I got a POD XT!!

[djpharoah]

Well due to my douche bag behavior on friday I got banned (which I wont get into) for the weekend. This left me with time on my hands to get to the local GC. I went in there and spent about 2 hrs trying out the pod 2.0, digitech gnx3000 and the pox xt.

In the end the pod xt won. However I have a few questions.

1) Is it me or do all the stock patches sound like shite? I mean it sounds through headphones like someone is playing the patch next doors and its incredibly muffled and low volumed.

2) I downloaded some patches off the custom tone website and wow - some just rock - gotta reverse engineer these to figure out the stock patches.

3) I have PAF7s on my K7 atm - if I got an evolution and blaze neck set would things get tighter? Could the paf7s be the cause of me thinking the patches sounding weak?

4) I have found that setting the output to amp and playing the pod through my amp - its sounds horrible too... off course all this is without the tweaking and tweaking that Im sure all of you will tell me to do.

5) Is the many hours of tweaking really needed to get your patch? How crucial is the metal pack?


Also Im still trying this out (gotta love the 30 day trial) but if anyone is selling their pod xt with the various packs please let me know.

Thanks

 

[playstopause]

Nice to see you





No idea about the POD

 

[ShawnFjellstad]

the metal pack is badass but good tones can be had without it.

did you try putting the pod through the fx loop in your amp?
it might sound better that way...

also, welcome back.

 

[ajdehoogh]

 

[thedownside]

1) Is it me or do all the stock patches sound like shite? I mean it sounds through headphones like someone is playing the patch next doors and its incredibly muffled and low volumed.

stock patches blow, always... the ones on both my old XT and my current GNX3k blew hard.

3) I have PAF7s on my K7 atm - if I got an evolution and blaze neck set would things get tighter? Could the paf7s be the cause of me thinking the patches sounding weak?

No.. you might like the tone a bit more with different pickups, but that isnt the reason. check out some of my recordings, the highest output pickups i've recorded with so far are PAF7's. while it might not be a tone you are looking for, they are far from weak sounding.

4) I have found that setting the output to amp and playing the pod through my amp - its sounds horrible too... off course all this is without the tweaking and tweaking that Im sure all of you will tell me to do.

the only thing the blows harder than stock patches threw headphones, is stock patches threw an amp spend a few months tweaking, you'll be amazed. you'll likely need 2 sets of patches though. all similar to each other, but one set tweaked for live and one for recording/headphones.

5) Is the many hours of tweaking really needed to get your patch? How crucial is the metal pack?

The metal pack isnt crucial, but i wouldnt use one without it you can get good tones, but you'll get even better ones with it, much easier. It takes a bit of editing to get a decent tone, but it takes a lot of time getting to know the unit and how changes affect things to get those 'magical' tones. i'm sure guys like Bulb and whatnot have many many hours spend in there patches, i know i have countless hours in mine.

 

[Groff]

Stock patches suck.

But once you get to know your equpipment, and how it works, you can make great tones.

The metal pack is awesome. I got it for my tone port and it's a huge help. The Recto patch that comes with it sounds a ton better than the stock one.

Spend some time tweaking, and you'll surely have fun!

 

[The Dark Wolf]

Tweaking is a way of life with these things. Good tones are definitely to be had, however. Familiarizing yourself as much as possible with the interface and editing options is the best place to begin, but from there, it's tweak, tweak, tweak, like a crackhead without a fix.

 

[CGord]

Buy the metal pack, download a bunch of the patches here in the library, & you'll be in good shape.

 

[nitelightboy]

What Bob said!!! Once you figure out how to make a patch that you really like, you then have the basic blue print for the future. On the POD XT, you can even save preset amps so that when you tweak an amp to your liking,, you can have those settings automatically pulled up when you select that amp while creating new patches. Basically, just mess around with it, find out how things react, and enjoy!!!!

 

[giannifive]

Tweaking is a way of life with these things. Good tones are definitely to be had, however. Familiarizing yourself as much as possible with the interface and editing options is the best place to begin, but from there, it's tweak, tweak, tweak, like a crackhead without a fix.

+1 to that.

I've also found that there's no substitute for pushing air. Try getting some flat response monitors to plug the POD into and see how different they sound from headphones.

 

[Jason]

I always hear people pull good tones out of them BUT everyone I have sat down with and played with I didn't care for

I much prefer the Boss gt units

 

[djpharoah]

Hmm - ShawnF, I dont have an FX loop on my cube (dont know if the cubes have any) and so the cube might be coloring the pods tone. However like it was said - gotta tweak it.

Metal pack - dang. Dont have the money right now for it...might return this pod xt and get a used one with the packs.

 

[Jason]

You got a cube? Why the xt then?

 

[djpharoah]

You got a cube? Why the xt then?

Cuz the cube in my opinion doesnt sound that good - I mean the pod xt is just soo much better - plus out of the various amps the only one that sounds some what close is the rectifier. The rest dont even sound like what they are supposed to.

Is it better to ditch the cube and just get a keyboard amp or a pair of monitors? So that nothing is coloring the tone? Or is all this heresay?

 

[Jason]

You can run the xt into your amps Fx loop ( hich yours doesn't have)

If your jamming at home sure why not get some monitors..

Or why not return the Xt and seel your cube and get a better amp?

 

[TomAwesome]

+1 to what thedownside and Boober were saying.

Also, I don't really like using the default output settings on modelers like that. They compensate a bit for the coloration of the amp, but of course every amp colors the tone differently, and you're still left having to compensate for things. Also, a Cube probably isn't the best amp for a POD. You'd be better off getting a 2x12 (even a 1x12) cab and either a power amp or an amp that you can run into the FX loop of.

 

[FoxZero]

The POD is a tweekers toy.

I must say, almost every high gain amp sucked on the stock POD with the high output pickups I've recently had (Blaze Custom, M7), but they worked ok with the lower output BDSMs in my BCR six string. The metal pack was a real help with getting a good high gain tone, I've even gotten some impressive crunch tones with it (J900 Dist).

Get the metal pack, worth every penny. My personal favs of that were the Criminal, L6 Bigbottom, and J900.

Also, try to make use of the built EQ, noise gate, and other toys. I didn't realize how much it's built in 4 band eq helped till recently, the noise gates ok as well. I also it's effects a lot too, especially the delays.

 

[7 Strings of Hate]

yea, i think the majority of the models actually DO sound like what they are replicating

 

[FoxZero]

At least like they're trying to, I always find that the Recto models sound way off. Nowadays L6 says their model are "inspired" by what they're after, not based off of anymore.