spawn2031

So I am certainly no sound technician but... Just like Ricstudioc said... it works for me. I do have some friends in the biz that used to run sound for national stage acts and they still do for some of the bigger local named bands around here. The rule of thumb of making sure you amp is a but more powerful than the speakers it is pushing comes from his years of experience. The rig that I have put together sounds great and works well so it didn't steer me wrong. Do some reading out there and see what others say or try to match them exactly (good luck there).

Well that is certainly a combination that I have not tried before. I almost entirely stay away the pre-amp only models. I'll have to try this one out tomorrow and will let ya know how it turned out for me (the little folks have gone to bed and I can't rock out anymore tonight.. bah sux getting old)

Most power amps will have a range of ohms that it can run at. You will certainly want to match your wattage and ohm up correctly. you will want your power amp to run at the same ohms as you cab and have a little more wattage than the cab (never under power it, it can damage the speakers). As an example I have a 8 ohm 120 watt cab. My power amp, when running at 8 ohms puts out 150 watts per channel. There isn't really a set equation for how much more powerful than your cab you want your amp to be but I would keep it at a small fraction above, like 15-20%.

So I have gotten a tone that I am REALLY happy with that works great with my setup with one small hiccup, I am getting bass feedback for the first time. I do have the bass cranked up pretty high on both the Line 6 distortion and the F-ball amp (drive is 100% on Line 6 and 0 on the F-Ball). When I hit a low power chord and palm mute it the feedback starts until I drop the volume on my guitar a bit. Originally I was using dual hard gates on my chain which gave me a great dead quiet effect when I wanted it but I had to switch to the normal gate to hide the feedback. I know I can conquer this issue with a few no brainers like... 1) Stay farther away from the amp (I'm afraid if I get too far away I won't be able to generate feedback when I do want it) 2) Reduce the amount of bass on the L6 Distortion and/or F-ball amp (I REALLY like the amount of bass I am getting out of this tone so I would like this to be my last option) 3) Keep with the normal gate and quit whining... problem solved (I really liked the ability to go from full on to dead quiet in a split second) So as you can see, I do have ways of stopping this feedback but with giving up something else that I would rather not. Has anyone else had an issue like this and solved it or any other tricks I can try to tame this feedback?

If anyone finds a reliable way to do this please post it, I have some really nice tones I used to use on my UX1 before I upgraded and would love to see how they sound in the 500x. I'm assuming they would probably sound like crap anyway though as almost every patch I have found that sounds great on the PC does not sound good through a live amp and vice versa, but it would still be nice to try.

I played with my UX1 for years before finally upgrading to a pod HD, one of my favorite tones I found on there that I used almost exclusively was modeled after Synester Gates' solo sound but it was such a nicely rounded sound that with a little bit of tweaking it might be what you are looking for. Since I no longer have my UX1 I am struggling to remember the name of it but I think it was something like Beast and the Harlot Solo. I also had the Metal and FX junkie packs added on to my UX1, the FX junkie isn't necessary but the Metal one is to get a real good sound like that. Happy hunting!

Hey guys, just curious about what your guys' results have been like between these two amp styles. I thought I was going to be in love with the Treadplate since I always wanted a Mesaboogie head but I tell ya, that F-Ball is really starting to shine now that I've been figuring out how to tweak it. After playing around with the Treadplate, I can get a pretty good sound but I never seem to be able to loose this kind of harsh sounding mid range that none of the mid adjustments seem to get rid of. I stayed away from the F-Ball cuz at first glance it sounded way to muddy, until you play with the treble and presence knobs on it. All my tones I am working with are for playing out live, directly into a transparent power amp that runs my cab. Anyone have some good pointers on what they have found works well with these amp models for live use? This is what I've been playing with so far with the F-Ball that has been giving some very promising results, very thick sound with good amount of chunk and very aggressive sounding... certainly put a smile on my face. Tube Compression>Line6 Distortion(gain cranked)>F-Ball (full & 0 gain!)>Blackface Cab with 67 Condenser Mic

Yeah see that's one of the reasons why I started this thread. I know there are better ways to set this tone up and it might be a simple as pulling back the gain on everything except for one or two things. Not sure if the amp needs a hot signal or not. It's a standard 150w power amp. Nothing super special, it's just to drive the speakers and remain as transparent as possible. The POD master is about 75%, I am set to Line now (thanks to Smrybacki) and I'm running on 1/4 outs. Amp is not bridged and is set to mono. Yes it set to Full Range (99.9% positive on that one.. I'll chk when I get home, I don't think I would have switched it to crossover mode), the power amp is pushing a 4x12 Marshall. I initially started raising gains because when I switched over from the Mustang to my stack it was surprisingly a lot quieter than I expected. Even with the power amp at 75%. I know one place I could boost gain that would allow me to drop back everything else would be the master in the amp DEPs. I kept that real low since that was one thing that was suggested by the Meambobbo guide. Perhaps that's where everything got kind of off. One of the reasons for the EQ boost before the distortion is because I was initially getting a very strong fuzz from the distortion after switching to the stack. The EQ at the end of the chain was intended to give me a quick control over the tone for when/if I ran the pod into something else and needed to make adjustments.

Someone needs to sticky that thing to the net so it never goes away.... evah!

Awww... no takers? I probably should mention that the tone I am trying to get has enough bass in it to let you know it's there but not enough to make the speakers woof, still be clear enough to hear everything that is going on and can be used for a variety of heavier rock tones from STP to A7X.

Well I certainly would not consider myself an expert by any means but typically you do want you noise gate to be closest to the first item in the chain. I guess in this situation I would think you would have better overall results by putting the noise gate in front of the compression. If it affects your tone adversely then perhaps an eq at the end of your chain to counter it? As far as the issue with your sustain, I had the same issue when using the standard gate. I switched to using a hard gate instead. These are a bit tougher to set up than the normal one but it doesn't affect your sustain anywhere near as bad. This link below is the preferred guide for the POD HD around here. Take the time to read the whole thing, there are people here that have been using their POD for years and this guide taught them a thing or two. He has an entire section on how to properly gate your signal. http://foobazaar.com/podhd/toneGuide/setup

yup that guide floats around here quite a bit. It certainly is very very informative if you really take the time to read through it all. the section about pre-EQing to sculpt your distortion sound is awsome. Before I read that I had no idea what all the different frequencies affected besides the basic stuff.

Yeah I have changed back and forth tons of times on the different output settings,(stack power amp gets me the closest) I'll have to try the cab settings to see what I can get for thump. I did not have it set to Line, that switch was still set to amp... that did make a pretty big difference. This is what I have so far for it... **EDIT** It appears I can't upload a file for you guys to DL up here so I just uploaded the tone I am working on. Let me know what you guys think of it, where I can improve or what might be causing issues. I'm curious to see what you guys think about the placement of some of the effects. http://line6.com/customtone/browse/podhd500x/27/

Yup, not an easy read by any means. That's from that Meambobbo guy. That guide is responsible for me getting my tone dialed in the first time. The same process Doesn't seem to be working this time around, the bass is totally lacking and I can't seem to get it back in there as well as, I'm not sure how to describe this but, the mid range sounds kind of funny, not like there's too much or little of it... just odd.

Hey guys, I think I am in need a little help here. I have a feeling that I am missing something small somewhere to get my tone exactly where I want it and could use a little help for those much more versed in this than me. Let me give you all a little quick background. I originally got my 500x set up a few months ago. My initial setup was Shecter Damien Elite /w active EMGs > Morpheus Drop Tune > POD > Fender Mustang. Morpheus was infront of the POD and not in the FX loop cuz of noise issues, it was much cleaner this way. The little Mustang was my only option at the time as I was building up my rig still, no FX loop on it so I was plugged into the instrument in. Pod was set for Combo Front. Hated the sound I was getting at first until I read Meambobbo's setup guide and SCORE! I got a really cool tone that I enjoyed playing. No sooner did I do this as it was time to upgrade again... bye bye Mustang. I replaced it with a Behringer iNuke 1000 (running mono @ 150w) and a Marshall 4x12 (120w). So now I am trying to dial this in for 1) to the new setup and 2) for gigging levels. I have the cleans set up great, they sound awesome but my high gain heavy distortion tones just aren't as awesome as they were with the little mustang. They are close, very close but there is still something off with them. I was wondering if one of you guys wouldn't mind checking out my tone if I posted it up on Custom Tone (or here) and see where I might be going wrong? I've been reading and playing with this thing tons and doing as much research as I can and have learned a lot but, like I said, I think I am missing something small. This is my current setup now... Damien Elite>Morpheus>Pod (set for stack power amp)>Behringer iNuke (mono @ 150w usually turned up to 60% power)>Marshall 4x12 Oh and I have tried switching the pod back to the combo front setting and it was just too muddy sounding. Thanks ahead of time guys.

First off, sorry if this is in the wrong section. Quick question about the smart harmony effect. Does anyone know what a good setting for it is to get the kind of effect you hear in songs from A7X like Beast and the Harlot or Bat Country? I'm trying to make a good lead tone with this sound as an option and just can't seem to get that harmony nailed down.

So it's probably the later.. just a newb... anyways. I cannot seem to get my toe switch to work. To test it, I set up an effect and just set the toe switch up to turn the effect on and off but no go. Honestly I am not sure if I am even hitting the switch correctly since I can't see a physical switch under the expression pedal. So... 1) Is there somewhere in the pod setup that I have to go to enable the toe switch? 2) when your foot is on the expression pedal, where is the dang switch? I would assume its under the front of the pedal (under my toes... hence the name eh?)

HD 500x custom tones....458840. I see this listed all the time in there from users. Am I missing something because I don't see this listed anywhere in my amp or cab types. Are there some add on amp models for the 500x?

Yeah that's where I've got it right now but damn it's noisy in that fx loop. I think I am going to try it inline before the pod and see if the noise is any different. I have noticed that when it's engaged it can kill my sustain/gain a bit as well. If it works best this way, what effect do you think would be best to counteract that loss in sustain and gain?

Well that's good that my Pod is behaving as expected, sucks about the noisy FX loop though. So when I used to use this in conjunction with my old UX1, I don't remember having to crank my noise gate up. So, technically, where is the best place to put a drop tune pedal? Before the pod or in the FX loop or does it matter at all?

Just like the title says, seems I have a VERY noisy FX loop. I've been trying to hunt down the reason I have been needing to run my gate with such a high threshold (up around 70%). I started building a few test tones tonight and everything is all nice and quiet until I add that loop in then it goes nuts and I have to amp up my gate to compensate which seems to kill my sustain as well :(. Is this normal?? I can't imagine that it is. I am currently running a Morpheus Drop tune in the FX loop right now and am going to try and borrow another pedal that I know is good from a buddy to see if it's the pedal that's causing it. Have any of you had this issue, know how to fix it or do I have a bad FX loop?

Thanks for the quick response quys, That's what I was hoping to hear. When I started messing around with the output options and realized that the supposed option that I would use going into a power amp sounded the best through my little combo I began to worry that I would never get that kind of sound out of it again once I ditched the combo. Anyway, Seeing as this will be my first time upgrading to anymore more than a combo amp I guess I am a little under informed on what options are out there for me. I am kind of limited by my budget. I am trying to stay near the $500 range. I am not worried about something with massive amounts of power, I'm looking for something good for gigging and playing small places (I'm 38, pretty much have given up the idea of being a rock star... this is just for fun now), if I need to get louder I can always mic my cab or run direct into the PA. So it seems that the Behinger iNuke head and the 120w Marshall cab is the best bang for my buck at this point unless I am totally missing something truly awesome out there. I am also a bit of a purest, I just like the look and feel of a nice cab behind me.. okay maybe I haven't lost the rock star in me totally yet

ok guys, I apologize ahead of time if I toss too much out here at once so I will try to keep it short. just recently got a 500x and love it minus a few issues with getting the sounds right. Currently I am running into a Mustang II v2 combo amp. No effects loop on this thing so I have to run direct into the inputs. After reading through the posts here I changed a few things with my setups... 1) made sure that input 1 is guitar and input 2 is variax (read a few posts that said having both inputs set to guitar can cause issues) 2) Set the output settings from direct to combo amp. Doing #1 definitely lowered the noise in the line. Doing #2 actually made the tones worse. So I put it back to direct. I play Metal mostly so I like a beefy tone to my guitar and setting it to combo amp seemed to really cut out the low end. So I've got a good tone coming out of my amp and I love the tone I hear coming out of my headphones (when I use them). I hope all of that made sense... So I now that I have the pod I am looking into getting a better rig for it. Since everything that I have read says you should try not to color the tone coming out of the pod, I have my eye on a Behinger iNuke power amp and a 4x12 Marshall cab but after my experiment with the output settings I am not sure if that is best way for me to go. I will certainly want my tones to sound like they do right now, just louder for gigging. If I keep my output as it is (direct) and run into the iNuke can I expect to hear what I get out of my amp right now (even though it's going through 2 preamps now) or should it sound like what I hear in my headphones (since this doesn't go through a 2nd preamp). Any info on this would be very helpful as I want to make sure and get the right stuff