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[deigoruellez]

Obviously, I am very new to studio equipment...........I just started apprenticing with a producer a few months ago, sitting in and assisting various studio tasks, learning a lot.  However, I was hoping someone could clarify something for me seeing as though my producer is out of reach at the moment.

How exactly do I set up an effects chain using our Line 6 Pod X3 Pro with a head? (We're tracking guitar, miking cabs with different heads).  I guess what confuses me is when to use the output or the send, the input or the return, etc.  If someone could simplify this for me just for clarity, that would be great.  Thank you!

[Fletcher]

Its a pretty ambiguous question -- the output of what?  a send to what?  an input of what?  a return to what?  Outputs go to inputs [so long as your input can accept the signal from the output - as in the input needs to be able to accept the level and be at the same general impedance as the output that input will receive -- as in a +4 "line level" 600Ω output should not be plugged into a guitar amplifier without an appropriate interface... but I digress].

On the whole -- if you're changing heads and cabinets... you shouldn't need a "POD" at all [those things sound like ass and will only get in the way of a great guitar sound in my experience... however, you know what you're looking for more than I ever will... so as long as it sounds good -- it is good.

Peace

[Tim Halligan]

How exactly do I set up an effects chain using our Line 6 Pod X3 Pro with a head? ...If someone could simplify this for me just for clarity, that would be great.  Thank you!

Put the Pod on the ground.

Jump on it repeatedly.

Then belt it with a sledgehammer.

Place the remnants in the dumpster.

You're welcome.

Cheers,
Tim

PS. Just so you know, in some circles the use of "guitar modeling" ...ie Pods, Digi Eleven, Ampfarm etc is known as "clownfucking"...and is widely considered to be a Very Bad Thing.

[Jim Williams]

My friend has a Line Six amp. It's the worst sounding POS I've ever heard and I've heard a lot of amps. We did our annual High School party and jam last Sept. I recorded it again with the remote rig. The 1972 Deluxe reverb, 1966 Bandmaster and my 1965 Showman head all put it to shame in real time. Nothing like hearing those amps next to a Line Six amp, no EQ, raw.

The Line Six sounds like a soda straw next to a manly amp. I figure this CD will force my friend to realize he has the worst sound he's ever had in 48 years of playing guitar. It's truly embarrassing. As a result, I titled this year's CD, "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly". Ugly is for Line Six.

[Fletcher]

Had a similar experience working on a King's X record at Michael Wagener's "Wire World" in Nashville... Michael gets some amazing guitar sounds [amazing amp collection - excellent guitars available at the studio... and he's got a talent for "knowing" what the sound should be].

The POD rig lasted about an hour before it was banished to the irrelevant footnote it really is... but hey - the guys at Line 6 are laughing all the way to the bank.  As H.L. Menken once stated so eloquently "no one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public".

Peace

[Jim Williams]

Or as P.T Barnum said, "There's a sucker born every minute".

A little Dirty Harry is also required.

"A man's got to know his limitations".

Line Six is very limited.

[jaykadis]

While the POD is not a replacement for an amp, it can be useful as an effects processor in front of an amp, which is what is being proposed here.


If your amp has an effects loop, you can connect the POD send/return to the loop. Alternatively, you can use the POD output to feed the amp input. You will want to disable any amp simulation that might be running in the POD.

[Fletcher]

All due respect Jay -- a POD in front of an amp is still "tone sucking vermin"... those things suck the life out of any sound they touch -- especially guitars.  There is no known cure except the avoidance of said parasitic utensil.

Peace

[jaykadis]

We have one of the PODs in the studio, though I never use it. What I do use for live is an old Boss GT-3, which sounds fine through a couple of real amps for stereo effects. I have a hard time believing that the much newer POD is incapable of doing the same at least. Especially if you don't expect all the amp simulations stuff to work. I will give the POD a try - I still bet I can get a useable sound out of it with the right tweaking. I'll have to let you know.

[Jim Williams]

Most sounds are useful, at least once. A Line Six overdrive patch is useful for obtaining a very thin sort of tone that will ride on top of the meaty sounding stuff. Think of a kazoo on top of Clapton's Cream tones. Alone it's very thin, but like a broken clock, it can be right about twice a day. Usually that's when I'm sleeping. I like thick sounds on guitars.