What do I need to play direct into a soundboard?

[Duncan_Wood]

Guys, got a question. I've been offered a gig playing guitar in our church praise band. I've filled in on bass before, but I just borrowed the regular guy's setup and plugged right in. In fact, in 20 years of bass playing I've never worried about effects. I just let the wood and pickups speak for themselves.

NOW... I've switched to guitar. All I've got is my Line 6 Spider II. I love it, but there's no room for it on stage. The usual guitar player just plugs her acoustic/electric straight into the board.

I'll be playing my DK2 with a clean sound. I'll be playing into the board and through the mains. What can I use to give myself some tone flexibility? Heck, I'd even like to add some crunch someday.

Thanks guys!

[Nightbat]

Pod or V-amp

small, cheap, versatile

[toejam]

Check out Tech 21. The SansAmp line works great for that. I've got a Tri-A.C. that's awesome.

http://www.tech21nyc.com/products/sansamp/triacp.html

[Duncan_Wood]

Pod or V-amp

small, cheap, versatile

Wow, had never heard of a V-Amp. Reviews are good, price is right. Hmmm. Heck, I could use this at home with headphones and not be tied to my big Spider cab. Hmmmm...

[Hellbat]

If you like and are familiar with the Line-6 sounds then check out the Pod stuff too. I have a little pocket pod I keep in my gig bag and it's capable of some really nice tones.

http://line6.com/pocketpod/

The pod 2.0 or newer is probably more in line of what you are looking for though. If you just need basic clean sound though the Tech 21 thing Toejam pointed out is a good choice too. Their stuff seems very sturdily built.

[Forrest]

I'm not a fan of the V-amp. I have a pocket pod and it doesn't have the thing I consider most important in the effects models - parametric EQ. However, they're really cheap - you might want to try it out at a music store to see if you can get the sound you want.

I can highly recommend the Pod X3 Live. It has XLR direct outs, and a plethora of sounds to choose from. Doesn't take much room on stage.

Just my 2 cents.

[markD]

i play lead guitar in my church praise band on occasion. usually i am the drummer. we run a silent stage - everything goes direct and we monitor through an aviom headphone system. when i play guitar i bring my trusty ol' POD 2.0 and switch channels with my little rocktron midi exchange. i have used my sansamp classic with excellent results as well. either of those would be great, as i can attest from experience.

[Duncan_Wood]

OK, you guys have given me some new stuff to look into. I'll check back in when I'm caught up. Thanks for the help.

[warlok]

With the POD's you can download different tones off customtone.com and tweak as needed. TONS of flexibility..

[Duncan_Wood]

I've been eying the PODs for a while, but wasn't ready to spend $200-400 yet (just bought my DK2 last month).

Then I got completely mired in the polarized reviews all over the web: "Line 6 POD sucks" vs "Line 6 POD is the greatest thing ever".

Now you guys are pointing me in that direction, so I'll keep looking. Like Hellbat said, I'm already familiar with the Line 6 sounds. And from what I read, the POD 2.0 has the best rep.

Let's see where eBay leads...

[Spivonious]

The bare minimum that you'll need is a "DI box". It's basically a preamp that raises the guitar signal up to line level to put in the board. But a POD or Sansamp is definitely better if you're looking for a variety of tones and/or some effects.

If you like the Spider, you'll like the POD. I believe they have the same sounds.

[Duncan_Wood]

POD 2.0 on the way from eBay. FYI they're going for $67 and up. I overpaid for one at $113 'cause it was only a couple months old and is compatible with the new line of pedals. The ones at the lower range looked like they'd been kicked around stage a few times too.