Multi-effect processor into tube amp

I bought a Line 6 POD HD300 a few weeks ago. I have played around with the amp and drive effects and finally set up a few settings that work very well for the style I play. One setting is a VOX AC15 with a tubescreamer OD, and other one is a JCM-800. When I hook up the unit directly into the sound system it sounds very good. However, for some reason it sounds a whole lot better when I hook it up and run it through my 60 watt Fender tube amp. I know that most people buy these processors to run directly into the church sound system. I think I am probably defeating the purpose of having this processor by running it through my amp and then putting a mic to my amp for running through the sound system.

Does anybody else out there use a multi-effect processor through an amp instead of directly into a sound system, or am I breaking some sort of unwritten rule?

Thanks.

I typically use the modelers ability set my signal chain as guitar > modeled pre effects>modeled preamp> modeled post effect> real amp power amp section (return)
This bypasses the real pre amp section and avoids the signal being colored by both modeled and real preamps. There are soo many other ways to do it though. Lots of info on the line 6 forums.

I think what you are doing, running your Pod into an amp, is a great setup and will improve your sound.

I think what you are doing, running your Pod into an amp, is a great setup and will improve your sound.

+1

Things always sound better through a tube amp period.

Things always sound better through a tube amp period.

Not true, IMO. I have Boss GT8 processor, and I tried hard to get it to sound good through my Fender Twin Reverb. No go. I really wanted it to work so I could say I was running through tubes.

So now, I run it direct through the PA and it sounds awesome. Of course, the FTR has no effects loop, nor any other way to bypass its preamp, so that may be the big difference - it may be an example of precisely the kind of tube amp you do NOT want to run a modeler through.

Of course, "sounds good" is very subjective, but that's my story.

Plus, I love being able to carry just a modeller and two guitars. No amp.

For practice at home, I run through a keyboard amp (Roland 550) and I know it's going to sound pretty much like that when I run it through the PA at church. No added variables like type of mike, mike placement, or amp placement. Sometimes I even just run with headphones when practicing at home if my family is sick of hearing this week's worship tunes for the 20th time.

I love the sound of a good tube amp but the best tone I got out of my Pod was through a Fender acoustasonic amp. Sweet. I heard more positive comments, too. Again, it's what you like - very subjective.

The term "multi-effect" does not really tell the whole story for most of these units. Most of these units have three sections: 1)effects, 2)amp, 3)speaker. You could use the effects(delay, chorus, comp, etc...) and then run those into the front of the amp, that should sound fine.

But if you are using the amp modeler that should probably be run into just a guitar power amp/speaker. And if you are using the full chain(effect/amp/speaker) that should be run into a PA or some other full range amplifier.

It doesn't make sense to model an amp and speaker config, then run that into an amp/speaker which has it's own personality. To me this would be similar to mic'ing my amp rig backstage and running that signal to a different guitar amp on stage. Nobody would do that, so why do we want to run amp/speaker sims into a guitar amp. Seems that I recall an amp manufacturer who offered a power amp/speaker combo ready to accept a multi unit as the preamp.

Seems that I recall an amp manufacturer who offered a power amp/speaker combo ready to accept a multi unit as the preamp.

Yep Atomic Amps have been pretty popular with modelers. They are set up/tuned to not color the sound (much like a PA or acoustic amp)

I agree that this sounds counter-productive to me, but if it sounds good, it sounds good!

So, to get the sound I am going to hear through a church sound system at home, I guess it would be better to run the POD through my acoustic amp instead of my tube amp? I am having a hard time trying to get my settings to sound good through the sound system. Maybe it's because I'm trying to set them up at home through my electric guitar tube amp. Will the acoustic amp give me a close sound to a church sound system?

So, to get the sound I am going to hear through a church sound system at home, I guess it would be better to run the POD through my acoustic amp instead of my tube amp? I am having a hard time trying to get my settings to sound good through the sound system. Maybe it's because I'm trying to set them up at home through my electric guitar tube amp. Will the acoustic amp give me a close sound to a church sound system?

I think you've got it right there. The best thing to do would be to play through the church's sound system to set up your tones, but yes, your acoustic amp set with neutral setting might be better than using the tube amp.

I've always run modelers this way; XLR to the house - 1/4 " to my Atomic Reactor for on stage monitoring. Everybody's happy.

Things always sound better through a tube amp period.

Guitar-wise, anyway, absolutely, anything for guitar, will sound better when pushed thru a tube amp, especially for live performance. Jacked straight into the PA, you just dont get that kick and response, like you do from an amp.

I dont use the modeller overdrive sounds for anything except recording demos, straight into the mixer and then to the computer. And I only use that because I can basically throw a couple of switches and start recording. Then I almost always mic up and amp and re-record the track later if i go farther.

Check your settings. I don't have your exact effects processor but my old Sony has settings tailored toward amps and mixers/PA's. The settings geared towards amps didn't have any amp simulation added because you were already going through an amp. The Mixer/PA settings added amp/speaker simulation. Go towards settings aimed towards mixers with amp/speaker simulation and tweak from there. You are right though, processors sound better straight to tube amps because you just can't simulate that...

I typically use the modelers ability set my signal chain as guitar > modeled pre effects>modeled preamp> modeled post effect> real amp power amp section (return)
This bypasses the real pre amp section and avoids the signal being colored by both modeled and real preamps. There are soo many other ways to do it though. Lots of info on the line 6 forums.

^^this. I toured this set up for a couple years. It's a great way to get predictable sounds in many settings.

At church I use a Digitech RP1000 (with a few other pedals). I use an XLR into the house mixer, and also run a cable into my Fender Blues Junior which is pointed at my head. That way I can hear myself clearly without blasting others. The straight-out-to-mixer sounds great, but I sometimes wonder if I should mike the amp instead.

Really don't understand your amp modeling attraction guys. I've been away at camp working for 43 of the last 48 days. At night I've been using a POD and/or my Apogee Duet through my Apple laptop/ GarageBand and I can't wait to get home to just scream those EL84 tubes on my Gibson Goldtone then sizzle the 6L6's on my sons Rectifier!

I think I might agree with asatattack. I think that the reason I'm having trouble getting the sound I am looking for with the POD is because it's not my amp. As soon as I run the POD through my amp, to me it sounds better. I am going to keep playing around with it and see where it goes, but either I am amp modeling illiterate or I'm just a huge fan of the sound of a tube amp with no more effects than some OD, delay, and Tremolo.

Anyway, the biggest reason I am trying to use a POD is because several times this last summer our band played at fairly big outdoor events. Several times the sound guy working at the event didn't have enough mic's for all the vocals (4) as well as the guitars. They always wanted to plug directly into my pedals and bypass my amp. Anyone who knows anything about guitars, effect, amps, music, etc will know that my guitar running through a basic OD pedal, delay pedal, and trem directly into the house sound does not work. How come sound guys don't seem to understand this??? Anyway, that is why at the end of the outdoor concert season I am trying to get use to this POD. To solve this problem for next summer. Guess I'm just fighting with the POD learning curve. And missing my amp in the mean time.

Thanks for all the advice out there.

Not true, IMO. I have Boss GT8 processor, and I tried hard to get it to sound good through my Fender Twin Reverb. No go. I really wanted it to work so I could say I was running through tubes.

So now, I run it direct through the PA and it sounds awesome. Of course, the FTR has no effects loop, nor any other way to bypass its preamp, so that may be the big difference - it may be an example of precisely the kind of tube amp you do NOT want to run a modeler through.

Of course, "sounds good" is very subjective, but that's my story.

Plus, I love being able to carry just a modeller and two guitars. No amp.

For practice at home, I run through a keyboard amp (Roland 550) and I know it's going to sound pretty much like that when I run it through the PA at church. No added variables like type of mike, mike placement, or amp placement. Sometimes I even just run with headphones when practicing at home if my family is sick of hearing this week's worship tunes for the 20th time.

I have a BOSS ME-70 and am ready to throw it in the trash...
No it's doesn't sound good through tubes (or anything else I can find)


:mad:

They always wanted to plug directly into my pedals and bypass my amp. Anyone who knows anything about guitars, effect, amps, music, etc will know that my guitar running through a basic OD pedal, delay pedal, and trem directly into the house sound does not work. How come sound guys don't seem to understand this???

Heck, I had a church gig once where the band director thought that would work. And he kept asking me for 'rock distortion'..... yeah I quit that one

Anyway, the biggest reason I am trying to use a POD is because several times this last summer our band played at fairly big outdoor events. Several times the sound guy working at the event didn't have enough mic's for all the vocals (4) as well as the guitars. They always wanted to plug directly into my pedals and bypass my amp. Anyone who knows anything about guitars, effect, amps, music, etc will know that my guitar running through a basic OD pedal, delay pedal, and trem directly into the house sound does not work. How come sound guys don't seem to understand this??? Anyway, that is why at the end of the outdoor concert season I am trying to get use to this POD.

In all honesty I would sell the POD and grab one of these.

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

That way if you have to plug directly into the board you can use your normal pedal board... It only models an amp and you can then put your pre fx before the pedal and the the post fx after to process the cab simulated signal. Then to a DI box and to the board. No hassle. It won't be your tube amp but it would get you by during those times when an amp isn't an option.

Although I love my RP1000, today I discovered a downside to modeling units...we were playing "Today is the Day." I was using a VoxAC30 model, and just before the guitar solo, I decided to step on my higher-gain AC30 model, which is right next to the first one.

Well, I must have stepped on it too long, because at the beginning of the guitar solo, it went into bypass (with no gain at all), and the solo was going "plink, plink, plink" at high volume. :oops: It was only a few seconds before I recovered, but eesh.... I do have an overdrive pedal next to the RP1000, and I should have just stepped on that. No chance of bypassing things that way.

After lots of playing around with my POD I have decided that the way it sounds the best (IMO) is by pushing the button for "FX Only". This option shuts off the amp modeling and speaker so that I can use all the effects and still have the true sound of my Fender amp. I suppose I can't complain. I was origionally thinking of buying a Line 6 M5 which was going to cost $209.00, but I got my POD HD 300 for $250.00. I guess even if I end up using it for effects only, and using it as a back up for if the sound guy wants to run me direct and bypass my amp, it was worth the money.

Thanks again for all the advice out there.