357mag

Can a pickup booster pedal or say a graphic equalizer be used in the effects loop of the POD XT Pro to help shape my sound further?

Feel it's time to explore other guitar processors besides what Line 6 markets. There are several things about the HD Series that I don't like. I never liked the sound of the SM 57's where as I loved them in the X3. In the previous PODs Equalizers were fun and simple to use. Hertz and Db. The HD Series has turned them into a convoluted mess with percentages instead. Then they give you these small black rotary knobs for adjusting Bias and Bias X and Thump etc. Truthfully I only found a few of them helpful. The rest were just taking up space and not contributing to the sound. In the X3 the JCM-800 was an awesome sounding amp. It was my amp. In the HD Series the amp sounds like a cow's colon all plugged up. It's unusable for me. However I will give Line 6 credit for including the JCM-800 pre-amp which sounds markedly better and more clear. Plus where is the JCM-2000 series? Ain't there at all, nor the JCM-900 either. If you are a Marshall player you will greatly miss those amps. But again I give credit to the company for making a very good sounding JTM-45. I was able to get a superb Malmsteen tone with it. But for me the cons outweigh the pros so I'm gonna try some other gear. Many Thanks to everyone who helped me with my questions and I wish you the best.

I'm plugging my guitar directly into the POD. Using headphones as output.

Vintage 30s seem to be a popular speaker but I've always felt they are extremely bright and trebly and there is some kind of pronounced frequency in there, perhaps in the mids? However I do like the way they sound with the Mesa Head so here I go again. How do I minimize that piercing midrange sound? I looked at the Vintage 30 on the Celestion site and it shows it peaking between 2000 and 4000 Hz. If I could just minimize the piercing high end and/or reduce the strong midrange I think it would sound great with the Mesa. Ideas?

Let's say you want to make three boosts using the Parametric EQ. Do you need to load up 3 Parametric EQ's? Or does one EQ handle all three? Seems to me if you adjust the dials for the first one and you're first adjustment is done, and then you start changing the dials to make the second adjustment, well you've just screwed up your first setting. Shouldn't there be a Set button to program into memory the adjustments you make?

Yeah but the Pod doesn't have a graph or spectrum analyzer so how can you see anything?

I'm thinking of getting a used Behringer V-Amp Pro. I've never played through one but I'm curious as to how it sounds.

The PhD Motorway can give a fairly close Deep Purple tone so I've been experimenting with it. Just wondering what real life amp it represents?

Okay I think I'm going in the right direction. I downloaded a demo VST plug-in Voxengo Spectrum Analyzer and recorded myself playing a bit into Reaper. I loaded the VST on the track and upon playback I could see where most of my guitar's frequencies and energy were.

This is what I want to see. How can I somehow integrate a visual analyzer to my POD's EQ or whatever so let's say I play a chord on my Strat, and I want to see a visual representation of what frequencies the majority of the sound is in? How do I do that? That would help a lot.

Thanks for the info. I will try using the mid EQ. Problem with the EQ's is that they're not exactly straightforward to learn like they were in the X3.

It seems every pedal or effect you add has as undesirable side effect. With some pedals the sound becomes tighter. What if I don't want the sound to become tighter? I don't want it sounding like a boa constrictor around a cat. I want it bigger and more open. Nope, can't have that. Then there is the Q Filter. This effect is excellent for adding punch and balls to your guitar. But guess what? It imparts a nasal neh neh neh sound. Is there any way to get rid of it? And the Marshall JCM-800 preamp sounds way better than the regular amp version. Gong. I'm getting fed up.

Okay. Thanks.

Was wondering if that green signal light is supposed to light up occasionally or not. Mine doesn't flash on at all when I play. Or does that pertain to just using a microphone? Not sure about how those other push-in knobs are supposed to be set either. I'm just playing my Strat into my POD.

Just tried putting second noise gate right after the amp head (but before the mixer). Not very good there. Noisy. Also tried putting noise gate after the amp head (and after the mixer). No good there either. Noisy. Seems to work the best right before the amp head. Guess I will keep it there.

I'm playing a Strat with a fairly powerful single coil in both the bridge and the neck and at the moment am just using one noise gate at the start of my signal chain threshold currently set at 60%. Would like to make it a little quieter but instead of raising the threshold more to reduce the hum I was wondering if it would be a better idea or is it more effective to use two noise gates. Perhaps putting the second one right before the amp head?

What is the name of your patch so I can find it? It does sound better than anything I've been able to come up with.

You don't have to run the output through any external amp or PA. The POD is a self-contained practice amp emulator. I plug my guitar into it and then plug my headphones into it and I'm done. I have it connected to my computer thru USB for recording purposes, but other than that I just plug into it and play. Far as I know that's what they were designed for. I guess if a person wanted to they could bring it to a gig and use it in conjuction with an real guitar amp, but I don't use it in that manner. I think the POD outperforms an amp for people like me who live in apartments and can't play through an amp loud. The POD has awesome sound and amps in it.

Thanks for the info.

Thank You for the specific tonal parameters. I will try them out. Thanks much.

When opening HD Pro X Edit the tones don't transfer and I get an error message. Something about invalid data in one or more patches. Has anyone else experienced this?

Who is being a smart a...? I said I'm trying to get a good sound out of the JCM-800 and then someone asked me what amp I'm using. That's not being a smart a... and I apologize if I'm being misinterpreted. The amp is the JCM-800. Not trying to be a jerk but I get the feeling you guys are using your POD's in a way different manner than I am.

What amp am I using? I'm using the JCM-800 in the POD. That's what you do. You plug your guitar into the POD. I don't use the POD with an amp. Why would you do that? The POD is an amp emulator. You plug your guitar into the POD and make a preset based on the amp models available.

Geez...Japanese Strats put American Strats to shame in case you didn't know. Plus I'm using Dimarzio and Duncan pickups in there along with a Callaham bridge and block. Geez...

I've been experimenting with the Treadplate and the Angel Fireball. While I generally like the sound of both those amps they always sound kinda harsh and shrill in the treble strings. They have a nice big, large sound which I like and they have loads of gain which I like also, but how do I tame the shrillness and ice-pickyness? I'm currently not using any Equalizers cuz they seem hard to use.