Line 6 releases ingenious 'My First Fisher-Price' style Beginners All-in-1 Multi-FX Box - the POD Express

I was a touch critical about the HX One - possibly overly so - as it’s really decent for what it delivers and how. While I could not be more effusively positive about this new POD Express!

For anyone starting out in guitar effects - you get everything you need in one smart little box - with intuitive and mostly surfaced control (vs Noise Gate).

If I was thinking of buying in my very first guitar effect pedal - then I don’t think I could do better than this. It contains 7 Amp & Cab Simulations, 17 Effects, a Tuner, and a Noise Gate. There’s a Bass version of this also which is specially geared towards that instrument. I will only focus on the Guitar edition though - as usual.

You can tell how cleverly a pedal has been design by how quickly you can figure it out. And I get all the info I need from just a glance. You often get those kinds of rotary controls on actual amps - for Amp Voicings and different Effects - so the format is already very familiar. The use of colour and layout just perfects that aesthetic really.

And the best thing is the price tag of just $179 - putting it totally within everyone’s reach. 

For more advanced users - it cannot quite compete with the the more extended Multi-FX and Modelling Pedals - including within Line 6’s own range. And Boss’s recent ME-90 Multi-FX Processor launch success - shows how so many players still like the tactile immediately surface-visible control knobs. You need the manual for some of the hidden extras - like the noise gate - but 99% of what you need and will use - is right there on the surface - all clearly marked up and extremely logically and well laid out.

You hold down both footswitches to go into Presets mode - where you can then use the left and right ones to cycle through 21 user-definable presets.

This really is a masterclass in product design - and it’s totally been designed to look accessible and instantly satisfying. For me the individual selections of effects really make for the perfect mix of algorithms - I really can’t see any obvious ways for how this pedal could be improved - which is really saying something!

I genuinely believe this will be one of the biggest releases of the year - and that lots will check it out, not just the beginners whom its largely aimed at. While you can use this as a recording and audio interface too - it really does seem to have all the bases covered!

It’s not for me though really alas - I come from a more granular and complicated place where I’m at currently, while this would have been a godsend for me when I was starting out playing guitar as a teenager in the 80’s!

Controls - Distortion / Gain : Boost / Overdrive / Distort / Fuzz, Mod / Mid : Chorus / Flanger / Phaser / Tremolo, Amp / Ch.Vol / Save : Clean / Special / Chime / Dynamic / Crunch / Heavy / Lead, Delay / Bass : Analog / Digital / Tape / Pong / Loooper, ALT Ctrl Button, Reverb / Treble : Spring / Hall / Plate / Space, On Footswitch, Tap Tempo Footswitch / Hold for Tuner, Press both Footswitch to access Presets.

Rear Ports - Guitar In (Mono), Left Out (Mono), Right Out, FS 3/4 CTRL, USB-C, 9V DC [-] 500mA.