Boss BE-5 Guitar Multi-Effects

easiest multi fx board on the planet. really. it's just a mini board with 4 separate effects in row, each having it's own parameters with real time pots. plus a noise gate. elegant.

i owned 2 back in the day. still kick my butt once in a while for selling them. will probably buy another someday because i miss the transparency of the effects. if you have your tone or know where you want to take your tone with current rig, then this pedal will add to what you've got. it doesn't take anything away, and only adds a bit of noise - my only complaint.

the compressor i really like - can do mild limiting through to outrageous squashed with massive sustain - it really sings.

o/d and distortion - usable if you are more or less happy with your amp's tone. it does the old classic rock tone to a tee with o/d, the distortion is okay but not the strong suit. i usually ran a rat or something in front - tried a plethora of drive pedals, and still searching for the one...

chorus - excellent. basically a boss ce2 which is pretty hard to beat for subtle shimmer.

digidelay - outstanding decay, very organic and analog-like. in fact i really miss the quality of this effect. i own a rockman stereo echo which is wonderful, but i miss the simplicity of the all in one floor board by boss.

noisegate - never used it that much but it was good when needed.

i play mostly blues, funk and fusion, reggae, you name it. played the boss through a marshall jubilee combo and half stack for gigs. used a 335 or a strat. the pedal was always in the rig and never let me down.

solid, but the switches get sticky and the jacks are spongy after a while. i just resoldered jacks from other inputs on the back that i never used. other than that good, even though the plastic seems flimsy, no probs.

no 10 due to plastic and switches, which are also an easy fix if you're patient and more coordinated than a chimp.

what?

good for anybody who wants to enhance what tone they've already got with some simple, easy to use, and reliable effects. great for kids too who don't want to break the bank or major in computer science just operate their gear.


boss should reissue these babies with quality components at reasonable price. i'd buy one in a heartbeat.

ez as can be! like 4 different pedals!

old 80s 8 bit digital, sounds allmost analog!! real kool!! a strat thru it to a fender 59 bassman r i. sounds great!

has bad input jack, but still works!!! also when i got it the adapter was harwired into it & it was missing the face plate. i wrote out the controls & rocked away!!!

boss support sucks...

this pedal has the ce2 chorus & the dd2 d.delay. & the cs2 comp! & the od, dist os2 i think? japanese made!! go out n try buying these pedals 1 by 1!!! about $400!!!! I LOVE THE CHORUS ON IT MONO!!!!!!!!! A CROSS BETWEEN A DIMESION C & THE OLD CE2 CHORUS!! THE DELAY IS A DD-2!!! GREAT TONE!! comp a lil hard to tweak 4 knobs (i never was a big comp man) & the distortion is ok. THE CHORUS & DELAY ARE WORTH THE PRICE OF ADMMISION ALONE!!!!!!! LOVE EM!!!!!!!!

As easy as it can be. Four independent pedals in a box which can be mixed in only 4 memories per bank(2).

I have two Boss Be-5m. One is almost damaged and i recently bought a second/third hand one.
Honestly, I love the sound of it. The digital delay has the pure Boss sound. Many combinations possible. The distortion is very good. I like it in low tone. Gives me a fat bluesy sound, that bumps into my mid tone strat and gives me the chill :)
I'm using this effect board with a 60 Watt old Randall amp. I also use a Fat Cat from Ibanez, for a even fatter distortion. I just keep loving this set day by day.
The Compressor always comes in handy, and I hate the Chorus, because i hate chorus. The effect is not bad, i just don't like it.

It is all made of plastic, quite fragile, but hey... I've been playing this pedal for more than 10 years. I can't complain much.
My damaged unit has a slight electronic noise coming from the digital delay that ruined the whole purpose of the effect. The chorus had broke down 4 years ago. But the new one I got, has more than 10 years two and it is working 100%, so this time i'll be more careful.

Never tried it. I live in Portugal and usually it takes months to solve any problem with a foreigner company so i just didn't try.

What can I say, this effect board has been with me all these years, and i had the best times and best sounds with it. I play melodic rock stuff with a noise feel. Like Wilco, or Death Cab For Cutie with Sonic youth. This is the perfect effect board to me: Digital delay, chorus, distortion/overdrive and Compressor. As simple and goodd sounding as it can get. It has also volume control, EXT loop, Threshold function for noise control. It would perfect if it had a built in tuner.
The lacking point for 10 is due to the problems i had with the other old board. the delay noise really annoyed me. But things can't last forever.
If you're thinking of buying one, go ahead, don't doubt it.

** HOW TO FIX STICKY SWITCHES ON THE BE-5 **

I'm writing this mainly as a tip to those of you who have problems with sticking switches on this thing. I've had the same problem for years (in particular the compressor switch is sticking).

I finally decided to try to something about it so I opened it up. It seems that the problem was that the rubber pieces that push on to the PCB mounted miniature switches gets a bit worn, or looses some of its flexibility over the years, so it simply won't push hard enough.

I simply put a small blob of epoxy on top of the problematic switch to ensure the rubber presses harder onto it. It worked perfectly and now all the effects turn on and off no problem at all. 10 minutes (including waiting for the epoxy to harden) and it was as good as new.

A very functional device which does it's job properly, although not top-of-the line for each individual effect. Has a lot more "character" than most multi-FX rigs out there. It's got most things you need, but it doesn't lure you into the trap of blurring away your tone by adding too many effects just because you've got them all.

Simplifies the pedalboard a lot. The effect loop makes this thing 10 times more flexible, and opens up a lot of options to get that right sound.

For the price it's great. I suppose they cost virtually nothing nowadays if you can find one used. It cost about the price of one regular pedal when I bought it used about 10 years ago.

Very easy to use. Manual is worth reading over especially te block diagram of the internal signal flow.

I love the sound of this unit! I'm taking advantage of the fx loop by running my Marshall 2550 Silver Jubilee in it. The fx loop is the key to this unit. It allows you to put the compressor and OD/DS into your amp's front end while letting you put the noise suppressor, delay and chorus after the preamp (in your amp's fx loop). This is traditionally what i've always done with my fx. The loop is also programmable as part of your patch. This setup has become known as the "4 cable method" in Boss GT-3/5/6 circles. I believe this was the first Boss mfx unit to capitalize upon this setup. The fx sound very good even considering the low bit depth. They sound analog and smooth. I give it a 9 just because it works so well for my setup - SET and FORGET!

The fx never let me down. The issue is with the damn switches. In manual mode they sometimes/routinely stick on or off. It could possibly take me 4 or 5 taps on the chorus pedal to change it's status! Well what do you expect from a plastic casing and those damn bubble switches. Mine could benefit from some repair or replacement.

I don't ever bother trying to get customer service from Boss. If you are lucky ebough to get somebody on the phone (long distance of course) - odds are they can't tell you anything beyond what you already know! It is a waste of time, that's why i don't do it. I'll take my chances on doing it myself.

I play what ever I want - quite horribly, i might add. I noodle. I experiment. I don't gig out currently. I'm more of a mad scientist about guitar playing. It's my daily therapy that keeps me from going insane. I just like plugging into a good decent sounding tube rig and getting up and running fast without the headache that digital fx presents. I've owned a GT-5 and GT-6 previously, but in the end, know matter how hard I try, I can't get myself to believe they are the same. Tube amps just sound feel right. After having the fancy stuff for years, i found that i never used more than just a tad of compression, delay and chorus anyway. The fact the this unit has OD/DS and noise suppression and a tuner out it just a friggin' bonus! I guess i'm a minimalist. Extra bells and whistles (i.e. baggage) doesn't do it for me. This little plastic Boss jobber fits the bill quite nicely for me.

it is very simple to use, i have had this my second one for 12 years,i mistakingly sold the first for an all singing all dancing zoom 9030.the be 5 is easy to tweak on the fly.

i have used it with strats, a washburn rs8v, and an ibanez steve vai jem my main gtr for 5 years,i have used a carlsbro glx 150c through the main input,and found if i used the amps overdrive, the delay is over pronounced compared to the o/d on the be5 itself,recently i go straight into the pa and it sounds warm,i always have the comp on and when using with the 2x12 stereo carlsboro, people have asked me if its a valve amp

yes definatly, i have done so but i also own a gp100 and used both together for a while in a kind of double stereo set up covering floyd stuff and more in a 3 piece band, since turning solo/duo i tend to use the gp100 into the pa, with the be5 for back up and easy rehearsals with my duo partner,in the last 12 years i have changed the input socket, and i am just about to change two micro switches, o/d and comp, the delay switch i did about 5 years ago, but dont forget i didnt have this from new,and for 6 years of my ownership i did about 170 gigs a year!

as ive said before its only the tiny microswithes and the input socket, oh and some led,s that has been an occasional problem, but can be sourced from maplins and replaced easily, so i havent needed to contact them

I cover so many guitar hero material and can usually get the sound im after with either of the roland/boss pedals i own, so ican comfortably gig with just the be5 and a wah pedal, its just like an old glove, i am always on the lookout for another, if i can get one i would without question get another, the compressor is so warm a valve amp like quality,the od/dist is so versatile, the delays are good, my chorus seems to have deteriorated, i could get "that motif" on shine on you crazy diamond to a tee, y,know bflat ,f g e first few frets.i compared this to korg a5, various zooms, digitech plus other contenders at the time, they all lacked the warmth.

Easy to use...plug and play, wiggle the knobs, play some more.Hardest part is remembering fave settings!

Guitar..Maton Mastersound through a Kustom 111 Lead Sc and for fun..a Pignose. Kustom has a sterile tone and this unit gets some tone when playing with dist/od. A little bit of comp and you can get the old 'big muff' tone and sustain. You can play at low volume and still get some serious tone...which is what its all about. You can go all new-agey with the delay settings all on max.Play along with your self, chant the mantra etc. Try this in DADGAD tuning! Noticed on some other posts that their chorus was not working. It only works on the Mono out. Mono jack in stereo out doesn't work at all, but this is a stereo effect, so thats not a surprise. I guess you would use a stereo plug for that.
Great sound quality. Well it sounds great to me.I can get the sounds that I hear on the music I listen to..Stones etc.The quality may not be as clean as digital units, but then I wanted it to sound dirty.

I only just got mine. Seems reliable enough, but I don't think I would like to risk stepping on it on a dark stage...My unit had a noisy mono out socket. I pulled the unit apart[very easy..Phillips screw driver] and found the socket had a dry solder joint where it is connected to the board. Easy fix with a dob of solder. Could be a weak point to check if your unit crackles or has an intermitant fault cured by wiggling the lead.A heavy, long jack would put a lot of strain on this. I'm using a right angle jack to help a bit. I guess I would take all the pedals that this unit replaced as back up to a gig, but hey, who can afford all those batteries.

NO

I have been playing...30 years. For my self mostly. I wanted to try effects that I see in magazines. Used pedals sell for about $100, so this seemed like a good deal because I wanted some OD/dist. I like Electro Harmonics stuff, the Russian versions..Big Muff, Small Stone.
The BE-5 made good sense...5 effects in one. And all in glorious retro 8-bit technology. Ilike what I hear so far. It adds to the music experience...not an LCD menu in sight. Add to that, a tuner out and an effects loop so I can whack some Phasing into the mix, and yeah, I'm glad I found it in the second hand store.

This effects unit is really easy to use, not like all the new DSP ones that require a degree in engineering to figure out how to use it.

Has more soul then all the new fangled DSP effects unit. Sound is quite good...

When my be5 was fully working it was really reliable, hence why it was the only the effects that i would ever use. Many years of great service.

Unfortunatly time has taken toll on it and there are cracks beginning to appear on the pedal mechanisms and the switches are loose and beginning to come out. The unit has one previous owner who used to gig extensively with it. I estimate that it has lasted 10-15 years.

At the moment my be5 is on 'hiatus' while i try to figure out how to fix it. I haven't been able to find any info on the boss site that would help me or anywhere else.

I would really appreciate if anyone could help me with finding any technical schematics or even a manual.

I only bought the BE5 for #20 (UK), not cause the owner didn't know it's value. Over the years i have used it it has proved to be worth much more then the #20 I have paid for it.

very easy to use...its right there infront of your nose....plain and simple.
No manual required....look..its all there infront of your nose.

simple set up....Gibson SG and an Hi-Watt stack.
not noisy at all....if you know why the noise gate is there!
FX is kinda weak on the chorus side...but still good...for the price i paid.

i bought it cuz i like toys.
never brought it on stage...so ...no...i'm not depending on it.

ahhhh...thats a good one.....its like politics.....promises.....I cant get through to Boss-Rolland.....maybe they're hidding.

Classic Rock and fingerpicking....Chet Atkins style.
If it was stolen??? i'd get my insurance to get me something updated.
Favorite features...all of them...its a simple package.
Anything else you'd like to share....Yeah... instruments are over priced.its costing me a fortune.

Extremely easy. Basically 4 seperate Boss stomp boxes. The controls are exactly the same as Boss compact pedals from the late 80s, early 90s.

I'm using a USA Fender Texas Strat with Texas Special pickups, Marhsall DSL50-JCM2000 half-cab. I also use it with a Carvin SX100 Solid State (speaker replaced with 200 watt JBL) occasionally in recording.

I purchased this in 1989 for about $500 Australian dollars. The switches have been replaced on the unit because an extremely ditzy girl after a concert said, "hey! I've seen people jump on these!".. and she jumped up and down on them extremely hard?". But I replaced them because i think the effects are 8-bit and nice and junky. But very high quality nonetheless. I kind of prefer the sound of effects from that era to the latest 24-bit stereo stuff..... but that's just me :)

Never dealt with them. Never needed to. Boss is extremely reliable. I think this pedal had a 5 year warranty. The BE5 was made in Japan, and even though plastic... it's withstanded a ditzy girl repeatedly jumping on it.

I play in a covers band doing Foo Fighters, Pearl Jam, Blink 182, Smashing Pumpkings type stuff. But I also have an original band. I also do the occasional solo stuff.