Ugly Truth About Mission Engineering Expression Pedal

A few months ago I picked up a Line6 M5 stomp box modeler. I have been openly critical about multi effects units here on this blog, but the M5 has impressed me. The entire M serious is impressive, but the M5 fits into your already established pedal board. I bought mine because I wanted a Slow Gear, Whammy, and Seek Wah. I didn't have a thousand dollars so I looked for a alternative. The M5 comes up all aces. There are a ton of bonuses. But this isn't a review of the M5, this is.

The main problem with this pedal is that there are so many things that are only unlocked when you add an expression pedal. This leads you on a journey in and of its self. Line6 offers an expression pedal. It is $50 and made of plastic. There are several places on the internet that document the unreliability of this pedal. I avoided this pedal and sought an alternative. The first expression pedal that I bought was a Boss FV-50. It was large and metal and an utter failure. It was on a list of compatible pedal that I found on Line6's support forum. I might have gotten my hands on a dud, so I returned. A little while later I was able to find a used Mission Engineering EP1-L6. For half the price of a new one and less than the Boss 'no go', I found my replacement.


It Works

So, Line6 typically doesn't function with most expression pedals. Basically, an expression pedal is just a pot wired between two jack. But there a tiny little fairies that have to bless each pedal that enables it to work with a particular type of pedal... or something like that. It actually has to do with the value of the pot and how it's wired up. It's simple, but also a little more complected than it seems. This pedal takes all the thinking out it. It even has the Line6 logo on it. It's a metal case with the right guts. So that seem pretty solid. What could be wrong with it?

It's Expensive

Like I previously said, It is a metal case, a pot and jacks. The parts make up $25 of cost, so that's about a 500% markup. True, Line6 probably makes their expression pedal for pennies, but for much less you can buy an actual Wah pedal that includes everything and an actual effect. I won't bash a business for making money, but when it comes to my dollars, I need a little more bang per buck. That's why I only bought this pedal when I found it used.

It's Roamy

The nice thing about Wah pedals is that they are spacious on the inside. Why is this a good thing? Well here is an idea. Imagine you are using you expression pedal to control a wah sound on your M5. How would you turn the effect on? By tapping the on/off button on the M5. But that's not how a wah works. You put the toe down and press, right? Why can't we do that with our expression pedal? The enclosure is already drilled for an input, output and switch. So wire in a looping circuit and you can engage your M5 when you stomp on it like a wah.

Conclusion

I can't really recommend buying this pedal outright. You could probably build one for way less... But this pedal works very well and is super solid. If you can can find it used, then it become much more reasonable. If you like to tinker, then you have a lot of options as for what to do with all that space. You can put a buffer or boost in there, or just a looper and status LED like I plan to...

The Ugly Truth About The Line5 M5 Stombox Modeler

If you've red my other posts that mention Multi-effect processors, then you know that I am not a fan of them. I like true-bypass and clicky-clacky switches. However, I understand that true-bypass is not always the best thing and soft switches can work just as well, but that's why they are called, preferences. So when looking for pedals that create certain effects, I stumbled upon the Line6 M5. I was previously aware of the "M" series, but I admit that the M5 has never been on my radar. The larger units, for me, have stole the show. The M9 and M13 are large "all in one" type processors that we are used to seeing, but the M5 is something different. It doesn't want to be your "everything in one box" product. What the M5 has done is taken many of the effects from there other successful pedals and put them in a little box that could find its way onto a pedalboard. That is exactly what has peeked my interest. Even though this pedal has some nice features, there are some ugly fact that we need to remember.

It's still digital

Yes, this is just like all the other little processors that we scorn. It is going to take your signal and have it's little binary way with it. There is a way around this. A bypass box will maintain your analog tone. that is until your run it into a delay, reverb, chorus or other pedal that use those ones and zeros.

It's a processor

That means that there is a learning curve. Must likely before you start making awesome noises, you are going to need to read the manual. Failing that, you are going to need to spend hours with this thing to get the most out of it. Sure, there are going to be presets that are "usable", but in order to make it bow it you will, you will have to learn the inner workings. Menu screens and editing and things that I couldn't tell you about will have to be done to change and edit the effects. Using more than one effect for a particular set? You're going to have to set that up in advance.

Digital Distortion

Those two words don't belong together. I actually owned the Line6 Distortion modeler. It was absolutely terrible. Nothing sounded natural. I thought it would help nail some tones that my Fender Twin I was using at the time wouldn't produce on its own. I tried a every setting, but it wasn't adding up. There is a reason everyone talks about the DL-4 and FM-4 but the other two (the blue and gold ones) get left out of the conversation. They ether don't offer anything unique, or in the case of the distortions, they don't hold a candle to what they are modeling.

It's Huge

Yes, the pedal is not giant, but there are tonnes of effects in it. A few of my favorites are: Seekwah, Auto Swell, and pitch-shift. That's well and good, but tonnes of options make shuffling though of those other things a little of a pain. It's almost like have a million dollars, but its all in singles, or something you aren't likely to use (like yin). But on that rare occasion that I need a chorus, phasor, flange or crazy mod, it's there. There is also the bulk of the thing. It is the smallest in the line, but it will still dwarf most single pedals. Think original EHX Muff to get an idea of the size of this thing.

In conclusion

I want a Electro Harmonix Pitchfork, DOD 201 Phasor, Boss RV-6, Boss Slow Gear, and Seek Wah. Those pedals alone would cost close to a grand. Will this pedal do everything that those other pedal will? Absolutely not. Will it add a lot of flexibility to the sounds that a already made and make sounds close to those that I've listed. Kinda. There have been a few pedals that have made me excited recently. This is not one of them. But it is a little bit of all of them.