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MGR/Peter de Frankrijker « Line 6 Pod Pro »
Published on 06/13/02 at 15:00I bought the unit in a music store in Utrecht, The Netherlands about one and a half year ago, in february 2001. I paid 1600 guilders whis is about 700 dollars. More expensive than in America, yes, but hey... It's a long swim to Europe, ya know!
This is the lowdown on the Pod Pro, these three things: great sound, great versatility and good solid build.
The presets are all quite metaly or very very country-sounding, but once you get to combine your amps with cabs and FX, you get these really YUMMY tones, which can be fantasticly lifelike or very, very interesting. With 32 amp models and 15 speaker cabs to choose from, there's 480 combinations to make so you won't get bored that quickly.
The classic combinations are good (like the plexi with the 4x12 greenback cab for that Blackmore sound, it's as close to the original as it gets!) but try some 'odd' combinations and you'll be astounded! For instance, a VOX AC30 over any of the 4x12s will sound INCREDIBLE, especially when using clean sounds on the verge of overdrive. Or that little Fender Deluxe amp on full blast over the Line6 2x12 cab, that sounds EXACTLY like Kravitz' sound on 'Mama said'.
I use the POD live on stage through a 2x100W Crown PA amp into 2 Hughes&Kettner Attax 112 Pro 1x12 Thiele cabs. It sounds really good, although it can be a hassle matching the different amp/cab combos in volume. I use the floorboard too, which is nice but a little bulky and, to be honest, bloody expensive! But it's a killer combination, and the wah on the floorboard sounds really good for rock and blues jobs.
In recording I use the Pod Pro's digital out straight into a Yamaha digital console. It sounds perfect! You can check the soundbites on http://www.the-music-of-us.com for that!
I play a G&L Legacy Special and this proves to be a good choice. Most amps let the guitar sound ring through really nicely, so plug a shitty guitar into this thing and that'll be exactly what you hear. The Matchless emulation (my personal favourite) has guitar tone coming through even at full blast with OD and compression at max. Brilliant!
There's a couple of things I'd like to see changed. The price of the floorboard for one, although I love the way it's connected (throught one single UTP network cable!) and the optical controls on the wah & vol.
But these are things to look into, Line6:
- Some amp combo's are much, much louder than others. I know that's this is the most realistic, but it's hardly practical.
- Some options are only accessible through midi, but I'd like to see these editable from the panel. Especially: vol pedal pre/post preamp, reverb type and noise gate threshold.
The thing is built really sturdily. I've been using it on the road for one and a half year and it hasn't failed me yet (knock on wood). I've built it into an SKB case, of course.
The red anodized aluminium front panel scratches a bit easily, but hey... Nothing lasts forever. It's well-built enough, with switches and connectors of good brands (Neutrik for instance).
The floor board is equally well-built and will last for ages, I'm sure. Like I said earlier, the wah and vol are optical controls, so no need to carry contact cleaner around.
In short: I really, really like the Pod Pro. It works perfectly in the studio as well as on stage, although you need a whole new set of patches for that, so get yourselves a midi cable and install SoundDiver!
So, bottom line: Very, very nice piece of equipment, and I can really recommend it to any guitar player, pro or amatuer. Inspite of some minor flaws I'll give it a five out of five.
This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com
This is the lowdown on the Pod Pro, these three things: great sound, great versatility and good solid build.
The presets are all quite metaly or very very country-sounding, but once you get to combine your amps with cabs and FX, you get these really YUMMY tones, which can be fantasticly lifelike or very, very interesting. With 32 amp models and 15 speaker cabs to choose from, there's 480 combinations to make so you won't get bored that quickly.
The classic combinations are good (like the plexi with the 4x12 greenback cab for that Blackmore sound, it's as close to the original as it gets!) but try some 'odd' combinations and you'll be astounded! For instance, a VOX AC30 over any of the 4x12s will sound INCREDIBLE, especially when using clean sounds on the verge of overdrive. Or that little Fender Deluxe amp on full blast over the Line6 2x12 cab, that sounds EXACTLY like Kravitz' sound on 'Mama said'.
I use the POD live on stage through a 2x100W Crown PA amp into 2 Hughes&Kettner Attax 112 Pro 1x12 Thiele cabs. It sounds really good, although it can be a hassle matching the different amp/cab combos in volume. I use the floorboard too, which is nice but a little bulky and, to be honest, bloody expensive! But it's a killer combination, and the wah on the floorboard sounds really good for rock and blues jobs.
In recording I use the Pod Pro's digital out straight into a Yamaha digital console. It sounds perfect! You can check the soundbites on http://www.the-music-of-us.com for that!
I play a G&L Legacy Special and this proves to be a good choice. Most amps let the guitar sound ring through really nicely, so plug a shitty guitar into this thing and that'll be exactly what you hear. The Matchless emulation (my personal favourite) has guitar tone coming through even at full blast with OD and compression at max. Brilliant!
There's a couple of things I'd like to see changed. The price of the floorboard for one, although I love the way it's connected (throught one single UTP network cable!) and the optical controls on the wah & vol.
But these are things to look into, Line6:
- Some amp combo's are much, much louder than others. I know that's this is the most realistic, but it's hardly practical.
- Some options are only accessible through midi, but I'd like to see these editable from the panel. Especially: vol pedal pre/post preamp, reverb type and noise gate threshold.
The thing is built really sturdily. I've been using it on the road for one and a half year and it hasn't failed me yet (knock on wood). I've built it into an SKB case, of course.
The red anodized aluminium front panel scratches a bit easily, but hey... Nothing lasts forever. It's well-built enough, with switches and connectors of good brands (Neutrik for instance).
The floor board is equally well-built and will last for ages, I'm sure. Like I said earlier, the wah and vol are optical controls, so no need to carry contact cleaner around.
In short: I really, really like the Pod Pro. It works perfectly in the studio as well as on stage, although you need a whole new set of patches for that, so get yourselves a midi cable and install SoundDiver!
So, bottom line: Very, very nice piece of equipment, and I can really recommend it to any guitar player, pro or amatuer. Inspite of some minor flaws I'll give it a five out of five.
This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com