J. The Effects (FX) Loop

Keep in mind where you place your FX Loop in the Pod's signal chain, particularly in relation to the amp/cab modeling. Effects will sound very different depending on how they are ordered (see Effects Ordering section) and this is particularly the case for the amp modeling. Also note that you can change the send and receive levels for the loop.

Given the option, not using the loop (by placing the effects in front or behind the Pod) may be slightly advantageous because it does not require you to add an FX Loop effect to the signal chain (for HD 500/Desktop/Pro), freeing up one block for an additional effect. It also saves the tone from an additional set of D/A/D conversions and reduces complexity in gain staging.

The best part about using the loop is you can use just one footswitch to toggle on/off all the effects in the loop, rather than having to tap dance on all the individual effects.

There have been complaints that the FX Loop is incredibly noisy. It definitely adds noise, but not to the point where it is unusable. I don't like to use it to do simple things like clean boosts or to force mono-summing, but since its DSP cost is so low, sometimes it's the only available effect to do so. I find boosting the signal inside the Pod via a Studio EQ before the FX Loop can reduce the noisiness a bit.

I've also read the loop causes your signal to lose a significant chunk of volume. I believe these claims, but I have not tried to determine how bad this actually is. Be aware that you may need to compensate for the loop. The best way is to boost via a Studio EQ before it, which additionally improves SNR. If you can't do that, you can increase the Return level on the loop itself.

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K. The Mixer Block

The mixer allows you to adjust the panning and volume of both channels. The default setting has each track panned hard left and right with levels set to 0 +/-db - an ideal setup for a stereo patch. I generally use mono patches. I find the best way to do this is to mute one channel, and pan the other one to center. You'll get more volume by panning both channels to center, but I find this isn't necessary since the mixer lets you boost channel volume. There's another reason I like to only use one channel, which I cover in the next section. Just like the amp volume knob, the mixer boosts the level at that place in the chain, which can cause effects behind it to distort.

Be sure to understand how the pan controls work. Every line in the Pod's signal chain is a stereo signal. If you have a stereo effect in a channel after the path split but before the mixer, so that a different left/right signal is hitting the mixer, the pan controls basically adjust the volume of each left/right signal. If you pan full left on that channel, only the left side is going to pass through the mixer, into the left half of the mixer output. The left and right signals from that channel are not both being pushed into the left output of the mixer. The right half is essentially muted. The mixer is only mixing the left signals of channels A and B into the left half of the mixer's output. Same for the right half of the signals. So 50% left for a channel means that the right half of the signal has its volume cut in half while the left half passes through at full volume.

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L. Effects Order/Position

Effects that affect dynamics or distortion are sensitive to what is being sent into them, compared to non-dynamic effects. Be aware of how ordering effects matters, and experiment with each effect before or after a compression or distortion element. For instance, the whole section on distortion character was mostly about how the way a signal is EQ'ed impacts how distortion will operate. EQ before distortion sounds completely different from EQ after distortion. This equally applies to Wah pedals, phasers, choruses, and other effects. On the other hand, certain effects will operate virtually the same and have negligible impact on other effects independent of where it occurs in the effects chain, such as a pitch shifter.

The best advice is to experiment, but here are some general tips:

Noise Suppressors/Gates

The general consensus is to make this the first effect in your chain. There it will simply mask your pickup noise when you are not playing. It has the most impact on tone at the end of the chain but can lead to unnatural sounding cut-off on notes. An interesting place for it is after a compressor but before distortion. Sometimes you can use two on each side of a compressor/gain stage to tighten up how effectively it works. This is how Periphery gets their very punchy tone, going quickly from searing power chords to complete silence. For more on noise gates, see here.

Chorus/Phaser/Flanger

Generally, you get the expected swooshing sound behind your distortion phase, but placing it beforehand can give a very difficult to describe but interesting sound. I kind of like it in this position, because it has less of a swooshing sound to it, which I find detracts from the actual music. It also makes your distortion character change, which makes it a bit more interesting, especially if you're playing a very repetitive part, such as straight palm-muted single notes. I use mod effects in both positions.

EQ

As mentioned in the amp/tone page, EQ before distortion has a much larger effect on how the distortion operates than how the frequency response is changed. I generally use a single Studio EQ or Mid-Focus EQ to sculpt the distortion character, while I use multiple Parametric EQ's and/or a Mid-Focus EQ after distortion to dial in the desired frequency response in my final tone.

Delay/Reverb

I don't know how anyone gets away with putting delay before a distortion phase. The distortion will compress it and cause the delayed signal to be just as loud or nearly as loud as what you are currently playing, sounding like two guitars fighting for space, playing different things at the same time. People have said EVH put his delay in front his amp distortion, but I can't get it to sound right. I think they're wrong and his echoplex was being used for tonal changes, not actual delay.

I generally put my delay and reverb last (or close to last) in the chain. I don't think it matters which goes first. Occasionally I'll use two delays.

Pitch Shifters

(Octave, Whammy [Pitch Glide], Smart Harmony) - I like these in front my distortion phase usually. The whammy especially sounds more like a real whammy bar that way. Smart Harmony I like behind my distortion - then it sounds like you're playing with another guitarist or double-tracking it. When in front, it sounds more like you're playing double-stops. Experiment with the mix when pitch shifting, especially when you put it in front your distortion - low settings will subtly change your tone rather than sounding like you're adding another track at a lower volume.

Sorry if this section is a little light, but I'm not so much an effects guy. I focus on getting a good distortion sound, rather than layering up a bunch of effects.

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M. Gain Staging

I. Principles

You've probably heard the term before but don't know exactly what it means. A gain stage consists of an attenuator and an amplifier. The attenuator is usually attached to a knob or dial. This lets you attenuate the signal appropriately to get the desired tone from the amplifier. Depending on the type of gain stage, you may want to allow the amplifier to distort or to remain clean. Gain staging simply refers to how to set multiple sequential gain stages to achieve the desired tone while minimizing both noise and unwanted distortion.

Analog signals have a certain noise floor that you cannot shrink by attenuating the signal. Thus, the lower volume your signal is, the lower the ratio of the signal to your noise floor. If a low SNR signal is amplified, all that noise is amplified as well. If one gain stage introduces noise early in the signal, you will not be able to remove it later on. To get the cleanest, least-noisy tone, you want to set all your gain stages as high as possible. You use the last gain stage to control final volume - it has the least potential to introduce noise into the tone.

On the other hand, when an amplifier tries to boost a signal beyond its physical capacity, the signal gets distorted. Some gain stages are designed to distort in a pleasing way while others are not. Assuming you want a perfectly clean signal, you must attenuate the signal enough at each gain stage enough to prevents its amplifier from distorting.

Thus, gain staging is often about finding the sweet spot for each gain stage to minimize both noise and distortion. Most of the time, your signal chain isn't very complex, and gain staging is simple. Other times, when you are running unconventional chains and lots of effects units, it is essential to tweak just about everything.

Making things more difficult, some pieces of gear do not feature a complete gain stage, offering no means to attenuate the signal as it inputs the unit. On a hot signal, it may clip in an undesirable way. Your only options are to attenuate the signal via an additional piece of hardware before that unit or to reduce the output of the closest prior gain stage.

If you want distortion, you're probably not going to get the distortion you want by diming every gain stage in your chain. I find it's best to start by setting everything low enough so that there is no distortion anywhere in the chain. As you start to turn up any particular gain stage, make sure that others aren't being pushed into distortion as well - as you turn up one, turn down the next one in the chain. You want to determine which stages produce musical distortion and which should be kept clean. Once you identify the musical ones, you want to find appropriate proportions of one to another.

For example, when running a distortion pedal in front of an amp, sometimes you want to use mostly the distortion pedal's distortion, letting the amp stay clean or relatively clean. Other times you want the distortion pedal to provide a touch of distortion but let the amp provide the bulk of the distortion. Sometimes you want an even mix - I find this is often true when mixing pre-amp and power amp distortions. The main thing to remember is to avoid clipping other pieces of the chain that do not distort nicely. A thick amp distortion may mask that such is even there, but it will make your tone rougher and less defined.

Ii. Practice

Thinking in terms of analog gear, take the relatively simple example chain of:

Guitar > Tube Screamer > Amp > Chorus (in effects loop) > Amp

Even here, the Screamer has two gain stages - Drive and Output. The amp likely has 5 - Drive, Channel Volume, Loop Send, Loop Receive, and Master Volume. The chorus pedal likely has 1 - Output. You have 8 gain stages to tune, so that they all work in harmony. The Chorus does not have an attenuator on its input. You must set the effects loop send volume low enough to keep it from clipping. You probably want the Screamer to have low Drive (its "hot" gain stage), so that it only provides a touch of distortion, but you want to dime its Output (which stays clean). You want most of your distortion from your amp's preamp. So you crank Drive there. You don't want much power amp distortion, so you set Master Volume just below where the power section starts to break up. Channel Volume likely stays clean even at high settings, so you crank that up fairly high, but it's main purpose is to balance one channel's volume against another - you may have to keep it lower than 100% for that.

How does this translate for such controls in the Pod? The Pod features almost everything mentioned above digitally. Most of the time its algorithms are emulating exactly how an analog signal would be processed. So you want to follow the same advice as with an all analog chain.

Particularly troublesome are the EQ effects. Some are worse than others. When I'm using an EQ as the first piece of my chain, I will get a nasty digital-sounding distortion when I pick hard. To compensate I add a Volume effect to attenuate the signal before the EQ. If I'm using EQ's behind my amp block, I need to keep the Ch. Vol./VOLUME knob relatively low (45%) to prevent from clipping EQ's. For single amp patches, I put everything in Channel A and use the Mixer Levels to set my final patch volume. For dual amp patches, I usually have a Mid-Focus EQ last, which provides a Gain parameter that I use to set my final patch volume.

Digital devices feature the additional danger of digital clipping, where the signal level exceeds the digital resolution and produces a harsh distortion. Yet, if you follow proper gain staging, the principles are exactly the same. You will only achieve digital clipping by setting a gain stage too high (provided you aren't clipping the unit at its input A>D converter).

Some of the controls in the Pod adjust the signal level digitally, rather than emulate an analog gain stage. For instance, the amp block's Ch. Vol. (VOLUME knob) is not simulating analog circuitry. I believe the mixer levels and volume effect operate the same way. This basically takes the consideration of a noise floor out of the equation, but replaces it with loss of precision. Setting one of these REALLY low will not add noise to the tone but will introduce slight manipulations to the signal's waveform and lose certain details. Similar to distortion concerns, it's best to treat everything like an analog gain stage, setting them high enough to preserve the signal integrity.

I believe the Pod has three actual analog gain stages - FX Loop Send/Receive and the Master Knob (the right-most physical knob on the unit). Same rules as usual apply.

Note: the MASTER knob only affects the tone sent to the analog outputs. For the digital outputs (AES, SPDIF, USB), the signal is never converted back to an analog signal and never hits the analog Master Knob gain stage. The Pod's signal is mostly digital; it goes:

Input Source > A/D convertors > digital signal processing > D/A conversion > Master knob attenuation > analog outputs

Even when setting up a patch that is close to maxing out the Pod's maximum digital signal level, with the MASTER Knob at 100%, I do not hear any distortion occuring. So proper gain staging dictates setting this knob to 100%. Line 6 documentation echoes this opinion, saying this setting results in the highest signal-to-noise ratio from the unit. But be wary of what you're connecting the Pod into. I have clipped the effects loop return of my amp when setting this too high - my amp provides no control to attenuate the loop return signal.

The only time I recommend moving the MASTER Knob lower is when you are not using your main rig. By doing this, you are sacrificing tone for ease-of-use. You should gain stage and level your patches as above for your main rig. For other rigs that distort with the amount of volume you're sending them, the easiest way to attenuate the signal is using the Pod's MASTER Knob. Rather than digging into the mixer settings on all of your patches, you can just change one knob and be done for all patches. This may result in additional noise in the signal, but that's acceptable in this case. This applies equally to using headphones.

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V. Amp/Distortion Tone

• A. Distortion Types/Overview
• B. Pre-EQ'ing
• i. Frequency Chart
• C. Gain Staging/Layering Distortions
• D. High-Gain Amps
• i. Park 75
• ii. Plexi Bright
• iii. JCM-800
• 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 DEP's
• G. Dual Amps
• H. "Full" vs. "Pre"
• I. The Elusive Pure Clean Tone
• J. Noise Gates

A. Distortion Types/Overview

The most important part of getting a rock guitar tone is achieving the right distortion that you want. This certainly depends on which amp model you select; however, I want to address how to tweak a amp's tone before describing the available models. For any given amp, dialing in the desired distortion is often nowhere near as simple as turning the "drive" parameter on the amp or amp model up until the sound is as saturated as you like. A typical guitar rig will involve 4 main possible distortion stages - stomp box, pre-amp, power amp, and speaker, and you generally use one as your "main" distortion stage. However, any stage being pushed to breakup will distort in a certain way depending on the nature of the signal sent to it. This section mostly discusses what ways to expect a stage to breakup and how to alter the signal before reaching that stage to get the distortion you want.

The way any distortion stage breaks up is typically the result of the frequency response of the input signal, the waveform of that signal, and the nature of the distortion stage itself. These are tweaked by pre-EQ'ing, gain staging (or effect ordering), and amp/distortion selection, respectively.

As for distortion types, I generally identify 3: fuzz, crunch, and metal, which are derived from the peak frequency range fed into the distortion stage.

Fuzz is generated from distorting bass frequencies and is relatively loose in response to one's playing. Metal is the opposite, created from distorting mids/upper-mids frequencies, and is very tight. It is characterized by the djent sound created during palm mutes. Crunch sits in the middle, being a little boxier-sounding than metal, but not really fuzzy. I find the out-the-box Marshall tone is a perfect example of crunch, while the Treadplate and Fball amps characterize the metal tone.

The output of each distortion stage also depends on the waveform of the signal fed into it. Even if we were to EQ a guitar, banjo, violin, and piano signal to have roughly the same frequency response, the distortion produced by any particular distortion stage would have drastically different tones. For guitar, this is helpful, because we can alter a guitar signal before it hits a distortion stage, by using other distortion effects, modulation effects such as phasers, chorus, or flanger, time-effects such as reverb or delays, filter effects such as synths, and pitch effects such as octavers. This is a lot of ground to cover, so I'm not getting into it here, other than touching upon using multiple layers of distortion.

Unlike the simple pre-EQ distortion types identified above, the results of changing waveforms are more difficult to predict how they will impact the tone. In general, the amp or distortion effect has a relatively similar response given different signals, but you can still hear the impact of whatever effects placed in front of it. In other words, a Marshall will still sound Marshally with a Tube Screamer in front, but you can hear that there's a Tube Screamer in front.

Note that amps tend to "want" to distort one way or another. You can't make a Marshall JCM sound like an Mesa/Boogie Dual Recto just by putting some EQ on the incoming tone. Consider pre-EQ'ing more of a fine-tuning process, even though in some instances you are drastically altering the tone. You want to start by choosing the right amp model. This requires seeing the potential in an amp even if you think it initially sounds like crap. You have to ask yourself questions like, "What if it sounded less muddy?" or "What if I could get the grittiness out the tone?"

I'm not really a fan of fuzz tones, and this guide won't help you dial those in. I prefer to keep the tone being distorted on the bright side. I don't want to dial the bass completely out, though. I like tight bass in my final tone. We want the bass there, and we want the distortion phase to compress it but not distort it. This should keep it well-defined and tight. We use the bass knob (or an EQ effect later in the chain if we're using power amp distortion) to boost the bass to the desired volume, relative to the other frequencies.

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B. Pre-EQ'ing

As mentioned above, one of the main ways to alter a distortion tone is to add some EQ in front of that gain stage, which is commonly referred to as "pre-EQ'ing". Sometimes I refer to this as sculpting my distortion, as I'm carving out the desired frequency response curve.

Using EQ effects to pre-EQ is the most transparent way to do this, preserving a lot of the amp tone while manipulating it to sound like you want. Other methods will have more impact on the signal before it hits the amp, diverging further from its natural tone.

Distortion effects can also be used to EQ the tone. Commonly, this is referred to as a boost or overdrive, using the pedal not to add its own distortion but change how the amp distorts. These terms are misleading - they stem from early use of overdrive pedals when amps had limited distortion available. They boosted the signal level forcing the amps to distort more than they otherwise would. Modern high-gain amps don't need such a boost, but they remain popular because of how they EQ the signal before the amp, changing how it distorts. It's more appropriate to refer to this as using a distortion pedal as a filter, but boost/overdrive commonly amount to the same thing. Using distortion effects for pre-EQ'ing is less transparent, as the distortion effect is usually adding some slight compression and/or distortion of its own, which may or may not be desirable.

For power amp distortion, the power section occurs after the amp's bass/mids/treble/presence controls, so those are going to have more impact on the distortion tone than the final frequency response.

Below is a guide of what to expect when pre-EQ'ing. To take full advantage of this guide, listen to your distortion tone. Does it have too much fuzz or grit? Try reducing the frequencies that correspond to that kind of tone. You don't have to necessarily get the tone to sound totally different, just tweak out the bad and dial up the good.

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I. Frequency Chart

Here is a guide to how the tone is likely to sound with various peak frequency ranges hitting a saturated gain stage, or some frequency range being absent/deficient. Note: this is not foolproof - it depends on the amp/gain stage. Also, the numbers aren't an exact science - consider them to be fuzzy and use as a guideline only.

Also, please note that just because some frequency range is the peak doesn't mean it will dominate the tone. It is possible to have a mostly flat frequency signal with a slight peak in the muddy range, yet the signal won't be total mud - you'll get a bit of all the characteristics listed below. You can mix and match and balance certain aspects of the distortion with other ones. Usually that's exactly what you want to do. IE, a wide boost at 700 HZ will often add the djentyness and creaminess from the frequencies around it, rather than simply making the tone flat.

Make all these links to audio.

* Flat means there is no real distortion tone - it sounds like compressed mids.

Applying this logic to the fuzz/crunch/metal distortion types I mentioned above, fuzz tones obviously emphasize low-end and metal tones upper mids. Crunch tones tend to emphasize mids, but extend into both metal and fuzz territory - the result of mixing both of them together more-or-less.

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C. Gain Staging/Layering Distortions

As mentioned above, one of the main ways to alter a distortion tone is to place effects in front of that gain stage, that change the waveform of the incoming signal.

This is a very wide-open topic, but the general rule is to expect the final tone to be a mix of both. In other words, putting a phaser in front of a distorted amp will sound like phaser + the distorted amp tone. But it's obviously different than placing the phaser behind the amp. The way I differentiate between these is I think of anything placed before a distortion as "going into" that distortion, whereas anything placed after a distortion "goes on top of" the tone.

The main topic I wanted to discuss here was how to tweak having multiple distortions in the same signal chain, which is usually the case, even if only one of them is generating most of the distortion. My recommendation is to use one distortion stage as your main stage, with the others trying to complement it. That being said, zero'ing out the others usually gives me bad results.

Take a typical distortion effect -> preamp -> power amp chain, where each is contributing some distortion. I'll often use my pre-amp as my main distortion stage. While I am mostly using the distortion effect for pre-EQ, I may also want it to deliver a touch of compression and/or distortion. Depending on the distortion effect and amp, this slight distortion may warm up and smooth out the downstream amp distortion, or it may make it edgier and more aggressive-sounding.

As another example, let's say given the same chain I want the distortion effect to provide most of my distortion. Setting the amp's preamp Drive to 0% is going to sound weird. For a Marshall amp, I find I have to get it to at least 10% for the tone to start sounding natural, and about 20% to add the Marshall flavor. If this means the Marshall is also adding a little distortion, so be it. If I end up with too much distortion, I'll back off the distortion effect's Drive. Sometimes you also want to back off the distortion effect's output level, and dial in more pre-amp Drive from the amp or vice versa. This can have differing tonal effects even though you are getting the same total amount of distortion.

The same ideas apply for pre-amp vs. power amp distortion. Even if only one is your main distortion, you still want to give a little juice to the other.

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D. High-Gain Amps

I. Park 75

This amp delivers a classic Marshall tone. By itself, it won't get you to high-gain territory; you'll need to boost the signal (such as with an overdrive pedal, distortion effect, or simple boosted EQ) heavily to get a saturated distortion from it. I don't recommend doing that - if you want more gain but a similar tone, try the JCM-800 model instead. I like this amp for medium gain tones (AC/DC), or if I want a Marshall tone but am using a distortion pedal/effect for my main source of distortion (Satriani). Compared to the JCM-800, it has a little less distortion available but it seems to be more reactive to picking dynamics. It gives you that clean-yet-distorted crunch feel.

I like to lower the amp's Bias (and Bias X which basically "locks in" my low Bias setting). This seems to make the amp sound more like a Marshall to me - a little more nasal sounding and you can get power amp distortion without it getting too gritty or splatty. I drop it between 0 and 20%. It also allows you to dial in a bit more distortion when you want to.

This amp model seems to be one of the ones that sounds better when you crank the power section. If I'm trying to make the model distort, I'll turn Master Volume up between 85-100%, then use the Drive knob to dial in the amount of distortion. For some reason, the power section responds very "poorly" when you turn up the Presence knob on the amp. I set low, often all the way to 0%. I also keep the Bass fairly low, to keep the power amp from distorting in a muddy fashion.

If I want it to stay clean, I turn down Drive first and if I need to go cleaner also Master Volume, but I generally try to keep the Master Volume higher than 50% and turn down Drive more. The power section gets you the Marshall tone. Also, the Bias setting is more responsive the higher you set Master Volume. But keep Drive above around 5-10%. Something weird happens to the tone if you go lower.

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Ii. Plexi Bright

This amp also delivers a classic Marshall tone. This model is VERY accurate. Comparing it to recordings that used this amp, it sounds almost identical. By itself, it won't get you to high-gain territory; you'll need to boost the signal (such as with an overdrive pedal, distortion effect, or simple boosted EQ) to get a saturated distortion from it, but that's not where it excels anyway. It's best for a clean-yet-distorted tone, in the vein of Randy Rhodes or early Eddie Van Halen. Compared to the JCM-800, it has less distortion available but it seems to be more reactive to picking dynamics and has a much more defined midrange.

The distortion is coming from the power section, so Bias and your EQ settings heavily affect the tone. I like to crank up presence, which gives it that real crunchy feel. Boosting treble too high makes it a little nasty. And boosting mids makes it a little too smooth for my tastes. I generally set mids and highs around the same spot, and boost presence as much or more than that. And turning up Drive all the way makes it too compressed. For the EVH tone, I like to crank the Bias.

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Iii. JCM-800

This amp model sounds very similar to the Park 75, but more compressed and with much more drive. Without tweaking, it doesn't sound overly Marshally; but we can get it there. Tweaked properly, it can deliver great 80's metal tones. I hesitate to call it high gain. Although it can be dialed in to produce modern metal tones, I prefer to use other amp models to do so; however, I do use it for my Megadeth patches. My favorite patches with this are for a modern Satriani tone.

Like the Park, I like to turn down the Bias and Bias X. This gives you a more natural power amp distortion and a more nasal tone.

My prefered distortion from the amp is the power amp distortion. I particularly like the sound with the Master Volume set between 65-75%. Anything more is a little too extreme; anything less just doesn't get there. I find the sweet spot, then I tweak Drive to get the exact amount of distortion/saturation I want. But don't go too high with Drive, or you'll end up mixing a heavily distorted pre-amp section with a heavily distorted power amp section, and it can sound nasty. If you need more distortion with Drive up to 40-50%, I recommend putting a boost pedal in front the amp. This will at least tweak the pre-amp distortion, so it "plays nice" with the power amp distortion.

Note that when you have a saturated distortion using the power amp section, the nature of the distortion will respond to the pre-amp EQ settings. Turning up the Bass will make the distortion muddier. Cranking the Presence will make it splatty. I like to keep those knobs conservative and cranking Mids and/or Treble. I'll often turn Bass down to like 20% and Presence to 50%, while maxing out Mids and putting Treble between 70 and 90%.

If that leaves you with an unsavory frequency response to the tone, use EQ effects after the amp to boost the bass or presence, etc.

That said, don't try to make this amp something it isn't. Where this amp excels, is that rumbly, near-muddy Marshall distortion. While I generally prefer a smooth, tight low-end to my distortion, I found I wasn't impressed with the results when dialing in this amp like that. Other models simply do it better. My favorite tones from this model involve turning up the bass and not using so much gain as to make it super-saturated. I keep it percussive and buzzy, like a crunch tone from hell.

For distortion, sometimes I'll go the opposite route and turn the Master Volume down to about 35% and crank up the Drive knob. This creates a smoother distortion, but I find it has less character. I recommend using a distortion effect or EQ in front the amp, and tweaking it heavily to find your tone when dialing in the amp this way.

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Iv. Uberschall

The Uberschall gets us into true high-gain territory. We don't need to crank power amps or use boost pedals to get a saturated distortion tone. It has a very creamy sound, which can sound great for a lead tone or some modern hard rock. But it's also a bit muddy and a little fuzzy. Without a lot of tweaking the Uberschall won't give you a tight, djenty metal tone. However, with tweaking, it sounds pretty awesome.

You can't get the distortion characteristics of this amp on any other models. The Park and Marshall models sound 80's-ish, while the Mesa, ENGL, and Elektrik sound quite modern. This sits somewhere in between. Until Line 6 adds a Soldano SLO, 5150, and/or Mesa Mark, this is probably the amp to use to get as close as possible to those tones.

Many forum members claimed that Line 6 "broke" the Uber with firmware version 1.2, because the newer version was WAY muddier. (Of course, they brought back the old Uber as the Line 6 Elektrik later on, leaving little room for complaint.) I like the changes to the tone - I think it sounds more like a real amp. But from all the clips I've heard of the real amp, I don't think it sounds like a real Uberschall. And I do not think the presence knob acts like the real thing (while the Elektrik does ironically).

You have to add a strong EQ to your signal before the tone hits the amp to get the tone where I feel it belongs. There's quite a few ways to do this. My favorite is to use a Mid-Focus EQ. You can set the high-pass frequency to around 40-60%, really dialing out the muddy low-end. With the low-pass, you can set it to 100% to keep all the searing high frequencies, or you can move it downwards making the tone more and more creamy and vowel-y. An interesting trick is to boost the low pass Q. This actually creates a resonant peak at the cutoff frequency, so you can boost the exact frequencies you want to draw out the exact distortion tone you want.

You can also use a Studio EQ, such as with Low Freq 75 HZ, -5.5db and High Freq 800/1500 HZ, +6 db. I found good results from doubling up two Studio EQ's, so you can fine-tune the punch and mids frequencies too, to keep the tone thick while keeping it mud-free. Or you can just use a Parametric EQ to boost the center frequency you want. Or use combinations of EQ's. I like using a Mid-Focus to trim the mud and grit, and use a Parametric EQ to boost the upper mids/treble with the perfect Q.

You can alternatively use a Tube Screamer and turn down Bass while cranking Tone, but leave Treble around 50% (for the Classic Distortion, turn up Filter to around 70-75% and turn up treble just a bit).

The EQ controls behave a little strangely. Mids seems to also affect the highs - I like to turn it up high and use EQ effects to really dial in the midrange response I want - usually I'll cut around 750 HZ a bit. Treble gives you good control over dialing in just the right amount of sizzle on top. Presence behaves more like a traditional presence control than the midrange-peak sweep on the actual amp, but watch out because strong settings will strongly affect the tone.

I tend to leave the DEP's alone or near 50%, with the exception of Bias X. I used to adjust Hum to about 70% which seemed to change the tone a little, but then I noticed there's this faint digital sounding tone in additional to the main guitar tone - it's most audible when doing slow bends on the higher strings. So I now leave it closer to 50%; however, you have more wiggle room as long as you keep Master around or lower than 50%. Bias X I like to turn up, which gives notes more of a blooming type sound and makes the amp more expressive. However, too much makes the tone sound a bit fake. I usually settle around 65-70%. If anything I'll reduce Sag a bit, but this will make the tone less djenty and more percussive. Bias can change the mid-range response heavily and make the tone a little more gritty at higher settings. The Master DEP alone doesn't seem to have a very strong effect on the tone, other than compressing the tone at higher settings. But in combination with the other DEP's, it acts to amplify or diminish their effect. So I treat it like a compressor, which comes in handy for tones where you don't want a heavily-saturated distortion, but you want good sustain. However, I balance the other DEP's against it, keeping them more conservative if I boost this. For a super smooth tone, I find 40-45% is good. Anything lower starts to lose tone. Anything higher introduces a bit of roughness.

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V. Dual Rectifier

Line 6 dialed in the classic Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier tone beautifully. You can get a variety of great tones from it, from hard rock to metal. It will djent without a boost, and it doesn't have any awkward kinks that you have to dial out. I don't necessarily try to replicate an artist's rig when I'm trying to dial in their tone - I often find a different amp model dialed in a clever way gets me closer to the tone. This is not the case here. If I want to replicate an artist that uses a Boogie Rectifier, I use this amp model without hesitation. If you like its tone, you lucked out with Line6's implementation. I use this amp for modern Dream Theater and Meshuggah tones, as well as some of my own personal tones.

I find this is the most straight-forward high-gain amp on the Pod HD. All the controls behave as you'd expect them to. The only surprise is that it has loads of bass. When matched with the rather bright Treadplate cab; however, it gets canceled out and sounds great. The only thing to watch out for is the treble knob; it can dominate your tone at higher levels.

You probably don't need to use any form of overdrive/EQ before the amp - it is preset to djent. However, a mild EQ will dial out any mud if you have dark pickups. Also, a slight EQ boost at 1 kHZ will make it slightly more djenty. Using a Tube Screamer will make the tone super tight, which works great for the down-tuned metalcore or death metal stuff.

This thing has tons of bass in comparison to other models, and it is difficult to tame. I find a Parametric EQ with frequency around 15% works best, and I usually use that in conjunction with a Mid-Focus EQ - I'll set the high pass Q to 0% and move HP Freq from 0% upward until I find where the boominess is gone.

The most control over the distortion tone comes from the Master Volume parameter. Higher settings get a dirtier distortion - a lot more bite. I tend to set it lower - around 30%. This keeps the tone nice and spongy but still with a good bit of bite. I'm still experimenting with the rest of the DEP's, but if anything I'll just set Sag lower. I like the Bias controls usually at 50% for now. To get the super-cold sounding Meshuggah tone, I change it up a little - I like Master Volume pretty high (~80%). Hum seems to change the splatty-ness of the distortion. I believe I turn it down a little sometimes to make the tone more spongy.

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Vi. Fireball

A great representation of the ENGL sound - very midsy yet modern and djenty. It's a bit looser than the Dual Rectifier and a bit dirtier - it has a wonderful gritty tone, think Jeff Loomis. Has loads of distortion and is pretty simple to dial in. It's a great choice for any kind of modern metal when you don't want the Dual Rectifier sound. I use this amp mainly for Periphery and Scar Symmetry tones, but you can actually get a good 80's metal sound out of it due to its midrange response.

The Presence and Treble controls are a bit sensitive at higher settings, but sometimes you need them up high to get enough sizzle to the tone. They seem to provide very subtle changes during initial adjustments than start to hurt the tone, usually making it too harsh. Bass doesn't seem to do very much. Mids is more responsive but also more forgiving - I usually set it up fairly high and, like the Uber, use EQ effects to really dial in the midrange response.

A mids-boost on this amp can make it really djenty. Ola's hand job patch uses a Screamer with Bass down to 35%, tone up to 75%, and Treble at 45%. I also like using a Classic Distortion with Drive ~5-15%, Bass 35%, Filter 75%, Treble 60-65% to make it really aggressive - djenty but also dirty.

Another trick is to use EQ before the amp, boosting the mids, but turning down some of the really high end. This makes the tone much smoother sounding - Studio EQ with Low Freq at 700 HZ, +5 db, High Freq at 5000 HZ -4db.

I generally like to turn up the Master Volume to the 70-100% range for my Vai tone. This really makes the amp thump, but it also makes it a little looser. If you want a tighter tone, turn it down. This amp seems the most forgiving with its DEP's. For lower Master Volume settings, reducing Bias tends to make the amp sound more real in my mind, although this does suck out some mids which you'll have to add back in. For higher Master Volume settings, Bias tends to make the amp sound a little looser and more midsy and warm at lower settings, but tighter and crisper and colder at higher settings. For the life of me, I can't seem to notice any change in the tone with the Hum control.

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Vii. Elektrik

I'm meh on this model. It doesn't do anything the Uber doesn't do that I find the Uber does better, even if it takes more tweaking with the Uber to get there. I never use this amp. It sounds too much like a modeled amp, not a real amp to me. You can hear it in the mids. It sounds like some annoying kid going "uhh uhh uhhh".

Immediately selecting this amp, you will notice something doesn't sound right. For some reason, the default "Master Volume" DEP value is 100%!!!! Set that down to at least 50% or lower, and this amp becomes at least usuable.

The Presence setting is a little non-traditional. I find a value around 45% keeps the amp djenty. Higher values make the amp more crunchy like a Marshall. Otherwise, it behaves similarly to the Uber, especially the mids knob.

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viii. Dual Rectifier "Pre"

Normally I don't deal with the pre-amp only models because I feel like they're the same as their full counterparts, only missing bite and a full frequency response (they sound thin). Yet the Dual Rectifier's pre-amp sounds different from the full model - I consider it an entirely different amp model. It has a very smooth, spongy distortion, compared to the full model having more bite and grit. I like to use it for my Metallica black album tone.

You'll notice with the "Pre" variant, you have to use a bit more gain. Also, there's much less bass and more mids. So I generally turn down Mids and turn up Bass more than usual.

Otherwise the same rules apply as the full model, regarding boosts and EQ's. There are no DEP's to deal with.

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Ix. SLO Overdrive

This is easily one of the best models on the unit. It sings quality, especially in its rich midrange response. It has plenty of punch and warmth, so it never sounds thin like the Treadplate and Fball models. While the high-end is there and can be quite ronchy, it is never overbearing or harsh. But the real spectacle is the signal-to-noise ratio. This model has very little noise compared to the other models, making direct comparisons to them sound like a generational leap - like SD to HD.

The overall tone is probably somewhere between a Marshall and the Fireball. It doesn't feel quite "modern" enough for chugga chug downtuned metal, but it's certainly not vintage. It makes for a sweet 80's - 90's hard rock tone and will even work as a thrash tone. I find it does wonders for Vai tones.

One thing about this amp reminds me a lot of the Plexi model actually. It's got that nasal breakup to the pick attack that adds character to the tone. And as hard as I've tried, I could not dial that out. Which is good and bad - for some tones I like it, but it doesn't work for a sweet, super-smooth, high-gain lead tone. If you want the SLO tone without that nasal attack, try to boost the SLO Crunch - it's "cleaner" in this regard, but as you might expect, less saturated and more crunchy.

The natural tone of this amp has a bit too much low-end breakup to me, and doesn't sound focused enough. I like to put a Distortion pedal or some EQ in front of it to give it a bit of a mids-boost. Nothing too fancy or extreme - it doesn't need radical treatment to draw out the sweetness. I don't find the amp is very versatile. Extreme settings are more likely to sound ugly than interesting.

Another interesting point to this amp is that the EQ knobs are not as drastic as one might expect. I find I use them more to change distortion tone than to really EQ the tone. In that sense, they are similar to the Fball model. If I want more low-end or high-end, I'll use EQ effects after the amp. I usually keep the amp's EQ knobs a little over 50%, but find boosting mids higher can sweeten up the sound.

I have not had much success tweaking the DEP's. I find they sound best around 50%. Boosting Master can have some effect on the midrange - sometimes I move this up to around 60-65%. But beyond that the power amp distortion is too broken up for my tastes. As usual, Sag works as expected and can be set to taste. Hum gets swirly and ugly if turned up yet reduces the richness of the distortion if turned down. Bias almost acts like a mids control.

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X. Doom

The Doom basically sounds like a heavily customized Marshall; and as you might guess from the name, it is dialed in towards doom, sludge, and black metal tones. It's kind of vintage and droning, but at the same time it stays focused and doesn't get a little weird like a Marshall would if pushed that hard. Personally, I don't really mess around with these tones, so I can't speak a lot on how to dial it in.

One thing that has been mentioned about this amp model is that it takes Distortion pedals very well. You can set the amp to provide a mild breakup, then drive it hard with a heavily distorted pedal. Or you can use a pedal with a slight breakup and drive the amp hard. Either way you get a usable tone without much tweaking. And this works across a wide variety of the distortion effects available on the Pod. So this will be my focus for the amp. I'm hoping it might deliver a better tone for some of the patches where I use a heavy pedal distortion into a slightly broken up Marshall, like my Satriani and Opeth tones.

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Xi. Epic

This amp requires heavy tweaking to get it in the "usable" range for me. But once there, it provides a tone no other model delivers. I would describe it as dry, thrashy, tight, and not-too-saturated. I think it should sound good for thrashy death metal tones like Opeth, Extol, or The Faceless.

If you try to get pre-amp distortion from this model, bring your broom. It's a mess. Rather than try to use EQ or boost pedal trickery to clean it up, let me save you some time. Don't bother. It sounds like a broken amp. Set Drive to 5% and forget about it. All the distortion is going to come from the power section. Crank the Master DEP to 100%.

I find a distortion pedal is necessary to focus the tone. Also, the amp's EQ plays heavily into the distortion tone you get from its power section. This is a bit tricky. While I like to boost mids in my pre-eq or distortion pedal, I find turning up mids (or even using 50% mids) can consume the tone, causing it to sound too dark and compressed, like a pedal distortion. I like to back off of it, even going down to like 15% to get more of a natural bite out of the tone. On the other hand, I boost Treble, and keep Presence slightly under 50%. Of course, these relationships change depending on how you pre-eq the amp. Be warned.

As for DEP's, again Master at 100% - it's the source of the distortion. I suppose you could turn this down if you wanted to use a pedal for your distortion, but this amp has so many pitfalls, I'd be scared to try to dial that in. Sag can be set to taste, but I find the amp is still tight and percussive at 50% and sounds more natural than if you set it any lower. Hum I actually turn down a little. With Master cranked, the amp can easily get into "broken power amp" tones, swirling and such. Turning down Hum a little helps prevent this, along with smart EQ settings and amounts of gain. Bias I turn down a little - this makes the tone have a bit more bite, but going too low makes it sound thin and scooped. Bias X I turn down all the way. I don't like what turning this up at all does to the tone - seems to make it sound flat and overly compressed.

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Date: 2016-01-03; view: 783