes, from R'Billy to metal to jazz to country. Probably not a good match for me. Worth the extra to get dedicated effects, or a level or two up in price (false economy).
Been playing 16 years, own a range of gear, including a Korg G3, which is also average. But my Boss pedals are great. I'm going dedicated pedals from now on.
I bought this because it was cheaper than some stomp-boxes and the presets on the website sounded good. Also because of late-night silent practice. It is OK for that, but remember it chews batteries, so if you use a power-supply your aren't really portable and it has cords hanging out of it like an octapus. ie it is actually a bit awkward.

I'd say this thing gets in the way a bit. It's awkward. Maybe a Vox ampplug would be better for late night. No power cord, no guitar lead, just phones. Hasn't really inpired me to create, the way I thought it would.

I'd like to see Line 6 clean up Custom-Tone, and make it more like the tone library for Valvetronix, where they are rated, so you can see what is good. Also to get rid of all the duplicates, and crap tones. Also, to put up more useable presets for older folk, like for blues, jazz which aren't over-cooked. Someone TRIED Setzerbilly, so make a better one, that kind of thing. Whoever Paulo Moreira is, they should hire him to make their presets. His are better than the artist ones. They sound "quality." So it is possible to get quality tones, but it seems like only one dude knows how!

No, I'd not buy it again. I'd just use a modelling amp (Vox, Fender, Behringer, Roland).