Line 6 DL4 - Still Awesome in 2021?

[@JeffHendricks]

No, *you're* the absolute legend! :) To be fair, the DL4 is legendary on its own, it's basically the pedal that started it all. Super glad you're enjoying it!

[@aaaargl]

When you haven't had your coffee yet, and you are not sure if Leon just did the intro twice :D

[@LeonTodd]

Two videos in one week that I totally stuffed the intro up on!

[@chunkystylemusic]

Great demonstration! Once again, I am reminded to dig deeper into the gear that I have before wanting the next shiny new thing. Thank you!

[@LeonTodd]

Right on!

[@orsoncorson9083]

Buying one of these in USA… now that I’ve seen this video. Thanks for going through it.

[@ChrisMichaelsChicago]

That riff @ 10:13 is wicked as bloody hell!

[@nickersbrowne7019]

Wow thank you mate, I’m just beginning to fall in love with delay and I’m looking for exactly what u showed with the sweep effect, then the looping omg that’s beautiful, it’s funny how the feel of a guitar can inspire different playing and the same applies to the tech we can now attach to it, can’t wait for guitar to arrive into this century, wow

[@peterharvin2775]

That looper! Both of the looper pieces (but especially the first) were just fantastic. Great composition and playing to boot.

[@waynefaircloth3423]

The last couple of times I saw KIng's X live, this is the exact delay that Ty was using. He had an expression pedal attached and was doing all sorts of crazy things with it during some of the "Jam Sessions" in some of the extended versions of some songs like Over My Head and things like that. I was sold completely. I do think that modding it and getting better switches on it seems to be the way to go as many people have remarked that the switches seem to go pretty quickly. Great sounds brotha :-)

[@JeffHendricks]

I've seen this pedal on sooo many pro boards. It's ridiculous how much of a staple it is in the guitar world. But as Leon shows here, it's for good reason. I did have to fix one of the switches on it when I got it originally, it's a sketchy plastic spring/plunger thing. Super easy to replace them with proper buttons though.

[@coreyclark6505]

I’ve seen it on Ty’s board live and in studio videos also.

[@keithmoondaddy]

Hey Leon that was really helpful, thanks! I'm clueless about my DL4 and you just showed me heaps of shite I can mess around with! Stoked

[@LeonTodd]

Cheers!

[@cliftonwright7081]

MY EARS BURNED THROUGH THE AIRWAVES. Your chops are nuts bro! Awesome demo, I might need to try one of these, I really liked the sound of that upbeat swing’n Whitesnake bit.

[@ShineDawg]

Funny enough, I was thinking about this pedal recently. Never owned one, but I've seen tons of em on used gear shelves. I was tempted, but now I'm getting one next time I see one. Delay has become my best friend, my carbon copy is my fav pedal. All the best!

[@LeonTodd]

Carbon Copy is such a great little pedal, loved mine when I had it!

[@ShineDawg]

@@LeonTodd LoL

[@williamdesilva67]

Hell ya I bought this very soon after it came out.. that looper taught me to play lead.. I sold it after a few years and bought it again a few years ago.. I love it

[@stigjohansen9487]

10.05 in the video I got kicked out of my chair! F...ing hell nice od sound. great video man :)

[@noisessential]

I really love the line 6 dl 4 it's amazing how you can create loops, you are doing it great !!!

[@GiacomoRavioli]

I had one of these 23 years ago. Great pedal. Gotta get another.

[@johnnathancordy]

Balls! You beat me to this one!!

[@LeonTodd]

I can't wait to hear you on one! The Looper is so rad

[@johnnathancordy]

@@LeonTodd so you're saying...I have to get one....sigh

[@JeffHendricks]

@@johnnathancordy Keith Williams would approve (probably)

[@johnnathancordy]

@@JeffHendricks yeh on account of Frisell?

[@JeffHendricks]

@@johnnathancordy Whatever works!

[@iresentdoingthis1550]

Leon buy an HX Effects, you'll love it it has ALL the Legacy M-Series effects Green - DL4, MM4, FM4, M13 etc Plus the new Helix effects are Awesome! Josh from JHS is always stressing that all the sought-after 'boutique pedal builders' actually worked / works at Line6. Great demo

[@LeonTodd]

I did an HX demo a few years ago - mental pedal! Been on the look out for a used one just for all this old stuff.

[@iresentdoingthis1550]

@@LeonTodd I know that ability to route legacy & new effects that they just keep adding is nothing short of astounding. I reckon with the advent of the latest Fractal Floor /Quad Cortex ( not knocking Any gear /modeller BTW - More Guitar Music / Guitar Players / Guitar Bands ANY time of the day Please 🙏 🤘 ) but I reckon you could get an HX effects or even an HX Stomp second hand cheaply to get access to the Legacy & Newer Effects. I really think Line6 Shine in the Effect category, besides companies like Digitech ( sadly defunct ) and say EXH, Line 6 seem interested in making wacky but usable effects that are certainly outside the box Try the Glitch Delay & the Euclidean Delay and LOTSA crazy wonderful effects . Fingers crossed for ya. Take Care Brother \m/

[@TheCyberMantis]

A person that already owns an AxeFX3 doesn't need anything else.

[@3DeadDucks]

I have Line 6 M5 that has those same sounds as DL4 (and some other Line 6 pedals) and it sounds amazing. Bought it because it was cheap and I've needed some multifunctional pedal to keep pedalboard small and practical. Ended up loving it. Reverse delay is great. Feedback all the way, trails on and it becomes a micro looper. :) Good sounds don't get outdated no matter the technology used. Design-wise it's outdated: weird power connector, bad ad/da buffers, unnecessary big ... And Line 6 keeps selling them and doesn't even bother to update a power supply.

[@LeonTodd]

I had the M13 (loved it but it broke after having it for a few weeks) and an M5. M5 is an absolute bargain IMO.

[@matthewearl9824]

I still have my dl4. That pedal is legendary. I love the lofi setting

[@dallanby]

Love the intro intro!! Great vid

[@adalbertomejia8791]

I buy a dl4 3 months ago, it is my first delay, I found some presets and some sounds but I didn't find the utility of them, I was regretting buying it... But now with this video you give a now perspective of all the awesome things you can do, thank you Leon :)

[@LeonTodd]

Great to hear! Enjoy it :)

[@randallcarson6636]

I just bought one. I’m trying to get East Bay Ray’s (Dead Kennedys) sound on the song Police Truck. Help please.

[@1bullsprig]

I love that heavy blues influence in your playing. That said, I have a dumb question. When you start playing with a lot of gain and distortion at 10:03 (which sounds great), are you using strictly that pedal or adding distortion from somewhere else?

[@LeonTodd]

External distortion

[@stevenmgyori3826]

" Good Morning LT!" We " Longhairs" are Guilty of " Hairacy!" Pleasantly surprised by this gear! Thanks for sharing Brother and Be Well All!

[@LeonTodd]

Hairacy!!!!!ROFL

[@stevenmgyori3826]

@@LeonTodd " Hah, Hah,Haw!" " Good One Brother!"

[@BRO77TX]

That beginning clean tone was what EVH used for “Can’t Get This Stuff No More” …. (or at least pretty damn close)

[@jupjuck]

Chooon

[@LeonTodd]

Deeeep cut, what a tune!

[@opt123123]

Damn I just went down a rabbit hole

[@yogibexargaming4600]

Oh my god that tone at 14:15

[@massimilianoforlani]

hello! nice sounds!! how you recommend to connect it in effects loop or in front of head/combo?

[@ShineDawg]

Double intro, Jeff is ledge!

[@PeterEgmose]

Hey Leon, thank you very much for a very nice review of the DL4 delay! I'm looking out for one of these, as it sounds great, and is easy to use! At around 9:24, you are showcasing the "Analog with Mod patch", with grease! And that grease was so good! Can I have some more grease please? Can you reveal a little about the "ingredients" of that wonderful sounding "grease". Is it a pedal, amp/ model... ???

[@choochgoon]

Yea, what was that grease?

[@robertmahaney6831]

great rundown and you are a beast however you may have overlooked(most people do) one of the greatest features this pedal has in usage. When you use the continuous controller with this pedal if you have the knobs in one position and cycle the pedal it will remember the knob settings ,say toe down. if you then position the knobs to a different location and cycle the pedal to the opposite ,say heel down , the controller will then become a multidirectional control. Leon kind of poo pooed the reverse delay but when you can stick a note and then roll it into full wet reverse delay as well as come out cleanly in a live situation its a win. I loved my dl4 and regretted selling it in the 90's so i replace it with a flashback fx4..........not even close to as good.

[@dougnorton5204]

Hi Leon- not a multi delay but I bought a Vox Time Machine about 15 years or so ago and love it- haven't bought another delay since :)

[@BParker55]

Dude this vid is so useful thanks man.

[@BParker55]

Btw sick guitar 🤘🏻

[@BParker55]

Also btw some of us peons are still using these. Yea we know they're old 🤣

[@brGbruno]

10:05 what is that distortion pedal? awesome video, man

[@LeonTodd]

I'm using my Axe-Fx for all the main tones

[@timrussellguitar1516]

Line6 is the most bashed manufacturer of great equipment ever. Almost all of their products are great

[@LeonTodd]

DL4 is one of the greatest pedals ever, M series is awesome, POD was revolutionary, Helix family is fantastic - amazing company.

[@wilveale2122]

@@LeonTodd I've been a loyal fan and user of the M13 for about 10 years now, and have only had to replace it once. Everything offered in the DL4 and other pedals from that series are in the M series, plus reverbs, and 12 programmable scenes. It's just a beast of a pedal for the price.

[@preciseaudioblog]

Hey man such a great demo taste and playing as well 👍

[@LeonTodd]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@TheTubeDude]

Such a naturally flowing demo. This guy is really good.

[@LeonTodd]

That's very kind, thanks Larry!

[@josephkingston9252]

Another video on the same unit that I purchased but none of them show you how to plug into the back

[@seventhsealhere]

"Do I need to do the digital delay?" Absolutely! 👍

[@paddymacal]

Cool vid man.

[@JimiSomeMoore]

Leon, excellent review/demo of the DL4. Question - say you select Tape Echo via the Model Selector, are you able to save 3 different settings say short, medium, long delays of this via the A,B & C switches ? Are you then able to select via the Model Selector Tube Echo and save 3 different settings of this via the A,B & C switches ? Following this can you return to Tape Echo via the Model Selector and access the previous saved settings you made ?

[@LeonTodd]

I think it's more like switch A activates a single preset with a single delay type, similarly for the other switches.

[@JimiSomeMoore]

@@LeonTodd Thanks Leon, so for example you select Tape Echo you can save 3 varieties of Tape Echo via switches A, B, C. If you select Tube Echo model you can do the same. If you then go back and select Tape Echo model you access your previously saved settings & so on through each model ?.

[@joebags3322]

I’m surprised no one is talking about it but I’ve had so many problems with this pedal, which is too bad considering how powerful it is. It’s so hard to find conversations about this problem online too which is also weird! I caved and just bought one that will be coming in tomorrow. I’m sure it will malfunction in some way. Will update.

[@TungstenCarlbide]

Reggie Watts is my DL-4 hero... if there were such a thing.

[@JeffHendricks]

Dude's amazing!

[@LeonTodd]

THIS!!!! Dude is a genius.

[@heavybrett-al4082]

That sweep echo sounds very cool, I'm a bit of a phaser fan.

[@kingsecho3351]

Leon would my mxr isobrick power this thing or is it on its own power supply?

[@opt123123]

I still rock the M13 pedal, which I believe has all the DL4 stuff in there!

[@jonathanfrieze8497]

i got the m9 usually i use it for my pedal steel but i wonder how close its delay section is to the original ive sadly never owned a dl4 and im a huge dave knudson fan ive seen minus the bear back in like 03-04. also being a big ian williams from don cab and then battes i got to play the same venue i first saw battles live it was the atlas tour time period and watching him and hearing his writing style had a long lasting impact on my style i dont 2 hand to death but i love very tasteful 2 hand chord play not so much single fast tapping solo runs thats not my thing my biggest influences are probably steve howe robert fripp curtis mayfield ian williams mahavishnu orchstra radiohead godspeed you black emperor mogwai do make say think mastodon but im a multi instrumentalist playing drums banjo mandolin violin cello stand up bass drums synths acordion horns i love sound music is my life i wish i could be more motivated to create again i think to much time alone not having other people to bounce ideas off of or be inspired by because improv has always been one of my strongest traits i play stuff once alot of the time but it will blow peoples mind away its so hard lagistically doing a one man fluid act my goal has always been making soundtracks composing for film but god i want to feel the that feeling of playing music with other people again in a live setting

[@UberDistortion]

Hi Leon, the DL4 MK II is just released, find one from local distb for video demo.. actually it sounds good for vocal, synth & others inst too .! 🤟🤟

[@LeonTodd]

Very keen to try!

[@hannahsmith1099]

what battery do u have in it/ how did u set it up bc rn i can’t figure out how to get it to work!

[@John-vk4gs]

How does the DL4 compare to the Boss DD20. Which is better ? I’m looking at both at the moment

[@LeonTodd]

DD20 is more compact and doesn't need the special L6 power supply. DL4 sucks tone a bit but it's better if you're into glitchy stuff and looping. DD20 is more a "meat and potatoes" delay IMO

[@mikeruddick997]

if you’ve got 3 presets how do you change modes?

[@FranciscBaculea]

What pickups did you use on PRS? Sounds killer!

[@LeonTodd]

Duncan JB/Jazz

[@Ibanizt]

Shawn Lane used it and made some incredible improves with it. Highly recommended for a listen if you like experimental nutjob solos. Nice demonstration by the way!

[@yanossnicklefritz7064]

I'm thinking you have a large amount of pedals and gear that you use for oddball stuff outside of your regular recording and live gear Leon. 😁

[@LeonTodd]

Oh dude, there's some fuuuun stuff!

[@JeffHendricks]

Love Leon's video on the Digitech Timebender. That's a glorious piece of gear.

[@yanossnicklefritz7064]

@@LeonTodd I bet there is. A guitarists playroom with lots of toys. That's so awesome. 👍

[@WADESDAH]

Did you know if there is a difference of tone between the old and the new one please ? Thanks by advance.

[@LeonTodd]

Probably not, I don't think they've changed the way they're made

[@WADESDAH]

@@LeonTodd Thank you !

[@TheCyberMantis]

Let's just take a moment to notice how well his guitar matches the DL4 unit. I'll bet Leon has a guitar in every color of the rainbow. Whatever color effect box he is using, he has a guitar to match it! LoL!

[@LeonTodd]

Hahaha this needs to become a thing

[@TheCyberMantis]

@@LeonTodd In the immortal words of Jean-Luc Picard: "Make it so!"

[@incubrian]

The DL4 will always be awesome in any year

[@elwirahmadi6651]

my DL4 is suddently death just now. well isnot the first time. so i just need to fixed again

[@redcomn]

The awkward repeating yourself at the Intro 🤣

[@PendelSteven]

I still have a Line6 EchoPark, but the line-in has broken off. What can I say? One of those infamous single plugs to connect pedals. Don't ever use those. And well, I can probably let my EchoPark be fixed, but eh.

[@wheresallthezombies]

The DL4 is my all time favorite delay pedal. It sounds so good. It just sucks you can’t change presets via midi

[@coreyclark6505]

Enter the MKII

[@wheresallthezombies]

@@coreyclark6505 I ordered one! Lol

[@Yupppi]

The fun part is looking up who were associated with working at Line6 at the time of DL4. It's pretty ridiculous, certainly names you recognize.

[@timrussellguitar1516]

You couldn’t play bad if you had too. It’s not in you blood. Dude you are an amazing musician. End of discussion

[@nialld2638]

I’m after an echo pro

[@RDamps]

Still a great pedal.

[@alexmurphy5289]

This sounds incredible but mostly it’s your playing

[@LeonTodd]

Too kind mate, thanks for watching :)

[@machine-madedog5059]

The DL4 is the ONLY remaining pedal from its series that's still manufactured.. that says something. The AM4, DM4, FM4, JM4, and MM4 are loooong discontinued.

[@LeonTodd]

I actually didn't know it was still being made! That speaks volumes right there.

[@machine-madedog5059]

@@LeonTodd Unless something just changed (I couldn't find anything to the contrary), it's definitely still in production. The two guitar shops near me regularly replenish their stock of them, and they confirmed they're not NOS. :D

[@JeffHendricks]

@@machine-madedog5059 Can still buy them new, yes. Amazingly.

[@jkf9167]

Of course it is. It's not like 2021 music is better than 2001 music.

[@marcmulhall5146]

Major volume drop so beware using for guitar solos against a live band. Ditched mine for a Timefactor - much better.

[@LeonTodd]

The timefactor was my first really great delay!

[@ayeapprove]

DL4 build quality is really the worst I've seen. The battery clip craps out first, then it's the power jack and then the whole unit will fail eventually. They sounded nice, but that constant fear of it breaking down is insane.

[@BrandonScottSellner]

Couldn’t agree more. I switched to a Boss delay pedal until I heard about the Eventide Timefactor, and haven’t looked back since.

[@LeonTodd]

Shame :( My first delay was a BOSS DD-20 which I still own and which still works a treat. Next was the Timefactor before flipping it to fund a H9.

[@robertkidd6270]

I've had mine since they came out haven't had any problems at all.

[@ayeapprove]

@@robertkidd6270 Must be a lucky line6 customer.

[@robertkidd6270]

@@ayeapprove aye I am lol ...I actually did have to tighten on/off buttons inside and out once but it's been gigged hard for years with no probs.

[@prsdave22]

Bit of a green theme going on here haha

[@preciseaudioblog]

I really don’t think the new version sounds better than this one... anyone?

[@LeonTodd]

I'll probably buy a MK2 when they're available and put them side by side.

[@preciseaudioblog]

@@LeonTodd That sounds fantastic!

[@ENOMIAuk]

Owned both... got rid off the the MKII. The original one has a lot mroe character.

[@preciseaudioblog]

@@ENOMIAuk Wow! That’s crazy! I have the mkI as well. Cheers!

[@wvo2m]

Woah! Less than 1 second in, and I've had to switch off: "legends". Im outta here.