# POD HD vs. POD X3 for Metal Bass.



## aawshred (Apr 19, 2012)

I've heard of some people using the pod x3 for bass with great results, but i'm wondering if the POD HD would be better or worse suited for metal bass tones? what experience do you guys have with either?


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## GSingleton (Apr 19, 2012)

TBH the bass cabs on the hd are so new that I don't think people have had the time to mess with them yet....so by default id say the x3 would be better atm.


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## Thrashman (Apr 26, 2012)

I use the HD when playing bass with one of my bands, and I've gotten GREAT results. I always get compliments at gigs from people asking what I use - and the look on their faces when i tell them I use a POD HD.

I use a heavily distorted bass sound, really clear with loads of growl and bite. I don't use the bass cab though. I find that the Uber Cab model works better for my sound.

Though, it sounds great dude. There's only one bass amp and one bass cab - but there's alot of other amps and cabs to play with.


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## vampiregenocide (Apr 26, 2012)

Might be worth dropping Chimp Spanner a message. I believe he has used both for bass both recording and studio.


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## Bevo (Apr 29, 2012)

When I had my HD500 I played around with some guitar heads and cabs and got a few great bass sounds.
If I remember correct I used a Fender clean channel a TS boost and the cab may of been the treadplate..sounded killer!

My Warwick does have its own growl so the tone was easy to capture..


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## DjentDjentlalala (Apr 29, 2012)

x3.it has bass sims,so it may have better results.


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## iron blast (Apr 29, 2012)

my x3 owns you can nail just about any tone with it


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## JMP2203 (Mar 27, 2013)

any more experience using the new ampeg model on the hd500?


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## meambobbo (Mar 28, 2013)

i have 3 bass tones on the hd. the clean one uses the ampeg (flip top) only through the 1x15 cab with the Dyn 20 mic. That seems to be my favorite mic for the 1x15. I just add some compression and a little reverb and that's it.

my mild/classic distortion mixes the above tone with an Uber amp without any boost so i've got a dark but not fuzzy distortion going on. blend together and poof. here i use a gate and more compression and no verb. I run compression before and after the amps. i also use the mid-focus eq to trim a bit of the very high end.

my modern/death distortion tone mixes the clean with the Treadplate/Recto amp, and I use a Q Filter for a boost with a high frequency setting (almost like a cocked wah but not 100% wet). Same compression and eq scheme.

Both distorted patches use the Uber cab with 121 Ribbon mic on the distorted channel.

I think they sound good, but my bass is a piece of shit, so WTF do I know.


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## Ocara-Jacob (Mar 28, 2013)

The X3 is definitely better for metal bass tones, trust me. I've got an HD500 and an X3 and the X3 definitely does bass better.


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## KhzDonut (Apr 12, 2013)

I find it's easier to get a DECENT bass tone with the x3, but I've gotten BETTER bass tones on the HD, but it took a lot of work. Usually I just run one totally clean low end channel with just a compressor (tube compressor model), with an EQ to take all the upper-mids and highs out, and then a channel that's highpassed around 500k (studio EQ model) and then run it through either the Ampeg bass amp, or just through a distortion pedal or two (Rat or Line 6 Drive, Line 6 Distortion, or a combination of a couple different models)

Lots of compression and some creative EQ'ing goes a long way, with or without an actual amp model in the chain. This is mostly for recording purposes, so I don't know how well that would work in a live setting (I do quite a bit of post-eq'ing in the studio) but I can definitely get the sound in my head out of the HD, whereas I just got something close with the X3. Everyone wants something different, so I'd recommend spending some time playing with both.


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## meambobbo (Apr 13, 2013)

FYI, the Studio EQ on the Pod HD is a 2 band-pass/stop, not a high/low pass. The Mid-Focus EQ is a high/low pass. Also the Mic Pre has them.

I never tried to get a bass tone from my X3, so I wouldn't know, but I really like the tones I'm getting with the HD. You can hear one of them on my last tone demo track. The rhythm isn't great - need to rerecord it - but you can hear the bass. Also, keep in mind I simply tuned a 4 string down to drop Ab.

https://soundcloud.com/meambobbo/periphery-tone-demo


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## DuncanPlaysGuitar (Apr 25, 2013)

I use the HD Pro for both guitar and bass tones, for bass I basically tried to copy what Nolly does with his Axe-Fx. I split the channel in two and use the ampeg model on the pod on one channel to get a really bassy sound, and a high-passed tubescreamer on the other channel and blend them together. Then you can add EQ/compression wherever you feel it works. I've never tried using an X3 though.


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## JoshBassistCT (Apr 25, 2013)

Look for a Bass Pod XT. So many more possibilities for bass. It has a bunch of different amp heads and cabs specific to bass, as well as effects. I found that the best amp to use was the model of the Mesa 400 +. also they are cheap to pick up.


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## meambobbo (Apr 25, 2013)

FWIW, the X3 has "dual tones" so you could do the classic blend of clean bass with distorted mids/highs, whereas the XT is only single amp so you could not. They both have the same models - actually the X3 probably has more unless you got all the model packs for the XT.


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## JoshBassistCT (Apr 25, 2013)

Oh, that's interesting. I never had experience with the X3, I thought it just had the single SVT model for bass.


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