Written by Chris Simoni Saturday, 11 July 2009 22:18

Some of you out there may have noticed, when Dirt Cheap!!! does a show, there is no back line of guitar amps. Well, I am proud to say that for 2 years now, I have not used a guitar amp at a show. (Ok, I tried it one time, and it buzzed all night.) For the first 8 years I have only used tube amps at a show, like my Marshall DSL 50 or my Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier (BTW, I still have them both). One day, while I was on an online spending spree, I decided to try out a Line 6 POD XT floor board. I had never used one, but I had heard some good things about them.

Lets make one thing clear, if you don't have an ear for tone, then go buy yourself a tube amp. That is not a put down to tube amps. The fact is getting a good tone on a tube amp is 80% easier, then trying to get good tone on a POD. The POD takes a lot of trial and error to get a great tone through the PA. Even though the first several of shows with the POD were rough, I knew it had potential.

Gone were the days of lugging around a head, cabinet, and pedal board. I looked at it as 3 separate loads out to the trailer, not including the nearly dozen of wires to get it connected. I have to say that even though the first 8 years with tube amps went off with relatively little issues, I always kept a spare head in the trunk of the car. Tube amps cannot be trusted. Yes, I have had some issues, but nothing too serious.

The problem with tube amps is not the sound. They sound awesome. And yes they sound better than a POD. But they are one trick ponies. They are good at one sound and one sound only. My triple rectifier had an overdrive channel to die for, but the clean channel was totally rotten and worthless. When your playing in a cover band, you want as many different styles of tones as you can get to make the guitar sound authentic to the song. The POD fits the bill nicely.

What you do need with a POD is good ears. With a tube amp, the manufacturer engineers the amp so 90% of the overdrive settings sound good. With a POD, the odds are not so good. When working with your PA, odds are 90% of your tone settings are going to stink. For the first year I used a POD, it was trial and error. For instance, it was a 1 1/2 years before I had a clean setting that I was truly happy with, and sounded good through the PA.

I have found that the most important thing about getting good tone with a POD is to use studio monitors at a medium volume, and compare it to a real tube amp, to get your settings. I tend to roll of they really high end frequencies, and use very little graphic EQ. Also, the less distortion the better. Since I switched to the POD, I use 1/10 of the distortion I had with my triple rectifier. Use the lowest amount of gain possible, to get a similar tone, and sit properly in the mix with the band.

Once you have the programming mastered, you'll enjoy the benefits of a small setup and great tone. Currently, I am using a Line 6 POD X3 with a Shortboard, and can not be happier. I monitor it through a Peavey keyboard amp on stage, and the POD is direct to the PA. No, its not a tube amp, but its 10 times more reliable and sounds 95% as good. After hauling amps around for 8 solid years, thats what counts!

Drop me a line if you have an X3 and would like my presets. I'll send them to you. It'll save you some time.