RE: Pod setting recommendations

[Richard Hunter <turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Howard Young wrote:
> Any of you experienced with the Pod have favorite
settings you'd 
> like to share?  Also, anything to avoid or watch out for
on the 
> little beast? 

The key thing to keep in mind when using any guitar-oriented amp modeler
(like the POD, the Digitech RP devices, the Behringer V-AMP, etc., etc.)
is that a guitar signal can handle a lot more gain without feedback than
a mic signal can.  So most of the presets you find in those devices will
produce a wall of feedback when you use them with a mic.

I suggest that you start with presets that are based on lower-gain amp
models (a Bassman or blackface Twin model, for example), and dial the
GAIN setting down to the single digits.  Try the result, and increase
the gain if you want more crunch.  

Very high gain amp models will probably be totally unusable, but there
should be a half dozen models that will produce good sounds for harp.

Note that these devices don't make a sound exactly like a particular
tube amp in most cases, but they do make sounds that are very nice and
have a convincing tube amp vib.  A sound isn't a bad sound just because
it's not exactly like some other sound.  There are an infinite number of
good (and bad) sounds out there.  (I've managed to find a lot of the bad
ones, but I keep finding more . . .)  And if you've already got a tube
amp that sounds great, you don't need something else that does exactly
the same thing.

Regards, Richard Hunter
http://www.hunterharp.com