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

It's easy to use edit and make new patches once you just understood the system. the manipulation is so easy.

I could get a wide range of sounds as Pain of salvation distortions, rammstein and a lot of others. the chorus is exellent and I love the delay too.

I'm using it for 5 years now on stage it's perfect with electricity ( no battery) I rely on it and I no need backup

actually i never did that

It's so brillant guitar petal and I found it professionnal. I just would loved if they made better COSM.

It ain't easy to use, since this is THE ONLY guitar effect box that is DSP driven from the very beginning... starting from the interface, and that's why it's been taken out of the production line, 'cause it's the best guitar effect box that's ever been put on the face of this weakling earth... though not being sturdy, it is the most flexible and most intelligent guitar effect box on this earth, no wonder they took it out of the market, now it is even more valuable, starting from at least 400 bucks since it's already a limited edition... if you have it and know how to use it, keep it... otherwise, sell it really expensive, since it is the best of the best, the combination of the guitar world and the tech world,, :p

If I ever think about selling this device, I will really take the price up high, 'cause it's a real state-of-art piece of an equipment... It's really unvaluable because of the flexibility and electronic interface, I really couldn't believe they thought the ME-50 would replace it, when it's a completely analog interface... they say nice things never change, but I think the ME-30 came out to this world to make it all easier for us guitar players....

Just Perfect

I definitely would, 'cause I've already done so...

Crappy, no fucking online support, they (boss, Roland) think they could just outcast a product like this...

Well, This bastard can be configured to any type of setting you're looking on... from Queen to Nirvana, from Red Hot Chilli Peppers to Eric Clapton... so I have no complaints at all...

I've had the ME 30 for about 9 years now and it recently shut down on me. No power. I had to reroute the power line to feed directly into the box. Easy to use with writings and presets. jhavent midied any yet with it though. editing is a breeze. learned it without directions.
I have not upgraded, dont know if its still being made

it tends to have an "Eddie" sound to it yet some wha wha effects hard to hear even when turned up in all areas. Most people who hear it love the sound - no complaints

Heck ya i would, in fact I plug and play at the church I go to into direct sound board. i use the preamp since its there and let the sound man edit the sound its great. esp since the ease of use to write and edit for concert use. i wish i can update the one i have or at least fix the one i have or get another one new, the reason I choose 7 is because the box lost power and had to reroute through box to resolder line

never called

i play anything from rock/metal to contemp christian to blues and jazz its all good. played for 22 years. i would like to get another to update. i love the writeability of the box. its versitale enough to take it any where and powerful enough to hit those awsome notes and bends. it makes it easier to use rather than keeping up with all small pedals and tying them up to get the same sound out the ME-30 for the price its great

I have had this thing since it first came out. It is very easy to use, simply plug into an amp, plug in guitar and start pressing the pedal button to get different preset sounds. I have not how ever edited patches so I have no comment there, unless that is fancy for saying adjusting the sound settings. In that case again very easy to use. I am not aware of any upgrades and that is the reason I am searching the net to see if there is any upgrades or tricks it has that I have not used.

Originally I used a small practice amp with this unit. I feel using just one amp with this device is seriously killing it. I have been (believe it or not)running it from the headphones out, into a nice pair of computer speakers (no computer needed). The reason I do this is that most CPU speakers are digital by nature and have great surround sound capability, the Boss me-30 also has a setting in the delay mode for "pan". So I set it on "blues about 85% crunch 100% volume, then add delay 330 or so, mid feedback and 85 % volume, then I use the compressor and a touch of reverb and run it thru the CPU speakers and it is unbel;ievable sound I get. If you turn up the delay more you can get some really heavy echo-plex effects. The only thing I do not like it when I turn up the compressor too much and max the gain on the distortion it has an overpowered sound and I hear some crackling (and it is not the amp or guitar) But overall I am pleased with this thing. If you use an amp run this thing thru 2 amps as there is 2 outputs and you can get stereo crossover etc. If you are not getting good sound using the presets, just click the manual button and make your own setting. That is the only way I use it these days.

I have used it for over ten years and other than the occasional crackling when I rev it up too high it seems very reliable.

Never needed customer support. But if someone knows of an upgrade for it and how to install it I would love to know about it.

I just play around on it, I am not a "Van Halen" fast lead type but more of a slow handish bluesy folky kinda player. For what I am trying to do it is fine. If you want the real high treble crunch for superfast leads I would look another direction. If you want nice deep warm mid range blues it is great. The only thing I really dislike about it is when I run it in mono thru one amp it really sound average. Plug it into 2 amps or CPU speakers and it is awesome!

Easy to use and edit.
Read the user-friendly manual in the beginning.
Has a "phrase trainer" which can slow down a 20 second recorded lick.

I don't use it to gig, just to practice.
Some effects are weak (wah, EQ). The others are OK.
Sounds better through headphones (seems that is always the case) than plugged into the amp.
Not the best effects processor.

It's a dependable unit. I've had it for almost 10 years.
But, like I said, I don't gig with it. Not the best for that format.

Never had to deal with them.

Overall, it is a unit to practice with.
I bought it mostly for the "phrase trainer" to figure out songs that are not popularly tabbed.
If it was stolen I wouldn't buy another I'd go get a Roland.
It is a good "starter" pedal for beginners.

Quite easy to use. You'll probably have to take a peek in the manual to learn how to move patches around and use the phase trainer, but other than that it's fairly simple. I love the 3-patch-per-library layout of the pedal, at least compared to the one big friggin' list layout that some of the Digitech pedals have. It makes flipping through and finding effects easy, especially if you group them somewhat logically like I do.

I have a Fender Mexican Fat Strat and a Jackson Rhodes RR5 with EMG 81 and 85 pickups. I pretty much only use this pedal and then go right into the amp (clean channel) or my computer. Going right into the computer, the guitar amp simulator is okay, but in most cases you're a lot better off going into your actual amp and micing it or using the direct out on the amp. Here's a quick rundown of some of the effects.

Compressor/Sustainer - Pretty good, can get a tad noisy, but basically does the job.

Distortion/Overdrive - Good. About half a dozen types of distortion/overdrive. I have very few patches with the vintage or lighter sounding overdrives. The metal and fuzz distortions are my favorite. I get a much tighter and controlled distortion from the metal mode than I do on my amp (Marshall AVT 50).

Equalizer - Pretty good. I can't seem to turn the mids up with distortion and get an appealing sound though. I just think it makes the distortion seem compressed and cheesy. But that's just me though.

Phaser - Good.

Noise Supressor - Good.

Modulation - Good. Chorus is especially awesome. With a clean sound, chorus and a bit of delay, and my Fender Fat Strat, I can nail Eddie Van Halen's clean sound for 316, Best Of Both Worlds, etc. Pitch shifting for octaves and fifths is good. It would have been great if they could have the harmonizer like on their Super Shifter though. Flange good. Tremelo good.

Delay - Good.

Reverb - Good.

Mixing up these effects the right way is how you get the beautiful lead sounds or crazy effects patches. Some Digitech pedals comparable to this have a taking synth-wah that I miss on this pedal. But I like the distortion on Boss pedals a lot better, so I'd take the tradeoff.

I've had it for about five years now. It's dusty as hell, but still works perfectly as far as I can tell.

Never dealt with them.

I've been playing for about 7 years in pretty much any style. If this were lost or stolen, I might just buy individual stompboxes. Besides the fact that Boss doesn't make these babies anymore, most indivual pedals can do more with each effect than this multi-effects can do with each effect. I am always trying to improve my rig. Overall though, this pedal is a well-layed-out, reliable sampler of great effects.

Very easy to use once you get to know it. I worked with it without using the manual. Editing patches was easy enough if you know which button to push when. Takes a couple of tries but you'll soon figure it out. The manual is good tells ya what to do and what you should know.

I use a strat copy with 2 JS model Seymour Duncans and a 100wat Marshal half stack. It sounds great with my rig. Not noisy att all no matter what settings. The effects sound really great only the Wha-wha sound is not that good. I managed to get a good Eddie van Halen sound with it and a good Green Day punk sound.

Its never let me down as long as you use the AC power connector. It eats batteries so i would not advise battery usage. I use it live or for recording and it sounds tops

Never had to deal with the company but if you are looking for a manual here it is. http://www.rolandus.com/support/product_manual.asp?Letter=M

According to one reviewer, Jai i think finding the manual was not easy for him. But i managed to find it easily.

Never had it repaired or upgraded! Solid quality

We play a mix between The Ataris and Placebo and the ME30 sounds great for either style. Ive been playing guitar since 1990 and i if my setup were ever stolen i'll get the same equipment except maybe get the latest Boss GT6 effects unit seeing as it is very current.
I love the fact that you can simply just press and the sound is there no fiddling or what ever. Use your banks and set them up correctly and there you go.

I only wish the pedals were stacked a little further apart but as it is it works out, little getting use to. Otherwise i love this unit it gives me everything a need!

You can switch through patches very easily, but working the phase trainer requires reading and patience,give it time and you'll
get it.

Sound quality is pretty damn good, with some minor weak areas
Going heavy like Metallica is this things true strenghes plus there
are effects that are hard to imagine, the range of sounds u can get
is a real strong point, this thing is worthy of recording, high quality

This thing is solid and I never had a problem

If I were U I would buy this on Ebay for $170, I paid$550 cdn a
couple of years ago,sold it for cheap,and I've been kicking my ass
since,not having this pedal felt like I was held back,I just bought another one, This is an excellent first multieffects proccesor,
I would go for the ME-50, It's the same,just has knobs for ease of use. Buy it you won't be dissapointed,

This pedal is very easy to use once you give it the look over

i use a montrey stage series (SG imitation) guitar with a on a small peavy transtube series rage 158 amp and it sounds great

it looks strong and boss procucts a 'suposed' to be built to last

to get a manual the boss/roland sitte is bull $#!t so i googled it and this is a pdf file (you can also view as a html)

http://www.roland.co.uk/Support/Turbo/ME30.pdf.

i play hard rock - metal (ac/dc to pantera) na dthe effects r good
seeing as i baught it on ebay and it wos fine and that other fool payed $700AUS !!!!!!!!!

I purchased my ME-30 from Guitar Center late 97 or early 98. If you stick with the standard patches it is so simple to use, however the other features, user patches and setting the manual patches is not at all intuitive. The instructions have to be read and re-read to get up to speed. The phrase trainer works ok however is hampered by mixing issues. If the bass is strong it may overwhelm the lead passage especially at reduced speeds. The bypas switch is much to small to take the unit out of the path and the noise is strong in some settings even with the noise gate. In other instances the noise gateis excellent. I use the rig on my Road King ( Who's reverb, sucks) To the person trying to find a manual please contact me at the indicated e-mail address, I would be more tha willing to help. The coolest sound is that of the JetSound throught earphones so you can hear the panning its great. Try playing "I wasen't Born To Follow" you'll love the sound.

I use the inst with a Road King formerly a Twin Reverb. It can get noisy in cleaner pasages and if too many effects are ganged together.
The effects are robust and can be controlled sublely. The key is to use them sparingly. I like the sound of SRV's phase shifted pickups , however thats a tough sound unless I use my Fender. All the effects are decent quality yet not supurb.

I have had the rig since 97/98 never a problem it used to go on the road with me. I carried it in computer case and it protectred it well. I plugged into it directly and the sound was great through phones.

Never had to deal with Boss.

I play bluse based rock, fussion, semi Jazz, country ( no slow stuff).
I have played for 42 years. I would replace it with a newer version most likely with more switches. I would like to have an easily accessable bypass switch. I chose it because it was one of the first popular priced units with a phrase trainer ( which I rarely use , see above comments.)It can get in the way and I am goint to place in the effects loop when I need plain clean sound.

I really love this processor. I have been trying to find one for three years with no luck until recently. Everybody kept trying to sell me something i didnt want, and im glad i stuck to my guns and waited until i found (and won) this little baby on E-bay. Best $90 i ever spent. The only thing i have a problem with, is trying to figure out how to use the phase trainer. When it comes to that feature i am clueless.

The ME-30 makes my mostly cheap setup i have sound good. I have a Squier stagemaster and a Crate 12" solid state amp, yet my rig sounds better than my uncles SG, and Marshall. I just bought an Ibanez RG-350dx and unfortunatly it is still on layaway, but i cant wait to plug it into this. i think the choice between the little les paul and strat icons by the name of the patch are dumb, so i dont invest time in those. I love the dist onthis, (remember to lose the mid-range), chorus, delay, and phaser is great, love the flanger, and wah is so-so. Reverb is great as well.

So far so good.

This thing is impossible to find info about, and the Boss/Roland website- USELESS. All i want is an owners manual. i will pay for it, if you would be willing to sell me one, e-mail me ss70454ci@hotmail.com.

I play metal, and this processor is perfect for it. If it was stolen, i would be upset, but i wpuld upgrade, probably to a GT-3, or GT-5.

I bought this unit in a pawn shop 3 years ago for 80 bucks. It is the one and only effects unit I have ever owned. I don't own any other pedals because after using this one I haven't needed anything else. When I first got it I sometimes frowned at it, but as my guitar knowledge and abilities grew so did my ability to use this pedal. The factory effect setups are great to get you fimiliar with the capabilities of this pedal. Today I have about 10 settings saved into the non-volatile memory. So changing amp setups is just a stomp. The user interface is so simple to understand. No manual needed. The only drawback to the user interface is the display size. When I am sitting on my guitar stool and bending over to jack with the pedal, I usually find myself squinting to see the display.

I play a Gibson LP Special w/P100's through this pedal and then to my 1966 Wards Airline 8" combo. I play mostly blues, and blues rock(John Lee Hooker to AC/DC). For what I play I can pretty well get most of these tones without the pedal. I use the pedal for what its meant, effects. Most of my custom pre-sets are varying compression, tremolo, delay, and wah to tweak the sound for a particular artist or song. What I really like is being able to dial in a sound. Its really easy to toggle in/out an effect. I can leave the edit mode on and play for a while to decide if this is how I like the sound. I am really lucky to have gotten this as my first effect pedal. It has taught me alot about setups without having to drop a fortune on single effects trying to re-invent the wheel.

I bought it at the pawn shop because I recognized the Boss (Roland)brand. I had them put a battery in it, when the display came on I figured that worked well enough. Brought it home, cleaned it up, its working fine 3 years later.

Wouldn't know. Never delt with them.

Overall this is a great pedal. If it were stolen or broke I'd be S.O.L. cause the new ME-50's are $300.00 and I am one poor musician. I'd just rob a bank or hell, just rip one off at the music store. If I didn't do that I would just tough it for a while until I found a good used ME-30 or ME-50. Of course I would love to have other pedals. I'd like to have alot of stuff(dare to dream!). The boss ME-30 is the best deal around to get varied effects. There are cheaper units out there, but this one is gonna last so it pays for itself in the long run.

Pretty simple - ni dodn;t get a manual with mine, and was still flying!

A *little* bit noisy, but nothing to worry about. Generally, excellent quality, althought the chorus is little bit thin.

Delay and flanger in particular are excellent. Wah is so-so.

For the price, nothing touches it.

5 years old, and still going strong. Do you see how many reviews for this are still being posted? There is no other unit I've bought (bar my Sony Minidisc walkman; also 5 years old and still rockin'!) that i consider as well made!! 10/10 is an understatement.

Given the reliability of the unit, I'd say Boss tech are pretty lonely!

Absoulutly essential purchase - great item "just-to-have"

I haven't really been using any FX of late, but I'd never part with this.

One of my favourite personal belongings, along with my walkman, bible, and guitars.

This unit was extremely easy to use once I located the User's Manual. The ME-30 is easy to work with and not too confusing. Most people should have no problem figuring out how to use this. The lack of full spectrum tone/speed dialing with the modulation effects can be a bit frustrating if you are looking for an exact speed, however most other effects (like the delay w/ 2000 ms etc..) make up for this. Also, the Phrase Trainer and earphone Jack make things really easy when it comes to practicing.

I use a factory spec. 2000 Gibson Les Paul Standard through a factory spec. 1996 Fender Hot Rod Deluxe w/ Tesla/JJ 6L6GC's and 12AX7's. This combo is a sweet match. Trust me on this!!

Distortions - good, my amp is not the optimal "Metal" amp but it seems to nail many of the classic sounds, although the digital controlling scheme again is some what annoying - this can be such a touchy subject as there are so many factors that effect how well distortion will sound

Modulation - perfect

Delay - perfect

EQ - could have been more expansive

Phaser - I've heard better but works well

Noise Reducer - does the job for a low cost unit

Volume/Wah - good, Wah could have had a few options but I like the fact that you can select pre or post distortion

Compression - OK, similar to CS-3

*** Word of advice: Don't expect what you hear through the Amp Simulator w/ earphones to sound anywhere near the same as an actual amplifier. This is a low cost unit and is not the pinnacle of guitar effects units so don't expect miracles. It does the job and works well.

I use it in gigs and I rely on it. BOSS/ROLAND products are the best and everybody knows it.

N/A

I have been playing for 16 years and I know my sounds. I play many different popular ROCK/HEAVY METAL/BLUES styles from 60's/70's pshychadellic progressive blues rock to prog rock to 80's metal to 90's classic rock to you name it. This unit can pull all of these sounds off fairly well. I like the way I can toggle through banks as if I can have three patches per song when I perform live at gigs. I also like the bypass option. The ME-30 is an affordable solution for the average musician. There are obviously more expensive ways to achieve the perfect tone but this unit works fairly well as an affordable alternative. I wish I would have bought a GT-6.

Feel free to contact me if you want to know how to achieve certain tones. I have had quite a bit of success with this unit and I am happy to share ideas.

Very easy to get the sound I was after (primarily a heavy metallica industrial metal sound, with easy switch to organ and violin effects)
Editing patches is fairly simple, if not limited. The user presets are really average, 30 presets, and 30 you can edit yourself.
The Manual is pretty messy, but does cover every function - the Phrase trainer is the best thing i've ever ever used. It lets you record a guitar solo, and slow it down to practice to without actually dropping the pitch, so you really CAN play those solos you never thought you could - ahah eat that Kirk Hammett!

Im using a Marshall JMP MKII 1973 twin tube 50w Head, with a 6x32" quad box. With my Amp on 2(out of 11) and the Boss me-30 on 50 percent volume - I can fill a football stadium with ball crunching sound. The pedal sounds weak on the blues type effects - my computers sound card does a better job.
This is the ONLY pedal thats let me get that metallica type sound that I wanted - i have tried countless others - this was the first to actually do the job properly. The clean acoustic effects do need tweaking- a little too much bass in it, and that drowns other tracks when mixing with the pedal.

Yes I can depend on it. It has never failed on me yet - just watch the output level though! dont pump it too high if u use a tube amp. I blew my tubes (at $80 bucks each from Russia!) Mid gig, so I had to plug in my i9000 pre amp to finish the show off - luck I had a backup amp - the pedal is a workhorse though. I have dropped it, spilled Beer, bourbon, Vodka, Billy water and had it on fire once and it is still going 3 years strong! I ALWAYS have my backup Boss Metal Zone II and Distortion as a backup tho - wouldnt matter what I was using as my main pedal.

They are semi-ok. They took 5 weeks to email me back regarding a technical question re: panning the organ delay, and they didnt really have much of a clue. Hopefully I never need to worry about repair.

Because I love metallica, I love this pedal. Ive been playing for 15 years, and besides PC based effects and software, this has been the best pedal I've owned (sure, not the most comprehensive and effects-full) but it does EXACTLY what I need it to do when it comes to metal. It actually has helped me become a better musician via the Phrase trainer - learning complicated scales and solos is just so easy.

The unit I purchased off ebay didn't have a manual, but I was able to find one on the net, and skimmed it before the unit arrived. As it turns out, I didn't really need it (except for the Tuner option). Editing patches was quite simple, and I was tickled to death by the knobs on the screen (just like a stompbox!). I haven't messed with the Phrase Trainer, though. I don't really have a use for it.

I am shocked by a lot of the things said about this unit in some of the more negative reviews. You can't expect to get the perfect tone "out of the box" with multi-effects units!!! Nonetheless, I enjoyed most of the presets. But the real gold here is to be found in tweaking them...take your time and use your ears, folks.

My setup was an old Marshall Master Lead Combo and my Fender Strat with a JB Model Seymour Duncan humbucker in the bridge position. I didn't experience any extra noise with this unit until I started maxing levels with the distortions. Overall I find this unit less noisy than a bunch of stompboxes, but it isn't perfect.

The effects, even the much-maligned distortions (gasp!) were great. I'd say the delay and modulation effects (tremolo, chorus, and flanger) smoke many of the stompboxes out there. The reverb was decent enough. The Trem-Arm and ring modulation effects were great for what they were, but I don't have much practical use for them. As for the wah, with its limited sweep range it's no Crybaby but it is passable if you dont have another option.

I don't understand why the hell they combined the Phaser and EQ in such a manner that you can't use them seperately! That gets the finger...

The main thing here is to be patient and play around with it, and chances are you'll get the sounds you want provided the rest of your setup isn't lacking. In 20 minutes or less, I'd replicated Eddie's brown sound, got a semi-decent Hendrix (max the tone of the Fuzz and you've got a dead-on Arbiter sound), and nailed tones similar to The Edge, Andy Summers, Alex Lifeson, David Gilmour, and early Jeff Beck. Not too shabby...

Remember, for Gods sake: This ISN'T a high end unit so don't hold it to such standards!!!

Would I gig with it? Well...I do have a few concerns. The lack of a dedicated Bypass switch that is big enough to step on doesn't earn it any points with me, since so much of my sound these days comes from my amp alone. I found a patch to replicate bypass in the forum on Yahoo but I haven't tried it, admittedly. Also, so many people have noted that the Wah has been known to come on by itself. That has yet to happen with me, but if it ever does there's no way I'd risk a gig with it. Otherwise, if the pseudo-bypass patch works well enough and the wah misfires don't occur, the delay, chorus, and tremolo deserve a spot in my rig.

I honestly haven't had it long enough to determine whether or not I'd need a backup.

I've never had any personal experience with Roland's tech support. I've heard both positive and negative...

I'm getting back into playing music professionally, and decided to buy an inexpensive unit to use for practice. In my opinion, this unit blows everything I've ever seen for under $100 (new or used) out of the water a dozen times over. When it comes to playing and recording, ideally speaking, I prefer a bunch of good ol' stomp boxes. This unit will at least keep me from having to buy any more for awhile, given the great delay, chorus, and tremolo.

If it were stolen, I'd put 32 rounds into the prick that did it. Sure, I'd buy another, but my money would be tied up in establishing a good insanity defense...

If this were a perfect unit, it would have a dedicated switch for each effect (and lets not forget Bypass...), some knobs like the ME-50...okay I'm nitpicking...lol. It's not perfect by any means but I feel like I got way more than my moneys worth. Much better than Zoom, Korg, or Digitech's cheezy crap IMO.

oh it was easy to use,
Editing patches to get the sounds I wanted was fairly easy.

digital sound are not mu taste. This gadget sound analog and turn the amp simulation on.

The jack-board died on me nearly as soon as I got it. Other than that, it seems dependable...I've left it out in freezing weather in my car (for a week or two), and it didn't hurt it. I've dropped it and such, and it's fine. However, the tuner won't pick up my B string right for some odd reason. Overall, a 7. Good for a multi-effects, plastic housed rig, but very sub-par for Boss.

I've been playing for 20+ years and play a bunch of different styles. I need something that will cover a lot of sonic ground. For the most part, I really like this pedal. It's quite the bang for the buck. The main thing I don't like about it is the distortions. This wasn't a big deal when I had my channel switching Marshall, but now that I'm using a vibrolux, I need distortions that are of really good quality(at least as I define it). The two that I pointed out above are pretty passable though and get me by.
I compared this to other FX units of comparable price and it had the best sounds[even the distortions:)]. I got it before the Digitech RP3 came out but I think I still would have gotten the BOSS unless the Digitech blew it away sonically because of the easy to use icon interface.
Areas for improvement: need to be able to bypass the unit by footswitching, not just by bending over and using the button.
BACKLIGHT THE READOUT/DISPLAY AREA!! - Why the heck put this easy to use interface in this unit and then not invest the couple of cents to wire in a light bulb so the user can see it?
Make the wah-wah on off switch/sensor(whatever it is) less stiff.
Anyway, this pedal is really a very good value and most of the usable sounds it offers are adequate for playing live(I've never tried to record with it).
If this were stolen or lost, I think I'd shop around and consider going to something a little more expensive; which I'd do only if the price/performance ratio favored a different pedal. What I intend to do is to keep using this and see if Boss does any upgraded versions of it in the future, or if someone else does something similar/better.

A bit tricky in the begining (as I don't have the manual), but after that is quite simple. Editing patches to achive the sound you want takes a lot amount of time, but when you get used you can get the sound you want.

I don't have the manual, as i bought it in 2nd hand.

Well, the sound is good, quite good to be honest, altough there aren't so many effects to deal with. It's a bit noisy, but using the built-in noise supressor, it's all alright. The tremolo is very very good. All is good except the distortion. Distortion isn't bad, but it doesn't give the feeling... you know what i say.

I use a Kustom Solo 16R amplifier (which is very good to be a practice amp, i think I'm going to play with it outside!!!)

Well, mine is in second hand, but i think it will last... i hope!!
I pack it in a self-made shoes box! It really works... :-)

Well, i've never had a problem till now, but you know, Boss = Roland, which means quality. Only fault: it's built in plastic, but it's solid.

I play a wide range of music kinds.'
Guitar? There was a long time i played... but last month i bought a new electric guitar and Amp and this thing.

It's cool, but the screen doesn't have a light. So, playing in the dark isn't good.

If you have to buy a processor, well, to start, i recommend this one. For the price it costs, it's AWESOME.

I'l give it an 8 or 9 but it was a 10 for me, I bought this as an upgrade from a Ditech RP-50 so I have a fair idea of how multi effects work, no instructions cos it's like 3rd hand but easy enough to figure out

Ummm atm im using a low model ibanez with 2 pretty cheap sounding humbuckers though a peavy studio pro 112 so its by far not the best rig. I like the distortions but without the amp simulator on they sound very thin but simply pushing the amp sim button dramastically improves the sound. A hint of chorus on a clean patch makes even this cheap guitar sound pretty good so im happy with that, i dont uyse delay so I dont care but i guess its pretty good too. The different parameters within each effect mean that u can get pretty much any sound u ant if u willing to put enough effort in. I like the wah its much cheaper than buying a cry baby or a hendrix n it'l do the job if ur not too picky other than that i dunno what else to say...

I'd say it's very reliable mine is third hand n it still goes well except the powerpack connection doesnt work but im pretty sure the repai guy at my local music stoe will be able to sort that out fairly cheaply. For a gig i'd prolly bring my RP-50 along just in case but i'm 95% confident it would b fine.

Never dealt with them but i cant find a manual which is bugin me

I play lotsa styles from soft rock to metal n so far i'v been pleased with the sounds i can get, but hey everyones different n just cos i like it doesnt mean u will try one out if u lookin for an affordable effects pedal with a wide range of effects that wont let you down

Loads of folk can't get the manual. Here's a link to a pdf of it
http://www.procyon.com/~tclong/bossme-30man.pdf

oh it was easy to use, as are many fisher-price toys, so it is of no credit to the unit.

it sounds-no kidding- absolutely awful. i hated it. i put it on some chump over-seas on ebay for way more than it was worth...enjoy dummy!i think it would sound way better flying off of a buildind to its much deserving death

it was dependable. every time i wanted to sound like shit, just turn it on and viola!

i never met with the jerks who peddle this crap, so i'll lay off of them

i like to sound good and this is closer to an am radio getting butt-raped by a pit-bull so over all i have to give it a " go to hell you useless spineless piece of shit retard who invented this piece of snot dribble

O pedal e muito facil de usar, nunca precisei recorrer ao manual, a edicao de patches e facil e sem nenhum problema!

Eu uso uma ESP kh e um amplificador Crate, gosto de tocar musicas de guitarristas solos e vario muito do blues ao metal!!
bom... vamos aos efeitos
Compressor = Excelente quando se usa no canal limpo, quando usado junto a distorcoes com muito ganho... TERRIVEL!
Overdrive, Distortion = Achei digitais demais, as vezes ateh irrita... mas com o tempo voce acaba acostumando!
EQ = nada de anormal... um simples equalizador de 3 bandas!
Phaser = nao uso...
Noise Suppressor = funcional
Chorus, Flanger = Perfeitos... nota 10
Pitch Shifter,Tremolo = Uso muito pouco, sao ateh bons!
Delay, Reverb = Perfeitos!
Amp. Simulator = Nunca gostei dos simuladores da boss... mas eh necessario...
Efeitos especias para serem usados com o pedal de express?o: Wah, Tremolo Arm, Ring Modulator = Passe longe!!! ehehe nao gostei!

BAh

nunca precisei...

Se voce procura um pedal para treinar este esta perfeito para voce, se estiver procurando algo mais profissional, eu nao recomendo!

This seemed pretty easy to me, but then again, I had some experience with the individual effects before I ever bought this. I'm also sort of a computer guy, so factor that in. That said, editing patches to get the sounds I wanted was fairly easy, all in all. Some of the effects are lackluster, but I had no problem setting the parameters for them. You can't use the phaser and EQ at the same time, which annoys me, but that's a small problem at best. I prefer the manual mode, but that's personal preference as much as anything.

Setup is either an 80's japanese strat or an epiphone special II. From there we go to the boss, then my marshall valvestate 80 watt combo (2x12 cab). It can get a little noisy with a tapped humbucker or a single coil, especially with the compressor and a high gain distortion. Some sounds are better than others, but I'll go through the list here in a few. I mainly noticed that some guitars (especially les paul type axes) sound a little "flat" with the guitar, compared to going straight into the amp. As far as which sounds this does VERY well, I guess it's sort of a gimme with a les paul and marshall, but I can nail the sounds of Slash and Page pretty easily. I can get EVH without too much trouble, but you have to mess it up a little with the flange to thicken it up a little sometimes. I like some of the clean sounds I can get, but unlike other posters, I'm using an amp that dirties up a bit anyway (it's a marshall after all). Now for the individual sounds. I should note that while I'm not Eric Johnson, I am pretty picky about my tone, and this pedal flattens it a bit too much for my taste.

Compression: Compressor is good clean, but gets very noisy with a high-gain distortion.

OD/Distortions: I like the heavier ones, but the fuzz is a bit much. I like a thick, meaty guitar sound, and I can get some of those with the blues through metal settings. Set up exactly like a stomp box, you'll get a reasonable facsimile of your sound pretty quickly.

EQ/Phaser: EQ is, well, a 3-band EQ. Phaser has some decent sounds, but you have to play with it a bit.

Modulation sounds: Some reviewers like the chorus. I don't. It's not as thick as the chorus on my amp, though to be fair this amp has the best chorus I've ever heard. I like the flanger. The harmonizer is pretty solid. I can get some bizarre sounds out of it. I use an octave to thicken up solos sometimes.

Reverb/delay: Excellent. I traded in a top of the line boss digital delay for this pedal, and I don't regret it on that front. You do the math there.

Expression arm: NO NO NO!!!! Not reliable (doesn't stay in place after a month of heavy use), won't stay all the way down for a full octave on the whammy setting, wah is crappy compared to an even sort of respectable wah pedal, ring mod is completely useless, except if you do the pickup switching tom morello thing...and then it's a gimmick good for one song at best.

Oh, one mmore thing....most of the factory presets are only good for showing off the capabilities of the unit, not creating a usable sound. Remember that and start editing as soon as posible, and you should be ok.

That said, it saps your tone, wah sound is generic and crappy, compressor is loud. Some modulation effects are good (kinda run the gamut), distortions about the same, but have some subtlety if you use them for overdrive as well as all out distortion. Delays are reverbs are beautiful, probably the best use of the pedal. In short, if you want to do a few things well and give a nod to a few others, this is a good choice. I think with the rest of my rig, I've basically outgrown this pedal.

Nope. expression pedal went out on me. Won't stay in place, and I use the wah in a fixed position a good bit in what I play, as a solo boost or just a funky effect. I don't think this will see too many gigs, since I'm planning on selling it and getting a crybaby, a tuner, and....well...that may be all I'll really need.

Other gear is listed above, but I bought this because my effects chain was constantly growing and shrinking. I've been playing for five or six years now, and am about to start attempting to get serious about it. This is the only weak point in my rig, in my opinion. It will work for grungers and numetallers (I was into grunge and hard rock only at that point), but I now also play lots of blues and jazz, and dabble in classical and other exotic stuff. I love the delay, and it's nice having ALL those effects. I hate the wah and despise the fact that it kinda sucks the soul out of your tone. I couldn't really tell when I started playing, but my ears have developed, and I've had this thing for many, many years. Also, don't bother with batteries...get a wall wart.

First of all, I received no manual nor any assistence with this unit. To add to it, this is also my very first multi-effect unit, so I had no experience with such objects whatsoever. But, much to my surprise, it is actually quite easy to use. Should take about an hour to get the hang of it all.

However, getting a *good* sound out of it is something a bit more complicated. To give an example, you can play around with the Distortion settings for hours, but it will sound very thin until you activate the EQ, which is in another menu. As easy as it is to change the sound, as hard can it be to get the sound you are looking for.

I play this through an 'el-cheapo' setup: Dean Avalanche Zone H->Boss ME30->Behringer Firebird gx108. To start with, in my opinion, one of the most important effects, the distortions are quite hard to rate. If you just use them through a clean channel they will sound thin, and somewhat lifeless. However, with just a bit of distortion from your amp, it will suddenly sound quite good, with a lot more depth to it.

The expression pedal is ok. The wahwah is somewhat usefull, although you should not expect the quality of a Vox pedal. The ring modulator seems near useless to me, and the 'tremolo arm' effects seem a bit plastic. Nice gimmicks, but not really good enough. It is possible to place the expression pedal before or after the distortion, which has a great effect on the sound. Nice.

On the other hand, the reverb, chorus, flanger and delay are really good. Much to my surprise could this unit deliver no less then a 2sec delay, which is a lot longer then most other multi-effects. The reverb sounds just like it should, and the chorus is even better. As you can see, I only paid 80Euro for this unit, so these effects alone are quite worth the money, in my humble opinion.

The EQ is somewhat noisy, and cannot be used when the phaser is activated. A bit annoying, considering that it is almost always required to use the EQ. The compressor is nice, definitely good enough for unit like this. It can be noisy though, espescially when you set the gain of the distortion high. The noisegate is quite pathetic, doesn't seem to do much, if it actually does anything.

So what rating should it receive? The distortions are poor on themselves, and great after some tweaking. The expression is mediocre at best, but the reverb, chorus, delay and flanger are excellent. The noisegate is crap, but the compressor is quite usefull. The EQ is quite good, but blocks the phaser. I think it's best not to rate it at all, it just depends on what effects you are after.

Even though it is plastic, it looks sturdy enough. I am not going to throw it around, and it looks quite capable of taking a few stomps. I'll assume it is strong enough, considering Boss' reputation.

Never dealt with them.

Well, what is my final conclusion? Before I answer that question, it might be usefull to know I have been playing for less then a year, on not-so-expensive equipment. So I bought this unit expecting to get a nice unit, able of giving me multiple effects usefull at home. And I got that.

If you are a professional player, I am sure you will find this unit to be lacking. But then again, why would you expect professional quality from an 80E unit? I payed the price of one pedal, and found it well worth the money. I did not try to imitate famous artist, but I doubt I can sound like any through a 70E amp, no matter what unit I use.

The ME30 has added variety to my sound, and I found it to be a valuable addition to my equipment chain. Things like the wahwah are less then good, but a Vox or Dunlop wah will cost more then this entire unit, so that didn't come as a surprise.

If you are looking for a cheap unit to add variety to your sound, check this out. If you need professional quality, take a look at more expensive units. For the price I paid I give it a 9/10.

Operating: Not really difficult to make patches. It only takes you a bit longer than you would like to, because of all these small menu's.
The manual is sufficient.

Setup: Fender Strat or Hohner Les Paul and a Peavey Austin 400 tubeamp or Ibanez 15w combo.
Noise: The Boss is not very noisy, except for the compressor.

Sound: Overdrives/Distortions, just noise they are not worth using, they sound a bit cheap ,cold and it's clearly very digital. I hardly use it, it just irritates me.
Wah is ok, very wide range but nothing special.
Flanger/Chorus and tremolo are quite good, here you can really find some nice sounds, I guess here is Boss on it's best.
Phaser is ok, but nothing special
Delay/reverb, ok.
Noise suppression, ok
Equalizer, does a good job.
There are a couple of more items on it, such as arm up and arm down, but this is just for laughing, use a guitar with a tremolo.
phrase trainer I don't use.

It's all plastics but it's really strong.
I would not use it on a gig for soundreasons, but in terms of breakin down, it won't.

Never had a problem with it, never dealt with them.

I have been playing since 1984, but 10 years ago I sold my seventies Guild solidbody electric together with my Roland DAC and old Boss pedals. Now 6 months ago I wanted to do some playing again.
I bought a new Fender Strat and 1 week later I found this 2nd hand Boss Me-30 for 110 Euro. I guessed that the digital technology must be on analogue sound level these days, but I was wrong. This machine is just nice for practising in the living room on the sofa. The first thing what really occured to me was how good my late seventies/early eighties rocking stuff was compared to this junk today. Especially playing overdrives and distortions were so very dissapointing that I don't even play this stuff on this Boss anymore, and it's not the single-coiled Strat, also with other guitares with good humbuckers the sound is just crap. However I realize that you can't get supersounds for 110 Euro.
I play all kinds of music, mostly rock, blues, funk and ambient. Also the 80's underground. I can get quite accurate the early "Cure" sound and surfsounds.
If it was stolen I think I would save a bit further for a really good multi-effect, maybe a GT-6 or some 19 inch professional stuff. Actually I'm looking for something else already anyway. It's really too bad that Boss was not looking any further into this OD/DS problem instead of developing small jokes on it like arm up and arm down effects.

interface is well done. every button explains itself. Easy....

in combination with a high end guitar & amp this ?thing? does not ad anything. I use an engl fireball and a cort viva I (dimazio pickups, 0.13 strings) and the boss ME 30 doesn?t help in a live- or practice environment.

FX: time based fx are usable. Up to 2 sec of delay, very cool, chorus, flanger, reverb etc. are nice for a ? 200 Multi Effect processor. For the distortion, I used a mt2 and loved it, but boss? digital distortions SUCK. The wah doesn't even come close to any analog wah, and the harmonizer/pitch shifter has too much latency (play now, hear half a second later). Factory presets are not usable. They?re more of a ?showcase? for what can/could be done. Amazing how a guitar can sound like anything but a guitar, same as all the other digital FX processors I?ve ever used.

However, if you are using this ME 30 processor in a studio environment I think it can be very useful. It has a built-in ?limiter? (amp simulation) that enables you to play over normal (studio) equipment, which can stand up to 20 kHz in frequency and than it sounds very acceptable. In "amp simulation" mode it's destortion sounds better than in normal mode?

boss, isn't that german? :)

built like a rock..

never had to deal with them

live & rehearsal: if you use distortion, wah or harmonizer/pitch shifter, dont buy the ME 30.
studio: very flexible and cheap (and it has it's own limiter, so there's no D.I. box needed), distorton is acceptable when it is limited (?, very strange..)

It didnt take me long at all and i didnt need a manual.

i use a RG570lt-this-jcm800-behringer quad.It rips.The disortions are great. i found that putting the amp simulator greatly helps my tone.I love it and i was an analogue man before but this baby stole my heart.

I would use it live for sure but i always take a backup.

wouldnt know

I play heavy rock at the moment and its great. i think , with enough time you could get more tone that youd expect.I dont like the display but hey the sound is great and that what counts.

All those menus.... I have had this thing for about three years, but last week I replaced it for a BOSS ME 50, for main reasons of usability and sound. I mostly used the ME-30 in the manual mode, so no programming. However, this way I could not use the phaser..... a shame!

Reverb (my main effect) as well as delays were okay. Flanging is somewhat more than just okay, as is the chorus. The distortion sounds however, were not of any use. The old fashioned bumblebee in a jam jar type of sound. So I always have used the ME-30 together with one or more distortion pedals.
The wah, another favorite sound of mine, is a little less than okay.

I have used the ME-30 on lots of gigs. It never really let me down, but that is what you expect of a BOSS. However, as is already stated by other users, the wah has the strange behaviour of sometimes turning on, for no reason.... On the other hand when you want to use the wah, it does not want to switch on. This switch is really bad, you really have to stand on the pedal to switch.

Never made use of it.

I have used the ME-30 for some years now, together with a 1995 Fender Strat Plus, a Mesa Boogie Subway Rocket and a Peavey Deltablues. But always with a separate distortion pedal (Ibanez TS10, BOSS OD1, BOSS SD1). I have used the unit in the manual mode mainly, and mostly for the reverb and the delay sounds. I replaced it with a ME-50, which is far more easy to use and has much better sounds (especially on the distortion side of things!)

pretty easy... plug it in... and go with the flow... easy...

i have an ibanez AX120 http://www.ibanez.com/guitars/guitar.asp?model=AX120&color=1 and a cheap ass amp...
when i first bought this i didnt know anything about... well effects... now i know it sucks... for the kind of music i play... i play nirvana and stuff. i have to do a lot of switch from clean to distortion to chorus... it sucks... it sounds like it cuts sound... yawk!

the othe effects.. well i dont have a good point of reference...

heck no... i wanna sell this... im getting now i good set up for gig... with single pedals like a proco rat 2 and a danelectro chorus...
so no i wouldnt use it for a gig

n/a

i play nirvana and nofx and some othe punk bands...
i've been player for two years now, i have an ibanez AX120 http://www.ibanez.com/guitars/guitar.asp?model=AX120&color=1 and a cheap ass amp...
i hope someone steals it from me... that way i have an excuse to ask for anotherone.
i like the tunner...

Well I got mine for about ancouple of hrs but im beginning to enjoy it... doesnt need a wizrd to figure out which button is which

hmmmmmmm..... the Meatl settings can be great for rhythm... but the highs are too stingy though... if u need to put on a good leead tone.. here's a tip.. use the "blues" type of distortion for the lead patches... and just set the gain to about 85-90... u'll have a nice fat sustaining lead tone... as for the other effects... they're good... but still havent figured out all of em yet

BOSS.... well im sure its gonna outlive me

No online manual.... wut if ya lost ur manual boo hoo

GREAT !!!!!

Takes a while to get used to but once you master it is simple to edit, create, exchange and copy patches. i've never looked at the manual.

when i've compared to distortions to the likes of the 'Big Muff' and a few single boss pedals, i've found that this can match the sounds if not out do them. the compressor can be noisy but the chorus' and phasers' etc are versatile enough. i have been giggin live with this with no backup for two years(see reliability), using it with a Marshall AVT50H and a Carlsbro 300w cab, the sound is immense! only problem is that the tuner is not exact enough but my TU-2 solves that problem.

ok as i said above, i used this without backup. One time, it caused major problems! AFter about 30mins into a lively, jumping set the power input failed on this unit and therefore created a enormous rumble and cut out. only recently have a got this fixed, after using it a year on duracells. i had to send the unit away to an independant technician costing #15 to get the power input resoldered. a major problem with mine was that the backlight screen has never worked so at gigs with low light i rely on the leds for direction.

Didn't try to deal with BOss as my warranty had expired by the time the unit failed.

We play many styles ranging from heavy, punching rock to slow melodic ballads with this pedal able to cope with them all. i've recently bought the Boss Hyper Metal but comparing to this unit i will probably keep the HM-3 for backup as i want to use this till the death. if i lost it i'd definately go for a new one as you can pick them up for nothing on ebay. if your considering getting one of these at the right price i'd say go for it, you'll not regret it

It take some time to edit a patch but it's really easy to do.

Compressor: good but noisy
OD/DS: all good to usable except when at low "drive" settings, they
all sound like crap. (the metal type is like the Metal Zone)
EQ or Phaser: the problem is you can't use both at the same time
Noise gate : ok
Delay: good, very long delay time, stereo effect
Chorus, Flanger, Tremolo: all good
Pitch shifter: digital sound, not very usable
Reverb: good
Wah: not as good as a Crybaby (the tones range is wider in the
Crybaby)but very usable and it will never start to makes noises
Trem. arm and ring ocillator: the oscillator is a joke
Amp. simulator: better than nothing when using headphones
Phrase trainer: useful

I have it for 2 years now. The only problem I have is when using a patch where the wah is on standby. sometimes the wah goes on by itself.

Lot of features for the price. A good tool when you don't know all the effects. Start with this multi-effects then you'll know what you need and you'll can buy the right pedals. Good quality of sounds for most of the effects. Also, I'll wish it had a footswitch for the tuner.

It takes a little while to get used to setting it up and using patches but, it's fairly intuitive.

My set up is: Jackson Dinky and Schecter c-1 -> Marshall TSL602 with the Me-30 in the fx loop.

I use pretty much use this pedal for delay only. With that said, here's a break down of the other effects.

Modulation-pitch shifting is alright but the tracking for bends and such is pretty bad and it sounds pretty tinny, tremelo - not bad, chorus- allright but too digital sounding, the flanger is pretty good but also harsh the phaser is pretty bad and not usefull enough (they should have put this with the modulation fx instead you use it as an either/or kind of thing with the eq)

Wah-the weakest part of the ensemble you won't get a good wah sound

Delay-great, not many features but sounds great

Rvb- pretty bad, sounds like one of those old toy microphones with the springs in the bottom

Distortions-the light overdrives are not bad for a digital unit also the "hard" distortion is allright the metal distortion is pretty bad basically don't expect a $200 digital multi-fx unit to sound like a dual recto, plexi, etc...

I noticed that a lot of the fx are really out there and not very usefull.

Bottom Line: you get what you pay for, it sounds allright some patches are better than others, if you're a tone freak you won't be satisfied

boss stuff is built to withstand nuclear war

this thing doesn't break so i have had no contact

Mediocre, if it were stolen i wouldn't really bother replacing it and it would be a good excuse to buy new gear

Note to all you folks having problems with noise. Make sure either the batteries are good or there are no batteries in at all when using the ac adapter. Dead batteries in the unit under ac make the noise unbearable. Remove them and the unit performs much better...

The manual is very clear, it cleary says what can be expected from each effect and what can be achieved by changing ones parameters. The display is very clair and there's no more knobs than needed.

I'm using a Gibson SG and a Marshall Valvestate amp. I'm pretty satisfied about most effects but the overdrive/distortion is horrible. I have to use my amps distortion to get a 'real' distortion sound, but that makes it harder to use it with the ME-30 effects as the distortion is added as last one. Modulation effects/delay/reverb is alright. The pedal is pretty handy. There are some effects like the ring modulator and 'arm up' effects really suck, but propably you will never use. Boss should have paid more attention to its overdrive/distortion sound that waisting its time on developing no-use effects like the ring modulator etc.

It's pretty reliably. Don't use it on batteries when your on stage however, cause it only lasts for a few hours.

Like you already could have guessed I'm pretty disappointed with the ME-30 as its distortion sucks as you use distortion in a lot of music styles. This is propably the reason why I'm going to get rid of it, so please if you are planning on buying one, try it before you buy. If distortion isn't that important to you, its a good buy but if you like me like to play a large variety of music styles, try something else!

I think everyone agrees---its damned easy to use, and quite convenient. The LCD is not for use onstage, tho, since you ought to have your sound well adjusted before going onstage. Do not think you can adjust your sounds off the cuff like you do with other pre-amps like pedals and such. But the fact that you have a tuner, expression/wah pedal and even a ring modulator in this thing is definitely for the lazy musician who does not want to lug a ton of stuff around and set them up.

I run this through tube amps like HIWATT, and Gibsons with humbuckers. For all the metal playing dum dums out there who complain about the noisy distortion--please set your gain relatively LOW and your master volume HIGH on your amp. If you get a loud clean sound from your amp then the noise will go away. If you don't like the distortion, tough, get a tube amp with heavy gain (which sound solid-state anyway)and do not use the built-in distortion. Either that or use a Tube driver or other distortion units in front of this.

I just used this thing at rehearsal today and it ripped a hole in the time/space continuum. I can tell my drummer was busting a nut from the loud, monstrous and bizarre sounds coming out of this thing. And yes I'm talking about some of the presets many of you are so fond of. This cheap little box does quite a lot for the money, and I pity anyone who is trying to get conventional sounds out of this...wake up and start using this thing on its own terms! The cheap ring-mod in this is outrageous for a unit this price and would complement electronica. Other multi-fx in this price range just did not get the unusual and highly aggressive sounds I was looking for...they sounded too gay. Ok the wah is disappointing, but the pedal is way sturdier than those Crybabies with the metal buttons. One look at those things and you know it will crap out on stage. I would rather have something that sounded not as pretty but more dependable. Do you think the audience is gonna go "hey a Crybaby sounds better!" No, they would be like "dude, that guitar player needs practice." Yes and the guy who laughed at all you beginner wannabee dumbasses was right! Get a decent tube amp instead of an expensive guitar or effect, it will make the most difference. And stop listening to that achey-breakey shit called Metallica and be original.

Its made out of some hard plastic and just felt way more sturdy than those thin-metal digitech things. And yes, have an extra adapter ready it does suck. Otherwise I have never had a problem with it.

I play aggressive progressive music, and this thing adds to the choices I can select from to create a sundry of weird but usable sounds. I do wish there were a footswitch bypass since putting a "bypassed sound" on the patch does not sound the same as hitting the bypass button, which isn't true bypass anyway.

This box is exceptionally easy to get sound out of. If you can plug it in you get sound....if you take the time to play with it you get exceptional sound. Editing is not hard just time consuming but hey I got this used during a halloween sale at Long & Mcquade. It came without a manual so I'd have to give it top marks for being intuitively designed and esay to use. I suppose the buttons are atad bit small on the unit but the foot switches are excellent.

I am using a Northern Les Paul style guitar (Japanese custom made guitar I've had since the late 70's. IT has Dimarzio pick-up's) + an Ovation acoustic connected into a Yamaha G100 212. Additionally I have vintage equipment that I've had for years that I didn't part with; a Lil'Muff distortion pedal and a small stone phase shifter. The box is an excellent performer. I have read with interest many of the comments about noise etc etc....There is always some audible noise when you aren't playing, unless you have a sound engineer working for you on every gig or you have an expensive noise supressor your'e gonna have some noise....It tends to go away when you play though....It's somewhat amusing in the sense of how loud the small stone is and some of the gear that used to be available....Were getting spoiled with technology.....I am very impressed with the effects so far however there are quite a few useless presets....There is a great range of info and patches on the net and you can create your own so I am not all that concerned....beats having one or two pedals....or none at all....

This one was bought used at one of the best music stores in Canada.....Long & Mcquade....I am hoping it will last. It seems well used but in great condition....Long & Mcquade guarantee everything they sell so I got a guarantee with it along with a great deal!! What more could you ask for.....

Not an issue. Well beyond Boss's interest. I have to say that the Boss web site is NOT very good. They seem to, unlike their competition, stick with current products on-line. Support for the older disconyinued products is basically non-existent on-line.....There is no excuse for this in this day and age.....It would be nice to download a pdf file for the manual, instead they make you call and ask for one....kind of non-technical for a technical company....oxymoron kind of thing....They should be ashamed of themselves and fire the braintrust for their web site. But....because I will never have to deal with Boss I will rate it higher just because of Long & Mcquade. Boss 1; Long & Mcquade 10. Average 5 , score 7 :)!!

Overall this is a great piece of equipment. If you can play, it will make you sound great. If you can't play and you think this will help it won't....take your money and spend it on some guitar lessons, then buy one.....:)!! It has a great range of sounds suitable for many styles and I am; on the bottom line having a great time with it!!

This unit is very easy to use, if you ever used "single effect boss units" you won't get any problems with ME-30, it's almost the same thing. I learned to use the software in few days.

I use it with a Fender Stratocaster american standard, a Fender DeLuxe 120 and a Cry-baby Wha-wha. Every single effect of the unit sounds great ( but not the wha ), but you have to work for a long time on the patches, so you'll get THE SOUND THAT YOU WANT. I spent many time on adjusting every single patch on my unit, and now I have what I was looking for, not only "Star wars' sounds" but an excellent clean channel, an excellent distorsion channel, excellent chorus... and also very strange effects!! I worked a lot on the distorsions and the overdrive, at he first times it seemed shitty, but it was only a matter of adjust and get experience with the unit, work on the compressor! The only effect I do not like is the wha-wha. The unit works good for every kind of music you play on it, from the jazz, to the blues, to the hard rock.

I depend on this unit!

I had no problems.

I think you won't get anything like this unit at this price. You can have all the most used effects, a very high quality, at a price that's very low. If you don't want to buy rack units or other expensive stuff, buy this and not other shitty stuff like zoom units or else. THIS IS THE BEST FOR THIS PRICE!!!

Easy to navigate around if you know FX units. Very logical. Preset sounds are shite. But easy to get good sounds after you tweak. I didn't get a manual and it was easy.

I use: 2 Ibanez CT Strats, fender tele, custoim tele, Boss OS-2 (the king), Ibanez DML-10 modulation delay, 1971 JEN CryBaby Wah through a Peavey Studio Pro. And now an ME-30. Note: WHEN YOU GET THIS UNIT, YOU MUST SET ASIDE A NIGHT OR TWO (SITTING DOWN) JUST TWEAKING. YOU WILL NOTHING OUT OF IT IF YOU DONT. True, some of the distortions and the wah are a bit weak (only a bit) but, in total, it rocks. I will still my os-2 cause it's warmer and my DML-10 cause its whackier but this thing rocks. Stop knocking and sit down with it and do some work. THE TRICK IS TO START OFF WITH NO FX AND GET THE UNIT SOUNDING EXACTLY AS YOUR GUITAR DOES ON BYPASS. If you don't do that, everything else will souind like crap. Then build your patches.

I haven't gigged with it yet (come on, I've had it for a week) but it's a Boss. Everything I've had Boss has lived forever. Everything not Boss has died. Like my Korg AX 1000G. Crap housed in metal is still crap.

I have tried everywhere on the net and cannot get a manual. I assume this is because Roland are still selling them. Bzzzzz. aND 1 THING FOR THE PEOPLE WHO SAID THEIR DOESN'T WORK: i NOTICED THAT WHEN YOU RECALIBRATE THE TUNER EVEN 1 HZ EITHER WAY, IT DOESNT PICK UP THE B-STRING. BUT WHEN ITS CALIBRATED PROPERLY (IE., 440HZ) IT DOESNT HAVE THIS PROBLEM

I play in an originals band. I busted my hand (permanately) so I can't play full tilt anymore and do most of the songwriting now. The unit fits our sound really well- very versatile. As above the distortion isn't as warm as my os-2 and the wah...Well...JEN helped invent wah so I'm not even going to compare. But, for the money you can't get any better.

It is really easy

All the effects aren't suitable for playing loud. They all sound digital. Especialy the distortion does not have anything good. It is noisy and shit shit shit. If anyone wants to buy mine...please, you can have it for only $50

I don't have many problems with the device. I defenitely won't use it for gigs because I don't want to have a fight with the sound engineer.

never had to use it

I play heavy metal. My guitar is a Ibanez s40. I have a roland jc120 with a Koch(really good dutch brand) tube pedal for a really good distortion (limp bizkit uses this setting).

If it was stolen I think I will feel sorry for the thief because of all the efforts he had to make for steeling such a worthless device :-)

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.

This unit is very easy to use, right out of the box. I'm an idiot as far as programming patches, etc. goes, but I only had to consult the manual a few times on this.

When I first got this unit, I guess I was in awe of all the cool sounds I could get in my bedroom setup. I had been playing out with a 335 through a Carvin X 100B half stack for about five years, and I thought it would be neat to try some new sounds. Once I set it up to play its first gig, however, it lasted about half a set before I hurriedly unhooked it and went back to my straight-to-the head setup. In a dark, smoky room there is no way to see the tiny LCD display. A backlit display would have been nice. Also, there was so much noise and harshness at gig volume that it drove me NUTS!!! The distortions absolutely sucked.

Never had a problem with it in this category.

Never had to deal with them.

I play in bar bands, so the styles of music go from Dwight Yoakam to Pearl Jam to AC/DC to Metallica. In a practice setting, the ME 30 was ok. But I will never use it live again. I've been running straight through the same 100 watt all-tube Carvin head for the last 10 years, so maybe I'm just spoiled. I think this would be good for bedroom shredders or someone just looking for something to kick around with, but not for serious gigging. I would never buy another one, in fact, I've been trying to sell mine for some time now.

Just read the manual and it won't be difficult. But it will almost be impossible to get a decent sound from it.

Compressor: Decent (6)
Overdrive/Distortion: NOT!!! good (the worst i've ever heard) (1)
Equlizer: Decent (6)
Phaser: I've never really used it
Noise suppressor: Not so good (4)
Delay: Good (8)
Chorus: Good (8)
Flanger: Good (8)
Pich shifter: Not good (5)
Tremolo: Good (8)
Reverb: Decent (6)
Wah pedal: Not good (2)
Ring modulation: Not good (2)

It have never failed me.

I've never needed it

I don't like it, so i'm goimg to sell it.

Very easy to use - the presets are fairly ordinary but patches are easy to tweak and get a good sound out of.

I used this with a G&L Legacy and a peavey classic 50 amp and was able to get everything from SRV and Robben Ford sounds to Scofield and Scott Henderson sounds. For this price there are no better sounding multi effects units. Obviously in a perfect world we could all afford TC electronics gear but on a limited budget this is the best you will get. I thought the wah was great it all depends on how you tweak it. The more I played with this unit the better sounds I got - remember that if you get patches off the net they have been tweaked for someone elses gear and playing style just use them as a guide and use your ears to get a great sound.

Never had a problem

Never needed them

I play Blues, Jazz, Funk, Fusion and Pop this is a versatile unit for the price. Was great in the pop cover band and I found if I spent the time with it I could mimic a lot of the great fusion players sounds really well. However like any piece of gear a good player through crap gear will still sound bad and a bad player through the worlds best gear will still sound bad. The great thing about this unit is that it complimented my playing and gave me ideas rather than changing my whole style everytime I turned it on.

This pedal is fairly straight forward and easy to use, editing patches is straightforward and intuitive, you shouldn't need to use the manual for this.

This is where the pedal falls short (and considering this is the most important part...). First of all you have to realize that a multi-effects pedal will never sound as good as the separate effects stompboxes, and digital wah is notoriously horrible.

Distortion: Probably the pedals weakest point, very metallic and lawnmowerish, the distortion is notisably digital, especially for heavier metal sounding distortions. The blues/light distortion is mediocre but has little to no warmth and even less harmonics. There is a large range of distortions available, but none of them sound good so what is the point.

Wah-wah: don't use it, ever, period.

Other effects: Not horrible, again very digital sounding, the flanger, phaser are decent, the pitch shifter is pretty bad for anything beyond 2 half steps, you get a really horrible lagging delay. Speaking of delay, that is decent as well but you will never get a decent Satriani delayed lead out of this pedal.

This has never quit on me yet in the 2 years that I have had it.
It is fairly solidly built and should withstand some impact, but i wouldn't throw it around too much.

I haven't dealt with it as i have had no problems

There are plenty of better multi-effects pedals out there spend the extra money now, or you will dissapointed and find yourself replacing this. There is a lot of flexability of sound, but none of it is good. I would really recommend sucking it up and buying individual effects, a couple good effects are a lot better than a lot of bad effects.

Ok, so i went to a guitar center, saw this pedal in a cardboard box on an old wooden table scattered with others, took it outta the box, took a good look at it, and bought it. I may have been drawn in by the price which said it was marked down 250$, but i was also lucky. I took it home and pluged in and thought it was great. Its simple to use. I love the view of individual stomp boxes while editing, but am not so fond of so many confusing small buttons instead of knobs. It if fairly easy to get the sound you are looking for. The effects are all simple and effictive. The distortions (you knew this was coming) on the other hand sound like the highs are set at 11 at all times. You can choose from Metal, extreme highes, whee are the lows?, hard rock, more highes, less low, less gain, and others. The others are ok such as crunch, but i enjoy the fuzz a lot. The manual is great, one page for each different effect setting. I mut say that i love the manual setting (use pedals individually, each stomp box is set to one button.

This guy is between an Ibanez rg 470 with e.m.g's, and a peavey bandit (i know, i know). Its not too noisey, the usuall. Distortion settings go from to harsh, to too weak. But i guess with a bandit there not much choice. You can definity get some hard hendrix fuzz outta this beast. I play the usuall, rock, metal, bluesm in happywith its ability to hand the classic rock, hendrix, zeppelin, others.

Its dependable, screen set down fron casing so i doesnt break, hard plastic. Ive had it for about a year and no problems yet. I would give it a higher rating but i am yet to see a multi- made out of solid steel.

Not yet...

I play metal (metallica, pantera...), classic rock( zepplin, doors...), blues (stevie ray, kenny wayne, B.B)... grung (soundgarden, pearljam, ...) Ill say its original intention was for the road, jamming with my friends/ bands, but i now have it pluged with all my other boxes in my main rig for extra needs. I have been playin for 'bout 4 years or a little more, (im only 14) and its my favorite multi yet. If it were stolen i would go out an look for a new one, then probably be drawn over to another old brown table... haha. I love its versitility, hate its dist. and anoying buttons.
i have compared it to others now that i have had it for so long and still like it. ( i bet other guitar players can relate to the brown table or just when you walk into a guitar center or mars with 150 bills in your pocket.) Ok so if you want a great box with *some* great sounds, go for it. If you knocked ozzy off and are now headlining ozzfest, pay someone the 100$ to find a better one. But i think its great, and if anyone want to ask me anything, email me.

It's easy to use as far as getting started but to use all it's features you really need the instruction manual which I don't have. The display really sucks in low light and the foot switches are small. I would want some kid of additional lighting during a gig. As far as setting up an effects chain on one "bank" it's pretty simple. Where it gets a bit complicated is when you want to program "bank" presets... For that the instructions would be really cool to have!

I'm a bass player and have found a sound that is uniquely "me" with this box. I use it for recording on my computer and the "guitar amp simulator" really contributes to having a full bodied sound. In a room through my amp it sounds even better. The best way to describe it is that the sound fills the room... All the individual effects sound as good or better than thier stomp box counterparts. The wah pedal for example blows away the Crybaby I used to have.

I've never had a problem with it. However as I stated earlier I would use supplemental lighting for a gig... Otherwise ya might not find it, heheh

Can't get a owners manual through thier web page

As a hard rock bass player I found that I was able to come up with an effects chain that produces a very distinct and recognizable sound. I've been playing for 19 years right now I'm using a Dean Edge4 bass with active pickups through it. The sound is very cool, I would highly recomend it to any hadr rock/metal bass player. I would buy another one if something happened to this one.

Very easy to use. Your up and running in no time. Wish it had knobs to adjust the sound but I guess that is why you now have the option of buying the ME-33.

Good sound overall. The distortion does not suck as bad as these some of these reviews indicates. You just have to play around with the settings to get the right sound. The Wah was not that bad either.
Better than I expected. What disappointed me was the delay. Compared to my DD-3 Boss stomp box, the delay on the ME-30 sucked. It didn't matter how much I played with the settings. I play an Ibanez and use a Peavy Pacer 100-SS series, 150 Watt amp. Not a bad sound. Not much noise.

Reliable. But it is a piece of plastic..so I never know.

Never had to deal with.

Overall. I have been playing 14 years and have mostly used stomp boxes. I would give this thing good ratings. Gets great sounds with exception of delay. Have to say the Ring Modulator sucks too. But I am not to sure how you could implement that yet. It's not a bad deal if you pick it up at Ebay for $81 like I did. If it was stolen I would look at the ME-33 and pray it was on Ebay too!!!

Impressive. Got the hang of it in a couple of minutes. I don't say I didn't need the manual, but both times it was due to lack of patience, and after reading up I really felt plain stupid I hadn't been able to figure out that simple thing on my own. I give it a 9 because of the non-backlit LCD-panel (dammit, BOSS!).

This is my first multi-effect thingy and so far I'm more than happy with it. I bet a good, low-noise guitar would make it perfect for my needs. Now, with my old piece'o'crap noisebox some-wouldn't-even-call-it-a-guitar... well, it still sounds fine. Better than ever before. It only takes some time tweaking. Making the first patch of my own, in half an hour I got what I needed the most, a Pink Floydish something, with a nice, long but subtle reverb. Yay.

Likes: compressor, chorus, reverb, wah

Dislikes: distortions (soooo noisy), except maybe fuzz, ring mod (would exchange it for something more useful)

Yeah, well, I fully depend on it. And I don't have the money for a backup. If I had, I'd buy a better guitar.

I don't think i'd need a backup.

Not yet, hope never.

I mostly play stuff that should sound like Pink Floyd or Dire Straits, either because it is their music or because my band's own songs tend to have a style similar to that. I'm working on the sound and I'll get it, I just know I will. Tweak-tweak, yay.
Been playing for 10 years (not too intensively, though), and I'd say I'm revitalized by this unit. I'm sounding better so I'm getting more creative.
My secret favorite feature is the tuner. I never owned one before.

For this price I haven't found anything comparable to it.

Anything I wish it had? Yeah, a harmonizer, a vocoder, metal case, separate modulation effects, separate EQ, lotsa other crap. And backlight for the display.

you have good sounds right out of the box, but if you don't want to sound like someone else you'll have to change them a little. It's a bit noisy and the pitch ain't that good. It's easy to edit patches and the "knobs" are similar to the ones you have on single pedals. You don't have to read the manual to play...

I use an Epiphone les paul thru a laney tube amp. The noise is always there, but you can get alon'g with it. Everything except noise gate and pitch sounds great. Tube amps are the best to use.

I'm using it wherever I play and It's reliable. You don't need a backup for this.

Never had a problem I couldn't fix.

I play a lot of different styles and It's great whatever you play.
I've had it for 3 years and I'm going to buy the Me-33 as well cuz It's got more features.

I found it easy to adjust the settings of each effect on manual mode. I did not have a manual with it so I had to play with it for a few hours, but I figured it out really quick. It saves my settings so I dont have to reset it every time I plug it back in. I read a few reveiws of this pedal and I dont really agree with most of the bad ones.

1 48th street sam ash custom fender strat with 2 single coils and 1 humbucker. Through a crate 120 watt head and 4X12's cab also through a fender 25 watt 1x10 plugged into a LANEY 2x12's cab. I really like all the effects this product has. I mainly play reggae ska and hip hop such as bob marley peter tosh steel pulse ETC.. it works great.

I use this in every day practice at home. Also at rehersals and at gigs 110% reliabale. I do use it with out a back up.

Well i tryed to get a manual for it but no luck so far i just gave up trying to call or look online i figured it out really easy after fiddling with it for a few hours. its a real basic set up so even beginers should be able to figure it out.

Reggae,Ska, Hip Hop. It works great. I been playing 9 1/2 years. i also own a few other boss stomp boxs and strat copys with new pick ups. also a fender jazz bass and crate bass amp

Editing this pedal can be tedious. No knobs makes it a bit...annoying. The most aweful problem with this pedal is switching to a clean channel. You have to program it into a bank. There is no Effects bypass without bending over and pushing a button.

This pedal have some good effects. But the distortion SUCKS. However you usually have this problem with mid to lower end processors. 7 without the distortion.

Very reliable. It can be powered bby both powercord and batteries. Very convinient on stage.

I haven't had any problems.

I play a LOT of different music. This pedal is almost a better match for an acostic guitar. Great Chorus, delay, reverb...etc. I've been playing long enough. I own plenty of gear no one needs to brag. But I've played Everything from a Texas Fat Strat to a Paul Reed Smith with this pedal. Stolen...no one would steal this pedal, so I had to sell it. I'd say this pedal is good for BEDROOM jamming. Nothing too professional. I admit I have used it in several gigs with 1000+ people, it sounded okay, but not good enough.

It is easy to use if you are into electronics some what. Haven't had it long but the manual is easy to use.

I was using it through a Roland JC and Godin LGXT,3 voice. The unit hasn't given me any noise problems but I only used it at a couple of gigs before I quit my band and decided I was going back to accoustic solo performing.

LCD is hard to use on a dark stage. You have to know your settings for each set before hand. I never go to a gig without a back up.

No problems so I haven't dealt with the company.

Rock and Blues player. I'm selling a lot of my equipment as I'm going back to accoustic guitar. If you're interested in the ME 30 I'll make you a good deal. email me at scifi30@yahoo.com

The display is lousy - very difficult to read and the worst thing about this product. Once you can what you aredoing, it's plenty easy to figure out.

The presets are mostly useless. I mainly use it in manual mode. The sounds are good if you take a moment to set it up. I chuckle when I rerad the other reviews on this unit - the sounds are terrible! I play a junk guitar through a CRATE amp or a Marshall VALVESTATE! No kidding , the sounds are terrible, especially with those setups! Don't blame the unit!
BTW,you can set up the distortion so it sounds pretty good. Take a moment and do it.

Sure - no problems.

none needed.

This beats resetting your stompboxes each time you get to the gig. The time you spend upfront saves gobs of time later. All in all, a nice, easy to use, good sounding unit. Remember, this unit accents what you're playing - it's up to you to sound good. You wouldn't judge a meal by the condiments.

This multi-effect pedal is very easy to use. The effects are like the single box effects only they are digital. I was very amazed on the evolved sounds. I upgraded from a Digitech RP-6.

I'm using a Fender Deluxe Reverb amp with an 85 watt, 12" SRO speaker. Some of the Distortions aren't as i get from individual effects. The wah's are very nice when you mix with distortion. Most of the sounds are excellent. I like a lot of classic rock and the wah sounds great when i kick into a Jimi Hendrix song. The distortions and wahs also work well with the metallica i play

This is very reliable but when i spend a couple hours creating a new sound and then forget to save it, that really makes me mad. I would use some sounds on a gig because i feel some of the sounds aren't quite evolved for live play.

I love this effect pedal. I can spend hours on this effect. I play classic rock and metal. The sounds i get are really good for my music interest. I also own a rp-6. The ME-30 is very evolved compared to my
digitech rp-6. I recomend it to anyone who enjoys creating their own sounds. I was also interested in the uh....i'm not sure of the name; the boss GT-5? is that what's it's called. It was about 200 dollars more and it had effects you would never use for any reason. The ME-30 is more practical and only has the effects useful to a guitarist.

I've had no problems using it. Very easy to learn.

Jackson (Dinky of some sort..) - ME-30 - Marshall 15W & Marshall 60W

I can stand everything in it exept the distortion. It SUCKS! The noise just kills me! It's ok with the 15W amp, but with the 60w... oh god! I just cant think of using it on any gig.

Well it's still in one piece...

I'm always looking for a good distortion from the pedals, so thats why it's 6.

It's very easy to learn how to use it, even without a manual like me, it only took me about an hour. When switching sounds, its takes a while, because you have to press 2 different buttons for it to change.
But, other than that, its great!

My setup, hhmmmm, i have a Harmony electric guitar, and a Diplomat 20 watt amp, not that great, but u get the idea. Sometimes, i will get a little bit of feedback, but thats it, everything else is great. Distortion is good, change it to get the exact sound u want. The wah is pretty cool, i like the Bark one, Equalizer is good, Flanger is good, Tremelo is good. Noise suppressor is great! hmm, and they're all pretty much like the single-effect pedals, they have the same knobs, except thet're digital. I love making my own sounds, its so easy!

I could depend on this, i just wish i had a better 9-volt AC adaptor, because mine isnt so great, and dont use batteries, they will probably get sucked dry in an hour. Other than that, its great!

I like to play a lot of punk and rock, so this is definitly worth it, especially for 100$! and its in great condition, just go to ebay and search for boss me if you want one for cheap. I've been playing for a couple months now, and its just grrreat, i luv it! If it weres stolen I would beat the hell outta the person that stole it and make him/her buy me a new one, and if I lost it, I would definitly buy another one, or I would buy a ME-33, either way, i would get another one.
I love the way you can program 30 sounds that you want, i also like the other 30 pre-sets, and, well, i havent used the phase trainer yet, but i'm sure its good, it looks like it. I dont like how the pedals are kinda zig-zaged, so its kinda hard to step on the different ones. I really wish it came with a 9-volt AC adaptor, and a brighter luminous light, i think mine blew out. This definitly helps me make music, my band is gonna start up pretty soon, as soon as my bass player gets a bass guitar :), and this wil defenitly help me get the punk/rock sound i need, and other cool effects! Look out for my band, the Sea Monkeys, it will be popular in a couple years!

very easy, within 5 minutes i was whakin' away with this baby
the factory presets easy accesible and easy to tweak same as making new patches

my setup is an ibanez rg470(with the shitty pickups)- ME 30(with that crappy distortion) - peavey bandit 112 (the old model that sounds like shit) AND guess what I sound Great if I may say so. Getting compliments for a good sound sure is nice when you're playing with so called crappy material. (sarcasm, gotta love it)
ok so the distortion isn't very good but what do you want for that price ?? plug in a distortionpedal in front of the ME-30 and look at that baby scream.
the time based FX are pretty good for such a small cheap unit.
I'd say for that money a very nice pedal.

yes it is made from plastic but that isn't really a flaw even on high energy gigs were you really kick on the thing it seem's to be holding up just fine.
had some problems with the on/off switch for the wah pedal and a few problems with the connection of the cd-player but it is a very solid pedal

had no problems yet so don't know

I play in a band that's sounds like a heavy assault over pink floydish soundscape's AND with a female singer (njamee).
so fx are pretty important as is distortion in our sound
the fx are of a good quality especially when they are this cheap .
ppl are always talking about crappy this or crappy that, it seems that those ppl want top notch studio gear for the price off 2 stompboxes.
doesn't make alott of sense now does it ?!?
if I (and probably other ppl) were rich we would buy top notch gear but since i ain't rich this unit must be sufficient and it is ;)

very easy to use, no upgrades etc. editing patches is simple. i didn't get a manual with mine (left it in the shop), and i could use it.

squier stratocaster and an aria pe dlx sd.(ten times the quality of an epiphone) noisy on very full distotion, but not at all if you use the noise gate. delay is fantastic (think "where the steets have no name" by u2) i can even get a half decent "with or without you" sustain. i use the marshall g80rcd. can get a very good u2, jimi hendrix sound. excellent. an integral part of my sound

yeah, very dependable. have used it on several gigs with no back up.the ac adaptor broke after about a year, though.

no, but goodwins where i bought it changed the broken ac adaptor with no hassle at all.

great. Excellent. Covers rock, punk, pop etc. It's the strat of fx pedals. I need this peadl. If it got lost, nicked etc. I would have to get another.
also, can someone tell me why people who hate this pedal actually bought it? i mean, c'mon! if you hate something, you're hardly gonna go out and pay in excess of #200, are you?!

Easy to play except buttons might be a bit on the smaller side. It takes forever and a day to find the perfect sound you are going for.

First of all I play a Jackson Perfomer with an EMG-81 on the bridge. I've ran this thing out of a 30 watt practice amp and sounded pretty good. Then I put it through a Yamaha 100 watt as the preamp and it sounded horrible. Put it through the clean channel on the Yamaha and got some decent tones, but its pretty noisy. Then I hooked it up to a Crate 120 watt head and cant find anything decent to come out out of it. I really didnt get into many of the effects, but the reverb, chorus, flange, and phaser all seemed pretty decent. The volume pedal seems alright I guess, but the wah is horrible.

Hasnt failed yet.

This Boss processor is a 5 because its good if youre fooling around on your little amp in your room trying to get an idea of what kind of sound you are looking for. But otherwise find some peddles or amp with effects you like because they will give you a lot less noise and a much cleaner effect. Do not buy this if you are looking for a good distortion for gigs or any recording you'll get drowned out with lack of depth in your sound.

I had a zoom 505 before this and so stepping up to use this was real easy, but alot of friends have had real troubles with it. This thing is a real step up from the 505, but still has a long way to go. The manuals helpful and anyone who reads it has no problems in using it. I suspect most of my friends can't read.

Ibanez EX (Good pickups) - ME-30 - Marshall Valvestate.

I can't believe I used to use the distortion on this pedal and LIVE!!!
It's really poor, and it's really noisy unless you use the noise reducer, but this destroys what good, if any, qualitys the disortion has.

The distortion gets a rating of 2, only good for home use with headphones on.

The EQ's nothing special, but works.
Same with the compressor and reverb.


All the mods work well except the pitch shifter, but I've never heard a good one. The delays fine, except I have a issues with delays where you can't change the delay time, quickly and easily.

As for the expression pedal, the wahs no good, the volume is usable, the arm bend same as a the pitch shifter, and the ring mods usuable if you can find a use for it.

Everything but the distortion gets a rating of 6

I see little point in the stereo, anyone who can use stereo FX probably wouldn't buy this pedal.

It hasn't broken in 2 years, and it's been kicked about abit, I'm quite impressed for a cheap lump of plastic.

This pedal should be able to play most types of music, but I'd only recommend it for the bedroom genre. I would think about selling it but now the ME-33 you can buy ME-30's for $300 so it wouldn't be worth selling it now. I'll keep it and use the phaser and tremelo, they're the only effects I really use.

Pedals are too small, buttons are a pain in the ass, reasonably intuative

Ibanez RG -> Super TS-9 -> Me30 -> Sovtek Mig100 clean channel

Noise gate kills your tone - so does volume pedal on
Overdrives can be warm, distortions are really fiddly to get nice, really!!!! and it feedbacks
Most time effects ok

Shit, pedal click on/off function isnt reliable - done through optical coupling or reflective light sensor I think If i remember the insides..... jacks fucke up twice, one of the stomp pedals pops out sometimes.

shit

Yeah ok - good first effects board. My advice, spend the extra and get something better.

Simple to use, just sounds like dog sh*t

As stated above, it is very crusty, people who say it sounds great must be running it through a 10watt practise amp and never had to play a gig

I use it for gigs, but the way pedal always comes loose makiking constant grief

they did answer my call, but did not fix the probmlems

This is great for learneres who want to start death metal bands, for serious people, dont buy it cause it is crap

Super easy to use; just like dialing in stomp boxes. The interface is simple and editing and calling up patches is pretty intuitive. The manual mode makes it work like individual stomp boxes.

When I first bought the unit 4 years ago, I was playing though an Epiphone T-310C and a Peavey Rage practice amp. The sound quality was ok, definately worth the money but I would say only 7/10 overall. However, my new rig includes an Epiphone Dot and more importantly, a Fender Blues Jr. The tube amp smoothes out any harshness and gives the distortion a more organic sound. Through a decent amp with a good warm clean tone the ME-30 is a 9/10. The distortion is good once you get it tweaked, the delay is great and the modulation effects are good too. The noise gate isn't particularly effective but it may just be my setup, a noisy guitar with hot pickups into a noisy amp is always going to buzz a little.

Reliable and dependable for home use. The plastic housing is sturdy but I don't like putting it at the front of the stage by itself as it probably wouldn't take much of a stage dive to crush it. I built a wooden box to protect it and haven't had any problems

Unbelievable value. For the money I got twice as many effects as I would have had I bought individual stomp boxes. This has allowed me to experiment with sounds in ways that I maybe wouldn't have looked at. I try to play a wide variety of styles and with this box I can get everything from U2 to Pink Floyd to vintage Marshall to dark and heavy. I would easily buy another one, it has become too invaluable a tool. I use the manual mode a great deal and wish that the phaser was stompable but apart from that, no major complaints. Once again however, this rating is with my Fender amp

This thing is so easy to use it's not funny. I bought mine second hand and it didn't come with a box or manual. The great thing is I didn't need one because it's just so easy to use.

Brilliant sound on this thing to. I don't what some of the previous reviewers do to get bad sound out of this thing. It's a dream. Distortion is awsome, the chorus is great, the EQ and phaser are pretty good, delay is great, and so is the reverb. The pitch bend is the only thing that brings this machine down. It sounds so artificial. I also wished that boss had included the best effect they have, the acoustic guitar simulator. The first time I heard that pedal I was over the moon. These let downs are easily made up for by the rest of the processor though.

This unit is reliable and sturdy. Despite what previous reviewers have said, the pedal is fine, just take care with it. Also, it may be made out of plastic, but it's pretty strong. I gig with this unit all the time, without backup and it has never failed me.

Here comes the problem. This is a boss product, boss is owned by Roland, and in Austrailia Roland have poor support (plus there website sucks). When I went to get a new gk-2a internal pickup for a Roland GR-33, I found out that it would take 3+ months. Common, ths just sucks.

I play everything from Jazz, to pop, to light rock, to blues, to lots of other styles and this thing suits perfectly. Its got some minor problems, but this is made up by the rest of the processor. I use this thing with a custom guitar and a Peavy Studio Pro 112. If this thing was stolen I would cry about all the awsome patches I'd lost. Then I'd go out and buy a new one.

Wonderful! I've owned mine for 4 to 5 years now and still regularly enjoy it. I really appreciate being able to create my own, customized sounds with intense reverb and phaser effects and just JAMMIN' to relax. Much better than just using a guitar and amp - life wouldn't be the same without the ME-30!!!!

Rob

Great for any style of music. Blues, classical guitar, metal, grunge, alternative, you name it....

Good value for what it is. The phrase trainer is decent. The tuner and volume pedal are convenient. One downside is that to get the LCD screen to light you need to leave it in some type of bright for a couple of hours.

This is an awesoeme unit except for even on clean channels you get that damn shaking sound (which is cool most of the time), and the delay is not the same as a roland digital delay pedal. It is very easy to set up and use.

I play it through a fender 67' twin reverb amp with 2-12 celestions AND IT SOUNDS GREAT.

I would definitely use it at a gig but i would bring a backup for sure.

If it got stolen or broke i would probably buy a new one. ive been playing for 5 years and i currently play a gibson les paul standard. The phrase trainer is one of my favourite features

I started off using a Yamaha RGX through it and it was good and ten i upgraded to an Ibanez S-Classic and it got a lot better. All the effects are clear except maybe the distortion which takes a LOT of time to fix. Editing patches is piss easy. My brother who doesnt even play Guitar could do it!

I started off using a Yamaha RGX through it and it was good and ten i upgraded to an Ibanez S-Classic with a gay Peavy Blazer 158, which sounds good on my bands album, and it got a lot better. All the effects are clear except maybe the distortion which takes a LOT of time to fix.

I can always depend on it. I always use this, never would NOT use it.

Its all good mates!

If you are familar with their pedals it is quite easy. I had no problems and didn't read the book until some time later.(months later)

The sound quality for the timed effects (Chorus, Flange, Delays) are quite good. I traded a Boss Flanger in on this unit and the flange sounds are the same. I have had no problems with the pedal, many of the extras are cheesey but I was mostly interested in the waw and time effects. Be sure that you test your paticular instrument and amp with any effects before plunking down your cash. "All are not equal", some amps hate digital effects in the loop, others prefer them there. I play mostly classic rock and blues with a Peavy Generation S-2 into a Laney LC-15R(killer little amp) and the pedal really made the setup much more versital.

You can definately depend on it.

Unknown have never had to go there.

Would definately replace it if something happened to it. One of the best "bang for the buck" processors that I have come across in over 20 years if playing.

Dude, you just like, spend 6 minutes being curious with it and thats it. i believe it was a little too easy to use

dudes, every effect in this effect machine is very cool, the chorus rulz, the delay rulz too, the distortion SUCKSSSS, that was the only thing that this shit needed, how the fuck r u gonna launch a product with shitty distortions like this one, i have to use the ibanez smash box which is way better than the ones on the stompers

it hasnt gone haywire on me, but its plastic and you can always use a backup

I play mostly 311, deftones, incubus, korn and limp bizkit and all those supposedly called metal bands, and for all the effects its way cool, but the distortions suck so use an ibanez smash box or a boss metal zone, i have been playing for 7 years i have a band called 20 dead flower children and it makes every song sound good that way

It is very easy to use. It took me 10 minutes to figure out how to learn it with out using the manual (which is included).

I am using an Ibanez GRX with Seymor Duncan to the me-30 to an Ibanez tm-5 thrasmetal distortion to a peavey 2x12 120 watt tube amp called the duece vt series. The distortions are very noisy.All of the effects are pretty good but the detune sounds like crap unless you use a distortion after the me-30.

Have not had a problem with it yet. I can depend on it. It has always worked.

Never dealt with the company

I play heavy metal it is an ok match for the style of music i play.i have been playing for a year and a half. The chorus is a good effect and mostly everything else on it.

If you read the manual you'll have no problems operating the unit, editing patches is a piece of cake. However, when the expression pedal is set to wah mode, it can be turned on and off by pressing it down vigorously, but half the times I've tried to do that it didn't work. So don't rely on that.

I use an Ibanez Jem 555 (Dimarzio Evolution pickups, H-S-H) and a Peavey Prowler. So I use the ME-30 plugged to the send/return jacks. Most distortions sound like shit, they're f*ckin' noisy, and even worse when used with the compressor. Actually, if you need a vintage sound, go for it. But if you intend to play metal, buy a fine tube amp and forget about the ME-30. Another bad thing about this processor is the pitch shifter, it sounds too digital, like those emulated sounds for keyboards, or worse. All other effects are fine, delay is great and so is reverb. Chorus and flanger are the best about the ME-30. I think wah-wah sounds better when set before the overdrive, with the guitar plugged directly to the processor; but when setting the expression pedal to volume control, I usually use it between noise supressor and delay, so that it won't affect gain settings. This really helps when doing both rhythm and lead. The tuner is very, very good, and the phrase trainer has helped me a couple times.

I have never gone on stage without the AC/DC adaptor, I wouldn't rely on the batteries. As the fluorescent display is not very clear in the dark, you should know very well where are the sounds you need. The ME-30 has never failed me, so I gig without backup.

Never had to call them. Nothing went wrong with the unit since I bought it three years ago. The expression pedal is kinda fragile, but just be a nice guy and it will last forever.

I enjoy playing metal, from Sabbath to Maiden. That means I usually use the amp's overdrive, not the ME-30's. But I play vintage stuff too, and in this case some drive settings of the processor meet my needs. I've been playing for four years, and now I'm looking forward to selling my amp and getting a Mesa Boogie Nomad 45, but I intend to keep the ME-30 for now. I really hate the pitch shifter, but I never use it anyway. Delay, chorus and flanger are the best. This processor is very versatile, and it kicks Zoom's ass. Once I tried the Zoom 2020 and it seemed like the expression pedal was going to break. Finally, for its price range, the ME-30 is a very good option.

It's real simple to use. I've never even opened the manual. Until I cleaned out my closet I thought I'd lost it. Basically what I'm saying isWe if you can read, you can easily program this thing. Definitely one of the more user friendly processors. You may need to play around with this thing ALOT for good patches.

I've been playing for 6 years. I use this thing for my practice setup which consists of a Crate GFX-20 (it sucks don't but one) and either one of my guitars. I have my Kramer (it's 80's same type Eddie Van Halen used), an American Fender Strat, and a Jackson Soloist. I've tried it for my live and recording setups too. There would be too much equipment to describe it all. It can be a noisy unit. It seems like every effect you add the noise like doubles and it takes forever to clean it up (and don't think it will get real quiet). The distortions are ok. I play mostly metal and rock. It's hard to find good in-between tones. If you raise the gain on the metal you go from a kind of muddy Black Sabbath to like older Metallica without much else to choose from. However you can sound really good if you play with it. Watch your eq, gain, and tone settings or you could end kill your ears with feedback. The other overdrives serve their purposes pretty well I think. Other effects are ok. Playing with the delay can get noisy esp. with distortion, but if you tweak the sh*t out of it you will probably like the results. Flange, compressor, chorus, reverb, phase, and octave are actually pretty good. Noise suppressor helps out alot too. The wah sucks. Ring modulator can make some cool noises. All in all I'll go with a 7 because because it's no prize but it's a great affordable little piece. Will make a beginner happy for a long time, or serve the needs of someone with experience in need of a decent inexpensive practice unit.

It ain't like your typical Boss stompbox tank construction. It's plastic so don't expect alot. Mine's never been used for a gig, or even recording but it's got it's issues. The wah seems like you could bend or snap it off without much effort. The plastic buttons like to get stuck, pop out, and basically piss me off. It's not hard to place them back in their slots, but I could imagine if the stage floor were a bit sticky what disaster would happen. Also the display isn't real easy to see. The construction may be kinda poor, but at least it's never gone "japanese" on me, locked up, lost patches, and it does always turn on. For the purpose I got it for I'll give it a 6. I'm sure if I tried to play out with this thing I'd give it a lower rating, and hell yes I recommend a backup if anyone were to plan on doing a show with it. Even just a stompbox or 2 just in case.

Never had to deal with them but have heard good stories.

I play metal, and when ou have the metal gain up and the eq set right, this thing could really kick ass. The noise is an ongiong battle, I'd bet a noise gate would make it a hell of alot better. The Digitech RP-10 is the only other floor processor I have. I use it for shows since it sounds really good through my show setup. Which is a Peavey Mace head, and 2 Marchall 4x12 cabs. I use a Boss Metalizer and Digitech DSP 128+ as backup. If anyone has any suggestions about quieting feedback on these ME-30's esp. when in a small room, can you share them with me?

I've owned MANY guitar effects, both stomp boxes and multi-effects processors -- comparatively speaking, the ME-30 is very easy to use. I shy away from using too many patch settings, I rather, use the unit in Manual Mode -- basically I use it just like I would a few stomp boxes. It's down right simple when you use it this way.

I play mostly blues and blues-based rock. With a bit of tweaking, you can squeeze some rich, subtly harmonic tones from the ME-30. I use a Peavey Delta Blues tube amp with (1) 15" speaker -- a key for me was to program my settings while playing through the amp and NOT through headphones. This makes all the difference in the world. I was able to program a great, smoothe sounding overdrive, a decent echo/delay (although I prefer my Danelectro Dan-Echo pedal), and some funky modulation effects. I especially like the Flanger and Chorus.

The ME-30 has a heavy-duty plastic casing and substantial footswitches. The expression pedal seems a bit flimsy though. Although I use it in my home studio, I would think it would do OK live.

When used the way I use it (Manual Mode) it's a great, easy-to-use tool. It's almost like having 3 Boss stomp boxes in a row with a tuner and a Wah/Volume pedal -- without the need for all tose 9V batteries! I find the presets too extreme for my style, but with a little work even a blues player can find some satisfying sounds.

Went to a music store looking for a multi-effects unit. Seemed easy enough to use.

It's a childs toy! The sounds had NO TONE! Everything (all the factory presets) had a similar sound, a far away, weak, wimpy sound, no texture, no flavor! I then tried a Digitech RP-2000 (yes twice the price) but it had a nice, deep, rich tone. The effects were superb, there was a real difference between presets.

Don't know, but I think it's plastic.

N/A didn't buy it.

For the same price a Digitech 200 will blow this away!

Weel this thing is very easy to use,it takes you less than a day to know and use all the functions.
Editing patches is very simple, and with the virtual knobs is very easy.
The manual ist very helpful, it just describes each effect and each virtual knob.

The sound quality is very good, and the Me-30 is also cheap, because it has 16 effects, plus an expression pedal that controls volume, wah, and ring modulator.
I use this with a Washburn Mercury guitar, and a Fender Frontman Amp, with high distortions its a little noisy, but activating the noise supressor helps a lot. it very noisy using the compressor .
All the effects are great especially the Delay, the chorus, the distortions and the flanger.
With the fuzz and other settings i can get the sound of a big muff, that sounds similar to Smashing pumpkins.

I give this a 8 because the sound in here is not the same as the Boss stompboxes, but i dont have money to buy 16 stompboxes, so you can get it at a low price.

I depend on this thing, i would use it without a bacckup

I havent dealt with Boss

I play mostly alternative music, but i also plat metal, blues and other, and it match for all those styles. i would like to buy a turbo rat distortion, because it sounds more like sonic youth and that, but using also the Me-30
i recomend this for beginners because its very easy to use and its not expensive.

This fucking thing is so easy to use, that a retarted monkey on crack could figure it out.

I have read the other reviews, and I laugh at all the arragant classic rock guitarist out there that can't think of a use for the ring modulator. This thing kick some serious ass. It beat the living hell out my old Dod tech 4. The factory presets are lame at best. You have to make your own. The distortions sounds like? Well? Like a boss distortiion petal. Just like the rest of there petals you have to adjust your amp settings along with ME-30. Some of the sounds I am able to create with it are down right wicked/pure evil. The more creative you are, the more the ME30 is for you. If your just playing classic rock then you are a pussy!!!

So far so Good, However I am affraid of putting all my weight on the expession pedal.

Never dealt with them, Instead I read the manual.

I play fucked up shit, kinda like Gwar, Butthole Surfers and Whatever. I have been playing for 20 year, fuck am I old. If it where lost I would replace it imediatly. I fucking totally dig the ring modulation effects. I wish it had a super feedback feature. I am finally able to create the level of noise I have always dreamed of. Fuck classic rock

it is very easy to use the manual will take you through it step by step

i play a LES PAUL STUDIO AND A MARSHALL 100 WATT AMP ON THE HEAVY DISTORTION SETTINGS IT CATCHES TOO MUCH STATIC AND CLEAN SETTINGS SOUND BETTER THAN NORMAL

I HAVE HAD IT FOR ABOUT 6 MONTHS AND I HAVE NOT HAD ANY TROUBLE OUT OF IT

I HAVE NOT Dealt with the company

A great 'ready to go' little noise box although be prepared for some serious tweaking to create your own sound. Some of the presets just rock! Check out the "LA LEAD" and "BECKO" presets and also the "JETSTREAM" for some wild shredder action. The "OLDIES" preset is also great for fast clean jazz lines.

I had mine for a few months before I got into some severe patch editing to create my own sound. Be prepared for a LOT of tweaking but the manuals straight forward and if you make a mistake the edit functions cool.

With all the presets I use I have disabled the compressor as it is a really noisy mother****er!! I also was'nt thrilled with the distortion options available as well. Most sounded to harsh and gutless to my ears. I play through a 60 watt Mesa-Boogie combo and I plug the ME-30 into the effects loop. I rely now on the Boogies preamp distortion for my grunt sound and use the boogies footswtich to change channels for clean still using the ME-30's patches but without the compression and distortion. This works great for me but I suppose it depends on your amps distortion as to what sound you will get. I found if the ME-30 was plugged in line with my guitar and then into the input my preamp would boost the noise and you eneded up with some horrible hiss. In the effects loop its reduced but some patches are definately noisy.

I play a Les Paul but I found you could wrench some very Strat-like tones after tweaking the "OLDIES" preset to give you that singing tone a la Robin Trower. Further tweaking gives you that clean big-box Gibson sound like early Steve Howe and its not to hard to approximate some clean grunt Gibson sound like Al Di Meola or some high gain filth a la Slash using the other presets.

The ring modulator allows for some wild shredding options and the Chorus is very good. The delay is nice and the reverb is quite good. The Wah is perhaps not the best and the disortion sounds good only through a practise amp. Crank it on your main amp and it cracks up. If you dont have good preamp distortion I suggest you get a Tube-screamer.

Ive never had a problem with this compact little creature. I've built a pedal board to keep it safe and sound. (I get excited sometimes and it tends to slide all over the stage so the board keeps it still.) I've never found the need to have a backup on hand because the Boogie could get me through the gig anyway but hey! if your relying on a box for your whole tone yourve got yourself in a rut anyway dude.

Never had to deal with them.

I play anything from Blink 182 to Yes and everything in between. This box is great for tone shaping but remember, you will need to do a fair bit of tweaking (thats half the fun anyway!)

If I needed to replace it I would probably upgrade to one of the new juicy rack mounts available but I'm happy with it for now and I'm not looking to replace it in a hurry.

All in all its a great box and its much cheaper than chaining up a whole bunch of stompboxes and finding out you won't use half of them anyway!