Firmware 2.5 is the most worthwhile update the Line 6 POD Go has had in a while — new amps, new cabs, and a boost circuit you can put under your foot. But a firmware update is also the one job on this unit where rushing costs you. Here is exactly how I update mine, in order, and what you actually get once it lands.
Connect the unit to your computer properly
Start by connecting the POD Go — or the POD Go Wireless — to your computer using the provided USB Type B cable, the one that came in the box when you bought the unit. This is not the moment to improvise with whatever cable is nearest. Use the supplied one.
Install the POD Go Edit software first
If you haven't already, you'll need to install the POD Go Edit software. It handles all of the firmware updating, and it also lets you create custom patches directly on your laptop, which is a great deal faster than doing it on the unit itself. Install it before you do anything else — everything from here runs through it.
Let the software walk you through the setup
Once POD Go Edit is installed it walks you through the entire procedure. That includes a couple of steps that are easy to treat as busywork and shouldn't be: backing the POD Go up to your computer, and creating a Line 6 account so your work is saved to a login history.
Tip: Do the backup. It is the whole reason you can shrug if something goes wrong mid-update — with a backup on the computer you can restore the unit perfectly fine. Without one, you're at the mercy of the process.
Select your unit and install the firmware
After you've been through the user agreements and setup processes, you'll get a dialog box listing the Line 6 units currently connected to your PC. Select the Line 6 POD Go from that list and install the latest firmware. Helpfully, it also tells you which version you're upgrading from, which is worth noting before you commit.
If firmware 2.5 doesn't appear
If you can't access firmware 2.5 for whatever reason, the fix is almost always the same: make sure you've updated the Line 6 POD Go software first. Updating the software is what unlocks the new firmware features. People chase this problem in the wrong place all the time.
Confirm the version on the display
Once the firmware update process has completed and the unit has been through its first-time boot, the firmware version appears on the display. It gives you the exact number, so you know for certain the update completed successfully rather than assuming it did.
What firmware 2.5 actually adds
The headline count: six new guitar amplifier models, two new bass amplifier models, eleven new cabinet options plus two new bass cabinets, and two additional effects — along with a boost parameter you can put on a stompbox switch.
The six new guitar amps and their boost circuits
The new amp models are all taken from Line 6's popular Catalyst guitar amplifier line. The clever part is that each one features a unique integrated boost circuit optimised specifically for that amp — this isn't a generic gain stage bolted on to everything. Among the six new original amp models are Clarity, Voltage, Kinetic and Oblivion.
Assign the boost to a footswitch
This is the bit worth learning, because it turns the boost into a performance control rather than a menu setting. Select one of the six new amp models. From the edit screen, press and hold the Boost knob and the POD Go jumps to the Bypass/Control screen. Next press knob 5, which is Learn, then choose the stomp switch you want to assign it to. The POD Go assigns it automatically. From there you can adjust the minimum and maximum values to dial in exactly how much boost you get when you press that footswitch. Exit to home and save it.
The new bass amps and cabinets
Bass players did well out of this update. The two new bass amps are a Fender Bassman, called the US Dripman Normal, and an Orange AD200 Mk I, called the Mandarin Bass 200. Alongside them are two new bass cabinets: the 2x15 Dripman, again based on a Fender Bassman, and the 6x10 Cali Power, based on a Mesa Boogie style Covenant unit.
According to the firmware update notes, some of these bass heads work quite well in combination with a regular guitar. That's an interesting creative possibility rather than a headline feature, but it's free to try.
The new effects, and my honest view
The two new effects aren't really aimed at guitarists: there's a regular Bass DI and a Teardrop Bass Wah, based on a Dunlop wah. For bass players that's useful. For everyone else it's a little disappointing — some new delays would have been more exciting.
The new bass EQ does give you considerably more detail and control over the bass boost and treble boost signals. And the new wah automatically assigns itself to Expression Pedal 1 by default whenever you activate it within your signal chain, which makes it about as easy to set up as these things get.