To POD or Not to POD, that is the QueXTion? [Update] : Whether a tree falls to the south or to the north, in the place where it falls, there will it lie

Whether a tree falls to the south or to the north, in the place where it falls, there will it lie

What does it mean, what does it mean?

To POD or Not to POD, that is the QueXTion? [Update]

by Samuel Febres

Update: I took the POD xt to practice, and set it up, but I couldn’t use it. It’s too much of a hassle to use live, especially to change songs on the fly mid songs or between songs. Even running it with the pedal board just didn’t seem like a good idea so I wasn’t ready for that.

I ended up taking my Epiphone Valve Junior. It’s a 5 watt class A tube amp. A little smaller and easier to carry than the Peavey Classic 30, and it didn’t sound so bad either. Now, I just need a few more distortion pedals for variety.

Thanks to Campus Harvest, it looks like I’ll be coming out of guitar playing hibernation again to fill in this Sunday at church.

I’m a pretty big amp guy. I read a quote once by Brad Paisley where he said that an “amp is more important than the guitar”* and I tend to agree with him on that. If I had to pick between only getting to use one, my guitar, or my amp (with the other being provided), I would probably with very little hesitation go with the amp. I know it, we’re comfortable together and I know the kind of tones I want and can get from her. It’s just the way I roll.

Now, I have recently picked up a POD xt. I like my POD xt. Scratch that, I love this thing. I have never been able to record such great sounds on my computer or hear them through my headphones. I love practicing with it; Connected to the Gearbox software, it’s a great way to practice. I can tune up, listen to a metronome, and even do GuitarPort Online music lessons (which I’ve recently decided to adopt as my new guitar teacher in addition to some books I’ve been going through). My love of recording guitar with the POD xt has yet to translate over to playing live though.

So that leads me to my next point. I’m thinking of taking my POD to practice tonight to try it out. I’ll only be playing for one Sunday since I’m on a Sabbatical, so it would be less of a pain to cart a POD xt than a Peavey Classic 30, pedal board, and guitar to church tonight’s for practice.

I’ll probably take both, and try to practice with the PODxt and see how that goes.

A problem that I have right now I is that I haven’t set up any sounds yet for the songs (I don’t know the set list), but after practice tonight I will have a few days to tweak with the settings and come up with some sounds that should work for the songs.

I still have my pedal-board, where at the very least, I could probably set up a good amp sound that I like, and just work the rest from the pedal board.

So, does anyone else POD xt live?

* Guitar Player, November 2007

Blogged with Flock

Tags: PODxt, Line 6, POD xt Live, Brad Paisley,

Published: February 20, 2008

Filed Under: Music

Tags: : : Brad Paisley : epiphone valve junior : guitar amps : line 6 pod : playing live music : POD xt : POD xt live

http://arewestillcool.blogspot.com cool dad

I used to POD 2.0 live, but I found myself not putting the time into crafting the tones, so I went back to good ol’ pedals. Right now, I’m really loving my tone, so I don’t regret it.
http://samuelfebres.com/blog Samuel Febres

Yeah, that’s what I’m thinking as well. The tone I was getting was pretty nice.

I’ve got a rhythm and things figured out with the pedals. I just need a few more distortion pedals for variety, especially with the little amp.
http://worshipguitarist.wordpress.com Phillip

I have used both the POD 2.0 and the PODxt Live (floorboard) in live situations. They did fine, but switching back and forth between patches sounded “wrong” to me. For example, using an AC-30 patch for rhythm then switching to higher gain patch for leads sounded pretty unrealistic.

Maybe I just didn’t spend enough time tweaking or whatever, but I would rather plug in and play than spend hours (literally) fiddling with menus and buttons to get the sounds right. It gets worse – sometimes after spending one of those hours-long tweaking sessions at home I would go to practice and find that my tone would totally get lost in the mix in a full band situation. Back to the drawing board.

Yes, using an amp with pedals is decidedly less convenient than an all-in-one multi-effects processor, but it works for my situation. If you can manage the volume of a tube amp (attenuator, isolation,etc) and you don’t mind lugging it around, it’s a great solution.
http://arewestillcool.blogspot.com cool dad

what distortion(s) are you running now?
http://samuelfebres.com/blog Samuel Febres

Phillip, I agree with you 100% here. It is less convenient, but it just feels right and sounds right to me.

I hadn’t even thought of the awkwardness of using multiple completely distinct patches live and it would definitely frustrate me to have to go home to re-tweak effects after already putting the time into them.

cool dad, because I generally like using the distortion on my amp, I only have a Boss Blues Driver (I believe that is the correct name). So on the Classic 30, I use the amp’s distortion channel and the blue’s driver pedal.

With the amp I used last night, all I have is the distortion pedal, since the amp only has a volume knob. It certainly makes for a good excuse to spend more money, but I think it’s something Mrs. Febres would probably not readily approve.
http://jenniferherrick.wordpress.com/ Jen

I have no comment to add to this discussion. But I did want to say that I’m glad you came out of hibernation, and I’m really glad it’s a week that I get to play instead of sing!

Now if I could just come up with a way to keep you out of hibernation that did not involve kidnapping, which I’m guessing Mrs. Febres would probably also not be too keen on…

::goes off to commence evil plotting::

(All that to say I’m glad to be playing with you this week!)
http://www.theepicbeat.com Adam

I use Line 6 gear. I am not a Line 6 hater, but using the Pod live is just sucking away the tone. The pod is fabulous for recording when you don’t have the convenience of a big studio and amps to mic. I’ve laid some killer tracks at 4 in the morning with my kids asleep yards away from me with my TonePort (which is basically a software version of the Pod) I love the way the modeler sounds when you go to tape, but something about using it live just doesn’t sound right. In my opinion, Line 6 is stellar with their “clean” effects. My DL4 Delay and I are inseparable. It is luscious and powerful. Same with my Blue Modulation pedal (I forget the number of it) But distortion is really hard to emulate. If I am not using my amp channel, I use either my Sparkle Drive of my OCD pedal from Fulltone.

Just my two cents Samuel…peace out.
http://samuelfebres.com/blog Samuel Febres

Thanks Jen, I’m glad to be playing the with you and the rest of the band as well, and everyone really. I had a good time last night, and I think Sunday is gonna be awesome.

Adam, thanks for the tips. That’s the 2nd nod I’ve heard recently for the Sparkle Drive and the OCD pedal. I’ve been meaning to try one of these out, and now more so. I’m very interested in the sparkle drive, more bang for the buck it seems.
http://www.theepicbeat.com Adam

The Sparkle Drive is cool for a boost. That’s what I use it for. That overdriven bluesly boost sound. My OCD will tear the skin from your teeth and if I put the Sparkle before it, I can actually kick your teeth in….which is always fun. What is great about the Sparkle is that you can dial in a boosted clean sound and blend it with the distortion…so you end up with this very chimy overdrive. It lives up to it’s name.
http://samuelfebres.com/blog Samuel Febres

Yeah, they sound really nice. I’m definitely gonna have to check those out. Running one distortion pedal just isn’t enough, especially without using a 2nd distortion channel on an amp.

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To POD or Not to POD, that is the QueXTion? [Update]

by Samuel Febres

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