BigBob-Irwin

I think when young folk start learning an instrument you know they are going to succeed when they are single minded about things I don't think you need to learn the dots or go to university to do this . I remember a few years ago visiting my friend one of his sons had just had a squire strat and of coarse I was needed to tune it . The lad at the time told me that Blink 182 was his inspiration and as a band no one could touch them then I started to say well the guy who plays lead in the band must have got some ideas from someone and I could tell he was not going to have that so I left the discussion as I then remembered what I was like at that age. For me it was the Beatles and in them days the only way of learning guitar was from a book by Bert Weedon called "Play in a day" which was a bit ambitious or the only people giving lessons where classical players. Anyhow I started to learn chords and virtually locked myself in my room and only stopped when my fingers were too sore this went on until I was satisfied I could play any of the chords from sheet music so I was just as single minded as the young guy above but it started me off just as Blink 182 gave him the notion to pick up the guitar. A few years later I was up playing at a party at his Dads and he come up and asked me where I had got this and that lick from and I said well probably started out by someone from Chicago in the 1950's and I had probably heard one of the U.K players like Clapton playing it then I tried and put my own slant on it and I think he kind of accepted what I was saying a few years ago. I think the best thing to learn quick is always play with other players preferably better than you or at least swap ideas. I still can not read music at 65 it has never hindered me or stopped my enjoyment of playing or lost me a gig. I almost started to learn in the 90's when we invited a keyboard player round and he could not ad lib and wanted someone to write the score out for him and it kind of put me off thinking I would play like a robot if I learned to read music.

I would like anything that would help find unity gain on the pod when trying to connect to my amp via the 4 cable method.

Still have the DT25 head Podhd500x and JTV59 and have used it out at gigs as a dream rig but have since reverted to taking my Les Paul and a new amp I got a few weeks ago a Victory V30 I find a good Valve amp and Les Paul live with all its organic feel and ability to sustain notes is better for what I do. I think if I had known when I bought the Dream rig I would have gone with the L2T powered monitor simply for the fact that what you program in the pod through studio monitors at home would be pretty much what you would hear with a small adjustment through the L2T the DT25 takes a lot more work. It is a good amp and the Dream rig would be great for folk doing a wide variety of styles I love the Pod and the variax but they are for the studio and I am keeping them but will sell the DT25. I am trying to set up the pod with the 4 cable method but am struggling to get unity gain I was intending to use only a booster for the front end of the amp and reverb, delay and tremolo through the loop but am not getting the same tone with no FX in compared with plugging the Guitar in direct into the amp I will play around with this and if it does not work I have a TC electronics mini Hof which sounds great so might get some more of there stuff and a mini Spark pedal for the front end and build a pedal board.

remember staying up half the night to see "the first step" I think we have lost our sense of wonderment about things and when some modern tech is discovered we just take it for granted. No went to see him at the Marquee club in Soho London though around 67. I knew Noel Redding he used to go into a coffee house called the Acropolis in Folkestone where us "heads" would go and hang out he was a local lad but sadly no longer with us.

Thanks for this u tube post H I found it very interesting especially the Desser bit its great to soak up others experiences and to go and apply it to see if it helps. My first contact with digital was the line 6 flextone amps and I found them great sounding at bedroom level but horribly harsh at gig volume (Fletcher Munson effect?) and remember a lot of guys using bb preamps and all sorts of other fixes in the send and return but I think Line 6 has come a long way since then especially with the use of EQ to take that harshness away as demoed by Peters video on these forums. That's how I started playing back in the day then the fuzz faces etc came along and was thinking about this recently so last Saturday we played a gig and all I took was a Victory V30 amp head a 1x12 open back cab and a mini TC Hof in the loop for reverb and a vox wah in the front used only the distortion Chanel and used my volume/tone controls to on my Les Paul to control how clean/overdriven the sound was and it was just singing the only thing I could have done with is a EP boost or Spark just on certain notes to get a bit of harmonic feedback so my next thought when I am off shift is to set up the pod in 4 cable method and use the wah in the pod and put an echoplex in the front end and use reverb tremolo delay in the send return but no amp modelling. It is pleasing to know that you can use the pod in so many variations and for everyone they have their own way to reach there goal.

Who's kidding? I am called the oldest teenager in town locally don't know if that's good or bad I am 65 and still gigging the first band I played in was in 1965 in school and after got involved with the UK blues/beat era and enjoyed going to gigs to see what are thought of as legends today. I have always embraced technology if it worked for me.

Take a look at this video by Line 6's Paul Hindmarsh he puts into a Fender Blues deluxe. Also if you use the 4 cable method you can choose to use either the pods preamp or your own amps preamp so that might be a better solution for you.

Hi Radatats thank you for this information I have tried the full studio model with cabs and without and also tried your suggestion with different topographies but when in full mode going through the DT there is a strange envelope of low volume digital noise on the lower notes which you do not get when recording direct. I then went back to the pre version and tried the cab/no cab and switching topography and ended up where I started which is JTM45 bright pre no cab and and a tube driver permanently on. I am going to buy the new Victory Red Dwarf amp when it comes out for live gigs but will keep the DT25 for a while to see how I get on. I will keep the Pod500x and the JTV59 for home/studio use and maybe try and get a second hand M9 for delay reverb and tremolo for the send return on the Red Dwarf I all ready have some nice drive pedals if needed for the front end. As it could be possibly my last year of work I am also going to treat myself to a Les Paul with one of these G-Force tuning systems which seem to cause a lot of controversy on the Les Paul forums but will go and try one on the next trip south as I need to play in standard open E D G and A and just wonder how the LP would perform with these tuning's certainly my JTV59 can with a couple of pushed of a pot but I do miss the 2 volumes and tone pots of the LP as I have found I used them a lot (muscle memory) and have found myself trying to do this with the JTV.

Hi Martin I tried this at gig volume using the master on the pod to control loudness unfortunately because most of us set up our patches at house playing volume the sound is very harsh to my ears when trying this method and you would have to eq each patch to calm it down. When I saw your post I thought it looked correct in the sense that in general when you push a valve(tube) amp into output overdrive it generally gets smoother and more compressed and slightly more mellow (the reverse of whats happening to the DT) and I used to point this out when I used to sell amps otherwise you would get the call on Monday morning saying the amp did not sound the same as it did in the shop to which I would say well you have to set up the tone of the amp at gig level which is perhaps what I need to do using your method. I will play about with it and see what transpires (When the wife is out). If you mean to get the same sound going through the DT as you get in studio direct mode I have played with this one long enough for instance if I am in studio mode and plug the pod into my usb audio interface select the Marshall JTM45 play along with the Beano album or Gary Moore still got the Blues it is pretty much in the ball park. Now unplug the pod from the interface set the amp for pre plug in the L6 link to the DT and play and it is nothing like the same saturation or likeness of the studio version. It does sound like a low volume JTM45 so I thought well to get the sound out of a real JTM45 the way that it was recorded it has to be outrageously loud and I have played a few including one with the original KT66's in the finals so I turned the master on DT25 way up but not like the original. To get close to the sound you would have to add overdrive either tube screamer or Tube Driver. So I guess what I am saying is there has not been enough thought put into the pre amps especially with the DT25 its as if the pre amps where an after thought with the main thought going on the full studio version which are excellent and have no complaint about that.

What I meant to say in the spank model was 6 db on the pickups selection in workbench and 6 Db on the preset volume then to make the spank model a bit less brittle I went into the pots setting in WB and set the tone pots at 7.5. On the T model I found on the bridge PUP it was not as bright as I remember the Tele so moved(dragged) the pup nearer towards the Bridge but did not alter the tone pots but again upped the volume similar to the spank model. I try to get the same volume between the mag pickups in the JTV and the modeled sound. Of coarse in real terms the single coils would not be as loud as a humbucker if you had the real deal with you but I figured that it would save me altering patches on the pod for loudness between different pups modeled or otherwise. I still find the Les Paul better sounding for slide when tuned to open tunings or Sevastopol tuning as with a strat but do not miss taking 3 or more guitars to a gig so I suppose it is convenience over form which wins the day. I have been looking at the 2015 Les Pauls and quite like the idea of the updated G Force system but am holding on until I can get to demo one. I would still keep the JTV for the studio though. I tested the Jtv59 with the variax cable to power the guitar from my Pod 500x and then tried it with a normal 1/4" guitar cable and found the guitar cable so much better tone wise so you might want to try that if you use the variax cable.

When I first got my JTV59 I was delighted with it then I did what I normally do and restrung with 9's and it did not sound right playing slide on it at all so went back to D'Addario 10's and sounded as it used to and I find the 59 just as easy to play with 10's as I do on my Les Paul with 9's as the JTV has jumbo frets which makes it easier to bend. I can only assume that if you go up an other gauge it would sound better still for slide but I do a lot of bends in normal tuning so I am sticking with 10's. There was an interesting post on here where a user was trying different makes of strings and some had said they had purchased a variety of makes but then there was no feed back as to what was best for them one guy said he thought Fender 10's were better and a few bought the nanoweb strings. You will have to go into workbench to set your balance of mags V model roughly for the single coil mods I have added 6Db on the mags and 6db on the over all volume. My humbuckers I have wound down so that they are not too close to the strings I don't like powerful pups anyway and prefer the Amp and/or pedals to do the work and leave the pups to produce the tone plus I am a guy that is old fashioned and like to move my volume and tone pots to get what I like.

Thank you Peter this was a great video and I especially enjoyed the second video you did with the parametric to get rid of the harsh tones which has helped me with quite a few patches and now I am enjoying my 500x a bit more now especially for practice and recording although I am not convinced with my dream rig when all hooked together but the parametric has helped a bit. I think in the long run I will defiantly keep the 500x but not so sure about the DT25 although it is good as a a stand alone just not with the pod.

Hi I am thinking of going FRFR too as the sound I get through the Pod 500x studio direct into powered monitors for my studio/PC set up sounds closer to the real deal than if I link it via line 6 link into my DT25 head with the same setting but using pre amp instead of the full model. But before I go spending more money chasing the dream does the note feed back like a tube amp when you want it too when deliberately turning the guitar towards the speaker?

Well that's a hard thing to do I would say that the DT amps comes close but if you want that fender sound which is both deep and sparkly you can not beat the real thing. The thing with the DT is a very good jack of all trades but master of none but close enough in most situations but if you are going to put the real thing next to the DT and you are particular then you would probably choose the real thing. Pro's for the DT is its good at modelling most amps i.e you get more the one flavour Cons you can not mod much. Pro's for 65 mods out there if you want you can change tubes to get different sounds plus tube rectifier to give a little sag Cons just one kind of flavour

I have owned a 65 deluxe reverb and at the moment own a DT25 but unfortunately not at the same time so I can not at the moment compare one with the other. However the 65 has 2 channels normal and vibrato the normal channel is more mellow tone wise than the vibrato channel but the reverb does not work on the normal channel but there is a simple mod you can do if you are handy with a soldering iron let me know if you want this and I will try and find the details. The vibrato channel has more top end and reverb and of coarse vibrato. In general although the amp is 22 watts using 2x 6V6's in the finals it is very loud and would easily compete with a drummer and it does take pedals very well and is probably one of the most recorded amps in commercial studios for a lot of artists and studio owners in the past. If you want to turn up the output to get the amp to overdrive and compress it would not be in a house if you value your neighborhood or at most Venus as the amp is quite clean up to half way by which time it is loud. If you like output overdrive you would be better with the 68 reissue.

The only thing I feel cheated about with the dream rig is you can not get the same sound through line 6 link to DT25 as the studio version i.e I was playing the Beano album an early John Mayall with a young Eric Clapton via iTunes and had the pod studio direct into my usb interface. The set up was what was he playing at the time which was a 59 Les Paul into a Marshall JTM45 combo so set the variax for Les Paul model and the pod for full range with 212 fender because they do not do 212 with green back speakers and it was suprised it was real close in tone. However now comes the bit that annoys me disconnect pod plug in line 6 cable from pod to DT25 connect variax via proper cable change full amp to pre and turn off cab as dt25 has its own speaker leave all other settings as they were and guess what it sounds nothing like the pod direct and no mater how hi you turned the input gain on the modeled amp there still was none of the overdrive sound that was on the direct sound.

No you are quite right to say what you think and get what suites you. I know that a few folk on here have changed the neck on the JTV69 so can understand how you feel the JTV59 to me has a broader 50's style neck which I like but I am sure there are folk here that would prefer the slim Gibson 60's style neck however you can not change that. Thank you for mentioning the Tech pedal have never heard of this before and can see that it would suite some folk very well easy to dial in. I find the Pod500x ok to dial in via studio direct when you think of a sound and know which amp you want and FX and can reasonably get near the ball park what I struggle with is getting it to sound the same with the DT25 amp and I am sure I am not alone in that.

Here we are. Vintage Model Pack includes models based on*Roland® JC-120 Fender® Champ® (Tweed) Orange OR-80 VOX® AC30 (Fawn Normal Ch.) VOX® AC30 (Fawn Bright Ch.) Roland® JC-120 2x12 Fender® Champ® 1x8 Acoustic Pete Anderson Custom

You can run the pod into a powered monitor or acoustic amp you would use studio direct same as you would plugging into a desk or PA if you wait later this month there is an update to the pod500x for an acoustic amp among other amps unfortunately you will have to pay for it. Its in the vintage amp pack here:- http://line6.com/pod-firmware-update/

Was this a Freudian slip Martin certainly made me laugh. I have also tried to level the models I suppose the only other way is if you used the pod would be setting the levels on that for each model but it would require a lot of tap dancing at a gig so I changed output on the Variax.

Well if you have a decent sound system either as a hi fi or a audio interface for your computer all ready it would be cheaper to use them. I have a USB cakewalk UA-25EX which has 2 1/4" jacks or xlr inputs also have powered monitors connected to it and can plug my pod direct into it. I have also played the variax direct into this for acoustic if you do not have this but have a good music system all you need is one of the cheap Behringer mixer desks and 2 1/4" jack to phone leads which will cost all in about $60. If you want to go expensive which would do you for playing live think about the other version of the dream rig and instead of the dt25 get the LT2 active I believe it is easier to use with the pod as there is not as much tweaking to do V using the DT25.

Yes it is a very good stand alone. Straight off the bat there are 4 amp models to use and 2 channels so you could have clean twin on channel 1 and vintage Marshall on channel 2 or any combo of the 4 amps. if you have midi leads which interface with your PC you can download the app and choose other amps.

Yes they are loud used to play gigs with a blues junior at 18watts it competed with the drummer too. Its one of these situations where if you want a little output OD less is more.

Hi Moleng1 congrats on the new guitar it's almost unbelievable how close the models are with the real thing it certainly took me aback when I first plugged in my JTV59. As for getting the pod and the DT25 Darrell is quite right in what he says it takes a lot of figuring out but worth it on the long run. What I would do is if you play in a band and normally use pedals or the amp for OD get the Amp first if on the other hand you play at home and record or play through USB or powered monitors get the Pod first they sound fantastic studio direct but getting that to sound the same when you link it to a DT25 is an other mater all together you would think all you have to do is turn off the cab sim and change the amp to pre and that would be that but in reality you have to treat the pod+DT25 as a completely separate entity and start from scratch patch by patch.

I like my JTV59 guitar by itself and play the pickups maybe 3/4's of a gig (the other 1/4 modeled strat tele Peter Green style LP and a few slide tuning s). I have a Les Paul with replacement pickups (originally 57's) and it compares with the Les Paul tone wise if I turn the tone knob to 6 on the JTV . I have replaced the tuners on the JTV59 for locking tuners not so much because it went out of tune but found it easier to change strings this mod was quite a cheap upgrade and the locking tuners fitted perfectly in the same place as the old ones came out of with no drilling etc. I have always played Les Paul's with 9 gauge strings due to problems with my fingers and I tried 9's on the JTV but it was so well set up I was managing with 10's so put them back on acoustically the guitar just rings as it should on any good instrument with no buzzes sometimes I play it like that if it is late at night just to practice and mess around.