Line6 M13 Review

[sty]

out of interest can you work something like the four wire solution with the M13 to get it both in front of the amp AND in the effects loop?

or do you just have to choose one or the other (rather than buying two M9s )

[Bg]

with the M13, yes, and you get an fx loop built into that too, so in theory you can put outboard pedals anywhere within the chain within the m13 and also send any combination to an amp with 4 cables.... the M9 isn't as flexible

[sty]

with the M13, yes, and you get an fx loop built into that too, so in theory you can put outboard pedals anywhere within the chain within the m13 and also send any combination to an amp with 4 cables.... the M9 isn't as flexible

oooh, sounds good.

so just to confirm I can put a single M13 both in front of my amp and in the FX loop

(just rewording my original question in case you misinterpretted it)

I'm thinking of maybe buying one of these to experiment with effects, especially time delay and modulation ones.

[Bg]

yep pretty certain IIRC, download the manual from the Line6 site to confirm

[RUDENBARK]

Regarding expression pedals, someone mentioned Jansen have really cheap $30 expression pedals which may or may not work with the M9, can someone confirm this?

That was me. I rang Simon and asked for a budget exp. pedal, telling him I was from NZguitars. The pedal was fine, Proel brand, plastic, but really no worse than the L6 one. Amazing value for around $30.

ooOOOOoooooo! Sweet!
Came in on this thread just in time!

...........um, 'scuse my ignorance..........which one's Simon?

[Zaulkin]

I didn't mind the overdrive/distortions myself, found them pretty useable, just need to dial them in for your rig I guess. The Rat clone was pretty cool. You just have to ignore the knob labels and tweak everything to fine tune....

I used to have an M9 - loved the tone of the 'tube drive' patch, but not a lot else. Overall the effects covered a huge variety of stuff, and it was awesome being able to have wahs/whammys/control everything with the expression pedal etc.. however I found some of them to be a little cold and digital sounding which is why I moved mine on.

[slash-ed]

Dredge time!!

Finally got mine yesterday. Took it home on appro just to make 100% sure it plays nice with my rig.

Unfortunately it hasn't had the firmware upgrade so I'm trying to get the RS guys to help me do that before I sign my life away, since I don't own a MIDI interface and don't particularly want to have to buy one just now.

Was pretty easy to set up and get going. Put it into 4-cable mode easy as pie. Noticed a very slight change in tone, but it's minor and nowhere near as bad as when I tried to hook up my GT6 and Carvin V3 that way.

Sounds are great in general, drives are passable but nowhere near as good as my AC+. Hoping that the firmware update will introduce more usable/good sounding drives, since this will be replacing my whole pedalboard. And I can't wait to get stuck into the wahs, whammys, harmonizers of the new firmware...

By the by, did anyone end up purchasing a cheap 10k pot expression pedal that went well with this? I'm not too keen on paying $189 on the flimsy L6 one.

[twistedthoughts]

By the by, did anyone end up purchasing a cheap 10k pot expression pedal that went well with this? I'm not too keen on paying $189 on the flimsy L6 one.

I went for the $199 big, tough, ugly, metal Boss FV500L which has a 25k pot. I don't recommend it. The tracking can be inaccurate at times and it drops off of the radar completely every now and then at which point the effects default to the toe-down position. So if your in the middle of the Killing In The Name solo, it will stop tracking and just play everything +2oct up. Other times, you can be using it for that solo and the heel down position won't quite return back to the original tone, then it all just sounds wrong.

Line 6 support seem to just say "Up yours, dude, should have got the Line 6 P.O.S plastic thingee with the correct 10k ohm pot".

For ~$200 delivered, there's a place in the states that makes M13 expression pedals in a Dunlop wah type enclosure. It's specifically designed for the M13 so comes with the 10k ohm pot.

Edit: Link - look for the EP1-L6 for US$105 + postage. That would be way less than $200 delivered!!!

Moral of the story - don't get anything other than a 10k ohm pot unless you don't need accurate tracking for your expression pedal.

For the record, the Boss one very rarely drops off completely and is absolutely fine for controlling delay lengths and stuff like that. Just not so good when you need something to start / finish at a precise point each time.

[spasm6]

Awesome review BG!

I hate the undecisive GAS stage. If only they put an effects loop in the M9, seriously..

[Bg]

I'd go with the dulop wah type. I didn't, I made one in an old crybaby case, worked a treat

[slash-ed]

Cool, so is the 10k pot readily available/easily swappable? And does it require any other rewiring or do you basically just plug the output into the M13?

And do you wanna sell me yours then since you no longer own an M13?

Crybaby carcass to donate anyone?

[Kloppsta]

i used 25k VP JR's to control my M9's with perfect results. perfectly accurate imho.
having a 10k pot would just create a slightly different sweep....but i guess it would be more "wah" like in its sweep with a 10k/Cry baby enclosure. i was used to using VP JR's so it was fine for me.

[spasm6]

Klopp how come you chose two M9's over an M13?

[slash-ed]

i used 25k VP JR's to control my M9's with perfect results. perfectly accurate imho.
having a 10k pot would just create a slightly different sweep....but i guess it would be more "wah" like in its sweep with a 10k/Cry baby enclosure. i was used to using VP JR's so it was fine for me.

Okay cool, good to know. Perhaps the M13 just doesn't like the Boss ones.

I wonder if this will work well:

http://rockshop.co.nz/04/shop/product-f ... 9005080600

Noob question: Will any volume pedal work? Or does it need to be an "expression" pedal? Just to be sure.

[Kloppsta]

Klopp how come you chose two M9's over an M13?

i had one m9 infront of the amp and one in the loop. i didnt want to use the 4CM with the m13 because of reports of volume drops with some fx on other forums. so for ease of use and extra functionality i went with 2 m9's