Jake Shimabukuro's Line6 Pod XT Live

I read on Wikipedia (very reliable source, I know) that Jake uses (or at least formerly used) a Line 6 Pod XT Live and Zaolla Cables. I don't know anything about his cables, but I've seen him use one in person, and it is very sexy and expensive-looking...like something you'd see used in a space ship. As for his pedal setup, I have never seen him play with pedals, but I know that in this video, he makes reference to playing with lots of effects in the past, and I think the Line6 could be what he had played.

While I'm definitely never going to spend $400 on a cable, the Pod XT Live has received very positive reviews, and when I saw a good deal on a used unit, I decided to buy it so that I could aspire to play more like Jake (really, who doesn't?) And I justified it because the unit is so versatile. You can use it for recording directly to your computer, download VERY GOOD user-made tones for free (great for lazy people like me who don't want to spend hours tweaking with the settings), and I know for a fact that it sounds awesome with electric guitars and I saved a lot of money, since it nails many tube amp and stompbox sounds for a fraction of the price. For the Clapton tones alone, it was worth the price.

The unit can do acoustic modeling too, which I think sounds pretty good, plugging in my acoustic guitars and my ukes. But unfortunately, Line6's website didn't have any Jake Shimabukuro tones for download (or Dashboard Confessional either, which was disappointing, b/c they are a Line6 Featured Artist.) And I was wondering if anyone has suggestions for how to craft a Jake-like tone on the unit, or if you have even seen him play with a pedalboard.

I work monday nights on the stage crew for www.Woodsongs.com Jake has played there several times. At his most recent performance ( a month ago) he was using only a JDI passive direct box and a Analysis Plus Pro Oval Studio Guitar Instrument Cable with 1/4" Plugs - 20 ft. Piece (ULTIMATE). That was mixed with a on-stage mic (Heil PR30) near the soundhole of his uke. What the audience heard was either: a little of both direct and mic signal; or the direct only in the monitors and the mic to the front system. Also, the only equipment that Jake actually brought and used that was his own was his uke, the cable and a tuner. The Heil and the JDI was just some of the equipment woodsongs provides for artists that we use at every show. Thanks, e.lo...

I've never seen him use a Pod XT Live, but on the Play Loud 'Ukulele DVD he uses a Line 6 FBV controller (like this but older: http://line6.com/footcontrollers/fbvexpressmkii.html). It can be used to switch amp or pod programs. Jake would stomp on it to get distortion or a wah.

E-Lo Roberts said:

I work monday nights on the stage crew for www.Woodsongs.com Jake has played there several times. At his most recent performance ( a month ago) he was using only a JDI passive direct box and a Analysis Plus Pro Oval Studio Guitar Instrument Cable with 1/4" Plugs - 20 ft. Piece (ULTIMATE). That was mixed with a on-stage studio mic near the soundhole of his uke. What the audience heard was a little of both direct and mic signal. Thanks, e.lo...

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I compared the Anayysis Pro cables that Aldrine uses with other cables. NO comparason...Analysis Pros are awesome!

ke leo said:

I compared the Anayysis Pro cables that Aldrine uses with other cables. NO comparason...Analysis Pros are awesome!

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I've tried Aldrine's Analysis Pro cable once through a small PA system. I will admit that it sounded SLIGHTLY better than the Hosa cable. A bit richer and fuller. I'd say at most, maybe a 10-15% sound improvement for about 1000% the price.

Recently, I was talking to someone who plays a LOT of guitar and is an avid guitar and amp collector and asked him about cables. He asked me about my setup. American Dlx Fender Strat > El Cheapo Hosa Cable > (Effects) > El Cheapo Hosa Cable > Roland Cube 30. And he said that to be perfectly honest, I probably would not be able to hear the sound difference with more expensive cables in my setup, since my amp, and not my cables is the limiting factor. So your rig is really only as good as its weakest link. (Besides if you include everything that's part of the music, the weakest link is not even the amp...it's me. XD)

And I'm inclined to believe him. So unless I become a professional musician like Aldrine (which will be never, simply because I do not have the time or skills for) I probably will never need to buy that type of awesome cable.

I can tell you that the Line 6 effects products, at least from the two I own are worth every penny though.

experimentjon said:

I've tried Aldrine's Analysis Pro cable once through a small PA system. I will admit that it sounded SLIGHTLY better than the Hosa cable. A bit richer and fuller. I'd say at most, maybe a 10-15% sound improvement for about 1000% the price.

Recently, I was talking to someone who plays a LOT of guitar and is an avid guitar and amp collector and asked him about cables. He asked me about my setup. American Dlx Fender Strat > El Cheapo Hosa Cable > (Effects) > El Cheapo Hosa Cable > Roland Cube 30. And he said that to be perfectly honest, I probably would not be able to hear the sound difference with more expensive cables in my setup, since my amp, and not my cables is the limiting factor. So your rig is really only as good as its weakest link. (Besides if you include everything that's part of the music, the weakest link is not even the amp...it's me. XD)

And I'm inclined to believe him. So unless I become a professional musician like Aldrine (which will be never, simply because I do not have the time or skills for) I probably will never need to buy that type of awesome cable.

I can tell you that the Line 6 effects products, at least from the two I own are worth every penny though.

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Interesting...thanks Jon!

As far as cables go, if you're gonna play electric with pedals and such; forget about fancy cables. Analysis plus is supposed to get your a clean signal. completely useless if played through an amp with a billion effects.

As for Jake's old set up; yeah he used to lug around a huge pedal board. We played at "On stage" by Kapahulu and he came with a whole board full of fanciness. All I had was my trusty Zoom505 pedal. It had everything I needed.

Last but not least... that Zaolla wire. You know who Jake's Zaolla wire belongs to now right?

Aldrine Guerrero said:

As far as cables go, if you're gonna play electric with pedals and such; forget about fancy cables. Analysis plus is supposed to get your a clean signal. completely useless if played through an amp with a billion effects.

As for Jake's old set up; yeah he used to lug around a huge pedal board. We played at "On stage" by Kapahulu and he came with a whole board full of fanciness. All I had was my trusty Zoom505 pedal. It had everything I needed.

Last but not least... that Zaolla wire. You know who Jake's Zaolla wire belongs to now right?

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Well, when playing uke, I usually don't use any effects other than a touch of reverb from the amp...but even then, I'm pretty sure the amp would be the limiting factor for sound quality, especially since I don't own an acoustic amp yet. In fact, the closest thing I have is the Microcube's full range speaker.

As for that Zaolla cable, since you're not using it, I think you should sell it to me and let me use it to pretend to play like Jake.