POD HD500 first impressions

[Neodustin]

For years I have had a love/hate relationship with Line 6. Even though the bad times, I have currently own and love three of their products: The original Flextone (simple, yet revolutionary in it's time), a modified DL4 and a G50 wireless unit, which I can't say enough good things about this product. The sound quality is crystal clear and gives me an uncanny sense of freedom while jamming.

But I digress, I was a little skeptical when Line 6 introduced their current line of HD POD's this fall. But, curiosity got the best of me and I strolled into my local Line 6 dealer and they were kind enough to let me take home and test drive an HD 500. Very, very cool.

The first thing that caught my eye was the array of switches at my disposal. Since I don't read manuals as religiously as I should... I found that the HD500 was very, VERY easy to navigate through and the amp modeling didn't sound half bad. I used my newly acquired Marshall Class 5 in Creme (thanks Guitar Center ) and let it rip. My favorite setting was of course, the Plexi, JCM 800 and Vox AC30 amp modules.

As far as the effects go, they are top notch. For digital modeling, they fooled my ears. I have run the gambit with boutique pedals over the past year and I can honestly say that if I were to give it some serious thought, I'd pack up my pedal board, pick up an HD500 and only pull out my prized stomps for special occasions. Except, the built in wah, perhaps. Line 6 needs to go back to the drawing board on this one. I just couldn't nail in the sweet spot...

In conclusion, I declare this pedal for those who want a one-stop-shop for pedal/amp simulation and those who love to experiment with radical sounds. It is definitely on my Wish List for 2011,


Thanks for your time.

Dustin

[Guitar Freak]

Thanks for the review man! I'd "thank" you for it but I don't know how...