Best piece of equpment you've ever ha...

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Author Message Techiewannabe (Techiewannabe) Posted on Thursday, March 20, 2003 - 5:20 pm:    That is the question......what is the best piece of guitar related equipment you've ever owned whether it be a guitar or effect i want to know. For me thus far it would have to be my boss overdrive pedal....the only thing that can make my fender stagemaster sound worth the shit. I think i need to switch to a tube amp because it seems that no matter what i do i just can't hit those screaching highs. Mr_Roadstar (Mr_Roadstar) Posted on Thursday, March 20, 2003 - 7:14 pm:    Hmm... I'd have to say my Line6 POD. Without it, I'd have to go buy a VOX AC-30, a Budda Superdrive, a Marshall Plexi & JCM800, a Soldano SLO, 2-3 cabinets, and a butt-load of effects. Cheers Steve Techiewannabe (Techiewannabe) Posted on Thursday, March 20, 2003 - 8:48 pm:    is the pod like a multi-effects processor then? i'm trying to get new ideas cause the selection of equipment in my area is limited and you can't exactly test stuff before you buy it online Mr_Roadstar (Mr_Roadstar) Posted on Tuesday, March 25, 2003 - 3:49 pm:    The Line6 web site can explain the POD much better than I. http://www.line6.com/products.asp?ID=75&action=1&item=103&tp=0 I prefer not to think of it as an effects unit as it basically replaces everything between the guitar and the mixer input. If you must run it through an amp, I've found it works best if the amp has flat response curve. A keyboard amp works very well. Cheers Steve Techiewannabe (Techiewannabe) Posted on Wednesday, March 26, 2003 - 12:26 pm:    What does the pod run for? I'll have to try one out if i'm given the opportunity, various amp modelings is another reason i bought my rp200 but it does a very poor job of this, the stack sounds like shit, the rectifier sounds the exact same and everything else is even worse yet. I wouldn't face the same dissapointment with the pod would i? Mr_Roadstar (Mr_Roadstar) Posted on Wednesday, March 26, 2003 - 6:23 pm:    If you expect the EXACT same feel and sound profile as the real thing, you may be disappointed with an amp modeler. However, IMHO the versatility and ease of use more than makes up for any deficiencies. I love the tones I can get out of my POD. And I get compliments from other players too. Yes, if I had the funds, I'd like to have the real amps. But, it's just not practical. To duplicate my POD patches, I'd need 7 different amps, several different cabinets, and several effects boxes. You'll read a lot of "digital modeling sucks" type reviews. Personally, I think the majority of that is operator error. POD requires tweaking and a working knowledge of the beast. I've spent countless hours tweaking patches to get what I want. Now, I seldom mess with the 20 or so I have saved. Another point that seems to be overlooked, POD can produce great tone at LOW VOLUME! Great tube amp tone is achieved by driving the power tubes into distortion. That requires that the amp be LOUD. Not a problem if you're playing in an arena. Otherwise it's a real headache. No, I don't work for Line6. And no, I'm not trying to defend digital modeling against it's detractors. It works for me. YMMV Oh yeah, POD is $249 at the local Guitar Center. The new PODxt is $399. POD Pro (rackmount, additional features) is $599. Cheers Steve Fredb (Fredb) Posted on Saturday, March 29, 2003 - 8:15 pm:    I agree that multi-effects processors are almost indispensable tools now, a complaint IMHO is that they make you follow the same model the computing industry has, meaning every couple years there's a "breakthrough" which makes the earlier ones obsolete, and you have to buy new gear. Hearing about John S.'s RP-7 crapout story sort of underlines the point, so far I've gone through an RP-7, a Pandora, and a Boss GT-5. The RP-7 pretty much turned into a doorstop after going to the GT-5, and the Pandora has a couple interesting features to justify it (like built-in metronome, phrase trainer, etc.) which make it useful, but I think I'm a generation or two behind now. Another IMHO is that the effects processors eventually show their limitations, and your ears start picking up on the phony bits in the sound. For me, it's most noticeable as notes ring out and fade away, maybe it's something to do with the way overtones are handled, and my brain is picking up that something isn't entirely right. If anyone's done any research on this, or knows the internals of the technology, would be interested in hearing about it. The processed sound can be helped by just getting the output further away from my ears, by either driving my amps with them and/or turning off the speaker simulation. Regards, Fred Johns (Johns) Posted on Sunday, March 30, 2003 - 11:20 am:    Fred: Did your RP-7 have the same problem as mine? When you switch to another patch, the initial volume was always coming in a 100%, regardless of where the footpedal was set? Was the loss of the tube preamp in the RP-7 a big deal? Fredb (Fredb) Posted on Sunday, March 30, 2003 - 3:42 pm:    John, Mine started going flaky after I requested a chip update (from v1.0 to v1.03), since I read on the net that there was a fix related to the exp pedal. The long and short of it is that I had to revert to the original chip and reinit multiple times before getting it work correctly, and the calibration of the expression needed to be repeated at different intervals. I've been dealing with RAM, I/O, and chip replacements for computers for many years, so it wasn't due to any lack of due diligence on my part in handling the equipment (was grounded, working carefully, etc.). From what I recall (I'm sure it's also at one of the RP-7 sites as well), the chip fix was tied to situations when the exp pedal was equal to volume, so that the presets would follow it. This sounds pretty close to what you're saying here...I got the update back in '99 so not sure if it's still available though, and based on the bad chip they sent me would be careful in suggesting a swap out. Regards, Fred Techiewannabe (Techiewannabe) Posted on Tuesday, April 01, 2003 - 12:54 pm:    ok, here's a thought. What kind of amps/heads do you use with your processors? I'm on a new fender stagemaster 160 (2x12" celestions). In order to get any decent tones i really have to fiddle with both the amp and the processor's settings to get any decent tones. Has anyone heard anything at all about these amps. I've had it for about a year now and am still finding myself dissapointed and sometimes frustrated with this contraption. Also, How do head rigs setup in relation to amps and how could it affect my sound/tone? Bill Fredb (Fredb) Posted on Tuesday, April 01, 2003 - 3:09 pm:    Bill, I'm not out to bash DigiTech, but my problems with getting a bad chip from them turned me off on their products since then. My processors are a couple years old but it's either - GT-5 w/ no speaker sim --> JTM 45 combo - Pandora w/ or w/o speaker --> JTM 45 combo - either one with speaker sim --> ancient Yamaha solid-state amp I adjust a couple bands of EQ, but not many. Also recently picked up a cheapo Marshall MG-10 for lugging around the house, which was $70. For $70 it's an incredible amp.

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