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Topic: POD vs Tech 21 Blonde vs ? for going direct live |
Andrew Toering
From:
Michigan, USA
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Posted 15 Jan 2015 3:25 pm |
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Hi all, I've had my Simmons steel for about a year now and I love playing it. I'm getting to the point where I feel comfortable playing basic stuff live. I've been reading some topics here about going direct and I have a few questions.
I play keyboard and 12-string guitar in a Rod Stewart tribute band, which also has 2 cds of original material that we play (recorded before I joined). The new album features steel on a few songs, and for the larger venues where there's enough room on stage I'm going to start bringing my steel instead of the 12-string.
I've been running my 12-string through one of the inputs on my Korg Kronos so everything comes through one output for the sound guy, and I hear everything through my 2 powered monitors I bring. (It's a 7 piece band so a lot of the smaller venues can be maxed out on channels) I'd like to do the same with my steel, so I've been looking at preamps and amp sims. Yeah, I could haul my '69 Bandmaster Reverb and cabinet, but that would be an extra channel the sound guy might not have, and it would be an extra trip/hassle for me.
I don't want to spend more than $2-300 so I've been looking at the Tech 21 Blonde or a POD. I can use the delay and reverb effects on my keyboard so I'd be fine with something simpler like the Blonde. Any opinions on which sounds better? Anything else I should consider? I know a lot of people use the Freeloader or the Black Box--would that be necessary as well? |
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Jon Light
From:
Saugerties, NY
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Posted 15 Jan 2015 3:52 pm
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I have not run direct with either---I've run into power amps---but I've used both PODxt and the Blonde. I like both of them a lot. The POD obviously gives you a whole lot of models to work with but the Blonde's tweed-->blackface range covers a solid bit of ground. The POD is a great at-your-fingertips FX farm and delay/reverb controller.
If I wanted to keep it as simple as possible I guess I'd give the nod to the Blonde. If I wanted a palette of FX then the POD would do it. How interested you are in the FX and amp model array of the POD is my unknown. |
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Jack Stoner
From:
Kansas City, MO
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Posted 16 Jan 2015 3:14 am
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| The POD "Beans" have been discontinued. However, I use a POD X3 for direct recording and it works good (better than the direct out on an MB200 amp or a Nashville 112). |
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Jay Ganz
From:
Out Behind The Barn
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Posted 16 Jan 2015 5:58 am
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Blonde is smaller, lighter, and can be run on a 9
battery for a LONG time (if needed). More authentic
Fender tone (if that's what you're looking for).
POD is great for experimenting with varied tones and FX.
Also a bit "hotter" signal output. |
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Ken Metcalf
From:
San Antonio Texas USA
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Darrell Birtcher
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Posted 20 Jan 2015 3:27 pm
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| You may want to consider the Tech21 Liverpool pedal over the Blonde. I found it to have more clean headroom and an excellent tone for steel. I know Tommy Dodd is a big fan of the Pod Xt and he gets magnificent tones from it. The older generations of Pods (pre xt) lack sufficient clean headroom in their amp models for my tastes, and the Pocket Pods really suffer in that department. They all just seemed to be geared for dirt, not clean. Ymmv. |
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Andrew Toering
From:
Michigan, USA
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Posted 24 Jan 2015 11:49 am
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Thanks everyone. I was about to pick up the Blonde, but I couldn't find any youtube demos that didn't sound like it was recorded direct. I think I'm going to go with a POD.
Is there a specific model of POD that's most popular with steel players? The XT? Ideally I'd want something small enough to sit unobtrusively under my keyboard or mounted to my steel (?), with the option of battery power. Obviously clean headroom is a must too.
Time to search the forum again... |
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Jon Light
From:
Saugerties, NY
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Posted 24 Jan 2015 1:17 pm
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The PODxt mounts nicely to a steel leg. No battery option. It needs its own dedicated power supply.
It has a bunch of speaker cab sim options and I upped that by buying a bass feature pack that adds cabs like 2 x JBL's .
I was doing a home tracking project and I'd spent a lot of time with some nice amps and/or preamps and mic'd cabs (in my non-sound-optimized 'studio'....my living room) and then used the Pod and got better results.
I would normally prefer a mic'd cab but between non-studio acoustics and volume constraints the Pod was far superior in my specific situation.
And I did gig a bunch with the Pod for a while. |
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Jarek Anderson
From:
Ontario, Canada
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Posted 28 Jan 2015 9:23 am
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I'd suggest the Digitech RP360 or RP360XP. YMMV, but to my ears the amp sims sound better than the XP. I gigged an XP for 10 years on electric, acoustic, and steel. It did the job nicely enough, but I was never shocked at how good the tone was; I always felt that it sounded like a model. The feel was certainly sterile.
The RP360 is completely different for electric and acoustic. I'm still dialing in some steel tones, but the dynamic range and sound quality are much improved to my ears. They don't have as many models nor effects, but there are some additional features (aux in, looper, tone audition, etc) that make the XP even more versatile as a recording and practice tool.
They also use more common pedal power (9v center negative) in case you're using a power supply or a one spot already.
I can't believe these are available for $149 or less (with discount)
Best of luck with your search! |
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Jim Newberry
From:
Seattle, Upper Left America
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Posted 28 Jan 2015 1:20 pm
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I was looking for a portable solution for headphone, powered speaker rig for travel. I went cheap and got a Korg Pandora Mini. Don't bother. It has a million useless sounds and I couldn't get a decent clean sound to save my soul. But at least it was very noisy. Lesson learned.
_________________
"The Masher of Touch and Tone"
-1950 Fender Dual Pro 8
-1950's Fender Dual Pro 6
-Clinesmith D8
-Clinesmith 8-string Frypan
-Clinesmith Joaquin
-~1940 National New Yorker
-~1936 Rickenbacher B6
-Homebuilt Amps |
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Jim Wilmoth
From:
California, USA
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Posted 9 Feb 2015 10:24 am
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| You may want to consider the Tech21 California pedal over the Blonde if you can find one used. The clean MKII settings no the California provide clean headroom with the right amount of good Boogie mojo. (FYI - I have the Blonde and California). |
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