Boss ME-30

It can take a short while to get used to the editing system, but it's incredibly easy to use, especially if you already know your way around basic effects parameters. I've been in possession of two of these over the years, and only the second one came with a manual, which went largely unread. I've no use for the phrase trainer though, so I don't know If it's a particularly good one or not. The only real gripes I have regarding usability are with the lack of a backlight on the screen (be prepared for a fair bit of squinting), the lack of a bypass pedal, and the expression pedal on/off is, well... useless, on my unit at least. It's easier to just copy the patch to another location with the pedal on or off.

I use a Gordon smith S.G2, a Fernandes Strat type, various pedals, and a Roland cube. I like to use the ME30 in one side of an a/b box going into the aux in of the cube. For what I like to use it for (Psychedelic/ambient/far out stuff) this works just fine. In fact I'd go so far as to say that for the more experimental sort of sounds, I consider the ME30 a bit of a secret weapon. The Delay and modulation effects are crystal clear, the chorus in particular is good, almost, but not quite, as lush and sparkly as my CE2. The only letdown in this area is the phaser, but more on that in a moment. The compressor can cause a bit of low end boom on extreme settings, but it's still more than adequate. The noise gate also could be better, but this is usually solved by not maxing the gain on the overdrive block. I've heard/read a lot of complaints about the distortions, but if used in conjunction with the compressor and eq correctly, pretty much any sound you want can be coaxed out. Hi gain thrash/metal tones, ludicrous fuzz, even those just breaking up/slight crunch tones are available if you're careful, just remember to save it once your there! The only problem I have with it that can't be solved with patience is the way some effects are grouped together. Tremolo with flanger is out. Chorus and pitch shift? Nope. But the worst is the fact that the phaser and the eq are on the same block. Like I said, the eq can be integral to getting the sound you want, so the phaser can often be left sounding thin and tinny. This unit is probably not for the audiophile, but for anyone whose happy just to be in the right ballpark, price considered, it's a marvellous thing. Hillage glissando/volume swells? Definitely. Morrello style wig outs? It can be done. Hetfield(ish) crunch?. Yup. Even Mr Gilmour's in there somewhere.

I don't play live. If I did, I'd just use it for the more way out sounds, with an a/b set up to get around the lack of a proper bypass facility. It's seen a few accidents, mind. All manner of spillages, being dropped and clunked about, and it still works fine, but it IS plastic, so I doubt it's anywhere near as indestructible as a Boss compact pedal.

Not needed as yet, though if it did arise, I probably wouldn't go this route.

I've been playing for over 15 years now, and the ME30 has been one of my favorite bits of kit for a fair chunk of that time. The first one I had was on a long term loan, and when I saw the one I have now, at the price it was at, I felt like a kid in a sweet shop. Don't be fooled at the price, and its entry level facade. It has some crafty tricks up its sleeve. If you turn the delay feedback all the way up, in manual mode, you can use it as a looper. When adopting a similar approach with saved sounds, as long as you switch to another patch without delay, you can solo over your loops. Occasionally, I'll program a sound that will inspire a tune or two on its own. If you get to know it well, its almost on par with guitar rig for far out lysergic journeys. If you're after more conventional sounds, there's still joy to be had, just don't expect too much. As a basic multi fx and beyond, for the price these are going at right now, I doubt there's a better deal out there. Just leave some for me. If mine were stolen, I'd kill. I wouldn't swap it for a four foot tall rack of high end gear. Except maybe so I could sell it all and buy more ME 30's and an old les paul, then I could do Robert Fripp impressions till my arms fell off.

Everything is in the manual (download from Roland) A bit tricky when you first start, but after a while it's second nature. The ME-50 is a lot easier to use, and you can see why Boss has moved to welded together stomp box with knobs approach. The foot switches are too small and hard to use live. The patches are too slow too change, so you can't hot switch between patches during a performance. The software interface is the same as a boss stomp box, it just takes a little time to get to tweak using the buttons. I'll be opening mine up and rewiring some of the switches to some external foot switches for live work, as it's a little cumbersome to keep bending down whilst on stage.

I use everything through this strat/tele/paul/elec12/SG/335 to a Fender Princeton into Peavey Bandit / or Crate 120 (JC clone) and they all sound okay. So lets go through the effects. They've kept the analogue circuitry of the DS-1 and I can't notice any difference between my DS-1 and the ME-30 distotrtion. (I hate them both as much) The overdrive is pretty thin compared to what I can get out the dirty channels on my amps, so I skip them as well. The Wah is okay but the pedal is a bit small and flimsy to be rocking all the the time. The compressor does it's job, as does the 3 stage EQ and Noise Supressor. The pitch shifter is very basic. The flanger is a good, but the Phaser lacks a little range. NOW FOR THE GOOD NEWS.........The stereo chorus is as good as the CE-3, nice and rich. Add to this the excellent Digital Delay and Reverb, and suddenly the money feels well spent.

It will be an addition to my effects not a replacement fro them.

I bought this hoping to use the patches live, but they switch too slow, but now I have a very good live chorus, delay & reverb (plus others if I want them) for less than 1 Boss Stomper.
I play 60's through 90's, and this works well with my other pedals. It's really good for practice with the headphones, but I'd like to have volume adjustment on the Aux CD/Ipod input. Stolen or lost, and I had the extra $$$ I'd consider individual stompers, or an old Yamaha DG-Stomp and use it the way I use this one.

I got the Boss ME-30 from a music forum for 130 dollars. Once you figure out how to get everything going it's a very simple pedal to operate considering the amount of effects it has. You can choose from every effect available very easily. There are many weird effects that can be used in a programmable bank memory. Editing patches is very simple and non-time consuming. Manual can be very helpful but I think anyone could figure out how to do everything on their own, needless to say it is very easy to use.

I run the ME 30 through my Peavey Bandit 65 and use an epiphone les paul studio. Many are saying that the distortions are a bit weak but i think otherwise. Nevertheless I use the me 30 mainly as a delay and modulation pedal and use separate stompboxes for dirt and distortion(ts9, proco rat2, black coffee metal distortion). That being said, modulation and delay are top notch. I think that the flanger and chorus is absolutely awesome. Wah is pretty servicable but don't expect it to sound like a crybaby. ME 30 also has whammy!

BOss me 30 is made in japan and a product of roland but Can you depend on it? I think so, if you generally take care of your stuff, and not try to break it intentionally just to test the durability. I think that this thing can withstand a beating nonetheless.

no comment

As i have said, i use this as a delay and modulation pedal and it does it's job pretty well. For the price i paid i would rather have this than separate stompboxes. But with this alone, i think that you can achieve the sound that you are looking for, the key is tweaking

very easy to use.

Just take a peek at the manual and your all set.

Only a child will not be able to use this thing.

Great. I generally use the pedal for the modulations and delays and they are perfect. Distortions are pretty good but i use seperate stompboxes for them.

I generally take care of my stuff so no worries about this one
Would you use it on a gig without a backup? absolutely

no comment. have not contacted them yet

For the price, it's unbelievable

The unit is fairly simple to get good sounds out of, there is a never ending collection of sounds you can create and save. The Editing patches are great, and scroling through the patches are simple as well. The manual is a little bland, it is clear enough to get started, but for advanced features, you on your own.

I Play a Ibanez JS100, and a Jackson Dinky with a HOT Seymour Duncan in the Bridge, through a Marshall 120 Solid State Cab. The noise gate is awful, so I get alot of noise when on Distortion settings, the cleans channels are good. I can get some good distortion like Metallica, Slayer, Lamb of God, but like I said, it's noisy as hell. The dealy is awesome, the flanger and Reverb are great too.

The power adapter has gone on me twice, the pedal itself i pretty rugged. I would not use it without a backup, we have alot of songs that have some breaks or stops, and the last thing i need is noise.

N/A

If you can find one, grab it. The pedal has help improve my playing. It has given me the confidence to try new things, and it just pumps you up to be able to edit a sound and start pulling some Tom Morello stuff.

My BOSS-ME30 is pretty good to use can be a bit frustrating at times but has lots of different pedals in one greatfor recording live gigs are a bit painful.

editing patches on it is relitivley easy compared to others.

didnt get a manual as my cousin gave it to me for squat good old cosins.

i run my boss with a cort x-2 coustom and a epiphone EP-s28 and it goes queit well.

some setting blow your sack off when you cahnge to it.
distortions are queit good so is delay and chorus wahs average.

i can get some sweet metallica distortion real thrashy and that.

i would depend on it now after a gave it a kick when it stoped working now it goes sweet.

i would use it without back-up

never delt with them

i play thrash,industrial,progressive,death metal,hard rock,indie and everything else and it goes well with all most all after some ajustments.

5 years playing guitar.

i also have a ibanez chorus pedal witch i like better that the boss's chorus.

Fairly easy in a studio setting but on stage changing parameters is a real pain.

I use a strat with mesa boogie mk2b & find most fx fairly quiet apart from the overdrives which are pretty noisy, with sounds ranging from awful to excellent.

Mine has had lots of use & abuse & still works,

n/a

I've used it with several styles & have a love hate relationship with it. I like having all fx in one box but hate not being able to change parameters on the go without having to use the presets. Also the wah turns on midway through songs without me selecting it, usually at the most inappropriate times! I think there are many better units in the same price range & would buy something else next time

This thing is so easy to get good sounds and save em. You have 3 pedals for switching presets and an expression pedal! Anyone with any exp. with a multi will be right at home and novices will have a pretty easy time adjusting to their liking.

I use this straight into either a fender tube amp or peavey classic 30 for practice( or headphones). Fender and ibanez guitars sound great. This pedal lets the sound of the guitar come out more than some more generic sounding processors that make a cheapie sound like a vintage les paul. I found the distortions to be great used alone when eq'd properly but best when used with amp dist. The effects are decent to good and cover just about any sound you could want.

I have had it since they first came out- NO PROBLEMS. It's sturdy plastic so as long as you dont run it over its good. Its a boss. I never have had a prob with a boss pedal and I have maaany. So this is not a throw away unit with a 2 year life expectancy like some newer junk.

I play rock mostly, blues and pop and alt too. 18 years playing. Got a lot of pedals and amps and gtrs. I have or have tried everything you can think of(almost). This would be a great choice for any one looking to simplify their fx. Great value. Get one gently used for the price of one good stompbox!

I've been playing for over 10 years now and have played a wide variety of pedals and guitars. This is one of the more difficult ones to use. The screen is low contrast and hard to see. Forget playing with bright stage lights or outside...ever. Its just complicated.

Of all the analog, digital and multi effect pedals that I have ever played. This pedal has hands down the worst overdrive and distortion sounds imaginable. The reverbs arent too bad for digital and the delays arent bad either. If you are at all a gear head you would never play one of these. If you are a beginner, its a good beginning pedal to get your feet off the ground, but once you start thinking about sounding good...get another pedal.

When it gets hot (outside or on a hot stage) it can cut out and the screen fills up black so you cant see anything. Power supply went out very quickly. But after about 8 years it still works.

Never dealt with them.

I play mostly rock, blues, and metal, and occasionally delve into the ambient arena. This pedal is okay for the delays and reverbs but not much else. Tone sucks, screen sucks, volume pedal is too light, plastic construction sucks, power supply sucks, distortions and overdrives suck, makes too much dang noise. Like I said, once you get to the point of worrying about how you sound, not just how to fret a guitar, get another pedal.

Easy to use and very flexible as far as possible sounds you could go for. The manual seemed to cover almost everything.

I played a Kramer guitar and amp through this for years. My guitar was definately not one of the best, but the pedal made up for quality of my guitar. I loved that it gave me distortion, delay, a compressor, reverb and an expression pedal ready to use at the drop of a foot. However, I didn't like that Tremolo, Chorus, Pitch Shifter, and Flanger are all on the same switch; This made it impossible to use any in conjunction with the others. The noise compressor is a bonus as well, but depending on the output of the pedal it could result in some white noise. I always run the unit on manual, and never used the preset sounds on stage.

Over the years my jacks have worn out, resulting in me having to push the unit with my foot at times, because my sound went out completely. You don't want that on stage=embarassing. When new I would have used it on stage, but no longer. The expression pedal on/off no longer works either, so you have to either operate with it on or off and bend down to manually disengage/engage. I'm going to rate this a 7, only because it did last for a few years with no problems, but years of use can be hard on anything

I've yet to deal with the company, but I do plan on trying to get it back in working order. Guitar techs(not Boss) have told me that if the jacks are connected directly to the board, then they can't be replaced, but a computer tech told me he could fix it. Repair work is way over my head, and with the computer tech there is no guarantee the I'll get it back working order, even the way it does now.

I play a wide range of music from rock, metal, reggae, country, and improv. This product fits in well with whatever you want to play with a little tweaking. The only complaint I have is the chorus, flanger, tremolo, and pitch shifter being on the same switch, I'd like to be able to use some of those together. Currently if I could get the jacks replaced I would still use it live for the ranges in distortion, the compressor, and the equalizer, reverb, and delay. But I would have to use seperate pedals for the other effects listed and an expression pedal. All in all if I were starting from scratch now, I would buy seperate pedals