Boss 멀티이펙터 me-50 리뷰 및 동영상모음

[朴慶錄]

몬데씨군이 이 멀티에 관심이 많은 듯하길래.. 그냥 올려봅니다.

친구에겐가 부탁한다더니 구하긴 구했는지? ^^

p.s. 태그로 보기 편하게 올리려고했는데.. HTML태그포함으로 올리면 밑의 글들이 띄어쓰기없이 다 붙어버리네요. 그냥 클릭해서 구경들 하시길.. ;;


http://www.muzix.co.kr/file/item_file/master/378-B.jpg

http://www.dreampaper.net/wmv/me50.wmv


-The ME-50 Guitar Multiple Effects is a floor-based multi-effects processor built with the ruggedness and simplicity of a stompbox. Designed to work with your amplifier, the ME-50 focuses on killer multi-effects (like COSM overdrive and distortion) rather than amp modeling. And dialing in your tone is easy, thanks to dedicated knobs for each effect section, three footswitches and a built-in expression‎ pedal. So if you want great-sounding effects without all the menu surfing, the ME-50 is everything you need.

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작성자 : cmsno1

작성일 : 2003-08-28 오후 3:18:57 조회수 : 588

주제 : 기타, 이펙터 의견수 : 7

제 목 : me - 50 구입기 및 1시간 허접 사용기.
전에 사용하던 멀티 이펙터는 1500g입니다.
원래는 1500g 팔고 다운 그레이드 하려고 했는데..
rp - 50 이나 사야겠다고 생각하고 있었는데..
제 눈에 요놈이 띄었습니다.
me 50이라니 매우 생소했습니다.
me 30까지는 들어봤는데..(물론 me 33도 있습니다.)
사진만으로 봐도 생긴게 이쁘장 하고...ㅎ
푸른 색깔에 크기도 작은것 같고 해서.. 마음이 끌렸습니다.

이 놈을 발견한것은.. 베x로 라는 악기사 인데..
설명이 거의 없었습니다.
그래서 다른 곳을 찾아 보니..
뮤직X스 라는 곳에서 팔고 있더군요.. (엽기적인 리뷰 동영상으로 유명한;)
그곳에도 설명은 자세히 나와 있지 않았습니다.
리뷰 동영상을 봐도.. 조금은 고놈을 짐작할수 있지만.. 확실히 어떤지
확신이 안서는..;;
그래서 고놈을 만져보고 들어보고 사기 위해서 낙원으로 향했습니다.

낙원 2층 부터 3층 까지..
둘러본 결과.. 한놈도 없었습니다.
물어보는 가게 마다.. 고개를 설레 설레..
me 시리즈는 이제 잘 안판다는 실망스런 말만 듣고..
집으로 발길을 돌려야 했습니다.
그리고 그냥 뮤직x스에 주문했습니다.
머 괜찮겠지~ 라는 막연한 기대를 가지고 말이죠.

일단 BOSS 홈페이지에서 정보를 조금 얻어 보았습니다.
COSM(코즘이라고 발음 하더군요)에 규격에서 강력한 드라이브 사운드를 구연했다는.. 대충 그런 글이 눈에 띄더군요.
강력한 드라이브라.. 과연..
1500G의 드라이브나 디스토션 사운드도 왠만큼 강한 편이라고 하죠.
1500G 전에 VAMP를 사용했었는데.. 공간계는 마음에 들었지만..
드라이브가 너무나 약하고 맥아리가 없어서 그게 가장 큰 불만이었죠.
그런데 1500G는 그럭저럭 괜찮은 드라이브, 디스토션 사운드를 구현해 줘서..
매우 잘 써먹었습니다만..
생각에 me 50도 1500g 정도는 되겠지~ 하는 생각을 했습니다.
원체 BOSS의 멀티가 드라이브가 약하다고 들어서..(GT시리즈의 사운드는 사실 들어보질 못했습니다.;;) 조금 걱정이 되긴 했습니다.
드라이브가 강하지 못하면.. 또 다시 팔아 버려야하는 경우가 될수도 있어서..;
일단 사운드 샘플을 들었는데.. 역시나 판가름하기가..;

아무튼 결국 오늘 바로 한 시간 전에 제 집에 배달 왔습니다.

포장을 뜯고 고놈을 보니..
와~~
이쁘다~ 라는 소리가 절로 나옵니다. 매우 주관적이긴 합니다만..
개인적으로 밝은 푸른 색을 좋아해서..
게다가 크기도 뭔가 적당하다 싶은..
크지도 않고 아주 작지도 않고..
(조금 있다가 사진까지 올리겠습니다.)
1500g도 나름대로 괜찮게 생겼지만.. 이놈은 정말 이쁘장합니다.ㅎ
생긴건 사진을 참고 하시고..

1500g와 비교해서 외관을 비교해 보자면...
위에 말씀드린데로 전체적인 크기가 작고.. 대신 아주 조금 두툼합니다.
그리고 페달은 세개 밖에 없습니다. 물론 익스프레션 페달은 달려 있구요.
전반적으로 노브가 상당히 많습니다. 딱 20개 달려 있군요..
액정은 lcd는 아니고.. 단지 숫자만 나오게 되어있습니다.
홈피에는 탱크를 보는 것 같을거다~ 라고 나와 있던데..
정말 단단하고 튼튼하게 생겼습니다.

우선..
1500g와 다르게 온 오프 스위치가 있습니다.
편리하죠. 천오백쥐 사용할때 매번 아답터를 뺐다 꼈다..;;
구차니즘이 발동해서..;;
온 오프 스위치가 있어서 매우 기쁠 정도..;;ㅎㅎ;;

그리고 가장 중요하다고 할수 있는 특징이 있습니다.
멀티플 이펙터 이긴 하지만..
엠프 시뮬이 없습니다.
그렇기 때문에 매우 단촐합니다.
어찌 보면 단조롭다고도 할수 있습니다.
사운드 종류도 다른 멀티에 비해 매우 적습니다.
말하자면...
우리가 주로 사용하는 이펙터들을 그야말로 주루룩 모아 놓았다고 보면 됩니다.
근데 거의 모든 이펙터 라고 생각하시면 되겠습니다.
덕분에 사용은 정말 간단합니다.
단지 그 이펙터를 선택하고 노브로 조절만 해주면 끝입니다.
그리고 뱅크가 상당히 적습니다.
30개의 뱅크가 있는데.
그야말로 딱 사용할 만한 것들만 모아 놓았습니다.
이것은 제가 바라던 그런 멀티플 이펙터라는 것을 의미합니다.
멀티 이펙터를 사용하면서.. 정말 많은 뱅크와 사운드 종류에 혀를 내두르는데
다 쓸모가 없다고 볼수 있죠.
진짜로 사용하는 것은 그것에 5/100 정도..
그정도도 안되기도 하구요.
근데 요놈은 딱 정말 쓸만한 것들만 모아 놓았습니다.
어떤 이에겐 어쩌면 단점이 될수 있지만..
저에겐 아주 큰 장점입니다.
물론 위에 말씀드린데로.. 페달이 세개 밖에 없는 것은
큰 단점이 될수 있습니다...
뱅크 업 다운을 손으로 해야할 테니..;;
하지만.. 세개의 페달이라고 해도 충분히 문제없다고 생각합니다.
그만큼 사운드를 많이 바꾸는 곡을 하게 될것도 아니고..
세가지 사운드 라면 딱 맞지 않나 생각합니다.

사운드..
BOSS 홈페이지에 나와있는 말을 믿지 않았지만..
그것은 저의 오판이었습니다.
드라이브 소리를 들어보고.. 깜짝 놀랐습니다.;;
엄청난 드라이브 량에 놀란것이죠..
1500g의 드라이브는 저리 가랍니다.
그냥도 그정돈데.. 드라이브 판넬에 '버라이에이션'이라는 작은 스위치가 달려있습니다.
그것을 누르면.. 더 엄청난 드라이브 소리를 경험하게 됩니다.
일종의 부스터라고 생각됩니다.
중음이 꽉찬 드라이브까지 구현해 주어서... 앰프가 쩌렁 쩌렁 울립니다.
물론 아직 완벽히 사운드를 모두 들어본것은 아니여서 자세히 말씀드릴수 없으나..
우선 1500g의 드라이브에 비한다면... 상당합니다.. 라는 말밖에..
BOSS 홈페이지에 요놈 만들면서 중점을 둔게 바로 드라이브라더니...
그말이 사실이었습니다.
쩌렁 쩌렁 울리는 드라이블 들으면서.. 놀라고 있다가..
공간계를 들어봤습니다..
아직 셋팅을 잘 못하겠어서..
공간계 쪽은 감이 잘 안옵니다만..
이정도면... 우와 소리 나옵니다.
1500g 사용하면서 가장 마음에 안든것이.. WAH 였습니다.
왜냐하면.. 뿅뿅 소리 때문에..;; 페달 업다운을 하면.. 뿅뿅 소리가 나서...
WAH는 거의 사용할수가 없었죠..
근데 요놈은 제대로 와와~ 거립니다.
WAH는 별루 사용을 안하는데.. 이정도면.. 문제없이 사용할수 있을 듯합니다.
페달의 폭도 적당한것 같습니다.
1500g보다 약간 더 넓은 듯합니다.

전반적으로 소리는 아날로그 틱 합니다.
속을 뜯어 보지 않아서(뜯어봐도 모르지만.;;)잘 모르겠지만..
아날로그 흉내를 낸거라면.. 박수 받을 만큼 제대로 냈다고 생각합니다.

결론적으로..
제가 찾던 멀티플 이펙터 입니다.
바로 이런..
단촐하면서.. 거의 모든 종류의 이펙터를 사용할수 있고..
그야말로 쓸데없이 양이 많은게 아니라..
특징적인 면들을 그나마 아날로그 분위기로 제대로 구현해 낸 이펙터..
크기도 딱 적당하고.. 1500G는 기타 가방에 넣고 다니기가 힘들죠.
길이가 긴편이라서..
근데 요놈은 짧습니다;; 약간 도톰하면서 짧으니깐.. 기타 가방에 딱 들어가고.. 오히려 좀 남을 듯합니다.
생긴게 정말 귀엽고 이쁩니다.
튼튼하게 보여서 뽀대도 물론 있구요..

1시간도 사용해 보지 않아서..
그다지 좋은 내용이 없습니다만..
지금 생각에 이펙터 하나 제대로 샀다는 생각입니다.
물론 더 좋은 이펙터가 있지만.. 제 수준에 제 취향에 딱이라는 생각입니다.

가격은 좀 센편입니다만.. 이정도라면.. 제값 충분히 한다고 생각합니다.
현재 제가 이놈을 산 쇼핑몰에는 제가 마지막 손님이었나 보군요..
'품절' 글씨가..;;
베X로 에 조금 있는 것으로 아는데.. 수량이 얼마 없다고 합니다.
왜 요놈이 이렇게 수입이 안되었는지..
저로써는 의문입니다만..;; 물론 개인 취향이 너무나 강하기 때문에..
다른 분들에게는 '좆지 않게' 보이고 들릴수도 있겠습니다.

우리나라에 거의 없다시피 하니까.. ME -50 에 대한 정보가 정말 거의 없습니다.
그래서 이놈을 제대로 써먹기가 조금은 힘들듯 합니다.
메뉴얼도 일본어 메뉴얼이라서..;;;
보스 홈페이지에 영문메뉴얼이 있나 찾아보았는데.. 찾을수가 없군요...
영문 메뉴얼 구할수 있는 방법이 없을지..

1500g와 비교를 많이 했는데..
일단 가격차이가 조금 나고... 같은 가격대의 다른 멀티플 이펙터는 써보지 않아서.. 비교할수가 없습니다만.. 실제로 구입할때는 많은 에누리를 받아서.;;^^ (우리나라에 가격 기준이 없다보니 그런것 같습니다.;;) 가격도 크게 불만은 없습니다.

좀더 써보고 새로운 사용기를 올려드리겠습니다.
저도 기타친지 얼마 안되고 사용한 악기도 많지 않다보니..
딱 어떻다고 전문적인 용어로 설명해 드릴수 있는 것이 얼마 없군요..
일단 직접 들어보시지 않고는 판단하실수 없을 듯 합니다..




작성자:funkmaster 2003-08-28 오후 3:25:31
실례지만 얼마에 구입하셨는지요?
며칠전 일본에서 보고 온 가격이 있어서 참고해보려고 그럽니다.


작성자:jesam0305 2003-08-28 오후 3:30:57
1500G도 VAMP 되는 구나..GFX-8만 되는 줄 알았네..

작성자:cmsno1 2003-08-28 오후 4:07:18
가격은 메일로..;;^^; 1500G가 뱀프가 되다니요? 처온백쥐 사용하기전에 뱀프2 사용했었다는 말인데요^^a;

작성자:zakkwylde 2003-08-28 오후 4:20:54
Gfx-8 은 Vams 죠...

작성자:freezone 2003-08-29 오전 12:15:00
흐음...모양이 뭔가 아날로그틱한게 맘에들긴했었는데..
혹시 사운드샘플좀 올려주실수 있을지 궁금하네요^^

작성자:gigadin 2003-08-29 오후 12:51:47
ME-50은 보스의 트윈 페달 시리즈중 디스톤션만 모아 놓은 OD-20이 들어가 있습니다.아마 이 OD-20만 새것으로 30만원 정도 하니 ME-50이 45만원 인데 공간계랑 와우,페이저 시프터등 있을 것은 다 있어서 가격대비 좋은 멀티입니다.ME-50은 사용한 적은 없고 OD-20은 가지고 있는데
여러가지 종류의 디스트를 사용할수 있는데 드라이브가 꽤 강하지만 좋은 소리를 잡기는 힘들더군요.차리라 앰프시뮬인 GP-20이 소리 잡기는 더 좋았습니다.

작성자:cmsno1 2003-08-31 오전 4:20:23
사용한지 얼마안되서 쓴 사용기라 정말 허접하네요.. 조금더 사용해 보니.. 더 많은 것을 알게 되었는데.. 혹시나 처음 사용자나 문의 하실게 있다면 과감히 메일 주세요.. 메뉴얼이 없어 사용법을 다 알지는 못했는데.. 롤랜드 홈페이지에서 몇가지 정보를 얻었습니다. 그리고 위에 틀린 부분..; 크기가 반드시 작은것은 아닙니다. 물론 GT6 나 GNX 보다는 작지만.. RP300보다는 좀더 큰 정도입니다. 그래서 일반 기타 가방에는 딱 들어가지는 않네요. 1500G 보다는 길이가 조금 짧은 정도 일듯 합니다. 각각의 이펙터는 소리의 폭이 다양해서(아무래도 노브로 조절하는 것이다 보니..) 사운드 잡기가 쉽지 않습니다. 내 소리를 찾으려면 조금 더 연구 해야 할듯..;


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Boss ME-50
Summary
Price New zZounds Musician's Friend

Manufacturer URL www.bossus.com
Ease of Use 9 (43 responses)
Sound Quality 8.1 (42 responses)
Reliability 8.9 (32 responses)
Customer Support 7.7 (9 responses)
Overall Rating 8 (39 responses)
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Submit a review for this product!



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Price Paid: $400.00 (Can-EH-dian)
Ease of Use: 9
Easy to use (unless you're stupid) . Not too hard to get a good sound.

Sound Quality: 9
My setup consists of a u.s. tele, fat strat (w invader\tex/mex), and an ibanez rg 520. I play through a simple fender hot rod deluxe (erlier u.s. model). The best way to get good effect quality is to run your effects through a very clean amp. even an idiot can figure that one out. So if you are playing through a solid state crate shit and the unit does'nt live up to it's full potential, don't cry about it. I can get all kinds of awsome distortions, delays, flange effects etc. Different distortions will function differenty with different guitar/amp combinations ( the me-50 uses the charecter of your guitar and amp and applys the effect to it) so if your playing through a squirer with three singe coils DON'T COMPLAIN about bad distortion. The harmonist function if excellent but is only useful if how know how to play youy'r damn instrument. Th harmontist is the intelligent kind that can predict if things like if your 3rd shuold be minor or major based on the key and degree you would like you harmonise with. Overall GREAT SOUND.

Reliability: N/A
ROCK SOLID!!!!!!!!!!! Huge upgrade from the me-33 plastic shit.


Customer Support: N/A
Friggin ASSHOLES

Overall Rating: N/A
MAN...........for the price, you can't go wrong
I play just about every style of music and this unit caters to just about all of my needs. The is no perfect pedal but this one is GOOD. They do milk you on the whole bank switching thing, becouse yo got to but fs-5u pedals to switch between more than three banks at a time. But who gives a shit, what else can you get for 400 cadadian dollars...............fuck all.

Submitted by Mike at 08/28/2003 08:37


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Price Paid: 300 (?)
Ease of Use: 8
As most guitarists look for simpler methods to get their sounds, I was pretty darn frustrated with the overlapping menus and digital parameters most floorprocessors use, but with this babe, it's top-notch sound shaping. It's a knob-twisting frenzy! Perfect for guys like me, no manuals, no menus, no big lcd screens. Just knobs.
It's that easy. I looked at the manual and if you don't get it by trying, the manual will most likely get you through.

Sound Quality: 8
I'm using the ME-50 through a bigass Marshall stack, and believe me: it sounds convincing. The effects are quite powerful, and if you're looking for easy access effects, this is your deal.
Of course it's not perfect, and sometimes the effects can get a little noisy when you're using a lot of gain, usually this can be helped by twisting a few knobs, unfortunately the noisesuppressor isn't always the answer. It helps, but you'll risk losing your sound and sustain too.
I usually aim for a dark, groovy and fat kind of distortion, like for instance the foo fighters or early Pearl Jam, and with this unit it's easily approached. Approached, yes... it can be quite tricky to get all the parameters right.
There are several kinds of OD/distortion, which means there are a couple of really good ones, and of course a couple of pretty crappy ones. Delay is superb!

Reliability: 9
It's a Boss pedal, if you don't put in any effort in breaking it, you will enjoy this unit for quite a while.
I gig with it without worrying about a backup.
Just remember not to use batteries. This baby drains your alkalines...

Customer Support: N/A
It didn't break.

Overall Rating: 8
This unit almost has it all. If you want smooth blues or if you're more interested in chopping desert-riffs, this baby does the trick.
I've been playing for 5 years now, and this is the best suiting pedal for me in this price range. There's better out there, and i suppose buying the singular effects would sound even better, but lets face it, I can't afford that. For me, this is the best solution.
Armed with a pick, a slide, and an E-bow this thing brings a nice quirkiness to my playing as well as those wanted "classic" sounds.
You only have to be careful not to go overboard with the effects, or you won't even recognize a guitar when you hear one...
Of course there's stuff missing, like a pedal to change banks, but Boss would like you to go out and buy that too, you just have to be a little more inventive, it works fine the way it is.
Also some of the effects could use a little fine tuning, and the wah pedal is a little disappointing.
Still at about $ 300,- this is great value

Submitted by Daniel at 08/20/2003 13:29


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Price Paid: 300 (?)
Ease of Use: 8
This is top-notch sound editing, i don't think this could get any easier, except maybe if someone else would like to do it for you... Even without the manual adjusting and saving your own presets is easy.


It isn't perfect though, 'cause when you switch patches, there is a short pause in the sound. But then again, this is just a minor problem, 'cause after a little practice this won't be a problem anymore.

Sound Quality: 8
I play a ( very...very good... ) 2002 epiphone Les Paul through the ME-50 with, at home, a peavey 158, which sounds quite impressing, but of course not great. But with my band i use a Marshall JCM. Now things get groovy.


There's all kinds of different distortion and overdrive sounds. not all of them are useful, but this makes it easy to approach your favourite bands and guitarists, still getting the parameters right can be very tricky. As someone else already said: "It's not a magic box"
I like all kinds of bands and styles and the ME-50 can handle it. Whether it's smooth blues you want, or chopping desert-riffs the ME-50 is your trusty sidekick.
Of course there are tons of possibilities, but mind you, it's easy to cross the lines and make your guitar sound like a chainsaw cutting through steel.
Most of the effects are more than decent, but some are either useless or not quite good enough. The reverb only works good if you crank it open at the largest preset: Hall
Delay is superb!

Reliability: 10
Boss has a good tradition in building solid stomp boxes, and so this thing looks like a tank. The only way to break it is to smash your guitar in it (which would be a double waste)while your playing some gig. I gig with it without even worrying about a backup. Just don't use batteries, this baby drains you alkalines...

Customer Support: N/A
It didn't break

Overall Rating: 10
In my band i usually play grooving rock riffs. I've heard people comparing our sound to foo fighters, and others comparing it to the police, so i'm kind a lost myself :)
I've been playing for five years now and the ME-50 was another step in the right direction. Too bad though that some effects aren't as good as others. The expression‎ pedal works fine, but isn't great, and of course choosing a bank is done by a tiny button, or by buying an extra footswitch... do they think I'm made of money? Also it would've been helpful to have some more patches available, ten banks divided into three patches isn't very much...

I've played through a korg a1G but that was murder to the depth in the sound of my guitar. This one leaves the sound intact, which to me seems necessary, I also used a boss turbo distortion, but that ruled out any sustain. This baby does it for me... armed with a pick, a slide and an E-bow you can bring some kickass quirkiness to your playing, as well as "classic" sounds.
When i bought it i compared it to a couple of other floor processors, but for about $ 300,- there ain't nothing better. There's better out there, i just can't afford it.

Submitted by Daniel at 08/20/2003 12:30


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Price Paid: N/A
Ease of Use: 10
Very easy to use. To use this live you need switches to move up and down the patches. People take about not being able to use this live, I don't get what they're talking about. I use it live all the time with no worries. You have to spend time with it initially to tweek it and be smart about the progression in which you set your patches. I set them 3 in a row in progression of clean, dirty, combination with modulation. I have patches for my strat and patches for my Leas Paul. It's GREAT for live use!

Sound Quality: 10
I use a Fender American Strat and a Epiphone Elite Les Paul Custom (which I highly recommend, I like it better than the Gibson I had) I play through the Boss ME 50 and I use a A B switch into a Boss TU -2 Tuner because the tuner on this is not useable in my opinion. I then run into a Fender Vibrolux with NOS tubes and Weber Ferromax Speakers (which are awesome!) This unit, properly tweeked and set up with your own patches is awesome, The price is cheep, some of the effects come very close to the originals (I've played them all.

Reliability: 10
It's a BOss!!

Customer Support: N/A


Overall Rating: 10


Submitted by Anonymous at 08/15/2003 13:21


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Price Paid: US $275
Ease of Use: 10
Just about the easiest piece of gear I own. I was able to figure out all the functions in about 5 minutes (didn't even open the manual until I'd played with it for a couple of hours)


I wanted easy and I got easy! No patch cords, etc, etc,


I'm sick to death of having to read manuals for every piece of gear - and I hate scrolling thru numerous windows - this thing is all about tweaking knobs!

Sound Quality: 7
Guitar is not my main axe - so I have not owned many guitar pedals, accordingly I can't really judge how accurate the COSM models are. I can get the general tones I want - so it works to my needs. The reverb is limited and the tone presets are limited (I think most people would prefer an actual EQ section).


Some of the distortion/OD models are user friendly and some simply don't seem very "musical" I think the time based (chorus, etc) sounds are pretty decent. The expression‎ pdeal sounds are OK, but the wah is more limited than I would have liked.


Since guitar is not my main axe I struggle to get good tone (chops are easy, tone is a lifelong goal) and I was hopeful this would improve my tone - and while it certainly has many tonal options, it is not a magic box. I think it simply reinforces that tone is more about technique and less about technology.


However, for the price it is OK

Reliability: N/A
Haven't had it long enough for an opinion - but every piece of Roland/Boss gear I've ever owned lasted forever!!!


It does appear to be very solid and I would think it would hold up well in gigging conditions

Customer Support: N/A
Don't know, never tried

Overall Rating: 7
I wanted easy - this is very easy. I wanted alot of sound options in one box - and this does it. I wanted a lot of bang for the buck and this does it. I think in the under $300 range is provides good value.


I needed this mostly for recording to use thru a POD, J-Station and a couple of low watt amps. It seems to work well as a front end for my amps (a Fender Champ and a small Marshall) but it does not play well with the POD or the J-Station (well after some work it does - but that compromises the whole easy thing).


I don't know if I would buy it again, but I'm sure I'll get my use out of it.

Submitted by freelance at 08/15/2003 10:50


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Price Paid: US $299
Ease of Use: 8
really easy to use, that's why I got that. the patching stuff can be a little confusing but using as stompboxes is totally cool. ease of use is not that important!

Sound Quality: 1
i've been busy with some pedals for a couple of years and I can tell what sounds good and what doesn't. this is totally crap! I sent it back to guitar center after 3 days.
as you can see below this page some people love this and some hate. some say that these effects are only immitations from the originals. this is, unfortunately, TRUE! I own a Big Muff Pi NYC reissue and the imitation of this awesome pedal on Boss ME-50 is just miserable. as long as the other distortions
not even the boss originals like DS-1 are OK.
let's take step by step:
tone modify: nice and cool but not so useful
comp: yeah it does the job but extremely noisy
NS: killes the noise and the TONE
reverb: yeah yeah... who needs it? specially this funny one!
dist/OD : one word: Miserable!
effects: there's a lot but they're not detailed, so forget it and it's really hard to get a decent sound out of phaser and chorus, tremolo is the only fine one :D
delay: it's digital delay, not analog so ignore those fake ones and it's fine. slow echo and revers are interesting
expression‎ pedal: a nice function but extremely narrow in a way. wah is bad! really bad!
resonance and ring mods are cool but these two are much more sophisticated that can't be maneged by only one pedal
pitch shifting is good but only +1/-1 octave is not really enough
talker is mute! hahhaha


Reliability: N/A
it's phisically reliable, I guess

Customer Support: N/A
never dealt with 'em

Overall Rating: 1
a toy!
wanna play around get it, has many features that will astonish you probably
but when using a small stone and knowing what a phaser sounds like, you would never touch ME-50
for $300, you can get some decent stuff.
I returned mine and got Boss CE-5, Boss DD-6 and I'm extremely happy about those 2 very pedals.
at least I can get what I want


the difference between these pedals is I spent so much time to get a good sound out of ME-50 but cound't, but any sound out of CE-5 is amazing!

Submitted by sherry at 08/13/2003 00:26


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Price Paid: US $300
Ease of Use: 9
Very easy even without reading the manual

Sound Quality: 9
Sounds good for all kind of music

Reliability: 3
well its metal so it should last for ever if you take the necesary cares, but will never and i repeat never gig with it, theres nothing wrong with sounds but its unbelievable that boss didnt put the bank selectors in it, besides the sound cut beetwen patches makes useless for realtime situations.

Customer Support: N/A
ive never had to deal with them so i cant say

Overall Rating: 4
i mostly play METAL (In Flame, Hipocrisy, At The Gates, etc), and with a
few touches i can get a very close sound to this bands, it has lots of efects which are really god but once again the sound goes out when you change a patch and it makes it useless, if it where stolen i wouldn큧 buy another, and i will advice the theft to sell it as soon as posible

Submitted by Alec at 08/06/2003 09:44


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Price Paid: 225 (english pounds)
Ease of Use: 10
when i was in the shop i was already setting effects up that i'd been using in my old multi fx with the greatest of ease. everything is there and very easy to store in. a fantastically well designed piece of kit.

Sound Quality: 9
i'm using it with a yamaha erg121 and a marshall mg30dfx. yamaha, boss and marshall, an absolubtley excellent companionship. i also use it with an audio technica wireless system, and it keeps a much better tone than the zoom ever did. i haven't had much over-noise, but when you want feedback, it's very easy to get some ;)

Reliability: 8
i would, no, i WILL be using this for every gig i do, and unlike most of ym gear, i think i will be keeping this one for a VERY VERY long time. it is a very reliable unit, i haven't once had to shout at it *and trust me, i have a fiery temper ;)*

Customer Support: N/A


Overall Rating: 10
i play a very personal style of music, verging on art rock mixed with alternative metal type sounds. i like to use lots of effects with delay and modulation effects together to get ghostly sounds, and this delivers them perfectly. i've been playing 2 years and 5 months, and this is the best buy i've made so far. i would most definately buy it again if lost or stolen. i love it's simplicity, it looks great*come on we're all fussy, we're guitarists!* the only thing i had a problem with was the whammy. setting the switch was a bit annoying, having to bend down during performance. a small footswitch maybe would be better. and i think having footswitches to change between the ten banks would be good. but then, for twenty pounds it's not too much just to get a footswitch is it?? it is a brilliant tool for making good music with, and compliments my style very well, whether i'd like to play some full on death metal, or some soft mellow jazz.


great pedal, great company, great buy!!


[::charlie::]

Submitted by Anonymous at 08/01/2003 03:12


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Price Paid: US $299
Ease of Use: 10
this thing sounded great in the store, just playing the factory patches. i've never experienced that with any other modeling unit so far. editing patches on this unit is extremely easy. it's great that every parameter has a knob that you can turn, just like on an amp or a stomp box.

Sound Quality: 9
you can get a crunch tone out of this thing that is just massive. i'm amazed at how good the modeling is and how rich the tone is. the lead sounds are also fantastic. in a matter of minutes i was able to dial up a tone that just sings with a smooth violin type distortion. i've been using this on a gig for the past two weeks and it does everything i need it to do and more.


in the effects section, the flanger is particularly nice. also, the whammy pedal function is really cool, as is the ring modulator and the "voice" effect, which is really a trip.

Reliability: N/A
it's too new to tell how reliable it is. so far no lock-ups or crashes. i have other boss gear that has never failed me, so i'm assuming this one will be no different

Customer Support: N/A


Overall Rating: 10
i play fusion, jazz, and rock. this pedal works great in a variety of styles. i've been playing for 30 years. if this pedal were lost or stolen, i'd get another one. it definitely simplifies things and allows me to show up with very little gear and be able to get all the tones i want. i've used the pod, the j-station, the dg-stomp, the flextone. i think this is better than any of them.


any thing i would want to see added to this pedal? yeah, more EQ options would be nice. a midrange knob for starters. or a parametric eq perhaps. also, it would be cool if you could change banks without having to use an external footswitch.


however, i'm sure that adding these features would raise the price. for 299 bucks, i just got 11 distortion boxes, 11 amp models, 11 modulation effects, 5 different kinds of delay, a 2 second sample and repeat feature, 4 different reverbs, a compressor, a wah, a whammy pedal, a ring modulator.


that's a pretty ridiculous amount of stuff in one pedal for such a low price.

Submitted by Jeff at 07/25/2003 00:41


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Price Paid: 2700 (Dkr)
Ease of Use: 7
Very easy to get into right away - the manual is good. Hard to figure out how to place the different sounds in the banks

Sound Quality: 1
Fender Stratocaster into 2 Fender Super Champs. Is a little noisy but the noisegate takes care of most of it. I think the only good sound is the chorus. The delay is about average and the overdrive and distortions stinks. The sound has an overall plastic feel to it.

Reliability: 10
It will last forever - it's Boss

Customer Support: N/A
Never used it

Overall Rating: 2
I have been playing Rock and roll for almost 40 years and this is my first try on a multieffect.


If somebody stole this unit I'd thank him - just kidding - but I gave it back to the shop after two days - I now rely on my boss CE5 and my Tubescremaer TS9.

Submitted by S?en Thomassen at 07/24/2003 03:45


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Price Paid: Euro (289)
Ease of Use: 10
Very easy to use, just like stompboxes. I use the ME-50 mainly in the manual ("stompbox") mode, although it works just as well in the memory (=multieffects) mode which I use for some songs. The whole unit can be operated by intuition.

Sound Quality: 10
I play a 2002 Classic 50s Strat (alder body) with 2 Seymour SSL1s and a quarterpounder at the bridge and a DeArmond T-400 with 2k-pickups over my Fender Deluxe Reverb RI. We're doing all kinds of music of the last 50 years, like Beatles, Buddy Holly, Surf sounds like Chantays, Shadows etc., plus Tom Petty, Chris Rea, Robben Ford and the like.
I need delays from 150 - 500 ms, overdrive and various distortions and some modulation (tremolo, chorus, leslie). Plus a practical tuner and sometimes the wah. And not to forget the noise gate to tame my single coils.
The ME-50 delivers. For me, the reverb is great, especially "spring" and "modulation". Even overdrive works perfect, although my amp dislikes distortion from other sources (e.g.from my Zoom 2100). The ME-50s' "tube screamer", "blues driver" "rat" and "muff" work extremely well.
When I bought the device, I tested it thoroughly in the dealer's showroom over several Fender tube amps (DRRI, Hot Rod, Vibrolux, Vibro-King). Some other musicians did their own testing and - although they started with the typical notion - "Hey, it's just another multi-effect that only simulates the real things" -, these guys had to admit that the unit is really good. We even compared real stompboxes like DD-3, SD-1, Maxon tube screamer etc. with the ME-50s simulations. You know what? No audible difference.
My band mates say that the ME-50 offers the same audio quality as the original stompboxes, but with much more versatility.


Reliability: 9
It works since 1 month now. That's all I can say.

Customer Support: 9
I had a problem with my first DD-3 which didn't work properly in the hold mode. No biggie: my dealer just gave me another one (we've got two years' legal warranty in Germany).

Overall Rating: 10
Great unit. Good sound for good equipment. I didn't know that the COSM simulation is THAT good. Works very well with alnico pickups and a tube amp, but still ok with cheaper euqipment. Very practical with everything you need for live playing right at your feet. I consider it a special offer.

Submitted by Udo W. Schneider at 07/23/2003 04:03


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Price Paid: US $299
Ease of Use: 9
It couldn't be much easier. Love the knobs. It's a snap to program, modify, and save patches. It would have a 10 if I didn't have to buy the up/down bank pedals separately. Otherwise, it's about as easy as it gets.

Sound Quality: 9
I don't understand what issues other raters may have had. This thing sounds awesome. I almost can't get a bad sound out of it. Not very noisy even with some of the higher gain distortions selected. I really love the Boss Chorus and Flanger. The wah is nice, but it requires a full sweep with the foot. The harmonizer is right on and doesn't get whacked out by heavy distortion. I love the delays. Reverse and their "tap" mode are really neat. The Tone Modify is a bit weird (might have been better with an EQ). However, the single-to-hum and acoustic sims are very nice. I also like the hollow body sim.

Reliability: 10
It's a Boss. I have a Boss HM-2 that's 18 years old, and it still works like brand new. I would suspect that only the cockroaches and Boss pedals will survive a nuclear holocost.

Customer Support: N/A
No idea. Many say bad, but never had any direct experience. I hate their website.

Overall Rating: 10
I defy anyone to find a box that has so many high-quality effects in one package. I also can't imagine paying thousands of dollars for all of these effects in stompboxes. Nor could I imagine the tone loss in the giant effects chain you'd experience.


I've always been a big Boss fan. I think this might be the best Boss piece of equipment I've ever owned. It's beats anything in this price range, and it's better than some more expensive ones. It's perfect for anyone who wants to stop dancing and start playing.

Submitted by Anonymous at 07/19/2003 17:41


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Price Paid: 360 (CDN)
Ease of Use: 10
It can't be easier that this...all knobs and very intuitive. I gotta gound sound out of it in the first 15 minutes of use. Editing patches is as easy as using a stomp box. The manual is very detailed.

Sound Quality: 9
I am playing on a ESP EXP guitar and my amp is an 1979 peavey century 200H head on one 1x12 fender special design cabinet and one 4x12 cabinet with celestion vintage 30. The unit is not noisy at all and the noise suppressor is incredible. The effect may not sound as the original one but they are not weaker...they' just different. But if you have good pick ups it will sound amazing. My friend spent a lot of money on a Mesa triaxis and an 50/50 power amp, and my setup kicks his ass. I don't try to get the sound of a specific artist but I tend to like it heavy as hell with a truck load of bottom in teh sound. And this think delivers it. The only feature I don't like that much is the tone modify knob...which is useless. For the rest it it is fine if you take the time to setup properly. Don't expect too much if you play on a korean guitar through a 15 watts peavey amp...nothing will sound very good on that. Ah yeah, I tried the headphones out directly in my pc and although it doesn't sound that great, it still can be very usefull toi record demos.

Reliability: 8
I use BOSS produst for ten yers and My super overdrive pedal is 20 years ols and I dont see why I should care about it...The thing is built like a tank. But I would always carry an old DOD processor that I have...just in case...

Customer Support: N/A
Never dealt with them

Overall Rating: 10
I play basically heavey metal (Metallica, Korn, Megadeth, Dream Theater) and old progressive rock (very old gensis and Yes) and this thing can follow me everywhere. When I think of all the money I spent before, it makes me sick. If it was stolen I would buy aother one right away. I love it simplicity...the only things I hate about it are : the reverb knob with 4 types of reverb sharing each 1/4 of the knob, the wah wah sound is not that good. ANd for the footswitch to switch up and down the banks, I made my own with a stereo jack and to normal switches taht I got it at an electronic store...It costed me 10 $ with the casing.

Submitted by Alexandre L?eill?/A> at 07/15/2003 18:52


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Price Paid: US $300
Ease of Use: 8
This unit sounds excellent, with a decent guitar and a Marshall AVT. I've experimented with patches, but want the RU footswitches before I get serious with them. Unfortunately, they aren't part of the package.
The manual is easy to use. Unfortunately, it has a flaw, but not enough to return it. The resonance and the Wah are flip-flopped on the designated setting. In the past, I've blasted BOSS for their marginally acceptable quality and difficult settings. They have a winner here, but, the nagging quality issue is still there.

Sound Quality: 8
Some setings are weak. Like OD-1. The guitar sounds more powerful plugged in the amp than placed on this setting. The echo, synth, overdrive variations, and chorus settings are all very good. Contrarily, the wah has little range and the metal overdrive variation is ridiculously distorted. I use this with a Marshall AVT50, on various guitars, ESP EX351, custom Strat, SG, and an Ibanez RG. I don't copy anyone.

Reliability: 7
It's all transistor, so it should have a surge protector. Question for BOSS...on a $300 unit that sounds good, why don't you spend $3 for a surge protection circuit. If you have a surge or brownout, a circuit probably would be fried.

Customer Support: 3
This is a cleverly designed and ruggedly constructed unit- but it has no surge protection and a fairly short two-prong plug. These are shortcuts on cheap safety items. I'm sure units will be burned out, or musicians shocked if something spills on it. This type of engineering continues to be the harbinger of problems that seem to plague all BOSS units I've owned (10).

Overall Rating: 7
Excellent sound and easy to use. It would be better if the footswitches were included as in Digitech or ZOOM, a heavier, longer cord with 3-prong plug for more ground, and surge protection. And if the settings were labeled correctly. Why wasn't that checked?

Submitted by Anonymous at 07/11/2003 10:37


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Price Paid: US $280
Ease of Use: 9
Extremely easy to use in all respects.
I would at least glance over the manual.... it helps quite a bit.
As with new Roland/Boss gear, saving patches and such is a bit intricate, but just follow the manual and you'll be ok.

Sound Quality: 8
Sounds great. If you're going to rely on it heavily, match the EQ on your amp with the sound that comes out of the headphone out.
I'm using a Crate Stealth all tube amp.
All of my other effects will most likely retire, except for my V-Wah. The wah is overall good, but doesn't work for everything.
The pitch modulating effects are cool, but only work one at a time... a little disappointing.

Reliability: N/A
Haven't gigged with it yet, but it seems ok

Customer Support: 9
Roland/Boss is great. Every time I deal with them its extremely easy.

Overall Rating: 9
I love it. Its an invaluable resource. So simple and sounds awesome.
I wish it had EQ, but its not that bad without it. I compared it to everything else, especially the GT-6, but with a good amp and a good wah, i found it unnescessary. Um.. thats it. The ME-50 is good

Submitted by Josh at 07/06/2003 01:39


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Price Paid: US $299
Ease of Use: 10
Extremely easy to use, that's why I bought it. I hate paging through menus. Boss did a great job of keeping this within the mindset of pedal users, not programmers. I didn't get a manual as this was the floor model, but I don't need one. Individual boutique pedals of course sound better, but this unit comes close enough for live use and solves the problems associated with power supplies, patch cords, etc, in a live situation. The best alternative to individual pedals yet.

Sound Quality: 8
I'm using a host of Ibanez, Gibson and Fender guitars. All sound good with this unit. Strats are especially enhamced by this unit. I use Boogie, Laney and Lee Jackson amps. I don't care much about coping the sound of other artists, just getting good tone for my own material. Notg noisey at all, but the noise reduction works great. Effects are the best af any all in one pedal board to date, and easy to use.

Reliability: 10
Very dependable.
Backup not needed. When it comes down to it, a good player just needs a guitar, amp and cord. Everything else is expendable.

Customer Support: 5
Boss support is slow, but they eventually get you taken care of.

Overall Rating: 9
Great pedal for live shred, fusion, progressive, etc. Very versatile. FX are good, but not great. In the studio, I use vintage FX, live this is the way to go for me.

Submitted by Eric Sands at 07/05/2003 12:43


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Price Paid: US $199 NEW at Guitar Center.
Ease of Use: 9
It is easy to use if you can read and know how to twist knobs. But, if you're trying to use chorus and phaser simultaneously, you would have to bend over and turn those tiny knobs. So i guess it depends. But in general, its pretty dam simple.

Sound Quality: 7
I use a mexican telecaster with a Marshall AVT50. I know AVT's are noisy in general, but it was even more noisier. I know this because when i used just a single Boss Metal Zone pedal, the loud noise was gone. The effects are okay in general; they are just there. Nothing special except for the distortion. There are over 20 types, so i guess you get a lot of variety in that. I would rather just have a single Boss Metal Zone pedal though.

Reliability: 10
The label reads BOSS.

Customer Support: N/A
i have no clue, but BOSS pedals never break anyway.

Overall Rating: 7
I've been playing for about 3 years, so I guess my opinion should'nt be of much value. But i do know for a fact, that individual pedals are certainly much higher quality than the ones of processors. Not many people need 22 types of distortion, and all those junky modulation types. If you like to play around, i guess this is what you should get, above all processors around. But i think a solid distortion, a nice chorus, delay, and maybe a wah or flanger will do for most people. Oh yea, the tuner on this thing SUCKS. There are like five-seven steps. very flat, Sort of in tune, in tune, Sort of sharp, and very sharp. Just get a cheap danelectro chromatic tuner off ebay or something.

Submitted by Andrew at 07/02/2003 16:36


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Price Paid: $400 (Canadian)
Ease of Use: 9
Simply put, this unit is a breeze to operate. With this simplicity comes ( at least for myself) a great deal of confidence in the reliability of the ME-50. The knobs turn smoothly and the expression‎ pedal switch has a beutiful sensitivity to it. Saving patches is easy the switching between them is noiseless and smooth.

Sound Quality: 9
I'm currently using a fender strat deluxe plus, tele plus, guild bluesbird and gibson SG live. These I run through a mid-90s 'Evil' Fender Twin which acts as a perfect platform for the ME-50. I was delighted at how quiet this unit is and with the use of the noise suppressor, distortion noise is non-existent...beautiful. Some may argue that this unit does not perfectly replicate the pedals it claims to. However, it comes close and often improves upon many of the classic Boss pedals in the area of flexibility. The Tube Screamer model is thrilling- rich, smooth and creamy, while the MArshall Guv'nor is highly reminiscent of Gary Moore's scorching tone on his early nineties blues recordings. The important thing to realize with the Distortion section is that it sounds incredible- whether or not it perfectly replicates a past tone is irrelevant (and of course comparing distortions is highly subjective anyways). The modulations are very nice, with the chorus and uni-vibe being my favourites thus far (Robin Trower's tone is easily achieved using this awesome effect + the Guv'nor). The tremelo is subtle yet effective, much like that of a black face fender tube amp. I am a huge fan of tasteful delay usage- from slapbacks to slightly longer, Colin James-ish Tape Delays. The ME-50 performs these tasks quite well. What I love is how well the effects meld with your amp tone- the two become one entity. I have mainly been using the Analog delay model and have been quite pleased... versatility!!! The wah wah, though not quite as lively as my Crybaby, is excellent in its own right and will serve me well on stage. The talk-box emulator called "voice" is also surprisingly useable, while the octaves are nice (though not something I'll use much). Reverbs are OK, though not too tweakable. If your amp already has a good reverb, there's not too much concern there. I was considering purchasing a highly over-priced Ernie Ball Volume Pedal, that is until the ME-50 found me. The volume pedal on this unit is easy to control and with a little bit of usage, one quickly becomes accustomed to its sweep. Finally, I have to say that I absolutely love the chromatic tuner included(it tunes silently and is convienently accessed via pressing two pedals together). I was slightly irritated with the fact that boss did not include the optional bank up/down footswitches, but then again for the price, you shouldn't really complain about having to invest a small amount more for flexibility. These are definitely essential for live useage. What is so perfect about this pedal is that you've got numerous programmable first-rate effects, a volume pedal, wah, and tuner- all in one package. Its like having all of those pedals and a carl martin combinator at your disposal for a reasonable price, and with great quality. I am pleased with how this has simplified my live rig while not compromising my tone......kudos Boss.


Reliability: 10
The extremely solid metal chassis gives me so much confidence in this product, not to mention the lovely blue finish. The expression‎ pedals seems like it will stand up over time, and I've experienced the plastic square-style roland footswitches before and they have always served me well. So I am putting my faith in this unit, and embarking on gigs without a back-up.

Customer Support: 9
I've never dealt with Boss but I have to assume the best given their reputation.

Overall Rating: 9
I mainly play blues and bluesy rock, and have been gigging for nine years. The ME-50 suits my style (and any style) nicely. If this unit were lostor stolen, I would certainly buy another. I love how this unit renders all of my effects and the resultant toe-tapping dance on stage obsolete- plus you're only plugging one adapter in. My live set-up should be considerably faster. I also wouldn't hesitate to use this thing in the studio... it is so versatile- like having 50 stompboxes at your feet. Overall, it does not compromise my tone and remains quiet, a god-sent when compared to something like the line 6 pedals etc.

Submitted by Michael at 07/02/2003 11:18


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Price Paid: N/A
Ease of Use: 7
First of all, I just check it for 1 hour or so, thus maybe my review won't be as comprehensive as it should... I agree with the major part of the previous reviews wich consider this unit as a pretty good stuff, so I just want to point out a few things.


Pretty simple to get the sounds, god bless the knobs! after some tweak you will have something close to what you're looking for, but I doubt if you can get exactly the sound you have in your head! maybe it lacks of more precise controls...


The manual won't figure as the new ISO-9002 STANDARD but not bad...


Sound Quality: 8
I fully agree with one of the guys who told:


"So, when you are looking for a multi-effects to combine with your natural amp sound, you should look for a tc or something... If you want to use distortion-boxes, then this unit is the right thing".


Yeah!, if you love your amp's distortion you're fucked! because, of course, you can turn off the distortion section but then you will find that any of the modulation effects will sound like crap! This scenario is having the ME-50 in front of your amp, ok, then, let's put the me-50 in the fx-loop and see what happens... here you can't use any of the distortions, they sound damn bad, but I don't mind since I just use my amp's distortion, now I can use other effects and they sound good, so what's the problem? you cannot use the wah here! or at least you won't want to use it if you want to get an acceptable sound! I'm not sure why... I supose it's due to the dirtier signal wich is recieved from the preamp... So the only place for this thing is in front of your amp, I tried to cancel or minimize the distortions effect over my natural sound in order to use other effects but no luck... I got interesting sounds but not the definitive sound you always want to use.


The emulation of the mt-2 sucks! but the ds-1 is not bad... I didn't tried the rest too much actually...


cool harmonizer by the way! good wah as well, I found Flanger a bit noisy, but probably this can be fixed after some tweak, at the beggining I found this unit noisy but I don't it is actually, you only have to play with the knobs a little.


I compared the ME-50 with the GT-6 and I din't find a noticeable difference in the quality of the basic effects that both units share. The distortions of the GT-6 are fucking bad by the way, the ones from the ME-50 are way better.

Reliability: 8
it looks good built and reliable.

Customer Support: N/A
Never have dealt with

Overall Rating: 8
Higly recommended to any of you who have an amp with an average sound and want to enhance it to get some personal touch, I can imagine a lot of teenagers enjoying a lot this unit. Obviously it lacks of a real equalizer, incorpored pedals to change between banks (that's a great inconvenience, above all because you have to buy them separately), and more memory cells, it's hard to me to understand how nowadays a company can release such product with just 30 memory cells for presets and user presets, I supose that since the presets from factory are ones of the greatest crap I've ever heard they expect you to delete them all, thus now you have 30 for you with should be enough... or not yet? :)

Submitted by J.J. at 07/01/2003 02:48


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Price Paid: US $250.00
Ease of Use: 9
Very easy to use. But I've owned the GT-3 and Gt-6 before. This is easier. All knobs!

Sound Quality: 9
I use a few different guitars - Hamer USA Artist and Fender Strat through a Reverend Hellhound amp. i also use this unit to play acoustic through a PA. I don't consider the ME-50 to be noisy. The effects are very good, especially the overdrive. I also like the EQ presets. I find that I use them often. The delay is OK.

Reliability: N/A


Customer Support: N/A


Overall Rating: 9
I really like this unit. It covers all the bases I need, and then some. It is very musical at home and on the gig.

Submitted by CB at 06/27/2003 07:55


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Price Paid: US $299.00
Ease of Use: 9
Simple to Use, Don't need the manual. In 10 minutes you can have the sound you want from country to Metal. Editing and saving patches is a breeze, 2 button pushes and its saved. Manual is ok, but you won't really need it. Would be better if they inclded pedals for the bank up and down instaed of having to buy FS5U;s to do this, butyou can do this on the unit itself.

Sound Quality: 8
I use this with a custom shop fender telecaster with a strat pickup in the center thru 2 fender blues juniors. Not noisy at all. Reverb unit could really be better, only a quarter turn for the reverb since there are 4 reverbs on 1 knob. Tone modify is a cheap imitation of a EQ. Should have put a graphic on it instead. The effects are good, especially the delay module. Distortions are good if you tweak alot. Stereo chourus is excellent. The unit steals a little of your tone when playing clean but you can adjust this on your amp with the eq section.

Reliability: 9
Solid metal chassis, plastic pedals. Is very durable if you are not jumping on your pedal. I gig 3 times a week and do not take a backup. I also have this pedal in a road case.

Customer Support: 9
Havent dealt with them on this unit. Other times with boss I got good response times and acurate info.

Overall Rating: 9
I play anything from Country to rock to blues. I have been able to easily find every sound I need when I need it. I have been playing for 25 years and professionally for the last 10. If this unit was stolen I would replace it immeaditely. I have tried all the major pedals out there and this unit seems to be a good comprimise of prive and value for the money without having to chain 8 compact pedals together and deal with the line noise.

Submitted by Chris at 06/24/2003 09:57


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Price Paid: 299 (euro)
Ease of Use: 10
For a multi effects, this box is very easy to use. In manual mode you can directly change the sound via potis, there are no difficult menus. Then you push the "write"-button and chose the patch and you have sucessfully saved the sound. By pushing "edit" you can modify single parameters of a saved sound.
You don't need the manual, everything is self-explaning.

Sound Quality: 7
It is the perfect unit, if you amp has no good distortion. In my case, I play through a Marshall 6100 head ("30th anniversary"), which has a very harmonic an fat distortion. I tried to use this unit in the fx-loop, but i got disappointed. you can only use it in front of your amp, but then you loose the distored channels of your amp. So, when you are looking for a multi-effects to combine with your natural amp sound, you should look for a tc or something.
If you want to use distortion-boxes, then this unit is the right thing.
My solution to the problem was: it gave it back to my dealer I bought a "Holy Grail" (Electro Harmonix) and a Nobels PRE-1. No I have my typical Marshall sound, a good lead channel and a perfect reverb

Reliability: N/A


Customer Support: N/A


Overall Rating: N/A


Submitted by quirbi at 06/20/2003 07:25


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Price Paid: US $299
Ease of Use: 10
I'm not a "read the directions" type of guy. I unpacked this directly from the box, and found it quite intuitive.

Sound Quality: 10
I'm not a performing pro...I play to amuse myself in my living room, doing my damnedest to imitate Warren Haynes, Dickey Betts, and Jimmy Page. I play an SG, as well as LP Classic through a Marshall JCM 900, and also have tried the unit through my old Fender Vibrolux. I am particularly impressed by the variety of distortion selections: it ranges from slight crunch to blow-the-windows-out ballsy. The distortion is the main reason I bought this unit, as well as the wah and volume pedal. I previously was using the crunch channel for distortion on my Marshall, and a Big Muff with my Fender amp, but have not been impressed with the Big Muff. In addition, since I have been wanting a BOSS chorus and flanger, and thought this might be the cheapest way to go.

Reliability: 10
I just got it, but I assume it will be as reliable as the other BOSS products I own.

Customer Support: N/A
Haven't had to deal with them.

Overall Rating: 9
I've been playing about 15 years. My music is Allman Bros, Led Zep, and Skynyrd. This unit is all I need. If stolen, I'd buy another one. I've just gotten fed up with stringing together multiple pedals, finding patch cords, etc. This does the trick. I agree with what other reviewers have said regarding the fact that the unit doesn't come with switching pedals, which seems less than generous on the part of BOSS.

Submitted by Mark at 06/18/2003 09:21


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Price Paid: US $299
Ease of Use: 9
Very Easy. I also own a GT-3 and considered either upgrading to the GT-6 or the ME-50.

Sound Quality: 9
Excellent sounds. Lots of purests from the older generation will say this thing can't possibly sound like all their stompboxes placed neatly in a row. Dead wrong. The one thing I love about this product is the fact it has a more a "crunchy" sound on the distortion and tone than my GT-3. My GT-3 is a great multi-effects pedal. It sounds great and I still use it, but the ME-50 is able to act like stompboxes as well as a mult-unit. The GT-3 has that "synthesized" sound. Now I haven't really tried the GT-6 so I can't speak for how much they've improved the sound, but this thing has killer distortion and sound. I play everything from Pearl Jam to STP to Alice in Chains to Tool and it plays those bands well. Wah's a little weak. But these multi-effect units never give you a good wah on purpose. Boss wants you to go out and buy that nice one for 150 bucks. Does the job for me though. I don't wah more than 1-2 songs a performance. One more thing. I bought the GNX2 by Digitech and compared the sounds. No comparison. This thing blows it away. Digitech has the guitar mags tabbed songs, which I thought was a cool feature. I play all covers. But when I brought it home, I was disappointed at the overall sound. Digitect might be good for teenagers looking to release angst, but any refined musician wants a warmer and more sonic sound. Just my opionion.

Reliability: 6
So far so good. Only had it two weeks and wanted to write the review more about sound.

Customer Support: N/A
Never dealt with them yet

Overall Rating: 9
So far this pedal is great. I love it and really found it hard at first to put down my GT-3, make her back up and use this one as my starter. Well one rehearsal with me-band changed that. I still like my GT-3, but the sound quality from the 2000 GT-3 to 2003 ME50 is a definet improvement. The dudes at Boss are just great. Nice job Boss. Keep it up and read these reviews!!!! Some of what people say are true. You're the market leader. The name is always for great tone, reliability. They did it again with this one.

Submitted by Johnny Marr at 06/16/2003 11:46


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Price Paid: US $299
Ease of Use: 9
Pretty easy to use, just like a boss pedal on steroids. Idiot proof for the most part.

Sound Quality: 8
I play either an American Vintage 62 strat or a Les Paul Special through a Marshall DSL 401 combo. Its pretty amazing how many different sounds you can get with this thing...from Mudhoney fuzz to classic OD to pure metal. The delay/mod effects are sweet. Wah is good too. I'm marking it down a little because the reverb is kind of weak.

Reliability: N/A
Just got it....but its built like a tank.

Customer Support: N/A
No experience with Boss customer support.

Overall Rating: 10
I don't think I could buy a distortion, a delay, a chorus, a tuner and a wah pedal for under 300 bucks. It has 22 distortion types, 3 chorus, a flanger, a phaser, harmonist, trem, pan, vibrato, uni-v, rotary, 7 delays, 2 pans, an echo, plus a wah, wammy, a noise gate, compresor, reverb, and a volume pedal. It maight take 300 bucks worth of patch cables to hook those all together. I bought it because I want about 50 different pedals and I'm a cheap-ass. Someday I'll get them all, but until then this'll do. I do wish it had a better reverb, but its still worth way more than 300 dollars.

Submitted by Chris Cochran at 06/11/2003 22:11


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Price Paid: 3195 (SEK)
Ease of Use: 9
It큦 was a real happy to unpack this unit and have a look at all knobs! It큦 very easy to change sound and to swith between tuner/patch mode and back to manual mode. This is all you need if you are a performing guitarist. If I have to complain, I miss a included AC/DC adapter and a included footswitch to on/off compressor. Very good price/performance

Sound Quality: 10
Very good sounding unit. I큩e been playing for 20 years, all different styles and this will do it all. A surprise is the very good sounding speaker emulator. I think this unit will replace both POD and Vamp in my personal studio. Very good dynamics in distortion sounds and extremly good modulation and delay effects. I inteend to use this with my Peavey classic 30 and use lineout instead of micing my amp when I? performing live. The only effect I don't like is rotaryeffect (unfortunally) and the tonemodify effect (I could not see any use of this kind of EQ). However, This is a 10! A very good sounding unit. Even the expression‎ pedal is very good with a good soundin wha and whammy effect.

Reliability: 9
This is a tank! Rock solid blue metal. I can큧 see this unit will broke on a live performance. The knobs could be a bit more reliable but I think they are good enough

Customer Support: N/A
Haven큧 dealt with Roland/Boss but I have ever heard something bad about thier support.

Overall Rating: 9
As I mentioned, I큩e been playing for 20 years and have tried all modeling units and pedals out there and this is what I can see the far best price/performace I have tried. Very good speaker emulator and VERY easy to use makes it a perfect companion, both on stage and in the studio.

Submitted by Anonymous at 06/03/2003 00:11


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Price Paid: US $261
Ease of Use: 8
ITS FAIRLY SIMPLE TO USE.THE MANUAL IS VERY HELPFUL.PLEASE READ OVERALL RATING

Sound Quality: 8
THE SOUND QUALITY IS DECENT.NOT QUITE T.C. BUT GOOD ENOUGHT FOR GIGS.IT HAS SOME NOISE ON SOME PATCHES.AND SOME VOLUME IS LOST WHEN CHANGING PATCHES BUT NOT A BIG PROBLEM.PLEASE READ RATINGS

Reliability: N/A
SO FAR SO GOOD.PLEASE READ OVERALL RATINGS

Customer Support: 7
HAVE NOT HAD TO USE THEM.NEVER HAD TROUBLE WITH BOSS PRODUCTS

Overall Rating: 2
IVE BEEN PLAYING 25 YRS.20 YRS WORSHIP.ALSO CHRISTAIN METAL BANDS,BLUES,SOUTHERN ROCK.PLAYED ZION,GIBSON,FENDER,CARVIN GUITARS,MARSHALL,BOOGIE,FENDER,CARVIN AMPSI GOT THIS FOR A BIRTHDAY GIFT.WHAT BOSS FORGEYS TO TELL YOU IN THEIR ADS WHICH SUCKS YOU HAVE TO BUY A PEDAL TO RUN YOUR PEDAL TO CHANGE BANKS THIS IS STUPID ANOTHER WAY TO SCREW YOU OVER.LIKE PAYING BIG BUCKS FOR A AMP THEN HAVING TO BUY THE PEDAL TO CHANGE CHANNELS.YOU DONT BUY A CAR WITHOUT THE KEY.MOST GUITAR PLAYERS LIVE ON LIMITED INCOMES ARE RAISING FAMLIES.AND CANT AFFORD TO BUY THE EXTRAS.BOSS HAVE THE GUTS TO TELL IN YOUR ADS WHAT IS REALLY INVOLVE IN BUYING YOUR STUFF YOU OWE ME WHAT EVER IT TAKES TO GET THE FULL USE OF THIS PEDAL.HEY ALL YOU GUYS OUT THERE LETS ASK HARMONY CENTRAL TO GIVE US APLACE TO TELL THESE MANFACTURERS WHAT WE THINK ITS YOUR MONEY GUYS LETS STAND TO GETHER ARE BUY A BIGGER JAR OF VASELINE.MY NAME IS GARY MITCHELL 325 W. TOWANDA ELDORADO KS.67042

Submitted by GARY MITCHELL at 05/21/2003 08:18


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Price Paid: $420.00 (Canadian)
Ease of Use: 10
This pedal is great. Dont listen to anyone who says other wise. You dont NEED to buy the additional foot switchs for the up and down switching banks. But they would come in handy. This is one awsome peice of material. Easy to find the sound you want, and to create it.

Sound Quality: 10
I use a Ibenez RX series guitar with a Rolland amp. And I couldnt be happeier with the wasy it sounds. I can get everything from Pink FLoyd and LEd Zeppeilin to Tool and A Perfect Circle.

Reliability: 10
I would not bring a back-up to a gig with this..It is built to last forever

Customer Support: N/A
Never had to deal with them

Overall Rating: 10
BUY THIS PEDAL IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR QUALITY AND RELIABILITY!!
You wont be disapointed

Submitted by Matt at 05/13/2003 20:12


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Price Paid: US $269.99
Ease of Use: 10
I wanted to reduce the number of pedals in my live setups as much as possible. I was pleasantly supprised that the effects equaled or came very close to all of them. You can hook up the optional bank up and down pedals for quick patch changes which is well worth the 50 beans. That leaves me with three pedals and one power supply. much better than 10 in row.




Sound Quality: 9
This is the first multi-effects unit I've used that has very useable distortions. The modulations are as good as just about any separate pedal. I created useable delays and the expression‎ is very good. My various setups include Fender Strats, Gibson SG, Gibson LP and Carvin DC200 for guitars,thru a Fender Hot Rod DeVille or Carvin Belair. This unit does not work well with effect loops, it's fine straight in. I take two guitars and one amp to gigs now because in a pinch I can come out this directly into the PA.

Reliability: 9
Fine on 4 gigs so far. It's housing is metal, just like separate boss pedals.

Customer Support: N/A
Never had to deal with them.

Overall Rating: 9
I've been playing professionally on and off for 25 years. Currently
just a weekend warrior playing from pop to hard rock. This peice of equipment is a turning point for multi effects. The quality is finally there.

Submitted by Anonymous at 05/07/2003 16:30


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Price Paid: 199 (UK Sterling)
Ease of Use: 8
Straightforward to use,not complicated and easy to live with on a gig.No complicated menus or parameters to mess around with.Very easy to tweak mid-set etc.

Sound Quality: 8
Very good overall,some residual background hiss at a very low level,not noticeable on stage or when playing.The selection of effects and sounds are all usable and for the money it's a great package.

Reliability: 10
If it's as good as the rest of Boss gear then there shouldn't be a problem.

Customer Support: N/A
Never needed to use customer support on any Roland or Boss product that I have owned.

Overall Rating: N/A
Overall very good value,plenty to go at,everything is usable,price is very good ,for an all in one solution it's one of the best,plus being Boss if you get fed up with it it will be easy to sell on.

Submitted by Anonymous at 05/07/2003 06:07


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Price Paid: US $279.99
Ease of Use: 10
I just plugged this baby in and was on my way jammin with any sound I want or need. The manual isn't really needed but helps for some of the knob functions.

Sound Quality: 10
This thing is incredible. I've tried a ton of different effects pedals and this thing has anything I need. I haven't got a clue what these other people are doing that claim it sounds nominal or like crap. I play a 2003 Jeff Beck Strat through either my Crate Bluevoodoo BV-60 or through my direct box right into my console for my home project studio. I can easily get anything I want for distortion, overdrive chorus and the dely is awesome. Compressor is great also. No real need for reverb for me, but it sounds fine if I need it. My Crate has an awesome reverb anyway.

Reliability: 10
Built like a tank.

Customer Support: N/A
No need for customer support yet.

Overall Rating: 10
This thing was just what I wanted and needed to get rid of all of the pedals with all the cabling and power supplies even though I was using the BOSS tuner pedal that is also a power supply. The problem was that the tube overdrive pedal needed a higher voltage power supply.

Submitted by Jeff Huckins at 04/26/2003 09:37


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Price Paid: US
Ease of Use: 5
Why on earth does this not have integral footswitches to change banks ? The idea of one of these units is to get rid of individual pedals and leads and pedalboards etc. I like the unit but having to buy two additional switches - at an additional cost - and mess about wiring them up was a real turn off. Fine if you want it for bedroom use, but for gigging its a joke without the footswitches. The ME 33 has up and down switches as part of the unit. Does anyone know if Boss will be bringing out a model with the integral footswitch in the near future? As a unit it is so near yet so far.


Sound Quality: N/A


Reliability: N/A


Customer Support: N/A


Overall Rating: N/A


Submitted by kev at 04/17/2003 17:27


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Price Paid: US $299.00
Ease of Use: 9
Man, I have owned other multi-effects units and nothing comes close to this thing for ease of use. I had kick ass sounds in 5 minutes. he manual was helpfull for things like how to use the harmonizer, digital recorded delay and tap delay. Other than that, throw the manual out, the damn thing is so easy to use you don't need it.

Sound Quality: 9
I use a American Custom Strat and a personally customized mid 80's Epiphone Paul with a vox wah into a Marshall TSL100 JCM 2000 Half stack (the amp rules ass). It's just not noisy. Really. I had the old Me-30 and the difference isn't even funny. You can crank the distortions and still no hum. I love using the Uni-vibe effect with my Strat and Marshall, it's just a damn good effect. Sounds like the real thing, sounds soooo Hendrixy. The distortions and FUCKING GREAT. Period. The delays and choruses are fabulous. As are the tone modifiers (shouldn't replace an EQ, like it does, but it's still good), I especially like the accoustic simulator. The sound quality will stand up to the GT-6 any day of the week. I'v tried them both right next to eachother.

Reliability: 9
The thing is a die cast metal tank. I have and will gig without a backup.

Customer Support: N/A
n/a, I dojn't know, never tried.

Overall Rating: 9
I love the thing. I'm not saying you would. If you plug an Ibenez into it and run with a Crate, it's probably going to sound like shit because your useing shit. Sorry. That being said, if you don't have a deal with epic and therefor can't afford 19 Boss pedals in a pretty little chain, than this thing kicks ass. I didn't go with the GT-6 because I have a sick ass, three channel Marshall. Why the hell do I need digital Amp modeling. This guy has all the sound quality of a GT-6 minus all the amp and cab modeling (which I think is useless anyway).

Submitted by Henry McGuigan at 04/16/2003 07:16


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Price Paid: US $250
Ease of Use: 9
I have a number of M-effects pedals and the ME-50 is clearly the easiest of them all. Really a no-nonsense kind of design from the get-go which is why I bought the unit; not much to learn...it just makes good sense..very well thought out. The only thing that I did not care for was having to push down "HARD" for the effects pedal to kick in, otherwise it would have got a 10.

Sound Quality: 10
If you have used Boss pedals before then you know the quality of the distortions are as good as any and they give 22 different of their
overdrive/distortion types ........just about every thing you need on the overdrive end. While they could have given you more tweakable control for the Tone; the set tones they give you - from "fat" "mid" "high" "single coil" "Humbuckers" "Acoustic" and others all sound great. The compressor - very basic but effective; the modulation types -Flanger, Chorus, Phasor and others are all very
tweakable and sounded very natural when used with the other effects. The delay types were of consitant Boss quality - and again very easily
tweaked. This is one of the few untits I have ever owned that the set sounds were the RIGHT sounds (you know- not maxed out to the hilt). They all just sounded damm good from the get-go; but you can tweak and
adjust, edit and save untill your hearts content if you want; but once you hear them you'll most likey say...yeah thats what I wanted.


Reliability: 9
No plastic junk here..........good and solid; I'm a little worried about having to hit the effects pedal hard to get the expression‎ pedal effects to kick in; but the pedal appears to be built well.......I'll have to see on this...Very much a pedal you can take on the road with little worries; until all your guitarist friends hear
and mess around with it.....and take it from you.

Customer Support: N/A
Never had any problems with Boss pedals; so I really don't know how their support is with problems or issues with their equipment.

Overall Rating: 9
I have been playing for 20 years, seen all the pedals (and their are some very nice ones out there) and the ME-50 is easily one of the best M-pedals I have come across; for sound quality and ease of use.
If your gig is everything under the sun pedal such as all the "amp" modeling stuff and morphing other models, then this most likely is not the unit for you. If you just want all around great sound in one unit without a extreme learning curve - then this is the unit for you. Good sounds are really a matter of preference and tastes but this unit had the right ones for me; and best of all it work well with all my amps.

Submitted by John S at 04/14/2003 19:21


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Price Paid: would cost 285 (EURO)
Ease of Use: 7
I tried this thing about 45 Minutes to get an overview. It's very easy to handle this knobs. You don't need the manual. I don't know how good it is, I didn't have a look in it. But there are some things that could be better:
* The forth of a circle is too less to adjust the rate of reverb you want.
* The tap tempo function is stupid for live performance. You have to press the button 2 seconds before tapping. After tapping it's the same.
* You need a optional switch the bank in memory mode. It could be wise to use such a switch for tapping if you're not in memory mode.

Sound Quality: 6
For I didn't bought it, I only could use my own guitar to test this thing. Setup:


Patrick Eggle "New York Standard" (Kent Armstrong PUs are replaced by DiMarzio Evolution and Fast Track) --> Boss "ME-50" --> Peayey "Classic 30".


My normal sound comes from this setup:
PE "New York" --> George Dennis "The Tube" Distortion/Volume --> "Cry Baby" --> Peavey "Classic 50" with Ruby Tubes.


First I have to say that this unit has no neutral sound when all effects are switched off. My guitar does not really sound after my guitar. The clean sound is better when I put the guitar directly into the Peavey. The great tube sound is damaged by this unit. The sections:
* Tone Modify: Most Positions of this "Wanna-Be-An-EQ" are useless. There are only two or three good ones. A 7-Band-EQ similar to the Boss "GE-7" would be useful.
* Compressor: Is ok.
* NS: Didn't really try.
* Sounds ok. But as said before, 4 Sound for one rotation is too much and too imprecise.
* Overdrive/Distortion: Only had a short look. But it seems that you can't get any really good crunch sound out of it.
* Modulation: Is ok but there are better ones.
* Delay: Seems not to be bad but I did not really get the sound I wanted.
* Pedal Mode: Some funny things. Wha-Wha sounds completely different than mine, but not worse, only different.

Reliability: 9
Built very solid. Only the plastic swithces could be better.

Customer Support: N/A


Overall Rating: 8
Style: Pop, Rock, Funk, Folk (Delirious, Brian Doerksen, Lothar Kosse)
Sounds to synthetic, not natural enough for the sound I want. I play (electric) for about 7 years. I like the tuner and some of the modulation and delay effects. Pedal is usable. I hate the Tone Modify and the Taptempo and can't really use the OD/DIS-Section. I wish it had one versatile usable switch more and an really EQ. A powersupply shoul be shipped with.


Maybe I have to give this thing a little bit more time but I don't think I'll ever buy it. My rating for this category is because of the low price.

Submitted by Stefan Amolsch at 04/10/2003 01:56


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Price Paid: 399 (Canadian)
Ease of Use: 9
This unit is real easy to use. If u have experience with multi-effects unit before, u probally won't need to read the manual at all. Just turn the knobs to get the sound tat you want and press "write" and save it to one of the presets. The only knob in there that's hard for me to use is the reverb knob, becasue you only get 1/4 of a circle to adjust the amount of reverb.

Sound Quality: 8
You can get a variety of sounds out of this thing. Lots of differnt OD/DS styles, Delay styles........
For me, half of the distortion settings are useless. I duno about other styles, but they're not that good for my kind of heavy metal sound.
The biggest problem i have so far is the noise from the distortions. The noise supression seems to kick in a few seconds after you stop playing makeing it sorta useless. With the compressor on, it's just plain stupid. Luckily, u can fix this problems by putting a real noise supression pedal in the chain (possibly before the input)

Reliability: 9
I got this a week ago so i dun really how long it can last.
The metal case and all the pedals seems ok, but the knobs might be easy to break if u're not careful with them.

Customer Support: N/A
Never Tried

Overall Rating: 8
as i said before, a large variety of sounds from this thing.
It totally kills all the older Boss ME units.
Obviouslly it's not as good as the GT6 which cost like 100 bucks more. But this one is way easier to use.
Some of the things that i would love is an EQ section, a jack for a 2nd expression‎ pedal and the ability to input and display names for the settings.
The craziest funtion of this thing is the octave up and octave down on the expression‎ pedal. I think u can actually like play a song by just changing the note up and down with the pedal. (never actually tried)

Submitted by kmok86 at 04/03/2003 21:32


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Price Paid: US $250
Ease of Use: 10
Very intuitive to use. Just turn the knobs, etc... Also, I've never used a previous Boss multi-effects unit, but the footpedal is really handy as a volume pedal, as well as another function (ex wah) when manually selected by pressing extra hard on it.

Sound Quality: 7
A lot of crap sounds about here, but you can get pretty much exactly what you want if you tweek enough. The greatest mystery of multi-effects units are the shitty presets; especially obnoxious distortions with ridiculously high levels. Of the thirty presets, maybe a half dozen are useful for anyone who isn't in a Limp Bizkit cover band. I mostly play jazz, and need more subtle effects than a full on distortion over an obnoxiously overdone flanger...but that's just me. Alright, biggest beef? The damn tone modify!!!! What in the name of <blank> is this piece of crap for!? Why not just put some sort of graphic EQ there? I can't get a good tight scooped clean sound with the tone modify. Finally, with the tone mod set on enhance, and really light natural distortion with boosted bass and tone (note: i'm faking an EQ by doing this), i was able to get a really nice clean sound with scooped mids. The tone modify is useless!!!! A real EQ, with ...gosh....tone modify type presets for people who need their solidbody to sound like a hollowbody, etc.. would have been far better than forcing someone to pick one. I'm probably going to get a small EQ stompbox sometime soon. If it weren't for this, i'd give the sound a 9.

Reliability: 10
Bombproof; though I hope the sticky wah pedal on/off that's "modeled" doesn't really become one!

Customer Support: N/A


Overall Rating: 7
A step in the right direction. I haven't noticed any real latency with the effects that others have mentioned; it can't be worse than any other multi-effects board. The EQ is my biggest problem with this thing. Also, 30 presets, that you need to record over if you want to save your own, is a bit annoying. But, since most of the presets are such crap, I don't mind replacing them with my own. All in all, don't think I'd get this specific one again (though I don't really want it to get stolen either...). It's not a bad unit at all, does many effects really well (and I love the footcontroller options), but misses the mark on a few key areas.

Submitted by Anonymous at 03/26/2003 07:33


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Price Paid: US $295
Ease of Use: 9
Knobs, thank God!. Very easy, actually the easiest that i've ever tested. U can use it as a set of pedals, just stepping in the fx u want. In the memoy mode, u can change between 30 recorded sounds. Recording is very easy too, u turn the knobs, choose the sound, press the write, select the patch, and press the write again. Don뭪 give a ten because u have to buy another footswitch to not change the banks manually.

Sound Quality: 5
It imitates a set of pedals I뭢 very familiar with. As I have lots of them, I can compare and tell the obvious: ME-50 just imitates them, sometimes does the job well, sometimes?well, if u want the sound of the pedals, u don뭪 need this. I wanted a way to simplify my live setup, and I think it does the job (but it could do better). Not all the sounds are good. U can find some: some ODs, someDSTs, the vibrato and tremolo, some delays. The very bad are: analog delay (no way!), slow echo, the flanger, uni-v and rotary (no way!). But I don뭪 need these, then, I think I뭢 satisfied with the quality of the sounds. But only for live.
My setup is: an Ibanez Artist, an Stagg Tele, a Vox Cambridge 15 for home and a Boogie .50 Caliber+ for live.


Reliability: 7
I seems solid, instead of the plastic stomp switches. But i don't think i can use it without backup. I will always carry my old pedals, and sometimes use them.

Customer Support: 8
Its pretty new, but i don't hear many complainings about other Boss products.

Overall Rating: 4
There뭩 two things I really hate in the ME-50. There is a little silence when you change from one sound to another using the memory mode. Its very bad for live performances, and this is precisely the reason that I bought this thing. And there is a little latency between what I play and the sound I hear. But this happens with every digital signal processor. I think a LS-2 or an AB box can minimize these problems, as I can use it in the send-return mode, and keep always the original signal.


I miss a small equalizer, instead of the tone modify, but it뭩 useful, some are good - I like the presence and the hollow. The compressor is simple and good, like it should be. I don뭪 use the reverb, but I think it뭩 acceptable.


It sound very different depending on the Amp, so, in live performances, its dificult to use the memory mode. I miss a true bypass too.


I뭢 always looking for ways to substitute big sets of pedals, but I don뭪 think this is the one. I think I can use some of the FX and still use some of my pedals. I don뭪 think I would buy it again. Acctualy, I thik I뭢 going to sell it soon.
If somebody knows a really good option, please e-mail me.


Submitted by caco at 03/25/2003 15:29


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Price Paid: US ca. 375
Ease of Use: 10
Great! Finally, a floor-based multifx with knobs. I hate going through menus and shit, just to tweak my sound to death. This thing sounds good from scratch. A little tweaking, and it sounds awesome! - I considered the GT-6, but it's too expensive for me. At least right now...

Sound Quality: 10
This thing came out for sale today. (In Norway. Check out the price...) I decided to give it a try. So i got it home with me, and I tell you, it's not going back! I'll trade in my OD-20 and gladly pay the (approx.) 180$ difference. Though I've only tried it out for a couple of hours, I found every sound I'll ever need.


I have tried it with my Epiphone Sheraton (es335type) with a dimarzio in bridge pos. and a super'70 in neck pos. The amp is a Fender Concert, 60watt tube 1x12 combo, whitch works great with pedals.
I usually use a rivera 4x12 cabinet, but I didn't bother to haul it into the livingroom.


The overdrive/distortions are great. They are "derived from the popular OD-20 Drive Zone", but to be honest, they sound better.


The Mods sound great in my ears. I havent tried all of them yet, but I'm sure they are satisfying. -So far so great!


The delays are also fine. Haven't checked out the stereo effects yet, but if they sound half as good as the rest, they are great.


The expression‎ fx are brilliant. The ringmod sounds way better than the one on the GT-3. It lets more of the real tone through. Wah is by far the best I've owned and the oct-1 and oct+1 work well.


I havent really tested the compressor, noise supressor and tone modify yet, but I'll bet my own ass, they'll be great.




Reliability: N/A
Don't know yet... Boss is known for quality, isn't it? It should be.

Customer Support: N/A
Never had any complaints about their products.

Overall Rating: 10
I play all kinds of music. Mostly rock though. I've been playing for 15 years and own a Epiphone Sheraton, a fender stratocaster (jap.), a mid 70's Ibanez "Les paul". My main amp is a Fender Concert 60watt 1x12 combo (Int. speaker disconnected.), played through a Rivera 4x12 cab. The Boss ME-50 definitly helps you create music, and inspires you to vary your style both playing and composing.

Submitted by Leif W. Husdal at 03/25/2003 13:13


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Price Paid: US $269.95
Ease of Use: 10
Very easy

Sound Quality: 9
The sounds are very tweakable! Reverb sounds very good, Mainly the (MOD) reverb.
The OD's are all pretty darn good. The stereo chorus 1 and 2 are pleasing to the ear, and the delays have a lot of options to get just the rightsound.

Reliability: 9
Very solid. Just a large metal pedal.

Customer Support: N/A


Overall Rating: 10
For the cost of this pedal I don't think you can even come close to getting all the FX seperatley. It's a great value.I play Hard rock and Metal but my friends usually talk me into joining into there Blues sessions and I have no problem at all getting my sound to fit with different musical styles.


It would be great if it had a USB/Firewire connection to the PC and a Mic pre and some MIDI ports just for getting ideas down on the Laptop or something.


I also have a ZOOM 505, and had a ZOOM 707. The BOSS ME-50 beats them both on quality and reliability.

Submitted by CaptainPatch at 03/12/2003 12:25


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Price Paid: US $295
Ease of Use: 8
Relatively easy to use.

Sound Quality: 2
Let me take the controls/FX one by one:
Tone Mod: Is this supposed to be a substitute for an EQ? Pretty useless. I left it either on Off or Fat.
Compressor: Barely adequate.
Noise Suppressor: Works OK.
Reverb: Four different 몎erbs controlled by one knob, which means that each reverb gets ?turn to go from min to max. Very poor.
Distortion: Most of the models are too hot even when the Gain control is turn to its minimum setting.
Modulation: The only really useable FX the unit has. The Chorus is nice, as are some of the other FX.
Delay: I was not able to get a decent sounding delay.
In general, the unit suffers badly from an inability to control the parameters of each effect.
The headphone amp constantly overloaded, adding a terrible distortion to the sound. At first I thought my phones were blown out--it was that bad! And what was even worse, this breakup was present at the outputs as well, making it virtually useless for anything but the trashiest metal tones.


Reliability: 9
Built very solidly.

Customer Support: N/A


Overall Rating: 1
I have had many FX units over the years, and I'm very experienced with sound engineering and audio.
I played a project Strat w/Fralin pups, a Dean Evo and a '52 Reissue Tele through it, into Sennheiser HD-280 phones and a Laney 50w tube head connected to a Fender 412 cab.
I kept the unit for two weeks, then threw it back at my dealer and bought a BOSS GT-6, which was only about $100 more and at least four times the unit the ME-50 is. If the ME-50 were, say, $150, I would consider it adequate as a competetor to the Digitech RP-200. But it's 3/4 the price of the GT-6! Not only does the GT-6 have deep adjustibility, but it sounds much, much better as well. The tuner is better, it comes with a professional power supply (no wall wart), and has many more features. The only things the ME-50 has that the GT-6 doesn't have are battery operation and an Aux input, which I do consider to be a nice feature. Plus it's about half the size of the GT-6. If it sounded at least DECENT and cost less than $150, I'd say it was a cool toy for fooling around out of doors or on the couch late at night. However, the overall poor sound quality--both from the FX and the outputs--says to me that this unit is a loser and not a good value at any price, and especially not for the nearly $300 it sells for.

Submitted by Anonymous at 03/09/2003 10:03


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Price Paid: US $270.00
Ease of Use: 10
Very easy to use. Intuitive Nobs and effect markers.

Sound Quality: 10
The FuzzFace and the BigMuff sounds really cool. There are 2 types of variations for the all OD/Dist settings, when the vari-button is lit, it's got more boost. The tube screamer and the Guv' are great, and can be made to sound authentic.


The wah-wah sounds pretty darn good and there is a bypass on the front of the Wah pedal. I have only used the Octave+1, Voice, Resonance and Wah for the expression‎ stuff so far. They all work well.


The chorus does sound good but you need have a stereo amp with the stereo choruses to get good tones out of it. So I just run a Danelectro Chorus in front of the ME-50 with no problems with added noice or loss in tone at all. This is good 'cause frees up the Univibe and Rotary effects since they are on the same pedal switch.

Reliability: 10
Very Solid Medal Case. Hard Nylon type plastic pedals will not break. Diecast would break before these pedals will have problems.

Customer Support: 10
Never had to deal with them. Don't think I will have to.

Overall Rating: 10
The uni-V is very fun to play with.


Noise reduction is perfect.


4 Reverbs adjusted with a nob.


lots of options for a good sounding delay in the Delay section.(11 kinds)


I have to compliment that there is no delay when switching between the patches. Even when going to different patches in another bank, it's right on.


The only problem or concern that I have is it doesn't allow upload/download to backup your patches.


Also the Sustain is a little bit noisey if you turn it all the way up. That is typical of sustain/compressor effects though.


The reason I got the ME-50 is that I liked the GT-6 but did not need all the Amp models. The ME can be pluged direct to a PA too. It has a Mono, and a L-R stereo output as well.


The rest are as follows: aux in, phones/line out, and a foot switch input.

Submitted by Blue Man from MI at 03/03/2003 15:32


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Price Paid: N/A
Ease of Use: 10
Sounds great to me. Better than a DOD or a Zoom. As a matter of fact a lot of the patches are good for presets which is usually uncommon. Especialy bank 9.
Very easy tp use and edit the 30 patches.
The manual is 35 pgs and has lots of pictures. This is a very visual Multi FX.

Sound Quality: 10
Used with a Fender Deluxe Reverb and Peavey Classic 20. Gibson SG & Fender strat.
Not noisey at all. The strong FX sound strong but there are some weak sounding combinations.
I play mostly blues, but you can get a real heavy Van Halen or Metalica and Black Sabath tone from this Proc.
Can get Peter Green 'Drifter' and "Need your Love" etc. no problem.
Can get Gary Moore blues sound and Luther Allison very easily too.


Reliability: 9
I can depend on this thing. It's very solid. It's not diecast like the single pedals but it's rigid angled metal.
The pedals are smaller then I though, but it's not a problem. The expression‎ pedal is one of the better ones I have seen around.
I would use this without a backup no question. - unless it was raining ;-). They should make these out of diecast and water proof them in my opinion.

Customer Support: N/A
No Opinion here. This item is pretty new and it hassn't had a chance to where out yet!

Overall Rating: 9
This seems to be a step in the right direction for the Multi-FX stomp boxes. I really like it. This ME-50 really hit the spot for my blues playing. I own a Zoom GFX-707, Dano, BOSS, DOD pedals, and the ME-50 is much, much easier to configure patches. It also has stereo out, line in and head phones! - all need to have options. If it were stolen or lost, I would go buy it again for sure.
I compared it to the GT6 and the ME33, Zoom 707II.
It really helps to get rid of a lot of my pedals and cables. It cleans up my jam-room real well. I am a happy customer, but I wish it could hook up to my PC to store and edit additional patches. Although I understand the GT6 does do that, but I didn't want all the amp models and LED Displays to read thru.

Submitted by dubys at 02/28/2003 22:56

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