I think I'm gonna drop the Pod

I love my Vibro Champ. I bought it used years ago (the amp is a '78 model) and someone had put a Realistic speaker in it. I've replaced that with a Ted Weber Sig Series speaker that is really nice. I've also replaced all tubes with Groove Tubes. Pic below -

The only drag about going back to a real amp is having to write down settings. Other than that it's night and day imo.

It's usually not practical for me to record with a mic. I'm still happy with my Pod X3 for recording. It gives me virtually zero latency monitoring with the built-in sounds. But I record dry and often replace the sounds with other amp VST's (such as Revalver) and other VST effects. I think the sounds can work when mixed in with an overall track. Despite the huge range of options, I tend to stick with either the CC-Line 6 Super Clean or the 1993 Solo 100 Head amp, both with the 1996 Celestion V-30s cab model. I use V30s in the cabs of my live rig, so I think my ear is attuned to that sound. I did try a Pod for live gigs because I was trying to reduce the amount of gear I carried but, for me, it didn't cut-it in that situation. The combination of a sound that cuts through on a loud gig and remains sweet seems to be something I can only get with at valve based rig. Recently I had a quiet rehearsal where I need a big range of sounds. I plugged the Pod X3 into the input of my little Laney VC15 valve amp. It sounded pretty good. The amp/valves must do something to sweeten the sound. Pete

For those who say they have issues getting a POD to sit in the mix vs a real amp. Can you tell me how you are using it... 1. Factory presets and/or w/effects? 2. Do you build an amp from the ground up? 3. What type of style? Karbo

allsorts