Those who’ve been around “long enough” will have fond memories of the day in 1998 when they saw, and then heard the very first Line 6 Pod. It was the first mass-produced device to deliver, in a rather small package and rather faithfully, the tones of a myriad of different guitar amps – aka: the first amp modeler. Nobody knows why it took Line 6 this long to put the POD in a stompbox, but that day has come: enter the Line 6 Pod Express.
Needless to say, a lot has improved since 1998 in the guitar modeler field, and Line 6 has been at the forefront of innovation in this field with their HX line of devices, all featuring amp and cab emulations. In the POD Express, you can find 7 amp models, 7 cab simulations, and 17 effects inherited from that series. All of it is accessible via 5 knobs and their alternate function and exactly zero LED screens, a departure from previous PODs.
The amp+cab models are Chime, Dynamic, Crunch, Heavy, Lead, Clean, and Special, while there are four types of effects for each of the four effect categories: Distortion, Modulation, Delay, and Reverb (in that order).
Two important details: all the outputs are in stereo and yes, it has a preset system allowing the storage of up to 21 of them.
Quite uniquely, compared to other similar devices, this POD keeps the tradition of its ancestors of being able to function with batteries, which lets you jam anywhere (by the way, the power cable is not included). The lightweight design makes it easy to toss in your bag, while the built-in headphone output is perfect for silent practice sessions.
For its price tag, the connectivity is also noteworthy, with USB-C for recording, re-amping, and using your favorite recording software, and expression pedal input for volume swells and other effects. Tap Tempo and Tuner functionality nicely round up the features.
In September 2024 Line 6 announced a brand new, free software editor (named Editor Express) that allows in-depth tweaking the effects of the POD Express’s parameters.
Check out the videos of it! We added the Line 6 Pod Express to our article about the best amp and cab emulators.
