I’m not going gripe about Line 6′s choice of inexpensive switches here. With 15 switches on-board, I’m sure this was a practical production and economical manufacturing choice on Line 6′s part that ultimately kept the M13 cheap enough for the average musician to buy. I get it. Plus, once you start poking around inside, I think you’ll have a new found respect for the engineers and designers that were involved in bringing an FX unit like the M13 to market. It’s pretty impressive work.

This tutorial will guide you, step by step, on how to replace the stock Line 6 foot switches (which are actually circuit board-mounted tactile switches) with rugged soft-touch momentary switches. This mod is not for the faint of heart or for those looking for a quick and easy fix. You’ll need to have the right tools and some solid skills with a soldering iron to pull this off. Be forewarned, there is no turning back once you start drilling holes for the new foot switches. This mod is non-reversible and there is always a chance that you will totally screw something up. Proceed with extreme caution, and please don’t come crying or complaining when you have messed something up.

Truth be told, if I had to do this all over again, I would have simply boxed my M13 up and sent it off to established and experienced Line 6 modders like John Vaughn at JHV3.Com or Jim Rodgers with R3FX.Com. From anywhere between $120-135, they will do this particular mod for you. By the time you factor in the cost of the actual switches and their labor, that’s a fantastic deal. Plus, there are a few other handy mods they can add while they have the unit open. Stuff like Tap-Tempo jacks and Dual Preset options. Well worth looking into – trust me.

But, for those of you that have obsessive need to doing something on your own, let’s get started.

First off, here’s a run down on the tools and parts you will need.

Phillips Screwdriver, Metal File (Fine), Adjustable Cresent Wrench, Allen or Hex Wrenches, Wire snips (or Wire Stripper) and Needle Nose Pliers.

Desoldering Gun (or Desoldering Braid), Soldering Iron (with medium or fine tip) and a Hot Glue Gun (not pictured).

Solder or soldering wire.

Electric Drill.

Assorted Drill Bits (For Metal).

22AWG or 28AWG Solid or Multi-Strand Wire

The switches we’ll be using to replace the stock Line 6 ones are Momentary NO SPST “Soft-Touch” (Soft-Touch Normally Open). I ordered 15 of these from the fine folks over at Small Bear Electronics. As of this post they were around $3.95 a piece. They have a nice solid feel and are really quiet compared to most of the 3PDT switches you’ll find on boutique true-bypass stomp boxes. The direct link to their ordering page can be found HERE.

Now onto the mod itself…

Remove the back panel. Pull out your handy Phillips Screwdriver and unscrew the 8 screws shown.

Next, remove the two screws on the backside of the unit. From there, the back panel will come loose by sliding to either side to free it from the main frame.

While we are working on the back of the M13, let’s pull out our adjustable Crescent Wrench and take off the nuts for all the input, output, fx loop and expression pedal jacks.

Moving to the top of the M13, gently pull off the parameter control knobs. Most of these with come off easily with your fingers but a few may need some encouragement from your needle nose pliers.

Now that the back panel is off, we can start removing the M13′s internal circuit boards and carefully set them aside. With all the holes we will be drilling, there will be ample amounts of metal shavings flying about. We don’t want any of these bits lodging into our sensitive electronics and harming them.

The upper, middle and lower foot switch circuit boards are held in place by three plastic snaps by each of the 15 individual switches. Take your time here! Slowly pull the circuit board upward while flexing the three plastic pieces away from their respective square cutouts with your fingers or a screwdriver. Work you way from one side of the board to the other until all five switches are free.

Here’s a shot of one of the mount sections for one of the switches. These three square cutouts are where the plastic part of the foot switch clasps to.

And here a close-up shot the three plastic uprights that poke through these 3 square cutouts:

The main upper circuit board is secured by 8 screws. Remove these.

Slowly wiggle the Power Switch cables side to side until they come loose. Take note of the upper and lower placement of the cables. My M13 had a white cable on top and the black one on the bottom.

Here’s a close-up shot of the Power Cables removed.

Once the upper board is free, carefully fold it back to make room for access to the lower board. This is the board that contains all the potentiometers and four displays. Use your Phillips Screwdriver to remove the 6 screws and then use a Crescent Wrench to take off the two metal standoffs.

At this point, the circuit boards should be set aside. All of the boards are all held together by ribbon cables. There is no need to separate them.

Now that the circuit boards have been removed, we can start working on the actual switches. These are held in place by a single nut and hex-topped bolt. Bust out your Allen or Hex Wrench set, find the appropriate sized wrench and start unscrewing them from the top. If they seem to be spinning freely, reach around the inside with your Crescent Wrench and hold the nut in place.

Here’s the placement of the Hex Nut:

Once all 15 foot switches are removed, we’ll need to pull out the old actuators. This is accomplished by taking off a small locking clip on the back of the assembly. Use your needle nose pliers to pull these clips off.

With the lock clip removed, you will be able to pull the switch actuator through the chrome mount. The switch has two springs and small rubber pad attached to it. Here’s a shot of all the old switches. You can toss these since you won’t be needing these anymore…

The plastic LED/Mount pieces that rest in the Chrome Switch Mounts can now be selectively clipped. Clip the 3 mount pieces along with the two extra supports flush with the base of the plastic mount. Leave the two cylindrical pieces alone since I think they help carry light from the board mounted LEDs to the status part of the switches. Just a theory…

Here’s the underside of the chrome switch mount and our newly clipped plastic piece put back together.

Next step is to re-attach all of the 15 chrome mounts (with their respective plastic pieces) back onto the M13 chassis. This will make drilling the holes for the new Momentary Switches a lot easier. You can see that a few of the new holes are already drilled out in this picture.

Grab your trusty Power Drill and load up a 15/32 metal bit. Get your angle lined up and start drilling. Let the drill bit do all the work and take your time! The metal on the chrome mounts appears to be aluminum so you don’t need to apply that much pressure to drill out the hole. Once you’ve drilled out the holes test fit your Momentary Switches. If they are too tight, simply work your bit in and out of the hole with the drill at half speed.

Here’s a shot of one the newly drilled holes. The hole is drilled out, but it’s not exactly a pretty sight. There is still a bit of excess metal poking up which we will need to file off using our fine metal file.

Here is our switch mount filed flat. After blowing away all the filings, it will be ready to insert the new Momentary Switches into.

Now it’s time to install all 15 of our new Momentary Switches. These switches come with two nuts and a washer. The lower nut serves as height adjustment for the switch. Because of the limited space within the M13 – especially on the lower front row – I chose to remove the lower nut entirely and let the underside of the switch itself rest flat for mounting. This worked out well, and the switches are the perfect height once installed.

Here’s a exterior shot of the new switches installed.

And a full shot from the interior. I chose to install the switches with the solder points facing left (right when flipped upright) but it doesn’t really matter.

Now that our switches are installed, it’s time to fire up the desoldering iron to remove the stock tactile switches on the three foot switch circuit boards. If you don’t have access to a desoldering gun, use desoldering braid. Both work really well. On occasion, I use a combination of both the gun and the braid to pull solder from boards and/or parts. Each of the 15 tactile switches are mounted via four legs. Suck or draw out the solder on each of these and gently lift the old switch from the boards. If the switches prove to be a little stubborn, use a small screwdriver to pry the switches while desoldering or applying heat from a soldering iron.

Here’s a shot of the old tactile switches ready for the trash can.

Grab your wire and we’ll begin making the connections from the switches to the foot switch circuit boards. I used two different colors for my wire just to keep things things straight. Cut about 6-8 inches of wire for each connection. Strip around 3/8″ of plastic to reveal the wire. Use your needle nose pliers to form a hook on the stripped end. Attached and solder your wire to the solder mounts on the Momentary Switches. It doesn’t matter which color goes where as long as you stay consistent for each switch. I went with grey on the bottom and white on the top.

Position the circuit board into place to figure out how much wire you will need to reach the old tactile holes. You need to leave enough room for to move these into place. Cut your wires extra long on the first switches and figure out the length that works for you.

Note the wiring hookup/layout: White wire to the upper right circuit board hole, grey to the lower left hole. Repeat this for all 15 switches.

The lower row of foot switches and circuit board require some extra attention due to the space constraints. We’ll need to make as much room as possible for everything to fit properly. First step is to clip our foot switch wires and file down the solder joints on the underside of the board. Take your time while filing and make sure to kept your file nice and level to avoid ruining any leads on the board.

Next step is to drill out 3 holes in the circuit board that interfere with the bottom panel holes. Line up the lower board using the 3 old plastic switch holes as a guide to place the lower board over the new switches. Mark the holes with a thin sharpie marker. pull the board back out and then drill out the new holes on the circuit board. Eye the board to make sure you aren’t drilling through any circuit leads. There is actually a decent amount of distance between the new holes and any circuitry but double check anyway. Choose a drill bit that is slight bigger than the existing chassis hole. Remember, we are only drilling out the circuit board holes, NOT the holes in the main chassis. We are just making room for the chassis screws to pass through so they can secure the back panel.

Here’s the newly drilled hole in the circuit board:

Next step is to place some electrical tape over the lower row of foot switch solder joints. I doubt there are any points of contact that could short them out but I played it safe anyway.

This lower foot switch circuit board has one more item soldered to it that has a some clearance issues: the Ribbon Cable Mount. In order to minimize stress on the circuit board once the back panel is in place, we’ll need to file a decent amount of plastic off of it to give us ample room. In the process of taking off so much of the plastic material, the side snaps that hold the ribbon in place may become loose or fall off entirely. Use your hot glue gun and apply a few dabs of melted glue to the edges to prevent any connection problems. Here’s a shot of my filed ribbon snap before adding the hot glue.

Since the all three foot switch circuit boards were originally held in place by the clear plastic switch foot switch standoffs that we snipped and drilled through, we now need a way to secure these. I had originally thought of using velcro tabs, but stumbled upon a 3M product called Extreme Mounting Tape while browsing the aisles of my local hardware store. This stuff claims to be able to hold up 20 pounds of weight – a full mailbox in the example. It’s not exactly cheap at almost 10 bucks but I decided to give it a shot.

Without question, this stuff works as advertised. Not only is it two-sided, ultra sticky and thinner than velcro tabs, it’s also very easy to cut into small rectangles which perfect for the backs of our new Momentary Switches. Once you have the tape on the Momentary Switches carefully line up the circuit boards with the switch and rest them in place. The Extreme Mounting Tape is super sticky so make sure you take the time to align things properly. I used the three square cutouts in the circuit board to eyeball my position – relative to the switch below. Take extra care in lining up the lower board and don’t forget about the circuit board holes we drilled earlier. Those need to be lined up as well. Here’s a shot of the Extreme Tape along with the placement of said tape on a few of the switches:

Now it’s time to put the lower display board and main board back into place with their respective screws and metal standoffs. I also added some small zip ties to all the foot switch wires to get them nice and tidy.

Before we put the bottom panel back on, now is a great time to test all your new switches!

Hopefully all your switches work! After testing all your foot switch-related functions, it’s time to put the rest of the M13 back together! Refer to the earlier disassembly steps and photos and reverse the process.

Without question, the new switches are huge improvement over the stock versions. Not only in terms of overall quality and feel, but also in the all important category of reliability. I’ll admit this isn’t the easiest mod in the world, but it’s definitely one of the most rewarding I’ve ever tackled.

As always, if you have anything to add to this tutorial, please feel free to post something in the comment section. I’d like to fine tune this M13 Mod Tutorial since it is so extensive and somewhat involved. Hopefully, I haven’t skipped a major step along the way that leaves you hanging. That said, we can’t offer tech support on this. You are more than welcome to post your troubles, just don’t expect a quick response. As with most things in life, you are on your own.

Bands such as My Bloody Valentine, Cocteau Twins, The House of Love, Curve, Ride, Slowdive and Chapterhouse and their blurred and blown-out reverberated tones are having a massive impact of nearly every genre of music today. Whether you make the connection or not, these sounds are now slathered all over dance music, indie-rock, post-rock, pop and even modern metal – as well as the recent revival of shoegaze itself.

FX builders have gotten hip to this resurgence of more ambient-minded players. So much so that features that were unexpectedly exploited on early FX units – mostly reverb – are now commonplace parameters.

One parameter that saw a lot of action back in the day was the reverb mix. While normally reserved for creating a sensible and balanced mix between wet and dry signals, dialing in a 100% wet reverb sound could create a shifting bed of synth-like washes that basically turned guitars into nothing more than simple tone generators.

Well, the Neunaber Wet Mono Reverb certainly lives up to its namesake by taking this mix feature and seemingly centering an entire pedal around it. While we quickly discovered the Neunaber is infinitely capable of so much more than gobs of ambient bliss, we always ended up going back to that addictive depth knob and pegging it to max.

Sound-wise, the Wet’s 100% full-on reverb is lush, sparkly and downright beautiful. Even with a wall of atmospherics cascading through your rig, picking dynamics are still skillfully retained – which is remarkable for a pedal that unapologetically engulfs your sound. There is also no apparent volume loss when taking the pedal into these extremes (a problem that plagues almost every stomp box with a mix feature). The near endless decay of the Neunaber has subtle hints of the classic Alesis Quadraverb plate setting, but without all the noise and hiss (not to mention a gazillion menu screens!). That said, there is nothing copycat or retro sounding about the Neunaber, it has a modern sound all its own… think of a perfectly fluid mix of a Hall and Plate reverb.

The Wet’s two knobs might seem limiting at first, but the unit’s multi-faceted sound is so well-developed that finding that perfect depth of color is accomplished very quicky and very easily. There is a ton of interaction to be had between these well-placed depth and mix knobs; small tweaks yield a wide and wonderful range of results.  What I was expecting while twiddling these controls – more or less – was uh, more or less of the same sound albeit in different amounts. This couldn’t be further from the truth as there seems to be some kind of magical morphing taking place deep within the digital algorithms of the device.

Backing off the mix and increasing the depth knob yields very convincing small room-type sounds that are super tight and totally worthy of something you’d hear coming out of Sun Studios back in the day. I’m talking about the actual room and not Scotty Moore’s reverb tones, you’ll need to look elsewhere for those springy-sproingy sounds. Keep increasing the mix and slowly backing off the depth can create a hi-fi hall vibe that could sit nicely in just about any studio or stage mix. It’s ultra smooth and slick without being sterile – think of 80s or 90s studio reverbs but with a TON of soul.

The Neunaber Wet Mono Reverb is really at the forefront of a new generation of digital devices that sound so amazing that the whole analog vs. digital argument seems tired and pointless. With a pedal like this, it’s less about the circuitry inside and more about the cool sounds that make their way to your amp.

Right off the launch pad, we noticed the massive amounts of boost the Saturn V had on tap: 18db to be exact. Combine that with the gain knob and you’re dealing with nearly 35db of combined volume! Those looking for an absolutely pure, uncolored clean boost might want to go elsewhere, because the Saturn V oozes with personality. How much of that personality you want to surface depends – to a huge extent – on your pickups and volume settings. With the Saturn’s gain backed off and the boost at 50%, single coils barely bubble with a bit of passive-aggressiveness while humbuckers easily cross over the clean line and start getting tough and testy. Nothing terribly aggressive or downright nasty, but you definitely get the sense that an underlying well of pent-up grit is ready and waiting for your next power chord. It’s like that shy kid that you never want to mess with because he might go from a friendly high five to a punch-in-the-face in a matter of moments.

Speaking of power chords, the Saturn makes them absolutely sparkle. The top end can be energetic and edgy but never shrill or slashing. There is a ton of harmonic content going on here that magically captures that late 60s open chord craziness of bands like The Who, Led Zeppelin and The Animals. The overall tone is warm, rich and surprisingly punchy with a touch of treble tearing through the mix for a balanced blend of clean and discernible dirt.

Giving the gain knob a little goose is where the situation starts to get very interesting. Hints of grit start to creep into the mix along with a very open and pronounced valve-like roar. It’s almost as though the bass, mids and treble expand and widen to let elements of overdrive, distortion and fuzz creep through. The transition into this rockin’ realm sounds natural with no unusual artifacts introduced. This is where the Saturn starts getting very selective about pickup position and overall guitar volume. With enough experimentation, you will also find the V molding and shaping your normally predictable amp sounds into something very schizophrenic. Our little 1×12 solid state Roland Jazz Chorus actually began to sound very Vox-like, while the old Blackface Princeton took on some very Marshall-esque glassiness. Very weird, very welcomed and very rewarding – IF you spend enough time tweaking. I can see a ton of timid bedroom – or retired – amps being call back into action by the Harmonic Booster.

I can also see many fans in their respective Overdrive, Distortion and Fuzz camps finding something to appreciate here. Overdrive nuts will find the unit’s crispiness a welcome tonal treat after years of stomping hazy mid-range heavy screamers, distortion lovers will dig the dynamics after dealing with compressed and dimensionally challenged DS-type boxes and fuzz nuts will love something that is less squirrelly but with all that recognizable woolyness. While there is a noticeable nod to 1960s treble boosters going on here, the Saturn V’s scope can cover a wide range of genres and bygone eras. Aside from the bands mentioned above, I was able to mimic everything from the chord-heavy crunch of Oasis to the sludgy stoner buzz of Queens of the Stone Age. Pretty cool!

I have to admit that the Spaceman line initially caught my attention on looks alone. Shallow, I know, but that cool, clean, classic Apollo-era space age imagery is indelibly imprinted on my brain after being glued to the TV for many of those historic launches – not to mention the countless grade school “space age” book reports that followed. It’s glaringly obvious that a ton of time and thought went into creating the design-savvy elements that make up the Saturn V. One glance at the lovely polished housing, the unique vinyl etched face plate, large jeweled LED, hand-stamped/screened serial plate and the slick and shiny control knobs leaves little doubt that there is whole lot of passion – if not a full-blown obsession – behind the Spaceman gear.

As expected this same incredible attention to detail carries over into the impeccable interior of the unit. Not a single thing is out of place. The mirrored circuit board looks lovely and the mini constellation of etched stars scattered about are a nice touch. The stellar soldering work and the neat and tidy wiring is worthy of a NASA clean room inspection. Did I mention the super small silk-screened planet (Saturn of course!) and stars on the 9-Volt battery clip? The internal mount for it? Right on!

The word “boutique” has been bandied about quite freely in gear circles the past 20 years. Sadly, the term has almost become blurred and abused to the point of being utterly meaningless. The Spaceman line sets a new, and very high, bar for what that word actually means. Not only does the Saturn V sound incredible, but its expert craftsmanship and impeccable design border on high art.

It’s a rare and wonderful thing when a pedal can be velcro’d to your pedal board for a gig one night and then plugged into a pricey recording console as a top-notch piece of outboard gear the next. This might seem to good to be true, but the RM58 Limiter isn’t your normal pedal and Roger Mayer isn’t your normal gear-maker.

Most effects nuts are well aware of Roger’s history in hand-crafting some of Jimi Hendrix’s legendary stompboxes, but few know that his groundbreaking studio gear has left a lasting sonic stamp on many influential records. Not only was the original rack mount two channel RM58 used for tracking in most of the major studios of those days (Record Plant, Hit Factory, Electric Lady and A&R Studios), it was also used to master hit records at many of the major labels.

The new Roger Mayer RM58 Limiter pedal is a revamped – and obviously rehoused – single channel version of the original rack-mount stereo RM58. Staying true to the vintage unit’s look and feel, the pedal has that same subtle utilitarian layout and clean understated graphics. It’s ultra-easy on the eyes in a cool, classic 1960s NASA kind of way. The VU meter is the real standout here and its highly visible placement in the upper left corner aids in dialing up the right sound quickly and efficiently. Why more dynamic pedals aren’t all over this VU thing is beyond me.

Along with a single stomp switch and accompanying on/off LED, the RM58 has a staggered set of four well-placed chicken head control knobs that tackle the standard compressor/limiter duties of Attack, Threshold, Release and Output. The Attack and Release knobs click noticeably through six well-voiced settings that adapted admirably to anything we could push through the box. I’ll admit that anything with set parameters usually makes me cringe but never – at any time – did I feel like I was being limited (no pun intended) or held back here. In fact, it made the job of focusing on getting a great tone that much easier. Roger has obviously taken years of studio experience to come up with real world parameters that work, and work very quickly. The Threshold has a very wide and responsive range and the powerful Output section more than made up for any gain reduction we threw at it. When pushed past unity gain, the RM58 has more than enough headroom to make this a terrific booster for driving amps into overdriven bliss or giving any signal that extra kick in the pants.

With so much well-deserved hype – and hefty collector prices – surrounding the hard-to-find original, this pedal version has a lot to live up to. I’m happy to report that the new RM58 is nothing short of amazing in terms of sound and versatility.

Plugging a Fender Telecaster into -10dBV side of the RM and running out to an old Fender Princeton delivered up some of the best spankin’ country-esque tones I’ve ever pulled out of this already capable rig. It’s hard to top the time-tested tonal combo of a Tele into a Blackface Fender, but the RM58 somehow added that extra bit of sparkle and delightful definition that every clean player is constantly chasing. A super sharp attack (setting one) and fast release (setting one or two) is downright perfect for those Nashville-guys trying to capture that classic chicken-picking thing. I’m sure Rockabillies, Jazzers and Indie Rock strummers will find something to love in this range with a little Threshold tinkering. For even more relaxed tones – both picked and strummed – we flicked the Attack and Release knobs into the 3, 4 and 5 presets and found plenty of smooth punch, added thickness and dimensional richness.

For more rock tones, I grabbed a humbucker-equipped Gibson ES-335, an old Marshall Guv’Nor overdrive pedal, and plugged into a British-inspired tube amp. Placing the RM58 before the Guv’nor really harnessed and focused the crunch. There is an in-your-face quality that this limiter imparts on your sound that makes everything in your chain feel – and sound – way heavier. The low end tightens without becoming wooly. Basically the bass frequencies never engulf your sound, they just rise enough to make everything sound more natural and balanced. Same goes for the mid and top end; it’s there, but never to the level of imbalance or wild exaggeration. Placing the RM58 after the distortion yielded a smoother sound that was cool but a little too tame for my tastes. Swapping out the Guv’nor for other classic – and soon-to-be classic – dirt boxes like the Ibanez TS-9, Boss DS-1, Banzai Cold Fusion and the Devi Ever- FX Shoegazer all yielded amazing results.

Busting out a Jazz-type lawsuit-era bass guitar and plugging into the RM58 impressed us just as much. Whatever style of low end love we pushed through the RM58, it always enhanced the tone while presenting a welcome and solid punch. As expected, it delivered more definition while never taking away any musicality.

Hooking up the RM58 into the studio environment is where the unit’s relatively hefty price tag starts to make more sense. The +4dVB input and output connections make for worry-free interfacing and the ample headroom ensures plenty of signal strength makes its way into your recording medium of choice.

My choice, along with most others these days, is digital; and to be more specific: Cubase, Ableton Live or Logic. With the RM58 hooked up and dialed in, I found that the struggle to get a slamming hot signal into the digital realm was over. Now, I love software compression and limiter plugins and have used them to great effect in the past, but strapping them onto channel post-tracking has always been a constant battle and/or time-consuming challenge, especially if you want – and need – that up-front-and-center sound.

LIke a ton of would-be engineers, I’ve always ended up resorting to a very heavy hand on the EQ knobs in order to push sounds to the edge of the speaker, when all I really needed to do was to tame my dynamics right from the get-go with an outboard limiter on the front end. Not only were my peaks and valleys easier to manage with the RM58 at the initial tracking stage, but I found that when it came time for mixing, placing instruments in the stereo spectrum was a breeze. After a few months of recording with the RM58, I actually relied less and less on EQ because I knew what I was printing to “tape” right from the start. Spending less time “fixing it in the mix” is liberating. Mixing became less and less of a chore. This not only translated into a better finished product (and way less ear fatigue), but I actually had a blast doing it. And that’s really what it’s all about isn’t it?

So, what did I run through the RM58 in the studio? Just about everything! Let’s see: Kick drums, snare drums, vocals of all kinds, guitars (of course), bass, percussion, synths and keys. All logged some time on the RM58 and all of them were better because of it.

This might seem like an over-the-top gush of a review, but that’s only because it is. I absolutely love this thing. My only valid complaint with the Roger Mayer RM58, is that I don’t have two of them. Whether you are rocking under the bright lights onstage or huddled in a darkened studio twiddling knobs, the RM58 is a wonderfully valuable and incredibly capable device.

So, how does the 50/50 sound? In short, freaking fantastic! Our first test excursion involved plugging in a Telecaster Custom and Gibson ES-335 directly into an old Silvertone Twin-Twelve and an even older blackface Fender Princeton while swapping out – and comparing – the 50/50 to every guitar cable we had at our disposal (and believe me, after trying the Divine Noise stuff we will be – quite literally – disposing of a few of them). In our cable arsenal was everything from local music shop budget varieties and hand-made Mogami/Neutrik combos to the pricier George Ls and Monster cables. Stacked up against the local budget cables, the Divine Noise 50/50 simply blew the competition away. The clarity and presence, combined with a robust low-end and nicely rounded top-end, made it very clear what we had been missing, tone-wise, all these years. Taking it a step further, we started pushing the signal through our familiar and well-loved pedal collection. Man, was this an ear-opener! Not only did we hear subtle nuances that were altogether surprising, we also found ourselves adjusting stomp box settings that hadn’t been moved in years. Bringing these old stomp box favorites to new heights with a simple guitar cable was definitely the highlight of the session. Busting out the 50/50 against the “boutique” brands wasn’t as clear cut to our ears as going up against the budget brands, but we could still hear a slight difference that we perceived as a slightly richer and more robust sound. Is the difference worth chucking all of your high-end cables that cost you a full paycheck? Probably not. But what does stand out here is the build quality and workmanship – it’s really a step ahead and will determine what I will buy for future cable purchases. These things are built to last. In all but the very extreme instances of abuse (that would probably reside outside the realm of music-making anyway), I could never see this cable failing. Gil must share this same sentiment since all Divine Noise cables come with a life-time repair or replacement guarantee.

The final – and the most gratifying – test involved recording directly into my home studio interface with the 50/50 via the HI-Z input. This is where we could hear the components and quality of the cable really pay off. Direct guitar sounds are never my first choice, but when treated with today’s excellent amp simulations – and combined with mic’ed amps – they certainly have their place. Soloing our 50/50 cable track we could hear a thickness and a realness that was lacking in all the other cables we tried. Gone were the paper thin or wooly tones we were so used to, replaced with a usable sound that enhanced and supported the other guitar tracks without spending an hour tweaking virtual EQ knobs.

I was thoroughly impressed with the Divine Noise 50/50 from end-to-end and am thrilled to see Gil Divine going head-to-head with the big boys in the instrument cable world.

MSRP:$70.50
Website:www.thedivinenoise.com

A very collectible sampling/looper pedal from the late 80s. As with all the PDS series of pedals, two separate footswitches perform bypass and repeat/sampling functions. It’s a simple process: step on the right pedal to engage the delay and then step on the left pedal to allow the delay to repeat continuously. This is lo-fi looping at it’s finest. Timing a perfect loop is fairly tricky since there is no indication of when the loop is closing, but a little practice cures that. The PDS also allows you to pitch-shift your loops with a simple turn of the delay knob. This is an amazing way to create all sorts of insane textures. Unfortunately, it’s a feature sadly lacking in newer releases like the Digitech JamMan and Boss Loop Station. Soundwise, the PDS’s 12-bit resolution has a very warm analog-like quality that you just can’t find in any modern delays.