Thanks for the very entertaining video, Josh, and for the very kind words! Of course, there have been many talented people at Line 6 that made POD (and everything else) possible, so I really only deserve a small part of the credit (or blame!).
@@TheRealcdawg22 I retired from Line 6 in April of 2019, leaving it in the very capable hands of some very talented people who continue to make all us Line 6'ers proud.
Lol! I read this as a *phone output. I'm thinking... "so you plug a phone into it and listen to yourself through a phone? Huh? Nah. That's not right, is it?" 🤔🤷🤣
I used to use the headphone jack to connect to a pair of powered desktop computer speakers. It was a way to play at apt volumes when not using headphones. But yeah, at the time these came out, they were a great headphone amp.
I was a young, loud musician when the POD came out. Before the POD, I could render any tone that my single-channel 60x Crate amp, with attached Tube Screamer and Morley Wah could muster. In reality, my on-stage tone options were way too much distortion, or really shrill clean. I got my hands on a POD, and with the turn of a dial, a world of tones were open to me. My bandmates and I spent about four practice sessions just dialing in tones, and realizing what songs we could now cover with this secret weapon. It was my workhorse tone machine in shitty little bars and college parties for a few years. It, plus a Yamaha 4-track was my entire studio for close to a decade. People like to shit on the POD, and compare it to vintage tube amps, and hand wired effects. We weren't using any of that. Nobody that I knew could afford a Fender Deluxe. Hell, my reverb unit came from Radio Shack. The POD put near-limitless options on the plates of musicians who had been limited to what they could carry, and what they could afford. Also, it sounds fucking good. Does it sound better than my Helix? Not usually. Did it sound better than 90% of the rigs out there in the late 90's? IMO, absolutely. Why did I get rid of my POD? I didn't. It's in my basement on a shelf. It doesn't get out much, these days, but when I go to jam with my buddies, I'm not taking my Helix along. Here's a hot take. When I first got married, my only amp was a Line 6 Spider. I liked it. It sounded fucking nice, and I could still make my house payment.
When I was gig’ing throughout high school and college, I ran a POD Pro along with a Mesa V-Twin rack unit through a Mesa 50/50 power amp, and it was the best sounding setup I ever had. I wish I’d never sold that gear. Those rack v-twins are impossible to find now.
My brother, who has been hearing impaired since birth, nevertheless plays the guitar. He has been using the POD for two decades. It has allowed him to play through his computer and then into his hearing aids, which has been a great tool for him. There may be better products now, but he has this thing mastered, and if it works...
I've demonized a lot of gear because my impression of it was how it sounded into the clean channel of a 15 watt, 8" speaker practice combo amp. My less than a year of playing and cheap strat copy didn't help either. I think a lot of us formed opinions on things in that stage of our playing and haven't really questioned them since.
I hated line 6 when I was younger, but I later realized that I just didn't Iike the kid I knew that had one. Played some of the stuff since and it's fun. Enjoy the pedals more than the amps but dont have a ton of experience with the amps.
I understand where you're coming from, and I definitely think the Line6 pod has its place, but at the same time, if you actually have that killer amp and guitar, there really is no need for the pod. It gave and gives us access to a wide variety of sound faksimiles, at a significantly lower price than even one of them. As such, it has been a great tool in many a budding guitarist's formative years, and still has its uses on the fly.
Never had a POD. But in the 90s and 2000s, when they tabbed songs, they would give you the amp and effect settings to put into a POD to get that artist’s sound. I wanted one. I still think I want one.
I don’t know if it can be overstated how this tech positively affected kids who were getting into recording music in their bedrooms. The early 2000s were an exciting time for recording tech for poor 20 year old college kids.
It was an awesome time to be doing early social media doing reviews and such - the pace of change was awesome and the results we could get for the first time without lugging big amps and cabs around was so so cool to young me :)
well, that makes sense why people hated it. Not because the tech, but because many beginners used it as the gateway to recording. Nobody shouldn't expect beginners to begin with great tracks.
@@Marta1Buck dont agree...at all. Beginners mostly make bad recordings ,u say? No...quite the opposite. Most musicians lose their inner fire after a while. And still they keep recording...sometimes only for making money.Rock n roll is a young mans game.Or old dudes with a young spirit..
@@igordewit7357most great albums are 2nd-4th albums made well in the artist's 20s, not beginner. Also the 80/20 rule applies to everything, most music is garbage, especially those just starting out. If you heard the earliest demos of your favorite bands you'd know this. So you're really missing the point. Many of us were those 20 year olds making unpolished beginner recordings. We don't take it personally
I was gigging totally ampless in the early 2000s with this unit. Convinced my bass player to get the bass version too. Always had great sound and not a lot to have to carry.
I love how Josh will take a piece of gear that is generally universally shit on and make useable tones out of it. You can buy really expensive JHS pedals but he constant preaches “use whatever you have laying around the house.” Absolutely brilliant.
Just goes to show that despite there being respected level of gear production,a good player will always sound good and a bad player can’t be saved by gear. RockOn Josh!
I watch the videos, because his no BS reviews and comments - even when it won't help him commercially, give him HUGE credibility. I wouldn't think twice about buying a JHS pedal based on this guy's honesty, knowledge, and taste.
I bought one when they first came out . I had a garbage amp and this was my “ Rock star level achieved” I would just throw on some good headphones and instantly became awesome. It allowed me to play late at night without disturbing others . It was great and not to mention one of the monthly guitar publications used to give you famous artist settings to go along with the tablature, really educational. I finally got rid of it about 5 years ago just because I was not using it anymore. I think I traded in and the amount went towards a Catalinbread Echorec
Me too man! I was 12, worked cutting lawns all summer, bought one of these and a bc rich warlock, plugged in my headphones and started my guitar journey.
I never owned one, but when a friend bought one, he eventually gave me his old rack mount Art SGX2000. I can’t get that to sound right through my amp, but through headphones, it’s glorious and it’s in stereo. Point is, there’s nothing wrong with a quality headphone setup that encourages you to play.
The Line 6 POD is what helped give the Punk-o-Matic series (1 and 2), a flash game, prominently on Newgrounds, its iconic riff tones/sounds enjoyed by so many people over the past 13+ years! The twangy bass tone is especially my favorite.
Back when this came out, me and almost everyone I knew were broke. Almost everyone used a multieffects (pods or the BOSS digital boards) and a solid state amp because that's all we could afford. Analog pedals and tube amps were out of our reach, those were for pros and rich kids. I guess a lot of people my age associate this with the time they couldn't afford anything better (read, more expensive) and don't want to go back to it? But we sure used to have fun with this stuff. Personally, the only reason I don't use my old digital VOX board at all anymore is because it died on me. Strap one of those to the fx loop and you have all the modulation in the world for almost nothing.
I had one of those VOX multi-fx units when they came out (TV yellow/black top/white chicken-head knobs/3 presets per bank). I just needed a reverb that could run on batteries at the time, for busking. The VOX multi-fx was like $99 at the time, and that's a little less than a simple reverb/delay (BOSS RV-3 type thing, at the time) cost anyway. It turned out to have decent, stage-usable mod sounds, and great delays as well. You could run an exp pedal on the patch parameters, too. The drive tones were like 'living-room guitar' more or less. For then-$99, that was amazing. I ended up giving it to my brother when I moved away from busking country.
Loved the POD for recording and as an emergency backup in the event my gigging amp went down. Considering when it first came out... the tech was pretty dang impressive in that era.
I found mine in storage a while back. I still really like the Soldano model for dirt and I use the fender for cleans. Totally useable for practice. I still prefer my Kemper though..lol
I’ve got such fond memories of countless hours spent with one of these PODs hooked up to a Tascam 4 track and a Boss drum machine 🥰 I sold it all to pay rent (rock and roll cliche #124 😂) but wish I still had that crazy little kidney bean.
I had to order this directly from the USA (I'm in Australia), as it was super costly here. The USA store was really suspicious, they made me wire the money rather than accepting my credit card. After paying bank fees for the wire transfer, currency conversion fees, import duties to the Australian government, and buying an Australian power supply for it (which was AC power unlike all other pedals), it was still much cheaper than Australian music stores were charging! I gigged for years with it; loved my POD 2.0. Finally gave it to my cousin for his music studio before moving across Australia. He probably still had has it.
My brother was on holidays in Las Vegas and brought one back for me. Went to Dick Smith and bought a 240v-110v converter for it. Still got it but never use it anymore. I better get it out again.
Never had one, but when interviewed by Guitarist in 1999 to promote the XTC album Apple Venus, Andy Partridge said that for him the Line6 Pod was a game changer in the studio. That’s good enough for me.
When i seen the title of the video i thought: "hmmm, Josh got good ears and knowledge, how it can be he write the POD sound shit?" ^^ So i checked the Video and very fast i get the ironic ;).
Josh clearly said that it was dirt in a bean shaped box, so that means that since I loved his jams with it I must therefore be in need of having my RockCard suspended until I can get my ears on straight. 🤣
The Pod was The Shit back in the day, and still sounds great. People talked trash about them, but as a producer I consistently got great tones in studio without an amp or cab. Producers and bands layered them everywhere because they were just that good, and when coupled with an amp IR ITB, almost unbeatable.
My friend worked in a music store. He said, “You have to try this!” I resisted for a month or two, then one day I had 15 minutes to spare and tried it. I left the store scheming about what I could sell to get that stupid looking red bean! That was when I went to a full digital rig going direct to the PA/computer, and I have never gone back. (I had the full rack system with tube pre-amps, effects units and tube power amps with dual cabinets to go stereo. Pretty large rig. A lot of work!). I have gone from the POD bean to the Vetta to the POD XT Live to Fractal Audio Axe-Fx, Axe-Fx II and now Axe-Fx III. One of the best tones I ever had was my clean sound with the original POD with the clean Dumble setting. (Never could get that exact sound again after I sold that unit to “upgrade” to the Vetta.)
I was a regionally touring musician from 2000 to 2011. When the POD became a pretty popular thing in these parts (south Georgia), it was initially laughed at until a relatively popular guitarist in our area switched from his JCM900 to the POD for live gigs. His signal chain was guitar > cable > POD > DI Box > FOH and his live tone was fantastic. Even his monitors were awesome. Let's just say that the ENTIRE scene changed within weeks and large gear began staying at home while the POD and POD Pro became staples on the local and college circuit. As for me, I sold a first generation 5150 head to purchase the POD Pro which eventually got sold around 2012. ( Don't ask, I regretted that later and I wished I had kept it.) I used a POD Pro live from 2002 to 2005, then switched it out for Behringer's version from 2005 to 2009 to keep the more expensive POD Pro from being stolen or utter destroyed by a bunch of college idiots who were notorious for being careless. I wished I wouldn't have sold it. Back then there was NOTHING better for convenience, sound quality, and ease of use for the weekend warrior. NOTHING. Enjoy your channel. J
I still have mine. Got it 18 years ago. Used it on countless recordings and some live concerts. Nothing wrong with it, always sounds great. Whoever doesn't like it probably also hates candy, cats and dogs, and has never been in love.
I remember going to my favorite music store Broadway Music in Merrillville In. seeing the pod for the first time I went back several times to mess around with it and when i finally got enough money eventually buying it. I also got the line6 floorboard to control it. That setup took me through every playing scenario from church to studio to stage to taping for local chicago and northwest indiana tv. I was sad when hard times hit and I sold it but I think I got everything I could think of and need out of that thing. Thanks for this video. Brought back a few memories.
Used a POD for guitar lessons and it was great for covering tons of tones without a pedalboard in the tiny lessons studio.....long live the POD!!! It’s still on my shelf and I’m gonna go dust it off and plug it in.
When it comes to the “shitty” gear, a wise man once said- “Some gear is tweak sensitive. If you can’t get a good tone out of something with basic adjustments, chances are the gear doesn’t suck, but YOU suck.” I’ve always had good luck with Line6 gear. In fact, I still have my first-gen Spider 50W combo.
I won't shit on gear. But this is me. And honestly this is why I often end up going back to just a Marshall JCM2000, Cry Baby and a Les Paul. It just sings.
well, I wouldn't go so far. only because you can't get anything good out of a pedal doesn't mean YOU suck but maybe just that the Pedal doesn't work in a way that makes you feel compfy. I for an example stoped using Boss Pedals because I just couldn't get a decent sound out of them. I never had this problem with Electro Harmonix, now does that mean I or Boss suck? Of couse not. Boss Pedals are pretty legendary and I think I'm an okay Guitarist but Boss just doesn't turn me on I guess... Same goes for Telecasters. I never thought to my self:"Well this Telecaster sounds great" but that doesn't mean I or Telecasters suck. Heck! I'm a huge Status Quo Fan so I know damn well how awesome a Telecaster can sound and I sound pretty good on a Les Paul or a Strat but Teles are just not for me....
"f you can’t get a good tone out of something with basic adjustments, chances are the gear doesn’t suck, but YOU suck.” I understand that people finally got fed up with all the snobs, overpaying for "iconic" gear and all, but what you said is simply not true. If you have a specific sound in your head and your gear is of the wrong kind, you will always be frustrated. It *very well* may work for a different sound, in a different context. So what? You want your sound, not something someone else might like for music you positively hate.
@@bakters You can get at least ONE usable sound of any piece of crap or expensive unit. Argue all you want but its true. Veteran gear addicts / players can make it work.
I still have mine. It once blew up after being plugged into a faulty 220 adaptor when I took it on a trip overseas. Got it fixed at the authorised Line 6 repair shop and it still works, even after over 20 years of having it. Great piece of gear!
Such an icon piece of gear. I have the 2.0 and the X3. I use them to record almost all of my guitars to this day and they sound fantastic. Like anything, putting the time in to learn the gear and dial it in is what makes all the difference in the world.
I bought mine in 2001 and still use it today. I've never found a need to get something different. I play Metal and Progressive Metal and to this day people ask me what I'm using to get such a brutal metal tone. I've been using the same settings that I programmed when I first got the Pod after reading through the manual. You have to hook it up through the effects loop of your amp to really make this thing shine. Alot of people miss that little detail. It doesn't sound nearly as good through the front of your amp.
I had a Pod, loved it. I gave it to my friend who now has 2 for his keyboards. We both have DL4s. I have an HD500x now which is very fun. Oh I also recorded a bunch of albums on ADAT back in the day (just had to throw that in). Yes I like playing my Tele straight into my Twin with a lot of reverb but I like other sounds too. I’m so glad I found your series on here, it’s been really fun to watch and very educational. Thanks!
Thank you so much J & Co for doing what you do. The gear-positivity you guys spread is real talk. The guitar world has so much silly dogma. Thanks for breaking so much of that down. :-) And I personally hated all the jams. So much, especially the Slowdive one. I also had the Behringer-copy of the Pod back in the day, the V-Amp - and I rather much hated that too, because it was digital. All those tones suddenly available to a no-money teenager from nowhere. Who'd ever want that. It'd've been much better to buy a tube amp for the money I didn't have that I couldn't have played due to not having had the space for it to play it at any kind of real volume.
This product was/is incredible when it was released. This wasnt just sound effects, but amp modeling available on a consumer level that wasnt really widely seen before, if at all. I think one of the biggest reasons it got and still gets side-eyed is the bean shaped form factor
POD led the way into recording "in the box." Thanks to this fine retrospective, I now can admit to having one. Moreover, I confess to having a bass POD, which is black instead of red and also a leading edge technology. Perhaps even earlier, the Scholz Rockman inspired in-the-box "shapes of things to come." Each of these units offered in glorious (but reviled on this channel) STEREO. I have the HX Stomp which has its strengths, but the rotary dial of the original POD brings instant gratification not to mention ease of workflow.
I think it's the scrolling through menus on a crappy, tiny LCD display people hate, not the quality of the tone, but people are too proud to admit their techno-klutziness and so rag on the "sound". I have a beat up old line 6 POD I use as a DI into my laptop the odd occasion I actually want to record something and not just noodle aimlessly for relaxation. I've use the amp and cab simulation plenty but not really tried using it to sculpt a sound using the other effects available. You have inspired me to experiment, for which I am grateful. Keep up the Sterling work Mr. Scott!
I recorded an entire album with one! Complexity of the sounds paired with the simplicity of the interface into the DAW made it a absolute godsend for it.
I got a BASS POD and I love it! I also have a Flex-tone III which has most of the POD in in. With the handy floor board you can store like 40 pre-sets.
I’ve been using the Flextone 3!since 2003 (still using it) and get compliments all the time. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it… BTW I sold thousands of PODs when I worked music retail from 1997-2007.
I still have my pod xt- and really it sounds great. I've made 3 professional chart topping records with it, tour for years and made some music for tv and advertising and no one ever told me "it sounds digital, man!!"- never ever. But I'm aware that in order to squeeze its juice you need to be a tone tweak geek, and also helps to have a decent amount of sonic education in your ears. I guess the reason people ditch it was because they expect that out of the box, like kind of magic, the presets worked wonders with their particular guitar (even if it was a little shitty)- and with their particular audio setup- or maybe even playing poorly. My insight about using it was: everytime you want a dirt sound go with the amp eq and drive before the stomp box, but keep the drive kinda low to avoid get muddy and play with the amp volume first- this helped to keep presence and note definition, play with the mics and the unit's eq. If you are aware of the tone character of your guitar you would take out of it great tones that show it pretty decently. The sad thing now is that using it like an audio interface to record direct to the computer has a lot of driver/firmware issues with the new operating systems, in my most recent experience. That was my report Josh. Love da vid!!
Just come across this. Good review. I've have the Bass Floor Pod XT for quite a few years. I've had issues with main board reliability, others have had the same issue but getting it repaired and will see how it goes. There are so many options that you do need to spend time with them to dial them in and dial in your tone. I find the bass synths a bit naff and don't track all that well so haven't done a lot with them but feel like I want to go again with it. Love your channel and find it very informative and a lot of fun.
They sound good even as a clean pedal platform. I have the bandit 65 and it’s louder than I’ll ever need an amp. It doesn’t have the “cool” factor of jazz chorus but it’s amazing.
When I first started as a youngster I blamed my cheap gear as the reason I sucked, til I met a guy who made my cheap gear sound amazing . So I agree with you.
I have had my Pod since I bought it new. It’s been instrumental in me becoming a guitarist over the years. I could play anywhere I lived, and it’s taught me what kind of amps and effects I’d eventually use live. In fact it’s late... wife is sleeping I’m goin to play it right now.
I have my original POD from when the first came out. I haven't even ever gotten around to updating the chip. At times, it was my only effects, then sometimes I added my RAT box. The POD, plus the additional footboard foot switch with the wah/volume pedal is an amazingly versatile system. I usually had it down to about 6 or 7 really good sounds. The best all around sound is the Classic British (Marshall) sound, running somewhat gritty. It's mindblowingly accurate, and really sings. I now have a board with a bunch of expensive pedals, but I still can't get great sounds as easily and consistently as I can with my POD.
Great video. I have the original POD, which sports a 2.0 chip given to me by a Boulder Colorado music store owner when he found out I liked the POD. Then came the PODxt, floorboards/pedal boards, then the XT Live… I still record with them and use them live through PAs. I still have all of them, and I never moved up to Helix because I don’t want to get rid of any of these kid rocks. I also like the Line 6 DM4. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and wisdom. I have a plethora of pedals which continue to grow in number and the POD works well with fuzz/distortion on the front end - even with a compressor. I also still like my Line 6 DuoVerb amp for recording and occasional live use. Now, I do not feel the need to hide my Line 6 PODs anymore 😂. Thank you for the courage to continue 😊😊😊. Cheers/Slainte and God bless. 🎸👨🏼⚕️🫶✌️♾️.
the more and more I watch these guitar videos the more and more I hold true to the thoughts I had waaaay back in the 90s: If whatever you are using to make your sound inspires you to make music that causes yourself and other people to tap their feet, WTF does it matter how you got that sound? I bought the first POD (the one without the cabinet selection) and I thought it was a godsend since I couldn't afford all of the gear it simulated. It all sounded good to me because I spent less time focusing on tweaking tone and more time having fun making noise with my friends. Josh, I love your channel because you seem to promote anything that enables or inspires someone to play. Kudos!
I got the POD HD right when it came out. I was in high school at the time, and it was monumental for my development as a writer. Having a compact interface with any effect I wanted that connected directly to my computer allowed me to explore new sounds and properly record ideas. I made the switch to BIAS for home recording years ago, but I still use the POD in my effects loop. I never understood the POD hate, other than the typical gatekeeper type bullshit.
Andy Partridge of XTC owned one of those around the Apple Venus/Wasp Star albums. He might still have it in the Shed. It’s all over Wasp Star especially.
Josh-I've been waiting for years for you to do this episode. I had the pod, podxt live and now a helix. Always fun to play with these. Glad to hear you mess with the bean.
Pro tip for anyone wanting to get some good hi gain sounds out of the older pod models, use modern impulse responses. It’s shocking how good the amp modeling actually was, just somewhat held back by the speaker sims of the time. Bonus fun fact - all of the guitar tones in the first 4 Silent Hill games were the OG POD.
I had the Behringer version ( V amp) for years and ran it into a Fender Frontman 25R...I gigged at small bars all over Lower Michigan with that rig :) :)
I had a POD and thought it would go well with a clean amp so I ran it though a neutral Tech 21 Power Engine 60. Spent all my time tweaking the thing and when I got a sound I like saved I would come back to it later and it would sound horrible to me. I could get an endless variety of mediocre sounds. I got rid of that and got a Marshall. Now I can only do Marshall. I could never get the POD to do Marshall and think it sucks other than direct recording. Maybe I needed to spend more time to learn how to dial it in. Sucked as a headphone amp too but maybe they were cheap headphones. Glad you all liked your PODs
I'd love to see Josh & Co review the J Station or Zoom multi effects units. I'd say that I'd be willing pay money for it but then Nick would call my bluff because I'm too cheap to be a Patreon supporter.
@@tedsmart5539 I recently dug my Fire-15 out to dial it in again. I think it only has one combination of eq settings per amp model I like. I am happy enough with it doing the sounds it is best at but it doesn't have the range of more modern modelling devices or plugging in a contemporary desktop modelling device.
I had one of these when they came out. I loved it. I was recording my own demo songs and this was great. I stopped using it only because I went to other Line 6 products, mainly the X3 Live and then the HD500, because I ended up in a cover band and found that they were great for getting so many tones and going straight into the PA.
I used the kidney v2.0 for many years! Every time sound guys saw me put that up on the stage, I knew their eyes rolled. But it worked so well for live playing in small Chicago clubs in the early aughts. I could get a moderate stage volume so that the microphone and amp could be blended in the mix. It served me well! Glad to hear your take on this fantastic product. That plus my Peavey Classic 50/50 power amp and a pair of BagEnd Red Rock 12” in a dual 12 cabinet. It did the job night after night and saw a lot of abuse.
I still have the original Pod (2 eprom upgraded) and the later model Pod HD (fully loaded). Have used them on literally hundreds of commercial advertising tracks and the like over the years, and eventually made enough money to build a pro studio and buy the family home. So yeah, I tend to agree with you. Those things really do suck.
I actually had a band come in for a corporate event I was running FOH for and the guitarist said for some reason or another he couldn't get his normal fly rig so he grabbed his old Pod 2.0 and I was freaking SHOCKED how good it sounded. He was griping and grumbling the whole time and I didn't have to do a damn thing to it. It wasn't harsh or rumbly at all. It definitely shut me up with a quickness.
I currently have a pod 2.0 and it has served me well for presentations at church. It is a good machine, I have to confess that if you add external pedals it sounds even better. It would be great if a version of it came out with other options, but retaining the bean shape.
You actually got me there Josh! I didn't fall for the "Solid state is crap" video, but I was pleasantly surprised! I have the POD HD Desktop bean, I use it all the time! It;s so much easier to just jam on than plugging in my board and having to deal with that at 2am when I just want to play! And it sounds great! If I use an IR loader with it, it is extremely useable. It's not about the gear, its about the player!
I used my pod 2 as a preamp on a pedal board through a crown power amp for a number of years, and I was able to get really solid metal tones. It was solid as stone and I was never concerned with people messing with my gear because it looked like junk lol!
Full respect for the POD. I was more a digiTech guy and this owned the POD’s nemesis, the digiTech Genesis3 (which was based on the Johnson J-Station). I still have my Genesis3, and “I have the BOX”, and manual too. 😀
Josh: you don’t need my pedals, you don’t need analog, you don’t need vintage, you just need to play whatever it is that makes you play more. What a guy.
Thank you so much for doing this video!! Actually, I didn’t throw my POD away, just packed it away with a bunch of gear I no longer use. This video has encouraged me to pull it back out and give it a fair, current assessment. It always helps when someone who knows what they’re doing shows you how to properly use your gear. 😊
Update please. I did the same with my old Digitech rp200 and my mind is blown. Amazing what reading the manual and taking more time than just getting a chugging metal tone can open up. The amp modelers are actually pretty good.
@@RyanDoesAll Sure enough, I dug it up, started reading the manual and discovered the “manual” setting that I never knew was there. The more I abandoned the presets, the more I liked it. Current experiment is to put a stomp distortion and wah in front of it, which doesn’t make sense except it gives me a way to kick in overdrive and have a wah PEDAL on the floor. Doesn’t sound as bad as I remembered, but still working out the kinks. All in all, I’m kinda loving the size/convenience and overall sound. Worst case scenario, I may add this to my pedal board for effects I’d like to use on occasion but don’t care to haul around. Awesome rediscovery of something I already own.
My mom's boyfriend had one and i played it when i was probably 9 years old back in 2000 and it was honestly the first time I heard myself have awesome tone on the guitar. I remember it sounding like an arena through headphones and I loved that thing. I always wondered if it sounded like ass and I just didn't know it, but I think this video proves it was actually pretty descent. Great video!
In 2004 I tried a pod and plugged the huge line 6 floorboard into it. I had been playing a vintage gibson for ten years and had been using boutique tube amps for the past 5 years. At the time, I was going for Joe Bonamassa tones, and was able to dial in Silver Jubilee and Budda tones that he was using at the time after some knob turning on the pod. The manual helped tons. Through headphones it was epic. I was pretty impressed. It seems like the flextone amps are just this in an amp, and they sound great too. Never owned either of them but fun to try when bandmates had them.
You know, I catch myself stuck in that “oh analog is ALWAYS better mindset…” and then I realize more than half my set up is digital. Thanks for making me realize how much of a hypocrite I am, Josh! And thank you @Marcus Ryle for being part of a team creating cool stuff that makes us guitar players broke all the time chasing tones! 💞
And that's the clincher. If you're in a studio then they got the nice expensive gear you want on a record. In your room sure i guess you can splurge if you're Mr. Moneybags. Live?!!?! NOT A SINGLE PERSON CAN HEAR THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THIS AND YOUR OH SO SPECIAL DUMBLE/MARSHALL/FENDER/KLON overpriced etc. NOT EVEN YOU
I was just going to mention this too. I can't remember which Weezer tour it was (maybe Green or Maladroit), but yeah all of the bass and guitars came thru Line6 Pods and it sounded great.
They did it in Europe first cause it would have been too expensive to ship all those tube amps around the world. In my eyes it made them sound kind of sterile and lifeless. Maybe they improved their presets later on... Soulwax on the other hand used Line 6 gear in a way to create a unique sound that was really cool.
Facetious, from the Latin word 'facetia'. Well stated young Skywalker. This 'POD' is often mentioned as the first modeling amp simulator gizmo contraption. It was not. The first modeling amp was the Line 6 Axys which evolved into the AX2. I own 4 of them. I've played countless gigs with them. I've used them in professional recording studios. They sound great. I just downloaded the Neural DSP plugin 'Tone Master Imperial'. This plugin is fantastic. I can get my 24 year old AX2 to produce almost identical sounds. I didn't like the POD but when the Gibson factory rep came to our local GC he chose to demonstrate all his new expensive Gibson guitars through (you guessed it) a Line 6 POD. The room was blown away from the sounds he was getting. It was good enough for him, who could use any amp he wanted. He had a giant tour bus with the Gibson logo wrapped all over it, plenty of room for amps. You get the point.
When I was a younger, more naïve man I was amazed by and wanted all things modeling. I never made fun of the kidney bean. I wanted the Pod so bad but the closest I got was I borrowed the Behringer equivalent from my boss at the time. I loved it all the same. I made some very amateur recordings but it had some stuff I didn't have like chorus and delay. It was fun and I remember it fondly.
Yes, one of my favorite albums ever. And also another one of my favorite albums ever, Dungen’s Ta Det Lugnt, was also (partly) recorded on the Line 6 POD. Really shocked when I heard this, for some reason this machine loves to produce neo-psychedelic and noise-rock masterpieces.
Also considering that both those albums, especially Ta Det Lugnt, are famous for sounding very ”vintage”. Some people thought Ta Det Lugnt was some rediscovered underground record from the late 1960s when it released, and it really does sound super authentic. The Runners Four also sounds ”vintage” but more of a mix between 60s psych and 90s noise. Still incredible.
I bought a POD version 2.0 back when it first came out. LOVE IT! I have used it recording about 14 albums. It's so versatile! You're very funny! Well done! hahahahaha!
Billy howerdel recorded A perfect circle’s guitars on their masterpiece "mer de noms" with 1998’s line6 amp farm plugin. Some of the best guitar tones I’ve ever heard. I had a pod xt for a long time and was my first amp. I’ve had a £3,500 bad at hotcat30r. And now I use a kemper since 2013.
Trent Reznor said Amp Farm was amazing! Shame I always wanted to try it. Whats funny is I also have the POD xt, only works 50/50 but those things were amazing at the time. It was annoying adding the different packs though, 1st thing I did was I bought the metal pack. Bulb from Periphery recorded his early EARLY albums with the POD. His tone was amazing, obviously the guy can produce too. ME? I struggled to get good recording tones.
As a Line-6 fan, I have to say I'm impressed with the ol' bean, but it wasn't always that way. I used to run an open mic and a friend and regular at the event would bring a POD set up with extreme levels of gain (insane level?) And then plug it into my 2x12 guitar amp. The tone was double scooped and so shrill, it made a Metal Zone sound "sweet" and "creamy" by comparison. Fast forward a bit, and I ended up getting hooked on the Line-6 tone core pedals for my stereo rig (verbzilla and Echo Park were my go to) I liked those so much I ended up getting a Line-6 M13. For a while my live rig was a pair of M13 running a stereo pair of amps. After I learned that even the distortion tones were very usable (especially if you combine a few patches and respect the gain knob), I bought a Spyder Valve 100 MK2 head @ a pawn shop for $250. It is not my favorite recording amp, but it is amazing when you want to move some air--doom metal, or finger tap song solos both shine over a loud drummer. I didn't stop there as recently found a UX2 for $20 at Goodwill managed to get it working and gave it to a friend. Recently splurged on a Variax (2002) and a pod X3 Live for my current "live loop" setup. Don't get me wrong, I prefer a real banjo, a nice custom guitar, some EHX and Morley pedals, maybe some fancy "ultramafic" LAVA cable --- but the results from just a Variax and a Pod X3 live are more than adequate right out the PA, and keeps me from having to pack an amp, or using a Frontmam 25r or other house equipment. The best part is when people like the tone they get confused it's a Line-6, and especially confused it's from the "POD" lineup. Jeez, I typed a lot. My bad.
I inherited one of these and a Variax from my grandfather during a chaotic time in my life. After years of lugging these things back and forth across the country, I finally had time to unpack them. I started with the Variax and got so frustrated that I wrote all my Line 6 stuff off as “convoluted y2k gear.” (A guitar needs a firmware update via a cat5->usb cable!?!?)Your video’s got me pumped to see what I can do with the Pod.
Used one of these with a 'longboard' on the floor switching 4 patches, in line tuner, wah/vol straight into an old ultra linear Twin for years. Had to run a handful of pedals too for specific sounds, but it was so EASY to get a decent sound in pubs and big party halls .. clean Twin, crunchy Vox, driven Marshall - maybe if you listened super critically you'd pick up some difference but in the moment and for 99% of people it was great. The consistency was something I'd searched for. Stopped using it when I stopped playing live for a while .. recently got back in via a Pod Go and FRFR setup, which is easier on the back, probably sounds a little better and is more versatile but much the same reasoning behind it.
@@arthurvandelay7677 absolutely - it’s a tool for a job, clean headroom as far as you like. I found it reproduced the pod really well, with just a hint of warmth added. When I get the transformer rewound I’ll be trying the Go into the front .. it’s great on FRFR but not really doing it using my Boogie - just use it for fx there.
The ultralinear Twin sounds awesome clean at any volume you would like and makes an incredible pedal platform. I think that’s where digital really shines, it doesn’t quite do it for me direct to PA but pushing a clean tube amp it’s just sublime.
I recently switched over to its latest revision, the POD GO. I was running pedals and an HX stomp and found that the POD GO did everything I needed. Its simple like the original pod, all the classic line 6 sounds as well as the new effects and modeling of the helix at a fraction of the price. I still love my analog pedals and amps but for convenience it can't be beat!
Couldn't agree more! I have my old analog board at training place and pod go at home. Got 15 minutes left on a lunch break, well flip it on and put headphones and you just got some exercice. Also it so much fun to google some big guitar heros's setup and then replicate it on the pod. Not the exact same of course but didn't cost a dime more and you can switch from metallica to U2 with one click.
Yep. Had the and still own bean, now have the PodGo. The stock presets can be improved, but when you get the sounds you like, it is amazing for the home studio. I bought some of the Jason Saddites and Jonathan Cordy presets, and they have improved the tone significantly for almost no money. Like you, love my pedals, but this can’t be simpler. EDIT: Forgot, still have a Flextone II and used it for years playing out and opening for folks like Northern Pikes, Great Big Sea, Eddie Money and Rick Emmitt. Nobody laughed at my set up, and it gave me infinite tone possibilities in a small package.
I was using a Helix fot the last 2 years. Last year i got a POD Go in a trade and grabbed it one night for a quick jam. It's a stellar little piece of gear that would get any guitarist off to a great start. Simple and sounds killer! You can't go wrong with anything Line 6 these days. Helix modeling is a real contender. I'm using an FM3 now but still have my Helix.
I saw a guy who was doing a test night for a Gary Moore tribute act. After the gig I asked him how he got the epic tone. It was a Les Paul into a Pod into a big old Peavey. It sounded incredible. I was sure he had vintage Super Lead hidden somewhere. But no. Just the Pod doing all the work. He ended up not going ahead with touring the act because he was busy but it stuck with me that in the wild, telling digital from analogue is impossible and pointless.
1998. Showed up at practice with my new 5150 combo. Friend said try his new Flextone Duo. Went to Guitar Center the next day and bought one. I still have it and play it all the time. 5150 long, long gone. Thanks Marcus.
I’ve owned a bean for many years and still continue to use it. I’ve played many arenas with other guitar players using amps and I loved when they would always ask me what was I using for an amp and I would point to the bean and they were very surprised by the sound I was getting. Thanks for doing this video. The Bean still Rocks👍
I was a POD user. My first guitar instructor owned the Red Kidney-Bean POD. When I started, I had a VOX Valvetronix VT15, and when I began craving single pedals and effects, my instructor advised me to go to the local store and try out the Floor POD Plus, which was this exact model in pedalboard format. I managed to get some good sounds out of it, even if bypassing the preamp section on the POD was impossible, so I always had the POD's Preamp stacked on top of the VOX's. I have to be honest and say that, recently, I had the hitch to hook it up and use it for recording... But I have a DV Mark Multiamp hooked to my audio interface (its simulations are far superior to what the POD can accomplish), and, as of lately, I very much prefer record guitar DIs and then use Amplitube 5/Tone-X/TH-U
I honestly never knew it was crapped on. When they came out, so many guitar players were loving it to gig with because they were able to go direct and not need to mic an amp or spend a lot of time trying to set up to play. I thought they were pretty much universally loved.
@@CheeseyMilkshakes Right? I was playing lots of bars and small venues and most of the other bands I would see along nearly all had 1 guitar player with one of them. It was one of the rare pieces of gear that guitarists actually could agree on.
I loved my pod. They are a the missing link between the pure analog old school way and the modern plug in digital D.I. systems. I own a XT floorboard, and its even better, less canned/compressed. That said, I also own a rectifier, an orange or-15. As great a tool as the pod is, its just not as alive as a tube amp through a good cab, miked properly.
I loved mine! Unfortunately one of the knobs got funky/sorta crushed but still worked. When I opened it up and tried to fix it, it never worked again. So easy to work with. Small and versatile. Used it a lot playing around with a cheap keyboard. I'm always looking to score a decent priced replacement.
Love using my POD XT Pro, it's the first multi-effects/modeller that I've bought and I feel it has been influential in what amps I would actually buy in the future.
Ah yes! I love that thing, I still use it daily . Just needs a cleaning of the pods after about 20 or so years. So reliable and great sounding for what I like
Thanks for the very entertaining video, Josh, and for the very kind words! Of course, there have been many talented people at Line 6 that made POD (and everything else) possible, so I really only deserve a small part of the credit (or blame!).
I cannot love this enough.
Are you still with the company? Sorry if I missed that if it was in the video.
@@TheRealcdawg22 I retired from Line 6 in April of 2019, leaving it in the very capable hands of some very talented people who continue to make all us Line 6'ers proud.
@@TheRealcdawg22 nice avatar
The GOAT!!!
Let's not forget how important it was that it had a headphone output. Made me play guitar more since I wasn't bothering my parents with an amp!
Lol! I read this as a *phone output. I'm thinking... "so you plug a phone into it and listen to yourself through a phone? Huh? Nah. That's not right, is it?" 🤔🤷🤣
AMEN Jeremiah!!!
I've kept mine around because of that trusty headphone output. In my case, substitute 'wife' for 'parents'.
I used to use the headphone jack to connect to a pair of powered desktop computer speakers. It was a way to play at apt volumes when not using headphones. But yeah, at the time these came out, they were a great headphone amp.
I used to do the same thing with my Zoom G2
I was a young, loud musician when the POD came out. Before the POD, I could render any tone that my single-channel 60x Crate amp, with attached Tube Screamer and Morley Wah could muster. In reality, my on-stage tone options were way too much distortion, or really shrill clean.
I got my hands on a POD, and with the turn of a dial, a world of tones were open to me. My bandmates and I spent about four practice sessions just dialing in tones, and realizing what songs we could now cover with this secret weapon. It was my workhorse tone machine in shitty little bars and college parties for a few years. It, plus a Yamaha 4-track was my entire studio for close to a decade.
People like to shit on the POD, and compare it to vintage tube amps, and hand wired effects. We weren't using any of that. Nobody that I knew could afford a Fender Deluxe. Hell, my reverb unit came from Radio Shack.
The POD put near-limitless options on the plates of musicians who had been limited to what they could carry, and what they could afford. Also, it sounds fucking good. Does it sound better than my Helix? Not usually. Did it sound better than 90% of the rigs out there in the late 90's? IMO, absolutely.
Why did I get rid of my POD? I didn't. It's in my basement on a shelf. It doesn't get out much, these days, but when I go to jam with my buddies, I'm not taking my Helix along.
Here's a hot take. When I first got married, my only amp was a Line 6 Spider. I liked it. It sounded fucking nice, and I could still make my house payment.
I play a Line 6 Spider every single day. Sounds amazing. I get compliments on my "tones" live and on videos. Like "That guitar sounds great", LOL!
When I was gig’ing throughout high school and college, I ran a POD Pro along with a Mesa V-Twin rack unit through a Mesa 50/50 power amp, and it was the best sounding setup I ever had. I wish I’d never sold that gear. Those rack v-twins are impossible to find now.
Man I gigged my spider half stack so much. It was such a part of my broke (couldnt afford tube) youth, and I look back on it fondly.
I love this story
Yeah but now you have a house a second mortgage can be had and now you can buy a real amp :)
My brother, who has been hearing impaired since birth, nevertheless plays the guitar. He has been using the POD for two decades. It has allowed him to play through his computer and then into his hearing aids, which has been a great tool for him. There may be better products now, but he has this thing mastered, and if it works...
That's badass
That's great!
awesome👍
That's super cool. You mean he uses what he has and what works????
You can buy them pretty cheap. Get him a spare.
I've demonized a lot of gear because my impression of it was how it sounded into the clean channel of a 15 watt, 8" speaker practice combo amp. My less than a year of playing and cheap strat copy didn't help either. I think a lot of us formed opinions on things in that stage of our playing and haven't really questioned them since.
I got stuck thinking all line 6 products sucked because my first amp was a 15 watt spider 3.
Also the presets aren’t always that good. You gotta tweak them.
I hated line 6 when I was younger, but I later realized that I just didn't Iike the kid I knew that had one. Played some of the stuff since and it's fun. Enjoy the pedals more than the amps but dont have a ton of experience with the amps.
I feel the same way.
I understand where you're coming from, and I definitely think the Line6 pod has its place, but at the same time, if you actually have that killer amp and guitar, there really is no need for the pod. It gave and gives us access to a wide variety of sound faksimiles, at a significantly lower price than even one of them. As such, it has been a great tool in many a budding guitarist's formative years, and still has its uses on the fly.
Never had a POD. But in the 90s and 2000s, when they tabbed songs, they would give you the amp and effect settings to put into a POD to get that artist’s sound. I wanted one. I still think I want one.
"He has the bag...!" Brilliant!
And what's that thing behind the keyboard that looks like a headboard made out of pallet wood?
"That's not my bag, baby!" ~ Austin Powers
The cowboy hat made me lol
I had the bag for POD and Floorboard the big 🤘
I had to restart the video at that point, because I was laughing too much and ignoring it all. 🤣🤣🤣
I don’t know if it can be overstated how this tech positively affected kids who were getting into recording music in their bedrooms. The early 2000s were an exciting time for recording tech for poor 20 year old college kids.
Still remember the time we somehow burned our shitty recording onto an actual blank CD. Felt like we were rock stars.
It was an awesome time to be doing early social media doing reviews and such - the pace of change was awesome and the results we could get for the first time without lugging big amps and cabs around was so so cool to young me :)
well, that makes sense why people hated it. Not because the tech, but because many beginners used it as the gateway to recording. Nobody shouldn't expect beginners to begin with great tracks.
@@Marta1Buck dont agree...at all. Beginners mostly make bad recordings ,u say? No...quite the opposite. Most musicians lose their inner fire after a while. And still they keep recording...sometimes only for making money.Rock n roll is a young mans game.Or old dudes with a young spirit..
@@igordewit7357most great albums are 2nd-4th albums made well in the artist's 20s, not beginner. Also the 80/20 rule applies to everything, most music is garbage, especially those just starting out. If you heard the earliest demos of your favorite bands you'd know this.
So you're really missing the point. Many of us were those 20 year olds making unpolished beginner recordings. We don't take it personally
I was gigging totally ampless in the early 2000s with this unit. Convinced my bass player to get the bass version too. Always had great sound and not a lot to have to carry.
Addendum: Like a lot of gear, I don't know why I sold it. I also had the Flextone II 2x12 amp. Shouldn't have sold that either.
Same here, but with the Vox Tonelab SE.
Did you plug straight into the PA?
Yes. Completely ampless on stage. Just monitored via wedges.
@@goodheartmedia awesome dude! Really thinking of picking one up out of curiosity
I love how Josh will take a piece of gear that is generally universally shit on and make useable tones out of it. You can buy really expensive JHS pedals but he constant preaches “use whatever you have laying around the house.” Absolutely brilliant.
Just goes to show that despite there being respected level of gear production,a good player will always sound good and a bad player can’t be saved by gear. RockOn Josh!
I watch the videos, because his no BS reviews and comments - even when it won't help him commercially, give him HUGE credibility. I wouldn't think twice about buying a JHS pedal based on this guy's honesty, knowledge, and taste.
No need for expensive pedals like JHS. Thanks Josh!
Maybe 95% of the sound excellence is the BilT and Milkman? Effects might be a lie?
It doesn't sound bad but always felt like something was missing
I bought one when they first came out . I had a garbage amp and this was my “ Rock star level achieved” I would just throw on some good headphones and instantly became awesome. It allowed me to play late at night without disturbing others . It was great and not to mention one of the monthly guitar publications used to give you famous artist settings to go along with the tablature, really educational. I finally got rid of it about 5 years ago just because I was not using it anymore. I think I traded in and the amount went towards a Catalinbread Echorec
Me too man! I was 12, worked cutting lawns all summer, bought one of these and a bc rich warlock, plugged in my headphones and started my guitar journey.
The headphones made it a usefully tool..
I thought using the headphones was cool until I developed tinnitus from it about 8 years ago.
I never owned one, but when a friend bought one, he eventually gave me his old rack mount Art SGX2000. I can’t get that to sound right through my amp, but through headphones, it’s glorious and it’s in stereo. Point is, there’s nothing wrong with a quality headphone setup that encourages you to play.
That's because amp modeling pedals are meant to be used with full-range speakers and typical guitar amps aren't full-range.
The Line 6 POD is what helped give the Punk-o-Matic series (1 and 2), a flash game, prominently on Newgrounds, its iconic riff tones/sounds enjoyed by so many people over the past 13+ years! The twangy bass tone is especially my favorite.
I loved that game! That was the game that garnered my interest in composition and playing music more seriously.
That game and Rock Band helped me realize, maybe I can make music too!
Dang, nostalgia just washed over me at the mention of the Punk-o-Matic
CHUCK'S NATION
Back when this came out, me and almost everyone I knew were broke. Almost everyone used a multieffects (pods or the BOSS digital boards) and a solid state amp because that's all we could afford. Analog pedals and tube amps were out of our reach, those were for pros and rich kids.
I guess a lot of people my age associate this with the time they couldn't afford anything better (read, more expensive) and don't want to go back to it? But we sure used to have fun with this stuff.
Personally, the only reason I don't use my old digital VOX board at all anymore is because it died on me. Strap one of those to the fx loop and you have all the modulation in the world for almost nothing.
Honestly^^^
Kraft dinners. Better if you don't have to.
I had one of those VOX multi-fx units when they came out (TV yellow/black top/white chicken-head knobs/3 presets per bank). I just needed a reverb that could run on batteries at the time, for busking. The VOX multi-fx was like $99 at the time, and that's a little less than a simple reverb/delay (BOSS RV-3 type thing, at the time) cost anyway. It turned out to have decent, stage-usable mod sounds, and great delays as well. You could run an exp pedal on the patch parameters, too. The drive tones were like 'living-room guitar' more or less. For then-$99, that was amazing. I ended up giving it to my brother when I moved away from busking country.
Loved the POD for recording and as an emergency backup in the event my gigging amp went down. Considering when it first came out... the tech was pretty dang impressive in that era.
I found mine in storage a while back. I still really like the Soldano model for dirt and I use the fender for cleans. Totally useable for practice. I still prefer my Kemper though..lol
I’ve got such fond memories of countless hours spent with one of these PODs hooked up to a Tascam 4 track and a Boss drum machine 🥰
I sold it all to pay rent (rock and roll cliche #124 😂) but wish I still had that crazy little kidney bean.
I still have a working 4 track..Fostex, and my POD.. not that I ever really use them.
I love how Josh is like, "Here's the first retail Klon ever. Sounds pretty good but like, whatever. Anyways back to the POD..."
I had to order this directly from the USA (I'm in Australia), as it was super costly here. The USA store was really suspicious, they made me wire the money rather than accepting my credit card. After paying bank fees for the wire transfer, currency conversion fees, import duties to the Australian government, and buying an Australian power supply for it (which was AC power unlike all other pedals), it was still much cheaper than Australian music stores were charging!
I gigged for years with it; loved my POD 2.0. Finally gave it to my cousin for his music studio before moving across Australia. He probably still had has it.
My brother was on holidays in Las Vegas and brought one back for me. Went to Dick Smith and bought a 240v-110v converter for it. Still got it but never use it anymore. I better get it out again.
Hey hey Patto, one of my heroes, holy cow wow!
@@JayGuitars1 ha, nah, I'm not THAT Simon Patterson! He has a few years on me.
Never had one, but when interviewed by Guitarist in 1999 to promote the XTC album Apple Venus, Andy Partridge said that for him the Line6 Pod was a game changer in the studio. That’s good enough for me.
I bet the sex was great
I think most people think in terms of Dave Gregory being the only ‘lead’ guitarist in XTC, but Andy can flat out tear it up.
Is it just me, or does it seem like Josh actually secretly DOESN'T think the Line 6 POD sucks?
When i seen the title of the video i thought: "hmmm, Josh got good ears and knowledge, how it can be he write the POD sound shit?" ^^ So i checked the Video and very fast i get the ironic ;).
Geez...another "Conspiracy Theorist".
Josh clearly said that it was dirt in a bean shaped box, so that means that since I loved his jams with it I must therefore be in need of having my RockCard suspended until I can get my ears on straight. 🤣
🤫
It's hard to tell.
The Pod was The Shit back in the day, and still sounds great. People talked trash about them, but as a producer I consistently got great tones in studio without an amp or cab. Producers and bands layered them everywhere because they were just that good, and when coupled with an amp IR ITB, almost unbeatable.
I love when you debunk all the crappy myths and opinions that guitar players love to spread arround, keep on dude!
"tone wood" on electrics
I love this guy. Can’t turn away from his sarcasm and wit.
My friend worked in a music store. He said, “You have to try this!” I resisted for a month or two, then one day I had 15 minutes to spare and tried it. I left the store scheming about what I could sell to get that stupid looking red bean! That was when I went to a full digital rig going direct to the PA/computer, and I have never gone back. (I had the full rack system with tube pre-amps, effects units and tube power amps with dual cabinets to go stereo. Pretty large rig. A lot of work!). I have gone from the POD bean to the Vetta to the POD XT Live to Fractal Audio Axe-Fx, Axe-Fx II and now Axe-Fx III. One of the best tones I ever had was my clean sound with the original POD with the clean Dumble setting. (Never could get that exact sound again after I sold that unit to
“upgrade” to the Vetta.)
I was a regionally touring musician from 2000 to 2011. When the POD became a pretty popular thing in these parts (south Georgia), it was initially laughed at until a relatively popular guitarist in our area switched from his JCM900 to the POD for live gigs. His signal chain was guitar > cable > POD > DI Box > FOH and his live tone was fantastic. Even his monitors were awesome.
Let's just say that the ENTIRE scene changed within weeks and large gear began staying at home while the POD and POD Pro became staples on the local and college circuit. As for me, I sold a first generation 5150 head to purchase the POD Pro which eventually got sold around 2012. ( Don't ask, I regretted that later and I wished I had kept it.)
I used a POD Pro live from 2002 to 2005, then switched it out for Behringer's version from 2005 to 2009 to keep the more expensive POD Pro from being stolen or utter destroyed by a bunch of college idiots who were notorious for being careless. I wished I wouldn't have sold it.
Back then there was NOTHING better for convenience, sound quality, and ease of use for the weekend warrior. NOTHING.
Enjoy your channel.
J
Think of how grateful his back must be.
I still have mine. Got it 18 years ago. Used it on countless recordings and some live concerts. Nothing wrong with it, always sounds great. Whoever doesn't like it probably also hates candy, cats and dogs, and has never been in love.
Completely wrong. LOL…this piece of gear sucks.
@@dongverminenope it's you
Love to see a look at old Zoom products like their multi-effect pedals and amps.
The 505II makes a short appearance in a digital can't sound good video
I got a zoom g1 four and its actually pretty good, until you try to do high gain that is.
Only if he talks with the designer over zoom lol
I picked up a g2.1u for $25 CAD. It sounds amazing
Zoom 9000
Used that live with a Fender Twin Reverb on 10.
My band hated me for ever! XD
I remember going to my favorite music store Broadway Music in Merrillville In. seeing the pod for the first time I went back several times to mess around with it and when i finally got enough money eventually buying it. I also got the line6 floorboard to control it. That setup took me through every playing scenario from church to studio to stage to taping for local chicago and northwest indiana tv. I was sad when hard times hit and I sold it but I think I got everything I could think of and need out of that thing. Thanks for this video. Brought back a few memories.
Used a POD for guitar lessons and it was great for covering tons of tones without a pedalboard in the tiny lessons studio.....long live the POD!!!
It’s still on my shelf and I’m gonna go dust it off and plug it in.
When it comes to the “shitty” gear, a wise man once said-
“Some gear is tweak sensitive. If you can’t get a good tone out of something with basic adjustments, chances are the gear doesn’t suck, but YOU suck.”
I’ve always had good luck with Line6 gear. In fact, I still have my first-gen Spider 50W combo.
I won't shit on gear. But this is me. And honestly this is why I often end up going back to just a Marshall JCM2000, Cry Baby and a Les Paul. It just sings.
well, I wouldn't go so far. only because you can't get anything good out of a pedal doesn't mean YOU suck but maybe just that the Pedal doesn't work in a way that makes you feel compfy. I for an example stoped using Boss Pedals because I just couldn't get a decent sound out of them. I never had this problem with Electro Harmonix, now does that mean I or Boss suck? Of couse not. Boss Pedals are pretty legendary and I think I'm an okay Guitarist but Boss just doesn't turn me on I guess... Same goes for Telecasters. I never thought to my self:"Well this Telecaster sounds great" but that doesn't mean I or Telecasters suck. Heck! I'm a huge Status Quo Fan so I know damn well how awesome a Telecaster can sound and I sound pretty good on a Les Paul or a Strat but Teles are just not for me....
"f you can’t get a good tone out of something with basic adjustments, chances are the gear doesn’t suck, but YOU suck.”
I understand that people finally got fed up with all the snobs, overpaying for "iconic" gear and all, but what you said is simply not true.
If you have a specific sound in your head and your gear is of the wrong kind, you will always be frustrated. It *very well* may work for a different sound, in a different context. So what?
You want your sound, not something someone else might like for music you positively hate.
@@bakters You can get at least ONE usable sound of any piece of crap or expensive unit. Argue all you want but its true. Veteran gear addicts / players can make it work.
I still have mine. It once blew up after being plugged into a faulty 220 adaptor when I took it on a trip overseas. Got it fixed at the authorised Line 6 repair shop and it still works, even after over 20 years of having it. Great piece of gear!
Such an icon piece of gear. I have the 2.0 and the X3. I use them to record almost all of my guitars to this day and they sound fantastic. Like anything, putting the time in to learn the gear and dial it in is what makes all the difference in the world.
I bought mine in 2001 and still use it today. I've never found a need to get something different. I play Metal and Progressive Metal and to this day people ask me what I'm using to get such a brutal metal tone. I've been using the same settings that I programmed when I first got the Pod after reading through the manual. You have to hook it up through the effects loop of your amp to really make this thing shine. Alot of people miss that little detail. It doesn't sound nearly as good through the front of your amp.
I had a Pod, loved it. I gave it to my friend who now has 2 for his keyboards. We both have DL4s. I have an HD500x now which is very fun. Oh I also recorded a bunch of albums on ADAT back in the day (just had to throw that in). Yes I like playing my Tele straight into my Twin with a lot of reverb but I like other sounds too. I’m so glad I found your series on here, it’s been really fun to watch and very educational. Thanks!
This title is OFFENSIVE
You only like it because this is the first time you could play Stairway to Heaven in a guitar shop with headphones and not get caught, Tyler
This title SUCKS and HERE’S WHY
TEN COMMON MISTAKES PEDALBUILDERS MAKE IN THEIR TH-cam TITLES AND HOW TO AVOID THEM
Thank you so much J & Co for doing what you do. The gear-positivity you guys spread is real talk. The guitar world has so much silly dogma. Thanks for breaking so much of that down. :-)
And I personally hated all the jams. So much, especially the Slowdive one. I also had the Behringer-copy of the Pod back in the day, the V-Amp - and I rather much hated that too, because it was digital. All those tones suddenly available to a no-money teenager from nowhere. Who'd ever want that. It'd've been much better to buy a tube amp for the money I didn't have that I couldn't have played due to not having had the space for it to play it at any kind of real volume.
Bought a POD in 2002 and used it for years. It’s been in a box for too long. You’ve inspired me to bring back out. Thanks.
This product was/is incredible when it was released. This wasnt just sound effects, but amp modeling available on a consumer level that wasnt really widely seen before, if at all. I think one of the biggest reasons it got and still gets side-eyed is the bean shaped form factor
POD led the way into recording "in the box." Thanks to this fine retrospective, I now can admit to having one. Moreover, I confess to having a bass POD, which is black instead of red and also a leading edge technology. Perhaps even earlier, the Scholz Rockman inspired in-the-box "shapes of things to come." Each of these units offered in glorious (but reviled on this channel) STEREO. I have the HX Stomp which has its strengths, but the rotary dial of the original POD brings instant gratification not to mention ease of workflow.
I'd love to see a JHS episode on the Rockman line of headphone amps and effects! -Tom
I think it's the scrolling through menus on a crappy, tiny LCD display people hate, not the quality of the tone, but people are too proud to admit their techno-klutziness and so rag on the "sound". I have a beat up old line 6 POD I use as a DI into my laptop the odd occasion I actually want to record something and not just noodle aimlessly for relaxation. I've use the amp and cab simulation plenty but not really tried using it to sculpt a sound using the other effects available. You have inspired me to experiment, for which I am grateful. Keep up the Sterling work Mr. Scott!
I remember recording in 1999 almost entirely on the POD, made incredibly useable sounds really easy to achieve and blew our minds at the time
It was also great to have (1) a Line Out, and (2) a “Save” function. Also you could move all the knobs to 6 and have a good sound, lol.
I recorded an entire album with one! Complexity of the sounds paired with the simplicity of the interface into the DAW made it a absolute godsend for it.
Nice! Which one?
I got a BASS POD and I love it! I also have a Flex-tone III which has most of the POD in in. With the handy floor board you can store like 40 pre-sets.
I’ve been using the Flextone 3!since 2003 (still using it) and get compliments all the time. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it… BTW I sold thousands of PODs when I worked music retail from 1997-2007.
I still have my pod xt- and really it sounds great. I've made 3 professional chart topping records with it, tour for years and made some music for tv and advertising and no one ever told me "it sounds digital, man!!"- never ever. But I'm aware that in order to squeeze its juice you need to be a tone tweak geek, and also helps to have a decent amount of sonic education in your ears. I guess the reason people ditch it was because they expect that out of the box, like kind of magic, the presets worked wonders with their particular guitar (even if it was a little shitty)- and with their particular audio setup- or maybe even playing poorly. My insight about using it was: everytime you want a dirt sound go with the amp eq and drive before the stomp box, but keep the drive kinda low to avoid get muddy and play with the amp volume first- this helped to keep presence and note definition, play with the mics and the unit's eq. If you are aware of the tone character of your guitar you would take out of it great tones that show it pretty decently. The sad thing now is that using it like an audio interface to record direct to the computer has a lot of driver/firmware issues with the new operating systems, in my most recent experience. That was my report Josh. Love da vid!!
Just come across this. Good review. I've have the Bass Floor Pod XT for quite a few years. I've had issues with main board reliability, others have had the same issue but getting it repaired and will see how it goes. There are so many options that you do need to spend time with them to dial them in and dial in your tone. I find the bass synths a bit naff and don't track all that well so haven't done a lot with them but feel like I want to go again with it. Love your channel and find it very informative and a lot of fun.
Good guitar players can sound good through almost anything, Steve Vai through a Peavey Bandit. Bet it wouldn’t suck!
They sound good even as a clean pedal platform. I have the bandit 65 and it’s louder than I’ll ever need an amp. It doesn’t have the “cool” factor of jazz chorus but it’s amazing.
When I first started as a youngster I blamed my cheap gear as the reason I sucked, til I met a guy who made my cheap gear sound amazing . So I agree with you.
I amplify my Boss GT-100 into the effects return of a redstipe Bandit. Doing this bypasses any Peavey-ness.
Last time I saw Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, he was playing through a Bandit. Sounded pretty rockin
pv bandit sounds great,i can make it sound decent
I have had my Pod since I bought it new. It’s been instrumental in me becoming a guitarist over the years. I could play anywhere I lived, and it’s taught me what kind of amps and effects I’d eventually use live. In fact it’s late... wife is sleeping I’m goin to play it right now.
I have my original POD from when the first came out. I haven't even ever gotten around to updating the chip. At times, it was my only effects, then sometimes I added my RAT box. The POD, plus the additional footboard foot switch with the wah/volume pedal is an amazingly versatile system. I usually had it down to about 6 or 7 really good sounds.
The best all around sound is the Classic British (Marshall) sound, running somewhat gritty. It's mindblowingly accurate, and really sings. I now have a board with a bunch of expensive pedals, but I still can't get great sounds as easily and consistently as I can with my POD.
This was great! As a long maligned Line6 user, I salute your courage and honesty! 🎸🤘🏻🤓
Something about the POD screams early 2000s teenager room...
*Everything
But also mid 2000's home studio.
@@jamesroy9182 That's because those kids started making records. :- )
@@HammyHavoc or in my case, not-kids wanting to record but needing not to make enemies of neighbors, spouse, et cetera.
Great video. I have the original POD, which sports a 2.0 chip given to me by a Boulder Colorado music store owner when he found out I liked the POD. Then came the PODxt, floorboards/pedal boards, then the XT Live… I still record with them and use them live through PAs. I still have all of them, and I never moved up to Helix because I don’t want to get rid of any of these kid rocks. I also like the Line 6 DM4. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and wisdom. I have a plethora of pedals which continue to grow in number and the POD works well with fuzz/distortion on the front end - even with a compressor. I also still like my Line 6 DuoVerb amp for recording and occasional live use. Now, I do not feel the need to hide my Line 6 PODs anymore 😂. Thank you for the courage to continue 😊😊😊. Cheers/Slainte and God bless.
🎸👨🏼⚕️🫶✌️♾️.
the more and more I watch these guitar videos the more and more I hold true to the thoughts I had waaaay back in the 90s: If whatever you are using to make your sound inspires you to make music that causes yourself and other people to tap their feet, WTF does it matter how you got that sound?
I bought the first POD (the one without the cabinet selection) and I thought it was a godsend since I couldn't afford all of the gear it simulated. It all sounded good to me because I spent less time focusing on tweaking tone and more time having fun making noise with my friends.
Josh, I love your channel because you seem to promote anything that enables or inspires someone to play. Kudos!
I got the POD HD right when it came out. I was in high school at the time, and it was monumental for my development as a writer. Having a compact interface with any effect I wanted that connected directly to my computer allowed me to explore new sounds and properly record ideas. I made the switch to BIAS for home recording years ago, but I still use the POD in my effects loop. I never understood the POD hate, other than the typical gatekeeper type bullshit.
Andy Partridge of XTC owned one of those around the Apple Venus/Wasp Star albums. He might still have it in the Shed. It’s all over Wasp Star especially.
Yep!
Josh-I've been waiting for years for you to do this episode. I had the pod, podxt live and now a helix. Always fun to play with these. Glad to hear you mess with the bean.
Nearly everything on the XTC Wasp Star album was recorded on a POD. Great album.
Yes the album is awesome. But the guys who play the guitars too… 👍
@@michaelkoenig6317indeed! That's why I bought one!
That album sounds fantastic!
Pro tip for anyone wanting to get some good hi gain sounds out of the older pod models, use modern impulse responses. It’s shocking how good the amp modeling actually was, just somewhat held back by the speaker sims of the time.
Bonus fun fact - all of the guitar tones in the first 4 Silent Hill games were the OG POD.
I had the Behringer version ( V amp) for years and ran it into a Fender Frontman 25R...I gigged at
small bars all over Lower Michigan with that rig :) :)
I still have all of the versions of the Behringers and the Pods. . You can get some great tones out of them.
etchypi just did a vid Dont Be A Snob showing the V Amp rack at a hotel jam at 42 Gear Street event.
After hearing setting 3's demo I'd love to hear Josh do more Shoegaze/Dreampop style tones, that was some solid rhythm work dude *thumbs up*
Agreed :) that’s my bag too
I had a POD and thought it would go well with a clean amp so I ran it though a neutral Tech 21 Power Engine 60. Spent all my time tweaking the thing and when I got a sound I like saved I would come back to it later and it would sound horrible to me. I could get an endless variety of mediocre sounds. I got rid of that and got a Marshall. Now I can only do Marshall. I could never get the POD to do Marshall and think it sucks other than direct recording. Maybe I needed to spend more time to learn how to dial it in. Sucked as a headphone amp too but maybe they were cheap headphones. Glad you all liked your PODs
I'd love to see Josh & Co review the J Station or Zoom multi effects units. I'd say that I'd be willing pay money for it but then Nick would call my bluff because I'm too cheap to be a Patreon supporter.
Love to see Josh on a Zoom Fire amplifier. Were they as shitty/good as folks say?
Please no, I need to buy one. The price increase would make it impossible to get my hands on one.
@@tedsmart5539 I recently dug my Fire-15 out to dial it in again. I think it only has one combination of eq settings per amp model I like. I am happy enough with it doing the sounds it is best at but it doesn't have the range of more modern modelling devices or plugging in a contemporary desktop modelling device.
I just mentioned the J-Station. I have one.
I'm still sad that I threw away my old DOD TEC4.
I had one of these when they came out. I loved it. I was recording my own demo songs and this was great. I stopped using it only because I went to other Line 6 products, mainly the X3 Live and then the HD500, because I ended up in a cover band and found that they were great for getting so many tones and going straight into the PA.
I used the kidney v2.0 for many years! Every time sound guys saw me put that up on the stage, I knew their eyes rolled. But it worked so well for live playing in small Chicago clubs in the early aughts. I could get a moderate stage volume so that the microphone and amp could be blended in the mix. It served me well! Glad to hear your take on this fantastic product. That plus my Peavey Classic 50/50 power amp and a pair of BagEnd Red Rock 12” in a dual 12 cabinet. It did the job night after night and saw a lot of abuse.
“Not Fast, Head-First Jump into water” is the best jam I’ve heard in the channel…
I was literally thinking “he has the bag with the music “ right before you said it. Great shit
I had the Pod XT Live and an 18W power amp which I used to gig with. Sounded great when I dimed it! 👍
I still have the original Pod (2 eprom upgraded) and the later model Pod HD (fully loaded). Have used them on literally hundreds of commercial advertising tracks and the like over the years, and eventually made enough money to build a pro studio and buy the family home. So yeah, I tend to agree with you. Those things really do suck.
I actually had a band come in for a corporate event I was running FOH for and the guitarist said for some reason or another he couldn't get his normal fly rig so he grabbed his old Pod 2.0 and I was freaking SHOCKED how good it sounded. He was griping and grumbling the whole time and I didn't have to do a damn thing to it. It wasn't harsh or rumbly at all. It definitely shut me up with a quickness.
I currently have a pod 2.0 and it has served me well for presentations at church. It is a good machine, I have to confess that if you add external pedals it sounds even better. It would be great if a version of it came out with other options, but retaining the bean shape.
You actually got me there Josh! I didn't fall for the "Solid state is crap" video, but I was pleasantly surprised! I have the POD HD Desktop bean, I use it all the time! It;s so much easier to just jam on than plugging in my board and having to deal with that at 2am when I just want to play! And it sounds great! If I use an IR loader with it, it is extremely useable. It's not about the gear, its about the player!
I used my pod 2 as a preamp on a pedal board through a crown power amp for a number of years, and I was able to get really solid metal tones. It was solid as stone and I was never concerned with people messing with my gear because it looked like junk lol!
Full respect for the POD. I was more a digiTech guy and this owned the POD’s nemesis, the digiTech Genesis3 (which was based on the Johnson J-Station).
I still have my Genesis3, and “I have the BOX”, and manual too. 😀
Seems like every musician dad had one of these...
I wanna hear you do your magic on a digitech RP line, like the RP80, make me love it and make its value on reverb explode. You never cease to amaze me
Josh: you don’t need my pedals, you don’t need analog, you don’t need vintage, you just need to play whatever it is that makes you play more.
What a guy.
Thank you so much for doing this video!! Actually, I didn’t throw my POD away, just packed it away with a bunch of gear I no longer use. This video has encouraged me to pull it back out and give it a fair, current assessment. It always helps when someone who knows what they’re doing shows you how to properly use your gear. 😊
Update please. I did the same with my old Digitech rp200 and my mind is blown. Amazing what reading the manual and taking more time than just getting a chugging metal tone can open up. The amp modelers are actually pretty good.
@@RyanDoesAll Sure enough, I dug it up, started reading the manual and discovered the “manual” setting that I never knew was there. The more I abandoned the presets, the more I liked it. Current experiment is to put a stomp distortion and wah in front of it, which doesn’t make sense except it gives me a way to kick in overdrive and have a wah PEDAL on the floor. Doesn’t sound as bad as I remembered, but still working out the kinks. All in all, I’m kinda loving the size/convenience and overall sound. Worst case scenario, I may add this to my pedal board for effects I’d like to use on occasion but don’t care to haul around. Awesome rediscovery of something I already own.
My mom's boyfriend had one and i played it when i was probably 9 years old back in 2000 and it was honestly the first time I heard myself have awesome tone on the guitar. I remember it sounding like an arena through headphones and I loved that thing. I always wondered if it sounded like ass and I just didn't know it, but I think this video proves it was actually pretty descent. Great video!
In 2004 I tried a pod and plugged the huge line 6 floorboard into it. I had been playing a vintage gibson for ten years and had been using boutique tube amps for the past 5 years.
At the time, I was going for Joe Bonamassa tones, and was able to dial in Silver Jubilee and Budda tones that he was using at the time after some knob turning on the pod. The manual helped tons.
Through headphones it was epic. I was pretty impressed. It seems like the flextone amps are just this in an amp, and they sound great too. Never owned either of them but fun to try when bandmates had them.
You know, I catch myself stuck in that “oh analog is ALWAYS better mindset…” and then I realize more than half my set up is digital. Thanks for making me realize how much of a hypocrite I am, Josh! And thank you @Marcus Ryle for being part of a team creating cool stuff that makes us guitar players broke all the time chasing tones! 💞
Saw a Weezer tour almost 20 years ago where they exclusively played through Pods. Could barely tell the difference.
And that's the clincher. If you're in a studio then they got the nice expensive gear you want on a record. In your room sure i guess you can splurge if you're Mr. Moneybags. Live?!!?! NOT A SINGLE PERSON CAN HEAR THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THIS AND YOUR OH SO SPECIAL DUMBLE/MARSHALL/FENDER/KLON overpriced etc. NOT EVEN YOU
I was just going to mention this too. I can't remember which Weezer tour it was (maybe Green or Maladroit), but yeah all of the bass and guitars came thru Line6 Pods and it sounded great.
@@BDOWN5 It was Maladroit!
Rivers did an interview with Guitar World where he said the POD sounded better than the amps.
They did it in Europe first cause it would have been too expensive to ship all those tube amps around the world. In my eyes it made them sound kind of sterile and lifeless. Maybe they improved their presets later on... Soulwax on the other hand used Line 6 gear in a way to create a unique sound that was really cool.
Facetious, from the Latin word 'facetia'. Well stated young Skywalker. This 'POD' is often mentioned as the first modeling amp simulator gizmo contraption. It was not. The first modeling amp was the Line 6 Axys which evolved into the AX2. I own 4 of them. I've played countless gigs with them. I've used them in professional recording studios. They sound great. I just downloaded the Neural DSP plugin 'Tone Master Imperial'. This plugin is fantastic. I can get my 24 year old AX2 to produce almost identical sounds. I didn't like the POD but when the Gibson factory rep came to our local GC he chose to demonstrate all his new expensive Gibson guitars through (you guessed it) a Line 6 POD. The room was blown away from the sounds he was getting. It was good enough for him, who could use any amp he wanted. He had a giant tour bus with the Gibson logo wrapped all over it, plenty of room for amps. You get the point.
When I was a younger, more naïve man I was amazed by and wanted all things modeling. I never made fun of the kidney bean. I wanted the Pod so bad but the closest I got was I borrowed the Behringer equivalent from my boss at the time. I loved it all the same. I made some very amateur recordings but it had some stuff I didn't have like chorus and delay. It was fun and I remember it fondly.
The album The Runner's Four by Deerhoof was recorded entirely with Line 6 PODs. I was quite surprised when I read about this.
Yes, one of my favorite albums ever. And also another one of my favorite albums ever, Dungen’s Ta Det Lugnt, was also (partly) recorded on the Line 6 POD. Really shocked when I heard this, for some reason this machine loves to produce neo-psychedelic and noise-rock masterpieces.
Also considering that both those albums, especially Ta Det Lugnt, are famous for sounding very ”vintage”. Some people thought Ta Det Lugnt was some rediscovered underground record from the late 1960s when it released, and it really does sound super authentic. The Runners Four also sounds ”vintage” but more of a mix between 60s psych and 90s noise. Still incredible.
I bought a POD version 2.0 back when it first came out. LOVE IT! I have used it recording about 14 albums. It's so versatile! You're very funny! Well done! hahahahaha!
Billy howerdel recorded A perfect circle’s guitars on their masterpiece "mer de noms" with 1998’s line6 amp farm plugin. Some of the best guitar tones I’ve ever heard. I had a pod xt for a long time and was my first amp. I’ve had a £3,500 bad at hotcat30r. And now I use a kemper since 2013.
Trent Reznor said Amp Farm was amazing! Shame I always wanted to try it. Whats funny is I also have the POD xt, only works 50/50 but those things were amazing at the time. It was annoying adding the different packs though, 1st thing I did was I bought the metal pack. Bulb from Periphery recorded his early EARLY albums with the POD. His tone was amazing, obviously the guy can produce too. ME? I struggled to get good recording tones.
@@Mr2it3881 I might dig it out somehow, NIN and APC fan :)
@@BLACKSYNTH Nice! Shame we never got the "Tapeworm" record.
That's cool - I never knew that. I've known Maynard since the late 70s & his step mom actually told me about APC when they came out.....
As a Line-6 fan, I have to say I'm impressed with the ol' bean, but it wasn't always that way.
I used to run an open mic and a friend and regular at the event would bring a POD set up with extreme levels of gain (insane level?) And then plug it into my 2x12 guitar amp. The tone was double scooped and so shrill, it made a Metal Zone sound "sweet" and "creamy" by comparison.
Fast forward a bit, and I ended up getting hooked on the Line-6 tone core pedals for my stereo rig (verbzilla and Echo Park were my go to) I liked those so much I ended up getting a Line-6 M13. For a while my live rig was a pair of M13 running a stereo pair of amps.
After I learned that even the distortion tones were very usable (especially if you combine a few patches and respect the gain knob), I bought a Spyder Valve 100 MK2 head @ a pawn shop for $250. It is not my favorite recording amp, but it is amazing when you want to move some air--doom metal, or finger tap song solos both shine over a loud drummer.
I didn't stop there as recently found a UX2 for $20 at Goodwill managed to get it working and gave it to a friend.
Recently splurged on a Variax (2002) and a pod X3 Live for my current "live loop" setup. Don't get me wrong, I prefer a real banjo, a nice custom guitar, some EHX and Morley pedals, maybe some fancy "ultramafic" LAVA cable --- but the results from just a Variax and a Pod X3 live are more than adequate right out the PA, and keeps me from having to pack an amp, or using a Frontmam 25r or other house equipment.
The best part is when people like the tone they get confused it's a Line-6, and especially confused it's from the "POD" lineup.
Jeez, I typed a lot. My bad.
I inherited one of these and a Variax from my grandfather during a chaotic time in my life. After years of lugging these things back and forth across the country, I finally had time to unpack them. I started with the Variax and got so frustrated that I wrote all my Line 6 stuff off as “convoluted y2k gear.” (A guitar needs a firmware update via a cat5->usb cable!?!?)Your video’s got me pumped to see what I can do with the Pod.
Used one of these with a 'longboard' on the floor switching 4 patches, in line tuner, wah/vol straight into an old ultra linear Twin for years. Had to run a handful of pedals too for specific sounds, but it was so EASY to get a decent sound in pubs and big party halls .. clean Twin, crunchy Vox, driven Marshall - maybe if you listened super critically you'd pick up some difference but in the moment and for 99% of people it was great. The consistency was something I'd searched for. Stopped using it when I stopped playing live for a while .. recently got back in via a Pod Go and FRFR setup, which is easier on the back, probably sounds a little better and is more versatile but much the same reasoning behind it.
I used mine into an ultralinear twin. That's another thing that people say sucks because they heard the cool kids say so. I like the ultralinear.
@@arthurvandelay7677 absolutely - it’s a tool for a job, clean headroom as far as you like. I found it reproduced the pod really well, with just a hint of warmth added.
When I get the transformer rewound I’ll be trying the Go into the front .. it’s great on FRFR but not really doing it using my Boogie - just use it for fx there.
The ultralinear Twin sounds awesome clean at any volume you would like and makes an incredible pedal platform.
I think that’s where digital really shines, it doesn’t quite do it for me direct to PA but pushing a clean tube amp it’s just sublime.
I recently switched over to its latest revision, the POD GO. I was running pedals and an HX stomp and found that the POD GO did everything I needed. Its simple like the original pod, all the classic line 6 sounds as well as the new effects and modeling of the helix at a fraction of the price. I still love my analog pedals and amps but for convenience it can't be beat!
Couldn't agree more! I have my old analog board at training place and pod go at home. Got 15 minutes left on a lunch break, well flip it on and put headphones and you just got some exercice. Also it so much fun to google some big guitar heros's setup and then replicate it on the pod. Not the exact same of course but didn't cost a dime more and you can switch from metallica to U2 with one click.
Yep. Had the and still own bean, now have the PodGo. The stock presets can be improved, but when you get the sounds you like, it is amazing for the home studio. I bought some of the Jason Saddites and Jonathan Cordy presets, and they have improved the tone significantly for almost no money. Like you, love my pedals, but this can’t be simpler. EDIT: Forgot, still have a Flextone II and used it for years playing out and opening for folks like Northern Pikes, Great Big Sea, Eddie Money and Rick Emmitt. Nobody laughed at my set up, and it gave me infinite tone possibilities in a small package.
I was using a Helix fot the last 2 years. Last year i got a POD Go in a trade and grabbed it one night for a quick jam. It's a stellar little piece of gear that would get any guitarist off to a great start. Simple and sounds killer! You can't go wrong with anything Line 6 these days. Helix modeling is a real contender. I'm using an FM3 now but still have my Helix.
Yup. That's what I've got now and it's great once you get it under control.
I love that you love Slowdive. I can't believe Paul Gilbert didn't know who they were before you brought them up
I saw a guy who was doing a test night for a Gary Moore tribute act. After the gig I asked him how he got the epic tone. It was a Les Paul into a Pod into a big old Peavey. It sounded incredible. I was sure he had vintage Super Lead hidden somewhere. But no. Just the Pod doing all the work. He ended up not going ahead with touring the act because he was busy but it stuck with me that in the wild, telling digital from analogue is impossible and pointless.
"I could do a hundred jams on this" Yep, recorded three albums worth of material PLUS all the chaff through a 2.0.
Same here, I layered a bunch of guitar tracks with this thing.
@@christopheralexander5196 and the tweedy tones, mixed with a 4x12 sound awesome with bass.
1998. Showed up at practice with my new 5150 combo. Friend said try his new Flextone Duo. Went to Guitar Center the next day and bought one. I still have it and play it all the time. 5150 long, long gone. Thanks Marcus.
Funtwo's original Canon Rock from 2005 through the pod = angelic
Legendary clip that was back in the early days of TH-cam!
I’ve owned a bean for many years and still continue to use it.
I’ve played many arenas with other guitar players using amps and I loved when they would always ask me what was I using for an amp and I would point to the bean and they were very surprised by the sound I was getting.
Thanks for doing this video.
The Bean still Rocks👍
Just because you can make it work doesn’t mean it would be a thousand times better with an actual piece of gear
I was a POD user. My first guitar instructor owned the Red Kidney-Bean POD. When I started, I had a VOX Valvetronix VT15, and when I began craving single pedals and effects, my instructor advised me to go to the local store and try out the Floor POD Plus, which was this exact model in pedalboard format. I managed to get some good sounds out of it, even if bypassing the preamp section on the POD was impossible, so I always had the POD's Preamp stacked on top of the VOX's. I have to be honest and say that, recently, I had the hitch to hook it up and use it for recording... But I have a DV Mark Multiamp hooked to my audio interface (its simulations are far superior to what the POD can accomplish), and, as of lately, I very much prefer record guitar DIs and then use Amplitube 5/Tone-X/TH-U
I honestly never knew it was crapped on. When they came out, so many guitar players were loving it to gig with because they were able to go direct and not need to mic an amp or spend a lot of time trying to set up to play. I thought they were pretty much universally loved.
They basically are universally loved, not sure what he’s on about
@@CheeseyMilkshakes Right? I was playing lots of bars and small venues and most of the other bands I would see along nearly all had 1 guitar player with one of them. It was one of the rare pieces of gear that guitarists actually could agree on.
@@cchavezjr7 Probs just a clickbait title
I loved my pod. They are a the missing link between the pure analog old school way and the modern plug in digital D.I. systems.
I own a XT floorboard, and its even better, less canned/compressed.
That said, I also own a rectifier, an orange or-15. As great a tool as the pod is, its just not as alive as a tube amp through a good cab, miked properly.
I loved mine! Unfortunately one of the knobs got funky/sorta crushed but still worked. When I opened it up and tried to fix it, it never worked again. So easy to work with. Small and versatile. Used it a lot playing around with a cheap keyboard. I'm always looking to score a decent priced replacement.
Love using my POD XT Pro, it's the first multi-effects/modeller that I've bought and I feel it has been influential in what amps I would actually buy in the future.
Ah yes! I love that thing, I still use it daily . Just needs a cleaning of the pods after about 20 or so years. So reliable and great sounding for what I like