Bass POD Pro, good or bad?

jeff_ulmer · Post by **jeff_ulmer** » Tue Oct 07, 2003 8:45 am

Up until now, I have been recording DI, but there is room for improvement in my bass sounds, and since I don't have a facility or the equipment capable of miking a collection of decent bass amps, I'm wondering if this is a viable alternative. Unfortunately, procuring one of these to demo is out of the question, so I'm looking for others' experience with them and their Ric guitars.

golden_oriole · Post by **golden_oriole** » Tue Oct 07, 2003 9:20 am

That's an easy question to answer. The bass pod pro is good, but the Bass Pod Pro XT is better. It gives you a lot to play with. You can create custom amps and custom cabs too. The digital display makes it even easier to use, so you can see exactly what you're doing so you don't have to guess. If you like effects, it has a ton to customize as well, and again with the display, it allows you to tweek endlessly. It's one of the most user friendly units I've ever had the pleasure of messing with, and because I have one at work I can play with it all day. In doing so, not make any money what so ever. My favorite patch in there is "The Fish" based on Chris Squire's sound. I've played both my RICs through it and a used 4001 we took in trade. If you're going for the Paul tone there's a patch called Pepperland, and another called The White Album. As well as patches for you Pink Floyd fans as well. In manual mode you can make any kind of tricked out rig you want. So Jeff its deffinately a cool machine for studio stuff. As far as amps go, I can only remember a few off the top of my head. I'd look but I'm not at work today. There's Fender, Vox, Ampeg, Eden and HiWatt to name a few. Hope that helps you in your choices.

jeff_ulmer · Post by **jeff_ulmer** » Tue Oct 07, 2003 9:34 am

While the XT is a pretty major upgrade, it is also out of budget, since I can get a used original for less than half the price, which is why I'm looking at it. With Sound diver I should be able to tweak a Pro if I really need to.

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Tue Oct 07, 2003 10:06 am

The line 6 bass pod is cool .. I am hooked on mine ... I won't play without it ...

The sans amp is pretty good too ... less features and no presets though ...

I haven't tried the new xt bass pod

dano · Post by **dano** » Tue Oct 07, 2003 11:47 am

The Bass Pod Pro XT has an output problem. I am a member of the Line6 forum and this has been a topic now for some time. This is only a problem with the Pro XT, not the bean shape unit. It seems that quite a few of these shipped before the problem was detected. Line6 will fix the problem free of charge, although they don't identify it as a problem they call it a "mod". With the release of XT you can find some really good deals on the old ones. Actually, I have read that there is no significant sound difference between the XT and the older version, just some more effects (chainable) and a few added amp models and cab models. I almost sold my BP and floorboard to buy an XT. I'm glad I didn't! I highly recommend the Pod for recording. I have used one in my home studio for 2 years with great results.

jeff_ulmer · Post by **jeff_ulmer** » Tue Oct 07, 2003 4:11 pm

Does anyone have a list of what models are in the old Pro? In particular, I'm looking for the SVT and B-15 (until I can afford the real vintage ones).

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Tue Oct 07, 2003 5:02 pm

Amp models are:

tube preamp, swr sm-400, mesa boogie bass 400+, polytone mini-brute, eden traveler wt-300, gallien kruger 800rb, sunn coliseum 300, acoustic 360, ampeg svt, marshall major, marshall super bass, fender bassman amp, voxac-100, versatone pan-o-flex, ampeg b-15, and something called sub dub ...

I mainly use the acoustic 360 with distortion or marshall, but other models sound good too ...

jmh · Post by **jmh** » Tue Oct 07, 2003 6:40 pm

Nolan said,
"My favorite patch in there is "The Fish" based on Chris Squire's sound. I've played both my RICs through it and a used 4001 we took in trade. If you're going for the Paul tone there's a patch called Pepperland, and another called The White Album."

Is there anything like that on the original bass POD (Squire or Macca sound)? Is there a way to get those sounds on it? I have a Zoom BFX-708 which I find mostly useless.

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Tue Oct 07, 2003 7:54 pm

nope ... all the presets in the original bass pod are not really worth using ... and none have those names ... so I made my own ...

Also line 6 reccomends that you set treble 0, mid 10, bass 0, and eq flatline on your amp ...

I set a good amp sound and put the pod into that as a frontend tone shaper ...

shamustwin · Post by **shamustwin** » Wed Oct 08, 2003 6:39 am

is there a pod website?

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Wed Oct 08, 2003 7:24 am

www.line6.com

gothbin · Post by **gothbin** » Wed Oct 08, 2003 9:50 am

I own both a BassPOD and POD Mk 2, and although they are nice, I think both of them compress the sound too much. In a recording/mixing situation this can be nice, but it ain't always..... Anyway, I use mine most of the time in the mixing stage "re-amping" DI-ed signals, as I have tracks left on my 24 track recorder (a Roland 2480 CD). But mostly these tracks are recorded next to tracks on my Eden WT-300/Mesa Boogie Powerhouse 2 x 10" - miked with a 1" condenser and a Shure SM 57 at moderate levels. In most cases I use the Eden/Mesa combination for my sound. I can tell you the BassPOD ain't bad, but doesn't come close to a real amp/cab thing, provided these are quality stuff. For Both guitar and bass, I sometimes use a Hughes and Kettner redbox between the amp and cab, but not too often anymore.

Might sound crazy, but beside bassplayer, I'm a SAE graduate - so, I often look from the engineers point of view. The same goes for playing life: I only use my stack for monitoring, and leave power to the PA-system, and don't come in the way of the FOH-mix-sound.

But he, who am I? Just a mad bassman from the Netherlands.......

Robin.

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Wed Oct 08, 2003 10:10 am

I like to use the pod as a tone shaper into my ampeg b2r with 4x10's and then I mike it with a sm57 tight on the speaker and send it into a big pa. The bass amp is for stage volume and the pa is what people hear ...

dano · Post by **dano** » Wed Oct 08, 2003 11:36 am

Squire/Macca sound out of an older BP? Yes, but there is no magical preset to use. You pretty much have to find the sound yourself, but it can be done.

dano · Post by **dano** » Thu Oct 09, 2003 6:01 pm

Nolan's review made me curious, so I tried a BPXT today. What a difference! The old Pod now sounds muddy and dull compared to the XT. There are many usable presets, unlike the old Pod. "The Fish" preset is one of my favorites. It didn't take long for me to whip out the ole check book.