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Bass Pod XT and less than stellar equipment=??

Discussion in 'Effects [BG]' started by daglar, Nov 21, 2005.

  1. Nov 21, 2005 #1
    daglar

    daglar

    Aug 30, 2005
    Thessaloniki, Greece
    I've bought the podxt recently and I am quite disappointed with it... Everything sounds the same to me with only the most strange (and useless) sounds making a difference. I heard a few effects from the company's site which sounded a LOT different than mine was making. Could it all be because of my bass and my amp?? I'm playing with an aria stb-pb bass and an aria pro 2 (50 watts) amp (I know it s*cks but...)
     
  2. Nov 21, 2005 #2
    superbassman2000

    superbassman2000

    Dec 20, 2000
    Minnesota
    while i have heard both good and bad things about the POD, i think it wouldn't hurt to upgrade your gear...thats just my thoughts...
     
  3. Nov 21, 2005 #3
    Justice

    Justice

    May 24, 2002
    Houston TX.
    How does it sound to you through headphones? If it sounds good that way, it my be that your small amp can't handle the EQing of the and cab sims.
     
  4. Nov 21, 2005 #4
    SteveC

    SteveC Moderator Staff Member Gold Supporting Member

    Nov 12, 2004
    NE ND
    It could be your amp. Try the headphone thing. I don't believe you will get very good results with that amp. You may also want to try it without the cab modeling - just use a preamp and see.
     
  5. Nov 21, 2005 #5
    MikeLindgren

    MikeLindgren

    Oct 6, 2005
    Atlanta, GA
    The XT is the WORST piece of kit I have ever owned. Not only did I find the presets unpleasant, but it sucked the life out of bass's tone.

    I mainly bought the XT for its sub-octave and for its distortion, both of which were highly, HIGHLY disappointing. The distortions to me sounded computerised, and rigid. Absolutely no smoothness.

    I was running the XT through a 350 watt head and an 8x10 cab. I tried it through headphones. I tried it through a combo amp. I have since found a combo amp (GK) that has the perfect distortion, in my taste.

    I loved the BOSS ME-30B.
     
  6. Nov 22, 2005 #6
    daglar

    daglar

    Aug 30, 2005
    Thessaloniki, Greece
    I connected it to a pair of 5.1 headphones I have through the computer and it sounds a lot better. Since I'm going to buy a new bass in 4 months and an amp in at least 1 year, I guess I'm not going to use it a lot... Thanks a lot everyone for the help :)
     
  7. Nov 22, 2005 #7
    these_go211

    these_go211

    Nov 8, 2005
    san diego, CA
    you need to do a lot of tweaking with the bass pod xt to make it sound good. it's still not everyone's cup of tea but good tones can be had. i was starting to get real fed up with mine too but i played with the eq on it and that made a lot of difference. i have a 62 reissue fender p and have had good luck using the 100 watt hiwatt model with the bass overdrive and the pods eq. if you are going to record with it it's probably best to go direct from the pod into your daw/soundcard/mixer, as opposed to an amp unless you have one of those atomic amps. good luck!
     
  8. Nov 22, 2005 #8
    thejohnkim

    thejohnkim

    Sep 30, 2003
    NYC
    I've found that with Pods, they sound best with really good equipment, and really bad with mid-range to low range equipment.

    You basically need a very transparent setup to let the Pod do its work, because any coloration of the tone will mess up the amp and cab models. It's like trying to make a Agge DB 659 preamp sound like itself by running it into a Sansamp RBI before it reaches a cab.
     
  9. Nov 22, 2005 #9
    daglar

    daglar

    Aug 30, 2005
    Thessaloniki, Greece
    One more question with which a came up when I was trying to make it sound better: Supposing that you have a good amp, do you have to set the treble, bass etc as indicated on the POD or is it irelevant???
     
  10. Nov 22, 2005 #10
    tplyons

    tplyons

    Apr 6, 2003
    Madison, NJ
    set the eq on your amp flat, all the eqing will be done on the pod
     
  11. Nov 23, 2005 #11
    SteveC

    SteveC Moderator Staff Member Gold Supporting Member

    Nov 12, 2004
    NE ND
    I just bought a Bass PodXT again. I have an Eden WT-550 and am using the effects loop for the Pod for now. I A/B'ed the Pod Eden model to my real Eden and they were very close.

    Modeling isn't for everyone. I'm not sure if I will keep the Pod yet or not, either. You do need to basically ignore the presets - as with most devices - and set up your own stuff. You do need to spend some time. I don't think it's a plug-n-play unit. I believe if you take a little time you can get some nice usable tones.
     
  12. Nov 23, 2005 #12
    these_go211

    these_go211

    Nov 8, 2005
    san diego, CA
    "You do need to spend some time. I don't think it's a plug-n-play unit. I believe if you take a little time you can get some nice usable tones."

    +1 :bassist:
     
  13. Nov 23, 2005 #13
    jonathanl

    jonathanl

    Jan 12, 2003
    Orinda, CA
    Definitely. I spent a lot of hours tweaking my XT live to make it sound good!
     
  14. Nov 23, 2005 #14
    J Posega

    J Posega Cat Dad and Dingwall Enthusiast Supporting Member

    Jul 16, 2005
    Los Angeles, CA
    I've decided after much deliberation to give the POD Live a whirl. If it works out as a good preamp, I'll probably sell off my Ampeg and just go with a poweramp + POD.