smrybacki

Why tonal Nirvana, of course. Isn't that what everyone is searching for at least at some point on the guitarist's path? The ability to instantly hear out loud what we envision in our heads which is the notion what sells these types of things anyway. Sure, I get the ability to play guitar on something that feels familiar and has my own sound on it on gear I've had for years. But like anyone else there are times when you say to yourself "Gee, I'd like to have a Marshall amp or a Hiwatt or maybe a Les Paul guitar", but of course that is impratical for most of us. So we get the modelling devices that can mostly do that for us when we want it to. It's not the main sound that you might want as a regular diet, but it is that flight of fancy you have once in a while wrapped up in a little black box. Take most successful bands in existence and they have a sound of their own that is uniquely identifiable. That's what I have on the analog side of things. It's my sound. But that doesn't mean that sometimes I don't get a hankering to cop someone else's sound, right? What I was saying here is that I may be reaching a point where trying to cop someone else's sound isn't gratifying as a guitarist anymore, hence the appeal of a device like the POD and Variax is diminished. What's hard about that?

I think I may well be done with mine as well at this point. Since the band situation I was involved with fell apart, I have done some serious musical soul searching and arrived at a few conclusions. When I was younger I would have loved to have played in a band, but I was in the Air Force with a young family and that isn't compatible really, so I didn't. I don't regret that because what I was doing was a worthwhile endeavor and I figured I could get to it later. trouble was, being moved all over the world you don't have lifelong guitar and band pals like many folks where I live now are. In any event, I found out that what I loved about being in a band has passed now and I get more enjoyment playing solo and doing an occasional open mic with a looper. The other thing is the music I enjoy playing isn't the same now as it used to be. I have all my life been a Classic Rock fan dating back to the 1960s when it wasn't classic yet. It is the soundtrack to my life in many ways. But the music I love to PLAY is completely different than that. I like to play ambient textures, looped phrases and backing tracks to play decidedly experimental style melody lines. I can't tell you why, but I know that it is so. My heroes of guitardom include people like Ritchie Blackmore, David Gilmore, Carlos Santana and Jimmy Page and you can hear that in my playing but it is only elements of their styles I try to use in my own meanderings. In any event, the thing about the POD, or Tonelab or any similar type thing is that I end up spending so much valuable time trying to reach a certain sound that more often than not, when I finally get the sound right my available time to play is gone. By contrast, the amps and pedals I have I got for their specific sounds and all I need to do is flip it on, pick up my guitar loop a phrase to warm up and just play. A friend came over last night and we jammed for a couple of hours as the sun set in the "jam room" I have and it sort of locked into place right then. This is a great group here in these forums and there are some dedicated fans of this technology. Believe it or not, I too am a fan of this technology and it's applications. But just the same way as not everyone digs chocolate ice cream, not everyone gets the same benefit from the tech as others do. I may well be one of them I guess, so that the OP of this rambling thread found the same thing out for himself doesn't surprise me. If you think about that guide written by Meambobo to help folks get the most out of the POD HD unit, it tells a certain story besides it's usefulness. The fact that such a guide is even required in order to help people dial in the sounds in their heads speaks to the complexities involved in doing that. SInce I grew up with tube technology, it always feels like home just the way vinyl albums do. Although I program computers for a living and understand HOW to dial in things and get to a sound, the sound I am trying to dial in most of the time already exists in my other gear if that makes any sense. So is it really benefitting me? Sorry for the ramble, but at least it's on topic ;)

I had a Rickenbacker 360 with the "R" tail piece once and I wanted to change all the strings at once to pull the fretboard. Without really thinking I removed all of the strings and the "R" hit the carpet lol. You would not believe the balancing act that is required to get that thing back together and restrung.

I sometimes play with a friend whose pedal board is so jacked up gain and volume wise, it isn't even funny. He has everything set to the point where it actually sizzles and hisses like a worn out 8-track just sitting there. I mean, it is seriously and annoying LOUD too. That kind of thing drives me batty. He is absolutely oblivious to it. Meanwhile, my board sits there dead silent, waiting for me to energize it with a guitar by contrast. Seriously. Silent. It's OK though...his board makes enough noise for both of us.

Hey, that's good thinking right there. Never really thought about it before, but those curly cue ends could damage the piezo pickups. Good catch!

Ok...I'll take you up on that and if it breaks, it's your fault :D Totally kidding, of course. Thank you sir....

I was wondering whether the is any guidance out there from Line6 concerning string changes on the JTV59? I ask because other guitar manufacturers have advised certain things such as one at a time string change in order to prevent undue stress on the neck. When I change strings on a Strat or a Tele, I occasionally remove all the strings in order to clean the fretboard and so on. Any reason not to do this with a JTV59?

Ok report time... The POD actually sounded ok in the band situation, but then it's not really a critical listening situation. In any event, it would appear that I won't be staying in this band as they are more looking for a bass and keyboard player. I look forward to figuring this out though and thank you all for your suggestions.

Reading through these suggestions and I thank you all all. I have about 10 minutes before I head out and I'll get what I can remember tonight and really dig in on Saturday...Tomorrow night my son graduates from college so I'll be busy cheering then!

The fizz as the amp distortion decays in my HD500 I am currently getting is definitly not eminating from my hands. That is a digital artifact if I ever heard one. In general however I agree with you -- a great player can make you not even notice that fizz. I can't judge my own playing, but I know I am a critical listener and I can't break the tube habit either, nor do I even want to.

Now it makes sense. I visited Jakarta in September 1987 by the way.

Gee, there was no bad intent taken. I was just curious is all and thought maybe you had a better way, plus I didn't understand (and still don't) what you meant. Just trying to help man. BTW, I am NOT a pro musician, just a database administrator with a serious (but treatable) guitar habit. What country are you in? I have travelled much in my life, including 27 countries in Australia, Europe and Asia.

I had no idea this was a new trend. I'll place it on my list of regretable trends now and speak of it no more :wacko:

I know how you feel believe it or not and yes the audience is largely oblivious anyway. This is why I have both types of setups...one for convenience and choices and the other to make ME happy.

Why not just use the Line6 Link, or is that what you mean here? Using Line6 Link sets it all up for you I believe.

As I see it, there are compromises in everything, not just electric guitar playing. To me, PODs and other multieffects units are a compromise when it comes to the quality of the sounds and the transferability of your presets to different environments. I say sound is a compromise simply because for me, having both the Fender tube amps and the models of those same amps -- they are not as good as the real deal. Notice I didn't say "bad" because they are OK. But not as good. This fizziness I have another thread going on is certainly annoying, and it doesn't happen with my tube amps and Fulltone pedals, for example. That to me is a compromise. Everything else is great about them really; Convenient packaging, light weight, plethora of at least usable sounds available to work with. But this is how it is with ALL modelers I suspect, even the pricey ones. If you are in a cover band and play a lot of different songs with different sounds, no doubt a POD or whatever is what you would LIKE to make work no doubt. But for me and any of my original music ideas and looping efforts, I don't use the POD because I have a certain sound I have worked very hard to achieve and I don't really need 100+ effects or 30 different sounding amp models for that. I don't dislike amp modelling, but I am not in denial about it's limitations for ME. As usual, YMMV... My (other) board played through a Princeton Reverb using Strats and/or Teles:

You sir, rock!

I always set my inputs to Variax and mic to avoid overloading the front end of the amp models. This is something different than that I'm afraid. Tomorrow at practice, time permitting, I will try to adjust that a bit and see if it helps.

Yes.

Not easily I'm afraid. I have it packed away for practice tomorrow right now because it is right after work. I was going to try it there with the other guitarist and see how it sounds in that environment. But I can tell you that it happens as the guitar sustain is dropping off and then there is a ragged sound that blooms from that point until I stop the strings from vibrating completely.

Tried that not long ago, but no joy. It's not that big a deal really, just would be nice for possible use later. The older pod series always made those available as I recall. Thanks Brazzy....

Alright, I finally really hard a serious fizzy tone that occurs as a distorted tone is decaying. It's sounds almost like a torn speaker. I have not really critically listened to my rig until this week as I prepare for practice with a new band. I had been satisfied just noodling around occasionally and more often playing my analog rig which is not really geared toward the Classic Rock this band will be playing. The models I am hearing this with are using the Marshall Plexi, the Doctor Z, and in one case a Fender Deluxe Reverb with a tube screamer up front. I don't use high gain much at all, but I checked a few there and hear it as well. I play a JTV59 into a POD HD500 and out to a pair of Tech 21 Power Engines. On clean patches, I don't really notice anything. Is there any fix for this or is this a "wink wink, nod nod" pretend it's not really there thing? Like all such phenomena, once you hear it, you can't help but hear it after that.

I'd like to have a copy if anyone can oblige. Thanks!

That's exactly what those XLR outs are for. You can also use them to daisy chain as many other PE60s as you want for massive power if you want to.

Why not do this; Run XLR outs to the PE60s and then use the XLR outs of the PE60s to feed the board? You would need two (a 1 stereo) channels for this. Works great and you can use the PE60s for stage monitors while the FOH gets a pure feed straight through. I have a pair of PE60s and have done this before...try it at least.