Bass POD Pro LIVE XT...Real World Review

[the_thriller]

I love mine and bring it with me everywhere. Every practice and every show. Half of what it does is awesome and half of what it does is awful, for sure!

I am disappointed that I bought mine and then half a year later they came out with the X3...

I do, however, now own a bass pod and a guitar pod (traded for the latter) so I'm pretty much set up forever.

 

[Voss451]

update:....

I got the pack and I'd have to say that so far, I think it just might do the trick. Combine this with the Boss ODB-3 that I have and I just might be in business. It's a shame that none of the dirt boxes on the Pod work very well with the bass amp models but hey, they were initially designed to work with the guitar amps, so if I have to add an external pedal, so be it (most of them thin the sound out significantly).

The real acid test will be next band practice when I plug this sucker in and see what it can do in a live band situation.

 

[Juevi]

Bumping this for a few questions. I've had a PXTL for a while for guitar. I used to run a POD 2.0 for guitar for shows and recording and stuff. Thinking about getting the bass expansion for my current PXTL.

However, one problem I always ran into was MONITORS when I played guitar. It was always very difficult to hear myself, and I'd assume it would be worse for Bass players.

Do most you POD guys still run into your large amp for monitor purposes, or what else are you dong?

Another problem is that I've heard of some issues with the POD not doing a very good job on low B string. Any input on that? Thanks guys.

 

[[email protected]]

Hi Guys ,
Trying to get this forum up and running . (2009 last entry ) I have just got hold of one , think its GREAT ( forget the pre sets IMHO ) I set mine as someone suggested earlier ( 2007 I think ) Silverface , all knobs vertical , no speaker or efx , slight compression , straight into the input of my Warwick LWA1000 - set flat - into 2 G&K 212 Neo cabs . Beautiful Old School Sound .
Pete

 

[BassmanPaul]

Hey Pete, I lived in Coventry for a while, on Hipswell Highway, when I was a kid.

Is the dirty old man still peeking at the naked lady on her horse?

 

[[email protected]]

Hi Paul,
I live in Harold Road , just off Hipswell Highway ! ! ! ! ! ! Been here for 22 years . lived in Stoke before then .
Yep the Dirty old Man is still peeking at the Naked Lady on her Horse in Broadgate .

When I started playing in bands , in the early 60`s , I would never have believed it if someone said I would still be playing in Bands at the age of nearly 70 !
Now I only use " lightweight "gear .

Do you have a Bass Pod Xt Live then ? I remember when I worked for Line6 ( the Guitar / Bass tech for 9 years ) , even with the staff discount , I could not afford one of these . Lunchtime I would get one out of stores, and "TEST "it . LOL .

This one I picked up on Gumtree for £100 , as new . Now though , I dont use the pre sets , just set basic amps ( no speakers ) and sometimes the efx .

Great piece of kit .

Pete

 

[relayer66]

This thread came back from the dead...
I still have mine but I haven't used it for years. I have the gig bag, special cable and everything. I also stilll have the Variax Bass!
I feel like selling it sometimes but it's such a rare item that I feel it might become collectible someday. I recorded a lot of music with it around 2005-2007. After which I got back to my Fender roots. I really did get some good sounds out of it. The bass, while a bit clunky and thick-bodied, was very playable and had a great neck shape.

 

[OldogNewTrick]

I still have my BODxt bean. It's an excellent tuner ....
About all I use it for nowadays.
After years of endless tinkering I could never get rid of that lifeless (recorded sound?) feel.
Maybe I'll give it a go again, when I got some time to waste.

 

[Johnny Crab]

Got 3 of them. 2 work, 1 got drowned, they served for almost a decade.
HD500X has replaced them.

 

[[email protected]]

Hi Johnny Crab,
How are the Bass Amps / Effects , and "tweekability" of then on the HD500 ?
Pete

 

[ped]

I've changed to a Roland VB99 now, and I haven't looked back - in fact after a couple of years with it I'm still finding out new things!

 

[[email protected]]

Set up my rig ( Warwick LWA1000 head, and 2 G&K 2x12 Neo Cabs ) in my garage at a fairly loud setting . Set the Bass Pod XT Live up with about five or six Amps ( removed all efx and speakers ) just used the Modelled Amps straight into the front end of the Warwick . Ran through them - VERY VERY nice .
Best I thought was the Silverface Bass ( as previously stated ) All knobs vertical , no efx or speakers .
Got a full blown rehearsal Thursday night , before all day Sunday in the Studio . Going to try it out .
Will keep you informed .
Pete

 

[[email protected]]

Hi, bit disappointed in studio . Not as good as I thought . ended up using my Tech 21 VT Bass .

 

[Bassmec]

Lady Godiva was my great great great + a few more times Aunt.X
Bass pods are very annoying.:-(

 

[Johnny Crab]

Hi Johnny Crab,
How are the Bass Amps / Effects , and "tweekability" of then on the HD500 ?
Pete

I liked the amps in the XTLive better so far and seriously miss the Acoustic 360 model. Still struggling, when I have time, to get the SVT sim to work as well as the XTLive. EQ's in the HD lacking, IMO, especially a multi-band graphic.

Effects: The Mars Cowling fav, Jet Flanger, is in the HD but I've not been able to get it to work as well as in the XTLive. That said, the millions of other effects in here are useful and fun to play with. One chorus, forgot which one....found it at work at lunch in headphones, is VERY bass-friendly. I've not recorded with the HD but our guitarist used his on studio trips back while I was XTLive->Avalon pre->board.

Try to update as I get time and build more stuff in this box.

PS: Guitarist got a Helix and runs "ampless" at out main venue. He hears via the venue's monitor(Yamaha with 15 + horn) and it sounds amazing out of that and FOH.

 

[BrentSimons]

Set up my rig ( Warwick LWA1000 head, and 2 G&K 2x12 Neo Cabs ) in my garage at a fairly loud setting . Set the Bass Pod XT Live up with about five or six Amps ( removed all efx and speakers ) just used the Modelled Amps straight into the front end of the Warwick . Ran through them - VERY VERY nice .
Best I thought was the Silverface Bass ( as previously stated ) All knobs vertical , no efx or speakers .
Got a full blown rehearsal Thursday night , before all day Sunday in the Studio . Going to try it out .
Will keep you informed .
Pete

Have you tried going into the effects return of your Warwick LWA? (Bypassing amps preamp) you might get better results in your sound? That's how I run mine most of the time.
Hope this helps,
Brent

 

[[email protected]]

Thanks Brent , never thought of that . Will do at next practice .
Pete

 

[relayer66]

I'll explain why I stopped using my Line 6 gear. They created these products for the bass community and then basically pulled out of that market very quickly. But the thing that irked me, is that the guitar POD XT Live users were able to flash all the bass POD XT patches and models onto their units, but those of us who purchased the Bass POD XT were not given the ability to flash the guitar models onto ours. I felt the company basically failed to support the bassists who purchased their products, and left us hanging.

 

[OldogNewTrick]

Yup, yup. When they discovered that the guitar amp modeling market was so much more lucrative, they dropped the bass players without another thought.
No real product development and no patch updates for bass players...
No idea, if the modelling would be more lifelike with today's updated ADAC and processors.

Guess I'll stick to pure analogue.
Still, Id like to mess around with a Kemper Profiler, just to find out if the hype and the price tag are justified...

 

[Johnny Crab]

@OldogNewTrick : seen a LOT of Kempers being used on the road by folks who can afford "high dollar" fly rigs. From what I've heard at shows with folks using them, they were amazing for live use. We had a guitarist sit in with us who used his and it was very "real sounding"(he had sampled his tube amp collection at home).

My "analog" rig is SansAmp RBI->dbx166xL->QSC 2402's->whatever cabs I bring.

Tonight we abuse BOSE at an event......