POD hiss on clean settings (a possible workaround)

[Bill Leff]

Some of us find that on low gain, clean settings, POD makes an annoying hiss. If you are one of those that are experiencing this problem, please read on for a possible workaround.

I was able to eliminate a substantial amount of hiss by putting a Boss GE-7 EQ pedal between my guitar and POD, and boosting the gain on the GE-7 (while leaving the EQ sliders in the "flat" position). I verified this by listening to POD with the pedal in the off position and turning up a clean setting to the 3 o'clock position on POD's output knob, and playing a few notes and observing the hiss level. I then engaged the EQ pedal's boost and turned down POD's output level to the point that the sound level sounded about the same as when the EQ was not engaged.

I am happy to report that there is a lot less audible hiss when boosting the guitar's signal with the EQ pedal and turning down POD's volume to achieve the same relative sound level!

Equipment used:

POD 2.0
BOSS GE-7 EQ pedal powered by 9 volt alkaline battery
Melobar lap steel with Kent Armstrong humbucking pickup
George L cables
AKG 240M headphones

I don't recall the POD settings, but this should work on any of the Fender models, Roland Jazz Chorus model, etc I would think.

Apologies for the vagaries in the test case, but I didn't have much time to check this out. However, from what I've heard so far, there's a good chance this will help eliminate a lot of the hiss in this situation.

Check it out, and let us know what you think.

Bill