The POD recording tips, tricks, and eq-ing thread

[Colton165]

Ok I figured out my problem headphones wise it was the adapter.

Now anyone able to help me get a decent lead tone. I mean most of the ones on Line 6 suck. And Chimp Spanners seemed to be noisy, idk

[Marv Attaxx]

I'm stil having a ....ing hard time to record some nice tones with my pod xt
Sounds awesome through my amp, clean stuff sounds recorded really nice but the high gain stuff sounds fizzy and way too hard (yeah, I tried to turn down the drive but then it sounds really thin).
Got no idea what to do now
Could someone of the "pros" here (Bulb, Greg, Chris, Drew and all the other dudes with kickass recordings) please post a detailed tutorial?
Gear, Software, Set-Up, how you wire things up??
That would be awesome guys!
You'd be helping a lot of recording n00bs like me to finally record their ideas

[shanejohnson02]

I've been getting some pretty decent results lately messing with different models and mixing them.

Right now I'm using a combination of two patches to record with: an the Angel P-Ball and Criminal (Engl Powerball and Peavey 5150 II, respectively). Both are set on the 4x12 T-75 cabinet.

After eqing and gating to taste, I copy the same amp to both tones. I then set different mics for tone 1 and 2...usually an On-Axis 57 for tone 1, and an Off-Axis 57 or 421 for tone 2. Then I pan the amps to different spots. I pan the 5150 patch wide 100% L/R, and pan the Powerball patch within that (I've been getting good results with 80/80). I then double-track everything, once with the 5150 recorded in stereo and then once with the Powerball.

After that, I just raise and lower volume levels to make the amps sound good together. Not enough high-end fizz? raise the 5150. Need some mid-range punch? raise the Engl. Combined they get this cool grind-y sound that I love. I can't wait to try this on a real-life 5150 and Fireball!

Here's an example. I removed the bass guitar from this mix so you could hear the guitars clearly:

http://soundclick.com/share?songid=9261508

I'll download the patches to my laptop and post them later for anyone who's interested.

[Werwolf999]

I'd been trying to dial in a good rhythm tone using the 4X12s mostly for cabs, but really wasn't getting anywhere until I switched over to the 2X12 Class A-30/67 Condenser and the 2X12 Line 6/421 Dynamic.

Don't know what it is w/ the POD's 4X12s, but they just never sounded as good to me as the 2X12s.

[RudiVanDiSarzio]

Has anyone actually created anything decent sounding WITHOUT the metalshop addon?

The best custom tone (for me) that i've come across is based on the Treadplate Dual model that was made by a guy named ArthurDestroyer. Sounds sweet, and i'm currently tweaking that to see if i can get anything else out of it.

So if you're out there Arthur, you're a legend.

[Sang-Drax]

My main rhythm tone comes from the SLO model, which I'm not sure it's from the metal shop (my pod is the X3). It's very mid-rich and cuts nicely live through a tube poweramp. It's good enough to play metal but I also use it for crunchy rock tones.

[RudiVanDiSarzio]

The Soldano model comes with the basic Pod Farm, and after the Treadplate Dual, my favourite amp

[Werwolf999]

Originally Posted by Marv Attaxx

I'm stil having a ....ing hard time to record some nice tones with my pod xt
Sounds awesome through my amp, clean stuff sounds recorded really nice but the high gain stuff sounds fizzy and way too hard (yeah, I tried to turn down the drive but then it sounds really thin).
Got no idea what to do now
Could someone of the "pros" here (Bulb, Greg, Chris, Drew and all the other dudes with kickass recordings) please post a detailed tutorial?
Gear, Software, Set-Up, how you wire things up??
That would be awesome guys!
You'd be helping a lot of recording n00bs like me to finally record their ideas

"Turn down the gain" seems to be the official panacea for all tone related problems around here. But, if you want a really thick, saturated sounding metal tone, this advice will only lead to hours of knob turning induced frustration. This is especially true for all the djent tones. While they work for their intended purpose, they generally sound like crap for slow to mid-paced stuff (Sabbath, CF, Electric Wizard, etc,).

What you want to do, if you want a thick, saturated sounding metal tone, is to use the 4 Band EQ to kill the fizz. Depending on the kind of tone you like, you need to get in their and kill the fizz at anywhere from between 5.1 kHz - 7.0 kHz. Do this by simply cutting it at the maximum, which is like 12.6 dB I believe.

You might also want to consider pumping your tone at 2.2 kHz and 3.2 kHz as well. I found that by doing this, I found I could get rid of a lot of that "flub" sound that was driving me crazy.

There's also a sticky called "know a lot about recording heavy guitars". You should read it when you get a chance. 99% of it is just useless sarcasm and adolescent name calling, but the chart explaining what frequencies relate to what tone-wise should be a big help.

You might also want to learn the ins and outs of doing low and high end passes to filter out most of the extraneous low and high end frequencies as well.

[Rick]

Originally Posted by shanejohnson02

I've been getting some pretty decent results lately messing with different models and mixing them.

Right now I'm using a combination of two patches to record with: an the Angel P-Ball and Criminal (Engl Powerball and Peavey 5150 II, respectively). Both are set on the 4x12 T-75 cabinet.

After eqing and gating to taste, I copy the same amp to both tones. I then set different mics for tone 1 and 2...usually an On-Axis 57 for tone 1, and an Off-Axis 57 or 421 for tone 2. Then I pan the amps to different spots. I pan the 5150 patch wide 100% L/R, and pan the Powerball patch within that (I've been getting good results with 80/80). I then double-track everything, once with the 5150 recorded in stereo and then once with the Powerball.

After that, I just raise and lower volume levels to make the amps sound good together. Not enough high-end fizz? raise the 5150. Need some mid-range punch? raise the Engl. Combined they get this cool grind-y sound that I love. I can't wait to try this on a real-life 5150 and Fireball!

Here's an example. I removed the bass guitar from this mix so you could hear the guitars clearly:

SoundClick artist: Shane Johnson (Solo) - Sounds like me, I hope.

I'll download the patches to my laptop and post them later for anyone who's interested.

I'll take that.

[BabUShka]

WOW.. This place is a ....ing goldmine.
I just got my POD XT, haven't been able to tweak any good sounds yet.. But have been away from home for weeks now. But Im maybe going home today and trying it again.. Have done some research meanwhile and found many tips and presets here that might help.

Kuddos.
Used the Toneport and Gearbox for a year now.. Found the 1x6 O-cab pretty heavy. At least for me it gives better punchy sound than the 4x12 models.

But one question.. If running a POD through an amp.. Before, or arter the preamp in the loop.. Which settings should I use?
Turn off the cab simulations.. More?

[Sang-Drax]

Originally Posted by BabUShka

But one question.. If running a POD through an amp.. Before, or arter the preamp in the loop.. Which settings should I use?
Turn off the cab simulations.. More?

It depends whether you're using it for fx only or as your preamp.

Assuming it's the later:

guitar -> pod -> fx loop (return)

That way, your pod will work as a preamp for your (hopefully tube ) poweramp. And yes, turn your cab sim off... although, if I'm not mistaken, if you choose the appropriate output mode (like, "stack poweramp in"), the pod automatically disables cab sim.


If you want to use the pod as your fx unit:

guitar -> amp input -> fx loop (send) out -> pod -> fx loop (return) in


In that case, you'll have to turn not only the cab off, but also the preamp sim. AFAIK, you'll have to do it manually.

Hope that helps

[BabUShka]

Yeh, that helps a lot!
Thanks.. again

[Sang-Drax]

No prob

IMO, the pod works a lot better when run into poweramps when compared to using cab sim - at least in live settings. It works fine even through a decent ss power section.

[Kstring]

Hey one quick question, do the X3s come with all the packs(metal mainly) allready installed or do i have to get them seperate?

[Michael T]

The X3 comes with EVERYTHING that you'd have to purchase separately for the XT, or so i do believe. I'd bought ALL the model packs for the XT then got a X3 recently and uploaded every patch i had on the XT to the X3 and they worked flawlessly. it said nothing about not being able to locate any model packs or such. I'd highly recommend the X3 over the XT. thats just my s

[Sang-Drax]

Originally Posted by Cobhcxiii

The X3 comes with EVERYTHING that you'd have to purchase separately for the XT, or so i do believe.

It does indeed =)

[SSK0909]

Has anyone come up with some sweet tricks/tones for the pod hd?

[JayYouth]

Can some one please make a podx3 patch that sounds like the new Deftones guitar tone? sounds sooo good.

[Ravelle17]

Originally Posted by SSK0909

Has anyone come up with some sweet tricks/tones for the pod hd?

From my experiences it's been pretty damn easy to get good tone out of the thing.

[ALAN_C]

where can i find for mac user ? i just using POD and garageband . how can i use the impulse ?

i'm new for this ,sorry .

[Kstring]

I got a POD X3 for CMAS and it worked fine until yesterday. I turned it on and all i got was a bunch of crackeling that gets louder and louder(this was while wearing headphones so it was really ....ing loud and pissed me off) . Anyone know the problem or give mee some advice on what to do?

[chylder]

Originally Posted by JayYouth

Can some one please make a podx3 patch that sounds like the new Deftones guitar tone? sounds sooo good.

Hey I've made a few. I have a preset for; be quite and drive + intro; main; kimDracula; rocket skates. It be nice if someone help me refine them to sound more like stephs recorded sound.


Chylder_@hotmail.com

Does it matter if I use a pod x3 live?

[JayYouth]

Originally Posted by chylder

Hey I've made a few. I have a preset for; be quite and drive + intro; main; kimDracula; rocket skates. It be nice if someone help me refine them to sound more like stephs recorded sound.


Chylder_@hotmail.com

Does it matter if I use a pod x3 live?

Send them to me. I'm playing a few different 8 string and 7's. I'd love to give them a whirl.

JayYouth@gmail.com

[wslead]

Just purchased a Pod XT from the local music shop at a great price. I am having one major problems though. Using Reaper, and connecting my Pod via USB, when I go to record guitar parts, theres a huge distortion to the signal. Everytime I play something, the Pod has this "clicking" added to it. I am wondering if it's a faulty USB cord or a problem with my computer because if I run it in front of my amp, works without any trouble at all. I am running an iMac 20" with 4gz of RAM and had nothing but excellent results with it, so I am leaning more towards the USB cord. Any thoughts on what this could be? Thanks for helping a n00b out.

[GATA4]

So has it been agreed upon that running the PODX3 through a recording interface (like a Presonus or M-Audio) instead of through USB will produce better sound?