My band is finding it VERY hard to find a distortion that we are all happy with using the POD XT.. the distortion sounds we use sound very synthetic no matter what we do, (the clean sounds arnt to bad though)... Ive downloaded about 200 heavy metal presets from the line 6 tone transfer site... and to add to that we have even tried creating our own presets... though nothing can match the sound we are after (guitar sound skidrow use) ... nothing sounds like a real amp. Our major difficulty was finding a decent power ballad distortion something really smooth, crisp, heavy yet maintaining the clarity at the same time. The problem may be us though... we want to record a professional sounding album, i guess it would be rather impossible to do so with only a guitar POD... cause is reasonable when it comes to preproduction and maybe it was intended for that purpose.
Has anyone out there had the same problem as me? Im ready to throw the pod out of the window :)
Spiza
Comments
In some cases things like a Pod work great. But to be honest, if
In some cases things like a Pod work great. But to be honest, if it is your main guitar sound, nothing beats a Quality Tube amp for Hard rock/Heavy Metal.
Even if you have to rent one for a week, do it... Just make sure you have a good signal chain to get it to your recorder.
Good cables, Good Mic pre driving the Mic and in some cases compression..
Later on, come in with POD and add little nuances here and there for flavor, but the meat of your sound should be coming from an Amp, not a simulator...
Well if your talking about going direct with it, it's gonna soun
Well if your talking about going direct with it, it's gonna sound like crap not matter what. At least for distortion anyways, the clean stuff sounds alright direct.
You can't get a professional sound from going direct no matter what your using (It will always sound fake because it is fake). Pro recording studios don't record direct, they mic guitar cabs.
If you run the POD through a good amp, and record it with some go mics, you'll probably get a good result.
I have a POD X3 and I love it. My custom made preset is based of
I have a POD X3 and I love it. My custom made preset is based off a Marshall JCM-900 and it sounds pretty much like a real Marshall.
Recording guitar is difficult cause if the distortion is not to your liking you will not like it period. Getting the distortion right is paramount.
Lot's of professionals use POD's not only live but in the studio as well.
Micing an amp is okay but be prepared for a lot more monkey business in trying to get your sound right.
357mag wrote: I have a POD X3 and I love it. My custom made pres
357mag wrote: I have a POD X3 and I love it. My custom made preset is based off a Marshall JCM-900 and it sounds pretty much like a real Marshall.
Recording guitar is difficult cause if the distortion is not to your liking you will not like it period. Getting the distortion right is paramount.
Lot's of professionals use POD's not only live but in the studio as well.
Micing an amp is okay but be prepared for a lot more monkey business in trying to get your sound right.
However, once you've done the "monkey business" you end up with something that sounds rather pleasing.
I've never used a Pod X3, so I cannot speak for or against it.
But if I was going to resort to just using amp sims why would I bother with the guitar? I'd just get something like the guitar hero get up or a keyboard with a pitch bending joystick.
I have worked a lot with PODs - the version 2, the XT, the Bass
I have worked a lot with PODs - the version 2, the XT, the Bass POD, and the Bass POD XT Pro. I've always felt the need to get into the deep editing functions to tweak the sounds to get something I really like. There are a lot of options available and it takes a lot of time to get to understand how they work together. If you are serious about using the box, take your time and really get to know how to use it.
You might also get some outside judgment about the various sounds you are getting. The feel and process of recording with the POD is just so different that it affects your judgment about the sound of the result. (There is a ton of scientific documentation showing that musicians mix the feel of an instrument with the sound of an instrument - e.g. when playing a guitar or violin they will say that instrument A sounds much better than instrument B - when someone else is playing them they can't tell them a part.)
I don't buy any blanket claims - like the ones above. PODs have been used to good effect in a lot of good songs. But of course they can't make every possible sound, and if they can't make one you like you will have to move on. But I will have to say that if you are at a stage in your recordings where the guitar sounds you are getting from a POD XT are the weak link - congratulations!
look at your guitar, and how you play it. mess with the cab choi
look at your guitar, and how you play it. mess with the cab choices. play along with the drums, see if it "fits" i use an original pod and a behringer vamp, and i use them for scratch tracks, and i'll have some guitar players that sound amazing through them, and some guitar players that sound horrible through them.
Sometimes backing off on the gain can be alot heavier and chunki
Sometimes backing off on the gain can be alot heavier and chunkier. Lots more control as well. It's a cleaner meatier distortion if that makes sense.