Playing with an Amp without its preamp functions. What’s the best way to do it?

[GMIKI]

Hello friends! I’ve just bought my podGo this week, so I’m new here.

I only play with an guitar Amp plugging in the front (Katana - it doesn’t have send return) and never “in line”. My idea is to use the Katana only as a power amp (set it to Clean amp with low gain) and all the other functions (Amp, Cab, drives, fx etc…) by the PodGo. So I ask you guys: in my case, Which would be the best configuration:

- Amp Out or Main Out?

- should I set Amp out to PreCab/IR or keep it on Main out?

- should a change Amp/cab block to final position of the chain?

- what about the main Out level: instrument or Line?

Thank you in advance.

[SiCantwell]

I play into a Fender amp, clean.

I use Main out, just because to my ears it sounds better. I mainly use the Pod Go amps for distortions, because I think they sound better than the distortion effects. I mainly use the Go in place of my old elaborate pedal board of effects.

It's not what most people do, but I like it and find the Pod Go reliable for gigging and rehearsals.

 

[voxman55]

On 8/12/2022 at 5:37 PM, GMIKI said:

Hello friends! I’ve just bought my podGo this week, so I’m new here.

I only play with an guitar Amp plugging in the front (Katana - it doesn’t have send return) and never “in line”. My idea is to use the Katana only as a power amp (set it to Clean amp with low gain) and all the other functions (Amp, Cab, drives, fx etc…) by the PodGo. So I ask you guys: in my case, Which would be the best configuration:

- Amp Out or Main Out?

- should I set Amp out to PreCab/IR or keep it on Main out?

- should a change Amp/cab block to final position of the chain?

- what about the main Out level: instrument or Line?

Thank you in advance.

 

Essentially, you can't actually use the Katana as a power amp simply because without an FX loop you can't bypass its pre-amp stage - which, for a modelling amp like the Katana,  the pre-amp is within the digital amp model - even set clean, it's still modelling a clean amps pre-amp.  But if you are looking for your Pod Go to do everything, by choosing a clean amp model with low gain, that's the best way to try and give your Pod Go a 'clean palette' to work with, with as minimal amp colouration as possible.   Use the Pod Go main out and initially set your Pod Go for instrument and not 'line' - but by all means try both to see if there's any difference that you might prefer.  Set and use all your patches as normal, with your signal chain in Pod Go just as if your Katana was a power amp.  Typically, you'll want time based effects such as reverb & delay after the amp & cab model, and possibly even modulation too - just experiment to see which sounds best with your Katana.

 

Re cab, because you are going through an actual amp cab with a real speaker, you'll essentialy be mixing two cab types - the one you select in Pod Go and the real cab of your Katana.  So, you might not want to use a cab sim - but again there's no 'rights & wrongs' here - it's about experimentation to see what sounds best, so just trust your ears.  Re gain/distortion you may prefer to use the Pod Go amp model, with or without a Pod Go distortion pedal, or you might prefer to use just the distortion pedals and turn the amp block off. 

 

If you decide to make a patch with just FX and with the Pod Go amp/cab blocks 'off', I recommend you select the del sol 300Sunn® Coliseum 300 pre-amp (not full amp) model.  That's because you can't remove the amp block (as it's a fixed block) and even though you've turned the amp block off, it's still 'reserving' DSP for the amp model  - & because this amp model uses less DSP than any other option, you'll have more DSP available for your effects.  

[GMIKI]

On 8/13/2022 at 5:36 PM, SiCantwell said:

I play into a Fender amp, clean.

I use Main out, just because to my ears it sounds better. I mainly use the Pod Go amps for distortions, because I think they sound better than the distortion effects. I mainly use the Go in place of my old elaborate pedal board of effects.

It's not what most people do, but I like it and find the Pod Go reliable for gigging and rehearsals.

 

Thank you very much! I’ll try this way!

[GMIKI]

On 8/13/2022 at 6:51 PM, voxman55 said:

 

Essentially, you can't actually use the Katana as a power amp simply because without an FX loop you can't bypass its pre-amp stage - which, for a modelling amp like the Katana,  the pre-amp is within the digital amp model - even set clean, it's still modelling a clean amps pre-amp.  But if you are looking for your Pod Go to do everything, by choosing a clean amp model with low gain, that's the best way to try and give your Pod Go a 'clean palette' to work with, with as minimal amp colouration as possible.   Use the Pod Go main out and initially set your Pod Go for instrument and not 'line' - but by all means try both to see if there's any difference that you might prefer.  Set and use all your patches as normal, with your signal chain in Pod Go just as if your Katana was a power amp.  Typically, you'll want time based effects such as reverb & delay after the amp & cab model, and possibly even modulation too - just experiment to see which sounds best with your Katana.

 

Re cab, because you are going through an actual amp cab with a real speaker, you'll essentialy be mixing two cab types - the one you select in Pod Go and the real cab of your Katana.  So, you might not want to use a cab sim - but again there's no 'rights & wrongs' here - it's about experimentation to see what sounds best, so just trust your ears.  Re gain/distortion you may prefer to use the Pod Go amp model, with or without a Pod Go distortion pedal, or you might prefer to use just the distortion pedals and turn the amp block off. 

 

If you decide to make a patch with just FX and with the Pod Go amp/cab blocks 'off', I recommend you select the del sol 300Sunn® Coliseum 300 pre-amp (not full amp) model.  That's because you can't remove the amp block (as it's a fixed block) and even though you've turned the amp block off, it's still 'reserving' DSP for the amp model  - & because this amp model uses less DSP than any other option, you'll have more DSP available for your effects.  

Thank you very much for all those tips and for your time!

[cain29671]

Some interesting ideas on how to use amps. At first I used an old Line 6 Spider modelling amp and set it to Clean with all the EQ, Drive adjustments to 12 o'clock.  Depending on the venue I always noticed differences in the tone or volume and would make slight adjustments on the AMP EQ.  I finally got tired of fighting this.

 

I now use an Ampeg BA-115 bass amp with the Amp Out going into the Return.  I set the Cab/IR block to the end of the chain when it's turned off.  However the first time I did this I noticed the dirty tones sounded (for a better term) scratchy. Not sure what caused it but ended up improving the sound by enabling the Cab/IR block.  I know this sounds opposite of what should be done but it's working for me.

[JohnCT1]

On 8/12/2022 at 5:37 PM, GMIKI said:

Hello friends! I’ve just bought my podGo this week, so I’m new here.

I only play with an guitar Amp plugging in the front (Katana - it doesn’t have send return) and never “in line”. My idea is to use the Katana only as a power amp (set it to Clean amp with low gain) and all the other functions (Amp, Cab, drives, fx etc…) by the PodGo. So I ask you guys: in my case, Which would be the best configuration:

- Amp Out or Main Out?

- should I set Amp out to PreCab/IR or keep it on Main out?

- should a change Amp/cab block to final position of the chain?

- what about the main Out level: instrument or Line?

Thank you in advance.

Hi 

I have a Katana 100 Mk II and both it and the 50 MK II have a 'Power Amp In' which by passes the pre amp entirely.

I first used my Pod Go with Cabs / IRs off into this using the stock speaker. It sounded great.

However...

Now I have fitted a Celestion 150 w FRLR Triple Cone Speaker and am using my cabs / IRS on.

This has been a game changer for me as I'm using the full extent of the Pod Go's capabilities and it sounds even better!

It's well worth checking out the Celestion FRLR Triple Cone as it costs less than £100 and is designed to be used with modellers like the Pod Go / Helix etc and give the 'in the room' feel of a guitar speaker, whilst offering full range response, like a PA speaker.

Check it out!

 

John