A. Tone Matching

If you are building a patch, the ABSOLUTE BEST thing you can do is find an artist whose tone is the closest to what you want to achieve, and finding a section in their music where the guitars are playing without any other instruments. If you can find one where it's only one guitar, not a double-track or quad-tracking, even better. Even if this clip is only 2 seconds long, it's an incredible reference point - you're likely to really hear the distortion tone, EQ'ing, and effects.

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B. Branching/Evolving Patches

The best process for making a patch is to use the Edit computer editor. Start by dialing in a tone you like. You'll hit a point where some changes you might think you like, but you aren't 100% sure. At this point it's time to start branching the patches, A/B'ing them, then keeping the better one.

Rather than editing the current patch, hold CTRL and mouse drag the patch to the next patch slot to copy it. Make your changes to the copy. Now you can A/B your edits to your initial patch - quickly and easily going back and forth. If the new version is an improvement, hold CTRL and mouse drag it on top the original. Then save the patch to the Pod.

I'll repeat this process anywhere from 4 - 20 times before I finalize my patch (no stoner reference intended). You can compare a number of cab/mic options, as well as EQ'ing tweaks, or compare effects models.

So for instance, if I think a cab/mic change might improve the tone, I'll copy the patch, change the cab/mic on the clone, then tweak the clone to have roughly the same EQ as the original. Now I can A/B accurately, rather than trying to flip settings back and forth for every comparison.

Sometimes you'll make a tweak and like both your original tone and the new version. You don't have to choose between them. You can keep them both and branch out from there. I'll often do this for a tone when I want a different set of effects on the patch, but the same general EQ'ing and distortion tone.

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C. Setlist Tips

When I build my setlist, I like to set each bank to have a similar set of 4 patches in this order – clean, crunch, rhythm distortion, lead. That way if you accidentally end up on the wrong bank, you're not way off tone-wise. You won't get a clean tone when you wanted a lead tone or vice versa. You can quickly correct yourself before anyone even notices.

If you have a patch with a common effect that you toggle on and off, set the footswitch that toggles the effect as the one above the patch's switch. For example, if you are using a patch located at "A", set the effect's toggle switch to FS1, which is right above "A" or FS5. If the patch is "B", use FS2, etc. This way, if you accidentally hit the footswitch on the lower row when you go to toggle the effect on/off, you won't switch patches. Also, if you want the effect on as soon as you enter the patch, you can press the patch switch with your heel, then quickly hit the effect toggle switch with your toe.

If you have patches with lots of effects that you will be toggling on/off, order your switches in the order that the effects appear in the chain. This is easier to remember, and if you have to guess, at least it's an educated guess.

Also, it's a good idea to make copies of your main setlist, and do a quick tweak to make the tone lighter or darker. Then when you get to a gig, if the sound is a little too bright or dark, you can just switch your setlist, instead of trying to tweak all your patches then, or rely on the sound guy dial you in.

The same thing goes if you're building your patches at a different volume level than you'll actually be practicing or gigging at. Make a setlist copy, but change all the "full" amps to "pre" (make sure you change all the amp, cab, and mic settings to how you had them before – changing amps will automatically load that amp's default settings). Then if your amp/power amp is getting cranked and changing the way your patches sound, you can switch setlists. I can't guarantee it'll necessarily sound better with the "pre" variants, but it COULD be a lifesaver. Of course, I recommend that you build your patches at the volume level you'll be using for practice and gigs; but if this is impossible, make an alternative setlist just in case.

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