alienux Posted May 16, 2014 Share Posted May 16, 2014 So I've had my HD500X for a little over a month now and I spent quite a bit of time, of course, creating usable tones that I like. I've used the POD with headphones, computer speakers, my Vypyr VIP 2 amp, and more recently, and old Crate PA/Mixer system that my parents used to use years ago and have now given to me. The Crate PA system really brought the tone to life and allowed me to get the tones dialed in the way I like them before using the POD live (although my wife wasn't happy about how much space it takes up :D ). I have to say that with the HD500X, my tone was the best it's been since I was much younger and used to use a Crate G120C amp when playing live. I play lead guitar at church, and I've been using my Peavey Vypyr VIP 2 amp with a Sure SM57. I love the Vypyr amp, and with the SM57 off-axis, I was able to get some decent tones live, but the problem is that the stage volume became an issue. The Vypyr doesn't have a line out, so I had to mic it, which would normally be fine, but In the church setting, if I turned the amp up loud enough to get a good fat mic'd tone, it would overpower the bass and keyboard players because of speaker beaming, and be overpowering in general for a church service. If I turned it down to keep that from happening, I'd end up with a good, albeit quieter, tone on stage, but the mic'd sound coming out of the PA was thin and weak because of not having enough volume for the mic to pick up a good source sound. So after tweaking and learning the POD for a month, I used it at practice and during the performances this past weekend. It made a huge difference in my sound. No longer having to worry about being too loud or too soft was great, and the tone I got through the PA system was the best I've had playing here. I used my Crate PA system and one of it's 2x8 speakers as a monitor, and placed it in front of me pointing away from the audience but toward my ears so that I could hear it pretty well without it being too loud. All in all, it's been a great experience and I'm pretty excited about using it from here on out. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palico Posted May 16, 2014 Share Posted May 16, 2014 Asidie for the HD->DT, the POD have always sounded best sent direct to PA, IMO. If you have to mic and amp on stage and volume is problem the only option is to use a isolation box to tame it. But with the POD untis that is not really needed anymore. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alienux Posted May 16, 2014 Author Share Posted May 16, 2014 Asidie for the HD->DT, the POD have always sounded best sent direct to PA, IMO. If you have to mic and amp on stage and volume is problem the only option is to use a isolation box to tame it. But with the POD untis that is not really needed anymore. Yeah, I did make a shield from some old kick drum shields we had laying around (pic below), and it helped quite a bit with the beaming, but I still couldn't get it as loud as I would have liked to. Not quite an isolation box, but still helpful considering what I had to use at the time. The other thing I'm excited about is that even though I took the Crate PA and speaker this time, in the future I'll only need to carry my guitar and POD with me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palico Posted May 16, 2014 Share Posted May 16, 2014 I watch a vid from big church where they had the neatest system for that. They had the amps behind the stage in full enclosed and padded isolation boxes mic'ed up. And then just had plugs on the stage for the effects floor boards. One of the cleanest stages I had seen. Plus in-ears for monitors so no wedges. Of course I'm sure they have major monetary investement in their system. I use to play in church but I'm back out peforming again. So now the volume is not big deal but in the church setting that is huge deal becuase your expected to sound good but you have keep it at a pretty low volume. Aside from the pure capability of the POD units the small foot print and volume was why I started using the PODs as well. Then I got hooked on them. Now using Variax, HD and DT25 althought I can generally crank up now. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alienux Posted May 16, 2014 Author Share Posted May 16, 2014 I watch a vid from big church where they had the neatest system for that. They had the amps behind the stage in full enclosed and padded isolation boxes mic'ed up. And then just had plugs on the stage for the effects floor boards. One of the cleanest stages I had seen. Plus in-ears for monitors so no wedges. Of course I'm sure they have major monetary investement in their system. That sounds really nice. I've heard of one other player who had his amp mic'd backstage during church services, but I never knew how they had all of the cabling worked out. The place you described sounds like they really care about getting things done right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alienux Posted May 16, 2014 Author Share Posted May 16, 2014 Hey, is that the old Charvel Model 1? Damn I miss mine...never should have parted with it. At 13 or 14 years old, rode my bicycle to local mom and pop music store, bought it used for $150...months of saved allowance...ahhh memories, lol. Close, it's actually a Model 2. I bought it new somewhere around 1986 or 1987 for something like $420 to $450. I was 15 and had a cheap Bentley electric, and I saved my money up for a long time to get the Charvel. I went to the music store a couple of times a week just to look at it until I had enough saved up. Then one day it was on sale, and the guy working knew how long I'd been looking at it, so he knocked off another $50 so I could go ahead and take it home. It still plays great to this day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alienux Posted May 16, 2014 Author Share Posted May 16, 2014 I uploaded some sample clips to show the difference in tone. The first is my Vypyr mic'd, but at a low level (below 1 on the master volume because anything higher overpowered the stage). The second is with the HD500X. Two different songs, but it shows the difference in tone I achieved by using the POD. I'll still be tweaking the POD for awhile, but I'm really, really happy with this is a starting point. And granted, these are house recordings, so they don't really portray the actual room sound, but they're enough to show the difference in tone. http://www.mediafire.com/listen/v50gnhi2lguinlo/WeWillHoldOnSoloExcerpt.mp3 http://www.mediafire.com/listen/hpd14maygnwiphb/PraisesRingSoloExcerpt.mp3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
videoman77 Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 alineux: Can you send or post the patch for Let The Praises Ring? Sounds almost identical to brewster's tone. If email please send to: bee_roll_video@yahoo.com Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alienux Posted May 22, 2014 Author Share Posted May 22, 2014 alineux: Can you send or post the patch for Let The Praises Ring? Sounds almost identical to brewster's tone. If email please send to: bee_roll_video@yahoo.com Thanks! Sure. It's based on a tone I downloaded from CustomeTone (don't remember which one), but I added a lot more mids, lowered the treble and bass, and lowered the presence. I also added a booster. I uploaded it and it is here: http://line6.com/customtone/tone/341558/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PRSGuy Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 sounds good...good chops! Thanks for uploading the tone... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alienux Posted May 22, 2014 Author Share Posted May 22, 2014 Thanks and no problem, glad to share it :) The funny thing is that I downloaded the "official" Lincoln Brewster patch from his site and was going to use it, and I didn't like how it sounded at all. It was too muddy sounding, and almost too overbearing. I messed around with this one until I got it where I liked it and I've been using it since. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markdalan Posted December 11, 2014 Share Posted December 11, 2014 Hi, I know this is a bit older thread, but I just got myself a hd500x for Christmas, can't use it till after but I also have a charvel, model 3a. I've been reading the advanced manual and am almost overwhelmed by it. I have a vox vt30 amp I currently play through. Any suggestions on initial setup for the hd500x? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alienux Posted December 11, 2014 Author Share Posted December 11, 2014 Hi, I know this is a bit older thread, but I just got myself a hd500x for Christmas, can't use it till after but I also have a charvel, model 3a. I've been reading the advanced manual and am almost overwhelmed by it. I have a vox vt30 amp I currently play through. Any suggestions on initial setup for the hd500x? It's really hard to answer that question without knowing what kind of pickups you have, what kind of tone you're going for, what kind of setting you're using the POD in (ie. live, studio, home recording, bedroom practice, etc.). For the very basics, start going through the amps to see what you think sounds good to your ears. Once you find some amps you like, work on EQ and gain levels for those amps. Keep in mind that if you're playing live, you'll need to boost your mid-range levels (almost the opposite of the scooped sound a lot of players use at home) if you want to be heard in a mix. Then start working on adding delay, reverb, etc. and any other effects you like. The best way to learn the unit is to get your hands on it, but do finish the manual as there is a lot of good info in there. Also, a lot of members here often recommend this site: http://foobazaar.com/podhd/toneGuide/ I don't use it regularly, but the times I have used it, I've found a lot of really good, useful info. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robertmcollins3 Posted December 11, 2014 Share Posted December 11, 2014 Glad it's working great for you, same here. If you could share your wiring setup, I'd appreciate it. i.e. - are you using XLRs or 1/4" into a DI, etc... I've found the best results using the 1/4" into a DI box but always curious to hear what others are using and having success with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alienux Posted December 11, 2014 Author Share Posted December 11, 2014 Glad it's working great for you, same here. If you could share your wiring setup, I'd appreciate it. i.e. - are you using XLRs or 1/4" into a DI, etc... I've found the best results using the 1/4" into a DI box but always curious to hear what others are using and having success with. I always use the XLR outputs directly into the board. I originally posted this thready back in May, but other than continual tweaking of my patches and the fact that we bought some powered monitors to leave at the building (rather than me bringing my Crate PA system with me for a monitor), I haven't changed much in the way of setup since then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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