Guitarbloke

Hi guys,

I hope someone can help me out here as I'm getting anxious!

I'm playing a festival gig this coming weekend and have been told I have to use the provided backline and not my own amp.

Apparently I'll be plugging into a Marshall JCM900 4102 (2x12) combo. And I have to get hooked up and ready to rock in an extremely short space of time.

I use a Line 6 POD XT Live unit for my sounds. Having never used it with an amp before, can anyone suggest firstly: How to connect it up - I dont know if I should use the effects loop on the amp or just go straight into the front of the combo (I've also never used an effects loop before!).

Secondly, could one of you kind souls please suggest some amp settings that would be suitable? I will be using just the amp's clean channel to allow the POD to do all the work, but I'm not sure if all the amp controls should be set to 12 o'clock or not.

Sorry for the simple questions, but I'm really worried and I really want to get this straight in my head so that I can be set up and ready to go quickly on Saturday. We have a 30min slot and our set comes in at 29mins 12s! So time is of the essence!


Thanks in advance everyone!

Sean

Jesstaa

What are you playing? Honestly, if you're playing rock or metal, I'd use the amps OD channel for the gain, it sounds really good, like an 800 with an OD pedal in front of it.

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Brett Blackmore

Hi Sean,

the JCM900 has both clean and dirty channels - I guess you will use the clean one - you could use the dirty one to get a bit of push, but I would not recommend too much gain or else your patches will be muddy. I never liked the Pod in the front of an amp - I would plug it in the fx-loop. My fx-loop used to cut out all the EQ controls except Presence so you can use your own patch EQs for tonality.

However my experiance with Pods is they sound better thru a direct DI-box into the PA (IMO) - I would certainly try this out as the pods were built for PAs and to be honest I have never heard a bad sound from one. Admittedly I play hard&heavy rock and need the real tube overdrive so they are not for me, but if you are doing normal songs/blues/pop/light rock then you will be fine.

Good luck!

Cheers Brett

rockinr0ll

My concern with the line 6 is that it will sound to digital through a tube amp. I would prepare for the worst and get ready to have to use the amp and not your effects box.

Guitarbloke

Thanks for all of your comments and advice guys.

To answer your questions - I'll be playing moderate rock - nothing really heavy - stuff like Alice cooper, Billy Idol, Guns n Roses.

I would LOVE to use JUST the amp and leave the POD at home, however I simply won't have time to tweak the settings to get a sound that I am 100% happy with (plus my POD has the bonus of being able to pull off a nice delay). I will however scour the internet for some suggested settings just in case.

I might just go with the DI option - which is what I've been doing for a number of years with the POD, I just liked the idea of being able to hook it up to a Marshall!

I tried the POD into the loop on a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe last weekend and it sounded great - much more 'alive' than it does into a PA. It also sounds great through my DSL401. But I'm thinking now that since time is of the essence, perhaps I would be better off DI'ing it after all.

gtrman

The Line 6 POD XT is most definetly meant to be used on its own as it has a premap. Your best bet would be to ask whoever is doing the sound to plug your Pod into a DI box. If that option is unavailable you can either use the amp on it's own which will sound good as the JCM900 has a nice clean channel and enough gain for most needs. If u have some stand-alone Boss or similar pedals u can use the loop for delays,chorus etc ...

At the same time I understand that your preference probably would be to use your Pod.
I am assuming you have some presets using overdrive/distortion and if so you should not use the Pod through the effect loop. Set the amp on clean and all the eq's at 12 o 'clock... and hope for the best

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JCM800 2203X - 1923 85th Anniversary - JCM900 SL-X - VM 2266 - 425A - 6100LM - 6101LM - Silver Jubilee 2553 - Silver Jubilee 2554 - 1960A - 1960B - 1960Slash - 1922 - 1936V

gtrman

If u like the way it sounds through the DSL you should duplicate the EQ settings you use and apply them to the JCM900. You should come fairly close.

The Gain channel on the 900 will be able to replicate the sound for artists like Alice cooper, Billy Idol, Guns n Roses. The JCM900 was used by a lot of these acts during the 90's....

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JCM800 2203X - 1923 85th Anniversary - JCM900 SL-X - VM 2266 - 425A - 6100LM - 6101LM - Silver Jubilee 2553 - Silver Jubilee 2554 - 1960A - 1960B - 1960Slash - 1922 - 1936V

crossroadsnyc

Here you go ... all you'll need to know regarding various options in hooking up your POD: Community: POD: Connecting To Amps & Computers/Output Settings/Floorboard Compatibilty/Fletcher Munson/Multiple Amps

I don't want to discourage you from doing what you are comfortable with, but I'd suggest at the very least just trying out using the JCM900 on it's own w/out the use of the POD. The POD serves a number of purposes (and does so very well in my opinion), but being placed in front of an amp isn't one of them ... really, it will sound pretty bad in comparison to using just the amp on it's own.

As for setting the eq on the amp (if using the POD) it's suggested (this is the Line 6 suggestion) that you turn the treble & bass controls to zero, and max out the mids.

I have a POD X3 Live, and I play around with it a lot ... particularly late at night when I need the noise level very low, or when I'm recording something here at home. I've spent ... literally ... hours upon hours tweaking the damn thing in front of both my current amps (Vintage Modern & 1974x) and have never been able to find anything remotely pleasing (and this is despite being very pleased with some of the patches I've managed to tweak using through headphones). Like I said, I don't want to discourage you ... but I'd hate to see you find yourself in the position of being very frustrated right before you go on ... I think it'd take considerably less tweaking w/the JCM900 on it's own to find a good tone, rather than the time you'd likely have to spend w/the POD to do the same.

Best of luck & have fun!

Jesstaa

I'll share my EQ, it's definitely given character by the cab, my guitar, and the tubes, but it'll give you something to work on. You'll definitely be able to get a moderate rock tone, with my EQ I get the perfect moderate rock tone with the volume backed off just a tad.

CH B Gain - 20
CH A Gain - 1 1/5
Presence - 10
Bass - 8
Middle - 1
Treble - 8

Best of luck.
Remember, roll your volume down, it'll change the tone of the 900 alot.

Edit - I'm talking guitar volume by the way.

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Kendall124

My main setup use to be a PODXtlive into the effects loop return of a Carvin Legacy. I basically used the Carvin for its power section. Main volume had to be controlled from the POD because the Carvin was not a master volume amp. It worked well.

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Riffraff

Too bad you won't have a chance to play around with the JCM900 because it would be able to pull off that style of music nicely. I do understand the need to be comfortable with your sound though so just plug into the POD and run that into the effects return on the JCM900. That way you will just be using the amps power section and won't have to worry about the settings on the amp.

Landshark

I'm with riffraff in this one. If you keep the loop enguaged then all you have to worry about is operating your pod. That will be the most comfortable thing for you.

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Gibson Les Paul Studio
Schecter S-1 Elite
Marshall JCM 2000 TSL
Sourmash 4x12-WGS ET65's

LesPaulopolis

Bass - 10
Mid - 10
Treb - 3
pres - 5
reverb - 5

Gain "B" channel to taste for a volume boost. Keep the gain as low as possible ~3.

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'68 RI LP Custom
JCM900 + EQ & Boost

donkost

Yikes, you have a 30 minute slot and your set list is 29 min 12 sec. Does that mean you only have 45 seconds to set up? Or is the setup time not included in the 30 minute slot? It's too bad you can't play fully out of the 900 but even if you have a few extra minutes you'd have to try and dial in your sound in front of the crowd. Then again, there might be a lot of that going on with other bands that day so no big deal. You could probably get in the ballpark quickly using the suggested settings, and just dial in more gain on the amp and roll back your guitar's volume a little. That way you'll have more gain on tap right at the guitar.

If you only have a minute of setup time though, POD in the loop of the 900 or direct to PA would be the best way to go. Hopefully the equipment is properly maintained and there are no problems with the loop and/or jacks.

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2009 Marshall JCM2000 DSL100 w/MC412A cab
1988 Mesa/Boogie Mark III 60W combo w/EV12L
1988 Gibson Les Paul Custom
1998 Peavey Wolfgang Special
2008 Gretsch G5120
2008 Ibanez RG2550Z
2009 Epiphone Zakk Wylde L.P. (bullseye)
Jonesing for a Strat ever since reading "Blackmore tone" thread
Pedaltrain PT-Pro w/numerous stomp boxes

riffdrive

It's been my experience that when someone tells you, "just bring your guitar, we'll have an amp for you", there will either be no amp at all, or it will be a barely functioning piece of crap. Kinda like when the venue owner says 2,000 people will be there, and you wind up playing for the other bands and their girlfriends.

My advice would be to take your entire rig. I'm guessing that since you've done this before, you'll be able to setup pretty quickly. Option number two would be to run your Pod through the PA. Seems like you've done that before too, but you have to trust the soundman and hope like hell they've got good monitors.

If you've got no other option than to run the Pod through the 900, I would set the 900 on the cleanest channel giving yourself as much headroom as possible, with the EQ on the amp set to "5" for each. That will give you some wiggle room. Also you can play with the Pod's "output mode" if the EQ just isn't giving you what you want. Just because you're playing through the front of a combo doesn't mean you have to use the "combo front" output mode on the Pod. Sometimes "stack front" sounds better. Unfortunately you won't have a lot of time to experiment.

I've not had good luck running a Pod through any amp's fx loop, I've always had the best results running it straight into the front of the amp.

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2001 Marshall DSL 50 (JJ ECC83, Svetlana EL34)
2005 Marshall Mode Four
Avatar 2x12 (1x Vintage 30, 1x Greenback)
Peavey 4x12 (Sheffield 1290)

Taylor Standard Solidbody
Ibanez RG2EX2

poeman33

I have not used an Line 6 pod, but I have used a Digi-Tech Genesis through my DSL. I would use the Line 6 pod just as effects through the effects loop, and use the JCM900 for the rest of your sound. I just plug straight in, but have a digi-tech and read that you could use the the effects on it, through the effects loop, so I gave it a try. It worked just the way it should. I basically had it set to direct out, with no amp or speaker model selected, so all it is using is the effects. I assume there is a similar setting on the line 6 pod? It's a tube marshall amp, so even though you won't have time to fine tune the sound, crank it up and I'm sure it will sound fine.

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Marshall JCM2000 DSL50
Avatar Vintage 4x12 cab
Fender American Deluxe HSS Strat Ash body

Guitarbloke

Wow guys, so much fantastic advice - thank you all so much! That's awesome!

I've found out today that we have 15 minutes to get set up before our 30min slot begins. So if I'm fast, I might just have a chance to try out a couple of those settings that some of you have suggested, if I'm not 100% comfortable then I'll throw the POD into a DI box and hope for the best!

Thanks again all of you, your advice is really appreciated!

Sean

JohnH

Some crude advice, but when I have plugged into a random amp with no proper sound check, the worst thing is if it is not loud enough and you dont get heard. So set the amp clean and loud, then you have the option to control the output with your pod and guitar

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8412 cab
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'83 Roadstar

Riffraff

I see now that you have the POD XT. I have the original POD 2.0 which I wouldn't dream of using with a tube amp. I'm pretty sure you are able to use just the effects on yours. If it's the POD XT Pro the best way to hook it up is with the 4 cable method (look here if you want more info on this: http://www.harmony-central.com/artic...string_theory/ ). You will be using the JCM900 for crunch and the POD XT for effects only. Set the amp for the gain setting you like which you should be able to do in a few seconds with the master low then turn it up and wail. Use the POD as usual for effects and roll the volume control down on your guitar to clean up your guitar sound. That's your best bet.