Line 6 M5 StompBox Modeler

I have been looking at this for a year or more afraid to take a chance with reason number one it will stop working or freak out. Two, that for what I wanted to use it for it would require far more time than I was willing to give. I am using a DSL 40cr with my number one effect being reverb along with a delay and chorus in the loop. I decided against using this in the loop due to it needing more attention to move around plus the placement of my pedalboard. Lastly I never had much of an issue on sound quality going in the front of the amp with modulation or any effects but I'll use the loop if it's available.So I have this 5th in line of my pedal chain after a wah, FriedmanBE, BD2, and Maxxon. I use multiple guitars so they are all not used often and are more for convenience. I am so impressed by this pedal so far by it's quality, sound, and ease of use. I wanted it like I am sure many do to use for that one effect for a song or what ever may be and it executes it flawlessly. Phase, flanger, tremolo, eq's, many echo/delays , some reverbs, and quite a few more than acceptable overdrives and distortions. I particularly like the tube drive and the line six distortions. Hey I play 50's, 60's rock/pop along with late eighties thrash along with early nineties death metal ;)Back to the Line six modeler. Now for what I use it for it works great and I have not really looked into setting each effect to an assigned number or not and if you di you might want to purchase an adapter pedal with a couple of more switches. I seriously doubt it will be difficult one way or another. I also really love the default method of when you turn it off which is by unplugging unfortunately when you turn it back on it will be right where you left off same settings and all without having to of saved the effect and settings but if you select a new effect (scroll the knob) it will go back to it's programmed default.My only gripe is the lack or a power on/off as I think every electronic or mechanical machine should have. I have mine along with the amp and rest of effects connected to a power filter/protector so I turn everything on altogether. I really get annoyed with the no power switch. My last device was a digitech rp something 325, didn't like it, no powere switch either.Well I know this is not the most in depth review on the line six but I wanted to share how it is applied in my day to day operations and that it excels and more so as I learn more but I have no use. Pess knob to go through drives, delays, reverbs, and modulation. Rotate the knob to desired effect then simply use the other five knobs to edit that to your liking, done. I love manual controls and hope then never go away. So the only thought in the back of my mind is will it croak? It sits on a pedal board in a clean area with nothing nearby to harm it. Heck I usually use my finger or a sock covered foot to turn the effect on and off. Professionals (would most likely look elsewhere) or those seeking more than one effect and to use a four input set up using both the loop and front of the amp should seek the second or third models up respectively. So if it conks out on it's own even under more than protective use is anyone's guess. Good luck with you decision but this gets my vote. Still going after a few months.

I am using an M3 with a boss looper in the F/X loop of my Egnater tweaker.My only gripe is the tuner is weak-much better results using Polytune on my phone.The great thing about this unit is that you can quickly flip between good quality fx without interrupting your practice session.My favourites are:Reverb - plate is particularly nice. Can set pre delay. As good as Hardwire reverb that this replaces.Leslie - nice, squelchy effectBass emulator - great fun, good for loops, good tracking.Pitch up - Jack white style octaver and orginal signalOct verb - nice shImmer (not as good as Strymon blusky) but still niceThere are some nice 'swell' keyboard style sounds as well.I had some difficulty dialing in a nice chorus to start with but i am satisfied now.A lot of people rate the delays highly but i personally never use that effect so can't comment.NO TONE SUCK! which i didn't like about Pocket pod.Good hardware build ... Stomp buttons could be better, prefer Boss / EXH stomp experience. Still I'm sure it is solid.Configuring the unit takes a while, in 2011 i dont expect to be twisting a knob through A-Z for each character of each preset name! There should be PC or Iphone connectivity to speed up this bit.Still overall, minor gripes. The key is very good sounds, good build, and you get get eight pedals for the price of two.Well done Line 6 - i look forward to the forthcoming mobile in to get a great experience out of my iphone on the road!

Its handy, reasonable versatile, and seems to be well made. It gives you a lot of options. Some of them are not things that I would ever want to be associated with, though. The sound is a little underwhelming. You can tinker and fine tune, and get many distinctly different sounds, but I have yet to click onto a preset and think "Oh, that is the sound that I have been waiting for!"

Yes! it's true...this one is a winner, every effect is completely usable, no matter what you use, distortion, delay, modulation, reverb, everything sounds good...better than my POD XT live, I have the chance to compare to other original pedals and the M5 was really impressive. I did a A/B comparison with a Verbzilla, an EchoPark, a TS9, a Metal Zone, Big Muff Pi,you name it... every effect is contained in this not so little box. This pedal is a must for any pedal collector or serious musician (or both!)the effects and sound are of really high quality, I am very happy with mine, I am sure you will find the sound you are looking for in it's 100+ effect types. Highly recommended...!

I bought this just for the modulation effects and some of the synths.I own a fulltone deja vibe and a script phase 90 that I swap in and out on my pedal board constantly. Some days I like phase more than chorus. If you're a gear head you'll understand my plight. The M5 uni-vibe effect sounds better than the dejavibe. It nails the phase 90 as well.The synths are cool but I would urge people to turn the amp down when cycling through them the first time. Some of the synth effects have -2 octave bass swells that could blow a cranked 12" guitar speaker.The enclosure feels pretty robust and the foot switches are better than the garbage ones line6 used in the past.It can only run one effect at a time. If you need it to multi-task get the M9. That being said the M5 lives up to the hype.