First time using POD in church

Sunday, Feb 5th I will be playing guitar in church. It is also the first time I will be using my POD HD300. I've had it since September and as I've mentioned in several threads on here, I've been 'tweeking' it ever since and it sounds really good through my home stereo. I figure it's time to put it to the test at church. Here's the thing. I'm pretty nervous about using it. I figure right now it's 50/50 that I'll chicken out and show up with my amp like usual. I keep thinking about everything that could go wrong; all the amp modeler horror stories. Sound's awful, too quiet, too loud, not enough volume in monitor, can't hear myself, I'm all anyone can hear, etc...

Anyway, I just thought I'd throw that out there. Could be interesting...

Good luck. I want it to work too, so I can lighten my load and follow in your footsteps!

I used a POD XT Live in church for a long time. In a way you're giving your sound guy an easier job without the spill from your amp but the monitor mix is absolutely crucial. Communication is the key, don't be scared to ask for different EQ or more volume to get it sounding the way you want it. Oh and stand in the right place! It's going to feel different to having an amp whatever you do.

Why don't you take your amp as a backup anyway? You could even run the POD straight into it, if it comes to it. I got the most compliments on my tone the day I played with the XT Live going into a Laney VC-30.

I can give you a few tips from my experience:
1. Back off on your effects settings. Overdrive especially -- you probably can cut it in half. Chorus, compression, etc. get it where you think you like it then cut it back some.
2. Audition your settings loud: your tone will change on the PA, especially the bass. You will turn up the bass when playing quiet and it will be way to much when up to live volume. Do you have a keyboard amp you can put it through and turn up loud?

Good luck.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I don't have a keyboard amp, but I do have an acoustic guitar amp. That's what scares me. Through my stereo it sounds good, but through my acoustic amp it sounds flat and like it's coming out of a cardboard box. That could be because my acoustic amp is a cheap Behringer. I am planning on tweaking it all over again on Thursday night at our practise. I don't know if you all have this problem, but we spend a couple of hours Thursday night setting everything up, getting the sound perfect out of the main speakers as well as the monitors, and getting all the levels perfect. Then we rip it all down and someone throws it together on Sunday morning and it never sounds right again. Very frustrating, but I'm sure everyone out there can relate to that.
Anyway, I think I will take my Fender amp as a backup. But that may just be an excuse to go back to the amp in the end. I hope this does work better for our sound people, but in the end I really want it to work so that I can justify the fact that I actually bought it...

To an extent you may find that you need to tailor your sounds to the venue/equipment. Your Behringer amp might be crap but it may also just need different EQ settings etc. Main thing though is that you tweak it at the church, and then if you can save those sounds that are working for you, you won't have to ever do it again.

Maybe you could get your sound guy to write down his EQ settings next time you feel happy with it? That way, you can refer back to how things were the time you got *that* sound!

I use the Hd 300 and I'll second what bluebirdrad said. You can get a great sound out of it. My issue is I share a monitor with a keyboard player and if we are in the same range it can be tough to hear myself. But the sound guy does a good job of getting me in the mix. Give it a go. After a time or two, I bet you'll love it.

It will take some time. As others said, what you hear in your own monitor/headphone setup will be different going direct to/through the PA, especially once the sound folks have their way with it. But, just keep working with it. It makes their life so much easier, and it will make yours easier, too.

To start with, you might stick with a single amp model & tone settings, and "clone" that for additional patches if you really need more than the 3+ effects available within a patch. That way, your basic sound in the mix will not vary a great deal, and you'll be able to go back and hear what that sounds like at home. You can expand out from there with different models and settings, but have a place to click back to if it isn't working, and then readjust.

Good luck!

Ya, I've kept it pretty simple so far. I am using the Vox AC30 - Tubescreamer (55% drive with mids up and treble down to 40%) - Tremolo - Delay (Trem and delay both on manual or 'tap'). At home it sounds really good when I use my Strat, especially in the neck position. I have a second one set up exactly the same except I changed the Tubescreamer to Tube Overdrive with the drive set a lot higher (70%). I don't use the second setting very much but it's there if I need it. Sounds good on "Today is the day" by Lincoln Brewster. Wish I could sound as good as him, but that's gonna take a lot more than a POD... Anyway, that's it for settings. I guess I'll see how this all works at our practise next week.
Thanks again for all the input.

I recently moved from the kidney-shaped POD 2.0 to a Floor POD Plus.

IMHO, it is better to take the inaugural plunge with your new setup INSIDE the environment in which it will be used, but OUTSIDE the confines of an actual worship service.

After you have done your part to tweak the new setup for good, quality sound, you'll be ready to play in a live worship service. The sound guys will be able to fine tune the EQ and mix you in with the other instruments and vocals.

Even though my transition was still direct to the FOH/mixer, there were great differences in sound between the POD 2.0 and the Floor POD Plus, not to mention the physical and operational differences between the two units. I spent portions of three days in the sanctuary, tweaking my sound, before I was ready to use it in a live situation.

Due diligence is the key to success, but when you are ready, go for it - and don't look back!

I recommend a +1 on introducing your POD into your usual amp. It's going to be a discovery period for you, and you could think of this as an intermediate step while you get used to trusting the response of the modeling in a live setting.

I finally used this POD last night at our practise. It was AWFUL!!! Actually the POD sounded really good. I am happy with how I had it set up and appreciate the advice on here as far as starting with a basic amp model (Vox AC 30) and then using 3 effects with it (OD, Trem, Delay). The problem was the sound person. No matter how much I asked her to turn up the volume on my monitor I couldn't hear a thing. We have 2 monitors on our stage. One on each side facing back to the musicians. We have the keyboard, my guitar, acoustic guitar, and 4 voices all coming through those 2 monitors. I seemed loud enough when I was playing alone or no one was singing, but I think as soon as the voices kicked in I got lost in the mix. I think for Sunday I am going to take some more advice from this thread and take an amp to use as a personal monitor.

So much for having this POD to eliminate carrying an amp around. I may as well just sell the POD and take my amp and pedals like I use to. Thanks again for all the advice.

That does make it hard to use. Get your sound guy on board with you. It's to his advantage to keep you ampless. Good luck

I seemed loud enough when I was playing alone or no one was singing, but I think as soon as the voices kicked in I got lost in the mix. I think for Sunday I am going to take some more advice from this thread and take an amp to use as a personal monitor.

So much for having this POD to eliminate carrying an amp around. I may as well just sell the POD and take my amp and pedals like I use to. Thanks again for all the advice.

Turn the vocals down in the monitor:!::smile:

I go through these same problems at my church. It takes alot of experimenting. I basically use my amp as a monitor and then send the line out to DI box and then the pa. I like being able to adjust my own stage volume. I absolutely cannot play if I can't hear myself. And to really get into it, it needs to be pretty loud:razz:

Sell it, buy pedals, keep amp, good Sound ppl are hard to find.

You need your own monitor setup, sounds like you didn't bring your acoustic amp with. I lead worship and have gone through this issue for years. I have tried most modellers and the only time they have been successful is when I have my own monitor setup. I have a Atomic Reactor 112 which I run a 1/4 line to from the HD500 and I run the XLR to the house. It sounds great but you still end up hauling around an amp and a pedal board which means that as far a gear hauling goes it's the same as the real thing. The bigger issue for me is volume and that is where the Modellers shine, good tones at reasonable volumes. I think a good Modelling setup needs to be part of most worship guitarist arsenal now, we just don't all play in big sound friendly venues, so I would say stick with it, it will never replace your amp/pedals but you will use it a lot once you get it setup properly.

PS. Also, keep your patches as simple as you can. i.e if you don't normaly use ring modulators then it's best not include them in the patch.

This ended up working really good on Sunday. We had our other sound guy there, and I think he does a much better job of mixing the sound. I could hear myself really well, and the congregation loved it. I had a lot of compliments after the service. I am going to stick with this POD but I also think I am going to use an amp as a personal monitor just in case the sound guy doesn't have a good mix next time. I also have my POD set up exactly like my pedalboard. All I have for pedals is Tuner - OD - Delay - Tremolo. That setup worked great with the POD.

Thanks again for all the advice out there.

"First time using POD in church"

Personally I'm not a big POD fan but a couple of their songs are ok. Which one did you play? "Youth of the Nation?" "Alive?"