My line 6 m13 experience

Thanks for the input. I like to hear good and bad about products. I have to say I love the M13 thus far. I've already played several electric and one acoustic gig with it.

One thing I would disagree with you about. It is as easy as tweaking a pedal on the fly. It works just like a real pedal. I think the screamer sounds as good as my TS-9. Plus I can actually tweak it more because it has bass and treble levels that a real TS-9 doesn't have.

Sorry you didn't care for it. IT works great for my cover band. I'm using all kinds of sounds that I didn't have available with my previous pedal board.

 

It's definitely a compromise relative to the real pedal boards you and I have painstakingly assembled for ourselves over many years at a cost (for me at least) far exceeding the $449 I paid new for my M13.

By definition, compromise means you get some, but not all, of your preferences. In the end, as with any piece of gear, it comes down to simply whether, overall, we feel sufficiently satisfied to stick with the gear. It's fine that, with respect to your M13, you've concluded you can't, absolutely no need to hide behind a couch with this here crowd. I certainly won't be hiding when I post my first (and last!) <1 year-old Les Paul for sale here soon because, similarly to you and your M13, I can't live with that Gibson any longer, either.

 

I disagree. Not all the effects are useful, but I've found a lot of good stuff in there. The Tube OD is great for adding crunch to a clean sound. Most of the modulations are really good. The Dimension chorus particularly is excellent. I use the phase shifter, flanger and tremolo too. The only seriously disappointing modulation effect for me is the Uni-vibe. I'm a big UV fan and they missed by a mile on that one. Delays are good too.

 

On the overdrives, the key, I'm finding, is lowering the overdrive/gain while raising the output/volume. With the former up, most sound "raspy." With the fomer down, much smoother. In defense of Line 6, this is no different from how many real overdrive pedals react to tweaking.

 

I'd be suspicious if ANY pedal or ME had only people that gave it good/great reviews.

That said, you mention "in live shows" but I couldn't get a sense of if you had used it yet with a band or were just theorizing?

I noticed several reviewers (at least 3 or 4) mentioning not being blown away by the OD's but being surprised at how well they sounded either playing live, and/or hearing recordings from their live show.

Personally, when I get mine (any day now it should be here) I plan on...being relistic, I'll be checking out all the pedal models, but after that day is over, I plan on picking the best OD, etc. and get used to them...tweaking, trying with different amps, etc.

I hope I don't experience it as you did about tweaking on the fly, I choose the unit because it sure seems (on paper so far) that they did all they could to have it be VERY much like pedals, with knobs, dedicated to the normal knobs you'd find on the pedals.

Sorry you didn't like yours. I'll see how I do with mine...

 

I have a fairly expensive amp (my most expensive one actually) that you just described to a tee :BEER

 

Love my M13 !

I use it mainly for verbs, mods, and delays in concert w/my micro pog, and microvibe, and soon to be added tubedrver

THis is a very easy board to tweak on the fly live, and it is so cool that I can arrange the sequence of effects in any order and stack whatever I want

I did battle the H20 vs the delay/chorus of the M13 & the H20 won, but I need more sounds than the H20 can deliver, so I chose convenience !

 

Even if it was an attack on the product, if it doesn't work for you, as long as you express (as you have) objective reasons why - not, my ex-wife works for the company or the color of the metal frame bugs me - you're as entitled to your opinions as anyone. Myself, on the longer M13 thread, I've posted both positive and negative feedback on aspects of the device.

It's a tough situation for the builder. When you build one analog pedal, chances are the people who hear it and buy it will generally dig it afterwards. When you're digitally modeling 85 pedals, there's so much more room for folks to be disappointed.

Myself, I'm still learning the device's capabilities. There are definitely some models I don't like but many I do and some I really dig. As far as I'm concerned, for my own uses, it's fine if 9 of the 11 or whatever overdrive/distortion models don't please me as long as the remaining 2 do. Once I'm satisfied, everything else is gravy.

What I'm learning, though, is other equally reasonable folks don't process their experiences this way. I read posts by people who say either or both, "It's loaded with excess models I'll never want or use," and/or, "There's a couple of models I just hate, it turns me off to the whole thing."

This is why there's vanilla and chocolate.

 

I don't have an m13, but, 2 wks with any complex pedalboard is not enough.
Maybe this is your first multi-pedal board. You really have to choose the best aspects of each effect and see if you can work with it. You also may have to integrate an outboard pedal or 2.
OTOH, you may be absolutely right and will never get exactly what you want out of it. But if you don't have a lot of multi-fx experience, (maybe you do), 2 wks is a short assesment time, imo.

 

For my "real" board," I also use an H2O that I love. I've always left it set on a "leslie" type sound for a faux organ sound that I get together with milking the volume knob on my guitar for swells.

I spent some time with the M13's various chorus models. I've found that, tweaked to my standards, the Tri-Chorus model sounds very good and quite similar to my H2O.

 

Yeah, tri-chorus, dimension, and analog chorus do it for me

if I get the right mods in concert w/my microvibe, I get very palatable vibe tones in which I don't feel the need to shell out 300 plus dollars

 

If I read you right...you sound like me. Honest to god, if I have three GREAT OD's even on my pedalboard, whichever one I use, takes me out of the music and I wonder if I ought to have stomped on another instead.

If I only have one (that would normally be a Zendrive) no worries, no choices, no problem.

I know it sounds weird, but I still think I will be able to use the M13, as "I'm going to set my mind right"...

It's just not for you. You tried it, gave it a fair chance, and it isn't for you. I don't think anyone reasonable would think you are just dissing it, I sure don't.

Was curious what you don't like about the OD (besides having a lot of them to choose from) if you think they lack bass, or treble, or mid, or just sound too harsh or smooth...?

 

HEY cool, another H2O chorus fan! I have owned many (and even bought a single one, but it isn't sounding as good as the one in the H2O to my ears, even though it is supposed to be the same) choruses, and to me the H2O beats them all.

When I get my M13 I plan on using at least my favorite wah along with it, will see what else, most likely a offboard real fuzz as well...

 

I can tell you that, for myself, I'm only using one "pure overdrive" right now - the Screamer model. I have the bass maxed, the treble low, the drive very low, the output maxed. The result is smooth and full. Had I not made these adjustments, it would be harsh and thin. (I'm also using the Comp Boost, which includes a drive knob, for slide.)

 

Well, even if it didn't work for you, I'm glad you gave it a try. I don't think anyone ever expects to please all the people, all the time, but that doesn't mean we don't try.

...sorry it wasn't "for you", but thanks for your feedback, and for giving the M13 a fair shake!

Cheers,
D

 

No big deal, not everything works for everyone. FWIW, it took me about 3 weeks to get the drives sorted out to where I felt comfortable playing them at a gig. I found similar results as John with regards to the gain and output settings. I got even better results by rolling the treble back a good bit. I played my first gig with it last weekend (80's cover band) and it worked out quite well for me.

At least you gave it a shot and tried it in a couple of different settings before deciding it wasn't for you. That's far better than the "I've never played it but it's Line 6, so it must suck" reasoning.