Almost ever. If I plug it into a real amp connected to say, a 4x12 stack, it sounds fantastic. However, since I have no such luxury 99% of the time, it sounds like ass. The usual setup is as follows:
Ephiphone SG Korina (gold hardware) -->
Boss DS-1 Distortion Pedal -->
Dunlop CryBaby Wah -->
Line6 POD 2.0 pre-amp thingy --> option A or B
option A: Mackie 8 channel mixer --> 2 JBL EOS speakers
option B: POD headphone jack --> Altec Lansing 2.1 computer speakers
The problem seems to be while I can get a good clean tone, once I kick distortion in, it sounds like shit. It's vice-versa as well - I can get it to sound nice in distortion, but the clean sound is crap.
Does anyone have much experience in something like this?
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CUZ THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE MIDDLE AND IT'S GIVING ME A RASH
hold on
you don't have an amplifier, just that line6 thing, right?
get a dedicated amplifier that isn't crap.
CUZ THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE MIDDLE AND IT'S GIVING ME A RASH
Correct. How much is a decent amp? I'm unfortunately not Mr. Moneybags.
Also, I just thought of something. Could my inconsistent shitty sound have something to do with running my guitar through a distortion pedal and then into the pre-amp? If the pre-amp is trying to produce a clear sound, and then I throw a distorted sound at it, wouldn't it take away certain parts of the sound? Or am I a blubbering idiot?
Seriously though, as a person who only plays bass, man that sounds like a lot of steps...you should get a good little amp and reduce it to just guitar->amp
I host a podcast about movies.
Or buy a real amp. What's your budget?
guitar > cable > amp
I mean, I don't know what kind of amplifier circuit is in there or whether or not this is really what's happening, but based on what you're seeing in terms of results makes it seem pretty likely. Just get an amp head and run the line6 into that. You can get a used, low power head unit for probably as low as $50-$100.
CUZ THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE MIDDLE AND IT'S GIVING ME A RASH
Aso you need to tweak speaker simulation on or off depending on what you're going into.
This would be good if he had a tube amp that he could use for distortion, but there's nothing wrong with either of the pedals he listed. They're both good pedals with solid construction and good tone. The Line6 unit however is well, Line6. They're okay I guess but really, you don't need an amp modeller if you're practicing at home, and you can't use them for recording unless you want to sound like a complete fuck. And don't even think of using one on stage.
Now that's what's wrong with using them for their INTENDED purpose, which is to modify the sound of the guitar to make it sound like you have a better amp than you actually do. They are NOT intended to function as amplifiers unless you buy one of their amplifier units that has a power amp built in. A preamp is not a power amp. Using it to drive loudspeakers will damage the amplifier that does come in it and will sound like ass, as has been discovered. This is not due to the type of signal going into the preamp, it is due to the preamp's amp circuit being completely overwhelmed and being used for a task it's not designed for.
The pre-amp boosts the input signal to line levels and modifies it. The amplifier takes that line signal boosts it to output levels and drives the speakers.
You need that second half of the equation. You can get a really small, really weak one that will instantly make everything sound infinitely better for a very low price. You won't get much volume, but it won't be completely distorted out.
CUZ THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE MIDDLE AND IT'S GIVING ME A RASH
and suddenly I remember why everybody thinks you're a dick
Edit: Oh wait, H&A. OK, here's the advice.
First of all, DrDizaster/pheezer is pretty wrong on a lot of levels. First of all, if there wasn't a power amp stage you wouldn't hear anything at all. The signal coming out of a preamp is orders of magnitude quieter than the signal coming out of a poweramp. But of course, you can hear a sound. This is because many speakers come with a built in power stage: certainly computer speakers and (based on the fact you can get them to make sounds) your JBLs too.
The thing is, I'm not quite sure what you're getting at. You say you can get a good clean tone and a good distorted tone but never a tone that can handle both: I take that as meaning you use a single patch for both, rather than switching between. If this is indeed the case, here is your problem: if you dial in a clean tone to the POD and use the DS-1 for distortion, you're using a distortion pedal that's designed to drive valve circuitry to drive a transistor circuit. The results will not be satisfactory.
If, on the other hand, you set up a tone that sounds good distorted, you will really struggle to get any good clean tone out of it by rolling off your volume. Without going into unnecessary detail, PODs don't distort a signal in the same way that valve amplifiers do*, and the result is that to get a good, saturated tone out of the POD it takes a lot more gain than it does to do the same with a valve amplifier. This increase of gain essentially means that backing off the volume ain't going to do you no good and, even if you do roll it low enough, the signal from your guitar will be so weedy that it really won't sound any good by itself.
The answer? Spend thirty dollars or so on one of the switches that lets you flick between channels on the POD. Set up a good clean tone and a good distorted tone and you're ready to go. I know it's not ideal (spending money is never ideal) but it's the cheapest way you're going to be able to get satisfactory results.
*in valve amplifiers, a lot of saturation is provided by the post-amp distortion, which provides a much warmer and softer compression to the signal. This means that the pre-amp gain can be set fairly low as long as the post-amp is running hot and you'll get a big, strong sounding tone. On a POD there is no emulation of post-amp distortion, and so to compensate for the loss of a stage of saturation the pre-amp gain has to be increased. Valve amplifiers also clip the waveform in a far 'softer' way than transistor units like the POD, but I am not going to go into detail about that at this time of night.
Bob, when you mentioned getting a switch, I thought of something. I have a MIDI footpedal controller thing around here somewhere that I used to use to switch the PODs effects on and off (it had 12 buttons, I think). Could you perhaps explain this whole "channels" thing in more detail, and would it be possible to use the MIDI controller to do the switching?
A channel is a tone you have set up and saved on the POD2. It should come with a whole load of presets saved that you can flick between, although I don't own one myself so I don't know the specifics.
That MIDI controller pedal sounds awesome. I've looked up the POD2 manual and to change the channel with a MIDI pedal you need to send a MIDI Program Change signal to the POD. Sending a MIDI Program Change signal of 01 will select Bank 1, Channel A; a signal of 02 will select Bank 1, Channel B; a signal of 05 will select Bank 2, Channel A, so on and so forth. Having never used a MIDI controller I have no idea how you'd set this up, but it seems like pretty basic MIDI functionality from the little I've read.
Then you just set up the two channels you want to switch between, note the banks and channels they're in, and set up the controller to send the appropriate messages to select those channels. Bingo, no money spent and you've solved your problem.
Also it will not do the pedal much good.
My guess would be this: There are two types of MIDI signals, MIDI controller signals and MIDI program change signals. Delay is presumably controlled by the controller signal number 28; the channel change is controlled by the MIDI program change signal of the same number.
This could be. I noticed the MIDI controller has two modes while I was setting it up. One mode seemed to be switching between amp effects (I wasn't sure though, I'll look at it in a little bit), while the other allowed me to turn individual effects on and off. Either way, I'm still not getting exactly what I want, as the distortion effect doesn't want to do anything when I press it.
1 The order of effects
2 Your main output
When it comes to musical equipment, you honestly get what you pay for. I have used both effects you have, and while i think Line 6 is terrible, i've still toyed with it. But neither of those things are going to give you the lush tone you want. You need a decent amplifier. I would recommend selling both the effects pedals you have and picking up a Vox 2x12 transistor modeling amp.
I used that for a LONG time, and its going to give you everything you want! Delay effects, different amp models, different distortions and effects. Its gonna be a pretty costly unless you can find it used.
I plugged it into my 12" bass amp, and it sounds fantastic with a pure signal. Friend of mine has a pretty decent amp that he keeps stored for a friend, but he records everything using an old 25W practice amp because it sounds really good at indoor/recording levels. Big amps are great if you're playing clubs or outdoors, but don't sound any better if you can't crank 'em. A small practice amp, or even an old 60s-era, low-wattage amp will sound infinitely better than your current setup.
I'm not much of a guitar guy, but I know that the utterly basic setup is guitar>cable>amp, like Tube pointed out. Get that first. If you don't have one of those components, you're definitely missing something.
Then you worry about effects and other things. if you don't have the basics, you have no real way to gauge your guitar's sound.
I love strumming on the ole fender, and it's great to have around while watching tv or something. Problem is I realized I don't EVER plug the damn thing in anymore. I have a 15 watt Line6 amp upstairs, and after going to guitar center a couple times and plugging into the super expensive amps realized that is pretty much sounds like garbage.
What I want to know is what kind of tube amps can I get to make my guitar sound sexy again, and how cheap can I get them?
I got my Mesa Boogie Nomad 45 for $600, or the roland micro cube is about $120 I recommend either though the roland is solid state.
-Terry Pratchett
Or if you have a local Craigslist, you can find amp deals that often put flea markets to shame. There are a lot of people out there looking to ditch nice amps of every size and configuration, and they’re all competing with each other on price.
I should take lessons and really learn how to play. I enjoy it so much but am teaching myself straight solo.