Pod2.0 in 2023

[clark]

So on a whim, I picked up an old Pod2.0 for cheap. I gotta say, for the era is was made in, they got it right in so many ways. It’s so easy to use and was/is just what you need for getting ideas down.

Now the key in 2023 is turning off the speaker sim and using and IR. I’ve been using a Helix a lot these days and when you compare amp to amp between them using the same IRs, it’s shocking how close they are. Of course the Helix has more clarity, but stepping back and looking at the big picture, they got amp modeling down in ~1999. It’s just taken that long for the whole cpu processing power to be able to drive convincing speaker sims in industrial proof devices. The pod definitely has its thing and it’s no wonder it was used so much back in the day.

Though I likely will never really use it much, the Pod2.0 was a “happy accident” of a nostalgia impulse purchase.

[burpgun]

I'm currently going back through an ancient project of mine where I exclusively used both the guitar and bass pods and you're right, they were quite good and at least in terms of amp sims, they weren't that far off of what we get with some of the latest gear. In particular, the Bass Pod was, at least for me, very good and if mine hadn't have failed, I could see using it today. I gave my guitar Pod away to a friend who is very old school analog and even he was impressed by it. I've got Helix Native now and briefly owned a Stomp and for whatever reason, I got more out of those old kidney bean boxes than the new gear.

[OffYourFace]

I have a POD X3 in its original box that's been in storage for many years now. It was a fun and exciting thing when I got it new in 2008. I should bust it out sometime.