Jump to content

The problem with the M9 and M13


John_McEnroe

Recommended Posts

  • Members

These are great sounding units, and are a very good deal of you are in a cover band or just like to jam. For a band that is writing original material though, they have a real inherent problem. Too much choice. Because you can bring up a whole new pedal board for every song, you end up losing any chance you had at having a distinctive sound. Sure it might not be as much fun to use only one delay pedal on every song, but if helps give you a cohesive sound. The best records have a distinct sonic character that carry on throughout throughout the whole album. You don;t need a million sounds people! (except cover bands).

 

Flame away. :cop:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 169
  • Created
  • Last Reply
  • Members
These are great sounding units, and are a very good deal of you are in a cover band or just like to jam. For a band that is writing original material though, they have a real inherent problem.
Too much choice
. Because you can bring up a whole new pedal board for every song, you end up losing any chance you had at having a distinctive sound. Sure it might not be as much fun to use only one delay pedal on every song, but if helps give you a cohesive sound. The best records have a distinct sonic character that carry on throughout throughout the whole album. You don;t need a million sounds people! (except cover bands).


Flame away.
:cop:



No more choice for you sir.
Your comment stands for all that is wrong in the world
:facepalm:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I see you point. But I wonder, if Randy Rhodes or Jimi Henrix were alive today, and saw the options available to them, do you think they would really pick only 3-4 pedals, that are really quite lo-fi by today standards? I dunno, maybe they would. Or maybe they would find a more distinct sound, impossible to say really.

Having too many choices could be a distraction, but so is having a number of pedals on your board too. After a while, you realize what you like, and what works for you. You can still sound original, and I think that's the whole point, especially with the "scences" thing. You pick 3 effects, any 3, in any order, find your sound. Pick a couple of scenes perhaps, depending on the song, maybe they only vary slightly, maybe a lot.

I know though, no matter what gear i use, I still kinda sound like myself, just the way I play. I bet Jimi could pick up a M9, use the fuzz face mode, maybe some wah and tremolo or phaser or whatever, and he'd still be Jimi. Tone might change some, but still, you'd probably recognize him. My 2 cents anyways.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Change is scary. Let's all stay the same.

 

 

It's not a matter of change, it's matter of too much choice.

 

I am all for modern pedals like the Pog2 and the Hog, and some of the eventide boxes. The thing with the M9/M13 is that you become too much like a chameleon, going from one sound to the next without really letting your audience get a distinctive vibe from you.

 

Limitations result in far more creativity than infinite choice IMO.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members
I see you point. But I wonder, if Randy Rhodes or Jimi Henrix were alive today, and saw the options available to them, do you think they would really pick only 3-4 pedals, that are really quite lo-fi by today standards? I dunno, maybe they would. Or maybe they would find a more distinct sound, impossible to say really.


Having too many choices could be a distraction, but so is having a number of pedals on your board too. After a while, you realize what you like, and what works for you. You can still sound original, and I think that's the whole point, especially with the "scences" thing. You pick 3 effects, any 3, in any order, find your sound. Pick a couple of scenes perhaps, depending on the song, maybe they only vary slightly, maybe a lot.


I know though, no matter what gear i use, I still kinda sound like myself, just the way I play. I bet Jimi could pick up a M9, use the fuzz face mode, maybe some wah and tremolo or phaser or whatever, and he'd still be Jimi. Tone might change some, but still, you'd probably recognize him. My 2 cents anyways.



:eek: That was profound. :cry:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

its not like people sit there thinking this is a great sound, but i have to add more to it

 

if i find a good sound, it stays as that sound, i dont see how too much choice can be a bad thing in this situation.do you actually own an m13/9?

 

(im not flaming, im discussing)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I see you point. But I wonder, if Randy Rhodes or Jimi Henrix were alive today, and saw the options available to them, do you think they would really pick only 3-4 pedals, that are really quite lo-fi by today standards? I dunno, maybe they would. Or maybe they would find a more distinct sound, impossible to say really.


Having too many choices could be a distraction, but so is having a number of pedals on your board too. After a while, you realize what you like, and what works for you. You can still sound original, and I think that's the whole point, especially with the "scences" thing. You pick 3 effects, any 3, in any order, find your sound. Pick a couple of scenes perhaps, depending on the song, maybe they only vary slightly, maybe a lot.


I know though, no matter what gear i use, I still kinda sound like myself, just the way I play. I bet Jimi could pick up a M9, use the fuzz face mode, maybe some wah and tremolo or phaser or whatever, and he'd still be Jimi. Tone might change some, but still, you'd probably recognize him. My 2 cents anyways.

 

 

 

 

Yes I hear what you are saying and I agree. It isn't that it's impossible to sound like yourself with these units, if you stick to a couple of FX you can of course keep your "sound" intact, but the whole point of these units is to have access to the huge variety of pedals they emulate.

 

Even consider really FX based bands. Rage against the machine... Tom Morello used a very limited number of pedals, and all their guitar tones sound like they came from the same place. If the tone was completely different between songs, I don't think they would have had the same impact. Even consider radiohead, they use FX, but its always very similar delay... very similar distortion... they have a distinctive sound because they limit their choices.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

 


Limitations result in far more creativity...

 

 

Correct you are sir.

 

But, the question that you must ask yourself is: "would you rather have a large pile of money or a small pile?"

 

Because when money is very limited you must be creative with it. Only rock stars can have large amounts of money...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

These are great sounding units, and are a very good deal of you are in a cover band or just like to jam. For a band that is writing original material though, they have a real inherent problem. Too much choice. Because you can bring up a whole new pedal board for every song, you end up losing any chance you had at having a distinctive sound. Sure it might not be as much fun to use only one delay pedal on every song, but if helps give you a cohesive sound. The best records have a distinct sonic character that carry on throughout throughout the whole album. You don;t need a million sounds people! (except cover bands).


Flame away.
:cop:

 

Songwriting + performance nuiances = "your sound."

 

As if playing a Tele into a Deluxe Reverb would homogenize your sound.

 

Often times an album will feature various guitars, amps, and effects, to suit the songs. And yet when listening to the album, you hear a cohesive whole. Why? Certainly not because of the gear; rather, forces working inspite of the gear.

 

Gear is not responsible for people sounding alike.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

The fact that it's probably one of the better loopers out there made me get it over a DL4. I'll be using it for reverb, looping, occasional modulation and fun effects, and the classic distortion model.

 

The M9's looper paired with a full featured looper (like my boomerang) is a ridiculously powerful looping combo. Once I'm able to sync them to a clock source, I'll be unstoppable... muahahaAHAHAHAAAA!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members
Songwriting + performance nuiances = "your sound."


As if playing a Tele into a Deluxe Reverb would homogenize your sound.


Often times an album will feature various guitars, amps, and effects, to suit the songs. And yet when listening to the album, you hear a cohesive whole. Why? Certainly not because of the gear; rather, forces working inspite of the gear.


Gear is not responsible for people sounding alike.





I think playing a tele through a deluxe reverb WOULD homogenize your sound, which would be a good thing. Hearing a record where one song had a deluxe reverb, and then next an orange rockerverb, and then the next a marshall, and then the next a vox... etc, would result in a scattered mess that would sound like so many things that it would end up not really sounding like anything. That's exactly why I think the M9/M13 pedals are a mistake for a band writing original material. Even people who say they only use 3-4 of the models, you know they are going to be tempted to try to add new ones to the mix. :cop:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I went down my local guitar shop and demo'd an M9 at the weekend to see what all the fuss was about ..... I still don't get all the hype around here, I'd rather use a vox tonelab.

 

For a forum that likes to talk about 'Mojo' and the cold sterile heart of digital processers I find it mind boggling that this is the new 'must-have' ... I can see that it would work for a lot of people but I can't believe people are selling off thier pedalboards to buy these.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.


×
×
  • Create New...