[Michael]

Good post, Joe. This will come in handy with my new-ish PODxt, as I'm still getting the hang of it.

[nitelightboy]

Absolutely right Stuart.....Sorry, I'm half asleep this morning

[nitelightboy]

Originally Posted by Michael

Good post, Joe. This will come in handy with my new-ish PODxt, as I'm still getting the hang of it.

I think I may do something more specific for the POD XT series over the weekend. Stay tuned

[Christopher]

As a modeler man myself, I applaud your tips.

Here's a few I found important:

1. Tweak your patches at the volume you intend to use them at. Modelers seem to get pounded by the FM curves worse than tube amps (IMHO). There's nothing like tweaking out a killer patch in the bedroom and then taking it out live and having it go to shit at volume.

2. Learn to use EQ's properly. Learn the terminology and the various techniques (like boost and sweep). You can do a lot to EQ out some of the common modeler faults (buzzing, flub, etc).

3. Buy the best modeler you can afford and keep up with the changes in the technology. Modeling is technology just like any other computer that grows. Look out for software updates and leaps and bounds in ideology. Bottom line: NOT ALL MODELERS ARE CREATED EQUAL. They all have their strengths and weaknesses and some are vastly better at certain tones that others.

Oh yeah, when you get serious grab an Axe Fx and you won't have to stress or tweak nearly as much!

[Rick]

I don't know how I missed this, but Joe did a nice job on it.

[djpharoah]

This is definitely a great resource.

However I would like to add that to get the "best" tone out of your modeler, IMO, you need to plug your modeler into a Full-Range/Flat-Response amplifier. What happens is that guitar speakers in cabs/combos aren't full range speakers and are focused in the midrange which is where the guitar excels.

Full-Range/Flat-response amps are powered monitors, keyboard amplifiers and PA systems. These speakers are full range too letting your modeler ring out with great tone.

I have tried this out on various keyboard amps and I have to say it really does sound much better. Also some guitar amps are really great in that their pre-amps can be bypassed and their speakers are full range and very close to flat response. These include the Roland JC-120, certain Roland Cubes (10" or higher) and a few Randalls (according to the GC guy). These are the ones I know off and there might be more.

Just thought I would let you guys know about this.

[Rick]

Once I get my cabinet, I'll hook up my amp to it and use the Line 6 Edit to get the tone I'm looking for.

[FoxZero]

Good stuff dude! However I noticed this right when I'm going to sell my POD. I am still a fan of modelers, but me and tubes just get along better (now that I can afford one).

[nitelightboy]

Originally Posted by FoxZero

I am still a fan of modelers, but me and tubes just get along better (now that I can afford one).

I know what you mean. I bought my first tube a few months ago and have been totally loving it. Although the best tone I get is using my XTL going into the effects loop return and just using the amps power tubes to sweeten up the XTL.

[Scali]

I personally created a tone by taking a Marshall TSL ampmodel, which has quite some gain, but is too bass-heavy/muddy by itself to really do hi-gain/metal stuff. It's more of a vintage blues type of voicing.
So I placed an eq in front of the ampmodel, and boosted the treble going into the preamp section. Then I could get a nice hi-gain sound with relatively little gain on the TSL itself, and have a tight and snappy bass response, while still having a warm and soulful tone in the upper registers, and tons of harmonics to boot.

This is more or less what certain overdrive pedals do aswell, especially if you set their gain low, their output high, and their tone to max treble.

I stole this 'treble boost' idea from Brian May, who demonstrated his treble boost pedal on his Vox AC30. It really opened my eyes. The AC30 by itself is not a hi-gain amp at all, and sounds very 'woolly' when turned up. The treble booster mutated the amp into a killer rock/metal amp with tons of punch and singing lead tone with clarity and punch.