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Re: should i sell my jcm800 for a vetta?
First, get a cup of coffee [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] Second, this is just my story about the pod. Third, sorry about the length.
Until recently I haven't played much in the past few years, at least 6 or 7. I have a few guitars and a couple amps and used to play out live 2-3 times a month for probably ten years or so, then life happened and I couldn't really afford the time to play anymore. Now I'm getting back into it.
The only amps I have are carvin x100b stacks and a small two channel solid state amp I used to use for giving lessons. Well actually I just finished selling all but one half stack and the small solid state. Since I don't play out live anymore the stacks are WAY overkill for practicing and messing around even with the hotplate - and the wife hates them. When I did play out live though I had two settings for them, one that sounded good for practice without a band and one for playing live that would cut through the mix. You guys that play out already know this, you others will learn [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] 'Bedroom tones' don't always translate well to the stage. Anyway, I wanted something I could play at home and keep the piece so I went shopping for a small tube combo because I was a die hard tube amp kinda guy. I knew it would still be too loud but I have the hotplate and I need to be able to carry it around the house. Back when I was still playing modelers didn't exist and most pre-amps sucked, except maybe the quad-x and mp1.
So I'm waiting in line to try a small marshall tube combo on a saturday at the local guitar center and just start playing with this funny looking pedal board down the way. Remember this is the first time I've even been in a store for like ten years. It had a headphone jack so I grabbed a set from the wall and started playing with it and my first impression was holy cow this thing is WAY too complicated to use for an amp. Luckily one of the other customers saw me fumbling with it and gave me a quick rundown of it, turned everything off except the amp and showed me how to change amps and tweak things. I immediatly saw the huge potential of the Pod XT Live, asked about the return policy so I could play with it at home over a couple days, and bought it. I owe that guy a beer if I ever see him again.
Now, I didn't at first like most of the presets and wasn't really happy with the tones I was getting so I loaded all the software and started downloading other peoples settings so I could see how they do it. It took a while to get used to editing it and playing with the tones. Now though I have four tones, clean, slightly overdriven blues type, 80s metal sort of marshall, and high gain Pantera type that I'm really happy with and they all sound better at house levels then anything I've used before. So I'm already totally sold on this thing, it rocks.
Now I've started going over to friends houses to jam and just mess around but instead of taking my carvin half stack I take just the pod live and use whatever spare amp they have laying around. Some of these guys are old friends I've played with before and some are new friends of friends. Everytime my tones blow them away as well as the fact that I can get them out of whatever combo they have laying around and at any level - once even through a PA. These are also tube amp die hards and everyone has half stacks. Now two of them have already bought pod lives. These things rock, and in my opinion are one of the best things to ever happen to the industry. Back when I was playing in cover bands I would have killed for something like this.
I'll never sell my remaining tube half stack for those few days I'll actually get to crank it up and rattle the windows. Plus if I start playing out live again I will use it for a backup to my pod live. Yes, my tube amp will be the backup to the pod live. I think most people don't put the time into getting to know these things and learning how to get good sounds out of them, as it took a pretty long time to figure it out. The learning curve is VERY steep. I still find new things out about it.
Now, I'm sure some will say I'm not good enough to tell the difference, it doesn't feel like a tube amp, it's just an effect, and I'm sure there are others. In the end though, I just don't care, I get tones out of it that I think are good and I like it, the versatility is just amazing. I wouldn't sell my last tube amp to get one because I tend to hold on to stuff and in 10 years if the amp blows it can more then likely be fixed and I don't know enough about the pod to know if it could be. I did however sell my extra tube amps to get one, but they were all the same model.
Whew. That's just too long. (quickly and quietly steps off soapbox)
(ducks)
(starts running)
First, get a cup of coffee [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] Second, this is just my story about the pod. Third, sorry about the length.
Until recently I haven't played much in the past few years, at least 6 or 7. I have a few guitars and a couple amps and used to play out live 2-3 times a month for probably ten years or so, then life happened and I couldn't really afford the time to play anymore. Now I'm getting back into it.
The only amps I have are carvin x100b stacks and a small two channel solid state amp I used to use for giving lessons. Well actually I just finished selling all but one half stack and the small solid state. Since I don't play out live anymore the stacks are WAY overkill for practicing and messing around even with the hotplate - and the wife hates them. When I did play out live though I had two settings for them, one that sounded good for practice without a band and one for playing live that would cut through the mix. You guys that play out already know this, you others will learn [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] 'Bedroom tones' don't always translate well to the stage. Anyway, I wanted something I could play at home and keep the piece so I went shopping for a small tube combo because I was a die hard tube amp kinda guy. I knew it would still be too loud but I have the hotplate and I need to be able to carry it around the house. Back when I was still playing modelers didn't exist and most pre-amps sucked, except maybe the quad-x and mp1.
So I'm waiting in line to try a small marshall tube combo on a saturday at the local guitar center and just start playing with this funny looking pedal board down the way. Remember this is the first time I've even been in a store for like ten years. It had a headphone jack so I grabbed a set from the wall and started playing with it and my first impression was holy cow this thing is WAY too complicated to use for an amp. Luckily one of the other customers saw me fumbling with it and gave me a quick rundown of it, turned everything off except the amp and showed me how to change amps and tweak things. I immediatly saw the huge potential of the Pod XT Live, asked about the return policy so I could play with it at home over a couple days, and bought it. I owe that guy a beer if I ever see him again.
Now, I didn't at first like most of the presets and wasn't really happy with the tones I was getting so I loaded all the software and started downloading other peoples settings so I could see how they do it. It took a while to get used to editing it and playing with the tones. Now though I have four tones, clean, slightly overdriven blues type, 80s metal sort of marshall, and high gain Pantera type that I'm really happy with and they all sound better at house levels then anything I've used before. So I'm already totally sold on this thing, it rocks.
Now I've started going over to friends houses to jam and just mess around but instead of taking my carvin half stack I take just the pod live and use whatever spare amp they have laying around. Some of these guys are old friends I've played with before and some are new friends of friends. Everytime my tones blow them away as well as the fact that I can get them out of whatever combo they have laying around and at any level - once even through a PA. These are also tube amp die hards and everyone has half stacks. Now two of them have already bought pod lives. These things rock, and in my opinion are one of the best things to ever happen to the industry. Back when I was playing in cover bands I would have killed for something like this.
I'll never sell my remaining tube half stack for those few days I'll actually get to crank it up and rattle the windows. Plus if I start playing out live again I will use it for a backup to my pod live. Yes, my tube amp will be the backup to the pod live. I think most people don't put the time into getting to know these things and learning how to get good sounds out of them, as it took a pretty long time to figure it out. The learning curve is VERY steep. I still find new things out about it.
Now, I'm sure some will say I'm not good enough to tell the difference, it doesn't feel like a tube amp, it's just an effect, and I'm sure there are others. In the end though, I just don't care, I get tones out of it that I think are good and I like it, the versatility is just amazing. I wouldn't sell my last tube amp to get one because I tend to hold on to stuff and in 10 years if the amp blows it can more then likely be fixed and I don't know enough about the pod to know if it could be. I did however sell my extra tube amps to get one, but they were all the same model.
Whew. That's just too long. (quickly and quietly steps off soapbox)
(ducks)
(starts running)
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