- •I. Introduction
- •II. Quick Guide
- •III. Guitar Setup
- •IV. Pod Setup
- •V. Amp/Distortion Tone
- •VI. Cabs and Mics
- •X. Faq and Links
- •XI. Wish List
- •XII. Effects
- •XIII. Glossary
- •I. Introduction
- •VIII. Tips and Pitfalls
- •IX. Troubleshooting Guide
- •I. Frequency Response
- •XIII. Change Log Appendix a – Line 6 Effect Processing Diagrams Appendix b - Line 6 Effect Processing Table
- •I. Introduction
- •Section Overview
- •II. Quick Guide
- •I. Top Ten Tweaks
- •A. Quirks
- •Input Settings Global/Patch Option
- •Volume Knob/Ch. Vol. Functionality
- •Input 2
- •B. Patch-building Tips
- •C. High-Gain Amp Roundup
- •D. Cabs/Mics Roundup
- •F. Distortion Effects Roundup
- •G. Gain Staging
- •H. Eq Effects Roundup
- •I. Top Ten Tweaks
- •J. Killing Fizz
- •K. Mids for Metal
- •L. Dual Cab
- •M. Noise Gate Usage
- •P. Output Modes
- •Q. Input Settings
- •III. Guitar Setup
- •A. New Strings
- •B. String Gauge
- •C. Action
- •D. Fret Buzz
- •E. Intonation
- •F. Pickups
- •I. Single-Coil vs. Humbuckers
- •II. Pickup Position
- •III. Signal-to-Noise Ratio
- •IV. Frequency Response
- •V. Actives vs. Passives
- •VI. All about Blackouts
- •VII. Pickup Height on Passives
- •VIII. Pickup Height on Actives
- •IX. Pickup Suggestions
- •G. Bridge
- •I. Body/Fret board/Tuners/Neck-through/etc.
- •IV. Pod Setup
- •I. Simple Guide for Settings
- •II. Where Confusion Sets In
- •III. Global eq
- •A. Understanding Output Modes
- •I. Simple Guide for Settings
- •II. Where Confusion Sets In
- •III. Global eq
- •IV. Live-Voiced Cabs
- •V. Cab/Mic Simulation
- •VI. Bass Boost
- •VII. Output Mode Feature Chart
- •B. Internal Signal Routing
- •C. Running Direct (pa/board/computer or daw/monitors/headphones)
- •I. Simple method (no real amp)
- •II. Using a real amp as a pre-amp
- •D. Running to an amp ("live")
- •I. Amp without effects loop
- •II. Pod as Effects Only after pre-amp
- •III. Simple setup for amp with effects loop
- •IV. 4 Cable Method
- •E. I Tried This and It Doesn't Sound Good
- •F. Dual Output
- •G. Wet/Dry/Wet Output
- •H. Multiple Instruments/Independent Paths
- •I. Input Settings Global/Patch
- •Input 2
- •Impedance
- •J. The Effects (fx) Loop
- •K. The Mixer Block
- •L. Effects Order/Position
- •Noise Suppressors/Gates
- •Chorus/Phaser/Flanger
- •Delay/Reverb
- •Pitch Shifters
- •M. Gain Staging
- •I. Principles
- •II. Practice
- •V. Amp/Distortion Tone
- •A. Distortion Types/Overview
- •I. Frequency Chart
- •C. Gain Staging/Layering Distortions
- •D. High-Gain Amps
- •I. Park 75
- •II. Plexi Bright
- •IV. Uberschall
- •V. Dual Rectifier
- •VI. Fireball
- •VII. Elektrik
- •VIII. Dual Rectifier "Pre"
- •IX. Slo Overdrive
- •X. Doom
- •XI. Epic
- •E. Distortion Effects
- •I. Tube Drive
- •II. Screamer
- •III. Classic Distortion
- •IV. Overdrive
- •V. Facial Fuzz
- •VI. Line 6 Distortion
- •VII. Line 6 Drive
- •VIII. Others
- •F. Power Amp d.E.P.'s
- •G. Dual Amps
- •H. "Full" vs. "Pre"
- •I. The Elusive Pure Clean Tone
- •J. Noise Gates
- •VI. Cabs and Mics
- •I. Introduction
- •A. Cab/Mic Overview
- •Ignore General Frequency Response...
- •...Unless Frequencies are Missing
- •Response or Noise?
- •Using Res. Level to improve snr
- •Taming the Low End
- •Tonal Nuances
- •Dual Cabs
- •Using Cab/Mic Choices for eq Purposes
- •B. Cab Selection for Direct Tones
- •I. My Favorites
- •II. General Tips
- •III. Hiway 4x12
- •IV. Tread V-30 4x12
- •VI. Greenbacks 4x12
- •VII. Uber 4x12
- •VIII. Brit-t75 4x12
- •IX. Other cabs
- •C. Cab Selection for Live Tones
- •D. Mic Selection
- •I. Sm57 On/Off Axis
- •II. Dynamic Mics
- •III. Condenser Mics
- •IV. Ribbon Mics
- •E. Dual Cabs
- •I. Introduction
- •II. Getting the Patch Ready
- •III. Phase Correction
- •Cab/Mic Delay Times Matrix/alternate Google Cloud version/pdf version
- •IV. Eq'ing the tone
- •V. Other Amp Settings
- •VI. E.R. Settings
- •VII. Dsp Management
- •VIII. My Favorite Combinations
- •Res. Level
- •A. Classifying the Frequency Spectrum
- •B. How to eq a Hard Rock Tone
- •C. The Pod hd's eq Effects
- •I. Graphic eq
- •II. Parametric eq
- •III. Studio eq
- •IV. 4 Band Shift eq
- •VI. Q Filter
- •D. Eq'ing your Patch
- •E. Fizzy Spots
- •VIII. Tips and Pitfalls
- •A. Tone Matching
- •B. Branching/Evolving Patches
- •C. Setlist Tips
- •D. Effect Switching/Tips
- •E. Recording Tips
- •F. Monitoring
- •G. Dsp Allocation/Advice
- •H. Mesa Boogie Mark II/IV tone
- •I. Clean Boost
- •J. Leveling Patches
- •K. Clarifying Confusing Volume Controls
- •I. The Pad Switch
- •II. The master Knob
- •III. Amp/Channel Volume aka volume Knob
- •IV. Mixer Levels
- •V. Master d.E.P.
- •L. Clipping
- •I. Input Clipping
- •II. Signal Clipping
- •III. Effects Clipping
- •IV. Clipping external devices
- •V. "Digital Clipping" (Crossover Distortion) on "Full" Amp Models
- •M. Bad Monitoring
- •I. Acoustic Tone
- •II. Bad Monitors
- •III. Bad Room
- •IV. Low Volume
- •N. Wrong Output Mode
- •O. Gain Staging
- •P. Outside vs. Inside Mix
- •Q. Relying on Others' Patches
- •IX. TroubleShooting
- •A. Too much noise
- •B. Tone is fizzy/noisy
- •C. Tone is harsh
- •D. Tone has digital clipping
- •E. Tone is muffled
- •F. Distortion is muddy/fuzzy/farty
- •G. Distortion is dirty/gritty
- •H. Tone is thin
- •I. Software Knobs move on their own
- •J. I'm Getting dsp Limit Reached Errors
- •X. Faq and Links
- •A. Frequently Asked Questions
- •I. Tone
- •Is the tone better when using Input 2: Variax (or another unused input)?
- •Should I use "full" or "pre" amp models?
- •Where should I set the master knob?
- •What does the Master dep do for amps models where there was no master volume on the original?
- •II. Output/Routing Can I output dual output modes with the hd-500 or Pro?
- •Can I output w/d/w (wet/dry/wet)?
- •Can I reamp over usb?
- •Why can't I get any output from Channel b?
- •Why don't I have stereo output?
- •III. Usage How Should I Level my Patches?
- •Why can't I get a natural volume swell with the Exp. Pedal?
- •How do I use the Pitch Glide?
- •IV. Compatibility/Hardware Does the Pod hd work with Gearbox?
- •Can I use hd-XXX patches on hd-yyy?
- •What is the differences between the Pod hd models?
- •Can I use a different power adapter?
- •Can I modify my Pod hd to gain more dsp power?
- •Do you take tone requests?
- •B. Links
- •I. General
- •II. Forums
- •III. Pod hd References
- •B. Amps
- •C. Utilities
- •D. Routing
- •F. Footswitches/controls/Midi
- •G. Effects
- •H. Dsp Saving Features
- •I. Devkit
- •XII. Effects
- •A. Preferred Effects
- •I. Chorus
- •II. Flanger
- •III. Compressors
- •IV. Reverb
- •V. Delay
- •B. Dialing in the Flangers
- •C. Substitutes
- •D. Ordering
- •XIII. Glossary
- •I. Frequency Response
- •A. Signal-Based Terms
- •I. Clipping
- •II. Distortion
- •III. Signal
- •IV. Noise
- •V. Signal-to-Noise Ratio (snr)
- •VI. Impedance
- •VII. Signal Chain
- •VIII. Mono
- •IX. Stereo
- •X. Field
- •XI. Balance
- •I. Frequency Response
- •VII. Shelf
- •VIII. Peak/Valley
- •II. Fizz
- •III. Buzz
- •IV. Grinding
- •V. Crunchy
- •VI. Chunky/Punchy
- •VII. Fuzzy
- •VIII. Cold
- •IX. Warm
- •XIV. Change Log
- •Appendix a – Line 6 Effect Processing Diagrams
- •Appendix b - Line 6 Effect Processing Table
- •Appendix c – Cabinet/Mic Phase Correction Timing Data
- •Appendix d – dsp Usage of Effects
Should I use "full" or "pre" amp models?
This depends on your rig, whether you are pushing your rig into distortion, and your personal preferences. If you have a transparent power amp with plenty of headroom, you may find the "full" models sound more like the amps they are attempting to model, especially the Marshalls or other amps where the brunt of the distortion tone is coming from the power section. You also get more versatility with the "full" amps, as you can lower the Master DEP to get closer and closer to the "pre" tone.
The "pre" models tend to be a little more crisp, but also thinner and more midsy. Regardless of your rig, you may prefer one or the other, or you may use "pre" for some applications and "full" others. Try them both out.
Note that if your real power amp gets some distortion at higher volumes, it may sound mushy or poorly-defined in combination with the distortion from the modeled power amp and pre-amp. But this is not always the case - some layered distortions work very well together. Again, the best advice is to experiment and see what works for your rig and preferences before following any strict rules.
For more on this see here.
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Where should I set the master knob?
This knob controls an analog gain stage that occurs after the D>A converters. It only affects the analog outputs, and it has enough headroom so that it won't distort at its maximum setting. For the best signal-to-noise ratio, Line 6 recommends setting this to maximum (along with setting the amp/line switch to line). Depending upon what you're running your Pod into, this can overdrive that piece of gear. If you find the tone is weird or is clipping or has other unwanted distortion, try slowly backing off this control until the tone cleans up. I have to run mine at around 65% or it distorts the effects loop return on my amp.
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What does the Master dep do for amps models where there was no master volume on the original?
Essentially, Line 6 is simulating what the amps would be like if they were modified to include a master volume knob after the pre-amp circuitry but before the power amp. At 100% Master DEP, there is no difference between the original amp and the model. Changing the value allows you to get tones only a modded amp would be able to acheive, varying the ratio of pre-amp to power amp gain available.
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II. Output/Routing Can I output dual output modes with the hd-500 or Pro?
Yes, this is possible, but the unit was not designed to do this. I describe how to do so here.
Keep in mind that there are some serious DSP disadvantages to doing this, as you are required to run dual amps, which consume a large amount of DSP. I recommend you bug Line 6 to implement this feature without needing to use dual amps via their feature request form.
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Can I output w/d/w (wet/dry/wet)?
Yes, this is possible, but the unit was not designed to do this. You basically have to give up your FX Loop. Or you can do a mono wet, mono dry output by panning each half of the mixer to different outputs and only placing "wet" effects in one channel. I describe how to do so here.
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