Line 6 POD and the like
Discussion
It's time to get rid of my guitar amp.
It's too big/delicate to leave out with small children around and too loud to get the best from at home!
I'm thinking about replacing it with a Line 6 POD or something of that nature to play through headphones.
Anyone got any opinions on these?
I've been playing guitar for about 20 years but my knowledge of effects and gadgets is strictly in the dark ages... I play a Fender Jazzmaster and mainly play ska, surf and rockabilly type stuff - nothing too heavy.
It's too big/delicate to leave out with small children around and too loud to get the best from at home!
I'm thinking about replacing it with a Line 6 POD or something of that nature to play through headphones.
Anyone got any opinions on these?
I've been playing guitar for about 20 years but my knowledge of effects and gadgets is strictly in the dark ages... I play a Fender Jazzmaster and mainly play ska, surf and rockabilly type stuff - nothing too heavy.
I have one, and it is a fantastic bit of kit. Mine is the POD XT, and works brilliantly with a reasonably priced set of headphones.
It takes a bit of getting used to, but there are so many possibilities on it. You should spend some time playing with one in a music shop first through just to make sure it is what you want.
It will give you pretty much any sound you want, and all the effects you will ever need are built in. You can also plug them in to your laptop to fiddle around with the sounds, but I have never done that. You can use them for just about any kind of music you can imagine!
I use a USA Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster, and occasionally my Dad's Gibson Les Paul and have never had any problems.
It takes a bit of getting used to, but there are so many possibilities on it. You should spend some time playing with one in a music shop first through just to make sure it is what you want.
It will give you pretty much any sound you want, and all the effects you will ever need are built in. You can also plug them in to your laptop to fiddle around with the sounds, but I have never done that. You can use them for just about any kind of music you can imagine!
I use a USA Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster, and occasionally my Dad's Gibson Les Paul and have never had any problems.
Also check out the Behringer versions if you are on a budget. I use the Bass version for live work to get a good sound for different tracks.
You could also consider using a software amp/effects on the PC. For example http://www.ikmultimedia.com/Main.html?guitarbassso...
You could also consider using a software amp/effects on the PC. For example http://www.ikmultimedia.com/Main.html?guitarbassso...
I have a line 6 ux2, a behringer v-amp 2 and a vox amplug ac30... I've been looking for a decent headphone based solution for a while.
If you have a decent valve amp then none of these things will get near them... I just don't think they sound as good. They don't sound bad but not as good, a bit synthetic if you like.
One thing I have found is that if you take the line out from these things and feed them in to a hifi amp they sound better than they do on headphones. I've no idea why this is as my headphones sound absolutely fine for everything else. The headphones I have used are sen HD280s which were expensive when I bought them and I have recently replaced them with a pair grado sr60i which do sound a bit better than the sens. They're both good quality phones though. Having said that all of them sound better than the headphone socket on my previous amp, a blackstar ht-5 combo, which sounded shockingly bad.
The amplug is a fine device for going away for the weekend when you can't carry anything but your guitar but still want to play. The sounds it produces are limited and there's no reverb or effects. It's ok for what it is.
The behringer was hard to use and sounds ok. The advantage is that you don't need to plug it in to a pc. I use this when I go on family holidays and that kind of thing.
The ux2 is the best of the headphone amps I have. It has an awful lot of flexibility but requires plugging in to a pc. This is what I use when I'm at home and the kids have gone to sleep.
If the kids are up I'll play on my amp, a laney lt5, and wouldn't get rid of it for any of the above.
If you have a decent valve amp then none of these things will get near them... I just don't think they sound as good. They don't sound bad but not as good, a bit synthetic if you like.
One thing I have found is that if you take the line out from these things and feed them in to a hifi amp they sound better than they do on headphones. I've no idea why this is as my headphones sound absolutely fine for everything else. The headphones I have used are sen HD280s which were expensive when I bought them and I have recently replaced them with a pair grado sr60i which do sound a bit better than the sens. They're both good quality phones though. Having said that all of them sound better than the headphone socket on my previous amp, a blackstar ht-5 combo, which sounded shockingly bad.
The amplug is a fine device for going away for the weekend when you can't carry anything but your guitar but still want to play. The sounds it produces are limited and there's no reverb or effects. It's ok for what it is.
The behringer was hard to use and sounds ok. The advantage is that you don't need to plug it in to a pc. I use this when I go on family holidays and that kind of thing.
The ux2 is the best of the headphone amps I have. It has an awful lot of flexibility but requires plugging in to a pc. This is what I use when I'm at home and the kids have gone to sleep.
If the kids are up I'll play on my amp, a laney lt5, and wouldn't get rid of it for any of the above.
Thanks for the replies people - it seems that there are many options!
Using an amp in the house is not really an option - I'm not at home in daylight hours often enough to justify it.
My knowledge of tech begins and ends with a pedal for echo and the amp reverb....
More research required...
Using an amp in the house is not really an option - I'm not at home in daylight hours often enough to justify it.
My knowledge of tech begins and ends with a pedal for echo and the amp reverb....
More research required...
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