Line 6 POD

Price Paid: £199 (Pounds Sterling)

Features: 8
A selction of modeled amps and effects, read other posts for full list - you must know what a Pod does by now people..

Sound Quality: 8
I am reviewing this product for what I use it for, which is a teaching aid. I haven't got the space, or half a mile until the next house to have my tube amps running at home for lessons!
The Pod has an excellent range of sounds that get pretty close to tube feel (through a Mackie mixer and a pair of Mackie studio monitors) at very low volumes. The effects are useable and this unit makes it very easy for me to dial in a close call to just about any sound my students want to imitate.
My only gripe is that I wish you could choose which reverb you want, rather than it being pre-determined by the amp model you select.

For what it's worth, here's where I stand on the whole tube vs modelling debate that seems to go on forever below:

FOR HOME PRACTICE, teaching, quickly dialling in a range of useable sounds - this is great.

FOR RECORDING it sounds pretty damn good, if you know how to mix properly and haven't got access to anywhere that you can record at high volumes.

FOR GIGGING - I would not suggest going down the Pod OR modelling route. Sounds that you spend hours tweaking at home tend to sound absolutely rubbish when you start to run them at higher volumes due to cirtain (especially higher) frequencies not being audible at low volumes. You will be forever tweaking my friends! You'll end up with 50% of your patches having to be for home use and 50% for live. This is fine if you have access to somewhere that you can practice on your own, at gig volume for hours on end, but most of us don't.

Reliability: 9
I have never had a problem with this unit, and have used it pretty much every day for the last 3 years.

Customer Support: N/A
I have never had to deal with Line 6.

Overall Rating: 8
I have been playing for about 14 years now and have used many different effects units, amps guitars etc. I love the fact that this is such a good sounding device that can sit on my desktop and produce useable practice sounds.
As I said above, I would not recommend this unit for gigging but if you need a versitile home practice set up, I would suggest running one of these through some average studio monitors, rather than going down the combo route. Unless you also want to use the combo to gig with of course..

This has been a very useful product for me as a teacher.

Submitted by Dave Bone at 06/23/2006 04:00

Price Paid: US $150.00 used

Ease of Use: 10
I find it easy to use, although don't mess with editing patches. My approach is to use it manually, set it to the amp I want to model, tweak it and play. I use it live in club and bar gigs in between my guitar and a Fender Bassman 60 amp. It is easy to go from one amp to another between songs .

Sound Quality: 10
I have several quality Humbucker guitars plugged into the pod, which goes into the input of the Fender Bassman 60 amp(not the new one but the old one from the early 90's). Noise filter removes the unwanted noise. Effects are used sparingly, and work well when needed. I regularly use distortion, tremelo, delay, compression. At one time only tube amps were available. Every player knows they are best but require maintenance. They also can have a problem during a performance, which has happened to me several times. Because of this, I favor solid state amps and the Pod. I know it does not sound as good as a good old tube amp, but for gigging dependability and a sound that is almost as good this works for me. No one has said anything bad about the sound and tone the rig made, guitar afficionandos included. The pod amps I use are the Fender Bassman(blues and classic rock), Fender Twin(blues, classic rock and surf music), Marshall JCM800(Classic rock) and the Vox AC30(Beatles).

Reliability: 10
It is very reliable as long as it is not abused.

Customer Support: N/A
No need to contact them. Manual is easy to understand. Plenty of on line help also.

Overall Rating: 10
The 14 year existance band plays the blues and classic rock. The pod covers it well. I have been playing since the mid 1960's and cut my teeth on the Stones and Beatles. I have gone through a lot of gear over the years, but gradually realized tube amps, while the best tone, are maintenance prone, expensive to fix and can/do breakdown at the worst times. Not being rich and without a lot of storage space, the pod houses a lot of tone, settings, amps and at a low cost. I would buy it again as it is very versatile, including a headphone jack and tuner! Good lighting in the dark. Easy to use under pressure. My favorite setting is the Fender Bassman model going into my Fender Bassman 60 amp playing my Fender Telecaster! No other product comparisons were done. I did my research on harmony-central and then found a used one in a pawn shop. It makes me rise to a higher level because I can play different tones and amps with some simple tweaking. I could not afford nor store all the amps the Pod has at your fingertips.

Submitted by timewarpbandman at 06/06/2006 17:55

Price Paid: N/A

Ease of Use: 8
9 If you use the Deep Edit Program. 4 if you tweak it from the front panel. By all means, to get what you're after you have to go deep.

Sound Quality: 9
I have probably put over 20-30 different guitars throught this unit.
(no kiding , I have a huge collection) Each has it's own sound. I don't mind the effects too much cause IMHO less is more. They do the job for me. I would have a short wish list regardig effects, but it's ok as it is. I use it Live and Studio(dry). Into a Bose PAS, as a front end of Tube and Solid State amps. It's a different sound in each setup. Like the other reviewer said you gotta know how to use all the variables. I've A/B'd this against my Matchless Chieftain and it's awful hard to tell. Same for a Twin Rev. Reissue. This unit is probably on more recordings(pro and amatuer) than most people realize.

Reliability: 5
Had one or two go bad, bought replacements. Right away. I rely on this
unit and keep a backup close by.
It get's used a lot, and if you use it enough, eventually it'll break.
In a strictly studio environment, it'd probably last a long time.

Customer Support: 7
I've gotten into it pretty good with the Line 6 folks for a bunch of other issues but never about the POD 2.0
They suck on some of the newer gear, but not on the 2.0 I've upgraded from the original Ver 1. Repair? Why? These are a bargain nowadays. If it breaks , Launch it.
too exensive to repair once it's out of warranty.

Overall Rating: 10
I play to almost every type of crowd. I get asked to do a wide variety of music, I have a handful of presets that stand up to just about any challenge. I've been playing 40 + years, I'm a gear junkie I own well, you name it,(gear Junkie) I probably have one. I've compared it to the J station and the Behringer and this seems to have the edge although I thought there were some nice features on the others as well, especially if you shred. I wish it had Auto Wah and a better sounding Leslie. I play as a single mostly, but I'll use a tube amp OR the Pod as a front end to a Tube amp(into the effect return) when I work in a band cause I need more stage volume. This thing usually does the trick though. I love a good tube amp. I own some really really cool ones.
But I think the pod gets its points from being so multi dimensional.
I mean, who brings 32 amps to a gig?

Submitted by Sid at 03/15/2006 12:07

Price Paid: N/A

Features: 8
Pretty good amount of features.

Sound Quality: 4
Bottom line, technology has not evolved to the state that it can recreate the sound of tubes and especially the sound of air from a speaker hitting a mic.

People that rate this unit high fall into 4 categories;

1. They do not know how to record an amp properly.

2. Their ears have not matured enough to distinguish the difference between the real deal and a simulation.

3. They need to record in a quiet area.

4. They actually like the sound of digital products.

I fit into them a few years back, but with continuous ear training I am now onto bigger and better tones.

Reliability: 10
Never had any problems.

Customer Support: N/A
Never had to use it.

Overall Rating: 4
I would not even use this unit for practice because why practice with something you are not going to record with. Your best bet on achieving a decent sound is to use this as your preamp and use a power amp and a cabinet of your choice. Direct does not give you a full sound. And I am not just talking about this unit. I mean anything direct.

Don't buy into Line 6 hype. They spend more on advertisements then Lars Ulrich spends on lawyers.

Tubes Or Bust.

Submitted by Rick at 03/14/2006 06:27

Price Paid: US $249.00

Features: 8
If this were 2001, I would give it a 10. But there is an upgraded model, the PODxt. That being said, I'm still exploring the unit's possibilities.

Sound Quality: 8
I run my Old Baby 1979 The SG , a Squire Fat Strat, as well as my Ibanez Electric/Acoustic and various bass guitars thru it. I either plug direct into my Behringer mixer at home for recording, my Kustom practice amp, or my old Peavey Renown with 2x12 cab for gigs.
My Sound kicks ass!!!

Reliability: 8
I use this with the 4 button Line 6 footswitch. It's 3 years old and no problems at all. Solid construction. If/When I upgrade, this unit will become my backup.

Customer Support: N/A
N/A no problems, info is readily available online, read the F%$#@!ING manual and you will have a much clearer understanding.

Overall Rating: 8
I'm not some dumbass kid playing dropped C death metal riffs. I'm a 40 year old dad with 25 years of playing behind me...and I play louder and meaner than most of these 20 year old suburban pussies who pretend to be rockers. My musician friends often consult me about good guitar tone.
The POD is a Godsend. While I love Old School tube amps, I really like and support Line 6's approach....I mean, cmon, I've got 3 Marshalls and 4 Boogies on tap here!
It will probably take one generation, but mark my words...In 2025, NO ONE is gonna give a damn if your guitar tone came from tubes or not.
Get a POD , Now!!!!

Submitted by JohnE at 11/05/2005 23:29

Price Paid: 630.000 (Lire Italiane)

Features: 10
Mine is 1.0, bought in March,2000.
It is almost all I need for practicing in my apartment.
Plenty of features, blah blah.
Obviously it comes with a handy headphones input.
It is also in my backup rig for gigs.

Sound Quality: 6
Jackson Soloist (japan made, custom), with HSS, Duncan SH-8 Invader bridge, 2 custom strat vintage single coils on center and neck positions; Epiphone Slash Signature, with Duncan Jeff Beck in bridge position.
I mostly play blues-rock-hard rock; POD suits those styles very well for home-practicing; i'm not a metalhead, but I guess it's ok for that also.
Great variety of sounds, most of them usable, 36 storing locations, blah blah.
Clean sounds are ok, distorted are also ok.
The weak point is obviously the lack of breakup from clean to overdrive to dist. But if u want the sound of power tubes breakup, then buy a tube amp.
I've certainly heard better sounds, but also heard so much crap sounding equipment.

Reliability: 10
ROCK SOLID.

Customer Support: N/A
Never dealt with 'em, and I suppose I never will have to.
Anyway they seem ok.

Overall Rating: 8
I've been playing for 10 years, and my main amp rig is a Laney VH100R head, stacked on a Marshall Lead 1960 4x12 w/Celestions GT12T-75.
Blah Blah some fx, eq, wah, same as many players here.
No BBE maximizers or crap, just pure tube sound.
Anyway POD is always at my gigs as a backup; you never know when a power tube is gonna quit working.
Coupled with a midi controller and the same fx/eq chain of the main rig, it is the ideal backup and my best mate for jamming with friends, no big deal!
I've also owned in the past a Line6 POD Pro rackmounted with a Mesa 20/20 EL-84 poweramp, and b4 that even a Rocktron Velocity 120 (UGH!).
If my POD was lost or stolen, i'd buy another in a sec.

Conclusion: it will never sound like a tube amp, but it comes close enough to give good but somewhat "static" sounds.
If you buy it for what it is, it is a good piece of equipment!
Good work, Line6!

Submitted by AL at 09/19/2005 09:45

Price Paid: 280 (CDN)

Features: 9
I have a POD 2.0 that I bought in 03. It's pack full of features. So much, that you can get lost in them. I originally bought it to play with headphones in my appartement, but now that I can make as much noise as I want, I use it as a front end to a cheapo Dean Markeley SS amp set to neutral. I've also played with for recording thru my PC. You could say that this is my main amp.

I won't name all the features, too many of them. Since I do not have the pedal board or the switch, I think it would be nice to be able to get some sort of auto-wah out of it. As it is, the wah is simply not available. Other then that, hard to complain. I takes some time to get comfortable with the controls.

Sound Quality: 10
I did not buy this to reproduce any vintage amp. I wanted tone control in a appartement environement. I got it and much more. If you want a Plexi, you'll have to find a real one. If you want a sound shapping device, this is it. Thank God you can save your settings, because there's just to much variable to play with! I've setted up so that I can dial basic setups and just have to tweak effects, EQ and volume. Fantastic. It took some time to find my sounds but it was well worth it. You must use your PC to access some of the features.

I play mostly blues and classic rock on an epi LP and a cheap fat strat clone. As an front end for an amp, the POD reacts well (at least on my amp) but the extremes tends to sound unrealistic. Too much distortion often gives weird results. Very clean tones are also somewhat poor. The effects are mostly just passable save for the 1st chorus and the delay that are great. The reverb is nice at low settings. I'm sure that for any of my 11 basic setups that I've made, I could find an amp that could sound better. But I'm pretty sure that I couldn't find one that could reproduce all of them.

For silent practice use, it beats anything that I've ever played. You can play not too loud and still get great tone.

For recording, well, I guess it was built with that in mind. I'll leave the final verdict to more seasoned technicians, but for home use on a PC, it's very fun and versatile.

Reliability: 10
In over 2 years, it never failled. It's build tough and the control knobs are also tough. Only thing I could see failling on this are the push buttons, but they have yet to show any signs of wear. Yeah, I would gig with it.

Customer Support: N/A
Don't know and I don't want to know.

Overall Rating: 9
I originally bougth this because I wanted something to play without getting trown out of my appartement. Now, I can pretty much play my self to deafness if I please, but I still use it as my main tone tool. I've had it for over 2 years, I'm still getting some suprises out of it. It takes some getting use to, but it's well worth the effort.

The pedal board would be nice I guess. I've collected quite a number of gadgets over time and I keep coming back to basic setups. Still, an auto-wah probably would have been easy to implement... Foot swtich should be standart. I don't have it, but I would use it if I had it.

If it was stolen? I'd go out an buy an all tube amp, crank it up and make the house crumble. Then, I'd miss my POD.

Submitted by S.M. at 07/26/2005 08:29

Price Paid: Trade

Ease of Use: 7

you do have to do some tweaking to match your settings with your gear, and sometimes you have to dig pretty deep with certain amp models - but IMO it is well worth it.

once in the ballpark with the internal tweaking its no problem to twist the knobs to fine tune things when changing guitars or locations you are playing/jamming.

Sound Quality: 9

I am taking this unit for what it is, an amp modellor. If soemone is trying to compare each model to the real thing they are missing the point. Also - add in the fact that you dont have to worry about micing and soundbleeding and all the other hassles with recording, and the quality of the results this is a very handy companion. I have listened to clips on HC of people recording thier Marshall track onto a song/clip, and also a clip using the Pod - and you know what? There have been many times it is hard to tell the difference.

And if you cannot crank up that fender bassman or twin and use quality mics/recorders then I think you will end up with better recorded tones using the Pod anyway, again its a handy companion for computer recording whether you are just laying down some grooves or trying to capture kickass tones for your songs. So in alot of instances I think the Pod could come in more handy than your 2-3 tube amps - if you own all the tube amp models here and quality mics then what do you want the Pod for?

So, if you need alot of good sounds that are different, and you take the time to tweak your own patch settings I dont see how you could go wrong or be dissapointed with the Pod

Reliability: N/A

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: 8
I am giving it a high score because after taking the time to find your settings you will have some very good tones to work with, and recording direct with these Pods is so useful - like I mentioned Ive heard clips comparing the Pod/amp model against a certain amp and often times it is difficult to distinguish the playback.

Since you can get that close and do not have to worry about mics, replacing tubes, or particular micing techniques/soundproofine, etc., Then I think it deserves a high score.

I have had the 2.0 (with 2.3 firmware?) a little over 2 weeks - I wanted to mention that but Ive been playing tube amps for about 17 years. Again I am not comparing any of the models to the real deal in a live settings because when playing live in a band setting I do feel the response of the tube amps being modelled is missing - But I am comparing it using the recorded tones as a guide compared to the real thing, also including the "no'hassle" factor. - for that I give it a solid 8.

I have set 1/2 of the patches for my strat and the other 1/2 for my SG/humbucker guitars and it is handy having all of those presets to save your settings, I dont have to tweak the knobs when I switch guitars I just use the long-floorboard controller to select the patches that I made for each guitar

Submitted by bentwookies at 07/21/2005 14:36

Price Paid: 275 (€)

Features: 10
There is so many stuff, that the best thing you can do is to check out Line 6's Website. I own the Line 6 POD 2.0.

Sound Quality: 9
I use a B.C. Rich Warlock NJ Series (2001) as my main guitar, and a Ibanez RG 570 (1993) as my secondary guitar. Although I play Folk/Goth Metal, the type of sound that I like and use is basicly a complete insane brutal high gain, very saturated with huge low end, but always without loosing thickness. If you ask, is the POD 2.0 capable of doing it? The answer is yes.

The POD doesn't achieve the kind of thickness (bit fuzzy in some cases) that I can get with my Boss MT-2 (Metal Zone), but still is pretty good and powerfull. The type of distortions that I prefer on the POD is "Modern High Gain" and "Line 6 Insane", and especially the last one has lots of agression and attack... perfect for any extreme metal style. "Modern High Gain" is a little bit more soft, and I use mainly for rehearse at home.

For the recording of my band's Demo CD "Revidere Ad Vitam", I used the Boss MT-2 running through the POD, wich was set in "Jazz Clean" in a "2X12 Line 6" cabinet... the result was very pleseant. If you want to hear it, go to www.monslunae.com and then to the Discography section.

YOU MUST CONNECT THE POD TO THE COMPUTER via MIDI IN/OUT in order to access some of the the controls of the POD. I specially refer to the "Cabinets" item... "Cabinets" is one of the most, if not the most important item on the POD, by "Cabinets" you can change drastically the hole sound on of an amp, and turn it from fuzz to brutal death metal... always keep this in mind.

The only thing I really don't like that much on the POD, are the clean sounds, but since I don't use them, they suit fine...

Reliability: 10
In almost two years, it never let me down... extremly reliable.

Customer Support: 6
When I first tried to register the POD at Line 6's Website, the Website gave me an error... I then tried to contact the webmaster, but I was never given an answer. I really didn't like that fact.

Beside of that, fortunatly I never had to deal with them.

Overall Rating: 10
The POD is no dought a very useful and versatile tool... To be honest, I really don't like digital amps or preamps (I hardly would buy something like Vetta II or ZenTera... Triple Rectifier, Warp-T/X, Framus Cobra, Marshall Mode Four, just to name a few, are much more of my team), but I have to admit that the POD is much better than I ever expected... I surrendered myself to this little red box, it has served me very good.

Submitted by Hugo Gomes at 03/18/2005 20:59

Price Paid: US $180 used

Features: 9
This is the POD 2.0 with the 32 amp models, effects, and all the digital nonesense. Memory storage for your settings, blah blah blah. Too much to go into here.

Sound Quality: 6
First of all, this isn't my unit. I'm test driving it for a friend of mine who is visually impared. Ok, blind. I know what he looks for in a sound, and design it for him. Personally, I don't care for the unit, but I'm trying to be objective about it.

It's hard to get a really good clean sound out of it. Distortions, overdrive, no problem. But that "ultra clean" tone similar to that of the Police, or jazz, not so well. The effects, without the software, are lame at best. It only allows 2 effects at one time, and you have no choice in the matter. I WOULD NOT recommend this as an effects pedal/unit. With the software, well, it's better. (Still not as good as my trusty Digitech RP-3 that I've had since the day it came out.) NOTE: THE SOFTWARE OUT OF THE BOX HATES WINDOWS XP!! Download the latest verion, and you're cool.

Things that SHOULD be available on board the unit can only be accessed via the software, and that's somewhat limiting. Especially in a live setting where the size of the room can really affect the sound. (What sounds perfect through the 10 watt practice amp in your room, may not work through the 100 watt live rig.)

Recording is where this thing is supposed to shine, and in a way, I guess it does. The different distortions, and overdriven amps, (Of which there are far too many examples of.) sound realistic, though I think that the reverbs suck. The cabinet models sound good, but there is something lacking to my ear. Some sound great, while others you just shake your head and wonder "What kind of crappy 4x12 cabinet is THAT supposed to be?" My Ibanez and Aria like the cleaner amps, while the Electra and the Penco go for the dirt. (Although, after much tweaking, I was able to get a good jazz tone that everything liked.)

In it's defence, I have to admit that it's the first thing that has ever been able to allow me to record my bass, a '80 Kramer DMZ6000B, without any problem what-so-ever. It recorded chrystal clean!

I've been using it with a '93 Ibanez EX1500 (2 Ibanez powersound humbuckers and a single coil), '78 Electra X350 ( DiMarzio PAF's humbuckers coil tapped), '72 Penco Paul (Stock humbuckers), '87 Aria Pro(EMG Singles and a humbuckers), and the afforementioned Kramer (Dimarzio specially designed bass humbuckers).

Reliability: 10
It's digital, so the only thing that would hurt it, would be overheating during a daytime gig in the bright sunshine in August. Personally, I wouldn't use it in a gigging situation. It's not meant for that.

Customer Support: 10
Very helpfull! Downloads, user presets, online help, all done easily and quickly.

Overall Rating: 7
I've been playing over twenty four or five years now. Other than the guitars listed above, I also play a Roland G707 Guitar synth through a Roland CM64 and D-110 sound modules, and a 62 Dan Electro longhorn bass. Again, I really don't care about it. If it were mine, and it was stolen, I'd be pissed about losing the money spent on it, but not about the unit itself.

In general, the effects on this thing are about the lamest I've ever heard. Clean sounds are hard to develope, and that you can only access some of the features onboard is a major drawback.

Distortions are fine, and recording is it's purpose in life. It really is quite good at that, but I still prefer my Digitech.

Submitted by Michael Rodgers at 02/28/2005 22:22

Price Paid: US $300

Ease of Use: 8
The first thing I want to say is that anyone who is saying that it is impossible to get a good sound is simply a freaking idiot. It is hard to get started on; i.e. learning all the details of it. But once you get going on it, it's a breeze. I never liked it through an amp until I REALLY spent some time working with it. The trick for me is running it through a 450watt Fender Ultra Chorus. I use a Shure UT-14 Wireless system into the POD and out into the return of the mono effects channel. I don't use the input of the amp at all. I turn the amp modulation off as well. This way I am modeling the POD instead of use it as an amp modeler AND the amp I am using. I am using the POD as the pre-amp and using my speakers directly. It makes a lot more sense. So anyone who says you can't get a good sound is straight up retarded.

Sound Quality: 9
i am using 2 les pauls with detailed customizing. 1 handmade custom guitar built from an expert in Austin, Texas. 1 Fender American Fat Strat. 1 B.C Rich Warlock. 1 Ibanez AX-120 and a slew of others but those mainly. It defiently needs a seperate noise gate. I use it running directly into a P.A. usually and if I use amps it's either a crate, peavy, fender, or marshall. The downside of this is that there is not a good tremelo nor a phaser. The delay is good as well as the reverb. It has a lot of good qualities but it also sucks with SOME sounds.

Reliability: 10
This thing is built better than a tank. you can play Baseball with this thing and take it to a gig the next day. I never use a backup. The only backup I ever use is a gain channel on an amp in case my ADD catches up with me and I forget to bring it to a show.

Customer Support: N/A
Never had to work with them. They might be jerks for all I know.

Overall Rating: 9
I play with lots of people and bands. I have played with Slash from GnR in Vegas as well as Jack Black here in Austin...at NerdStock :-) I also am the lead gunner is Signs of Immanuel (rated the 2nd best Youth Band in America) (I'm 17 btw) I alsp play in CrossFish, Test of Silence, and several others. I would buy it again if it got stolen. Again I really wish it had a phaser and a good tremelo. Also a noise gate.

Submitted by Brandon Mergard at 02/05/2005 13:56

Price Paid: US $249.00

Features: 10
POD 2.3, bought in December 2003 for $249.00 at Guitar Center. 32 amp models, 16 effect settings, headphone jack, stereo outs, A.I.R switch, several others I can't think of at the moment.

Sound Quality: 10
I play mostly neoclassical metal and classic rock. I mainly bought the POD for one thing: the Modern HiGain setting. To me, this is the "shining star" feature; very heavy distortion, but DEFINED as opposed to being muddy sounding. It's modelled after a Soldano SLO 100. I have two Jacksons, a Charvel, and an 80's Kramer. The POD sounds excellent with all of them.

DO NOT listen to the people who say that the POD "sucks through an amp." They haven't tweaked it enough. I have a Marshall JCM 800 2210 twin-channel half stack. I spent an hour pulling my hair out one night trying to get the POD to sound decent across the Marshall, i.e. like it sounded through the headphones. Believe it or not, the magic tweak was to set it on "Direct" (as opposed to "Amp") and set the cab emulation for 1x8. No, that's not a typo. 1x8 was the best sounding speaker emulation to me.

I recently discovered THE clean sound, as well. Like a moron, I forgot what amp setting it was, but I had the presence of mind to save the setting as a preset. I'm talking about a Fender-like, sparkling clean and that's on a Jackson with EMG pickups! All I remember is that it's at about 8-9 o'clock on the "alternate" amp models (the ones you access by holding the Tap switch while turning the amp model switch). I wish I could remember it exactly, so sorry....

Don't get me wrong, I think that the POD most definitely has some sucky, unusable sounds (like Tube Preamp, for example), but the GREAT sounds available more than make up for it.

Reliability: N/A
I've heard some weak things about Line 6 gear, not only in their reliability, but in poor customer service, as well. In fact, TWO of my local music stores recently stopped carrying Line 6 products for this reason. In all fairness, though, since I haven't yet had a problem I'll refrain from rating in this category.

Customer Support: N/A
See above.

Overall Rating: 10
I've played off and on for 20+ years. I've owned several amps at different times; a Carvin X100B head, a Crate G1500 head, a Dean Markley combo, my current Marshall, not to mention trying probably over a hundred amps in stores over the years. I honestly believe that the POD holds its own against anything I've ever played on. Or at least at "living room" volume levels.

See my guitar inventory above.

If it were lost or stolen, I would DEFINITELY have to get another one. I also did some (computer) recording with it recently and was impressed with the way the recorded sound came out exactly like what came across the speakers (I use a CD jam box as my PC speakers).

As for comparisons, yes, I played it back to back against the Behringer V-Amp. Believe me, I WANTED to like the V-Amp more because it retailed for only $139.00 including the footswitch and carrying bag which both cost extra on the POD. Unfortunately..... the V-Amp wasn't even in the ballpark to me. Not knocking the V-Amp here. It sounded okay, but it just didn't have THE sound I was looking for. Plus, the V-Amp has a plastic cover as opposed to the metal cover on the POD.

Epilogue.... I don't give out "10" ratings easily. I honestly believe that the POD deserves it, though. I've also tried the PODxt and didn't like the overdriven sounds or the usability nearly as much. I think the POD 2.0 (2.3 currently) is a much better sounding amp than the xt.

Submitted by Anonymous at 01/12/2005 09:50

Price Paid: US $199

Ease of Use: 8
I am constantly finding new and useful sounds by tweaking this thing. You must read the book to be able to access all of the features. I use the manual setting to produce some tones that would otherwise caost me hundreds and hundreds of dollars to reproduce.

Sound Quality: 8
I found that it is best to use this unit through an amplifier that has no personality. I use a peavey bandit that does not color the pod tone. The effects are ok, especially if you are using them for subtle coloring. I use this with a mosrite combo, and i can get a nice rockabilly twang with it. with a les paul, emg pickups, nice metal crunch. The cab simulations sound great. If you are looking for exact duplication you will not find it here , but you can dial in a lot of really great sounds. just tweak the thing.

Reliability: 9
this is a tank. If you treat it reasonably it going to be fine. Mines been dropped, no damage.

Customer Support: N/A
never had to deal with the company

Overall Rating: 10
I play a wide variety of music. I do not have a whole lot of money to put into gear. I would love to have a couple dozen vintage tube amps but for 200 hundred dollars you cant beat the vesatility of the pod. I have not gigged with this but it seems like if you get the right tweaks and setup you could definatley get useful live sounds from this. If you plug in, turn it to your favorite amp model, and expect perfection you will be dissapointed. Play around, learn how to use it, make it work for you. Once you find a few quality sounds, set them as presets. This has improved my playing because I have been so frustrated with my sound in the past.I use this through the effects loop of my amp, or through headphones. It is very satisfying to have this many sounds available.

Submitted by Anonymous at 12/04/2004 15:40

Price Paid: 300 (cdn)

Features: 4
Tons of stuff.....

Sound Quality: N/A
I bought this based on its reputation and the guy on the Mike Bullard show was rockin' with his.
I disliked it from the get-go,and tried to get with it,but I liked the blackface model and one of the Marshall settings,but not enough to keep it.I traded it back to the store for a microphone.Everything else left me wanting...big disappointment !!

Reliability: N/A
N/a

Customer Support: N/A
N/A

Overall Rating: 2
I wanted to like it,but it was a big drag.I am not a vintage snob,and love convenience,but the sounds were synthetic to a fault.
At the risk of hypocrisy,I love the Guitar Port !! An awesome toy,and learning tool,even for a guy with tons of experience.Maybe I'm spoiled as I use a Badcat combo live,but I consider myself to have good ears,and the Pod sucked the joint out...perhaps the recording application is where it shines,but as far as judging the sounds on their own merit,I have yet to get excited over this thing.Same with the digital amps(Vox inluded).It's more of how it feels than how it sounds...and it feels brittle and spikey.
Food analogy:fresh tuna is great...canned tuna is convenient.Class A is great....Line 6 is canned tuna.

Submitted by Tunahead at 11/12/2004 07:19

Price Paid: 300 (£uk)

Ease of Use: 9
Enough already!
Maybe it doesn't sound as good as the real things, I don't know, the only decent amps I've ever played through were a gorgeous vintage fender Twin and a Marshall something or other. I will never own a Soldano or a Marshall stack unless I win the lottery.
Using a Pod 1.0 and after five years of fiddling, I can still find new and inspiring tones.
Very easy to use, software is great and you could tweak all day.

Sound Quality: 9
Use it direct to my pc, or occasionally through my Fender Princeton Chorus, always sounds great. Fender Strats and Gibson ES335 copy along with a Les Paul Junior type of guitar I built myselfare my usual guitars. Also use separate Wah pedal, Boss EQ pedal and a Zoom 9002 for basic EQ, compression,etc. just to get a slightly wider sound than Pod alone.

Reliability: 10
Never let me down.

Customer Support: N/A
never had reason to try them.

Overall Rating: 10
I love this unit, beginning to think about moving to an XT, only because the Pod 1 is no longer supported for tones on the net, and my muti-effects unit is dying, the on-board effects are a little limited.
OK, maybe it doesn't sound EXACTLY like the amps its modelling, but I can get all the sounds I want out of it (usually lower gain stuff like Clapton, Pink Floyd, Blues, Knopfler, etc.)
32 amps for £300, if that isnt value for money, I dont know what is!
Up against my mates Boogie, I cant tell the difference and as I said, I'll never afford all the amps modelled here, or have room for them in my home studio, even if I did, would I want to keep getting up. going over and re-plugging in all my FX's and guitars every time inspiration led me in a different direction?
No, probably not.
Todays rant has been brought to you by the word, COMPROMISE, learn it its a good one!
And if you like one or two sounds, go and buy the real thing, but otherwise I'll meet you on the crossroads with 32 amps in my gig-bag!

Submitted by Simon at 10/18/2004 08:02

Price Paid: US $200

Features: 9
NOTE: I DON'T easily give high ratings. 5 is average to me (but you want a good amp, not an average one). I am rating the amp based only on my personal experience.

I prefer an amp that has enough features to produce the sounds I like. I'm not much into copying other people's tones (even though I have tried with some success).

And now about the POD 2.0...
General Notes:
I don't know when it was made or where it comes from. But I got it from the Guitar Center as a factory-refurbished model for $200. Mono input, stereo output for direct recording (with microphone and recording space simulation) or feeding the signal into an amp. Stereo headphone jack (note: you cannot use the headphone jack without turning on the microphone and recording space simulation--which means if you are gonna use the heaphone jack, it's probably gonna sound bad through an amp). There are 9 banks, each of which has an A, B, C and D channel (So 36 total channels. I only use a 6 or 7). I use the pod for direct recording, playing through my brother's solid state practice bass amp, and using with headphones. I'd say it sounds best through an amp.

The Bad:
Brief pause between channel switches that forget the delay you've been using. In other words: NO DELAY SPILLOVER. It's hard to tell exactly what the settings are on a preset that you've stored (even though it is possible).
The effects are OK, and the distortion is mediocre.
The POD needs some better distortion (but note: it's gonna sound bad anyway if you use too much. They give you room to add too much gain).
The POD's design isn't especially aesthetically appealing to me (but if you're into kidney-bean shaped amps...).
I would like more of an EQ, but 3 bands is probably enough for most people. They offer an on/off presence toggle, but it

doesn't do much.
The POD is a lot trickier to record than Line 6 might claim. But it's still essentially the easiest thing you'll find.
They screw you over with an expensive floorboard to get access to certain features which only the floorboard (or separate MIDI controllers) can access.

The Good:
Very intuitive design. Easy to learn and use.
More patches than you'll ever need.
Inexpensive.
Many effects to choose from (the delay is good).
You already have an idea of what tone you like. You just have to find it, and this box will not let you find it (if you like a lot of distortion), but it WILL let you approximate it.
No tubes to replace or maintain.
Light.
Full MIDI support.
Durable.
Small.
Excellent manual.
Great for practicing at home with heaphones (But be careful of using too much compression, in can disguise your mistakes).

Sound Quality: 7
General Notes:
I play heavy metal (Along the lines of Metallica <sg>, Dream Theater, Symphony X, Megadeth, Slayer).

I like JP's tone on Awake and ACOS, but not on his other albums (especially Train Of Thought). I like MJR's tone. I don't like Slayer's tone much, and I love Metallica's tone on Ride The Lightning and Master of Puppets (but not on Kill Em' All or ...And Justice For All). I hate Dave Mustaine's tone on RIP. So keep in mind I will be judging the POD against the tones I like. I don't consider myself a tube snob.

You can get good tones out of this box, but it will take A LOT of tweaking. I mean this to contrast with crappy practice amps which take very little tweaking to get their best tone, which still sucks.

The Bad:
The POD sounds a little fake or solid state even at its very best tweaking. I'd say they are about 90-95% there in emulating a tube sound.

The factory presets SUCK. They are simply awful. Do not judge the POD by it's awful factory presets. You need to spend half an hour figuring out how it works in general, find an amp model and spend 45 minutes or an hour trying to dial in a tone you like).

The POD doesn't automatically sit well in the mix. It is difficult as well to find the proper reverb for your recording, so I'd recommend adding the reverb after recording the dry track.

I'd like more amp models. They only model two Mesas, one model very similar but slightly worse than the other.

Too noisy to gig with without a separate noise gate. (You won't notice the noise unless you are amplifying the whole signal a lot, or you've turned up the POD the whole way with a very high gain channel.)

The Good:
The POD sounds better than the V-Amp, but not as good as the Triaxis (or the more advanced Line 6 stuff).

The clean sounds are easier to dial in and sound better than the dirty sounds, and are clean even when cranked all the way.
You can make most of the sounds you want for metal (or at least I could). There's no auto-wah, and the chorus sucks, but you can get a decent rhythm tone and decent lead, clean or dirty, with or without delay (reverb, &c).

Reliability: 10
The POD has treated me well so far. I have had no problems with it.

I would not go on a gig with this without a backup. In fact, I wouldn't gig with this as a primary amp. Maybe this would be my backup. There is no FX loop, but it is not especially necessary.

IF I were to gig with this, say with a noise gate, OF COURSE I'd use a backup. I wouldn't take any reviews seriously that advocate the use of an amp--especially a modeler or tube amp--without a backup.

Customer Support: N/A
The warranty is somewhere between 1 and 3 years, I believe, but I'm not sure.

Overall Rating: 8
NOTE: I DON'T easily give high ratings. 5 is average to me (but you want a good amp, not an average one). I am rating the amp based only on my personal experience. (I think I gave the POD a good rating.)

I play heavy metal (Along the lines of Metallica <sg>, Dream Theater, Symphony X, Megadeth, Slayer).

I like JP's tone on Awake and ACOS, but not on his other albums (especially Train Of Thought). I like MJR's tone. I don't like Slayer's tone much, and I love Metallica's tone on Ride The Lightning and Master of Puppets (but not on Kill Em' All or ...And Justice For All). I hate Dave Mustaine's tone on RIP. So keep in mind I will be judging the POD against the tones I
like. I don't consider myself a tube snob.

I prefer an amp that has enough features to produce the sounds I like. I'm not much into copying other people's tones (even though I have tried with some success).

I own this, a Marshall MS-2 (The cheap Mini-stack. I mean hey, it's battery powered! I'll save that for another review though...). I play an Ibanez S-Series Prestige with the crappy stock humbucking pickups. Well, just the bridge one. The neck pickups sounds REALLY fake with any appreciable amount of distortion.

Overall, the POD 2.0 sounds good and is cost-effective, especially for practice, or amateur or low-budget recording. I'd recommend the PODxt instead though, in general.

If it were stolen/lost, I'd buy a PODxt. The xt sounds better. If I had more money, I'd buy a Vetta II or something.

Submitted by Anonymous at 09/10/2004 11:24

Price Paid: US $250

Features: 8
V 2.3. Had this POD for almost a year, and still experimenting with the features...amp/cab mod, some OK built in effects, live/direct use. Layout similar to normal amp-knob set up. EQ response itself is even modeled after the selected amp...pretty sweet.

Could have use some seperate controls for the "hidden" features (delay decay/time/intensity, presence, gain boost, etc.)

Sound Quality: 9
OK, here we go. There are ALOT of sounds in this thing. As I've said, I've had this for over a year now, and find that when I'm setting up my sound, I don't even care what amp model it is on. LISTEN WITH YOUR EARS. If it sounds good, then it sounds good. With that saod, I find I'm always landing on the Marshall or the Mesa. You can tell alot of time was spend on those models in particular.

I use the POD exclusively live, and I did notice the same weird EQ crap-out thing that others have wrote about when at loud volumes. This is easily explainable, and even more easily remedied. The frequencies normally associated with "bass" and "treble" actually increase as you increase the volume. Imagine turning your volume up, and turning your bass and treble to '15' if it existed. This is the same thing that will happen in your car...max out your car stereo, what happens? Your woofers might blow, your speakers will crackle, and the high end will make your ears ring. Put your Marshall tube stack on 1...sounds like crap. No "woof", no "bite", unless you turn it up...

So, if you are going to play live with this, and play loud, first make sure the swith is on "Amp". TURN OFF THE CAB MODELING. At low volumes, the Line 6 cab model is amazing, but the bass and treb EQ is so cranked in this cab model, that it will sound like junk live. Flip it to "bypass" and stick to the "stock" eq section of the amp model itself.

I'm running it this way into a Marshall 80/80 valvestate power amp, or the effects return of a JCM900 head, into a Marshall 4X12 cab. If you got a good cab, with some good Celestions, why put a cab model on that?

Reliability: 10
Year old, stored uncovered in a dusty, cold basement (I know, shoot me). No prob's yet.

Customer Support: N/A
Never had to deal with them.

Overall Rating: 9
If you want to use this live as a preamp, try to ignore the bells and whistles, and use it just as a preamp. Pick a good amp model, set the eq to your liking, add some effects (I'm into verb and some delay), crank it up and rip. Leave that cab modeling stuff for recording, not live. Remember the old ADA's and SGX? They didn't have cab modeling, and they sounded great live, so take from their lead.

Submitted by PlayLive at 06/22/2004 13:59

Price Paid: 220 (CAN)

Features: 10
Craploads - Its almost impossible to use all of them.

Sound Quality: 9
Using emg81 at bridge. I play hard rock , metal ( metallica influence ) , AC/DC tones. Yes, i can get pretty close tones. And i have a good ear. Nice chunky 'And Justice for All' tone , is hard to get , but with proper EQ and backround , is achievable.

Heres the deallie-yo - The POD at first , to me , sucked. Until i found the AIR switch ! What a difference when connected to a PA ! I own a peavey 5150 and use to own a dualrec (im broke now). I play in a band , and i cant bring the 5150 everywhere ( 85lbs , anoying as fcuk to lug around ) so i use to bring a couple of effect pedals and feed direct through PA ... Sounds like shite ! So long story short , POD sounds amazing compared.

PPL out there saying this sounds bad , ok whatever , you probably didnt even know there is a TAP function on this. It gives you extra amp models to choose from , extra cabs , options for drive boost wich gives more distortion , critical to get a thick overdriven sound. Read the manual , i used the thing for 2 months before discovering i could change the presence of the amps as well !

This thing sounds pretty good. I say its good enough for a gig , but you need to know how to set it up !! I tell ya , its very easy to get a crappy sound when you dont know what your doing .

Its not a tube preamp. But getting closer , and closer. Inexpensive solution.

Reliability: 10
Its a peice of metal with a couple knobs.

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: 10
So many factors influence the sound that will come out of a rig. Guitar , pickup , amp etc... Most importantly , your own fingers. I say during a gig , 98% of ppl wont even notice the difference between a 'pink-face PLexi-9million' , a Quadruple rectifier , and a POD. Hell , 50% wouldnt notice a fuzz box to a Soldano.

Its not the best sounding out there , but what matters is your own opinion about your sound , and nothing else.

Feel free to comment, inquire.

Submitted by Diaz at 05/25/2004 08:14

Price Paid: US $225.00

Features: 10
ver2.0 with2.2 epprom.

Sound Quality: 10
primary guitars are 76 reissue gibson explorer,2 reissue fender strats61,62.i play mostly gary moore stye blues rock,and some eric johnson stuff with standard 60"s british blues.this is the 3 pod ive owned the xt i sold because i needed the $at the time still have first and second versions.now for my 2cents worth..many people either love or hate these things if used through the front of a guitar amp at band levels it embarressed me and i wanted to throw it in the trash.throuh a marshall 9100 tube power amp unbelievable..i own a boogie mk3 simil-class,a marshall 2204jcm800,marshall1987x50watt plxi reissue through 2 mesa slant2x12 cabs with celstion v-30s.the pod is so close for the $ and lack of weight,carrying these amps for me with out a lot of help is out of the question {disc injurys}i can manange the pod with the power amp althogh its a screach.got ver 2.3 epprom from line 6 for free and hate it it makes the marshall models sound mid heavy and farty no clarity or crispnes of the 2.2 with was immeadtly put back in 2.3 tonality is just not there.also turn of cab simulator,and most important TUNE CAB SETTING ON POD TO {B} REGARDLESS OF THE CAB TYPE YOU ARE USEING THE OTHER ONES ARE AWFULL THEY SOUND LIKE A CHEAP TRANSISTOR RADIO REGADLESS OF THE CAB YOU USE....OTHER REVIEWERS HAVE MENTIONED THIS AND IT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT TING BESIDE TURNING OFF THE CAB SIMULATOR IF BEING USED FOR LIVE SOFTWARE VERSIONS 2.2 AND LOWER ARE THE TICKET.

Reliability: 10
Never had a problem

Customer Support: 10
i have allways been able to get a tech on the phone at line 6 and ive called a lot when setting up the sounddiver edit software they walked me through it and it took at least 45 mins setting up the computer,midi cable ,installation etc,etc.they have been great to me with out exception....

Overall Rating: 10
it would be replaced as soon as possible but only one with the right software version it does make that much difference tone wise.althouth this version does have that wierd thing with the vol when changing channels in manual mode ..it still worth it.i under stand from line 6 that only the early pod pros had a software version that sounded like 2.2 so watch out, Im looking for an old one myself.IT SMOKE ADA MP-1 witch i own but sits in the closet.

Submitted by Crocodile K at 05/04/2004 05:52

Price Paid: US $250.00

Ease of Use: 10
No problem with using the Line 6 except choosing one. There are so many sounds to choose from.

Sound Quality: 10
I have a Am. Std. Strat, a Tele and a Les Paul Studio. I generally always use the Strat directly into the POD, and then, I run the Pod into the main 6L6 output stage of a Fender Evil Twin amp. I use the "amp thru" jack or the input of the effect loop if I want to adjust the signal level so that I can increase the output level on the POD without increasing the volume level of the amp. The POD seems to simulate the output stage distortion of a tube rig when the output level is cranked. I don't know about you, but I like to play LOUD. My favorite set-up is the PODs Marshall sound, a little compression, some digital reverb with the POD Output Level close to full on, slamming into my 6L6's and distorting them as well. If you think about what I'm doing; you'll see why it sounds soooo good.

Reliability: 10
I haven't had even the slightest problem.

Customer Support: 10
I haven't had to deal with any of the people, but I love the web site. I've downloaded the manual since I lost mine.

Overall Rating: 10
OK. One day, I'll have a Marshall DSL 100, full stack, with a Lexicon effects rack, and maybe a couple good pedals to help that Marshall jump over the moon. But, until then, My Strat-Les Paul-POD-Fender combination is doing the job just fine. The metal holder for the POD slides under the hand strap on the top of my combo amp and it looks good sitting there. If I'm playing 80's rock, I can load two Marshall sounds, one louder for solo's, and then, maybe, a VOX 30 Top Boost with echo and a Fender Twin with compression into one bank and choose them at will with the selector pedal. Or, if I'm playing Modern Rock, I can substitute the Marshall’s for some Mesa's and load all that into another bank. Pushing one button has me ready to play out of that bank of four amps. And then there's this awesome amount of shit that I never get around to mess with. So, lez see, Marshall, Fender, Mesa, Vox..... Rock, Classic-Rock, Modern Rock.... Is there anything else? Nope. I don't think so. Oh yeah, I've been playing 25 years and if my POD got stolen I'd buy a PODxt.

Submitted by Brent Early at 04/06/2004 10:34

Price Paid: 100 (£s- Sterling)

Ease of Use: 8
You have to play around with it for a while but with something with such depth it will obviously require a bit of tweaking to get to the best sound. However, a good sound is easily found. One problem I did find though was that in the manual it didn't advise you to turn off the speaker cabinet simulation when running it directly into an amp - it sounded funny for a while when using it as a pre-amp. This is necessary if you are going to use it as a pre-amp as I often do.

Sound Quality: 10
I use a Texas Special Fat Strat with a Boss Blues Overdrive, Roger Mayer Voodoo Vibe, Roger Mayer Axis Fuzz and a Budda Wah. This goes into a Marshall DSL-201 Valve amp. For headphones I use a great pair of £100 Seinnheisers.

The POD sounds best when used as a pre-amp plugged into a cranked valve amp. However, you HAVE to turn off the cabinet simulation - this should only be used if you're plugging it into a hi-fi, a direct recording device or headphones. Otherwise it sounds muffled - it's simulating the sound of a cabinet when u're already using one so what's the point? I can't stress the importance of this.

I can get pretty close to Hendrix sounds (only clean hendrix sounds cos when you crank it it sounds a bit fuzzy). Stevie Ray Vaughan is easy to get, - ANYTHING! In particular the Mesa Boogie Dual rectifier and the Marhsall JCM-800 sound amazing. However, note the Fuzz box sounds crap. The tones on this machine sound amazing - I swear when you tap into it's extra amp simulations via computer you can get a PERFECT Santana.

As for effects, I don't really know - I don't use them much. I know that the delay sounds very good, apart from that I'm not sure.

It's worth noting that if you want to use the POD with headphones, it sounds SO MUCH BETTER when you turn on the 'chorus 1' effect and turn the effect intensity to minimum. This changes the output to Stereo (I don't want it to come out in Chorus). I don't know why anyone hasn't mentioned this but TRY IT! It sounds amazing.

As for recording, I would imagine that it is only useful to those who don't have the luxury of cranking their amp and recording it though a microphone. How can the simulation of a cranked amp ever sound as good as the real thing? I don't think it can.

Reliability: 10
It has a slight delay between changing channels but this is fixed considerable if you buy a POD V2 or get the upgrade. I wouldn't ever gig it without a footswitch though (I've heard that is a bit flimsy though - apparently you can get a much better pedal for the PODXT). however, the POD itself is chunky aluminium and mine looks like it has been well used before I got it and it still works perfectly.

Customer Support: N/A
Never tried

Overall Rating: 10
I like to play rock and blues. The POD is the ideal solution for those who want to have several amp sounds available by just taking this thing around and plugging it into any valve amp. I take it to practice rooms to different amps and I crank it on a clean channel and just use the POD as a pre-amp (remember to take the speaker cabinet simulation off). Obviously, owning several amps and using them and taking them everywhere would be better but for a price tag of around £300 - (or £100 for me) who can argue. I don't think anyone in the audience or anyone listening would actually notice the difference between a decent valve amp cranked with the POD set on a Mesa Boogie Dual rectifier and the real thing.

Also ideal for headphones, or non-serious recording.

Submitted by Roshan Gonsalkorale at 03/28/2004 07:37

Price Paid: N/A

Ease of Use: 9
OK...I've had my Pod version 1.0 since it first came out (I actually had to specially order it at the time because no music stores carried it). I write and record my own stuff, and have also used the pod to record demos for bands I've been in, so I've used it an awful lot over the last few years and I think I can finally give a fairly objective, unbiased review. The pod is VERY easy to use. The interface is about as intuitive and user friendly as can be and the manual was very well written. One huge help is the fact that the manual offers you insight into how the controls worked on the original amp. For example, I thought the vox amp was really muddy until I realized that the original has a "high cut" control instead of treble...so if you have the treble control at 12 o' clock you're actually cutting highs. On most amps (fenders, marshalls) having the treble control at 12 o clock would have you neither boosting or cutting the highs. It helps to read the manual and get acquainted with how the original amps worked. I use the vox model all the time now...I love it. There have been upgrades since my version but I've never been dissatisfied with the tones so I've never bothered to get them.

Sound Quality: 9
I don't own any of the amps modelled, so I don't know how accurate they are, but I don't really care. I can pretty much approximate any tone I hear in my head with this giant kidney bean and I'm consistently impressed by how it sounds on tape. For a solo project, I recorded the basic track live at my rehearsal space using a reverend hellhound and then used the pod for overdubs and I don't hear a real appreciable difference between the feel and realism of the pod tracks vs. the "real" ones. This is a tool, and like every tool how successful you are with it has alot to do with you. I've spent alot of time experimenting and I'm finally at the point where I feel confident that I can dial in just about any tone I need using the pod's controls. After reading lots of HC reviews, I feel like people are sometimes too quick to blame the equipment. My favorite models are Line 6 Clean, Line 6 Crunch, Brit Class A, Small Tweed and the Soldano model.

Reliability: 10
I've had it for years and it hasn't given me a single problem. It's been treated pretty nicely though. It's never left my "studio*"
*also known to my wife's cat as "the room I like to go into when I'm about to vomit a hairball."

Customer Support: 9
I never had to call them about the pod but they were very nice when I called and asked them a question about a flextone amp a few years ago.

Overall Rating: 10
I can honestly say that this piece of equipment had a greater impact on my creative growth than anything I've ever bought. With the pod, a guitar, a zoom rhythmtrack drum machine and a tascam portastudio I feel limited only by my own creativity. It's a truly wonderful tool. Some will quibble that it doesn't sound as good as a carefully mic'd amp but some people don't mind spending 4 hours pounding on a snare to get the right "snap." I think that sort of thinking gets in the way of creativity. I mean, there's definitely a difference in tonality between a soundtank digital delay and an echoplex, but is it really THAT noticible in the context of one part in an entire mix? I know lots of people won't agree with me, this is just my opinion. The pod allows you to sit down, twiddle some knobs and you've got your tone. Lay down a track and move on to the next. Erase it and try it again or try something else. It really helps me create music.

Submitted by Evan Jackson at 02/18/2004 06:46

Price Paid: US ?

Features: 8
This medeling amp will attempt to sound like many different amps with
many different features.

Sound Quality: 7
This preamp couldn't sound good if you tried for a hunderd years.
Sure it sounds O.K. especially at low volume, but try to go live
with this thing at high volume and you will understand why this product is garbage.

Reliability: 6
I'm sure this thing will last a long time, unfortunately.

Customer Support: 5
Don't know, don't care

Overall Rating: 2
The vunue that I play bought one of these and insists people use it
for live performances in a large auditorium. It flat out sucks. If
you think this thing will give you great tube like distortion at any
volume you're don't know what a real amp sounds like.;

Submitted by Darrin Baumgarten at 01/19/2004 13:00

Price Paid: US $180

Ease of Use: 9
The pod, once you read the manual, is extremely easy to use, but don't just take it out of the box and think you're gonna know how to do everything, because I did that and didn't even realize I was missing out on like 16 alternate amp sounds that aren't listed on the face of the unit, just in the manual.hehe

Sound Quality: 10
I was EXTREMELY impressed with the sound quality this thing gave me. I was in the market for a new amp and I simply did not have the money for an amp, so instead I began looking at these PODs, picked one up on ebay for about 180 dollars, plugged it in, and MAN did it sound amazing. I have a Fender Ultimate Chorus 2x 12 160 or so watt amp, (I would NOT reccomend getting that amp) but when I plugged the pod in I could get any tones from Brian May playing a bohemian rhapsody lick all the way to a metallica sound with a bottom heavy chunky distortion, up to randy rhodes and zakk wylde, not to mention clean tones and great effects!

Reliability: 10
definately would use this on some upcoming gigs I have, great investment, havn't had any trouble with it

Customer Support: N/A
Havn't had any problems

Overall Rating: 10
I play metal, punk, classic rock, neoclassical, jazz, blues, anything, this is your effect kit, get one, I highly reccomend it

Submitted by Anonymous at 12/28/2003 13:21

Price Paid: US $200

Features: 7
as far as features go this is a pretty good little deal. its got several effects that are mixed with swells that id like to have just the effect without the swell. its got really decent amp models from a vary wide range of sounds. the only good cab models are the 4x12s however.

Sound Quality: 7
im using a jackson dxmg with stock EMG hz specially designed for jackson pickups. it sounds pretty decent at lower volume but the louder you turn it the worse it sounds. id really like to play this through two actual real 4x12 cabs to see what it REALLY sounds like but as for now im using a 1x12 marshall and its just too nasty sounding loud at band practice.

Reliability: 9
it's urvived several tours of duty in my drummers room and only has a few scuffs so it seems to be built fairly well.

Customer Support: N/A
never dealt with them

Overall Rating: 8
Ive been playing probably 6 years now and own a crappy jackson js 20 with active EMGs and a bc rich warlock with emg hz's in it. if it were stolen id probably pitch a bitch but i doubt id buy it again. id invest in a new half stack. i love that it has so many features and does have some good sounds but it just sounds AWFUL the louder you turn it. i wish it did have a few different amp models like more heavy metal based stuff but i think the hd 147 covers those fairly well.

Submitted by brandon at 11/04/2003 12:04

Price Paid: N/A

Ease of Use: 9
Pretty easy to use, PC software is also very nice.

Sound Quality: 6
If you want the POD, understand what you are getting into. If you want to sound like a wide array of guitar players, or are curious about multiple amp types and want to play them before you settle to a big tube amp purchase, then this is for you. The POD is also for you if you like to record, but live in an apartment where you can't easily mic a cranked Fender. Keep one thing in mind however, when was the last you saw your favorite professional band live that used a Marshall, and Vox and a Fender, switching between them for each song.

For the money, it is an amazing solution, however, the sound can be very digital if you compare it to the real things (especially the reverb and overdrives). For live performances, I've used a Fender Twin, a Fender Deluxe, and am currently using a Fender Super Reverb. I would not even think of using the POD live, as I already have the amp sound, and my effects (Boss BD-2, Boss OD-2, RAT, Boss RV-3, Line 6 DL4, and MXR Phase 90) are much more superior to the POD effects. For home recording, it scores an A+ for the quick and dirty, as you just plug it in (for quality recording, I still prefer renting a couple of $600 microphones). I would have given it an high mark for practicing, however I now have a much better solution. I bought a 1970s Fender tube champ (amazing a low volumes) and a Tascam CD-GT1 for headphones (allows you to slow down CDs to learn all those difficult parts). The POD is great for beginners and simple recording, but should not be considered a professional sounding tool. That being said, it blows away all the other cheap “all-in-one” effect boxes.

Reliability: 9
Seems nicely built, and high quality/impresive emulations (keep in mind, they are still emulations and do not compare to the real thing).

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: 6
If you have the money, buy a real Fender/Marshall/or Vox amp. Get something like a Fender Tube Champ and Tascam CD-GT1 for practice, and rent a $600-$1000 mic for recording ($30 a month at a local store, or if you record frequently buy one). I am impressed with the home recording aspect for its ease of used (the POD sounds not bad here), however, nice mic to a high quality tube amp will make you happier.

Submitted by Anonymous at 10/25/2003 15:06

Price Paid: US $299

Features: 6
VErtile amp for mellow rock, country, R&B, hip hop. But not useful for hard rock, metal or anything else heavy. The effects on the other hand are very good.

Sound Quality: 3
The clean sounds are not bad, for example the blackface model. The effects are the best part of this machine.
However I play hard rock. And the high gain sounds like fart. The fuzz sounds like fuzzed out fart. If you need a farting machine this will work fine. If want a real simulation get Johnson J station and you'll have a mesa boogie at your finger tip.

Reliability: 8
Works well. Farts on que.....

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: 5
I'm sorry, But the Johnson J station is only $99 at the time of writing and sounds 10 times better. I can't recommend this thing at all. I give this a 5 out 10 because the effects rocks....

Submitted by kid ROck at 10/04/2003 00:14

Price Paid: US $250

Features: 10
Ver2.3 Too many features to list. More than I'll ever need. Definitely get the bang for the buck on this one. The only feature I wish it had was a USB port, to go directly into the computer (ie. without the midi adaptor), but not a big deal at all.

Sound Quality: 10
I cannot, for the life of me, understand how some reviewers say that the POD doesn't sound good through an amp. Maybe I just got lucky with my set up (since I'm not running it through a Peavey Bandit), but this is my dream sound. Not close to it, but IS.

I'm running an Ibanez or ESP into the POD (set to "Amp"--duh), into the effects return of a Marshall JCM900 100watt head, into a Marshall 4-12 cab. Also using the floorboard. The core tone of any amp or cab model in the POD is amazing. I guess having a pure tube power amp doesn't hurt either...

Honestly, the whole "it doesn't sound like it" deal is getting tired. Some of the sounds in the POD (regardless if they sound like the real thing or not) are simply amazing. The cab modeling really adds to shaping your tone, or tweaking some funky combinations.

Effects are nice. Not "wall of racks" nice, but usefull. I like a relatively uneffected tone - delay, some reverb, a little compression, occasional chorus. For my tastes, the effect section suits me just fine. Stomp boxes in front and rack effects after the POD still sound great, though.

Haven't recorded extensively with it yet, but it does sound better than my Flextone (1st generation)direct into the 4-track (I used to think that was the tits). The amp and mic placement modeling is exceptional.

The stereo spread, when running in this environment, is extremely wide (ie. in headphones). This is great for silent practicing or recording, but I'll definitely go with the mono signal for live sounds (sound-men seem to have problems putting 2 mics to one cab--no offence).

One more note: I also own a JCM800 head. I A/B'd this and the set-up with the POD (above), and the Brit Hi Gain model actually sounded BETTER to me than the real thing. And I didn't have to crank it. The bass was tighter, highs were more controlable, gain was more sweeter.

Reliability: N/A
To new to rate. But I still have the first generation Flextone that I bought like the second week it was available. I beat the hell out of it, played numerous gigs with the volume literally maxed (it's the 1-12, 60 watt version), and have had absolutely no problems with it at all. So if that's any indicaiton...

Customer Support: N/A
N/A

Overall Rating: 10
I've been playing for 20 years (I'm 29, so don't consider this an old-fart review from your grandpap). There are so many great things about the POD. It really should be a requirement for all guitar players. Guitar players need picks, strings, beer, and a POD. This is the best sounding live set-up I've had, and I went through alot of gear changes over the years. Who care's if it doesn't sound EXACTLY like a '68 Plexi. It sounds damn good, and that's all that should matter. The POD makes me want to spend hours playing, and running through all of the fantastic sounds. I think of all of the time I wasted on my stupid tube amps crapping out, not sounding good below 163db, or only having 1 or 2 sounds to work with, and it reminds me of an ex-girlfriend...like, man that relationship sucked. I'm glad I dumped that bag. Sure, there will always be those closed-minded people that say "tubes are the only way to go; digital sucks; if I could power it, I'd stick a tube up my ass"...just give it a listen, and experiment, both with the sounds and the connections. There is definitely something in the POD for everyone.

If it were stolen, I'd buy some tubes, find the guy who stole it, stick them up his ass, and say "these sound better anyway, right?" Then I'd take my POD back and blow his ass-tube tone out of the water.

Submitted by Evil Genius at 09/09/2003 13:25

Price Paid: N/A

Ease of Use: 8
Very easy to use (compared to some rack unit like a Lexicon mpx-1
witch for me as one of the badest menu design).
very easy to find good sounds.
MIDI editing is also not a problem
only thing I don't like is the way it handle volume change
when changing preset. (but could be me...)

Sound Quality: 9
I play this unit trough a fender US Strat. and a Gibson ES-135
I only use that thing for direct-recording on my computer,
and for that purpose, this is a fantastic tool !
For live situation, I still prefer a real amp.
my favorite settings are Modern HIGAIN (modeled on a soldano)
and black panel (modeled on a fender).
other amp settings are good too.
they are also some effects that I don't use a lot (I prefer
computer's plugin for that purpose)

Reliability: 10
2 years, no problems

Customer Support: N/A
never called them

Overall Rating: N/A
very good tool for recording on a computer.
If stollen, I will first check the Vamp from Behringer
cause it seems to be good too, for less money than the
POD.

Submitted by Olivier Carnal at 09/09/2003 08:57

Price Paid: US $300 brand new wayback when they were cool

Features: 7
32amp models, 32 effects,ect
this is pretty well covered by other reviews

Sound Quality: 9
the best aspect of the pod is it's simpleness and widerange of sounds. while it cant compare with some of the amps it "models"
is not the point because it has totaly deceint tones at reasonable price.

Reliability: 1
after a couple of months the shitty power supply broke.no big deal
called line 6 and the shipped a new one for $35 about 3 weeks later.
then the whole thing craped out on me , i took it to a line 6 tech, it took about 2 months for this retard to tell me a chip blown and it would cost me $249 on top of the $40 service charge i already paid.
thats just crazy and it really pissed me off that it would cost me more to fix it then to by another one used.

Customer Support: 1
the warranty is garbage it olny covers defects at purchase , not defects due to shotty quality.
customer support is worthless at line 6 , the first time i called for
a replacement power supply ,i had to wait half an hour for them to get there manager jose,the olny english speaking person available at the time, to help me.

Overall Rating: 6
even though i think line 6 is overcharged me about $200 for this hunk of chips wraped in red tin foil. you can probably get them for a decient price on ebay , and could be totaly usefull if your just learning to play guitar or cant afford a real amp.

Submitted by captin_winkie at 09/07/2003 19:31

Price Paid: US $300

Features: 8
I have had this unit for two years. Essentially it is an amp simulator with a few effects thrown in for good measure. I also have the larger footswitch which makes it a whole lot easier to use.

Sound Quality: 8
I use this with a slightly customised PRS-SE, with DiMarzio PAF pickups, and also a Standard American Telecaster. I tried using it live connected to my amp, but as discussed below it didn't sound too good. Currently I have it plugged directly into my mixer for practice and recording. I have yet to hear a guitar (amp) sound I cannot get pretty close to with this unit, although I do think the effects are limited.

With regards live gigging, I have a Laney VC30-210 along with quite a few pedals which beats the Pod hands down when it comes to stage sound. However just recently I had a gig abroad so could only take my guitar and the pod on the plane. I DI'ed straight from the pod into the PA, used a monitor for foldback and was actually quite impressed how workable this set up was. It's not ideal, but as a Guitarist who often "can't be bothered" to worry about vast quantities of gear I think the pod does very nicely.

Reliability: 9
Hasn't broken despite intensive use over two years (and I once dropped my amp on it but it still worked!).

Customer Support: N/A
Haven't had to deal with them

Overall Rating: 9
I bought this unit whilst on holiday in the States a few years ago, during what used to be a monthly tone crisis. I've been playing and gigging fairly regularly for about 15 years, although very much as a hobbey not career.

I used to be very keen on getting "that" sound. After years of gear, guitars, pedals etc. I am a firm believer that the sound is in your fingers. As such I am happy to get a workable sound and let my playing do the rest. For practice and recording this is a great unit; live it's not so good but definately workable if you are being lazy.

I'd probably buy the updated XT version if it did get broken, mainly for the better effects.

Submitted by Simon K at 08/20/2003 03:55

Price Paid: US $200

Ease of Use: 10
Very easy to use. Plug & play. It should be noted that I use the POD exclusively for recording & would not use it for live performance or through any amps. I my humble opinion, the POD shines best in recording direct applications.

Sound Quality: 9
For recording it has excellent sound quality. The over-driven tones are good - even better if you layer them and add some ambience on them in the mix. The clean tones are ok - nothing too special. I don't really use the reverb on the POD except the spring simulations which are kinda cool.

I am a full-time music composer/producer and I find the POD is VERY useful - mainly because it is a huge time-saver. I am always recording on a tight time-frame and often don't have the luxury of messing around with my many amps. Also, when producing music for singer/songwriters on an hourly basis, I keep my clients happy by working quickly = saves them money.

I have read some reviews complaining about using the POD for live playing. The answer is simple... THE POD IS FOR RECORDING ONLY. Even though Line 6 says it has other uses, believe me, this unit was designed for recording.

So, for sound quality I give the POD a qualified 9. It is great for what it was intended - a studio time-saver. The tones are varied and very useful... besides most of your tone comes through your fingers anyway doesn't it??

Reliability: 10
Very relieable.

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: 9
Could not meet my deadlines without it. Easy, fast, competitive sounds, looks cool, etc...

Side note, try putting vocals through the POD and blending them in to the direct signal for some good alt. rock grit!! Be creative!

Cheers

Submitted by Steve Hansen at 08/14/2003 11:48

Price Paid: US $299

Ease of Use: 8
This thing is pretty easy to use, I like the feature of the presets holding to what you saved, regardless to what the knobs say. The manual is very comprehensive, but you don't need it. This thing is self explanitory

Sound Quality: 9
I have been playing for 21 years and know this is not the real thing, but dammit it comes so close that I cant tell when recorded. I have a mesa triple rectifier and found the POD a very good substitue when I get too lazy to hawl the stack around. Very poor performance with a traditional guitar amp. I had to use a floor Monitor instead of my cab to get the desired result.

Reliability: 10
This thing is extremly durable. I had it in my guitar gig bag and it fell out on the pavement while I was walking and i kicked it and it slid about 15 feet. Looks like hell now but works perfectly.

Customer Support: 4
Good web site, but phone and warranty SUCK

Overall Rating: 10
I have to give it the best overall rating because of what you get for 300 bucks.

Submitted by Anonymous at 08/08/2003 17:55

Price Paid: 400 (Canadian)

Ease of Use: 8
This product is fairly easy to use, an dif you get stuck consult the VER WELL writen manual.

Sound Quality: 6
If you use this for headphone use, or into a PA you can get just what you'd expect...decent amp wannabee tones. Good for practicing at home with CDs or EVEn recording (tonnes of tweaking necessary).
DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT...try and run this as a preamp to an amp. It sounds hideous I hav tried this and it completely takes over your amp.
The high gain sounds are very weak sounding when ran thru a PA.

Reliability: 9
No probs

Customer Support: N/A
nada

Overall Rating: 5
best for at home headphone work...crappy for live. Buy an amp!!

Submitted by Anonymous at 07/07/2003 14:43

Price Paid: 360 (€)

Features: 10
Tons of features you need century to know them all. At least if you're like me. I want to play each day better not to become a Pod expert. Anyway here we have the ultimate guitar box machine, seriously. You can use this as a direct box or as a tone box for your amplifier to get a good, consistent tone, clean or distorted without spending all the money in the world.

Sound Quality: 10
Honestly I feel the urge to pay a tribute to this thing because it made me happy. I'll tell you a little story. I'm mainly a Jazz player. I'm expert, almost a pro. But I go crazy also for rock fusion, for the distorted, creamy hi gain sound. The ones that when you play with them you feel something like having a Ferrari under your bottom. You fell free to express your full technical potentials. Well. Two years ago I was in my preferred guitar shop here, in Italy, when my head was turned by an unbelievable lead hi gain sound, complete with reverb, compression and delay setted at the perfect level. It was a sort of Lukather type of lead sound. The one I never had the chance to have AT HOME, AT PRACTICE VOLUME LEVEL, no matter what kind of hi end amp did I buy, Mesa, Vht, Ampeg, you name it, I had it. So immediatly I came across to discover what kind of jewel did produce that sound. Did you imagine my marvel when I discovered that the magic rubberish Lukather sound came from a stupid red box that costs under 300 dollars? I was blown away. Anyway beiing a valve enthusiast as I am I didn' t permit myself to buy such a stupid red toy. I couldn't admit the truth. I waited two years. Each time I walked in a guitar shop I encounter that red bean and turned my head the other side not to think about that sound. In the end the red bean won. I decided to buy it. Man, how am I happy I did? I bought it one month ago. I still have to change the preset. The Soldano slo 1OO emulation still blows me away each time I start the thing. Plus that sound is always there, I don't have to set the delay, to set the compression, to link the pedals, to move the rack mountain! It is always there ready, waiting for me to blow my fusion chops without creating any problem. Unbelievable, it's so easy, it's gear for dumnies, and that joy costs only less than 300 $! I'm extremely happy I did buy it. It's surely one of the best thing I bought in my all guitar history, and I had everything!!! I'm talking about things really useful, greatly priced, clever no problem stuff. At least this thing sound so good as a Soldano emulation that now I want to buy the real thing. Really this thing did this magic. Mr Soldano you have to be grateful to people from LIne 6. They are making you a big favour!! You will sell another one of your head one of these days thanxs to this MAGICAL red toy.
For the rest of the sounds I can tell that if you tweak you can find good sounds that surely are NOT comparable with the original ones (because they are phisically something, this is in the end an emulator) , but they get reallyyyyy close. At that price that's unbelievable. And what about portability, flexibility? This comparing to tube amps. No on ever compare this box to solid state amp? Did you ask yourself why? Because this thing can compete even with the original valve things. It is so good. Can you imagine what this thing can do to valvestate of transistor amps? Valvestate amps are trash compared to this thing. This is a revolutionary piece of gear. Don't forget this word. REVOLUTIONARY. A marvel product.

Reliability: N/A
Hope it will stand the test of time. Anyway, it is such a joy to play that I immediatly will buy another one if it will die soon or later.

Customer Support: N/A
No idea.

Overall Rating: 10
Take this thing for what it is. Obviously the original amps sound better than this emulations. It is so obvious you don't even have to think similar things. But this red jewel gives you something those amps can't give you. And you can take this thing in your pocket wherever you want. Can you do this with a Mesa monster stacks? Or with a Fender Bassman? Or with a Soldano SLO 100? And this thing sounds good. Really. It's convincing. This digital emulation is a revolutionary thing. I can imagine than in 5 years they will come out with something so close to valve amps that they will become gems for vintage maniacs and stop, those amps will be dead, out of reality, out of music in a sense, substituted by their clone. Like in those '503s science fiction B movies! Digital emulations from outer space !!! Crazy !! In the end I'm extremely happy with this thing, it gives me hours of enjoyment without any of the problems the original amps gave me for all the years I passed in my practice room. Do you know that story that say that "God created the cat to give humas the joy to caress the tiger"? Well, Line 6 create this close emulations to give you the joy of playing a SLO 100 all cranked up with delay, compression and reverb properly setted in your bedroom at practice volumes. Isn't it a great, great, great, revolutionary thing?

Submitted by stefano at 06/24/2003 08:14

Price Paid: N/A

Features: 7
You should know by now.

Sound Quality: 5
First let me say that I'm a purest. I hate digital modeling. I was forced to use this in the studio because my VHT Pittbull 45 was in the shop. I ran the pod into the return input of the effects loop of a mid 80's Marshall JCM 800 100 watt head, with 6550 tubes. Clean was marginal at best. Just no character. When combined with a Vox AC15, the POD/Marshall provided some much needed bottom, but by itself, it's useless. Overdriven tones were a bit better. I especially liked the modern high gain and british high gain mods. I used them both for the heavier tracks I was recording. My only problem was they were a bit mushy. Individual notes didn't stand out as much as I like. Needless to say, I'll be re-cutting all my tracks as soon as I get the VHT back.

Reliability: N/A

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: 5
Just not my cup of tea. Real tube amps still rule. Works well in a pinch though.

Submitted by Grendel at 06/23/2003 14:09

Price Paid: £299 (Pounds sterling)

Features: 7
This is effectively an amp simulation unit to be used primarily in the studio/home recording/practice environment.. What it claims to do, it does fairly well.

Sound Quality: 8
See above. I cannot speak for the people at POD, but I would suggest that all they intended to do with this product was produce an amp (&/cab) simulator, which could, er, SIMULATE various classic amps in a recording or practice environment...simple as that really...so all of you who bitch on and on about valves, valve amps, movement of air, playing live etc. should get that pole out of your respective asses and start taking products such as these at face value. No, of course it will never sound the same as a Marshall stack set at 11, but it can be set to a fair approximation (in a recording/home/practice environment)...it really can. If it isn't close enough for you then buy a Marshall stack, and stop wasting people's time with your pithy , 'it-isn't-as-good-as' comments which, frankly are of no use to any potential buyer of said product whatsoever.

Reliability: 8
OK so far. I've had the unit for three years.

Customer Support: 8
N/A

Overall Rating: 8
Playing for fifteen years. I bought this to replace my flagging Sansamp pedal...which I thought was amazing...until I tried this POD. It is a good unit....it can sound great with a bit of tweaking...actually, it sounds great period. I really would be at a loss recording -wise without it. You will never regret owning one...unless you are one of those assholes as mentioned above.

Submitted by Anonymous at 06/20/2003 11:42

Price Paid: N/A

Features: 9
enough...

Sound Quality: 7
Better than the V-amp 2. The POD has a lot of bad sims and a few pretty good ones, while the V-amp 2 has a lot of bad sims and not a few pretty good ones. Don't use this unit for live playing, it's noisy noisy noisy, a toy. However, in a low budget studio you can get a pretty good use of it. Professional sounding gear? -"nope"

Reliability: 8
it seems to be well made

Customer Support: N/A
no comment.

Overall Rating: 7
Well, save the money instead. Don't choose virtual amplifiers, choose the real thing. V-amps,PODs,GTs all have the same thing in common: "bad distortion and pretty thin digital sounds". I won't buy it or anything else like this. I want the real thing, it's that simple.

Submitted by AndyTheToneCrazyMan at 05/27/2003 00:45

Price Paid: 150 (euro)

Ease of Use: 9
Just turn the knobs, push a few buttons... you'll find the sound you need. I never needed the manual - simple as that.

Sound Quality: 8
I play an Epiphone Les Paul and Ibanez AR-250 through a Mesa/Boogie DC-5. The pod is in an effects loop with my amp. I use a Ernie Ball volume pedal and Wah wah cry baby as well. Mainly to play rock, Pink Floyd-style.

The trick is to find the right balance in the effects loop. I make sure the POD doesn't master the amp, but serves it. It's great to add little details, shaping my tone to ake it sound very complete and natural.

The rotary and the tremelo sound great, they're my favorites. One flaw. The flangers could have been much better: they sound pretty cheap. I was used to Boss flangers and they are way better to my ears.

Reliability: 9
Never had any problem with it. And I have been using it for more than 3 year now. Live and during rehearsal. Sturdy stuff.

Customer Support: 8
I have been checking their site when in need of support and I have found what I needed.

Overall Rating: 9
Our band plays rock, pop-rock, Straits and Floyd-style. I have been playing guitar for 11 years now. I prefer it to normal effect racks, because the POD is versatile and gives you the sound you want - if you want to look for it. I have four sounds that I use live and recording, that's all I need and the POD delivers. I am planning to use it for home recordings as well. Don't forget to buy a floor board, though.

Submitted by Gerrit (Syndon) at 05/22/2003 04:42

Price Paid: N/A

Ease of Use: 10
I took this right out of the box, didn't even glance at the manual, and I had the whole thin figured out in 5 minutes. Everything is on the front panel, so there are no menus to scroll through.

Sound Quality: 9
Overall, the sound you get out of this box is very proffesional. I gig AND record with this thing. Recording is where it really stands out. You switch the AIR mode to direct and you get the sound of a stack. I mostly use the high gain stuff, but I do step into the clean areas every once and a while. The clean channels are a little muddy, but with a little tweaking it will sound fine. If you want an acoustic sound, play an acoustic! The only problem I have is with the volume settings. Some of the amp models I want to use for some soloing do not get to loud. But with a little clever tweaking with the levels here and there, your problem is solved.

For practicing at home, I plug this direct into my amp. For small gigs, i just run it into the system while in the DIRECT mode. For bigger gigs, however, I bring the amp along and mike it up.

Some of the reviews said that it sounded like crap. Bottom line is, if you have a crap guitar and can't play worth crap, your sound will be, well, crap! I play Les Pauls, and this little box shines.

Reliability: 9
As I have said, I gig with this, record, and just practice at home. It is a solid metal chasis, so unless there is nuclear holocost or something, it will survive. The only problem (electronical) I have had is the EDIT light coming on every now and a while. I have noticed that this does NOT change the sound, it just gets a little anoying. The floorboard you can buy with it is good, but a little slow switching effects. I use a korg MIDI floorboard, and it works just fine.

Customer Support: N/A
I haven't dealt with the company, I never had to.

Overall Rating: 9
I play mostly the harder stuff, but the for the bands I gig with there are various styles. I play lead guitar, none of this rythem crap. I have been playing for a long time. I am no ametuer. I own Les Pauls, as I have said, and don't think I could bring myself to playing anything else. I comapred this to the Johnson J-station, V-amp, and the DigiTech Genisis. The POD came out on top, no questions asked. I love how easy it is to use. If you are looking for an excelent recording tool, or for live shows, I would say this is for you.

Submitted by Luke Snyder at 05/21/2003 07:36

Price Paid: N/A

Ease of Use: 7
For a device that tries to do so much in a relatively small unit, its fairly easy to use. The knobs all have a second function through the use of a "tap/hold" button, and there are quite a few knobs. Because there are a lot of knobs to play with, it can take a while to tweak your way to the sounds that you want...not something you could mess around with on stage, for example. The factory presets are all garbage.

The manual is a hype-fest of epic proportions, but manages to give you all the important information. You just have to supress your gag reflex as the author talks about how wonderful the POD is over and over again.

I use the 2.0 version.

Sound Quality: 7
I run very nice guitars through this thing. In my case, I bought it for direct recording and apartment-playing in an environment where high volumes are forbidden. I did not buy it to dress up a mediocre guitar to sound like a more expensive model. In any event, I use a Strat, Les Paul, Telecaster, etc. Good stuff.

I haven't noticed any more noise through the POD than I do through any other amp with a particular guitar. You still get 60 cycle hum with single coils, etc. More noise with high gain settings and so on. No surprises here.

The effects are inconsistent. Some (ambient reverb) are excellent while others (spring reverb, flange, chorus) are crap. Outside of reverb, I really don't use the built-in effects much. Controls for things like delay, for example, are incredibly difficult to mess with due to the fact that every knob on the POD has to have several functions.

I've run this through a Mesa/Boogie Rect-0-Verb amp just out of curiosity and found that its sound suffered tremendously compared to headphones. It just sounded completely emasculated, to be honest. I would never use this as a stompbox due to this phenomenon. Direct recording good, amp bad.

I've found it quite enjoyable to practice along with CD's using two sets of headphones...a pair of earbuds connected to my CD player with a set of high-end muffs connected to the POD over the top. It does a good job matching the tones on the recordings...of course, I'm not listening to these tones through a million dollar system. I haven't got the best ears in the world for tone, so if its close I'm happy.

One thing I've noticed about the POD is this: you MUST use good headphones for this thing. This is particularly true if you are looking for good bass response. Little Sony earbuds will give you terrible sound from the POD...all treble with no balls whatsoever. Invest in good headphones, however, and you will find the sound to be quite tasty.

I've found the the POD does distorted, high-gain sounds best and suffers on clean tones. In particular, the AC-30 models leave me cold. I haven't been able to find a setting that makes them sound good. Love the high-gain Soldano and Dumble settings as well as a mid-gain Fender Bassman model with my Telecaster.

Reliability: 7
Flakes out when you connect it to an amp. Very reliable when used for direct recording. I would never gig with this thing, however. Just use an amp and, if necessary, some stompboxes.

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: 8
This is a wonderful tool for practicing and home-recording. It models a lot of tones closely enough to satisfy me at a fair price. It is no substitute for the real deal, so I was shocked to read a studio engineer talking about musicians wanting to use this on their records. Hey, if you have access to a vintage Fender Twin Reverb, chuck the POD and use the real thing. If you spend a lot of time playing in your bedroom, however, the POD may just be the best investment you ever make.

Submitted by Anonymous at 05/06/2003 13:20

Price Paid: US $200 used

Ease of Use: 7
Most of the built in patches sound great, and it's easy enough to navigate through them without the foot board (if not a little slow). Editing the basics of a patch is easy, really editing the effects all but requires the use of a computer and midi interface. That being said, the computer interface provides a huge array of tweaks that you can perform, and this is where the POD really shines.

The first version (the version I have)has the unfortunate circumstance of not being able to select half of the amp models without the computer interface.

Sound Quality: 8
For direct recording, I've never found a more useful or better sounding device. It's indispensible for my music. The ability to simulate the 20 or so amps and 20 or so amp cabinets provides an immense tonal range for the musician without the capitol to buy one or two of the real thing. Does it sound as good as the real thing? no, but at around $200 it's versatility more than makes up for it. It's shortcomming in my eyes(ears anyway) is in it's live application. Played through an amp (practice amp or gig tube amp) it just doesn't have the definition that it exhibits when direct recording. There is a switch near the outputs to change it from direct to amp mode (which shuts off the speaker cabinet emulation), but it's just not as lively or interesting fed through a real amp.

Recently I've been using the POD's software with bass and acoustic guitars to create patches for them, and I've had some great results. Most notably with the bass, you can accomplish some truly usefull and good sounding bass patches with a little editing.

Reliability: 8
It frequently freezes up when loading the midi control software for the first time... shut it off and turn it back on and it's fine. Other than that I've never had a single problem with it.

Customer Support: 9
Never dealt with them, thankfully. But, they have amp patches on their website, you know, sound like your favorite rocker with the touch of a button. That's downright generous of them.

Overall Rating: 9
This unit is the most versitile peice of equipment I own, and it's been in countless songs and produced some amazing tones. I'd recommend this to any budding guitarist looking to expand his/her possibilities.

I'd also highly highly recommend buying a midi interface cable ($30 or so) and using your computer to run the POD. The software is a little hard to figure out at first, but it gives you the ability to edit any facit of your POD's sound.

Submitted by WadeMS at 03/14/2003 09:12

Price Paid: US $250.00

Ease of Use: 9
The POD has knobs for every part of your sound that you may want to modify. This however can be tricky, adjusting everything just the way you want to sound may take time. However, There is no way around that aspect! This is as easy as I have seen as any pedal or "box I have used.

Sound Quality: 9
This sounds awesome (as good as one can get out of a "box" such as this). There is no way to knock this unit, unless of course you happen to have 36 new and vintage tube amps laying around your house! I play this through a 50 watt Marshall equipped with Celestions and it sounds amazing! The only downfall here being that it is not actually 36 tube amps.

Reliability: 10
I have yet to have a mechanical problem with my POD. The paint however may be another story. Two days after I got my POD I noticed two chips in the paint. This was no big deal since I'm playing live shows, which tend to focus around the sound of a band not the looks of their gear. This thing would still sound and work great if it looked like a piece of dung.

Customer Support: N/A
Never used customer support, will let you know when I do!

Overall Rating: 10
This is one fine piece of amp modeling arse! With the combination of choosing your amp (Fender, Mesa Boogie, Marshall, Roland,Dumble, to name a few), choosing your own effects (2 flangers, 2 chorus', tremolo, compressor, delay, which can all by customized), to choosing your own speaker cab (from fender tweed, to Marshall 4x12) There is no way I could not give this a ten!

Submitted by Nicholas Charles at 03/08/2003 09:41

Price Paid: N/A

Features: 8
If you Don't know what's in this, you shouldnt be reading these. go to line6.com and check it out.

Sound Quality: N/A
I have to admit the guitars i use aren't very nice at all but when you think about it, my review is perfect because people who buy this amp usually wouldn't have very nice guitars. I have a De Armond( the one that looks like an SG but is really modeled after a Gretsch) and a Fender amer stand strat( i have used it stock through this and with a hum bucker mod) I've used this through a PA and Let's just say... don't do it. It sounds better than a little 8" practice amp but doesn't compare to what it's trying to compete with. what everyone says about the channels is correct. They are thin. it's difficult to get that correct tone. To try and get a better sound i bought a mesa rectifier 4x12. It changed the sound magnificently. but still not close. Both of the rectifier channels on the pod don't sound so close. I stuck a sonic maximizer after the pod and it sounded like a very decent amp. But then I started using a friends mesa dual rectifier and lets just say i havent used my pod for more than the tuner. The reason why the mesa sounds so much better is because that is what we've been listening to all our lives. Distortion was sort of invented and needed to be tuned in a way that is was pleasing to the ear. Well the mesa rectifiers definately do that and that is why they sound so much better. We strive for a tone that we know.

what im trying to say is if you want a preamp (thats the only thing its good for) buy it because its cheap and fun to play around with. It definately beats some crate half stacks that ive heard. after days of dissappointment i finally realized that to even get a clear sound you have to turn off the cab simulator (i run it through the 4x12)

on a side note: in certain channels if you turn the mid knob around while holding the HOLD button you get delay. and in certain channels if you turn the bass knob while holding the HOLD button you get infinite delay. its useful in some applications.

Reliability: N/A
after 3 years it still works just a little paint chipped off which looks pretty cool because its grey underneath

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: N/A
i beat the hell out of my equipment. I mean I'm in a cover band that plays a frats. alcohol and keeping your equipment nice don't mix. this thing definately holds up to all rugged standards i have.

Submitted by Anonymous at 03/04/2003 09:23

Price Paid: US $500+

Ease of Use: 9
pod pro. lots of editing can be done. (actually too much if you're the obsessive tinker-type). any preset can be made to sound better. remember it's all subjective. manual is ok. written by techs that think theyre funny cut-ups. i think they had a comedian come in and punch it up a bit...i guess it's the world we live in today...everybody thinks they're adam sandler. if we're gonna connect with the kids that buy the product, we better act like class clowns.
i've had it for about 2-3 years. tough to change certain features, because it requires two hands. i've learned to do it with one hand. in order to access certain features, you have to press and hold down the tap tempo, then while doing that turn/punch other knobs. if you have a guitar in one hand like i do, it's difficult. it's taken me a couple of years to get the most out of it.it's a slow process... i guess i'm a slow learner. while it has many applications to computer-midi, etc, i never use it for that. i paid the extra money for the pro to get the rackmount style. there is no way the kidney shape could be a handy-dandy form, at least not the way i have my "studio" set up.

Sound Quality: 8
i own the pod and the behringer v-amp-2. anybody that claims the vamp sounds as good is making an excuse for being a cheap bastard. they drive a rusty car and claim it's paid for...the only thing we know for sure is that its a rusty heap. don't listen to these people. pod is a matchless and v-amp is a crate. that's overstating it a bit but it's the same thought process. v-amp is ok for the money but so is a rogue amp. right? we all want to improve our tone, and in this case get a pod.
sound quality is excellent. it's in there...you just have to "dial" it in.
while it sounds ok out of the box, you can certainly tell the diff between recordings i did 3 years ago (when i bought it) and now. best sounds to my ear are the rock-blues, british hi gain, some of the clean sounds. a few are too thin, or too buzzy. even tho there are 32 amp models in here, many sound the same---or too close. i guess if i thought about it, that's the way real tube amps are as well: there are marshalls, fenders, soldanos, mesas, and then the rest are derivative of these...(if i left any original sounding amps out of this list, forgive me). the most annoying thing about the pod is the "3rd" ghost note you get when playing two strings..mostly when there is some gain/distortion involved. i';ve found it's in the lower registers and can be "dialed out" with the bass eq knob. it never goes away completely but can be minimalized. when you add drums and bass and vocals, etc, you can't hear it.
i just work around it. other's who have a certain personality, it will drive them crazy. some people will sell a car because it has a rattle in the dashboard. you say "hey steve, where's that cool car that ran so well...?" "oh it had a rattle so i sold it."
if you're recording at home, this pod is very close to sounding like a real amp. the thing to remember is the pod isn't a real replica of any exact amp. but you'll get a ballpark "marshall" and tweed sound that fits in the fender category.
but even if it doesn't sound exactly like your favorite amp, it does sound like an amp! the effects (chorus, flange, etc.) aren't that great. the delay is probably the best. the other effects are for special occasions anyway. definately can be overused and abused. rackmount effect units for reverb and such are better and i recommend getting one. high gain settings are noisy to an extent...just like amps, single coils suffer more, and humbuckers are pretty quiet. i've just purchased a carr amp for a gazillion dollars and while i haven't had long to record with it, i find it very hard to hear the difference on a cd. the diff is hearing it live. the carr is like cream and butter with the naked ear...but on a recording, in the mix, the diff is so minimal it's hard to justify spending the money on an amp. the pod has just enough truly usable sounds to justify it's price. it will do a marshall sound pretty well, voxac30, blues like clapton played with mayall...i can't find a decent srv on here...tweed is just kind of ratty.but it will do in a pinch. high gain is good. rectified is ok but could be better. i give an 8 in this category. i'm grading on a curve here. almost everything on this site is overrated with 10's. that tends to skew everthing else.

just like some people will pay $4000 for a matchless amp, and gladly, to get a better tone, i'll pay $500 for the pod pro...it's that much better than a v-amp. if you buy a v-amp, and then your buddy gets' a pod, you'll then wish you had your money back. why not get the pod now and make your buddy feel bad? it's much better that way!

Reliability: 10
works like a champ. and i hope i don't jinx it by stating that.

Customer Support: N/A
don't know, but customer support from car dealers to broken toasters to heating and cooling etc sucks. period. i don't know why line 6 would be any different. once in a great while i'll actually meet and talk to somebody that tries to help, but it's so rare i don't even care anymore. try and get some health insurance info sometime! i assume if i have a problem with the pod, i'll get the runaround-vague nonanswers...you know the drill. call me pessimistic. i'm 47, so don't kid me about customer support. everybody gets a "1".

Overall Rating: 9
bottom line: it is a lifesaver if you have anyone in your house that is bothered by a guitar amp.( AND I DO!) i would go crazy too, if i had to listen to me play the same riff over and over and over trying to get a good one on tape. going direct is a godsend. i've been playing about 30 years. ive' got a prs mccarty, melancon tele (good guitar by the way), guild starfire III (? without the bigsby, single cut), reverend with P-90's(a goofy-ass guitar that sounds real good), a carr imperial 4x10 amp, used to have a voxac15...schecter electric 12 string (another solid value at only $400),american deluxe fat strat. i play into a joemeek mic pre---art dmv pro effects rack ( a decent unit for the money-then you don't have to use the unusable effects from the pod)i would get another if lost or stolen, at least until something better came along. very versatile, can get many diff usable sounds for when i'm in diff moods. again, the best thing is it won't bother or wake up the dead (my wife...please don't wake her up!).

Submitted by tjl at 02/27/2003 19:06

Price Paid: US $299

Features: 10
I got one of the first POD's in 1999, so it's the 16 amp modeler. It's plenty versatile. I play Contemp. Christian, Rock, Blues, Funk, some country and pop. It has 15 effects + a bypass. Other features are a noise gate, tuner, multi-function tap button, and it's midi capable.

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