Line 6 FM4 Filter Modeler

It didn't take long to figure it out, to get a desired was pretty easy. The quick reference stickers are very good.

I use a Tele to a Marshall guvnor, blues breaker, fm4, Jim Dunlop wah, Boss phaser, Marshall trem, dl4 to a Fender princeton amp (not necessarily in that order.) The comet trails is my favorite with a reverse delay at the minute, I also like the slow filter sounds going from a bright top to a dark lull. The synth soundswork well on the bass strings but I'm less convinced with the sounds on the treble lower down the neck.

I haven't had it long but I've had the DL4 for a year and a half and apart from the stomp switch coming loose I've had no problems.

Pretty easy to use, straightforward knobs and all that. The coolest part about this unit (that's also easy and straightforward) is the expression pedal (list $70, got it for $50)- if you set the pedal to the heel position, dial in a setting that you like, and then set the pedal to the toe position, dial in another setting (though you can't change the model knob, you have to keep it in the same modeled effect), you can then morph between the two settings with the pedal. That's pretty much the aspect of this unit that made me decide to buy it. Downside is you can only store 4 user presets; HOWEVER, most reviewers have overlooked the fact that everytime you switch from one effect to another a preset for that new effect loads (that is expression-pedal ready as well- eg, all of the effect presets have that morphing capability ready).

My setup is Homemade Strat (Warmoth parts, Lindy Fralin pickups) --> Digitech Whammy --> Line 6 FM-4 --> Line 6 AX2 amp. I'm not an effects veteran whatsoever, I couldn't tell you how accurate these reproductions are, but they sound great to me. If you're looking to do psychedelic Disco Biscuits-ish effects, this is right up your alley. Some effects in this unit are nice, straightforward, not too out there (eg MuTron, Q Filter), but some are way out there, almost too out there (octisynth, growler).

My sole reason for writing this review was to share this story: about 4-5 days after I bought the FM4 my band and I were playing a party. Towards the very end of our set, this drunk kid came up and started chatting with the keyboardist, and knocked a full cup of beer all over my FM4. You know how the knobs are recessed? That whole cavity was one big pool of beer, all the knobs were submerged in Keystone Light. I started mopping it up right away with my jacket (the kid was so drunk he was wondering what the hell I was doing down by his feet- he didn't get the picture until I told him to move), and I got most of it sopped up. Unbelievably, it still worked, and a few days later when I practiced with it, the knobs were stuck in position, but after forcing them they moved again- unfortunately I could hear grime inside the potentiometer when I turned the knob (like a crackling sound coming through the amp). However, it subsided after about a day, and besides a consistent smell of stale beer, the FM4 works just as well as the day I got it!

Never had to deal with them concerning the FM4; however, I own their AX2-212 amp (had it for almost 4 years, still love it), and the floorboard has always been a little moody; when I've contacted them about it they were very friendly and helpful.

I'm mostly into jamband music (Phish, etc), as well as some techno, classic rock, jazz, blues, and that tends to contain a LOT of styles within itself. For the more trippy psychedelic jams/songs, this effect will fit right in. Been playing 8 years, this is definitely the most versatile effect I've owned (besides the slew of effects that come with the AX2). If it were lost I'd buy it again. I like how versatile it is, there are a lot of cool things you can do with it, especially with the expression pedal.

Favorite effects-
Tron Up- like a mutron in the 'up' setting, or an auto wah,

Throbber- hard to describe; kind of 'throbs' at varying speeds,

Spin Cycle- apparently it's supposed to mimic two wah pedals at opposite positions, cycling back and forth- to me it just sounds like a trippy tremolo. Cool thing about this effect is that you can set it so that it responds to your playing; eg if you pick hard it'll 'spin' faster, and then slow down as the sustain dies down,

Seeker- supposed to mimic a Seek Wah, which I guess cycles through various 'parked wah' settings at varying speeds. Kind of weird at first, but as I tried out different setting I found it's pretty cool, especially at fast speeds.

Growler- MuTron meets GR700 synth. Just imagine auto wah, distortion, and octave effects all rolled together. Sounds kinda like disco-funk-metal or something, but is pretty cool, though probably not usable that often.

Slow Filter- play a chord, and it sounds as if the chord is rising from underground (sounds all muddy and blurred together) and then reaches normalcy. Probably wouldn't work too well in dense songs, but with space within the band (not too many people playing too much) it's pretty cool.

However, some of the effects in it are somewhat unusable- the octisynth is basically dissonance in a pedal. You play one note and pure ugliness comes out. However, at times it could come in handy, but not for most. Also, I think they just needed to fill a slot with the Q Filter- without the Expression Pedal the Q Filter is a parked wah (like a wah pedal in one position only); with the expression pedal, it's a wah pedal. Come on, 95% of guitarists already own a wah pedal, what's the point of tossing one in there? However, on the plus side, you can customize the wah with frequency controls, width control, gain control, and the type of wah (low pass, band pass, high pass), so that's kind of cool.

Overall I'm really happy with this, though it was a bit pricey once you add in the expression pedal and power supply ($25???). This effect probably wouldn't be too useful for metal, straight-forward rock, traditional jazz, etc. However, I think it's extremely usable in the more trippy genres. To anyone looking for a trippy sort of pedal, highly recommended.

Very easy to use. Just fiddle with the knobs. I needed to consult the manual after I finished initially fucking with it out of the box to figure out what the knobs do. The manual is very good. The reason I gave it an 8 and not a ten is cuz you need to get a feel for playing with this pedal (esp. the synth settings).

This thing is one of the best products to come out for guitar players in a very long time. It combines classic sought after effects with complete wierdness. It is noisy on some settings(not the pedal itself but some of the settings are abstract noisemakers). The effects are completely consistant and I use this pedal alot. I can use just about any effect on this thing. My favorite effects on this thing are (in no certain order of appreciation): mutrons, the 1 wit all the synth models, octisynth, slow filter, throbber, the two vocal sounding effects, seeker, attack synth.... actually the only effect I've not found alot of use for is the parked wah.

by the way - I can see how this thing could blow speakers be careful when you use certain settings and tweak the shit right.

A fuckin tank. I would use it at a gig without a backup because I'm too poor to afford another. If I ever get rich I'll deffinatly buy more so i can have like 16 different settings for gigs.

Imma just give it a ten anyway.

I play in a three piece band. Guitar, Bass and drums. We play a blend of tripped out psychedelic music, heavy shit, electronic sounding shit and we jam alot. After I got this thing our music went into alot of different directions and it really helped us I think.
If you are into taking guitar into realms visited by few, buy this pedal. Some would buy this and hate it, but those people aren't cool. They are into stupid shit. One thing I want is more patch things. I wish it had like 4 banks so you had access to 16 settings. That would be amazing. This thing is fucking ill get it.

This is pretty easy to figure out to get good tones out of.. I only turned to the manual with that octa-synth setting, couldn't figure out what the hell was going on

I'm playing this pedal with a Peavey Predator (tuned to low B), an old Arbor Star (tuned to low B) and a Squire Super Sonic for guitars, the effects chain is Big Muff Pi -> DOD Death Metal -> Danelectro DJ-6 Phaser -> Ibanez Soundtank Flanger -> Dunlop Crybaby Wah -> DOD Envelope Filter -> Line6 FM-4 -> Korg Toneworks AX1G Multi-Effect -> Boss PH-3 Phase Shifter -> Digi Tech Whammy run into a Peavey Bandit combo and a Marshall Valvestate combo.

This effect has tight sounds.. the only thing i haven't found a use for is that crazy Octa-synth and i'm not big on the parked wah sound.

The mu-tron model is excellent and the synths are really cool, i have found my self a Organ sound using the synth-o-matic

it's sturdier than hell, i don't have anything to back it up with but i don't think i'll have to

For my style of music ( pushing everything to the limits ) weirds sounds are really cool, but i think these sounds are very musicla not just some weird ass novelty sounds, i plan to use this thing quite a bit.

If this thing were stolen i'd buy another one.. or find the guy the guy that stole it and kick his ass.

The only bad thing is it's limited memory of 4 slots.. it would be nice to be able to store at least 16 settings

Easy to use? Not really but it sure is fun! As with all of the Line 6 modelers, editing is relatively easy although changing one parameter might drastically affect others. The manual is helpful. bottom line: it's far our freakin' fun!

It sounds as good or as crappy as you want it. I keep changing my set up (I have an electric and an acoustic rig, but I usually keep the Filter Modeler with my electric, a Parker Nitefly and a Tech 21 Trademark 60). Noisy? Some of the settings are like wiping your ass with sandpaper, but I think that's what they're s'posed to sound like. Personally, I've never wiped my ass with sandpaper, but I don't believe I'd like it. So, I don't really use the synth models all that much. I prefer the Mu-Tron up and down models along with the spinning type effects. I love the psychedelic qualities of the Filter Modeler, as would anyone who likes to twist sounds and blow minds.

I have the Filter Modeler, the Distortion Modeler, two Modulation Modelers, and two Delay Modelers and so far I've not had any problems. I don't usually take them out with me for gigs and jams (I use more compact effects for that), so that probably works to my benefit.

I'm into trippy music, be it transcendental, folky, spacey, metalic, silky, or liquidy, and the Filter modeler can be useful in all genres. I've been playing for 25 years and have quite a bit of gear. I like line 6 stuff. They pack a lot of variety into each of their pedals, the tones are very good, and for the money you can't beat 'em. One note: why would anyone make a judgement on a piece of gear after having it for only one day? Give us all a break and wait for at least a week of non stop playing before you pass judgement. Peace and keep jamming!

It's pretty easy if you're into turning knobs until you get somrthing you like. If you want to memorize the manual's settings it'll take some time because each knob has different functions for several different filter models. The fact that there are only four available memory patches kinda sucks because if you want to program a new sound you might lose the old one forever unless you write down all of the tweaked sounds you enjoy. The purchase of an optional expression pedal can give you a bit more memory to work with but only within one patch at a time.

Beautiful filters! I use the FM4 with a bass and it really enhances it and gives me sounds that were undreamable before for such a great price. The synth models are really off the wall. Throbber will stop your heart while Seeker gives your bass a real keyboard quality, especially if you're into tapping.

Can't bust it!

Haven't needed it.

A great pedal for bass, guitar, keys, or whatever! You won't get bored with it easily. The only limitations are your imagination!

It takes some time and tweaking but with patience you can reach bliss. The optional expression pedal is a must if you wast to control your sound.

The sound quality is superb. I am using it for both guitar and synth. And am very pleased with both. I am surprised daily on the psychedilic guitar sounds made possible with this. It takes tweaking for really good sound, but it is worth it

Line 6 is STURDY!!

never had to deal yet

I am Very happy with the FM4. I also use a Sherman Filterbank. Comparing them is like apples and oranges though. I have been playing for 20+ years and only purchse quality equiment. Line6 is that.

Takes a little tinkering to get a good sound... The half cocked wahs (w/o a expression pedal) can give off a good amount of feedback depending on your eq settings... I use alot of mids...

Exel-fuckign-lent! Pretty true to the models...

So far hasnt flaked out on me like females do :)

Line6 takes a long time to deal with if you live in hosuton...
Not anymore tho, as I hear we have a sevice station across town now...

Kick ass pedal for getting a good amount of new osunds...

Altho I wish the pedal would have had a 3 prong cord instead of those damn wall warts :rolleyes: ...
And midi control would have been SO GOD LIKE... :jizzs' in pants:

In response to Cameron's response to my original review: As you say, it's really a matter of taste and what you're looking for. I was hoping for an improvement on the classic synthesizer tones by way of eliminating the annoying (to me, anyway) glitches that you like. Actually, I like the out-there synthesizer effects in the P-funk vein on this thing, but they were just too uncontrollable for me.

Easy to use....need to reference the manual sometimes to figure things out but that s no big deal.
Editing and saving patches is easy and fast.

Using Tokai Love Rock Junior TV Yellow model and Tokai ES335 into Marshall and Vox valve amps. Other fx I use are Maxon AD80 delay, MXR Micro Amp, MXR Blue Box.
This unit does mad wah sounds, cool filters and some very non guitar ish synth sounds. Its only noisy on the extreme settings..but that sound right to me. Once you realise that the Mix dial is there you can get some of the initially whacky sounds to get quite classy in a alternative kind of way. Similar to the MXR blue box ...but more control obviously. My fave settings are with the Wah sound locked in position....gets really nasal and snarls in an overdriven amp. Freak out leads are done with the synth settings. Tracking is exellent on single strings....bends sound awesome. Some of the patches are useless to me but to be able to get 4 sonically wild and customisable sounds out of the same box for less than 200 quid is amazing. Not going to compare the sounds to the 'originals'as theres no point. Its sounds really good. The audience will not be comparing it to the originals so I wont either.

Solid. I would gig without a backup cos its a luxury item....if it packed up I would play the relatively few parts I use this for without the effect. Actually if you want something like a ''leave on all the time'' effect .....this is not it...use sparingly and its very cool.

Well the manuals good.

Our band are definately in the alternative category....possibly avant garde sometimes....but dont be fooled into thinking this is a noise machine...it can be used very musically...just sparingly.
I wish there was more gear like this that attemped to push boundaries for guitarists. This seems to be one of few affordable units out there that gets away from the blandness of most gear without sounding gimmicky. Glad Line 6 had the bollocks to make it. Its not for the conservative minded guitar player for sure....erm except for the talkbox Wah thingy which is rather naff! Theres always gonna be at least 4 classy and origional sounds inside this thing which is good value....will stay part of my rig untill someone (Line 6 or other) invents a better one along the same lines.