Bass Pod ?

[Guest]

I have the Pod Pro. Thinking about the Bass Pod. Any input would be appreciated. By the way, It would be used mainly for recording.

[Ed Friedland]

The Pod Pro is the rack mount unit correct?

[Guest]

The Pod Pro is the rack version. I've been pretty happy with it so far. I have to get a midi converter for my computer so I can do more patch editing. I was able to get a pretty nice Bass tone with the Fender Blackface Twin amp model, but am also wondering what you guys thought about the Bass Pod.

[Guest]

Steve, thanks for the reply. The Pod Pro(guitar) also has the unprocessed guitar out jack . I always record unprocessed and processed signals when tracking guitar and bass. Just trying to get a good performance and sort it all out later.

[sbrock1san.rr.com]

The Pod Pro is the rackmount version of the Pod and is mainly for 6-string guitar but it works pretty well for keyboards, bass or even mangling drum samples. The Bass Pod is also available in the cheaper, tabletop version and as Bass Pod Pro. (rackmount)

 

The Bass Pod Pro offers an effects loop, has a separate line out that can feed a monitor in a live situation, has XLR balanced connectors.

 

I bought the less expensive version because I didn't care about an effects loop or the other added features. The variety of effects are good but not very programmable unless you use the Emagic software that comes with the unit.

 

I've only been playing bass for a short time so I'm NOT the right person to ask about the sound quality. I will say that it is extremely easy to get a great sound by going through the presets and just turning a couple of knobs. The compressor works well and I just love the distortion effects, especially the one modeled after the RAT.

 

One nice feature the Bass Pod has is the direct output. It is just the direct bass sound (no effects) and you can use both it and the main output at the same time and record on two tracks. Then you can blend the two or even re-amp the direct out part if you are unhappy with the bass sound. That feature alone makes the Bass Pod better than using the guitar Pod for bass.

[dude_dup3]

I had to be physically dragged away from the BassPod Pro demo station at NAMM. Don't ask me how it works all I know is is a ton of fun to mess with!

[lrbreez]

I really like the Bass POD alot. The Silverface Bassman was modeled with 2 15"JBLs. It has that edge that JBLs gave Fender Bassmans.

 

One big advantage that the Bass POD has is you can crank up the sound up and overdrive the bass amp to the max on a song and then on the next song turn it down and its back to the sound that you had before you cranked it up. If you do that with a real bass amp you would have to get your speakers reconed or retube your amp to get back to a clean sound.

Buddy

[g.]

I'm partial to the Peavey TubeFEX. It takes a knack to get the sounds you want for bass since the preamp EQ was voiced for guitar. But it shreds when it comes to distortions and overdrive. Most of the effects are top- notch when you find the right settings, though the compressor is a bit *ahem* limited ; }

 

So far the modeling units kind of miss the boat when it comes to accounting for the fact that playing through an Eden or SWR cab is not going to get compensated for when you have SVT dialed up. But they do sound good.

 

<-- greenboy ---<<<<

[Guest]

Greenboy. Thanks for the reply. I have a TubeFex in my guitar rig,and have used it with pretty good results. The biggest drawback IMO is in the variety of tones . Even though there are three voicings, it is still only one pre-amp. I was hoping that the Bass Pod would give me more usable choices. I do appreciate the input.

[g.]

BTW, get the upgrade for TFEX - it takes it up a couple of notches.

 

If you are only getting three basic bass sounds out of it, or three types of tone,

you are not digging in. It takes programming I am sorry to say. Well, not really - I enjoy coming up with MY thing and getting my hands dirty too! : }

 

The Pod thing is a different philosophy.

 

<-- greenboy ---<<<<   back in my day using presets on ANYTHING was lame, dadgummit, sonny! ; }

[Ed Friedland]

The only hands on experience I have with modeling technology is the effects card in my Roland VS880. I'm very impressed with what it does with guitar (yeah, I've been playing for 31 years but I still SUCK) and the few bass specific patches work well, but it strikes me as more useful for recording. I think Greenboy's assertion about dialing up an SVT but running it through an Eden or SWR live makes sense. I think if I was going to really take advantage of a Pod type device for live playing, I'd just want to run direct to the house and have my own monitor mix.

[g.]

Ed Friedland :

I think greenboy's assertion about dialing up an SVT but running it through an Eden or SWR live makes sense. I think if I was going to really take advantage of a Pod type device for live playing, I'd just want to run direct to the house and have my own monitor mix.

 

I've taken a similar approach: my bass rig (I'm working toward a smaller, lighter one too, like a Euphonic or Acme) includes an Ampeg Extreme 1832 cabinet. This was designed in conjunction with Victah Wooten after he showed up for a clinic where they never supplied a bass cab, so he ended up playing through a high-spec PA.

 

He liked the full-range clarity and non-humpy response so he got together with Ampeg to make a design that was made for bass but had the flatter response, and thus the 1832 was born.

 

It really does sound like it was intended to: good dispersion, no mid-bass boomy resonant hump, even response from the 18 to the two tens, two-6.5s, and the standard bullet tweeter (these horns sound much better crossed over at a high frequency!). Effects are relatively uncolored and speak with clarity in all ranges, and if you design an EQ curve, it is not so affected by typical cabinet coloration. Pretty studio!

 

So, in effect, with any of the named cabinets, one has an onstage monitor system (that also does true low end, unlike some wedges), one that is eminently suited to reproduce any sound one dials up, and will leverage (and also expose any fallibility) of a unit that does cabinet/mic' modeling.

 

This approach is not for everyone: to get some of the trad electic bass sounds, one has to know how to EQ a fitting response curve, or have a modeling unit that does it well. For players with versatile preamps using various effects, it is awesome, and if you like the innate sound of your bass alone, it will reveal that sound in all its glory, and allow you to sculpt it.

 

<-- greenboy ---<<<<   now to get that in a smaller package when I don't need to bury marshalls and drums ; }

[Ed Friedland]

>>>now to get that in a smaller package when I don't need to bury marshalls and drums<<

 

I think EA is one company that is fullfilling the desire for small, high power, audiophile response. Which makes me think it's a good new topic to open up.

[gmstudio99]

I've had a Guitar POD for a few months now and purchased a Bass POD on the strengths of the Guitar version. The bass POD, IMO, is even better than I anticipated. I used to use a P Deluxe, a MIA Jazz, and a Deluxe Jazz to get all the tones I wanted, now I've simplified everything down to just the MIA Jazz and the Bass POD.

 

I'm not one of those amp guys that will compare every detail of a particular amp model to its original source. I wouldn't know if the Eden mod sounds just like an Eden or not. All I know is that this black box contains dozens of very useful tones that stand on their own quite well, regardless of what they're trying to emulate.

 

FWIW, I haven't used any of the presets and have tended to favor the manual operation. Also, I've explored the effects, but probably won't use those either. It's become an integral part of my rig for both stage and studio and I can't imagine not using it.

 

Paul

[Randyland]

I have both the POD and Bass POD (although I'm in the middle of upgrading both to the Pro versions). I absolutely love the Bass POD. It has saved us so many times when a guy comes into the studio with his broken down combo amp with a torn surround, or just a crappy sounding amp in general (no names will be mentioned to protect the offending manufacturers). I've also used it live as both a frontend to my live rig, and also using it direct into the board and monitoring through inears (not as bad as you may think, just get good two-way earpieces). Anyway, I say go for it!

[Oli P]

I have had the Bass POD for a while now, and must say that it sounds great.

But the delay or latency bothers me a bit.

 

I am looking forward to a Bass Amp farm plug-in for Pro Tools, especially because I have far better DI's than the one in the POD, and converters too.

 

The Amp farm plug-in sounds a lot better then the regular POD...when you have great DI's and converters. The tone is just much fuller and detailed.

 

But then again, the Bass POD costs less than some of my DI's...

[sbrock1san.rr.com]

I've never read about any latency problems using a Pod or Bass Pod.