Re: Pod setting recommendations



<quote>
Date: Wed, 27 Aug 2003 21:57:16 -0700 (PDT)
From: Howard Young <blues_harp68@xxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Pod setting recommendations

The band I'm in is playing a riverboat cruise gig next week and the
stage area is so small I may not be able to fit an amp on there with
all the rest of the band equipment and will probably play through the
p.a.  While I've played straight through the p.a. often enough and can
set up a decent sound and get good tone, I've borrowed a Pod 2.0 from a
guitar-player friend of mine and want to give that a try.

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?  I'm going to take the Pod to practice tomorrow night and
experiment with it through our p.a. system.
</quote>

Have no fear,
Charlie Musselwhite uses an SM58 into his POD for his Cruise Ship gigs.
Reportedly Charlie simply presses the MANUAL button to get into manual mode
(what you dial is what you get, instead of patches with a digit & letter). Turns
the amp dial to 6 O'Clock IE Tube Preamp.
Holds down tap and turns Effects/Cabs to 6 O'Clock IE No cab.

More drive and channel volume for more dirt, less treble and more bass for
warmer tones, dial reverb to taste.

I still have my POD 2.0 despite not using it for the last year or so... I'm
going to use it for home recording, not for harmonica, but for processing
backings I compose on the computer.   I bought my POD over 3 years ago and used
it solidly for 18 months with satisfying results, it was a great way to
experiment with different sounds  - but I have converted to Ron's Harp Commander
which beats it for tone and soul and has a more than adequate range of tones ...
you may want to think about getting one if you're going to be doing gigs like
this regularly:
http://www.angelfire.com/music/harmonica/ampdamps.html#preamps

With the POD for quick results, press MANUAL button to get into manual mode (the
digit disappears) and:
* For a Fender Champ,
Hold TAP and dial AMP to "Small Tweed"
Give it plenty of Drive and Channel Vol for Chicago Blues.  Low Treble and dial
in a little Reverb to taste.

* For '59 Fender Bassman,
Just dial AMP to "Tweed Blues" (don't hold TAP)
Treble to nearly zero, Mids less than half, Bass to taste.
Set the drive and channel volume relatively high.

A word of caution.
Don't flick between amplifiers when you're plugged in and turned up full volume
because each amp has a different volume range - it can really upset everyone
within ear shot when for instance you flick from the Fender Champ to the Fender
Bassman without taking the precaution of lowering the OUTPUT Level on the POD or
PA first.
The first time I got caught out by this it was like a gunshot going off right
next to my ear and left me and a guitarist stunned for a minute or two.

Do a sound check at the volume you're intending to play at, tweak your settings
at full volume then don't touch it again until after the gig.

If you get into the POD more seriously I've kept some notes about setting up amp
emulators in live settings here:
http://www.angelfire.com/music/harmonica/ampdamps.html#emulators
(scroll down, bottom of the "Emulators" section is a bunch of notes about using
them live)

Good Luck.
G.





This archive was generated by a fusion of Pipermail 0.09 (Mailman edition) and MHonArc 2.6.8.