Line 6 POD X3, POD X3 Live, POD X3 Pro User's Manual

Model Gallery

Premium quality models of classic amps and immortal

effects is what the Line 6 POD X3 family is all about.

Here’s what we offer in the POD X3, POD X3 Live and

POD X3 Pro.

®

40-00-0175 Rev A

Please Note:

Line 6, POD, PODX3, POD X3 Live, POD X3 Pro, PODxt, Variax, FBV, DL4, DM4 and Vetta are trademarks of Line 6, Inc. All other product names, trademarks, and artists’ names are the property of their respective owners, which are in no way associated or afﬁliated with Line 6. Product names, images, and artists’ names are used solely to identify the products whose tones and sounds were studied during Line 6’s sound model development for this product. The use of these products, trademarks, images, and artists’ names does not imply any cooperation or endorsement.

Mo d e l Ga l l e r y

Model Gallery

Guitar Amp Models

2002 ANGEL P-Ball

Based on* the 2002 ENGL® Powerball, a four-channel ampliﬁer. We modeled channel 2 (Soft Lead).

2002 Bomber X-TC

Based on* a 2002 Bogner Ecstasy, this model covers a wide range of tone. It’s a really versatile amp from a really great guy.

Brit J-2000 #2

Based on* a 2003 Marshall® JCM2000 with the front end driven by a Prescription Electronics Germ pedal,

1964 Blackface ’Lux

Based on* a Blackface Fender® Deluxe Reverb®, the Holy Grail for many blues, country, and “roots” players.

1968 Brit Plexi Bass 100

Based on* Input I of the 1968 Marshall® Super Bass Plexi head. This is the bottom end you’ve been searching for.

1990 Brit J-800

Based on* a 1990 Marshall® JCM-800, one of Marshall’s most universally-acclaimed modern amps.

1963 Blackface Vibro

Based on* the 1963 Fender® Vibroverb 6G16 2x10 – 40 watts of pure heaven.

Brit Gain 18

Based on* the Marshall® 1974X “authentic re-issue” of the famous 1974 18W Combo from the late ‘60’s.

1992 Brit J-900 Cln

Based on* the clean channel of a 1992 Marshall® JCM-900, the ﬁrst true modern high gain amp from Marshall.

2002 Bomber Uber

Based on* a 2002 Bogner Uberschall and much like the Bogner Ecstasy, the Uberschall dishes up serious tone for high gain players.

2003 Brit Gain J-2000

Based on* the OD2 channel of a 2003 Marshall® JCM 2000, it captures the modern Marshall tone.

1992 Brit J-900 Dist

Based on* the lead channel of a 1992 Marshall® JCM-900. Nice mid tone with lots of gain.

* All product names used hereon are trademarks of their respective owners, which are in no way associated or afﬁliated with Line 6. These trademarks of other manufacturers are used solely to identify the products of those manufacturers whose tones and sounds were studied during Line 6’s sound model development. ENGL is a registered trademark of Beate Ausﬂug and Edmund Engl. Fender and Deluxe Reverb are registered trademarks of Fender Musical Instruments Corp. Marshall is a registered trademark of Marshall Ampliﬁcation Plc.

Model Gallery

1996 Brit JM Pre

Based on* Marshall’s entry into the rackmount preamp world, the JMP-1, has been a favorite of ‘big-hair’ metal guitarists.

Citrus D-30

Based on* a 2005 Orange® AD30TC, a 30 watt, Class A number with a great personality that purrs pure Brit Rock tone.

2003 Connor 50

Based on* a 2003 Cornford mk50h, which is a ﬁne, Britishmade boutique ampliﬁer.

1969 Brit Plexi Lead 200

Based on* Input I of the 1969 Marshall® Major, a LOUD, 200 watt amp which became a favorite of many bassists of the era.

1960 Class A-15

Based on* Channel 1 of a wonderful Vox® AC-15. The sound is similar to the more famous Vox® AC-30, but this is a smaller amp.

2002 Criminal

Based on* the Lead channel of a 2002 Peavey® 5150® MkII. This is the tone Eddie Van Halen is known for.

1987 Brit Gain Slvr J

Based on* the 1987 Marshall® Silver Jubilee, a limited edition tube amp made to commemorate 25 years in the amp business.

Class A-30 Fawn

Based on* the Normal channel of a Non Top Boost Vox® AC-30. This is deﬁnitely a good place to get classic British invasion sounds.

2003 Deity Crunch

Based on* a 2003 Diezel VH4, the Ducati of high performance guitar ampliﬁers. Our model captures channel 3 on this beauty.

1985 Cali Crunch

Based on* the Drive channel of a Mesa/Boogie® Mark II-C+, truly one of the ﬁrst modern guitar ampliﬁers.

1967 Class A-30 Top Boost

Based on* a Vox® AC-30 Top Boost, the amp made famous by many British invasion bands.

2003 Deity Lead

Based on* Channel 4 of a 2003 Diezel VH4, it has even more gain than Channel 3 (Crunch).

* All product names used hereon are trademarks of their respective owners, which are in no way associated or afﬁliated with Line 6. These trademarks of other manufacturers are used solely to identify the products of those manufacturers whose tones and sounds were studied during Line 6’s sound model development. 5150 II is a registered trademark of E.L.V.H., Inc. Orange is a registered trademark of Orange Personal Communications Services Ltd. Peavey is a registered trademark of Peavey Electronics Corp. Vox is a registered trademark of Vox R&D Ltd. Marshall is a registered trademark of Marshall Ampliﬁcation Plc. Mesa/Boogie is a registered trademark of Mesa/Boogie Ltd.

Model Gallery

2003 Deity’s Son

Based on* a 2003 Diezel Herbert, a unique amp that achieves an incredibly wide range of tone on a single channel.

1960 Gibtone Expo

Based on* a 1960 Gibson® Model GA-18T Explorer®, 14 watts with a 10-inch Jensen speaker.

1993 Match D-30

Based on* a Matchless DC-30, the amp that really put Matchless on the map. The DC-30 paid tribute to early Vox® amps.

2001 Diamond Plate

Based on* Channel 3 of a Mesa/Boogie® 2001 Triple Rectiﬁer® Solo Head.

1973 Hiway 100

Based on* a Hiwatt® DR-103, this model gives a great, punchy sound that will cut through almost anything.

1996 Mini Double

Based on* the 1996 Fender® Mini-Twin, the little battery powered, dual 2-inch speaker Fender novelty item.

1967 Double Show

Based on* a 1967 Fender® Dual Showman®, the rig of choice for many a classic Rock and Roller.

1987 Jazz Clean

Based on* a Roland® JC-120, the transistor amp known for a strident clean sound and builtin stereo chorus.

1965 Plexi 45

Based on* a Marshall® JTM-45 ‘block logo’ head, complete with a gold Plexiglas front panel.

1965 Double Verb

Based on* the classic Blackface Fender® Twin Reverb®. We plugged into Input 1 of the Normal Channel for modeling.

1996 Match Chief

Based on* the Matchless Chieftain, a unique–sounding amp that is great for rootsmusic.

1968 Plexi Jump Lead

Based on* a Marshall® ‘Plexi’ Super Lead with Channel I and Channel II jumpered together.

* All product names used hereon are trademarks of their respective owners, which are in no way associated or afﬁliated with Line 6. These trademarks of other manufacturers are used solely to identify the products of those manufacturers whose tones and sounds were studied during Line 6’s sound model development. Fender, Dual Showman, Twin Reverb are registered trademarks of Fender Musical Instruments Corp. Gibson is a registered trademark of Gibson Guitar Corp. Hiwatt is a registered trademark of Fernandes Company Ltd. Marshall is a registered trademark of Marshall Ampliﬁcation Plc. Mesa/Boogie and Rectiﬁer are registered trademarks of Mesa/Boogie, Ltd. Roland is a registered trademark of Roland Corp. Vox is a registered trademark of Vox R&D Ltd.

Model Gallery

1968 Plexi Lead 100

Based on* a Marshall® ‘Plexi’ Super Lead—coveted by tone connoisseurs the world over.

1953 Small Tweed

Based on a “Wide Panel” Fender® Deluxe Reverb®:

1960 Tiny Tweed

Based on* a Fender® Tweed Champ®. Many of the classic guitar solos of the 50’s were recorded through a Champ®.

1968 Plexi Variac’d

Based on* a Marshall® 100 watt Super Lead being run at high voltage thanks to a Variable AC Transformer.

1993 Solo 100 Head

Based on* a Soldano SLO-100. While primarily known for its high gain personality, the SLO-100 has a great clean tone as well.

2001 Treadplate Dual

Based on* Channel 3 of a Mesa/ Boogie® Dual Recitiﬁer® Solo head, one of Boogie’s more modern, high gain amps.

1967 Silver Twelve

Based on* the 1967 Silvertone® Twin Twelve head and cabinet combination.

1960s Super O

Based on* the Supro® S6616, the amp probably used by Jimmy Page to record most of the ﬁrst two Led Zeppelin albums.

1958 Tweed B-Man

Based on* a Fender® Bassman® 4x10 Combo, the amp that started it all — instant rock and roll tone.

1972 Silverface Bass

Based on* a 1972 Fender® Bassman® Head paired with a 2x15 closed back cab loaded with JBL® speakers.

1962 Super O Thunder

Based on* the 1962 Supro® Thunderbolt, a 1x15-inch amp Jimi Hendrix frequently used in the studio.

1960 Two-Tone

Based on* the Gretsch® 6156, a 1960 1x10 amp made by Valco/Supro.

* All product names used hereon are trademarks of their respective owners, which are in no way associated or afﬁliated with Line 6. These trademarks of other manufacturers are used solely to identify the products of those manufacturers whose tones and sounds were studied during Line 6’s sound model development. Fender, Bassman, Champ and Deluxe Reverb are registered trademarks of Fender Musical Instruments Corp. Gretsch is a registered trademark of Fred W. Gretsch Enterprises, Ltd. JBL is a registered trademark of Harman International Industries, Inc. Marshall is a registered trademark of Marshall Ampliﬁcation Plc. Mesa/Boogie and Rectiﬁer are registered trademarks of Mesa/Boogie, Ltd. Silvertone is a registered trademark of Samick Music Corp. Supro is a registered trademark of Zinky Electronics.

Model Gallery

2001 Zen Master

Based on* a Budda Twinmaster 2x12 combo, this model has a great, warm, Class A/B, sound.

Line 6 Bayou – Another Line 6 original model, this is the result of our quest to capture the fondly remembered tone of a harp player blowing through a beat up old Fender® Deluxe Reverb®, as heard in a roadhouse in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Line 6 Big Bottom – Just can’t seem to get enough bottom end out of your cabinet? Try punishing it with Big Bottom. We crossed a Boogie® Triple Rectiﬁer® with a Rivera Los Lobottom sub rig and dialed it in for serious disembowelment. But it’s not just about the bass. A super wide midrange control and an extra presence high midrange maintain articulation and power throughout the tonal range of this amp.

Line 6 Boutique #1 – Based on* the POD 2.0 model of the Clean Channel from the Dumble® Overdrive Special. The Dumble® Overdrive Special is one of those incredibly expensive, custom amps that most people never get a chance to actually get close to in this lifetime. Each incarnation of the Dumble® magic is a little bit different, because each of these amps is hand built for a speciﬁc customer, and voiced to match their playing and desires. With that in mind, we based this TubeTone Amp Model on the analysis of several different Dumble® Overdrive Specials. Despite this tuning to the individual owner, these ampliﬁers tend to have a number of features in common; the clean channel is very sensitive to attack, and dynamically responsive, and the drive channel has a thick, liquid, singing sustain that doesn’t lose string deﬁnition when driven hard. The tone controls on this Amp Model are quite subtle, like those of the Dumble® itself.

Line 6 Agro – An aggressive high gain amp with a unique Mid control that will take you though the entire gamut of tone on one knob. How did we do it? The mid knob for this model changes the character of the distortion. When set to minimum the distortion exhibits Fuzz pedal characteristics. When the Mid is set to noon it creates creamy modern high gain amp tones a la Soldano. And when the Mid knob is turned up to Max it’s very much reminiscent of that Class A Vox® sound. Of course, then there are all the places in between...

Line 6 Chemical X – Just like those secret ingredients that detergent companies used to crow about (Now with Ingredient X-27!), the Line 6 sound design guys wouldn’t tell us anything about the inspiration for this one or who it might have belonged to (no matter what type of bribery we attempted). Sufﬁce to say that it’s a very punchy hi-gain sound that also cleans up quite nicely when you roll your volume back.

* All product names used hereon are trademarks of their respective owners, which are in no way associated or afﬁliated with Line 6. These trademarks of other manufacturers are used solely to identify the products of those manufacturers whose tones and sounds were studied during Line 6’s sound model development. Dumble is a registered trademark of Howard Alexander Dumble. Fender and Deluxe Reverb are registered trademarks of Fender Musical Instruments Corp. Rectiﬁer is a registered trademark of Mesa/Boogie, Ltd. Vox is a registered trademark of Vox R&D Ltd.

Model Gallery

Line 6 Chunk Chunk – The name says it all. You’re guaranteed to feel your pants ﬂapping

with this model. Plenty of low end with a tight response. This high gain model has lots of beef so start shredding.

Line 6 Class A – One of the most satisfying tonal experiences as a guitarist is to play through an amp that’s driven to the point where the power amp is just starting to distort, but before it achieves full clipping. For many players, this is the coveted ‘sweet spot’ they look for on an amp. Because we’re not limited to physical reality when we’re creating amps in the digital world, our goal for this one was to make an amp model that was nothing but sweet spot. One of the great side effects is the ease of coaxing feedback out of this one.

Line 6 Clean – To create this Amp Model, we essentially grafted the preamp and tone stack of a JC120 (Roland’s popular “Jazz Chorus” solid state combo) onto the power amp and transformer of a classic Marshall® JTM-45 tube head, thereby giving you the crisp and clear front end typical of a solid state amp, but with a rich, satisfying tube amp-style bite as you turn it up.

Line 6 Crunch – Just like a good chef, our Sound Designers are always experimenting with new recipes. They added a pinch of plexi, hardwired four inputs for increased gain, and then rounded it off with a dash of Secret Sauce. The result is this model really cooks. Just turn up the Drive and tweak to taste.

Line 6 Fuzz – Although not technically an amp, we loved the unique tonal qualities of the classic 1960’s Arbiter® Fuzz Face enough to base a special amp model on it. This fuzz box used broad frequency, transistor-based clipping. The result is a buzzing kind of distortion that has become popular again with the alternative and grunge set. Jimi Hendrix was among the guitarists to popularize the Fuzz Face in the States, but our model is considerably dirtier than the tones found on “Are You Experienced.” Try playing “Satisfaction” by the Stones, or the lead from “American Woman” by The Guess Who. Liberal use of the Bass, Mid, and Treble controls will let you go beyond the tones that the Fuzz Face could deliver, enabling you to discover your own unique recipe for those elusive fuzz tones in your head. Just a note: when recording Purple Haze, Jimi didn’t even use an amp – he just went straight from a Fuzz Face to an Orange® power amp to a 4x12 cabinet. Which is the same sort of tone you get here...

* All product names used hereon are trademarks of their respective owners, which are in no way associated or afﬁliated with Line 6. These trademarks of other manufacturers are used solely to identify the products of those manufacturers whose tones and sounds were studied during Line 6’s sound model development. Arbiter is a registered trademark of Arbiter Group Plc. Marshall is a registered trademark of Marshall Ampliﬁcation Plc. Roland is a registered trademark of Roland Corporation.Orange is a registered trademark of Orange Personal Communications Services Ltd.

Model Gallery

Line 6 Insane – Our goal here was to provide you with as much input gain distortion as

possible short of complete meltdown. You get ridiculous, rich tube drive to shame the distortion of pretty much any amp on the planet (sort of like a Mesa/Boogie® Dual Rectiﬁer® on 10 being used as a preamp for a Soldano), while still retaining tonal deﬁnition and character. As a result, you’ll enjoy lots of bottom end and cabinet character with tons of wide-ranging tone shaping. Crank up the Drive and take no prisoners!

Line 6 JTS-45 – Since the design of early Marshall® amps were based on the Fender® Tweed Bassman® circuitry, we wondered what it would be like if we took the preamp and tone stack of our JTM 45 and ran it into the power amp and transformer of our ‘58 Tweed Bassman®. What we got was way happening, as JTS-45 will attest. Great grind and nice punch. A tone the whole family can enjoy.

Line 6 Lunatic – High gain with lots of high mids and no mud. Great for layering with other amps to cut through on the high end. A wide range of top is available with the Treble and Presence controls (maybe to the edge of lunacy).

Line 6 Modern Hi Gain – Based on* the POD 2.0 model of the Soldano X88R. The Soldano sound is intensely overdriven, and also has EQ after the preamp distortion. This oversaturated tone is well-suited to thrash metal and grunge bands, but has also been used more subtly by artists like Eric Clapton. This is a good Amp Model to use if you want to get a current Van Halen or Joe Satriani sound. The Modern Hi Gain Amp Model is based on one of Mike Soldano’s rackmount preamps. Talk about high gain preamp tube distortion! The X88R we studied to create this Amp Model would have been the rage for Los Angeles studio use in the late ‘80s.

Line 6 Mood – And here we give you a fantasia tone, based on our memories of grunge guitar tones we have known and loved.

Line 6 Octone – Now here’s something we hope you’ll really like. What would it be like if you built a tube-based Octave Distortion preamp for a Class A power amp? Line 6 Octone provides the answer. You’d get an Octave box that tracks better than anything you’ve ever used, deals with consonant intervals with a degree of panache that just wasn’t possible before, and kicks some major rock and roll butt!

* All product names used hereon are trademarks of their respective owners, which are in no way associated or afﬁliated with Line 6. These trademarks of other manufacturers are used solely to identify the products of those manufacturers whose tones and sounds were studied during Line 6’s sound model development. Fender and Bassman are registered trademarks of Fender Musical Instruments Corp. Marshall is a registered trademark of Marshall Ampliﬁcation Plc. Mesa/Boogie and Rectiﬁer are registered trademarks of Mesa/Boogie, Ltd.

Model Gallery

Line 6 Piezacoustic 2 – This one is designed to work with the piezo output of solidbody

electrics that have one of those newfangled bridges with the ‘acoustic’ pickup built in. Since you don’t have to worry about the body shaking itself to pieces with feedback on that type of guitar, we’ve cooked up this model with more low-mids and low frequencies.

Line 6 Purge – Like ‘80s shred guitar? Well, then, you’re gonna love Line 6 Purge. We took our model of a Marshall® JMP-1 preamp and hot-rodded it. It was hard work sticking in that digital dual overhead cam and hooking up the virtual glasspacks, but when we were done, we had the ultimate shred machine. Look out world, here you come.

Line 6 Smash – Got an axe to grind? Dial up Smash to take it way over the top with an obscene helping of gain. Smash delivers a tight bottom end, and a serious mid range void that’ll render Hi-Fi, butt-kicking rhythm tone every time.

Line 6 Sparkle – We love tweed Fender® amps. We love blackface Fender® amps. We love ’em both so much, we can never really decide which one we like more. Luckily, we were able to come up with the perfect way to share the love. We took the preamp and tone stack from our model based on the ’58 Tweed Bassman®, and we wired (in the virtual world) our model of a blackface Bandmaster power amp and transformer onto it. Voilà! Line 6 Sparkle.

Line 6 Sparkle Clean – Need Lots of Sparkle? Need lots of clean? You’ve come to the right place. Plenty of high end zing.

Line 6 Spinal Puppet – You know how, when you’re playing head-bangin’ music, you look out into the audience and see all those heads bobbing up and down? Those are Spinal Puppets. Need we say more?

Line 6 Super Clean – Forget what you know about how clean or how bright a guitar ampliﬁer can go. Line 6 Super Clean goes farther, adding a lot of brightness. While this model certainly is Clean, it has two other fun tricks up its sleeve as well: Setting the Drive knob at max gives a really broken “small amp on 10 about to die” sound. FUN! And the bass knob has an extreme effect when set to minimum— for sweet AM radio sounding tone.

Caution: Because Super Clean adds so much brightness, it generally won’t work so well with distortion pedals, since they usually add lots of high frequencies, too. The combination may produce unnatural artifacts—or just rip your head off. Plug an undistorted guitar in here, though, and we’re talking super happy shiny bright.

* All product names used hereon are trademarks of their respective owners, which are in no way associated or afﬁliated with Line 6. These trademarks of other manufacturers are used solely to identify the products of those manufacturers whose tones and sounds were studied during Line 6’s sound model development. Marshall is a registered trademark of Marshall Ampliﬁcation Plc. Fender and Bassman are registered trademarks of Fender Musical Instruments Corp.

Model Gallery

Line 6 Super Sparkle – You know how all great amps have a certain sweet spot — a particular

setting where they sound magical — dripping with tone? Super Sparkle captures that organic vibe with a new twist: its voiced in the clean/low gain realm where everything usually sounds too clinical or too dark. Super Sparkle is an edgy tone that will sparkle and shimmer if you treat her right. So play nice.

Line 6 Throttle – Pedal to the metal, this Line 6 original is a medium-high gain tone with a nice throaty growl. Grab the Drive knob to give it some gas.

Line 6 Treadplate – The original POD and POD 2.0 had a popular amp model that was our best attempt at the time to make a model based on* the Mesa/Boogie® Rectiﬁer® series of ampliﬁers. In addition to the Boogie® vibe, that model had some unique qualities that were all its own, and people it liked so much, they asked us to let them get that same sound with the newest generation PODxt. So here it is. In a way, Treadplate marks the ﬁrst time we’ve actually modeled another Line 6 product! Here is an excerpt from the old POD manual to describe it: “...modeled after* a 1994 Mesa/Boogie® Dual Rectiﬁer® Tremoverb. You can use this Amp Model to get that tight, high gain sound used by bands like Dream Theater or Metallica.”

Line 6 Tube Preamp – This model was created to give POD X3 and POD X3 Live users a solution for plugging the output from an acoustic guitar’s piezo pickup or a bass into POD X3 or POD X3 Live hardware. It can also deliver some tasty tones with a standard electric guitar. With the tone controls at 12 o’clock, the EQ is “ﬂat.”

Adventurous recordists will ﬁnd that it can even be used to add some tube warmth or distorted grind to just about anything — warming up keyboards, crunching up drums, and fuzzing up vocals the way producers and engineers often do in the studio with vintage tube gear. When you do this stuff, you want to use the Drive control like a mix knob on a reverb to control how much processing you want to hear.

Line 6 Twang – Here’s the ﬂip side of the Sparkle formula. Graft the preamp and tone stack from our model based on a ’65 blackface Deluxe Reverb® onto the power amp and transformer based on a ‘58 Bassman®. Whaddya know? It ends up being a great roots and rockabilly amp (like we should be surprised).

* All product names used hereon are trademarks of their respective owners, which are in no way associated or afﬁliated with Line 6. These trademarks of other manufacturers are used solely to identify the products of those manufacturers whose tones and sounds were studied during Line 6’s sound model development. Mesa/Boogie and Rectiﬁer are registered trademarks of Mesa/Boogie, Ltd. Fender, Bassman and Deluxe Reverb are registered trademarks of Fender Musical Instruments Corp.

Model Gallery

Line 6 Variax Acoustic – One of the great features of the Variax Digital Modeling Guitars

from Line 6 are their models of acoustic instruments. These sounds are best appreciated through a full range monitor or P.A., due to their high frequency content. This Amp Model was created in order to allow the Variax’s acoustic models to sound as full-range as possible through the speakers of typical guitar amps. This can come in handy when you’re using an acoustic model from a Variax, and listening to it through a guitar amp’s speakers. Keep in mind that since this model provides a large amount of high frequency boost (to compensate for the natural roll-off of typical guitar speakers) and overdriving a model playing an acoustic guitar is not usually a desired thing, this model will likely appear softer than most of its compatriots. If you need more gain, the Drive knob can be used to add some tube preampliﬁcation.

* All product names used hereon are trademarks of their respective owners, which are in no way associated or afﬁliated with Line 6. These trademarks of other manufacturers are used solely to identify the products of those manufacturers whose tones and sounds were studied during Line 6’s sound model development.