The Watering Hole

I got it late last week.  Very limited time with it so far, but it can sound really good!  Lance sent me some patches that sound great.  Hans has done some that sound great.  I haven't even begun to explore it's capabilities.  It's almost overwhelming what all it can do.  

If any of you are considering one, I'd suggest downloading the POD HD 500 Edit from Line 6 and you can mess with it on your computer and see just what all thins thing can do.  Pretty incredible.  

I know, I know...  "pics! clips!"    ;)

Good luck with the new acquisition. Have fun with it.

HOLY CRAP!!!!  

Pretty cool, ain't they?

very cool!  I'm impressed!!!  

It still cracks me up to be playing along on the Dr. Z and turn the preset knob one notch and be on the Uber!   :o :)

Sometime plug it into the effects return of your amp directly and turn of the cab sims.  I did that with a Boogie patch I threw together and it is very respectable to the real deal.

Howie

Here's a new patch and soundclip.

http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=10298593

Patch.
http://line6.com/customtone/tone/210386/

Lance — Feb 19, 2011Howie

Here's a new patch and soundclip.

http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=10298593

Patch.
http://line6.com/customtone/tone/210386/

Nothing wrong with that tone in my book (or with the playing - a little pitchy around the 2:00 mark, but who cares, really?).

You've got good ears, Craig....true, the pitch was a bit off for a second or two at the 2:00 mark...but I got there in the end.  :)

Sounds good Lance.  I'll listen again from home with headphones.  

Are you going to put some of these in the FNJ section?

Sounds good Lance.

Thanks, Harv.

Howie.

I cant add the wah to the solo patch without everything f*cking up.
This patch works fine, but if I try save the wah to it something goes drastically wrong.

Like this with no wah it works fine.
http://line6.com/customtone/tone/210416/

Lance,

I'm still trying to learn now to switch a few patches I have from using the pedal as volume to using it as the wah.  I keep getting something wrong because it's doing both.  LOL   So when I rock the pedal, I get wah and volume changes.   :o

Lance told me when I bought the HD 500 that it was worth the price for the Dr. Z amp alone.  After some very minor tweaking last night to my stock Dr. Z patch, I think he's right.  I dropped a tube comp and 63 spring verb on it and put a Tube OD pedal on a switch to use for solos.  This thing sounds INCREDIBLE!  

The tone I'm using is not squeaky clean.  It does have a little hair on it.  It sounds extremely nice.  

I ran through the presets last night and started to add to the bare amp patches, adding comp, OD, verb etc to different ones.  I had a great patch going with the Vox AC15 sim, using a Tonebender fuzz for solo madness.  Very cool!  

The more I learn to use this thing, the more I like it.  Tweaking is EASY with the laptop hooked up and using Pod HD500 Edit.  

Nice job Lance!  

DTR - nice amp.  Now plug into the sound recorder on the PC or cell and post some clips!

doc — Apr 05, 2011DTR - nice amp.  Now plug into the sound recorder on the PC or cell and post some clips!

Yeah right!  ;D

ah, that one never gets old!   :)

you guys need to get one of these things!

They have them in the 'ol kidney bean version now as well.

CraigBert — Apr 13, 2011They have them in the 'ol kidney bean version now as well.

I'd be interested in the HD Bean. I got no use for the floor HD but my studio setup could use a better unit than the Tonelab table top. It all depends on the price and whether it has the harmony models.

I told myself I would never get sucked into this pod thing ever again, but my curiosity is beginning to get the better of me.

Are there any good recordings of it that anyone knows of because as usual, the line6 website demos leave a lot to be desired. I'm looking for that crunchy amp in a room sound but I've yet to find a modeller that can deliver that.

I am strong, I will resist !

Note sure I can resist any longer   :o

I find the best way to deal with temptation is to give in...  ;) :D

I have resisted.  I have circumnavigated the "I must have it" stage and am now confident that I don't need the fucking thing and will not waste any money on it.

Hoorah for sanity  ;D

I can resist modelers easy, although I might buy the HD Bean for recording only, as my Tonelab is a little long in the tooth.

Jon — Apr 18, 2011I have resisted.  I have circumnavigated the "I must have it" stage and am now confident that I don't need the fucking thing and will not waste any money on it.

Hoorah for sanity  ;D

oh, but you DO need one!   ;)

No I don't, but I might need the new tonelab  :P

My will power is not as strong as it once was, I just ordered the HD500 .... :)  After looking at many videos and sound clips it does indeed seem as if the touch sensitivity is there at last !   here we go again !

It seems that for the money it is the best modeler option Jon. Of course for 4 times the money they just came out with the Axe FX II which is supposed to have 2x the processing power.

desertbluesman — May 13, 2011It seems that for the money it is the best modeler option Jon. Of course for 4 times the money they just came out with the Axe FX II which is supposed to have 2x the processing power.

After having had an AxeFX I wouldbn't buy another, just didn't do it for me.  The main problem with the unit was that it had no knobs which made it very difficult and time consuming to dial-in a sound.

It will be interesting to see if I like the HD500 after playing with it next week.

Jon,

My free tip of the day...  Get the POD HD500 Edit now, and play with it while you wait for the unit.  With the HD 500 hooked up to a computer, using the Edit, it's very easy to do anything you want to and on a nice big screen.  

Also, most guys are throwing a comp in front of all the clean amps right off the bat.  Lance has both made some nice patches, and put up some nice ones made by others.  When you get yours, let me know and I'll send you a few basic patches I made.  

Howie,

I just downloaded the edit software, looks good but one big critisism, why the hell do they have to make it so small,  I can barely read the fucker even with glasses on !

by the way is there any software that enables you to record direct via usb like the toneport did with gearbox ?

Update came out yesterday too, i believe.  New models of some second channels and a new L6 orig  + new parameters.

Jon — May 13, 2011Howie,

I just downloaded the edit software, looks good but one big critisism, why the hell do they have to make it so small,  I can barely read the fucker even with glasses on !

You just need to make more screen real estate Jon!  :D

http://www.multi-monitors.com/

I don't really have the desk space for multi-monitors (especially not the size of the ones in your link:-) ) and the screen size of the software is fixed and I don't really want to change the screen resolution everytime I use it.  Windows magnifyer is crap...but there must be another magnifier program out there that will do the job.

I like the way that you can put eq anywhere in the signal chain, before the amp for example, and also that the effects loop can be placed anywhere in the chain too.  Should have some good fun with this....as long as I can see the fucking thing :-)

I'm going to be really pissed off if this thread ends with me buying a pod.  ;D

ironsheep — May 13, 2011I'm going to be really pissed off if this thread ends with me buying a pod.  ;D

Funny, that's pretty much how I feel....curiosity has got the better of me I'm afraid...Ho hum, it's a GAS life :-)

ironsheep — May 13, 2011I'm going to be really pissed off if this thread ends with me buying a pod.  ;D

LOL!    

ironsheep — May 13, 2011I'm going to be really pissed off if this thread ends with me buying a pod.  ;D

Hehehe! Must. Curtail. Gear. Spendage.  :)

Well, it has arrived today.  As usual, the standard patches suck big-time (I wonder why line6 can never create a decent patch?)

Anway, after a bit of fiddling about with the edit software it makes some very nice noises and it really is touch sensitive and is actually a pleasure to play.  Back off the volume and it cleans up, pick lightly and it cleans up, dig-in and it response as you would hope.  Very good all round.   I will re-string later this week and post some examples.  Happy so far.

Hey Jon, I seem to recall that Howie has some good patches from Lance and I'm sure that Andy would have a few killer ones if you dropped him a line.  :)

Jon, first things first, make sure it's the newest firmware (1.3)   The guys at TGP are saying it's a significant step for the better.  I just got it and haven't had a chance to try it.  

Also, I'm looking for your email to send you a few patches to try.  Looks like I lost mine during the upgrade, which is ok.  I'll redo a few and send them later.  There are some cool ones I can send you.  

Check your firmware and advise...  

Howie, the first thing I did when I plugged it in was update the firmware to the latest version.   I'm getting some great sounds by using different combinations of compressors and distortion stomps to get some interesting gain structures. Still very pleased so far !

Jon,

One of the things that seems almost universal is everyone throwing a comp in front of or behind almost every amp.  Yes, I said behind.  Pretty cool  if you take the tube comp and put it after the amp block.  On some of the clean to mid gain amps, it sounds better there than in front, and makes the amp respond more like it's cranked.  

Also, this new bias control is THE BOMB!!!!  Just like real amps, turning the bias up really wakes the amps up, AND you won't fry your tubes quickly by doing it on the POD!   ;)     Some guys are loving the Sag control.  I haven't had much time to work with it yet, but the bias control itself takes the HD 500 to another level!

Yes, the sag control is quite nice, similar to that on the Axe FX in fact.  Not sure about the bias as yet as I've not noticed much of a difference in any position on the bias.  which amp have you tried it with that is most noticeable as I would like to try the same one.

Jon, I tried it on the Twin, Dr Z, Boogie and on a couple dual amp patches.  Turn it up to 75-80% and see what you think.  

What are you doing with the sag control that you like?  

Also remember the newly added "master volume" control that is there with those two controls.  It allows the other Master to control volume, while this one adds "cranked master" type power tube saturation and compression.  Several guys have commented that between these three controls, amps that sounded "good" now can be made to sound "great."  Even in my limited experience with the upgrade, I see huge potential.  

My problem now, will be to discipline myself to stick with one amp for a week or two and just fine tune that stuff, without adding a bunch of effects etc.  I tend to flip through presets and most them slightly and play a bunch of different tones every time I fire up the POD.  I never seem to spend a whole session with one amp.  Most of the patches I will send you are named and someone else made them, but I have modded them from there.  

The sag control just gives that nice spongey feel that tube amps have.  The higher you turn the knob the more "spongeyness" you get :-)  

I'll give the Dr Z amp a go later as you suggested.  I will also pm my email address to you so you can send me the patches etc.

thanks

Jon

Here's a quick test using a patch I put together today.

Amp:  Divide 9/15  
Cab:  4x12 Blackback30
Mic: 67 condenser

I still haven't restrung the guitar yet (6 month old strings) so it doesn't sound as good as it could, but I quite like this sound. I was trying to get the Jimmy Page "live" tone.  Ears are a bit fried now so no idea really how close or otherwise this is.

I played this wet but recorded the amp dry from the fx-loop (just before the reverb) and then added a room in reaper.

Anyway, first test.