cruisinon2

I tried the preamp models...hated them. But that's me. You might find them to be the best thing since indoor plumbing. 4CM only makes sense if you want the amp for your basic tone, and the POD only for FX, which you can certainly do. But it begs the question why buy a modeler if you don't want the models? If all you need is FX, there are simpler and cheaper multi-fx units out there. And if you are going to use the amp models, then all the 4CM does for you is use up more cables, and make setting up and tearing down take longer. Come out of the POD straight into the FX return, and call it a day. Just my 2 cents...

I don't. Then again, I've been using VDI since day one, so perhaps I missed it. But if it doesn't appear in the documentation anywhere, it boggles the mind...

No matter what piece of gear it is, or what else is in your rig, road-testing anything in front of an audience usually doesn't end well. That statement is multiplied by an order of magnitude with the POD. I spent a couple of weeks getting comfy with it before I even took it to a rehearsal, never mind a gig. I wouldn't go switching amp models to test a theory on stage...besides, even though using the preamp models might be the "correct" way for your set-up, it doesn't mean that it will sound the best to you. Before I migrated to an FRFR rig, I used full models with a Carvin power amp and a Marshall 4x12. Couldn't get the preamp only models to sound right no matter what I did. They all sounded brittle, like a rusty chainsaw. YMMV,though. There's only one way to find out. At the end of the day, there is no "right", "wrong", or "best" approach. Your ears will tell you when you get it right. I've tried out untested gear, or new settings with old gear on stage in the past...9 out of 10 times it will be a clusterf***. Unless you actually want a "Spinal Tap moment" that you'll laugh at later, I'd rethink changing anything until you mess with it in a controlled environment first.

True, you can't really be driving it too hard, and I'm definitely not. Even in front of a clean patch, it doesn't cause any break-up at all...not sure why it gives such a hideous compression-type effect elsewhere in the chain. Who knows?

Ahh, the assembly line "oopsie"...always a favorite. Friends, Romans, Helixers, lend me your ears...Procedeth henceforth to the nearest hardware store and aquire thyself some white silicon grease (or failing that to Walgreens and get chapstick), and all thy squeaks shall come to an abrupt and satisfying end. ;)

You can, when one condition is satisfied: "All rental cars are off-road vehicles. True, you can't always get them back, but that's not really your problem, now is it?" -P.J. O'Rourke ;)

We have this week's winner for "Most Ancient Referenced Post", at 2 years, 6 months and 12 days! ;)

There have been similar gripes with the POD HD and VDI connection. The only real solution seems to be tweaking away (to whatever extent that's possible) what you don't like...or resign yourself to the battery, and manual control of the guitar. Personally, since I loathe reliance on batteries for anything, I have a set of patches specifically for the Variax...but then again, I have the same thing for my other guitars as well, so there really isn't any more work required. Just think of the mags and models as 2 different guitars, tweak accordingly, and save.

I've been using one of these for a couple of months now, in an effort to add a little of that tube "warmth" you describe: http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/TubeMP/ There is a slight difference, though it is hard to put into words exactly what it does to the tone, but I can tell when it's on or off. Regarding placement in the signal chain...on the advice of someone here on the forums, I put it as the very first thing in the chain. Anywhere else, and the only discernable effect it had was over-the-top compression. The closer to the end of the chain I put it, the worse it got. I suspect you may find similar results putting a tube preamp between the POD and your speaker(s).

Lol...seriously. Reading this thread, I find myself wondering a whole lot more about why I'd ever want to do this in the first place, rather than pondering whether or not anything would catch fire. Do we need a third output so we can simultaneously spit out notes in Morse code, too? Oooohh...maybe an interface that will sync the stage lights with every note I play. ;)

It's all relative of course, but for me it's the exact opposite. I have a few song-specific patches, but if I had to set up a unique patch for every single tune we do, I'd go insane. And no matter what order I put them in, it wouldn't translate well to an actual performance. Yeah, we write out a set list, but often it's edited on the fly...you gotta play to the crowd. If a suitably lubricated audience starts yelling out requests, sometimes the whole list goes out the window...no time to scroll through banks of patches to locate my "Limelight" tone because we hadn't originally planned on playing it that night.

Guitar cabinets all have a very narrow frequency response, so yes...a patch that's dialed in through studio monitors or a PA is going to sound VERY different through a traditional cabinet. Completely different animals.

Lol...the operative term being "eventually". No reasonable person would complain about a busted rocker switch 5 years in, but if it happens before you've even received the credit card statement that has your shiny new toy on it, I think you've got a legit gripe.

Correct. There two entirely different arguments here. An mp3 file, while not a concrete, physical item you can hold in your hand, is still a tangible "thing". Download one illegally and yes, you've stolen something. I don't condone that. But the idea that it's even possible to assign intellectual property rights to something as entirely subjective and amorphous as "tone"...the perception of which changes from one day to the next...is ridiculous. The two scenarios are not analogous. How would it be accomplished anyway? One man's definition of "sounds pretty close to a Marshall", is another's "not to me it doesn't". Who gets to decide? A sanctimonious tube amp aficionado in his cozy little studio, with a cup of coffee and a video camera? Earl the plumber down the block who plays guitar in his spare time? A bunch of politicians? And how far would we then extend these "rights"? Suppose a luthier builds a single cutaway, solid body, set-neck, mahogany guitar with humbuckers...and suppose that guitar can be coaxed into "sounding like" a Les Paul? Do we really want to turn that luthier into a criminal now? There's only so many ways to build a guitar. Commerce would grind to a halt, and no one would build anything anymore, for fear of being sued into poverty, or going to jail. As long as he's not using identical specs and stamping "Gibson" on the headstock, he's done nothing illegal, unethical, or immoral...and imho,to suggest otherwise is lunacy.

Absolutely... To the OP, just be prepared to be a little confused at first. An FRFR set-up requires a different mindset, and there will probably be a few counterintuitive things that you'll need to wrap your head around initially. Some of the amp models are very bass-heavy, and you will likely find that you will need to roll off the low end significantly, in addition to using the low-cut filter in either the global EQ, or cab parameters....especially when playing at stage volume. Some of my patches have the bass set at or near zero, which is generally not something you'd ever do with a traditional guitar amp. FRFR is a different beast.

Most of my lead patches are the Soldano overdrive...that thing sings for leads. Not a fan for rhythm tones though.

Easier said than done...even with a Variax. Usually the best results are attained with no amp model at all, a little EQ and reverb. It's gonna be a Herculean task unless you've got another guitar with piezo pickups. And if you're feeding the POD into a traditional guitar amp or cabinet, you can forget it altogether...the frequency response you need just isn't there. Won't work no matter what you do.

Yup...the JCM-800 is my go-to for most rhythm tones. I actually prefer it to the newer one in the model pack.

Gives me a headache just looking at that...I'd have nightmares of being chased down by an enormous, ghoulish 9V battery. ;)

So are we really to accept the notion that the only two options are no power switch at all, or a cheap sh!tty switch? That's ridiculous. The 500X is the only unit of its kind, (pedal board or rack mount) that I've owned that didn't have a power switch, and there have been many. Not a single one of them ever failed. So am I just lucky, or is this a problem that doesn't need to exist?

There'll be peace in the middle east first...;)

+1... Nothing is impossible if you poke at it long enough, but generally speaking, modeler+modeler=redundant mess.

The Treadplate is so over-the-top in the gain department, you really don't need anything else in front of it anyway...unless you've got a guitar with seriously anemic pickups. It's one of the simpler amp models to use in that regard. When the mood strikes, I can get a real thick, scooped "Master of Puppets"-ish tone with just the Treadplate, drive around 65%-70% or so, a little reverb, and a para EQ to deal with the fizz.

Yet it's prefectly OK to do exactly that when using the USB dongle to connect to Workbench. In fact you have to have to plug in the 1/4" in that scenario if you want the connection to work, and to be able to hear the changes you're making through an amp...just one of the Variax's many glorious mysteries.

I'm a bit intrigued myself...though I've grown accustomed to being able to assign gain parameters of the modeled distortions to the expression pedal. Not really looking forward to having to bend down and twiddle knobs on the floor if I want to change things up. But for $50, it might be something worth having in the stable....