[Harp-L] Re:POD 2.0 settings (that distant or rough quality)

[PL500@xxxxxxx]

In a message dated 8/24/04 6:32:25 AM Eastern Daylight Time, 
gigs@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx writes:
Cool,
I was just curious because I've heard good things about the Holy Grail.

  For 18 months I found my Line6 POD 2.0 was great for fooling round with a
wide range of sounds, but eventually lost its attraction for me so I sold
it - I much prefer the tone of analogue amps, there was always something
rough and distant about the POD.  Also it was a hassle setting it up in live
settings.

  I've since found the Digitech Digiverb pedal is an excellent reverb pedal
with a wider range of effects than the POD 2.0.  I think if I got another
emulator I'd go for one of the later brands with better 24bit Audio.
Although I tried out the X-V-Amp recently and found the interface very
unintuitive.

-- G.
Cool, 

The POD 2.0 can have a distant or rough quality about it ,but there are 
things that you can do to get rid of that quality:

First: Crank the Channel Volume all the way up and use the Output knob as the 
sole volume knob on the unit. 

Second: Disconnect the cabinet settings from any of the amp models and 
replace them with the 8" speaker setting. This puts the sound up front and makes it 
a bit more responsive.

Third: Ease up on the drive setting. Most people who use the POD (Guitar and 
Harp Players) crank the drive setting way beyond what is needed for the sound. 
My chief 4 settings that I use for gigging have a just a touch of drive on 
them. This allows the sound to clean up on softer songs and gives the POD a more 
responsive feel. Headroom is something that harp players typically aren't 
mindful of, but something which is central to professional gigging guitar 
players. The POD allows headroom at ANY volume level and also allows EQing without 
denigrating the signal or the power response from the unit. Those things in and 
of themselves make the unit very flexible.

Fourth: Stick to the British settings (particularly the Brit Blues setting). 
The tend to have the best overall sound. The Champ setting is also really nice 
if you are just starting out because the setting right off the bat is pretty 
playable. The Drive knob adjusts the brightness to a degree, but it is pretty 
sensitive so be careful when dialing it in. 

Fifth: Work with the Presence and Volume Boost because these can both open up 
the sound on the unit. The presence in particular is very nice, and is quite 
easy to dial in. 


The POD 2.0 is what it is. Overall it is an amp modeling unit that is 
imposing the reverb settings on particular amp models. I think the new PODXT allows a 
bit more versatility, but from what I have read I think it is a bit 
confusing. I think most of the problems that people have with the POD is from a lack of 
patience and also from not reading the manual. I think the Digitech would be 
fine, but what it does and the POD does are two different things. 


Andrew