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[gtrmac]

You didn't mention what type of guitar you are using. I have a POD2 also and I've had good results with some of the settings with a Telecaster for bright sounds. I've used the Vox AC-30 simulation and the Twin Reverb. I find that the sounds need a little compression, eq and reverb after they have been recorded to sound more appealing. I am not too happy with the tone controls and reverb and compression in the POD.

[gizmohis.com]

The Pod sucks (just my opinion) for really clean sounds... I also have a Yamaha DG-Stomp, which is way better for squeaky clean, albeit a bit bright. Once you roll the highs and the presence back it's not bad. Alternative 2 (or would it be 3?) would be to get a good direct box. I have Countryman DI boxes which are active solid state devices. I also have a Demeter VTMP-2a

mic pre which has a high-z input. I find that I still need to EQ a bit w/ DI guitar to get what I want. I also have an old Groove Tube Trio pre-amp which I run thru an ADA cabinet simulator. The cab sim is OK, but the Trio straight into a compressor to tape can be instant Les Paul if I get it set right.

 

As a last resort you could always try miking a nice clean amp w/ a good mic. What a concept!

[Chip McDonald]

Originally posted by popmusic:

little bit chunky-sounding, but so far has been just OK with clean tones.

 

I think people in general probably don't expect that their impressions of recorded sound versus amp sound is probably duller than "reality". In the Real World you start off with a brighter sound than you get as the end result, and the POD gives you the End Result which (I've observed) makes people feel it's too dull; it's probably about right spectrally. I'm not George Massenburg though, so ask him - I'd be curious to hear his answer: does a POD put out enough upper harmonics by itself? I think it probably does, but...."?"

 

It seems to get a great midrange sound, but the top end generally sounds a little dull to me. (Boosting the high end in the POD usually results in a slightly shrill tone.)

 

I think they've done something a bit too much in the low mids, maybe like some expansion, to make it "feel" "right", that gives the impression that it may be a bit dull as well.

 

I notice when I start to play up in the higher frets on the lower strings, I start to get a lot closer to the kind of tone I'm looking for, so I'm wondering if a heavier gauge of strings would solve the problem.

 

No, but it sounds like you might want to try a wound G string, or a hollow body guitar.

 

I usually set the pickups to be on the next to the brightest setting, as the brightest sounds rather ugly on the lighter strings... When I

 

You actually probably need a pickup that has more mids to balance the range out across the neck. If you optimize for the low range that will happen. Guitar is always a compromise in that respect.

 

sounds like there's some sort of weird comb-filtering thing going on in the 4-5k range. (Is it possible I need better pickups, or is this normal behavior using the brightest pickup setting?)

 

Your "brightest setting" - does it combine pickups? Sounds like you're using an (in phase) pu combination.

 

I'd like to hear just enough chorus to give the guitar some presence, but not enough where the listener says, "Wow, that's some chorusing"

 

Don't chorus the direct sound, but chorus a delay so that you only get the effect when it blends.

 

(like the Smiths or the Cranberries)... Any suggestions for fairly

inexpensive processors with excellent chorusing effects?

 

Smiths - Boss CE2, set with the really conservative.... Cranberries sounds like maybe some sort of digital chorusing, probably any processor will do, don't set the di/fx ratio higher than about 18% and the modulation no greater than 40% (if drastically less than that....). No regeneration, either.

 

 

 

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New and Improved Music Soon: http://www.mp3.com/chipmcdonald

[Dylan]

Originally posted by gizmo@his.com:

The Pod sucks (just my opinion) for really clean sounds!

 

I also think that the POD is pretty poor in regards to it's clean sound. It just sounds to mid-rangy and unnatural for my needs. In fact, all of the Line 6 gear has that "honky" clean sound that I don't really dig. The Tech 21 Trademark 10 does a great job for recording direct for both clean and distorted sounds. The J-Station also seems to have better clean sounds, and the price has now dropped to only $149 on this unit as well.

 

-Dylan

[michael saulnier]

I'm a POD 2 user as well. One of the most vauluable things about the POD has been the huge number of patches available from other users. If you're using the MIDI connections and SoundDiver or PatchWizard software, you can download hundreds of patches from the web and demo and use them with your POD.

 

One of the best sets of patches is from AndyZ, the guy who formed the LA user group. Here's a link to his site.

 

http://listen.to/andyz

 

For clean patches I'd suggest downloading his "Eric Johnson" patches. I've found his ideas to be as good or better than the ones I've come up with on my own, and since they're free... well what the heck!

 

He also has some very nice overdriven patches with and without cabs...

 

For the clean Eric patches he typically has a chorus and non-chorus version so you can see what settings he selected for these.

 

If you don't use the MIDI software, let me know and I'll try to send you a parameter set that you can setup manually... but you should get the software... It makes you POD way more useful.

 

One other tip. I find that by running my POD output into a Art Tube MP before sending the signal to the PA or recorder seems to "smooth" the sometimes brittle highs a little and tends to give me a little better dynamic response, especially for clean sounds. If you have access to a tube pre you might try it and see if it helps to give you a better sound.

 

guitplayer

[strat0124]

Sounds like a great candidate for re-amping, via a Bellari tube pre or the Lexicon variation. hehehehehe

[Beagle1]

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Hey Gizmo, tell me a little more about your GT Trio preamp if you wouldn't mind. I saw a used one at a local store the other day and I'm thinking about adding it to my arsenal. I'm pretty well covered with British-type sounds (Marshall, Lexicon 284) but I'm looking for something that does the Fender thang really well. I remember reading a review of the Trio in GP ages ago where they said it had some really stellar clean sounds. Thanks!

[gizmohis.com]

It has (as you might have guessed) 3 channels.

"Clean" is blackface Fender w/ lots of headroom - very hard to make it break up. "Mean" is a somewhat high gain version of a tweed Bassman (w/ cathode follower) - it's a pretty controllable distortion that cleans up as you turn the guitar down. "Scream" is high gain Marshall - actually a lot nicer than most of the high gain Marshalls I've played. There's a mod that I did (factory designed - standard on later versions) that runs the "Clean" channel into the "Scream" channel. It actually allows for a cleaner distorted sound - I found my "John Scofield" sound w/ this setting. The Trio is well made w/ high quality parts. I used to use it onstage w/ a GT D-5 power amp and a motley collection of speakers, but it just got to be too much stuff to haul and now I have a Bruno Underground 30 which makes me pretty happy...

 

Originally posted by tthoyt@hotmail.com:

<>

 

Hey Gizmo, tell me a little more about your GT Trio preamp if you wouldn't mind. I saw a used one at a local store the other day and I'm thinking about adding it to my arsenal. I'm pretty well covered with British-type sounds (Marshall, Lexicon 284) but I'm looking for something that does the Fender thang really well. I remember reading a review of the Trio in GP ages ago where they said it had some really stellar clean sounds. Thanks!