LOL. I’m not sure who wins the “Person speaking English while still being maximally German” award - Gregor, or Julia (from Thomann).
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I think Gregor beats Julia for that one. But only just 
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my dear gear nerds friends, here is the last addition to my little Line 6 museum.
a POD X3 , complete in box (CiB) (1) :
and the FBV Express pedalboard , also CiB :
The X3 is the last POD before the HD series, and after the XT series. It’s the first POD where guitar and bass has not been separated in two distinct products range. The X3 is basically a POD XT and a Badd POD XT in the same box, with much more power and models.
The X3 has :
- 78 guitar amps models
- 24 guitar cabs models
- 28 bass amps models
- 22 bass cabs models
- 98 effects (pedals & studio effects) models
and it’s powerful enough to drive two signal chains at the same time, which means that you can play a guitar and a bass thru it at the same time (there are two separate outputs as well). or, you can play one instrument with two signal chains at the same time, which means playing with two amps. and you can mix guitar and bass amps and guitar and bass cabs. you can do EVERYTHING.
it’s very interesting for a bass if you want some saturation. you can play for example a saturated guitar amp for the high frequencies, and a clean bass amp for the low frequencies. I tried yesterday with a Marshall JCM800 and an Ampeg SVT-VR, it sounded very good and was very easy to set up. you have all the EQing needed to manage your crossover, you can throw the JCM800 to an Ampeg 8x10 cab if you want … there is no limit really.
The X3 is also a USB 2 DAI with a very good 24-bit DAC.
For a bass player who doesn’t want to be limited about its signal chains, this POD X3 is really a must have. It’s way more efficient for bass than the POD HD in my opinion. Also it has infinitely more possibilies than the Bass POD (1st gen ; the one I always use), and also it sounds way better than the Bass POD XT.
Highly, highly recommended.
(There is a 3U rack (POD X3 Pro) and a pedalboard (POD X3 Live) version as well, but I think that the bean/desktop version is the best choice for home studio)
(1) : as my obsession for PODs is turning into some kind of collection, from now I try to find gear with the original boxes. it just looks better
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yeah @PamPurrs it’s not the same POD at all. the POD 2.0 is specific to guitar, there is no bass amp model at all. (I have a POD 2.0 on the road too but I don’t plan to use it with bass)
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Oh, so you think I made a mistake???
not if you wanted a POD 2.0 
but for a bass, it’s far from being the best choice, indeed. even for a guitar, to be honest, the 2.0 is far from being the best choice.
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UGH… maybe they’ll reject my offer…
What bean shaped POD are you recommending for bass?
if you want something with huge possibilities, definitly the POD X3.
if you want something more simple, that behaves more like an analog preamp, the Bass POD (which is the bass version of the 2.0). beware : the Bass POD has no USB connectivity, it needs an external DAI. also beware not to confuse the Bass POD with the Bass POD XT, which is not so interesting in my opinion.
the X3 works for guitar and bass, whereas the Bass POD is specific to bass, and the POD 2.0 is specific to guitar.
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Is this a good price for a used one?
X3s are a bit expensive. I paid mine 100€ which is a great price. I think you should find a slighly better price than the one you show, maybe something around $150 ?
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How about this? You say it doesn’t have USB. How important is that?
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that’s the first gen Bass POD, that’s the one I always use for my covers (I use the Pro version which is rack-mounted instead of being bean-shaped, but the models are the same). I love this one, way more simple to use than a X3 but with way less possibilities. it’s another approach really. but I definitly love this Bass POD.
there is no USB at all on this one, indeed. it’s a 20-year old preamp, it needs to be plugged into a DAI like an analog preamp. should not be a problem as you already have your Zoom DAI.
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Without a USB, how does one download presets and effects etc? Or is that just not a possibility?
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you don’t do that at all with a Bass POD you select an amp model, you set the pots and that’s it. you can save and recall your settings but that’s all. oh and you have a tuner. which is excellent.
this was the first modeling gear generation ever ! those things are very old school.
and if it doesn’t have USB is just because at the time USB was not a standard ! it has MIDI instead
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also if I had to compare my two favorites bean PODs for Bass , the Bass POD and the POD X3, I’d say that the X3 sounds and behave more like the actual amp that are modeled. the Bass POD has really its own sound.
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Doesn’t the HD500 have only 3 or so bass models? It seems like they abandoned bass on the later products.
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yeah @DaveT , there were bass-specific PODs at first with the POD / POD 2.0 and POD XT range, then they made the X3 with both guitar and bass models. then the HD is guitar-specific really with a few bass amps but nothing very useable with a bass in my opinion (I own a HD 500, and I have a HD bean on the road).
so, Line 6 did not realease any bass-specific POD since the Bass POD XT.
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Same is true of the Helix really, at least in that they are not bass-specific. There’s still several bass amps included though.
You can download Helix Native and get the full Helix kit, and try it out in the DAW for free. I’m going to grab it, might actually buy it.
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