Brief Contents

Welcome This guide is not designed to be read front to back, and it is not a light read. If you are new to this guide, I suggest looking at the introduction section before proceeding. If you are looking for quick tips or troubleshooting advice, I recommend you go to the quick guide or troubleshooting pages. Each section is relatively-independent of the others and are linked when there are cross-references. It is best used as an on-hand reference for any given task you are attempting to accomplish with the Pod. For a more general FAQ, see this helpful link provided by Line 6. Also available in the following printable formats: .pdf/Acrobat .docx/Word Brief Contents I. Introduction II. Quick Guide III. Guitar Setup IV. Pod Setup V. Amp/Distortion Tone VI. Cab/Mic Tone VII. EQ VIII. Tips and Pitfalls IX. Troubleshooting Guide X. FAQ and Links XI. Wishlist XII. Effects XIII. Glossary XIV. Change Log Appendices MeAmBobbo Pod HD Guide Full Contents I. Introduction Section Overview II. Quick Guide A. Quirks B. Patch Building Tips C. High Gain Amp Round-Up D. Cab/Mic Round-Up E. Pre-EQ'ing a Distortion Tone F. Distortion Effect Round-Up G. Gain Staging H. EQ Effect Round-Up I. Top Ten Tweaks J. Killing Fizz K. Mids for Metal L. Dual Cabs M. Noise Gate Usage N. Amp DEP's O. Cab DEP's P. Output Modes Q. Input Settings 2 MeAmBobbo Pod HD Guide III. Guitar Setup A. New Strings B. String Gauge C. Action D. Fret Buzz E. Intonation F. Pickups o i. Single-Coil vs. Humbuckers o ii. Pickup Position o iii. Signal-to-Noise Ratio o iv. Frequency Response o v. Actives vs. Passives o vi. All about Blackouts o vii. Pickup height on passives o viii. Pickup height on actives o ix. Pickup Suggestions G. Bridge H. Nut I. Body/Fretboard/Tuners/Neck-through/etc. 3 MeAmBobbo Pod HD Guide IV. Pod Setup A. Understanding Output Modes o i. Simple Guide for Settings o ii. Where Confusion Sets In o iii. Global EQ o iv. Live-Voiced Cabs o v. Cab/Mic Simulation o vi. Bass-Boost o vii. Output Mode Feature Chart B. Internal Signal Routing C. Running "direct" (PA/board/computer or DAW/monitors/headphones) o i. Simple method (no real amp) o ii. Using a real amp as a pre-amp D. Running to an amp ("live") o i. Amp without effects loop o ii. Pod as Effects Only after pre-amp o iii. Simple setup for amp with effects loop o iv. 4 Cable Method E. I Tried This and It Doesn't Sound Good F. Dual Outputs G. Wet/Dry/Wet Output H. Using Multiple Instruments I. Input Settings J. The FX Loop K. The Mixer Block L. Effects Order/Position M. Gain Staging o i. Principle o ii. Practice 4 MeAmBobbo Pod HD Guide V. Amp/Distortion Tone Distortion Types/Overview B. Pre-EQ'ing o i. Frequency Chart C. Gain Staging/Layering Distortions D. High-Gain Amps o i. Park 75 o ii. Plexi Bright o iii. JCM-800 o iv. Uberschall o v. Dual Rectifier o vi. Fireball o vii. Elektrik o viii. Dual Rectifier "Pre" o ix. SLO Overdrive o x. Doom o xi. Epic E. Distortion Effects o i. Tube Drive o ii. Screamer o iii. Classic Distortion o iv. Overdrive o v. Facial Fuzz o vi. Line 6 Distortion o vii. Line 6 Drive o viii. Others F. Power Amp DEP's G. Dual Amps H. "Full" vs. "Pre" I. The Elusive Pure Clean Tone J. Noise Gates 5 MeAmBobbo Pod HD Guide VI. Cabs and Mics A. Cab/Mic Overview B. Cab Selection for Direct Tones o i. My Favorites o ii. General Tips o iii. Hiway 4x12 o iv. Tread V-30 4x12 o v. XXL V-30 4x12 o vi. Greenbacks 4x12 o vii. Uber 4x12 o viii. Brit-T75 4x12 C. Cab Selection for Live Tones D. Mic Selection o i. SM57 On/Off Axis o ii. Dynamic Mics o iii. Condenser Mics o iv. Ribbon Mics E. Dual Cabs o i. Introduction o ii. Getting the Patch Ready o iii. Phase Correction o iv. EQ'ing the Tone o v. Other Amp Settings o vi. E.R. Settings o vii. DSP Management o viii. My Favorite Combinations F. Cab DEP's G. E.R. 6 MeAmBobbo Pod HD Guide VII. EQ A. Classifying the Frequency Spectrum B. How to EQ a Hard Rock Tone C. The Pod HD's EQ Effects o i. Graphic EQ o ii. Parametric EQ o iii. Studio EQ o iv. 4 Band Shift EQ o v. Mid-Focus EQ o vi. Q Filter D. EQ'ing your Patch E. Fizzy Spots 7 MeAmBobbo Pod HD Guide VIII. Tips and Pitfalls Tips :-) A. Tone Matching B. Branching/Evolving Patches C. Setlist Tips D. Effect Switching/Tips E. Recording Tips F. Monitoring G. DSP Allocation/Advice H. Mesa/Boogie Mark II/IV tone I. Clean Boost J. Leveling Patches Pitfalls :-( K. Clarifying Confusing Volume Controls o i. The Pad Switch o ii. The MASTER Knob o iii. Ch. Vol./VOLUME Knob o iv. Mixer Levels o v. The Master DEP L. Clipping Guide o i. Input Clipping o ii. Signal Clipping o iii. Effects Clipping o iv. Clipping External Devices o v. "Digital" Clipping (Crossover Distortion) on "Full" Amp Models M. Bad Monitoring o i. Acoustic Tone o ii. Bad Monitors o iii. Bad Room o iv. Low Volume N. Wrong Output Mode O. Gain Staging P. Outside vs. Inside a Mix Q. Using Others' Patches 8 MeAmBobbo Pod HD Guide IX. Troubleshooting Guide A. Too much noise B. Tone is fizzy C. Tone is harsh D. Tone has digital clipping E. Tone is muffled F. Distortion is muddy/fuzzy/farty G. Distortion is dirty/gritty H. Tone is thin I. Software Knobs move on their own J. I'm Getting DSP Limit Reached Errors X. FAQ and Links A. Frequently Asked Questions o i. Tone o ii. Output/Routing o iii. Usage o iv. Compatibility/Hardware o v. Misc B. Links o i. General o ii. Forums o iii. Pod HD Reference Material o iv. Guides o v. Patches o vi. Site Artwork 9 MeAmBobbo Pod HD Guide XI. Wish List A. Output Modes, Cabs, and IR's B. Amps C. Utilities D. Routing E. EQ's F. Footswitches/Controls/Midi G. Effects H. DSP Saving Features I. Devkit XII. Effects A. Preferred Effects o i. Chorus o ii. Flangers o iii. Compressors o iv. Reverb o v. Delay o vi. Pre-EQ B. Dialing in the Flangers C. Substitutes D. Ordering 10 MeAmBobbo Pod HD Guide XIII. Glossary C. Tone-Based Terms o i. Tone A. Signal-Based Terms o ii. Fizz o i. Clipping o iii. Buzz o ii. Distortion o iv. Grinding o iii. Signal o v. Crunchy o iv. Noise o vi. Chunky/Punchy o v. Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) o vii. Fuzzy o vi. Impedance o viii. Cold o vii. Signal Chain o ix. Warm o viii. Mono o x. Hot o ix. Stereo o xi. Dry o x. Field o xii. Wet o xi. Balance o xiii. Dark o xii. Pan o xiv. Bright B. EQ-Based Terms o xv. Smooth o i. Frequency Response o xvi. Squishy/Saturated o ii. Equalization/EQ o xvii. Djenty o iii. Filter o xviii. Splatty o iv. Band-Stop o xix. Crackly o v. Band-Pass o xx. Clanking o vi. Low/High Pass o xxi. Ice-Pick o vii. Shelf o xxii. Harsh o viii. Peak/Valley o xxiii. Muddy o ix. Q o xxiv. Thin o x. Cutoff o xxv. Brittle o xi. Parametric EQ o xxvi. Thick o xii. Graphic EQ o xxvii. High Gain o xiii. Notch EQ XIII. Change Log Appendix A – Line 6 Effect Processing Diagrams Appendix B - Line 6 Effect Processing Table Appendix C – Cabinet/Mic Phase Correction Timing Data Appendix D – DSP Usage of Effects 11 MeAmBobbo Pod HD Guide I. Introduction The purpose of this guide is to provide the details Line 6 didn't provide, mostly geared towards getting high gain tones with the Pod HD 500, which can take a ton of effort to properly dial in. It also applies to the Pod HD 300, 400, Desktop, and Pro; however, there may be a few things here and there impossible to do on the 300/400 (like using multiple effects), or that don't make sense on the Desktop. It may seem like I'm treading a lot of ground that the manuals covered, but while I'm covering the same topics, I'm providing details on these topics that were not clearly spelled out, which I've learned through personal experience or from other members on this forum. The Pod HD seems geared towards a wide variety of users. The high gain folks got some attention, but I don't think they got enough. I have absolutely ZERO patches that I find sound like a real mic'ed amp and cab that don't use numerous EQ effects and involve using different cab and mic models than the default for that amp model. People using the unit for different genres seem to have had a much different experience. Many reviews have mirrored this sentiment. Simply put, the default high gain settings sound more like a cheap modeler than a real amp. The tone is unbalanced, sounding muffled, harsh, fizzy, or simply lacking that rich quality that inspires awe.

Load more