I've got a PODxt and love it. It's amazing for recording. If you're going to use it live, you'll need the floor board. I've got the short bord and don't see any need for the full board. When using it live I plug it into my Peavey triple XXX heads effects loop return and my guitar straight into the pod. this bypasses the amps pre-amp, so the head is basically acting as a power amp. You can also plug the POD straight into the PA and get some great results. My suggestion would be to try out all option to find how you like it best. To answere your questions....yes....yes......and yes!