Line 6 POD HD Thread

[tripguitar]

The technique of your palm mutes could be a factor as well, the closer your palm is to the neck, the shorter the sustain and more percussive the sound. Also make sure that your tone is free of any mud in the 200-300hz region, as while it can make for very bassy, booming palm mutes, it can kill your articulation.

I tried moving my palm as far back as i could towards the bridge, but thats not the problem i dont think.

I'll try cutting the 200-300hz. Thanks Bud!!

 

[prozak]

Tripguitar - thats a very common thing, it really just depends on your personal taste and what kind of music you prefer. Compromises work the best imo.

You can also upload some of your patches so we can share some thoughts.

 

[tripguitar]

Tripguitar - thats a very common thing, it really just depends on your personal taste and what kind of music you prefer. Compromises work the best imo.

You can also upload some of your patches so we can share some thoughts.

I will do that. I did actually add a light compression and took out some 200-300hz right before hitting the amp. it did help but i feel like it could still be better. I'll do a before and an after and see if you guys have more helfpul pointers for me!

Whats your guys' favorite compressor on the HD series? I kind of liked the blue comp at first but then i couldnt tell if it was coloring the tone too much or not. the tube comp was cool but was very noticeable. looking for something a little more transparent.

 

[Alice AKW]

Personally, I don't use a compressor for my guitar tones, only for bass

 

[tripguitar]

still, out of curiosity which one do you like the best (for bass)?

 

[Alice AKW]

The tube comp personally. I set the level at 0 and the threshold at 30%. It's noticeable, but for bass you don't want too many spikes in the sound.

 

[jmeezle]

I used my HD500 w/ a Redwirez Soldano 4x12 w/ V12's on this:

[SC]https://soundcloud.com/jm2484/psp-vintage-warmer-test[/SC]

 

[Alice AKW]

I put out a new cover today



And, in the interest of science, I put up the solo'd guitars as well

[sc]https://soundcloud.com/alice_akw/extraneous-solo-guitars[/sc]

And Jmeezle, that sounds lush!

 

[ChickenNoodleSoup]

I will do that. I did actually add a light compression and took out some 200-300hz right before hitting the amp. it did help but i feel like it could still be better. I'll do a before and an after and see if you guys have more helfpul pointers for me!

Whats your guys' favorite compressor on the HD series? I kind of liked the blue comp at first but then i couldnt tell if it was coloring the tone too much or not. the tube comp was cool but was very noticeable. looking for something a little more transparent.

For distorted guitars, I actually find the Tube Comp to be the most transparent, but I always set the Level to 0%. I don't use a compressor for my high-gain rhythm tones anymore, but if I did, it'd be a Tube Comp with Level at 0% and Threshold at 45-50% for subtle compression. I find anything higher than 40% on the Tube Comp can introduce an annoying "pop" to your notes, and running the Level above 0% dirties things up too much.

If you're not getting enough sustain on your chugs, then I'm wondering how hard your setting your gates, and how you're arranging them.

I generally use a Hard Gate>>Distortion Effect>>Hard Gate/Noise Gate setup before the amp, then a bunch of PEQs behind the amp to cut fizz/fart, and run a Mid-Focus last for high-pass/low-pass filtering. I used to use a PEQ after the distortion pedal to boost that 1-1.4K range, and a Tube Comp after the 2nd gate for extra sustain/balance, but I haven't found it necessary with the patches I've been making lately. The higher Open-Threshold and Decay settings on the Hard Gate help keep things tight, but having lower Close-Threshold values don't compromise any of my sustain.

I'm a fan of the 57 off-axis mic too, and I used to always prefer it to the 57 on-axis. but lately I've been loving the 57 on-axis. I find it to be a bit more focused, and it may help you with your articulation problem. With that said, the 57 on-axis does sound a bit fizzer/thinner to my ears, so I usually turn down the Treble knob on the amp a bit to compensate, and use the PEQs behind the amp to cut the hissy frequencies(there's usually a few of them).

What's your signal chain/amp settings looking like on your Pod? And what do you have your Input Source 1, Input Source 2, Guitar In-Z, and Mixer set to?

 

[prozak]

For distorted guitars, I actually find the Tube Comp to be the most transparent, but I always set the Level to 0%. I don't use a compressor for my high-gain rhythm tones anymore, but if I did, it'd be a Tube Comp with Level at 0% and Threshold at 45-50% for subtle compression. I find anything higher than 40% on the Tube Comp can introduce an annoying "pop" to your notes, and running the Level above 0% dirties things up too much.

If you're not getting enough sustain on your chugs, then I'm wondering how hard your setting your gates, and how you're arranging them.

I generally use a Hard Gate>>Distortion Effect>>Hard Gate/Noise Gate setup before the amp, then a bunch of PEQs behind the amp to cut fizz/fart, and run a Mid-Focus last for high-pass/low-pass filtering. I used to use a PEQ after the distortion pedal to boost that 1-1.4K range, and a Tube Comp after the 2nd gate for extra sustain/balance, but I haven't found it necessary with the patches I've been making lately. The higher Open-Threshold and Decay settings on the Hard Gate help keep things tight, but having lower Close-Threshold values don't compromise any of my sustain.

I'm a fan of the 57 off-axis mic too, and I used to always prefer it to the 57 on-axis. but lately I've been loving the 57 on-axis. I find it to be a bit more focused, and it may help you with your articulation problem. With that said, the 57 on-axis does sound a bit fizzer/thinner to my ears, so I usually turn down the Treble knob on the amp a bit to compensate, and use the PEQs behind the amp to cut the hissy frequencies(there's usually a few of them).

What's your signal chain/amp settings looking like on your Pod? And what do you have your Input Source 1, Input Source 2, Guitar In-Z, and Mixer set to?

Nice approach, thats what I mostly do. SM57 on-axis works great with Mesa & XXL. One thing I really hate about HDs EQs is the lack of focused midhigh-high freq eqs. Parametric EQ limit is at about 4500 Hz, but there are also some nasty freqs around 5000Hz I'd like to get rid off.

 

[ChickenNoodleSoup]

Nice approach, thats what I mostly do. SM57 on-axis works great with Mesa & XXL. One thing I really hate about HDs EQs is the lack of focused midhigh-high freq eqs. Parametric EQ limit is at about 4500 Hz, but there are also some nasty freqs around 5000Hz I'd like to get rid off.

Thanks! Took me a while to really figure it out, and I'm still learning more about the Pod day-in and day-out, but it's definitely the most inspired/content that I've been with the unit. I know that the internal cabs get a lot of scrutiny, but I think that the EQs truly make a world of difference. I also used to think that the Screamer was the only good Distortion Effect for metal tones, but lately I've been using the Classic Distortion for a lot of my rhythm patches, and I really dig how it shapes the tone. I run the Filter at 0%, keep the Bass/Treble in the 40-50% and 65-75% ranges respectively, crank the Output, and set the Drive between 8-15%. I find that it's more focused than the Screamer, and although it may not be as metallic sounding when you do "djent djents," it's good for achieving "purr," and adds a nice crunchy characteristic.

I completely agree with what you said about the EQs. I pray that the next Firmware update adds a multi-band PEQ that goes up to at least 8K. The Graphic EQ seems to boost the signal even when neutral, and the Studio EQ doesn't have a very tight Q, so I usually end up having to use 3-4 PEQs to get my tone just right. Even just a 2-band PEQ would do wonders.

 

[DeKay]

My whole newest album is all recorded on the pod... sick nasty tones!

Here's a few songs!

[sc]https://soundcloud.com/caynug/sets/inner-dissonance[/sc]

[sc]https://soundcloud.com/caynug/caynug-inner-dissonance-04?in=caynug/sets/inner-dissonance[/sc]

[sc]https://soundcloud.com/caynug/caynug-inner-dissonance-05-poi?in=caynug/sets/inner-dissonance[/sc]

 

[Curt]

Alice, you killed it on that Extraneous cover!


I got to sit down with the HD500x today, and I dialed in a couple tones really quickly, and I am not impressed with the built in IR's, i'll probably end up running it with the IR's off, and through a poweramp/cab setup for band practice. For recording, i'll just use NadIR like I have been. I am finding that with enough tweaking, the soldano almost fills that 5150 gap that I so badly wanted. But I feel like I am most impressed by using the Bogner model alongside the Soldano in a dual amp chain and it produces some pretty killer sounds. This is actually sufficient on its own, even though i'll eventually get the axe fx, this thing will hold me over well.

 

[Alice AKW]

Thank you! :3

I'm really wishing I could trade my HD500 for an HD500X. I could use that extra DSP to experiment with some dual almp patches.

 

[ChickenNoodleSoup]

Konichiwa. I submitted an idea to Line 6's IdeaScale page for a multi-band PEQ with more top-end. I know I may be a little biased, but I truly think that this would be oober beneficial for any of us players that like doing some EQ'ing in the Pod, especially to suck down some of those hissy frequencies. Even if they add more models to the Pod, I think it can only get you so far without some good EQs.

Do everyone a favor and give it a vote!

Line 6 Ideas - by IdeaScale

 

[prozak]

I really appreciate your effort, but simply, forget about it....they don't mind anyway.

 

[noUser01]

Small question. Is it possible to run an HD500 to both a cab and another source like a mixer? I know there's an effects loop and stereo outs, but I'm just not sure if you can set up two amps, one with a cab sim and one without, and have them output separately too.

 

[lewis]

Small question. Is it possible to run an HD500 to both a cab and another source like a mixer? I know there's an effects loop and stereo outs, but I'm just not sure if you can set up two amps, one with a cab sim and one without, and have them output separately too.

Yeah you can. Setup a dual patch cab off on whichever one goes to pa.. Pan them hard left and hard right. Out of the left go into cab and right pa from the back.

 

[prozak]

Has anyone tried to kinda 'hack' POD's firmware, and import a custom one?

Just an idea....

 

[VBCheeseGrater]

Has anyone used a rack preamp in POD HD's fx loop and actually gotten an improvement over the POD's preamp models? I'm using the preamp models now and i'm very satisifed, but can't help thinking that putting an Engl E530 or Mesa v-twin in the pod's loop could sound killer. I've tried an MP-1 and some rocktron stuff, both of which could not hang with the Pod's models so I sold them.

So, would love to hear from someone that found a preamp that sounds great in the POD HD's Fx loop. I can't stop obsessing over this possibility - perhaps it's the empty rack slot in my rig!