How to Connect the POD Go to an Amp (4 Cable Method) 

***Get my FREE Metal Riffs & Licks Practice Guide: jasonstallworth.com/guitarist ***Beginner's Metal Guitar Course: metalmastermind.com/metal-guitar-apprentice/ ***Intermediate Metal Riff Master Course: metalmastermind.com/metal-riff-master/

Great Vid! I will add one thing - Dual Recs with parallel FX loops lose a lot of everything. I fixed this by messing with the level of the Send/Return signals IN THE POD GO. Hope this helps anyone who had my issue.

If you're not going to use the amp modeling on the POD Go, switch it to the Del Sol 300 Preamp model before turning it off. That will free up more DSP for the effects.

Here’s a tip I discovered: if you go to the input block all the way to the left of the chain, there’s a built in noise gate so that you don’t have to waste an effect slot

Your timing on releasing this video is perfect. I've been using my PodGo plugged into the front of the amp (which works) but the four cable method running through the FX loop is a more versatile way. Thank you Jason for the time you spent making this tutorial. Much appreciated..

Thanks Jason, more simple vids on the podgo are needed like this one because most stuff goes a little over my head. You teach, not just play....

Thanks Jason. This video is very helpful for those who just starting out with the Pod Go (or any other Multi F/X unit). So many times people who demo these products are so much in a hurry to get to the product's features, that most of the time they forget to inform us of some of the things that can make owning a product like this satisfying. Thank you again for this video. Note, Id know that you play a lot metal, but, sometimes its important to demo some clean sounds to make your demo complete.

I did the same with my Headrush MX5 and Mesa Mark V. Worked out great, powerful and elegant. The MarkV didn't need much to begin with, a little bit of comp, delay, chorus for that epic lead tone. What an awesome time to be tinkering with the gear, balancing classic and modern tech.

This is the best explanation/video of this method I have seen! Great tones and playing! Thank you!

you know, ihave tried this previously, but wanted to give it another bash. Wow totally worth it now, thanks to your fantastic video. You have opened a new sound world for me. you got a new subscriber now! Thanks and have a fantastic 2023! All the very best!

Thanks so much for the article you wrote around this- so well explained. Really helped me and saved me tons of confusion and potentially saved me money too - thanks!

100% Brilliant Mate!!! I used this method to connect my old Line 6 Bass Pod Pro and it worked perfectly!!! Cheers to you!

Thanks for putting this info together, I picked up a Pod Go recently and this really helps make sense of it all.

Just got a used pod go to try out. Great video, thank you ,it was a great help in setting up the basics with my amp .

Hey Jason, as always I find your videos to be so helpful! I've been connecting my pod go into the back of my Boss Katana MK II because it doesn't have an fx loop but it does allow me to use it as a power amp Thank you so so much for explaining that I meed to turn off the amp and cab simulation!!

Thanks Jason very informative video hands-down the best sound I get from my pod go with my fender hot rod Deville 212 I can get the sound a lot warmer and clearer and not so bitey the effects sound so much better also I can’t wait to try this on my other amps especially my boss katana artist I love that the control panel is left live on the amp I really like the method where you go from the amp out on the pod go instead of the Main out to the fx return on the amp for a more consistent signal to the amp as your viewer suggested in the comments also the comment about loading the Del sol 300 amp even though it’s turned off to save DSP was very very helpful I would have never figured this stuff out on my own thanks again !!!!

Thank you sir For this setup Just switched to tubes Got me a Mesa Boogie Mini I also have that Line 6 go All this is new to me. Really glad you did this tutorial Thank you very much Sir

Thank you Thank you so much. Easy to follow great results.

the best tutorial by far. Thank you so much from france

Love what you do and thank you for the help through your videos

Thank you my friend . I was looking for longtime how to do it . You're the besr

great info. nice tutorial and demo. i will bookmark this.

Man you play amazing, thank you for your priceless info!!

Thank you so much. Can be tricky for sure. You're awesome 🤘🏻

Very Clear and helpful. Thanks from a new user. What are your thoughts on sending the pod go at line level into the effects return of the amp?

I have the 80 watt evh iconic with iconic half stack. I love the distortion. But I wanna add effects in loop before and after like you did. I bought a line 6 firehawk fx. I just don't wanna lose that distortion. Going to try it this way without any extra fuzz on guitar side just wah . Hopefully no problems. On another note I had a rp1000 digitech and did 4 way as per instructions and screwed up preamp. Had to amp head back. I hope this works without killing that awesome distortion of evh head... I really hope this works. You have been most informative thank you.

Thanks for this. I just got mine and 4 cable is the way to go.

Thank you man this helped me so much.

Thank you for your tutorial!!

Hi Jason, Love your work mate. I recently brought an EVH 5150 6L6. I was wondering if it is possible to add extra pedals as well using your amp tone in this 4 cable mix and also if it is possible to run the pod go through the effects loop as you would normal pedals and still run an Overdrive/Noise Gate/Guitar etc straight into the input on the front of the amp so all to not loose tone and also let you have the option of more effects?

Hi Jason, thanks so much for this video and your blog. Quick question regarding just using the Pod Go for modulation/delay effects into my 5150 effects loop (2 cable method). I see that you need to turn the effects loop on in the Pod Go, does it matter where you put the effects you want to use? Should they be after the loop on the screen? Thanks again for your detailed videos. They really help this old school guy out! 🙂

maaan this video is perfect, thank you a lot!!!

Hey Jason, great vid! Question, did you use speaker cables from the pod to amp?

Thank you Jason for this very easy to follow video for us players who are new to multi effects processors. I plan to use my Pod Go with my Marshall DSL 40CR with 4 cable method. My question is can you disable the POD Go amp and cabinet and turn on the FX Loos from the Pod Go unit itself without having to connect to a computer? Second, what channel should the Marshall be on, I assume the clean channel? Thanks again for this great video and all the information.

Thanks ...U Explain it the best out of every one else

I'm pretty sure you can also do all of this on the pedal itself (I.e disable the pods amp + cab and enable your amp) I've just got the pod go and managed to figure it out myself.

Jason… Ibanez huh… I really dig the licks man.. nice POD Go. I got one and I sleigh guitar with it but to be forward… I’m new to setting up my studio equipment.. only been doing it about 16 months and I’m using multiple pedals like mooer GE150 with Spark and a Delay and a Boss wl50 wireless guitar adapter you plug. I’m new tk trying to compose videos and the studio stuff but looking forward to you seeing a couple of my videos. They need lots of work but I feel confident about playing something people can like. Haha thanks again

Just got a stealth well it’s on its way …I’m gonna try run like this …also gonna do the same with headrush see which I like better great vid man nice playing too dood 👍🏽🤘🏾

Hi Jason. Very good and helpful video, thanks. :) How would you say the "responsiveness" of the Pod is, compared to an amp and three-four pedals? Years ago, I tried different multi-boards, and they actually sounded just fine. But it was like there was a certain "lag" between my fingers and the sound from the speakers. For instance, it was much harder to get the guitar to go into feedback (the good kind) than with an amp-pedal setup. But that was perhaps4-5 years ago. Would you say the multiboards are past that now?

Congratulations on the Video. I would like to know how do I go from the clean channel to the distorted one? Is there a way to control this change by pod go? or by the footswich of the amplifier.

thank you this helped so much

Hi Jason - thank you for the video! I'm wanting to use my orange tiny terror amp in the fx loop of the pod go. I looked at using the 4 cable method but there's no send or return on the amp. Is it still doable or not? Thanks! 🙂

I'm the like number 971 🤘🤘🤘 thanks for the video man!!!

Great video Jason! I love my Podgo but yeh as you pointed out, it sort of takes something away from the natural tone of the amp, that's why I mainly use it for quick recordings at home and also for small gigs where I can just go straight in to the PA with no need to bring my heavy amp! I tried using the 4 cable method and wasn't satisfied with the sound I got, maybe I did it wrong... will def try again after watching your video! I noticed the first cable you plugged in to your real amps send was a balanced TRS cable, was there any reason for this? I've also started using the MAIN OUTPUTS and the AMP OUT simultaneously (like in the first diagram of the quick start manual) sending a cab emulated signal direct to the PA and and non cab emulated signal to the front of my real amp... of course making sure that in Global Settings the Amp Out Source is set to Pre Cab/IR (if it's set to Main Out, the real amp sounds shit!) The only sort of bad thing I find doing this is that the volume of the signal sent to the front of the amp is really really loud, do you know if there's a way to reduce the signal output of the AMP OUT on the Podgo!? Many thanks again, really enjoyed your video and playing! :)

Excellent Jason!!! 💪😉

When you are playing the first time (heavy one) are you using the disortion also on your amp..or using the clean channel ?

Love this guy.

You and I are worlds apart on "Genre", as I play on a worship team at church! ----haha....BUT your explanations on your Videos are always appreciated, because it's not like you're going to a FIRE! I saw another Video on this topic, connecting to an Amp, with 3 "options", and it was less than three and a half minutes, SO keep up HOW you do these Vids. My Question though is this-----we're doing a special event where I'll be playing AG, and won't run it through the house system, just my Crate Acoustic Amp. I also have an Acoustic patch on my Pod GO. SO, after I turn OFF the Amp and Cab in the Edit, why can't I just run a cable from the Amp OUT on the PG, and plug the other end into the Amp's input? My Amp has two inputs, one being a "clean input" with just a Gain Knob, no FX in the amp. Thanks to anyone with an answer!

Golden....thanks for the step by step tutorial.....!

Hey Jason, you can change the Amp Channel with the pod go and keep the pedal assignments for each channel?

Thanks - helpful!

So, if I want to use my Boss RC20r looper pedal, should I plug it in between my guitar and the Guitar In jack? Normally I plug my looper into the effects loop.

If you have some independent pedals you want to use, how/where would you connect them?? Thanks. Newbie bassist here so this is very helpful.

Thanks a lot and greetings from germany

Amigo, por favor tu otientación. Yo he conectado la podgo correctamente con el método de 4 cables. Pero en la PodGo, pedales como el Delay o Chorus, no suenan si ellos están a la derecha del SEND/RETURN. Solamente suenan si están a la Izquierda del Send/Return y suenan horrible porque satura todo el sonido. ¿Qué puedo estar haciendo mal?. ¿Debería cambiar algún parámetro en la PodGo? Gracias por tu tiempo.

Hey Jason , can I ask are you able to switch between your amps dirty and clean channels whilst hooked up this way ? I have an orange super crush hooked up 4CM and I don’t seem to be able to get my amps dirty channel or any of the controls on my amp

Great video

I made the same mistake lol and it was f’n loud lol so thank you for your lesson/tips!

quick question, what cables should be mono and what cables should be stereo for this method? thanks

thanks Jason - just go my Pod Go and was wondering how to connect using the FX loop to my amp (Hot Rod Deluxe type). I see you're using stereo connectors - that's probably your amp offers stereo send/returns, right? For my amp this would be mono jacks. I saw you using a cable with silent plug to connect to your guitar - but in a reverse way. Normally you would plug the side with the silent plug to the instrument...I'd always be a bit cautious to do that the other way, in order not to short circuit the inputs on the amp facing side, in particular for vintage type of amps when they are switched on. What do you or others think about it? But good man, thanks again for your tutorial.

Hi.. Jason, you ever used 5150 amp model on Pod Go? Sounds great and close to the real amp? 🙏

Thanx alot Jason. But i have no sound after the Fxloop chain. I have a Bugera 333, i made everything as you showed, i mean cables ecc. The sound improved as hell, i mean distortion added to Bugera's gain. But the modulation is off. Any suggestions mate?

Can you please do a video on how to use the POD Go as just an effects stomp box. Where you can use the distortion from your main amp. That would be awesome!

I have a JCM 800 SC combo.Can’t get enough gain for solo’s so thinking about getting a Blackstar Dept 10 distortion in front and using pod go for delays,modulation,reverb and noise gate ,also the wah pedal,plus I have an E Lady for flange.We’ll see….BTW great video and playing.I’m a fan now !

I Have an external tubescreamer that I want to use with this method. How do I plug it in with the pod go?

I wanna use this with my 6505+ but my question is how could I make it so it switches the Chanel too so I want like simple noise gate on dirty then switch to cleans with a chorus and delay is that possible?

Have you tried using some of the Pod Go amps (cabs off) through the power section of the EVH 50 and 2x12 cab?

Question?... I just aquired an evh 5150 III 6L6 2x12 combo. I have followed the 4 cable method here and it does work but when I crank the amp its super noisy still. I'm currently using the pod go with just a noise supressor and od for boost in the chain. Any tips on getting it to be virtually silent with the pod go at loud volume?

You can also use the 4 cable method and the Pod's pre-amp modeling. You can bypass your amp's pre-amp. This will then use your amp's power amp to push the modeled t ones tone out through the cab.

Dude! Great tutorial! Steve Vai actually uses his Axe Fx ONLY for Effects just like this. Lets the amp show its stuff. I might need a POD Go

its nice to play the amp at home with the pod connected, no use hauling the amp to live shows or it bypasses your purchase on buying the podgo..love the tones .. if i was you i would be looking out to get some very good amp ir's

Soooooo..... total newb here with fancy effects. I set my chain up like yours. As well as the 4 canle method. I have clean setting on my amp. But when I turn on the scream 808 pedal it's not the thick juicy metal tone I want. Am I suppose to have my amp on overdrive?

Great video! I noticed the Plate Reverb....I heard that Plate Reverb was part of the EVH secret sauce....

I just started using my Pod Go with an amp. The only difference is that I use the AMP Out instead of the Main Out on the Pod Go. This way, the signal is not affected by the Pod Go's volume knob. The only thing to keep in mind is that it also bypasses the Pod Go's Global EQ. I guess some people would prefer to be able to control their volume this way but I'd rather know I have a consistent signal level being sent to the amp at all times.

Im not sure if you mentioned it but Im guessing you have the cabinet's dials flat and clean? Any tweaks we should do that you can advise?

can it be plugged into Fender Deluxe Reverb (which doesnt have an effects loop)?

Should the treble bass and all effects on the head be turned off ? Plus what about the EQ on the guitar itself ?

You should also be able to assign whatever effects you want to 4 effects blocks and move them before your amp or after.

Do you need to have the loop on all the time? I have a Marshall dsl

Can u please share global settings value when connecting with 4 cable method and when connecting to powered stereo speakers ?❤

Hi Jason, New to Pod Go, What is the name of the edit software your using? Got a link? Thanks!

If i want slave my main sound i could attach a cable to the second main out of the POD GO and connect it to a return of a second poweramp am i right? I want to go double fullstack live :P

hi. why i'm loosing sound on when using pod go to my DAW. please advise it's so frustrating thanks!

Thanks for examplaining all this 🙂 I have one question though. Where is the technical difference between this 4 (3) cable method and simply going via amp out? I mean, if one turns off the amp and cab on the Pod and then goes via the amp out into the front of the Amp, where would be the difference? Serious question btw, im not doubting the sense or something. I just want to learn ^^ Oh also, what cables did you use for this? instrument or patch cables.

What PC speakers do you use for your guitar playing?

is the pod go able to switch channels on the amp ./. to replace the amps foot switch?

Hey I hooked up mine exactly like you said and I have very low volume and can’t seem to turn it up at all. Amp is Peavey 6505+

If you guys haven't heard about how to jail break patches you are missing out. You can remove any blocks except for the amp and cab. It still has a dsp limit but you can get away with quite a decent amount at one time. Line 6 has no plans to stop this from being possible so I doubt it is handful to the unit. I have had ZERO problems and it makes it way more versatile. You can jailbreak 1 patch at a time and keep the other patches "stock"

Two things I noticed that I would like some clarification. 1 - Do you have to use a TRS (Stereo) cable between the amp Send and the Pod Return? 2 - In the Global settings, do you have the Main Out set to Line or Instrument?

🤘🏻 My Peavey amp does something similar with usb to my laptop how I change the settings without having to bend up and down and repeat . I’m a simple guy tho ,don’t use a lot of FX when I do tho is just delay chorus reverb the others aren’t for me never found a need to reverse my sound modulate or slice or synth you know 🤷🏻‍♂️

The problem I had with the Pod Go is that you only have room for two post amp effects aside from the EQ. So having a Chorus, Reverb and Delay available was not an option. Good video Jason \m/

Whoa easy there buddy. I gotta learn how to play this thing first. 😝

Do you have any high pitched digital noise with your pod go underneath the normal speaker hum the the pod go emits constantly on high gain? If you Listen without playing is it there? Mine does Suttle but there, you can hear it with the amp at low volumes on my unit in the background and of course even more when turned up when not playing. In recording its underneath the guitar track lightly. It can be gated out but still present in the guitar track after the fact. Using a Furman power conditioner, everything plugged into the same outlet. High quality cables and away from the computer. Still there even with the computer turned off too. It's digital noise generated exclusively from the pod go. Seperate analog or digital pedals do not do this.

Does the pod go come with the 4 cables required to connect to amp ?

How would you connect the Pod Go to a vintage Fender that doesn't have an fx loop?

Can this method work with the Line 6 Helix?

This is very awesome for 4 cables. Can we use this method but still switch between real amp and Line 6 amp?

I have a digitech drop, where should I put it in chain?

I’m a “basement player” I’m not in a band. I love playing guitar by myself it’s a hobby. My instructor had me using a line 6 amp with pre sets at his store. I love the fact that I can play covers with pre sets to most of the songs I play. Rage, Foo fighters, Green Day, Metallica, zztop, ect. I have 5150 iconic combo amp already. I want to use the line 6 pod go with it can I do that with the amp I already have?

Do you use it for IRs with your acoustic guitar?