Line 6 JM4 Looper Review

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(More customer reviews)This thing has some cool features, but a lot of junky ones. I was hoping they would keep a continuance of downloadable tracks, but they don't. I dig jazz, but there are only two jazz tracks and a large assortment of rock or metal tracks, all very bland and unexciting. The biggest problem, is that if you get your presets just right, and then switch tracks, it alters your guitar tone to fit the song, so you have to redial your guitar in, might not be a problem if you just want to fit in with them, but if you have a hollowbody hooked up and it switches to Insane Metal your amp is trashed! I suppose you could save your presets, but you should be able to set it and forget it without turning features off.
The record sound is attrocious too. I have saved several tracks to the sd card and transfered them as waves to my ipod, they sound horrible: muffled, undynamic. I know its not a four track, but it acts like one so should function like one too. Could probably do better with a tape recorder.
The pitch and tempo changes don't work either. They say it doesn't alter the tone, but they are lying. The drums take a digital stretched sound if you alter the tempo.

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The Line 6 JM4 Looper combines sound-on-sound looping with thrilling jam tracks and a full arsenal of legendary Line 6 tones. JM4 Looper features over 100 Endless Jam tracks and drum grooves in more than 10 styles performed by top LA and Nashville session players. These tracks are not rigid and robotic; these are actual recordings laid down by A-list drummers, bass players and guitarists. The real-world chemistry from these dynamic rhythm sections is here for you to explore your creativity in writing songs, trying out solo ideas or just honing your chops between gigs. With up to 24 minutes of recording time, and storage for up to 100 recorded jams, JM4 Looper lets you capture all your riffs and musical ideas. Plus, store more jams, export your jams to your computer's recording software and post jams online all through the SD card slot. The looper has dedicated footswitches for Record/Overdub, Play/Stop, Half Speed and Undo for super-easy practicing, songwriting and creation of an entire backing band on the fly. Layer guitar tracks, bass tracks, keyboards-even vocals with the balanced XLR microphone input. Complete with a comprehensive collection of brilliant modern and historic guitar tones, JM4 Looper gives you access to 200+ artist-created presets, 150+ song-based presets, 12 Line 6 amp models and a stunning array of effects for guitar and vocals. There's even room for 36 presets of your own creation. AmericanMusical.com is an authorized dealer of Line 6 products.

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Zoom B2 Bass Multi Effects Pedal Review

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(More customer reviews)I've been playing bass for twenty years. I've used a number of effects boards/pedals and I have to say I've been very impressed with the Zoom B2. The metal construction gives it a solid dependable feel when you take it out of the box. It just seems like it will survive on stage, unlike many of its plastic counterparts (including earlier zoom pedals).
It sounds awsome. I was not dissapointed. The effects are top notch. There are great presets that sound good as soon as you plug in. And of course there are many that are way over the top to the point I would consider them unusable, but if you dial back some of the more exotic effects you can get some very nice sounds. The amp/cabinet sims give a nice varity of tones and I like the compressor and chorus effects.
I was most skeptical of the built in drum machine and honestly I almost didn't buy the pedal because of this feature. It seemed so gimmicky and cheesey to put a drum machine in a bass pedal. I have to confess I love it. I dialed up a nice beat and just started jamming with it. It's a superb practice tool. The sounds and the beats are not cheesey at all.
I read other reviews from other forums and some people noted that its kind of hard to put it in bypass/tune mode. You have to hit both pedals at the same time. Unless you have very small feet (mine are size 9) or play barefoot, I can't see how this could be a problem.
So far I can't find anything I don't like about this pedal.

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Line 6 POD Studio KB37 Review

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(More customer reviews)I'm new to creating music on a computer, and my research, along with tons of positive reviews from others, led me to the POD Studio KB37 as a good all-purpose starting point. In terms of flexibility, this package is very hard to beat. The built-in inputs and mic preamps let you record just about anything, from guitar/bass and other electric instruments to vocals and acoustic instruments (using your own mic, of course). For these uses alone, the KB37 is a great way to get sound into your computer with minimum headaches. Simply connect the KB37 to your computer with a single USB cable. It's USB-powered, so you don't even have to plug it into a power outlet.
The hardware's MIDI keyboard and control surface open up a whole new dimension. They allow you to add keyboard parts and adjust some software parameters via real-world knobs and buttons; this is much faster than clicking and dragging onscreen "virtual" controls.
The included software package reveals the KB37's full potential, transforming an otherwise great product into an incredible bargain. Sure, the Reason Adapted (synth, sampler, sequencer, and effects) and Ableton Live (multitrack recording) software are the "lite" versions of these programs, but even so, they're very versatile and powerful. If you're fairly new to DAW software, trust me, even the lite version of Reason is pretty incredible -- you'll get a lot of use out of it. It includes tons of sampled real-world instruments, fully functional and tweakable soft synths, drum machine, sequencer, effects, and a lot more. It takes quite a while to explore its impressive capabilities. Once you do, you'll know whether you want to upgrade to the full version, which is available at a discounted price. But again, the lite verion will be plenty for many users.
Finally, you get Line 6's POD Farm software, which gives you an arsenal of stompbox and rack effects for guitar, bass, vocals, and just about anything else. On top of that, it includes amp, cab, and mic preamp modeling. You get everything that most guitar multi-effects units provide and then some. Because it runs on your computer, naming and saving patches is quicker and easier than stand-alone multi-effects units, and you can save as many custom patches as you like. And, unlike stand-alone units, POD Farm is expandable. Line 6 claims that the KB37 allows you to monitor your tone, complete with effects, without a latency problem (a lag between playing a note and hearing the output). This is not an empty promise. On my modest laptop, which runs Windows Vista on an Intel Core 2 Duo T5550 (1.83GHz) with 3GB of RAM, I experience zero latency problems.
All told, for the price of one guitar multi-effects unit, you get everything you need to start a home studio. If you're a full-time keyboard player, this package probably isn't aimed at you. As its name suggests, the KB37's keyboard has only 37 keys. So, there are probably better MIDI keyboard controllers out there for you. Plus, as a keyboard specialist, you'd most likely want a full version of whatever synth software you prefer. On the other hand, if you play guitar or bass and you want all the building blocks for tweaking your tone, adding vocals, effects, *and* getting your feet wet with powerful synths, sampling, and multitrack recording, here it is for a laughably low price.


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