Tuesday, October 16, 2007

In the news

Line 6 unveils the new Pod X3 Live. At first glance of the features, it sports a bigger screen and more buttons, enabling it to be even more confusing on stage, as well as external routing options. I joke but it looks interesting. If you don't have a pod and are considering one, it might be worth looking at, but I'm skeptical of it being much more then brushed aluminum, "race car inspired looks" (as compared to the Pod XT Live). The bigger screen would actually be nice, more then once I've looked down, perplexed at what I'm seeing on the tiny screen of my XT Live. The routing controls I don't know about. I use some routing tricks in my current setup, but it's all inbound and the pod is in the mix on only one "side" of the rig.

So this gives me a chance to digress into guitar setups. I use a Taylor T5 routed into a Radial Engineering Switchbone. The switchbone has three outputs, one for a tuner, and two "sides" where the signal can be switched between or optionally sent out both. I've been happy with this setup for a worship setting because it allows me to switch between acoustic and electric sounds very quickly, without the need to change guitars. This REALLY helps transitions and lets us get a little more "free" with the types of songs we want to play for a given week. On the Electric side I route the signal sometimes through a Radial Engineering Tonebone (tube dist) but to simplify an already easy-to-poke-fun-at pedal setup I usually go straight into a Line6 Pod XT Live. On the acoustic side I go out into a Line 6 Echo Park before hitting a tube preamp and into the PA. The Pod XT is big so combined with the other pedals it can look like a huge pedal board but it's really not. I often run both sides simultaneously with some soft chorus-ey clean electric sound on a stereo delay then a straight acoustic for punch. (try this on Majesty by Delirious, it sounds awesome)

This may sound complex and while it's not a "simple" setup, it's actually not that difficult to deal with. There's no WAY I'd add anything to it (and I've been tempted) because it's just enough to be flexible without getting in the way when I need it most. Bottom line, stay away from TMP syndrome (too many pedals) because you'll find yourself focusing on stepping on 15 different buttons between songs and drawing people's attention to yourself. Try and stay out of their way. I'll admit, this is easier to do when using a modeling board like the X3 or XT or whatever because you can pre-program your settings during the week then make minor tweaks when you hear it through the PA. And lastly, anything your setup can do to help you with transitions will be worth its weight!!! Seriously, I feel so much better after a Sunday that has had good transitions and kept people's attention on worship rather then what I'm stepping on.

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