Line 6 has shown a knack for “getting it
right.” From the original Amp Farm and POD
to their popular amp line and the DL4 delay
modeler, the company has had a strong sense
of what actual players might find exciting and
useful. Their latest idea is the M13 Stompbox
Modeler, a unit that combines the DL4 delay,
MM4 modulation, DM4 distortion and FM4
filter modeler into one device, offering all of
the effects in those four pedals, and more.
Packed into a seemingly indestructible controller
are over seventy-five stompbox effects.
Line 6 obviously understands the realities of
gigging: the box is tiered for easy access to
all fifteen switches, while four raised rails protect
the small plastic parameter knobs from
clumsy feet. The I/Os include mono or stereo
inputs, mono or stereo outputs, and a stereoassignable
effects send/return—all 1/4"; MIDI
in/out, and two expression pedal jacks. The
expression pedals can be assigned to virtually
any effect parameter, or to a slew of parameters
at once.
Essentially, the M13 allows you to set up
12 “Scenes.” When you step on the switch
marked Scenes, the twelve scene names are
shown in the four LED windows up top—
three per window. Choosing a scene—by
stepping on one of the three corresponding
footswitches in that row—can instantly
turn on up to four preset effects. Another
eight are at your beck and call through the
remaining eight footswitches. Only four can
be on at a time, but each scene can have
its own separate set of twelve effects, putting
144 preset effects at your disposal.
Unlike most multi-effects, when you tweak
any of these preset effects, the adjustments
are automatically saved—just as if you were
modifying the parameters on a stompbox. If
you prefer, you can set the M13 to return the
effect to a default setting when you switch to
another scene. I found that the stompbox-like
Autosave feature made the M13 extremely
adaptable to differing gig and room acoustic
situations, neatly side-stepping one of the
main complaints about multi-effects.
These effects benefit from the latest generation
of Line 6 R&D for products like POD,
Vetta, and TonePort. How much you like them
will depend on your feelings about modeled
sounds versus the real thing. I found that the
modulations and delays were more on a par
with analog pedals than the distortion and
filter effects, but all were recognizable and
useful. There is no debating the convenience
factor: imagine being able to tap tempo not
just delays, but your modulation effects—
tremolo, phasing, and some filter effects like
the Seeker (a Zvex Seek-wah-type effect), or
being able to instantly recall twelve different
settings of octave fuzz. Tricks like these are
impossible with the “real thing.”
The M13 is nearly worth the money for its
looping abilities alone. The on-board looper
give you twenty-eight seconds to the DL4’s
fourteen, and its dedicated reverse switch
eliminates the tricky double tapping required
on that ubiquitous green pedal. It also features
an Undo switch that allows you to erase
your last overdub. For me, the best part is
being able to switch the looper between preand
post-effects. For example, I recorded a
bunch of filtered, fuzzed, and phased parts
into the looper, then ran the loop through
more filters, delays and reverbs, for a richly
textured ambient pad.
The Loop Controls switch turns seven of the
effect switches into—you guessed it—loop
controls. Once you have recorded your loop,
stepping on that switch again sets those
switches back to engaging effects, while the
loop continues playing. This allowed me to
again access those seven effects and add
them my loop. If you want continuous access
to all effects, you can control the looper functions
with a separate MIDI foot controller (not
included), leaving the looper controls available
to engage effects.