Boss ME-30

This pedal is extremely easy to use and it has a number of good options. Editing patches is pretty darn easy to. Mine didn't come with a manual but I think you can find it somewhere on the internet.

I use a tiny little crate practice amp with this but the sound is still pretty good in my opinion. Most of the effects always sound pretty good on this thing. I use an epiphone les paul standard with my ME-30. The distortion on this thing is a little weak but its not bad. Most of the fx on this thing are dandy.

This is a very reliable pedal and I have and will continue to take it on a gig without a backup.

Never had to deal with the company

I play alota styles of music some praise and worship some punk rock and rock stuff, everything. I have been playing for 4 years now I think. This is a great product except for one major thing that really bothers me, the built in tuner is a piece of crap it works but it doesn't put you in tune. I have had major problems with the built in tuner. I also have a friend who owns the ME30 and has the same problem. Buy this if you don't care about using the tuner. If you wanna be in tune using a multi effects pedal, this is not the pedal for you.

real easy to use when get the hang of it. .

I use it whit my Mesa/Boogie MK3 combo .Sounds like thousand thunders.sound guality is realy awesome.

Won`t let you down .

Good service.

I play all kinda music, mostly lead on Rock & Metall .
Iw played for 8 years .
works so fine whit my MESA MK3 Combo .. I think They are best combination ever.
MESA & BOSS ME-30 .Best Palls

Superb. A trained chimp could use this thing, even an untrained one could get the hang of it in 20 minutes. The tuner is particularlly easy to use on a darkened stage, 'cos the LED's show when your high/low/spot on. Only problem is that damn glow in the dark screen that glows for about 5 minutes after the lights go out, and then nothing. That makes it difficult to see if you've managed to switch the wah off on the expression pedal without making noise.
Making patches is simple, and there is plenty of tweakablity to get the sound you want, or find a new sound on the way.
Slight warning - Don't wear really big boots with this. Pressing the middle switch gets slightly tricky.

I use a Les Paul Smartwood (thinner and lighter than your regular 'Paul) through a Fender Princeton amp. You can reproduce nearly any sound you want with this. The distortions are a little disappointing, but the guy in the shop told me it actually uses the circuitry of the Boss OD1 and DS1 (?) pedals so you've got #60-#80 quids worth of pedals in there alone. I hear the Boss distortions aren't overly popular anyway, so that explains the sound. At least you get plenty of 'em. The Wah obviously isn't as good as and CryBaby or something, but it does the job at a fraction of the price. Since i only use it in one song, i'm not gonna fork out for the real thing. The ring modulator is good only for annoying the rest of the band during practice (or Dr Who effects.) Apart from that, everything is top. The delay is wicked (up to 2 seconds), compressor and noise gate are useful, and the chorus, reverb flanger etc. are all good to play with. The whole thing sounds good enough and is idea for anyone from bedroom to regular giging.

Had it about 2 years and have had no problems. It's plastic, and that might put some people off, but i think you'd have to jump on it with 2 feet to do any damage. Haven't had any problems with it, gigging or practicing. I always gig without a back up - the only back up could be an ME-30 with the same patches set anyway.

N/A. I do wonder though why the adapter isn't included with the box. Buyer beware - #150 for the effects and another #20-30 for the adapter.

We play original material which goes from full on heavy rock right back to Jazz guitar style, and this thing lets you do all that and everything in between. I've been playing for 15 years, 7 of those in bands. I own a Les Paul Smartwood, a Parker NiteFly and an old washburn AV-20, and this box lets me get close to the sounds i want on any of these guitars. The best thing about it is the freedom it gives you to try out different sounds. You've got god knows how much worth of pedals here, all good enough sounding to gig with. If i lost it, i'd replace it with another one in an instant, or whatever the latest equivilent was. I could't afford to go back to stomp boxes now cos it would cost me fortune to get the same range of sounds.

It is quite easy to use, if you have time to spare but if you want to make quick changes in studio practice time dont go for this. I have given up trying to get the sound I want out of it!!!!

I was using the ME 30 through a Marshall Valvestate S80 with several different brands of guitar. I found it impossible to get the distortion sound i wanted. The ME 30 just could not provide a good full and meaty metal sound after hours of tweeking. I ended up going back to my old boss dual overdrive which is not to great either. In general most of the other effects were ok (just ok)apart from the ring modulator but if you want a good crunching metal sound do not go for this.

I had a few problems with the power supply input coming loose which meant the whole thing cutting out during a song and then having to go through all of the banks again to find the sound i was using. And the foot pedal always needed tightening which didnt last for long which made some of the effects like the volume pedal useless if you wanted to walk away from it.I never have and never will gig with this!

never used it

I have been playing for ten years and have played a wide range of styles from alice in chains,faith no more,soungarden and tool to newer bands such as deftones, incubus and american head charge. I could not get any similar sound to any of the bands i have mentioned.
The only reason that would bother me about having it stolen or lost is the fact that i want to part exchange it for something else! I will be more carefull in choosing in future!

I find the ME-30 easy to use but making adjustments live on stage is not convenient - lots of small buttons to push. There is 3 patches per bank which is enough most of the time. You don't pay enough for 4. Getting a good sound takes a bit of fiddling. Sometimes you can get close to 'that' sound you want but never actually get there.

I have a Marshall VS65 which I hate but actually use to gig with - mic into PA for bigger gigs. The effects loop on this amp is crapper than the rest of it so I run the ME-30 into the guitar input. I use the clean channel on the amp with the volume very low. Most of the sound come from the ME-30. I find the clean sounds I can make are good. Chorus, Flange, Delay and Phaser are all good. The wah is crap -I use a cry baby. The distortions are only OK/average. You can get an ok blues distortion/overdrive. Its hard to find a really good metal/hard rock sound but then I belive you can only get that from a rectifier (or a POD). I play a lot of heavy stuff - fav bands are metallica, system of a down, muse, incubus, pod, shihad (now pacifier). I use the ME-30 for my hard distortion and its ok - pull out the mids on the ME-30 and on your amp and it'll do ok. Really its up to the player to make it sound good - a crap player will sound always sound crap - doesn't matter how good your gear is. I looked at upgrading to a gt6 but the distortion doesn't seem to be that much better. I think you could probably tweak the gt6 to get a better sound though. The tuner is great for gigging - easy to see and use

I've been using it for about 4 years and its been fine. Been through couple of transformers but thats not the me-30 - people keep stepping on the lead. I use it to gig with my band/practice - everything.

Boss dealers are everywhere - never had to use then tho'

Playing a lot of metal (I also jam on jazz and blues with it) I have never raved about the distortion but it gets me by. I actually use the 'crunch' distortion not the 'hard' or 'metal' these loose to much note definition and get noisy and harsh. Clean sounds are really good - you can make cheap guitars and amps sound ok with and its cheap to buy. I've been playing for 7 years or so - I bought it because you can simultaneously use a lot of the effects and because I was poor. I've finished uni now and am looking at Mesa amps and other effects units (I've heard good things about the line 6 pod and the Behringer v-amp, the behringer is really cheap but you have to buy foot switches for both of them - they are really amp simulators with some effects for recording but you get a good sound out of them). Like I said before a good guitarist can make anything sound good. Nothing beats having a killer sound though. The ME-30 is really good value and you can do a lot with it but if it was stolen I would look for something better

Right out of the box I was able to start editing patches with only a cursory glance at the manual. It was fairly easy to get usable sounds from it right away.

The LCD screen graphically represents the knobs of of "classic" stomp boxes and as such lends itself to ease of use for those used to that type of unit. However the lack of backlighting for the display is unforgiveable.

I'm currently using this board with a Carvin XVBII 50watt combo amp and my heavily customized '83 Fender Strat with High Output Fury ZP-20 Humbucker in the bridge, stock Fender single coil in the middle, and Seymour Duncan Humbucker in the neck position.

The distortion sound of the ME-30 unit is inferior to the natural distortion I get from my hot-wired all-tube Carvin amp alone, however for giving on-stage access to a variety distortion styles on-the-fly in a loud rock bar, it's sound quality is more than adequate for such a task. It's tonality does leave something to be desired but for full-volume hard rock - it does the job well enough.

The delays/chorus/phaser are all usable for what I need from them in a live situation. THe delay gives a nice bit of added dimension for certain solos and the chorus adds depth for ringing 80's style power chords. The wah is acceptable (better than other digital wahs I've come across for especially for it's range of sweep) although still a little colder sounding than a true Crybaby.

My bigggest complaint is something that is endemic to digital patches and therefore not a defect with the unit and that is the second of silence when switching patches, fine for in the bar but unacceptable when recording.

Again, with all things considered, the average bar patron with beer in hand will never notice such minor deficiencies and is fine sounding for that use. Also for a practise tool at home, it excellent for filling the den with sound or through headphones.

Reliability of the all-plastic unit itself is fine, however the BOSS PSA power adaptor you are forced to use is essentially disposable and does not stand up to wear & tear. After 6 months of use, power interupptions onstage become frequent (very embarrasing when you go to kick on the volume boost for the big solo and the unit shuts off and restarts itself while you stand there playing SILENTLY). And so it's time to replace the PSA.

Granted playing bar gigs every weekend is hard on gear (and so am I) however other Boss users I've talked to find the same problem.

The unit itself has held up well after 2.5 years of solid gigging except the Expression pedal has become floppy so I'd give the unit itself an 8. The power adpater however rates a 2 at best so I'll split the difference and give it an overall

Never had need.

I play in an 80's Metal (Priest/Maiden/Ozzy/Metallica)and AC/DC Tribute band. I've been playing guitar for 24 years (touring/gigging professionaly for 16). For what it is (an inexpesive multi-effect unit), it does it's job well. It's sounds are usable if not spectacular,is easy to use and is low-priced.

Were it stolen, I would probably either move up to a Boss GT-88 or go back to an old crybaby and a Boss Digital Delay pedal. That's not to say I don't like the unit, just that with a larger price tag I could get closer to what I want to hear.

My favorite features would be the ease of use, the onboard tuner, and the price tag. My least favorite is definitely the lack of backlighting for the display.

Overall, it is does it's job well and I would recommend it to someone looking for an inexpesive multi-effect unit that's easy to use. The sounds are fine and I'll continue to use it until the day it dies or gets ripped-off.

It's easy to use but for programming the wah-wah, you definetely need to read to carefully.

In addition to my review just below, I'd like to add that I like the Guitar-Amp-Simulator a lot. I don't use this option when I play on my Woodstock Amp, but I use it when I play guitar on my computer. I don't change my patches, I only switch the Amp-Simulator on, that's all. I like my guitarsound a lot on the computer, it's perfect for hard-disk recording. I have a Soundblaster Live! Platinum as soundcard with Live! DriveII.

I haven't had any technical problems yet...

In my previous review I wasn't really satisfied about the way you can use the wah-wah. In reaction to that, somebody send me an E-mail and told me that it is possible to programm the wah-wah in it's OFF- state. It's also written in the owner's manual but I couldn't it so easily. Now I know how to programm it the way that I want. So now I'm even more satisfied with the Boss ME-30. But maybe in the future I'll try the Boss ME-33.

I think it's easy to use but you do need the manual. You can probably find out how the Boss ME-30 works even without the manual. The manual is good.
Editing patches is easy and you can easily edit and change the parameters.

I'm very satisfied with the sound quality, especially with the metal distortion. I always had trouble finding a multi-effect processor with good and fat distortion. Of course this is a matter of taste. It also depends on your amp. I have a very good sound with my setup. I use the Boss ME-30 in combination with a Woodstock Legend amplifier. My Gibson Explorer with EMG pick-ups sounds best on this set-up. When I bought the Boss ME-30, I tried it on a different amp and I wasn't convinced but since I bought it second hand, I decided to buy it anyway and sell it if I couldn't get a good sound on my own amp. Wise decision to buy it, 'cause I'm very satisfied with my rhythm-guitarsound. I don't try to find a sound like my favourite guitarists.
When I play live, I use three patches. Patch 1 is my rhythmguitarsound, Patch 2 (Becko) I use for melodies and Patch 3 I use for solos.

The reliability is great. I did a whole european tour (20 gigs) with it without using the back-up. I use it at every rehearsal as well. I didn't have any problems so far.

I bought it second-hand so I don't have any customer support.
It's cool that you can find lotsa information on the Boss ME-30 on internet.

I play metal. My band is called Ancient Rites. We play different kinds of metal which we melt together as one style. I go for a very heavy sound with lotsa low-end (Rammstein like). I play guitar for almost 14 years. As I mentioned before I like the metal distortion (better than a Metal Zone) very much. But I don't like the wah wah. The wah wah sounds good, but the way you have to use it sucks in my opinion. Since you can only use three patches in the play-mode it would have been better that the wah wah is normally in it's off state. When I want to play a solo I use patch 3 (LEAD). In one song I do a solo in which I use a wah wah, but not the first half of the solo. So I programmed the wah-wah in patch 3. What happens is, that when I press Patch 3 on when the solo starts, the wah-wah is on, and that's not what I want. I think the wah wah should be off and that I press it on when I want to use it in my lead sound. If there was a fourth patch, maybe then I could make a lead sound with wah wah but... you can also use a CryBaby wah wah in combination with the Boss ME-30 and that's exactly what I do.
What I miss on it, is a backlight for the display.
It's also great that there's an in-built guitar tuner.
I like the expression pedal a lot, 'cause now I don't need to buy a separate Whammy pedal!
I am satisfied with it, but if I have to change, I would buy an improved version of the Boss ME-30. I probably wouldn't sell it.

Its easy but is not a children's play

It isn't the definitive processor but for those who had say it's only good with practice combos i have to say that i have an engl screamer 50 and its sounds ok, but the distortion is noisy, the efects which are originally digitals sounds good

I use it in some gigs with good results but unfortunately, i'm now searching a professional sound which is upper than the posibilities of the me-30

i have no opinion about this

its a good tool to beginner/intermediate guitarists but not a pro tool

Easy, easy, easy.

Here's the story - this does have good distortion. This does have good delay etc. all you need to do is spend a while to set the patches. Compressor is noisy, but I hate compression anyway, so no loss there.

100%

This is a cool pedal, and if you complain about it, try buying all the seperate stomp boxes - i mean, ?260 for a dd5? I got this for ?30 more tahn a single DD5 box!!! Add a mt2, a tr2, a crybaby, and a flanger, and, well, ?760+ to setup your pedal board. This is a great multifx unit, and I would seriously recommend it to anyone. The distortions are NOT harsh. All YOU have to do is actually figure out how to use them properly. I've been playing 38 yrs. I have a Gibson Les Paul Custom, and an original Marshall Bluesbreaker Combo. I use this as the only pedals in my setup.