Line 6 M13 Stompbox Modeler Reviews

4.8/5.0 based on 14 customer reviews

Sweetwater Advice

Scott Augustyniak

The line 6 M13 is the ultimate solution for guitar players. If you are anything like me, you like to use a lot of effects and stompboxes to add some colors to your tone. Since I purchased the M13, my stompboxes are currently collecting dust in their original boxes. This stompbox modeler from Line 6 has improved my playing significantly. I like to use the 28-second looper and practice scales/modes behind a rhythm track. The delays are fabulous sounding and the filter effects always bring a smile to my face. I have used it at home and for live shows and have had nothing but amazing results. The effects are color coded, which makes navigating much easier when flipping through the different scenes. The different I/O options are great for guitar players that use an FX loop. The metal chassis and switches make this unit very durable, which would be a benefit to a band that is always on the road. Overall, I would recommend this to any serious guitarist who wants a lot of effects.

Ryan Sloan

The M13 is an all-star collection of effects pulled from Line 6's hugely successful stompbox line. Every guitarist wants a huge arsenal of effects at their disposal in a well-laid-out and easy-to-use form factor, but they also want those effects to sound amazing. The M13 delivers in every way. It has an intuitive interface, it's well built, and features all the same models you'll find in the DL4, MM4, DM4, FM4, and includes the same reverbs found in the Verbzilla. In my opinion, the M13 is a stunning value. Every guitar player should own one!

Nick Schenkel

Don't be fooled into thinking that this is just for guitar players. The M13 has such a wide array of high-quality classic effects available that I find myself using it with my keyboard rig as much as with my guitars. The delays, filters, modulation, and reverbs are infintely useful in both worlds. Line 6 has really delivered a great multi-effects floor unit with the M13 (and its little brother, the M9)!

Carson McClain

There are a lot of guitar players that don't want amp modeling because they already have an amp they love. This box is just FX, nothing more. If you are a live performer that needs consolidation or a hobbyist looking for every effect you could imagine, then this is the pedal you need. It even has looping capabilities.

Sort By Date Sort By Rating

Customer Reviews

from
August 6, 2012

Line 6 M13 - Price point and sound quality can't be beat.

I've owned a LOT of multi-effects units in my day and the M13 is best I've ever owned. You could spend the same amount on one boutique pedal and not get near the value. The sound modeling is dead on. To boot, it has an excellent looper. Also, the ability to set up "scenes" enables you to set up pedal boards to specific styles of music or a guitar player you like. I also recommend getting an expression pedal with it. The only downside of this unit is the displays can sometimes be hard to read.

Jim Slick
from White Haven, PA
May 31, 2011Music Background:
Pro Musician / Studio Owner

You won't get much better overall

I run several live rigs (an A, B, and C) as well as two studio rigs and have switched to these things from a host of various pedals and stomp boxes. One of the nicest things about these are how quite they are. They don't color the sound like most stomp boxes do. My theory is if your amp can't deliver the tone you want without pedals, get a new amp. Once you get the amp you like, then one of these gadgets is the perfect compliment. Pure tube tone with just the right amount of effect, as needed. Another very nice feature is you can 'split' the unit and run one, two, or three (in my case the first two) arrays pre amp input, then the other two run via the serial effects loop. Verbs and delay's should be in the loop and modulation, compression, etc need to be up front. You can do this perfectly in one box with four cables. Do yourself a favor ... get one today. And for those of you considering other very expensive rack units, don't waste your time. These are far quieter and more transparent…I know, I own both. 5/5 stars for sure...don't gig without one.

Jeff Morris
from Wyoming
April 24, 2011Music Background:
Gigging hobbyist

Everything makes sense.

When you look at what you get here and compare it to the price (and trouble) of a populated pedal-board, the M13 is an easy decision. As with any multi-effect, about a third of the patches will be used by any one guitarist. About 20% of them will be used regularly. This unit has about 100 effects (not 75 as shown here) so that's 20 pedals your average guitarist will actually use. Even with that, even looking at the M13 in the most conservative fashion I can, it still wins out over individual stomp boxes. 20 pedals is a lot for a pedal-board, would cost over $2000 and would be a roadie's maintenance nightmare.

And those 20 and more are as good as, in some cases better than the pedals they're modeled after -- in most cases with the same or more adjustable parameters. Many effects are true stereo, which, being a stereo-guitar nut -- I love (built my own set of stereo ported cabs with Jensen Blackbirds!).

So what do you do with your present pedals? I bring a good delay, a good boost/distortion pedal and a Boss NS-2 along in a bag as a backup.

I would like to suggest to Line 6 one improvement for the next version. This is ONLY an effects pedal and doesn't include any amp models or a dedicated earphone plug. That's actually good, but the addition of one vanilla amp model each of a 6v6, EL34 and an AC30 would allow for silent practice sessions and auditioning and adjusting the effects without additional gear. They could actually add that as an update to this current version, using the present outputs and a "Y" cable for the phones. Knowing Line 6, there's enough unused processing power to inject some simple amp models.

James
from Phoenix,Az.
February 3, 2010Music Background:
guitar player forever

M13 stompbox heaven

This is by far the most bang for your buck in effects units. Line 6 has hit a homerun with this excellent piece of equipment. I was not aware of the complex tones and effects that are in this box! Very pleased. Does so much more than model effects. The control you have over these pristine tones is remarkable. Thanks for the info on this stompbox and the great price!

BOYING
from SF BAY AREA,CALIFORNIA USA
September 21, 2009Music Background:
ACTIVE MUSICIAN,WORSHIP LEADER,ALTERNATIVE,BLUES,ROCK

THUMBS UP

I WAS THINKING OF BUYING A GOOD DELAY PEDAL,& A REVERB PEDAL;BUT WHEN MY FRIEND TOLD ME ABOUT THIS PIECE.I GO & CHECKED OUT THE VIDEOS & REVIEWS OF THIS STOMPBOX IN YOUTUBE.I WAS AMAZED HOW IT SOUNDS.FOR $450,I GOT ALL THE SOUND THAT I WANTED.HIGHLY RECCOMENDED

William Jones
from Jasper, GA USA
October 15, 2008Music Background:
Semi-Pro Musician, Home Recordist, Hobbyist.

This thing is amazing!!!

I've never seen a guitar effects pedal with so many insane combinations of effects!! It has a little bit of a learning curve. But this is the coolest effect device I've bought in sometime. I like the fact that you have knob you can edit your sounds with as opposed to have to go through tons of parameters like you would with a Boss GT-5 or GT-6, etc.. And it simply sounds amazing. I look forward to recording with it. You can come up with some amazing stuff to set the mood of a song your working on. Every guitar player should have one just like the Sweetwater Expert said. Buy it. You won't be sorry!!

Josh C.
from Tampa, FL USA
September 30, 2008Music Background:
Active Player, Hobbyist, Worship Leader

Incredible Line 6 Product!! Great with Tube Amps!!

The M13 is an outstanding piece of gear. I've never really loved Line 6's amp/cab modeling stuff. I had the HD147 and liked it for a couple years. But I could never get the tone I wanted. Then I bought a tube amp. A Crate Palomino V32. But lost all the versatility with effects. So then I bought the POD X3L. It had no depth and took all the character out of the amp. So I went the all pedal route. Boss DD-20, L6 Verbzilla, Seymour Duncan Twin Tube Classic overdrive pedal. Blackstar HT-Dual OD/Dist, etc. I was really happy!!

Then I saw the M13. I was totally floored by how many different effects that were in there and the versatility of routing the "pedals" in order of one another. ITS SO VERSATILE!! The effect quality is right up there with their 4 button stomps (DL4, MM4, DM4, and FM4) after all it was designed to encompass all of those pedals into one package that has a footprint that is just a couple inches bigger than 2 of the 4 button stomps.

The tone of my amp stays the same, and I have all of the delays, reverbs, mods that I could ever use!! You can still use any of your analog pedals (I still have my Blackstar) because there is an onboard effects loop and you can route your existing effects before, after, or anywhere in the middle of the M13. Its incredible!!

I'm so happy I bought this pedal, and it was worth every single penny!! Try one out for yourself and you'll be pleasantly surprised with it!! If you don't like Line 6 gear because you're a tube junkie, forget all of what you thought you knew about Line 6 and try this pedal as soon as you can. I think Line 6 may have taken a new turn with their products and this is definitely an awesome new direction for the company. This pedal rocks!!!

Nathaniel Herring
from Rainstorm Studio, Seattle, WA
September 11, 2008Music Background:
Recording Engineer, Mixing Engineer, Musician

At long last, it is finished...

It's been a long road, but after many years of searching I think I may have finally found the pedal to end all others for me. I'll start out by saying I've always been looking for a multi-effects pedal because I like all my effects in one neat box, but I have come to highly loathe all other multi-effects devices because of two things:

Presets. Let's face it, they're virtually useless and way over the top. They come installed from the factory, and on many of the multi-effects pedals you are given the option of editing them, but not actually able to really craft your own effect, only to change what was already there.
Editing. On processors like the Boss GT-6,8,10 and Digitech RP series, editing is a nightmare of incredibly overcomplicated, non-user friendly dribble that comes with the user manual, in rough size comparison to Sun Tsu's "The Art of War", to match. Buying one of these processors is like having both of your legs broken, heal, and rebroken in an infinite cycle of perpetual frustration unbroken by any light of day.

Also available are the MIDI or rack processors, which I think are a big step up from the afore mentioned pedals, but still not quite there. The editing on these can be tricky to navigate, and can require some knowledge of routing. On top of that, you'll need to get a ground controller to use them like a pedal, and these too can be confusing at times.Stomp boxes bring ease of use to the table, but have the drawback of getting quite expensive pretty fast. If you want a host of effects at your feet, you need to buy a HOST of these pedals.

Add to that all the patch cables and power supplies (because, let's face it, running these on 9V batteries is asking for it) and you find yourself questioning the wisdom of just having drained your bank account over effects.The M13 has, as far as I can tell, has put an end to all my searching.

Gone are the days of presets and editing. No preset's here, just the original effects found in single effects pedals. Your basic delays, mods, filters, and verbs which can be edited just like single effects pedals that come with only the most important and basic parameter controls. Add to that you've now condensed over 75 individual effects into one very simple, incredibly attractive looking processor, and you're left speechless. I'll admit it, this thing is almost sexy with it's simplistic, elegant exterior and mysteriously powerful heart hidden beneath the surface (Wow...that was about as straight as MJ at an all boys Elementary school talent pageant). You get the neatness without clutter, the plethora of effects without the useless presets.

Line 6 has tied it all together by giving you a 28 second looper with reverse and 1 layer of undo, and it's fantastic. The looper really was the icing on the cake for me. This is an omnipotent pedal, the god of multi-effects.No honest reviewer, however, can say they have absolutely no complaints or at least suggestions. I have two minor ones.

They chose to power this pedal using AC instead of DC. This seems like an obvious mistake which should have been caught, laughed at, and remedied. DC power is much cleaner, and as a result it doesn't mess with the signal as much. I came from a Yamaha magicstomp, also AC power, and because of it being AC, it imparted a grainy, almost phase-ee quality to my signal, even when bypassed which just made my modded Dual Rectifier sound very degraded, and my Roland JC-120's unbeatable clean sound...well, not so clean. The M13 has this same problem--DON'T WORRY--It's almost non-apparent, much better then the Magicstomp. The weird coloration is audible, but not very. I would suggest in the future Line 6 upgrades to a DC power supply.
When plugged into my amplifiers effects loop, some effects (mostly the distortions) feedback uncontrollably. I realize this is might be a problem with the amplifier's effect loop, and not the pedal, so this complaint is more of a halfsie, especially considering I'm a big fan of using my Dual Rec--instead of modeled amps--for what it was designed for: high gain.

There it is. I'll finish by saying it's been an incredibly long journey, and anyone who is like me looking for a legion of effects and looper that don't color or take away from "your sound" in one neat box, NO PRESETS, JUST EFFECTS, straightforward operation and editing with only the important parameters, something that just looks great, and bottom line, DOESN'T GET IN THE WAY OF YOUR CREATIVITY AS A MUSICIAN AND/OR SONGRWRITER:The M13 quietly awaits you..

.P.S. Thought I was finished? I did too, until I received the EX-1 pedal to go with the M13. Talk about a secret weapon. The "morphs" and ethereal things you can do with this coupled with the M13...no words to describe. You're in for a mind blowing surpise, in a very, very good way.

Steven L McGinnis
from Kansas city
January 7, 2013Music Background:
professional musician 30+ years

mostly outstanding

I got one of these to replace my dieing boss me50... i have used other line 6 gear and just did not like the learning curve and the imbalance between patches. Line 6 did a much better job with this unit...the volumes between effects are much more realistically leveled and contrary to what others have said i have had good luck with the presets being usable...most of the effects are spot on the distortions are ok, much better if you take some time to tweak them im a mid gain warren haynes type of player so most of the ods work for me i don't know about hardcore metal guys..maybe.... tons of options for effect types i dont like the auto wahs cant seem to get that jerry garcia type sound but im still trying. i like the fact you can put any effect anywhere you want on the board... and its got some great compressor models love the tube comp optical setting ...if you don't want to carry around a 200 pound pedal board full of boutique effects ...you definitely want to check one of these out the foot switches are a little squirly ..but i havent had it too long and i bought it used...overall i like it tho and seem to like it more and more as i get used to how it works ..and it sounds great with my Mesa Ta-15

Bill Fleischer
from NYC
November 25, 2012Music Background:
Rock Guitar, Hobbiest

Pretty incredible

I finally abandoned my amp modeling amp for a 'real' tube amp... of course, in the process, I abandoned all of the built-in effects. I researched building my own pedal board, and buying additional pedals than I already had...and the proposition was well over 1K for the minimum capabilities I wanted. Then of course I came across the Line 6 M13 and thought the concept was cool... but was skeptical. After playing around with it and trying out the different 'pedals', I've been able to get all those sounds I want (and a lot more), and of course, it's much easier than putting together a pedal board. These are modeled effects, but they're really good substitutes for the real things...for most of them, it's pretty hard to tell the difference from the pedal they are supposed to be modeled after. So far , very pleased with this purchase...

Tim B
from Akron, OH
July 19, 2012Music Background:
Pro Musician, live, studio and recording

Line 6 M13 Stompbox Modeler

One of the best purchases this year. I use this with my old Mesa Boogie and it works great. Doesn't get in the way of the amps awsome tone and gives me all kinds of sonic options. I setup a scene for my les paul and another for my strat and it sounds really good. I also like the ability to run distortion in front of the amp and other effects through the amp loop. It definately gets the job done with a lot less hassle than individual pedals and all the hassles that go with that setup.

All in all a great unit. The only thing I wish it had was a volume and wah pedal built in. They can be added but it would be nice to have them all together in one box.

Anyway great piece of gear, the sounds are good some of the presets are cool an overall great value. Also very easy to tweak the sounds you want and they are automatically saved just like pedals accept better because the knobs aren't getting bumped around in trasportation and on stage.

Highly recommend especially if you run tube amps and want your amp tones and are not into modeling etc.

Anthony Mills
from Petaluma, CA
August 15, 2011

Definately check out the M13

The M13 provides me with the ability to program virtually any stompbox/pedal settings and combination I need. I mainly use only the delays, reverbs, compressors, and modulations. I can mix and match in any configuration or setup different settings of the same model, and all can be recalled with a simple step on the switch. The models sound great, it is very easy to use, and it has made my pedalboard situation 100 times simpler. My only compliant is that there is a drop in volume with the octo tremolo, and there is no slap-back echo model (like the one on the Echo Park pedal). Otherwise, it is an incredible unit and easily worth $500.

Milt Payne
from Lexington, SC
October 27, 2008Music Background:
Musician 20+ years

Line 6 Does It Again!

I must admit I was second guessing myself when I ordered this Line 6 M13 from Sweetwater. That second guessing went out the window once I took it out of the box and played with it for about 30 minutes. I have been using traditional analog stompboxes for the past 20 years but no more! The sounds this unit makes and its' ease of use convinced me that Line 6 had done it again. I have friends that use Line 6 products which I was really impressed with but never bought. I sure am happy that I bought this unit. If you are trying to decide whether or not to buy one, let me just say, "Buy it!" You won't be sorry.

MattMan
from Florida
January 9, 2011Music Background:
20yr Player, Studio Engineer, Producer

Very well done, but may not quite replace everything....

I really just needed a great delay pedal, a good compressor, a new tuner, and a decent way to compliment my matchless chieftain and fulltone OCD pedal setup. the Line 6 DL4 was in my top 3 for delay pedals for studio use, and #1 on my wishlist for live use.
Of course, all that and even a little extra is in the M13, which is why i started looking at it in the first place.

I did not want a typical guitar fx processor that was full of over the top presets with amp modeling and effects with lame names like "Big Hair", "Spandex Solo", or "British Invasion". I have a fantastic amp, and I really just wanted a more traditional pedal-board type setup.

In my quest for not only great tone, but simplicity and cost effectiveness, I ultimately decided to get the M13 to be the heart of my pedalboard. Cost wise, its probably cheaper, and you can't beat the simplicity and functionality of it.

Even though I'm a big fan of Line6, I was a little wary about this until after I spent literally hours digging into it before deciding to buy.

Its well built, and well laid out. The accuracy of the models may be arguable, but the overall quality of the units sound and functionality can't be argued. The Delays are fantastic. I wouldn't say the distortions are great overall, but they are pretty good, particularly the model of the Chandler tube driver,. The LA-2A compressor model is excellent. The reverbs and modulations are also good. The filters have some eclectic sounds, but also some very usable models, and a good variety of wah sounds to choose from. My main gripe with the wah is not with the sound quality, but with the optional expression pedal - it just doesn't "feel" like a good solid wah pedal. With that said, I will either get used to it or i'll break down and just add a real wah to my pedalboard.

My OCD still has a home, the M13 does nothing that covers that.

For a brief moment i thought maybe i was an idiot for not getting the new HD500 pedalboard, which does everything this does, plus adds 16 amp models, speaker simulation, allows longer/more complex effects chains, has a headphone out put, and has a built in expression pedal - all for the same price. But...Just remember that what you are buying when comparing these two is HOW you want to work. The M13 is much easier to edit sounds, and extremely simple. It's pedalboard based. The HD500 is preset based. How you use the unit, especially live, will make a big difference in which unit is best for you.

inSync Review

Scott Augustyniak
4-19-2010

The line 6 M13 is the ultimate solution for guitar players. If you are anything like me, you like to use a lot of effects and stompboxes to add some colors to your tone. Since I purchased the M13, my stompboxes are collecting dust in their original boxes. This stompbox modeler from Line 6 has improved my playing significantly. I like to use the 28-second looper and practice scales/modes behind a rhythm track. The delays are fabulous sounding, and the filter effects always bring a smile to my face. I have used it at home and for live shows and have had no major issues or complaints. The effects are color coded, which makes navigating much easier when flipping through the different scenes. The different I/O options are great for guitar players that use an FX Loop. The metal chassis and switches make this unit very durable which would be a benefit to a band that is always on the road. Overall, I would recommend this to any serious guitarist that wants a lot of effects.