Section Overview

Use the Quick Guide for brief advice on dialing in a patch. All the subjects are covered in-depth elsewhere. It does not include hookup/setup advice.

The Guitar Setup page doesn't really deal with the Pod at all but covers some common issues guitarists may have dialing in a high gain sound. Topics include pickups, string gauge, action, intonation, fret buzz, and bridge setup.

Hookup/Setup covers output modes, signal routing, input settings, and physical connections between the unit and other pieces of gear. It explores your options for the gear you have and what the advantages and disadvantages are.

Distortion/Amp Tone starts with a description of distortion types and how a signal's frequency response affects distortion. Then I describe the tone of the high-gain amps and the distortion effects I most commonly use, along with how I like to use them and pitfalls to avoid. I discuss how the Amp DEP's affect tone and how I like to use them.

Cabs and Mics covers cab and mic selection, using dual cabs, and the Cab DEP's.

EQ Guide starts as a general discussion of EQ'ing a guitar tone. It includes my more detailed breakdown of a guitar tone's frequency spectrum, rather than lumping the frequency spectrum into the terms bass/mid/treble/presence that I find aren't narrow enough and have floating definitions. I break-down the EQ effects included in the Pod HD and how I like to use them, including eliminating fizz.

Tips and Pitfalls - tips for tone matching, evolving patches, setlist organization, effect switching, recording, monitoring, and managing DSP; tricks for using the FX loop for wet/dry or dual output; pitfalls such as bad monitoring, wrong output modes, clipping and gain staging, low volume tweaking, tone outside vs. inside a mix, and relying on others' patches.

Troubleshooting describes common complaints I've heard on the forums. I offer a quick piece of advice or two, then redirect you to the appropriate section of this guide that describes the issue in detail.

FAQ/Links has answers to the most common questions I've heard beyond really simple stuff that glancing at the manual would answer. I also post lots of links to reference material, forums, guides, etc.

The wishlist has all the features I wish the Pod HD had. Hopefully you agree and send Line 6 feedback on this.

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

This guide is too long. Here are some quick tips to get you dialed in without having to bust out your reading glasses. Note that, if you want more info, all of these topics are covered throughout the guide in more depth.