Line 6 JM4 Review

Summary

• Pros: The Line 6 JM4 has an extensive library of live recorded backing tracks to jam with, as well as easy-to-use looping and the functionality of an effects pedal.
• Cons: Doesn’t have a great sound, and only simplistic looping functions compared to other loopers on the market.
• Overall: A good option if you’re looking for a jamming companion, but if you’re serious about looping, it may be worth checking out a more advanced pedal.

Check Current Price

• Amazon: Line 6 JM4 Looper

Line 6 JM4 Review

The time has come for us to loop again. Plug in your guitar, crank yourself out a backing track, and then let loose with an over-the-top solo, crowned with a decadent look of smug satisfaction. Looping truly brings out the musician in you, perhaps because looping is so intrinsically linked to music. Repeating sections stick in your mind, and as you soon remember the part, you feel more comfortable with the song, and ultimately may feel like joining in and engaging with it. In this sense, looping parts, or at least repeated parts, are an integral part of music itself.

So there’s no wonder that looping pedals have become some of the best selling pedals of all time. In a simplistic way, they allow you to create songs, because of the basic musical rule that repetition works. Of course, what makes loopers great is the ability to take that basic, repeating part, the bare skeleton of music, and flesh it out however you please. For more info on looping, click here.

Line-6, whose amps are favored by such guitarists as James Hetfield, Mick Thomson and Tony Iommi, present us with their prized looping machine, the JM4. It offers 24-minutes of onboard recording time. You can also increase its memory by adding up to a 2GB SD card. Thus, the JM4 could give you around 6 1/2 hours of recorded jamming. Not a paltry amount, I’m sure you’d agree. Plus, you can move the files from the SD card to your computer, which means you have basically unlimited memory.

Looping with the Line 6 JM4

The JM4 has a good set-up for basic looping. The four footswitches provide everything you really need. The left pedal is to record or overdub. The middle left is play or stop. The middle right is to undo, which you can hold to clear the loop. And the far right is the mode footswitch, which you use to change the operations performed by the other footswitches. Getting started shouldn’t be too difficult. All you need to do is tap the record button and let her rip. Tap the pedal again when you want your first section to to start looping. Then you’re free to jam over the loop and/or overdub to your heart’s content.

Onboard Effects and Amp Models

Therein lies the basis of the looper, but the JM4 is certainly not just a looper. It has built in guitar effects as well. You have a typical Line 6 choice of ‘Amp Models’ (Clean, Blues, Twang, Crunch, Metal and Insane), which you can then tweak to your liking with the standard amp knobs. You also have a dial for Bass, Mid, Treble, Drive, Reverb, and then a couple knobs dedicated to effects.

The first of these knobs allows you to choose between Chorus/Flanger, Phaser and Tremolo, and the other Delay, Tape Echo and Sweep Echo. You can set each of these at varying levels (each occupying a circumferential third of their dial). You can set the delay and echo timing using the tap button located on the upper half of the unit. These effects can keep you enthralled for hours with just this tiny box, your guitar and lead, and a pair of headphones. It’s literally a portable jamming unit.

Backing Tracks and Drum Patterns

The JM4 can’t just stop there though. There are also a collection of 71 songs and 86 drum patterns for you to play along to. Much more than just MIDI trash, these were actually recorded live by real musicians, and forged into seamless loops. There is a wide choice of song styles, and the quality is phenomenal. Even as a standalone feature, the library of pre-set jam fodder is a great thing to have. Things like this are vital if you aren’t too proficient at creating your own backing. These are also helpful if you just want to get jamming without taking the time to create your own loops.

Along with this, you can also adjust both the key and the tempo of the tracks you load. This gives you total control over the playback of these tracks. And having so many tracks to choose from means that this feature alone could have you entertained for hours, all the while improving your playing, and developing your ear.

A Few Gripes

Unfortunately, the JM4’s dirty little secret is the sound quality of the effects. Say you get your new toy home for the first time, plug in and switch the ‘Amp Model’ dial to any effect you fancy. For example ‘Insane’. After some fumbling around with controls, and ensuring that everything is ready to go, imagine your disappointment when, as your triumphant and powerful hand comes crashing down across the strings, your amp lets out a borderline cheesy version of what you had envisioned.

Line 6 were doing so well too! The JM4 has great features, the amazing idea of jamming to tracks that were recorded live, by real musicians, and a great, user-friendly interface, but unfortunately, it all counts for very little if no-one likes the sound they can get out of the thing. Obviously, the quality of the effects is open to debate. In reality I can’t discount the product solely on the basis of something as subjective as tone. But, plenty of people have voiced their disappointment with the onboard effects. You could, of course, run your own effects into the unit, though this would increase your costs.

Personally, I like the ‘Insane’ setting, which is a ridiculous metal sound. That just suits me just because of my fleeting, tongue-in-cheek interest in metal, though. It gives you some good (If you’re into Zakk Wylde) pinched harmonic sounds, and the heavy distortion is what you’re looking for. Even with this, and the delay effect, which I quite enjoy, I completely agree that, in some ways, there is too much fuzz and the delay effect can easily sound messy.

Conclusion

The main problem with the JM4 is that it is so much more than just a looper. Of course, being more than just a looper seems like a good thing. You buy a looper and get pre-recorded backing tracks and an effects pedal as well.  The problem is that while Line 6 were busy trying to sort out these other aspects, they allowed it to fall into banality when it comes to looping. Boss’s RC-50, for example, will play multiple loops at the same time, each with multiple overdubs, or allow you to switch between them with any of three footswitches. It also fixes your timing if you’re a little off. This is looping technology. The JM4 fails to move forward in this way. Even though there are extra features, I think this dooms the pedal into the realms of mediocrity.

So, the Line 6 JM4 is fraught with sound troubles, and is more of an all-rounder than a dedicated loope. , But, when it comes down to it, you could still spend hours playing with it. Even if the effects aren’t the best, the backing tracks are still super fun to jam with. It may not be perfect, but it’s reasonably priced, powerful, and good fun for home practice.

Where to Buy the Line 6 JM4

• Amazon: Line 6 JM4 Looper

Line 6 JM4 Video