4stringheavy Posted December 6, 2009 Share Posted December 6, 2009 I am planning on purchasing the Line 6 Bass Floor Pod. It seems to have good reviews and alot on it that would take the place of expensive single pedals. Was just looking for some input from other bass players out there that may have tried it or know about it. THanks. http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j214/jkrmk/479872.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scarredbass Posted December 6, 2009 Share Posted December 6, 2009 I don't know about the line 6 but I have used other processors like this and still do. They are really cool to get some effected sounds from on a budget or to conserve floor space. What I have found is they all lack the capabilities to fine tune like a stomp box and I go back to my box of tricks for some specific pedals. If you just want a bag of tricks in one box than this would be a good buy but if you want a very specific sound I would suggest individual pedals. They all have their ups and downs. Go to the local music store and try all the processors out (Boss, Digitech, Korg, Line 6 etc.) and play with them all for a while and find the one you like best. I would definately save enough for a separate wah pedal though because I have not seen one processors that can replicate a good wah. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanYmaL X Posted December 6, 2009 Share Posted December 6, 2009 Line 6 stuff is great, I use a Pod X3 Live for bass as well as electric and acoustic guitar and vocals. I love it, and had a PODxt Live before that. The Floor Pod series is very cut down, still has good sounds but it doesn't quite have same quality, construction-wise as well tone-wise as the big boys. My recommendation would be to hold out for a used Bass PODxt 'Bean' (with floorboard) or a Bass PODxt Live... the original Bass Pod is pretty good, too. There are usually some deals on craigslist. The BOSS ME50B is another good one, and for quality bass effects and features I would stick with either of those two brands. They seem to make the best bass oriented gear, as opposed to guitar gear that has been tweaked a little. You can find a used BOSS GT6B for a good price these days as well. The individual stompbox option is not a bad way to go, either, though. You can find used pedals for good prices if you look around, and for bass you don't need a huge pedalboard, just a tuner, a couple good effects and maybe a power source. As scarredbass said above, one of the drawbacks of the all-in-one route is the individual effects are not as fine-tunable. especially on the fly. You need to be able to sit down, set it up and take the time to configure your patches to your liking, and they may need to be tweaked often as the venue or your rig changes. Line 6 is by far the best as far as user interface and tweakability go, though. DX Aerodyne Jazz Deluxe Pod X3 Live Roland Bolt-60 (modified) Genz Benz GBE250-C 2x10 Acoustic 2x12 cab Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanYmaL X Posted December 6, 2009 Share Posted December 6, 2009 (FWIW most of the wahs on my X3 live are outstanding... but the older versions, not so much) DX Aerodyne Jazz Deluxe Pod X3 Live Roland Bolt-60 (modified) Genz Benz GBE250-C 2x10 Acoustic 2x12 cab Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicklab Posted December 7, 2009 Share Posted December 7, 2009 I tried out the Bass Pod XT Live. It was definitely pretty cool and got a lot of classic sounds. Live 6 definitely has amp simulation down pretty well. Haven't tried this one just yet. But I've tried to stay away from most of these all in one kind of pedals. There always seems to be some kind of compromise when you're dealing with a multi-effects unit. What's cool though is now you can get a standalone amp simulator if that's what you're really after. Tech 21 is now offering one called the VT Bass SansAmp Character Series Bass Pedal. It's been getting some pretty good reviews over at Talk Bass, but it's pricier than the unit you're looking at. But it is a standalone pedal that is set up to do one thing well. Obligatory Social Media Link "My concern is, and I have to, uh, check with my accountant, that this might bump me into a higher, uh, tax..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b5pilot Posted December 7, 2009 Share Posted December 7, 2009 I've tried them and the sounds aren't too bad. The one thing I'm not crazy about with these kind of pedals is that you have to pan up and down to select the sound you want. It makes it a pain in the a$$ to do effects on the fly during a song. I would much preffer a multi effects pedal that has switches on it that I can program to work like like individual stomp boxes or combine effects. Whichever I need. That would be the hot setup in my opinion. Lydian mode? The only mode I know has the words "pie ala" in front of it. http://www.myspace.com/theeldoradosband Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul K Posted December 7, 2009 Share Posted December 7, 2009 Does the Floor Pod have a hot enough output to drive a power amp like the Sansamp pedals do? Things are just the way they are, and they're only going to get worse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
picker Posted December 7, 2009 Share Posted December 7, 2009 As far as the Floor Bass POD is concerned, the most annoying issue I can foresee is not having the ability to make changes to the patches on the fly with any ease. Room sound differs from place to place, and the relative levels and settings on F/X need to be adjusted if you don't wanna sound bad. On a multi-F/X, you have to call up menus and scroll through them, making changes as you go, and that gets to be a drag after a while. With a Bass POD XT or X3(bean, Live or Pro), you can store settings from various places in your computer if you play in the same rooms a lot. Then you can load them from the computer and go, hopefully with the settings you need to get your sound there. I'm not sure if you can do that on the Floor POD series or not. I do agree with DanYmaL X, the construction looks kinda cheesy, being made of plastic and all. If you play out a lot in different places, you're asking for trouble if you go with moving parts made of plastic. If it's for one location, your studio, practice room, any place it'll get light use, it would probably be okay. Since I joined a blues band, I'm finding that I want a more pure signal, with lots of low-end punch. Believe me, I'm not really any sort of purist, and I have always gotten a certain amount of inspiration out of F/X. But for what I'm doing these days, F/X are more trouble than they are worth. If I was doing a different type of gig, I'd probably get back into them. For now, I'm happy with nothing but a cable from my bass into my amp, and it's the first time in a very long time I could say that truthfully. But if I were to bring my fretless in, a little chorus or flange brings out that MMWAH so nice... Always remember that you are unique. Just like everyone else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scarredbass Posted December 7, 2009 Share Posted December 7, 2009 What's cool though is now you can get a standalone amp simulator if that's what you're really after. Tech 21 is now offering one called the VT Bass SansAmp Character Series Bass Pedal. It's been getting some pretty good reviews over at Talk Bass, but it's pricier than the unit you're looking at. But it is a standalone pedal that is set up to do one thing well. On that note....if you are just looking for an amp simulator without effects Tech21 is definately worth looking into. I use a sansamp RBI and that thing is AMAZING. You literally can get any sound you are lookin for. Don't know about the character series but I am sure they put they same quality in it as the RBI. It sounds like you are more into finding an effects pedal than an amp sim though. Definately think about getting one made of metal...one rough gig and plastic is broke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanYmaL X Posted December 7, 2009 Share Posted December 7, 2009 The Floor Pod is definitely NOT a road-worthy piece of gear. I'd take my X3L anywhere... it is solid and heavy duty... the xtL was even more so, in my opinion. As far as output, it does have a switchable output level for direct(line) and amp levels... I'm pretty sure all pods do, since they are essentially designed to be DI boxes with extras. These days, I think most multieffects are built that way... so yes, it can drive a power amp, and does it fairly well. I've used a Pod 2.0 straight into a pair of 300W powered JBL's and it sounded great. I believe the floor pods are all designed around the Pod 2.0 engine, which isn't as robust as the xt or X3, and I've found that a lot of the effects and models are not as good as the original Pod. Even if all you are looking for is gear for your home studio or practice room, I would still recommend one of the options in my earlier post... it will last you longer and serve you better in the long run. In my opinion the Floor Pod series are about equal to Zoom or Digitech's stuff. Geared towards low budget, beginner to early intermediate players who don't really know what they are looking for in an effects rig yet, and as an affordable entry into the multieffects realm. As with any tool, instrument or what-have-you, you are better off not just getting the best you can afford, but holding out just a little more for even better. You buy a cheap set of dollar-store wrenches and you'll invariably end up replacing them several times over as they wear out or break, as opposed to buying a good set of quality tools that will last a lifetime when taken care of properly... same goes for shoes, cars, gear etc. As far as b5's suggestion, the BOSS ME50B is pretty close to that, and Line 6 does have a couple for guitar that do exactly what he's suggesting... and there are a couple of old analog Ibanez (70's-80's, UE- series) rigs designed that way, too- great units if you can find one. Disclaimer* FWIW,YMMV,IMHO, etc... DX Aerodyne Jazz Deluxe Pod X3 Live Roland Bolt-60 (modified) Genz Benz GBE250-C 2x10 Acoustic 2x12 cab Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4stringheavy Posted December 12, 2009 Author Share Posted December 12, 2009 Thanks for all your inputs. The main thing I like about the floor pod is the envelope filter. When I'm slappin its got a real cool sound to it on some of the funk songs I do. I agree with all of you about not needing a lot of effects for the bass. The only things I have now is a distortion pedal and a tuner pedal. Might be better just to buy the Q-tron env.filter pedal that I have always wanted to get. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveC Posted December 12, 2009 Share Posted December 12, 2009 The main thing I like about the floor pod is the envelope filter. When I'm slappin its got a real cool sound to it on some of the funk songs I do. I agree with all of you about not needing a lot of effects for the bass. The only things I have now is a distortion pedal and a tuner pedal. Might be better just to buy the Q-tron env.filter pedal that I have always wanted to get. I think you may be right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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