Liberation

You know how it is with the digital effects unit out there- they don't sound appealing plugged into a guitar amp. It gets more repulsive if your amp is a small, practice unit. However, for that same amount of money, you can invest in studio monitors which were conceived to manifest clarity & detail. So that's the story yesterday, I went down to the City Music year end sale to purchase the Kurzweil KS-40A; $95 for a pair of no-nonsense sonic liberation. My Line6 Pocket POD sounds superb through these, you'd do well to at least check them out at City Music, there are many monitors to consider for some worthy prices. 

The chemistry with these monitors is that they possess drivers which are not instrument-biased. This means, the drivers are there to bona fide manifest whatever's plugged into them; the reason they sound superb with television, computers, music players, etc. Your digital effects units would highly likely contain amp & cab emulation patches which require a good source of voicing manifestation which is the specialization of these monitors. Just look at it this way- plugging in amp simulation into an amp- that's not quite a successful formula especially when it involves an overlap of inputs.

LINE6 HD

I've just given the LINE6 HD units a workout @ City Music (it's yesterday actually) to hear what the buzz's about. According to the manufacturer, the HD manifestations are the company's refined LINE6 range of multi-effects, voiced to be more organic than their last effort.

The HD units feature a very user-friendly working control panel, it's like accessing your amp with some additional knobs so if you think you are too old for some digital mambo-jumbo (or too lazy for that matter), the HDs would be a different appeal. The tones on offer are more organic as promised but still lack that analogue-dynamic relationship in a non-digital set up. Despite this very minor lackluster, the HDs' on-board voicings are indeed the standard to beat; personally, I find them appealing. There's also an external loop feature in case you wish to rope in your pedals into the mix. The interface panel helps by keeping the display objective- it reflects whatever tweaks you dial in. I could safely say that the HD units are for the LINE6 lovers who could do better with less programming & more live tweaking during play. Of course, this is the best time to consider any of the models on offer since they are clearing at SALE prices, just visit City Music's showroom to hear them in action.

On a personal note, it's more fruitful for you to visit the store on a weekday instead when there is a lesser probability of being in the same room with old geisers who are more inclined to boss around during try-out time instead of making an actual purchase.

Familiar headstock outline

The Line6 James Tyler JTV89's headstock...

...reminds me of Yamaha's Blues Saraceno model. Not the exact replica but it somehow triggers this reminder.

LINE6 Variax: The new breed

Line6 Variax guitars of yesterday were very generic (& uninspiring) in design but that mundane look ends this year as the manufacturer collaborates with James Tyler to give birth to the above outlines. I've played the former generation of Line6 Variaxes & must say they aren't bad players at all, just that they could have been more appealing in looks.

So what's gonna happen to your outdated (look-wise, not function-wise) Variax guitars? Now seems to be a good time to let them go...

Smash POD gate screamer

I still get much enjoyment over a simple set up as seen above. I also get very inspired listening to tone generated by non-guitar specific drivers, the reason I love the X-mini speaker so much. This had been my set up since Monday (17/1):

• Guitar: SMASH S2 Lite
• LINE6: Pocket POD Express
• Beta Aivin: NS100 Noise Gate
• Ibanez: TS7

Little killer

What you see here:

1. Amp head: Blackheart Killer Ant (1w... ha!)
2. Cab: CRATE 4x12 GT412 (discont'd)
3. Line6: Pocket POD Express
4. Beta Aivin: Noise Gate NG-100
   
5. Ibanez: TS7
6. Guitar: LTD M-53

This has been my practice set up for days. At times, the guitars were on rotation but I keep coming back to the M-53 which had its action further lowered recently. There's a digital effects unit in the chain (the Pocket POD Express) so whichever guitar I employ didn't really matter because the final tone coming out from the drivers, is rather generic. Hence, it's all about feel & precision which my M-53 has plenty.

The Killer Ant churns out only a mere 1W for my sonic assault but it'll bring many other bigger wattage amps to their knees. Thanx to the 4x12 cab which makes it sound bigger than it should be. Contrary to convenient opinion, lower wattage amps need not be restrained in its performance. It's all about knowing what you are dealing with in action.

City Music year-end sale: Recommendations (Part 2)

It has always been the case of, gee, which wah pedal should I get? I'd say if you are starting out, Vox's V847 is one to consider. This pedal gives you some of the best wah tone to start with, very fundamental yet appealing & workable. If you aren't a newbie, then the V847 serves as a reality check- this is how a good, basic wah tone should be.

SALE: $81


You need a LINE6 tone on the go but you aren't using it on the floor, more of a desk top, fill-me-when-I'm-in-need utility application; the Pocket POD Express is it. You just work with the fundamental editing options here because you already like what the manufacturer has to offer. The Pocket POD range of effects unit is one of the best hardware out there which sounds superb through audio, non-guitar inclined drivers ('speakers' to the rest of us...).

SALE: $117

Crunched PPE

I've never plugged a high drive/ intense distortion pedal into my Marshall's crunch channel because I deem this a desecration of Marshall's greatness but on days I get bored, anything goes. I plugged my Pocket POD Express into the aforementioned amp's channel & it was great- a pleasant concoction of tube crunchiness & digital intensity. Without the noise gate in the chain, the background hissing was excessive.

PPE: Regular batteries

I'm using regular batteries in my Pocket POD Express in defiance of the manufacturer's recommendations- they believe in alkaline power. The device ran out of power today after some 3hrs worth of total playing time.

Killer Ant/ Pocket POD Express

The Killer Ant seems to be manifesting all types of signals well, the Pocket POD Express is not an exception.

This was also my experience in hearing the PPE perform with an actual amp, a tube unit in this case. The PPE gives off a good basic tone for us who are keen on a simple, multi-FX unit- nothing too excessive but something which doesn't wimp out on tone. The PPE does well but it lacks the depth of the Pocket POD because the latter manifests amp tones, the PPE has a basic tone for the common clean & drive/ distortion needs. It doesn't do more. My addition of the TS7 here (I usually saturate the drive/ distortion for the ease of picking & harmonics execution) ensure there's beef at the output end.

My only gripe with the PPE is its input/output access which are reversed, unlike the arrangement we are so used to in our pedals (less the Russian Big Muff). I've intentionall used coloured cables for the pic above for this explanation; notice how the yellow (output) cable has to go across the brown counterpart (input); LINE6 could have done better in this aspect.

Please do not look forward to strut your Strat/ Les Paul or whichever other boutique guitar you own because they all sound similar through the PPE.

Pocket Pod Express!

Yeah! I just gotten myself the Pocket POD Express (totally unnecessary as I already own the Pocket POD) & as you can see here, I've tested it out with my favourite X-Mini speaker. It sounds above average & the tones are as POD as it gets but these lack the refined output of its bigger brother's (Poecket POD is actually of identical dimensions but much bloated, the PP Express sports a trimmed depth). Thumbs up!

CAUTION
I initially inserted the AAA batteries into the PPE the wrong way round & it heated up while I was away watching Silence of the Lambs. The PPE was as hot as my morning cup of coffee when I came back to it much later, no kidding...

Having the batteries in the unit the wrong way round also jammed the cover hatch, so please be mindful on this entailment.

When I managed to get the batteries out & re-used them, they lasted for about 5min & died- this is a fresh set of alkaline AAA batteries, mind you.

LINE6: Pocket POD Express

City Music's year-end SALE kicks in this Friday (28th Nov), it's an event I look forward to as the Line6 & VOX range of goodies there are rather irresistable...

Anyway, I managed to check out the Pocket POD Express & was impressed by the tones on offer considering its simplicity. Thusfar, the Line6 range of PODs sound superb through speakers which is an alternative to owning an amp. This is very useful for people who sometimes play outdoors or bring their gear to places for a guitar get-together or the likes.

For those of us in search of a simple, fiddle-free multi-FX with good tones to boot, the PP Express is recommended.

pocketPOD + Mini Twin

Connected my pocketPOD to the Mini Twin today & that's the set up I maintained throughout the day. The PP managed to manifest itself well through the amp's very small speakers which goes to show that this device overpowers the amps it's attached to- which ever speaker/ amp hosting the PP would sound like the PP...

The double

There are FX units out there capable of producing a doubling effect where the output generated gets doubled either in unison or in actave displacement. Some of us get inspired to play by hearing such technolgy in use. I was moved to experiment on this doubling effect by plugging my hollow-bodied Ibanez AF105 into my Pocket POD. The driven output volume was tweaked to match the guitar's inherent acoustic volume; this effect alone is enough to trigger some ideas & make me play differently in terms of technique & notes selection.

Line6: JM4

Line6 has joined the looping industry with its JM4. This is something different from other looping devices because it provides on-board effects as well & promises a much simpler user control. Anticipations... anticipations...

The little menace 2

The X-mini Capsule Speaker was attached to my Line6 UX-1 today for a rigorous try-out & it pulled through splendidly. There was evidently some background humming as the guitar was facing the computer but that's expected.

Silent performers

There are players out there who give very little merit to headphone-ready devices namely due to the fact that the tone generated by the headphone drivers are next to repulsive. Nevertheless, there are people who invest/ believe in these products as a result of their needs. Throughout the years, I have acquired the (Korg) Pandora PX4D as well as (LINE6) the PocketPOD, both being my night time saviours when there is this overwhelming surge to play guitar while the baby's sleeping.

The PX4D came by first because it was the most attractive pocket guitar processor (to me) which bothers to include a midrange control. This nifty little box also accepts bass readily. In addition to the guitar related offerings, the PX4D has metronome & backing track modules for a one-man jam. As if these aren't worthy enough, the manufacturer includes a recording facility which accepts your MP3 (or other similar devices) to be played back at slower tempos for educational purposes. It also loops your recorded phrases for that insatiable solo jam.

On days when I don't require back-up shenanigans & wish for a plug & play moments, the PocketPOD would be employed. I've never been a fan of the LINE6 products before, which is attributable to its very fabricated guitar tones but this little red bean has its appeal. It isn't trying too hard to be its more elaborate elder brothers but the fundamental details here are more pleasureable than being digital muck.

The Ibanez TS7 on show here is simply there for comparison's sake but it's the most utilized pedal I own, getting more assignment time than its more celebrated siblings, the TS9/ TS808 (which I also own).