what is the right price for Model Packs?

[TheRealZap]

It's gonna be go where they reinvent your tone after marketing is done with it. :D

[medievil1]

lets see:

- Amplitube app = 4.99 

- Garage Band = Free - In App 4.99

- mobile POD = In App - 19.9 (full mobile effects, not a pack)

- Bias - Guitar Amp Modeler - 4.99

- Ampkit (full mobile effects, not a pack) - 19.99

- ETC

 

In this context: what is the right price for Model Packs?

 

you DO realize those are ipad apps right??...lol

ipad apps are not nearly as robust as PC apps..the model packs are for pod HD HARDWARE< not ipad

[pianoguyy]

you DO realize those are ipad apps right??...lol

ipad apps are not nearly as robust as PC apps..the model packs are for pod HD HARDWARE< not ipad

LOL@GARAGE BAND 

Even days later, and in a quote instead of the original post... its still funny 

[clay-man]

I really don't get people's whining. They've been giving you free amps for years now, and now that they're giving you a huge suite of amps, you expect them not to make money off of it? 

 

When you bought the POD, you bought it because of what it can do, not what potential things they can cram into it after begging for it. 

 

They have to make a profit somehow. That's their job. They're adding a huge array of XT amps as well as new amps. 

 

Maybe the model packs could be cut down BY 10 bucks and make it like 40 USD, but 5 dollars each and 10 for all of it? Really? This is an amp modeler and FX unit, not Angry Birds, people.

[BillBee]

Well Clay it most likely came because of:

 

http://line6.com/support/topic/10055-hd500x-no-new-featuresno-updates/

 

The natives got restless and L6 made a spectacular suite of add-ons for the same $ as they always did.

 

I agree "why the fuss".

 

-B

[smrybacki]

True. Go where the tone is. Make them earn it. Believe me they will try.

I have gone to basically the same place for timeless, exceptional electric guitar tone for many years, and it is the standard by which I judge all others:

 

Fender MIA Stratocaster/Telecaster -> A Few High Quality TBP Pedals -> Fender Tube Amps.

 

That said, the POD HD500 and JTV59 combination I own has good points of it's own, namely convenience in spades with things like instant (and saved) alternate tunings and effects configurations.  Digital sound is what it is and if they ever nailed it, there would be no more model packs or new takes on it.  Leo Fender nailed quality electric guitar tone way back in the 1950's as far as I am concerned, and everybody else has been scrambling to catch up ever since.

 

 

I smell a product specific slogan...trademark that before L6 steals it from you. At the very least it should be worth some free gear...lol

Lol...that would actually be an excellent product tagline, I would think.

[pwhittles]

I think a huge part of why people think X is inferior to a classic Strar into a tube amp is not because the latter is instrinsically "better" but because it;s tge sound we were weaned on and heard most of our life.  It becomes the "default" good tone, because we are used to it, and the good players used it on (insert 10 trillion songs here)

 

When you are surrounded by something. told it is the best, and it'S what you hear from the best artists, it naturally becomes the baseline by which you judge all others

 

This is true in EVERYTHING, not just tone.

 

Example: I've been a strength athlete for over a decade, trained with olympians etc. Before all this, my idea of the ultimate female beauty was TOTALLY different than it is now. Now, I consider a reasonably well muscled female weightlifter (note" WEIGHTLIFTER NOT BODYBUILDER - The sport of Olympic Style Weightlifting) to be the pinnacle of beauty.

 

IOW, IT'S to a large extent - environment.  

 

The environment (moreso or less so depending on age) we grew up in, bombarded us with a trillion guitar geniuses playing a strat, with that "stratty quack"

 

I imagine if you took a person who grew up listening only to classical music, with a baroque or whatever instrument set, and you denonstrated various guitar/amp tones, they would have a VERY different view of what sounds best vs. what we do.

 

Probably, to them, it would be a guitar tone that sounds more like one of the instruments they were used to

 

Granted, I will admit to being a guy who has never been impressed by strats, and who only owned one for a brief period of time, out of a lot of guitars.

 

It wouldn't even break into my top 10 probably, so I admit that bias

[smrybacki]

It wouldn't even break into my top 10 probably, so I admit that bias

I understand what you're saying regarding "default great tone", and I agree to a large extent.  I think the (ongoing) legacy of the Stratocaster is secured despite your snub lol.  Interestingly, my first choice of electrics when I was starting out was a Rickenbacker 360 and I got one, but it turns out I cannot play it for doodly squat because of the width of the fretboard being narrower.  This led me to the Stratocaster and the rest is history (for me). 

[pwhittles]

I did own a stratocaster at one point.  In high school, besides the punk stuff I was into (which you can play with any guitar as long as you jack up the distortion), I was WAY into the Police, the Jam (Weller played a Rickenbacker btw and I think the bassist did too), and especially U2

 

In every video  I saw. the Edge was playing a strat

 

Our band was practicing for a talent show, doing two U2 songs - I will follow and New Year's Day

 

I had pretty minimal gear at that point, but I had a good digital delay, a good chorus, and Tremolo and Reverb in my amp.

 

with that combo, the tone was pretty close to the Edge's (it helped to play in a big auditorium) and we won!

 

yah! :l

 

But over time, I turned out that the sound I admired in guitarists from the bands I listened to, despite how common Strats were - were rarely a strat.

 

The Cult, the Who (imo, best tone ever and he played a Gretsch for that album and quadrophenia), Eddie Cochrane, The Cure, etc.

 

btw, here is The Jam live (weller playing a Rickenbacker)

 

7:35 awesome

 

and he plays more than one rickenbacker throughout the concert (Funeral Pyre shows off his bright rickenbacker vs,. his Black one)

 

 

I love this performance of In the CIty (we covered it when I was in college)

 

I am pretty sure that is a rickenbacker bass as well as guitar

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyF1se8528Q

 

 

I *will* admit that now that  I have  a strat clone (to an extent) guitar - the 69s, it is fun to play and fun to get that ":strat quack"

 

For giggles, I played a couple of clapton riffs and they sound perfect, whereas they sounded a little weird on my Ibanez hollowbody

 

And maybe, to some extent I am just being iconoclastic for the sake of being iconoclastic

 

iow, if "all the cool kids " play it, I want to paly somethimg different

[x3live6648]

Should be what I payed for the damn thing. Screw Line 6.  I am not happy at all about this so I am going to try Marshall Code when they come out.  I already payed Sweetwater for a Code 50.  Just as soon as they are released I have one coming my way.  The price is right. A 50 watt 12 inch with Marshalls new Code....$260 Why pay $100 more for something I feel I just got ripped off on.  Line 6's pricing is insane.  Compare Positive Grid to the quality of Line 6...PG blows line 6 away.  Helix is so over priced.  I just dont have faith that they wont screw me again.

[pianoguyy]

LOL@Garage Band

 

 

I don't exactly understand why people are buying product after product after product. 

It shows a larger issue with one's self than it does the products themselves. 

 

My last rig lasted 20+ years. 

I intend on this rig to last quite long time as well. 

And because I have a rig, I haven't looked at another product. I wouldn't have bought it if I didn't like it and it didn't suit my needs. 

 

And that makes me question why you guys bought your stuff, and why you are buying new stuff, and why you are dissatisfied with all it. 

How is it, that I can use this product and make millions of dollars with it, yet you guys get paid 'exposure' and want different products. 

[BillBee]

Its GAS my man - symptoms include short attention spans and high expectations. :D

 

Though some of those Code 50 tones sound real good.

 

But its all good in the end - buy it. try it, don't like it, flip it.

 

With the competition driving the market you may even get a Pod Andriod Editor one day. :)

[joel_brown]

I can't believe this thread exists and is still going on.  Someone will always complain about something.  If you don't like the Model Pack then return it.  I did.  More than likely you need to tweak what you have a little more to get the tone your looking for.  And never forget, if you practice and improve your own playing, that helps too.  No matter how good you think you are, you can always be better.

 

How many guitar players does it take to screw in a light bulb ?

Just one, but he goes on for hours about how great he did it.

[duncann]

And never forget, if you practice and improve your own playing, that helps too.  No matter how good you think you are, you can always be better.

 

This is probably the single most important thing there is as it relates to guitar playing, so it not only helps, but it provides the basis for everything that comes after. Constantly challenge oneself. Don't just play a note because that's what comes next in time, let the note tell you how to play it, and if you can't, figure out how and work at it until you can.

[pianoguyy]

No way dude. You can't expect people to work at something. I bought a machine, I should be better because of it. 

[AlexKenivel]

Yes way dude. I don't have to tap dance real pedals any more. Makes me a better (focused) guitar player :D

 

But.... Millions of dollars, though? :D

[joel_brown]

Hehe, I thought the same thing..."Millions of dollars" ??? 

[pianoguyy]

Well, ok, not solely because of the Pod. That's ridiculous to blame it all on the machine.

[kzmaier]

Next sale, I'm in!!!

[aerosol_d7]

I don't know if I would be using pod HD if i won millions of dollars....probably not

[TravDaddy]

I thought the $100 price was just a wee-bit too high for me. However, when the 30% off  sales came around, I took advantage and upgraded both the PODxt as well as both of my HD500s. I have NOT regretted any of the model pack purchases!

 

So, I guess $100 may be okay, as long as the occasional sale comes up so that we cheapskates get join the club. I did think that the HD upgrade was a bit slim in the offerings as compared to what the XT upgrade included. However, I also understand the extra time and effort that goes into the HD models.

 

Bottom line: I love the idea that I can buy a software upgrade without having to shell out another $300-$500 for an additional device. If I say upgrades should be free or way under-priced, then Line6 has no real incentive to make the upgrade/expansion effort. Might be nice to have a reward system for previous purchasers of model packs or early adapters/adopters of new hardware. If I buy the Helix at $1500 and a year later the price drops to $1250, it would be nice to get a price break on a model pack upgrade for jumping onboard early. Some responders mentioned an "a la carte" option, where you pay only for the models you want - with a flat rate fee. There's good and bad for that... If an obscure tone doesn't look to be a money maker, L6 might not go ahead and make it. Packaging helps round out the upgrade and might have a few surprises that one might not have considered buying.

 

Many of the comments have been right on for a capitalist system: the market sets the price. If L6 says $200 for a model pack and no one buys it, then they usually find the sweet spot that entices enough buyers to recoup their investment cost for making the upgrade. For me, the tough part is paying for "electrons." Yeah, R&D costs money, so does maintaining a server network and you gotta pay the employees. So, I get it. I'm just happy that discounts pop up every now and then. And really, the amount of modeled gear you get is waaaay cheaper than buying the actual hardware. The FX Junkie package offered 35 effects for $50. That same $50 might get you two pedals of questionable reliability at a pawn shop. Big picture, $100 ain't bad. Sale prices are the sprinkles on the cupcake of tone.