Quote Originally Posted by Spudman
Hey Plank

If you want to hear what Line 6 can really sound like then check out the audio clips here http://www.ayreon.com/ayreon/ay_albums.html.

Click on an album and scroll down to the audio. All electric guitars are done with a Pod Pro on every album.

The past Porcupine Tree albums Deadwing and In Absentia both have Pod guitars. http://www.myspace.com/porcupinetree

Todd Rundgren's latest album Arena was all done with a Pod. Listen to Courage and Mountaintop. http://www.myspace.com/toddrundgrenmusic

But, yes, often times Line 6 gear sounds crummy until you tweak it. Just like the Axe FX the Pod etc from Line 6 have a lot of parameters than can be changed to get some great sounds. You just have to twist some knobs.
Spud, my experience with Line 6 gear is a Pocket Pod I own (love it for headphone practice!) and a Vetta head I borrowed for a few gigs. I definitely agree that you have to tweak the patches on every modeler. I preached that for years when I was using my Johnson Millenniums for gigs. I also agree that Line 6 gear records superbly. My issue with Line 6 comes with live sound. The clean models have some punch and authority, but the distorted models lack balls and punch - some are just a can of bees, and I could not tweak in the punch or keep it from getting buried in the mix (mic'ed the cab). My other beef with Line 6 and most every other modelers I've tried is that there is no touch response. The models are full on all of the time, and you can't dial back the volume to clean a patch up.

I'm really not bagging on Line 6, nor am I an Axe FX blind loyal fanboy. My experience with the Axe FX has relegated my Johnsons to the bench along with any Line 6 thoughts I might have entertained. It's like going from a Yugo to a BMW.