reportergreg Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 This is my first post here, so a little background...I've been playing for 45 years, all kinds of different setups, from the good, the bad to the downright ugly; with our mortgage finally paid this past year, it freed up some cash, so I went whole hog on pedals, and found myself chasing tone much more than I was playing....the setup was getting more and more complex and frustrating, with pedals going in and out the door on an almost weekly basis. About a couple weeks ago, I finally said to heck with it, and sold all my pedals; I got a used POD HD Pro and a shortboard controller to go with it; I also have a Gainiac which I'm using to give just a bit of color as a preamp (clean setting only), as well as a Peavey dual band EQ, a Lexicon MX300, and a Lexicon MPX100 in my effects loop that I use sparingly....it all runs into a Peavey 50/50 power amp and a Bugera 2x12 cab, and that's it. Did a bit of minor tweaking to some patches, but I've found that I am quite happy with many of them as are; I wish I had made the jump sooner, instead of listening to the gripers on The Gear Page. Anyhow, here I am, and I'm glad to be aboard. For starters, I'm just wondering if anybody has any suggestions on the HD Pro for use with the gear I've listed. Just don't suggest I buy anything else..the remaining cash I had from the sale of the pedals is going toward a trip to Hawaii I'm taking in May with my wife and a snowblower :). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil_m Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 Congratulations on your new career! Oh, wait... :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robertmcollins3 Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 I'm afraid you won't get much use out of a snowblower in Hawaii. :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reportergreg Posted February 19, 2015 Author Share Posted February 19, 2015 Congratulations on your new career! Oh, wait... :) Hmmm...maybe I should just plug straight into my amp...:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyingSquirrel Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 Welcome to the fold.I would just recommend that when you build presets, start with just the amp, then take one effect at a time. If you've used lot's of pedals in the past, know up front that you may be limited on DSP if you're hoping to have one preset that serves all purposes., The beauty is though, you can create presets that are combinations of the amp + effects used for a specific purpose so you'll be able to just select that preset without having to hit an a/b box, then this effect + that effect + another just to do a clean tone, etc... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reportergreg Posted February 19, 2015 Author Share Posted February 19, 2015 I'm afraid you won't get much use out of a snowblower in Hawaii. :P No, but unfortunately, I'll have to come home eventually, and I will need it here..:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reportergreg Posted February 19, 2015 Author Share Posted February 19, 2015 Welcome to the fold. I would just recommend that when you build presets, start with just the amp, then take one effect at a time. If you've used lot's of pedals in the past, know up front that you may be limited on DSP if you're hoping to have one preset that serves all purposes., The beauty is though, you can create presets that are combinations of the amp + effects used for a specific purpose so you'll be able to just select that preset without having to hit an a/b box, then this effect + that effect + another just to do a clean tone, etc... I was aware of the DSP limitations, and hence the Lexicons are staying in the mix...I figured I could use them as needed. Most of the time, I rarely use over three or four effects at a time any more, so the DSP shouldn't be a problem very often. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palico Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 Welcome to the fold. The beauty is though, you can create presets that are combinations of the amp + effects used for a specific purpose so you'll be able to just select that preset without having to hit an a/b box, then this effect + that effect + another just to do a clean tone, etc... +1 The above! It took me quite a while to get that "scenes" concept when I went digital year back. Knowning how the old Analog pedals work and some best placement gives you big advantage in the digital realm. But even if DSP is not huge problem (depends on how complex you like it as if you will hit that wall or not) the idea of using one pedal stomp to change several things can be ground breaking. Kind of like having a multi-channel amp but having a presetup effects loop for each of those channels with effects already set. My life with a digital setup got so much easier once I started using that concept instead of tap dancing the pedals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radatats Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 Glad you made the jump. You will be pleased you did too. As noted above keep it simple in the beginning, concentrate on just amp, cab and mic setting until you really see what you like. Output modes are a big factor too. With your rig as described you will probably want to be in Stack Power Amp and they recommend using preamp models. But there is no wrong choice, just different tones to be had. Not sure you will benefit from the Gainiac. I guess its going in front of the POD? You need to watch that you don't overdrive the input signal accidentally. The Lexicons can be controlled by midi right from the POD so you can have your settings saved on a patch by patch basis. So much you can do with this rig... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triryche Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 You're taking a snowblower to Hawaii? :huh: Welcome to the forums!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amsdenj Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 Man, a blast from the past. I have a Lexicon MPX100 and MPXG2 I'd love to get rid of. These units were fantastic in their day, and still sound great. There are some effects in the MPDG2 that still don't exist anywhere else. But I love the flexibility of the POD HD(500x). I hate to admit it, and I'll deny it in public, but I like to tweak. Its part of the fun to me. Just to prove I'm crazy, when I use to play live, I liked setting up and tearing down too. And more than once I was taking my old Fender Showman amp and external reverb unit apart during breaks, got out the soldering iron, and tweaked the hardware patches I made before the gig. At least software doesn't burn your hands. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stumblinman Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 Welcome aboard! You will make some good patches, then try some other ideas and make some terrible ones.. Next, you will listen to your original patches and think they sound like crap, so you will start all over.. But then... You will "get" it. It will click and you will be amazed at the tones you can coax out of that thing. Be patient, be diligent, and play it loud. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisinon2 Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 Welcome aboard! You will make some good patches, then try some other ideas and make some terrible ones.. Next, you will listen to your original patches and think they sound like crap, so you will start all over.. Isn't that the worst? When you pull up a patch you haven't used in a while and have to ask yourself if perhaps you had cotton balls shoved in your ears that day? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grandinq Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 Isn't that the worst? When you pull up a patch you haven't used in a while and have to ask yourself if perhaps you had cotton balls shoved in your ears that day? I find I listen just one day later and amazed at how bad something sounds. The other week I thought I had developed a Sweet Emotion tone (that is one of my holy grail tones) and the next day it just sounded putrid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjnette Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 Welcome and congrats on your purchase. At the end of the day the punters cant't tell what your using and the POD HDs are adequate and even do alright in the mix. I second working on a the amp sound first. The HD amps are more than adequate! Also the HD loop send is a TRS so you can get stereo out of it if your Lexies would like left and right. Have fun, keep us posted, you'l find this is a helpful forum . Looking foreward to your wisdom too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyingSquirrel Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 I find I listen just one day later and amazed at how bad something sounds. The other week I thought I had developed a Sweet Emotion tone (that is one of my holy grail tones) and the next day it just sounded putrid. This is why I create/tweak all of my patches against backing tracks with drums/bass & keys if applicable to make sure that they exactly where they need to in the context of a band mix. I've found over the years that I tend to want to encroach upon the bass players frequency range, so by doing this, I've dialed back the low end here & there, up'd the mids & the highs as needed, still allowing room for the vocals to sit over the top of it. This has transformed the way I think about toneshaping, and whenever I play out the FOH folks love me because I just plug in, they get a unity gain signal going, feed me some to my monitor & 9 out of 10 times they never have to eq me. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTSC777 Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 Welcome! and yes I was just barbecued on The Gear Page a few minutes ago for suggesting to a new father he keep most of his tube amps and not buy an Axe FX lol! Lots of great people and resources here. I love and gig my HD500 regularly. Tonight into the effect return of an Egnater Tweaker head and cab. So many ways to use these HD units. Have Fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reportergreg Posted February 20, 2015 Author Share Posted February 20, 2015 Thanks for all the comments and suggestions, folks...I've been exploring the unit, finding that as a long time tweaker a lot of the knob turning is intuitive; I've taken probably a dozen stock presets so far and made a few adjustments here and there, and I'm pretty happy with the results. I've also created a handful of basic patches from which I can branch out. I will confess, though, that I have decided I may keep a couple pedals in the effects loop...I had forgotten, but I ordered an Electronic Orange Pig Hoof a while back, and I want to check that out. I also have a Monsterpiece STUD I tucked away in a drawer that may need to be in the loop too...when I sold the rest, that was one of just two or three pedals I just couldn't make myself part with. The bottom line, though, is I'm playing more and absolutely digging this setup....I hope this honeymoon lasts a while! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozbadman Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 I haven't tried this yet as I'm overseas with a snowblower, but a lot of people have talked about the CAB modelling. There was a recent post from someone at Line 6 that said something to the effect of setting the DEP parameter I think to 0% may be a good idea for a lot of situations. I realise I have described this very poorly, but I can't find the original post. If someone knows where it is, please post the link here. Anyway, it sounded like that could be a very useful choice for getting around one of the issues that a lot of people have with the PODs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duncann Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 I haven't tried this yet as I'm overseas with a snowblower, but a lot of people have talked about the CAB modelling. There was a recent post from someone at Line 6 that said something to the effect of setting the DEP parameter I think to 0% may be a good idea for a lot of situations. I realise I have described this very poorly, but I can't find the original post. If someone knows where it is, please post the link here. Anyway, it sounded like that could be a very useful choice for getting around one of the issues that a lot of people have with the PODs. Probably talking about the cab resonance parameter. It's ultimately a matter of personal preference. There's a lot of people who like it turned to zero, and there's at least one person who likes it over 50% in most cases. The type and genre of music may be a factor also. And the higher the resonance is, the more influence thump and decay have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reportergreg Posted February 21, 2015 Author Share Posted February 21, 2015 So far, I've been happy with the cabs, for the greater part, but I'll check the DEP parameters now out of curiosity. One thing I have been struggling with is tweaking the delay to get a tape echo I'm happy with. Any thoughts? PS I am not taking my snowblower to Hawaii :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duncann Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 Never messed with the tape echos, but they look pretty much like the other delays. One thing about the delays with bass and treble controls, and someone correct me if I'm wrong, is that when the setting is 50%, that means the delayed signal is cut by one-half the original. What exactly is cut by these controls, I guess would have to be measured someway. Generally, treble would cut something in the higher frequencies and bass something lower. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozbadman Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 Probably talking about the cab resonance parameter. It's ultimately a matter of personal preference. There's a lot of people who like it turned to zero, and there's at least one person who likes it over 50% in most cases. The type and genre of music may be a factor also. And the higher the resonance is, the more influence thump and decay have. Ahhh. I think you're right. I think it was the cab-resonance. The post was really interesting but I can't seem to find it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozbadman Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 I don't know if you're referring to the thread that I started quite recently, which I then deleted (for personal reasons) .. if it is, in my signature below you can find the link to a downloadable file containing the documentation on which it was based Awesome. Yes, that was the thread I was looking for. Thanks hurghanico. Here's a quote from Digital_Igloo that was in that thread, that may prove useful to people not happy with the sound of the CABS by default. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duncann Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 Awesome. Yes, that was the thread I was looking for. Thanks hurghanico. Here's a quote from Digital_Igloo that was in that thread, that may prove useful to people not happy with the sound of the CABS by default. DI_Cabs.png That quote from DI is pretty old, and the numerous threads going around (here and tgp) about the whole resonance thing since then, I think had people coming to the conclusion that if the resonance is zero, thump and decay no longer have any effect. Pretty easy to try for yourself to see if that's accurate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duncann Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 Thanks for the clarity on that hurghanico. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozbadman Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Thanks guys. Interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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