How to make the POD HD500 useful as a live looper
Ok, I have been one of the most vocal proponents of using the HD500 as a standalone live looper as well as an all-in-one effects/amp modeling device. I have seen many looping guitarists with huge pedalboards, miles of cable which take forever to set up and transport. I wanted to get back to basics with …
The Dean DOA Guitar
This is the ‘None More Black’ Dean 2011 V that I won at last year’s Dean Owners Association party. It took a year for me to actually get it (?!?), but it rocks. And it is the only one in the world. The guys at Dean did a great job. There is quite a story …
Looping Devices I Use
Many loopers available allow you to switch between loops, so you can make an entire song over pre-recorded verse/chorus patterns.
This isn’t the way I use loops though. While this idea might be fine for a 1 man band situation, or rehearsing ideas, it is the live manipulation of the loop which starts the creative process …
Steinberger ZT3
This is my main guitar when I don’t have to use any guitar synth. Instead, this guitar is the only one in the world with a TransTrem 3, which transposes all strings equally. Not only can you bend entire chords in tune, but you can lock the bridge in 5 different positions, from a whole …
Pedalboard 2 Configuration
The signal first hits a BYOC 5 Knob Compressor, which may be the best compressor for electric or acoustic guitar. It has a cool blend knob which allows you to blend in the unaffected signal. And I built it.
The signal then hits a BYOC Overdrive2, which I built as well. Kind of a boutique Tube …
Line6 M13 Pedal Board
Line6 M13, Ernie Ball Vol Pedal Jr 25k, Gator Gig Rig Pedalboard
The M13 is an amazing tool for guitarists, and I was able to clone the sounds of my existing pedals within this unit. I use this for all of Julie’s shows as well as any solo shows where I don’t use the guitar …
Mackie 1202-VLZ Mixer
This sits on top of the rack and I plug my whole setup into it. What a great sounding mixer! I don’t think I will ever sell it, as it sounds too good.
This is the way I was using it (here is the tricky part!):
Guitar preamp into channels 5 & 6 (stereo)
The guitar synth …
Roland GI-10
The guitar cannot be plugged directly into a synth. In order to play the synth’s sounds, the guitar signal must be converted to midi information so the synth can understand. The Roland GI-10 is a half-rack spaced unit that takes the audio information from my RMC pickups (or my spare Yamaha G1d pickup) mounted …
Roland XV-5050
I bought this to replace my 8 year old (archaic in keyboard years) Roland M-GS64. This one comes with 8 times more memory for samples than my old synth, and is expandable with 2 SRX expansion cards. While my old synth had about 5 parameters to tweak per sound, the XV has about 300 more. …
Boss VF-1 Effects Processor
I use this to provide compression and reverb for the piezo pickups as well as for acoustic guitar recording, since it has a digital out on it. It is a nice sounding effects unit, although probably overkill for what I use it for.
