Boss ME-30

It is fairly easy to operate, I learned fow to work it in about 15 minutes without the manual. There are no "trapdoors", and everything is labeled. It tells you the effect on the display, the buttons' functions are all labeled, and it's digital! Of course that means that it is going to be a little more complicated to set up, but it also means that you aren't going to have to worry about bumped knobs while transporting gear from home to gig right?

I play a Dearmond M-70 and a squire strat with Dimarzios that goes into a daddy-o, then the ME-30, and into a Peavey Studio Pro 50. This has been my set up for about seven months.

It is a pretty descent piece of gear. You save money. Instead of buying a compressor, distortion, EQ or phaser, noise suppressor, volume or wah, delay, chorus or pitch shifter or flanger or tremelo, and reverb unit, you could just get this and use it as seperate stompboxes. Just get a distortion pedal in front, and get some good delay, modulation, and reverb tones, and you can activate the Boss's effects via the five footswitches.

The reason that i say get a distortion pedal, is that the distortion on this isn't at all impressive. I've had this pedal for over a year, and i only use one of the 7 or 8 distortion types. Somtimes I turn the gain all the way up, and i still have to crank the compressor before the distortion in order to get the grit i need somtimes.

Another of the few negatives, is the 'wah' feature. Although it doesn't matter much to me, the range of this wah is smaller than that of your average crybaby's. Not saying that it loses it's expressiveness, but if you like long sweeps, bring your favorite wah.

I have used it, dropped it from my previa's trunk onto cement, dropped my 32 pound amp on it, and all that it has to show for it, are a few light scratches on the display, although i think they were there when i first got it. It's a Boss, what else can i say

I play in a church band, and i need everything from acoustic chime, to a rich chorus, to a thick distortion. I could do it all with this Boss, but I prefer to bring along my trusty Daddy-O for lead boosts and some distortion-duties.

My favorite function has to be the stompbox feature. The reason why i don't use stompbox mode is that i have to switch between two radically different sounds in a split second sometimes, and i don't have time to hit three different switches all at once.

I conclude with these words of parting. Look to eBay. I would personally not pay more than 220 for one of these, although they are adequate peices of gear.

If you are smart it's easy to use, however for an amateur could be a bit hard to understand the programming.

If you wanna use the metal distortion don't enable the delay, when I did so it sounded horrible.

been kicked, dropped and still working as new, of course it's a Boss.

I've never had to go to get support..

It's a good effect processor if you're amateur

This effect board is easy to use when editing patches. I'v hardly looked at the user manual - and I find it easy as to edit patches.
However, getting a good sound out of it isn't as easy, but definetely possible. I dunno about the manual - haven't really looked in it.

I use a Jackson DR7 through a Marshall Valvestate 265R through a PA system. I've just purchased my VS 265R and haven't really had time to play around with it, so the sound isn't as good as it could be.
It's a bit noisy, but it doesn't really bother me that much.
The effects generally sound good, with a few exceptions(fx. the octave pedal thingy). I especially like the distortion sounds, which I use a lot in my band:)
I've played a couple of live gigs with it and the sound was surely above average.

It's totally reliable and I don't use a backup.

I play heavy metal exclusively. The ME-30 pretty much meets my requirements. I've been playing for 6 years as mentioned above I own a Jackson DR7 and a Marshall Valvestate 265R. If my ME-30 was stolen I'd probably buy the GT-3.
I like everything about it except the design...c'mon it's F-ing ugly!
I compared my ME-30 to a crappy digitech and a crappy Korg, and I chose the ME-30 because it had the expression pedal superior features and larger storage capacity.
I wish it had a cooler design though. It looks like something out of a toy-store.
To a certain degree I would say that it helps me make music, cuz when you write a song you have a certain idea of what you want that song to sound like, and the ME-30 gives you ample possible to create the sound you're looking for(it can take a_lot of fiddling around though).

Jackson guitars are way better than Ibanez!!!!

Like most Boss products this thing is easy to use, I had to consult the manual once (To find that there really is no way to backlight the display) and that was it.

I bought the ME-30 to replace a Zoom 2020 that I broke, and I have to say I'm really disapointed, the Zoom was great, the distortions were totally usable, the Roland on the other hand doesn`t have a single sound that isn't "buzzy" if you know what I mean, you can`t get any "bite" from this thing, it's all buzzy mush, if like me you play a Gibson through a Marshall and you`re using effects boxes to practise/record at home avoid this box, it doesn't have any guts.

It`s worked all the time I`ve had it.. and I hope that when I`ve returened it to the shop it continues working for its next victim.

Don`t need C/S to tell me I`m returning it.. :)

I play psychedelic pop/indie rock and use a 1969 SG-Pro and a 1999 Custom Telecaster, this unit sounds rubbish with both of `em.

My favorite feature is the "Whammy bar" effect, which is truely hilarious, but obviously utterly useless..

First Boss product to ever let me down.

Quite easy to use, you don't really need a manual. It took me a day to master absolutely everything this unit does.

Maybe not quite the quality of a POD or a J-Station, but still quite good, except for the modulation effects they suck. I have a Squier Strat and a Marshall VS65R.

Been kicked, dropped etc. still works fine.

No need

I play pretty much anything (except teeny bopping crap). This gets a good metal sound, good rook and has decent fuzz. Loses out on vintage stuff, blues, jazz. Good value, but if you have the money look elsewhere

easy versitile programing but needs lit up lcd display

i have a modified sledgehammer gitar with direct wired pickups(cut out volume and tone knobs)and a vintage acustic amp. i can get great sounding wha and pichbend sounds,but had to make some modifications to get some cool effects,I INSALLED A SMALL LAMP NEAR THE WHA LIGHT SENSOR,I USE A OLD VOLUME PEDDLE TO CHANGE THE INTESITY,THIS ALLOWS YOU TO FIND A SWEET SPOT ON THE MAIN PEDDLE AND WHA OR BEND WITH THE OTHER...

ive used this peddle at many a DRUNKEN gig and its still workin fine,even after spilling about a 12 pack on it

when i got it the sampler didn,t work but havn,t tried to get it fixed

i play all original metal,classical and blues and still havn,t programed all 30 paches,the only thing i dont like is the delay when swiching sounds

Not so bad. If you read the manual, it's well explain.

I don't like the distorsions. If you play punk, keep your Metal Zone and plug it in the ME-30 for the other effects.

Good reliability

If you have the cash, buy something better. Else, buy it.

I hate them small buttons... the manual is bot bad but it ain't that good either.

i love the sound (but of course u have to deal with that tiny button pattern)... noise reduction doesn't make that much of a difference. the wah-wah sucks... i can't get it to sound like how i want it (good thing i have a morley wah). i love the chorus, compressor and the reverb. distortion ain't that bad

i can depend on this baby but ALWAYS HAVE A BACKUP!!!

i just bought it

this box is excellent when it comes to clean jammin and lead... if u know how to adjust it.

It's sometimes tricky to try building your sounds. The interpretation is partly good but the buttons are small and unorgananized. The LCD back light is not bad but I preffer touching the buttons in the lught so I can see what Im doing.
Besides of that, I like the fact that you have up AND DOWN bank pedal and a large convinient expression pedal.

The sound quality of this machine in mostly good. The 6 dostortion and overdrives soung great with the noise suppressor and the delay, chorus, flanger and reverb are great. What I didnt like is all the modulation effects with the expression pedal. Ring modulation is poor and also whammy bar. The wah-wah is pretty good but I thought Boss could make a better one.
I use is with a poor 35 watts amp but still most of the effects sound good, maybe because of the fact that I use it with my Ibanez RG-470.
In general, the effects arent noisy, but maybe try to not use the Equliser with Distortion OK?
One more thing: this is for people who like to sound different than the main-stream.

I own it for 6 months and it passed for a lot of gigs.
Not a scratch on it.

Cant tell. Never used it before.

Generally, if I could turn time back, I think I wouldnt but it. I could get for an extra 500 FF a POD. For my level tough, I think its enough, and I play metal and rock with this thing and its works well.
With my Ibanez RG-470 its sound pretty good but not good enough.
I love mostly about it that its the kind of effects that you kick it or something and it will still worlk, comparing to other fragile effects. The distortions of it are good too. I dont like the modulation here but my favotire effects is the chorus. Great-great chorus and also not-bad-at-all delay. Comparing it to the POD, for instance, it wont stand the competition but it beats most of the other multiple effects of its category(thats why I baught it).
I only wish it had a better compressor and a much better equaliser.
And one last thing:
For metal-hammers like myself - try to combine the Metal dist. with noise suppressor, chorus, delay and set you're bass level at your amp to max to create a good crunch-metal sound used for Metallica or heave Dream Theater songs.

Read the F*****G Manual. And take time to adjust that pedal to your AMP/guitars setup.

Litlle bit noisy. Try to avoid using the compressor and EQ if Possible. It cuts down on the background noise. I use a cheap Yamaha (325$ can. brand new) and a GTX-100 combo amp by CRATE. I Get some great sounds out of this module. I specialy like the fuzz wich i find perfect for my style of playing. If you like blink182 and offspring play a bit with the distortions and you'll find your liking. the delay is awsome. And for you guys who like the classic sound of the 70's with your fenders and gibson with Marshall amps and those heavy metal dorks who love mesa-boogie. GROW-UP. Find your own sound for god's sake's not some imitation of your idols. It doesn't hurt to inovate. Oh yes..remeber why the great guitarists like BB king, he hendrix, SRV became legends...THEY SOUNDED DIFFERENT!!!!. after that little outburst from me. That me-30 sound great..just take the time to experiments with it and you'll find something you like for sure

dropped, stepped, kicked it in rehearsal. Still works

never had to use it

Hey nothing si perfect. The LCD is pretty har to read. the key is to set it up before your do the gig. Also it helps if you remeber wich sound is saved where. I'm planning to buy a Ibanez S-470 quiltes Sapele top. Transparent red. look great sounds great with a gtx-100 that was still in the store. Sounded better than My yamaha anyways. AND YES I WILL TAKE THE TIME TO RE-ARANGE ALL MY SOUND ON MY ME-30 so they will make use of my new guitar potential.

Long live to all those out there not affraid of being different

It is very easy to use except when trying to incorporate the
expression pedal into your live playing

Yamaha Pacifica into a Marshall Valvstate:
If you want to build apon a sound you have already created with you amp then this is the pedal for you, I purchased the pedal hoping to re-create the solo's from songs I am playing but it faled to do that. An exaple is the solo for Killing In the Name of where here uses a pitch shifting effect. I have found that any modulating effect on this device is not very good at all. The other problem is that the noise created from the compression and distortion cannot be totally erased by the noise gate unfortunatly it is still noisy. but everything else is quite good

Have had it for one year.
Yes it seems to be relyable

Not very good att all

I play Rock and similar styles
I have been playing for 9 years
If i had to buy again I would definately get a better effect like a gt3 or gt5 if I could afford those rediculous amounts of money
as compared to the Ax1000 by korg the korg is much better but a little more expensive I would get the korg.
It certainly develops your creative side of playing

Very easy to use with the LCD display. I love the "virtual knobs" it has. Makes it very easy to set patch parameters compared to just looking at a flashing light and a number ala DOD GS30 and Digitech RP3. Manual is fairly good, not very detailed but gives enough to get you going. The only problem with editing patches is it can be kind of confusing at first remember which button cycles through what type of settings.

I've only just finished testing all 30 factory presets and some of them will be quite usable. Of course a few of them are just.....well.....interesting. I was using a BOSS Metalzone and just couldn't get a very close sound to Metallica and it always sounded really tinny when plugged into my computer though my Fender Princeton Chorus amp for recording. The ME-30 should work very well though. I use a Jackson JSX-94 Concept Series with it. The wah isn't the greatest, but that seems to follow with the reviews I've seen of other units in this price range. I'm not worried about it because I'll still use my Dunlop, I wanted the onboard pedal more for volume control purposes.

Yes I think I could definitely depend on it. I would also be comfortable using it at a gig without a backup. However the "glow in the dark" LCD didn't seem to really do that, so I don't know that it would be good in low light situations except for seeing the red LED's.

not dealt with them, BOSS seems to make great stuff though, my metalzone is 4 years old and still kicking like brand new.

While I actually only bought this today I just had to comment on it. I spent about an hour playing with it at Guitar Center and was very impressed with it over the DOD GS30. This actually lets me get the sounds I've been looking for for a long time like Metallica, both distorted and some nice clean stuff too. I play metal, blues, my own strange stuff and have been playing for about 5 years. If it was stolen/lost I would replace it if it was all I could afford. Don't get me wrong, I love it so far, but if I can afford something better I'd get it. If you are looking for a multi-effects in this $$ range though....it's well worth it. It would be nice if you could adjust the distortion parameters like the attack/decay. Also would be nice if it was made of metal, but the plastic seems durable. If anyone knows some really good settings for old and new Metallica (new=black album sound) and newer (countdown to extinction) Megadeth and also some good Ozzy sounds (like Crazy Train) please email me with the info.

Seems pretty easy to use, shows all the parameters as both numbers and knob positions, makes it easier. Buttons used to scroll could be labled more clearly.

Ok, my main reson for submitting this review is to explain what a ring modulator is for.
It is NOT for use as in your main sound. Used sparingly it can make things far more interesting. See Melt Banana's cover of Surfin' USA. listed during the solo, I think he uses a different type of ring modulation with a different type of wave shape (I think this one's is square) but there's more going on there than just pitch shift.

I want it.

The bank and patch setup is really good

Not gonna affect me

I'd depend on it any day

The best pedal i've come across.
go get it
only pedal u'll ever need

If I can figure it out, anyone can. Editing patches is quite simple and easy. The manual is very explanative and precise.

I use a Fender Roland ready strat through an ART attack amp (tube). However I bought this in the states and now use it overseas with a knock up transformer which create terrible hum. The sound quality of the ME-30 is absolutely pitiful. The noise it creates annoys me so badly that I get headaches. (I plugged it into a local amp, even took it to the local Boss/Roland dealer who are not really qualified for this, they just own the rights to sell Roland/ boss products).

I use it twice a week playing live and sometimes the noise is worse then others. Very unreliable.

Pitiful. I have attempted to contact them thru fax and e-mail and they do not reply.

I play pop, rock, jazz, soul, and funk. The sounds are good, but the hum is terrible. The noise gate helps a bit but not enough to prevent the headaches.

This piece of equipment is so easy to use that my grandma can make great sounds too!!!

ME-30 has a realy great and warm sound.It's not like boss pedals style(thing that i was afraid when i went to try it).It has most of the effects,an normal guitar player will ever need and they sound realy good(have the sweetest Chorus i have ever heared!)Generaly this pedal it's good for the beginers and pro's as well.Waw sound sucks somehow in my opinion as most of multiple effects proccesors(God bless Dunlop!!)

I think i could trust this thing to a live and studio too.

Never had to deal with Boss people...i've heared that they're not that friendly,especialy here in Greece.

I mostly play heavy but i like to experiment in other styles such as blues,jazz and rock and i think this piece suits a lot in every style.If you have a good and powerful amp,it can show that it realy rocks!!I can compare it with Zoom first models and 4040 as well.I am not realy a fan of zoom sound and in my opinion this thing can compare all the above.Lastly,not the best one,but it remains a good piece of equipment.

The unit was delivered yesterday. The manual is well laid out and with a little messing around, I was able to edit the presets. I agree that the screen is difficult to see, even in a well lit room and I can bet it is even more difficult to set during a gig but wouldn't one have completed all the settings BEFORE the gig? The sound is very good. The preset master volume on some of the patches was a bit surprising. Feedback two feet from the amp is not a lot of fun for me...or my neighbors.

I'm using a Crate GX-65 with an EPI Sheraton II and a ESP M-250. The preset wahs are okay but I need to make some adjustments. This is a learning experience for someone new to multieffects processors. Before, I've used my amp with a DOD distortion pedal and the internal Crate Chorus, Compressor and overdrive channel. I recognize the almos limitless versatility. I also purchased the AC power supply with the ME-30.

Too soon to say whether I'd rely on it, exclusively, during a performance or jamming with friends. At home, I would rely on it. I wouldn't rely on only having batteries, get the power supply.

I haven't contacted the company but BOSS has been around for awhile and I would think, unless they are completely stupid, that their service is very good.

My musical style moves from blues, rock, and crap I can't define. I have been playing for about 15 years and started out on Rush, the Police, U2, Yes, and the Eagles. I like have the versatility of the multi effects processor and the ability to use the device in a recording process. Being able to alternate between sounds during a piece, or layering on a recording, this unit will help. If it were stolen, I might go to something more advanced but this is a pretty good and portable starter system.

Its tricky in the begining but after u get it a little bit it becomes sooooooo easyyyy!!!!!!!!!! it comes standard with 30 sounds built....I dont like the heavy sound so i customized to sound Metallica heavy.

this thing has great sound quality, i love the heavy dist sound.....im cool with the wah wahs....i like Bank 4,#2 wah wah the best cos i uuse tha in For WHom the Bells tolls from Metallica....and its got a pretty wild sound.....Chorus is good nothin compared to the chorus on my amp but its all u really need....For Nirvana wise....its good with chorus....Delay is aweeeeesome!!!!!! Put it on 4ms with a lil feedback and a whole lot of effect level and u'll get 2x the sound u woulda got without the delay......or throw it up to about 250ms and got an awesome like 2nd guitar feel or echo....The reverb is good...FLanger is really good. Tremlo is cool i dont use it tho.....EQ and phaser is cool Pitchshifter is alrite...EXpression pedal is really good..wah wah is good...Comppresor is excellent if u want tha extra sustain..The distortion - overdrive is really really awesome.....
Vintage, warm, crunch, blue hard. metal than fuzz

its the best

This thing is so hard to program being that you cant see the the screen at all, and once you try to turn up your amp it all sounds terrible.

i use a epiphone les paul with a roc pro 1000 combo, and this pedal just hisses so loud i have to turn the amp down after every song at the set. the noise suppressor in this thing is a joke. the only thing i like about this pedal is the wah.

i can't use this at a gig because i cant see the "lcd" screen in the dark to know what i am doing.

N/A

bottom line, do not buy this pedal.

easiest machine i have ever used. i have never read the instruction book.

personally, i think it has a great sound. i play alot of hard rock, alternative, and classical, and this is great for all three.

needs nothing said.

i love it. it is great for the money, i would buy it again if anything ever happened to it.

It is very easy to use once you learn how to do it. Read the manual, and it is very clear how to edit the patches, exchange dif. sounds to dif. banks.

i play a gibson les paul, and i plug the pedal right into a PA system. at times it can get a little noisy, but when youre playing fairly loud, you dont notice the noise one bit. The effects are great. several different distortions, and if you know how, you can edit the effects, make it sound the way you want it. its got the Wah-Wah, chorus, etc... anything you would expect from a Multi effects unit

I can Definately, no question really on it. Solid built peice of equipment that i can trust. i have a Gig comming up, and i feel Completely safe playing with NO backup!

Never dealt with customer support, but i hear that they are nice people. I hape i never have to call em up, but if i do, i trust that they would help me.

I play Alternative/Rock music. i have been playing for 4 years, and this is the best investment in my playing that i hvae ever made. i trust that i will have this pedal for years to come. If this was stolen, i would be really pissed, cause i cant really afford to buy another one. if i was getting payed to play guitar, and i had the money i would deffinately by this pedal again. The ME-30 is better that all the other Multi effects units out there. check customer reviews for the other units from $100-$250. this is pretty much the best of em all. My music Sounds alot better with the addition of the pedal. Thats about all i have to say besides, BUY THIS PEDAL if you are looking for a Mulit effects Unit

This was my first processor and I find it was very easy to use, after a day of fiddling around with it I started to program my patches.

The overall sound quality is amazing for the price. The reverb, chorus, flanger, phaser, delay, distortion are great but the compressor, pitch shifter, noise gate, wah-wah, ring modulator suck big time. The noise gate doesn't do the job, I find once set it doesn't muff your sound. I still get feedback with it set all the way. I play metal so a good noise gate is crucial. the commpressor is noisy at times but fair, as you would see in most processors, "intellegent pitchshifter", well this is the stupidest one. The thing can't even give you a real sound, it sounds fake. Now for the distortion, I found that the distortion on this effect was amazing but not enough settings for it, you only get tone, drive, volume or level.
I was able to imatate a lot of sounds with the ME-30 and I suggest to anyone that doesn't have a lot of money to spend to get this if they need more effects.

I've had this thing for 2 years now let me say it has never failed on me yet, I've done around 10 shows without a backup and I wasn't even thinking if this thing letting me go or not. I was mostly thinking of not breaking a string so the ME-30 was not an issue doing live preformances. I have also dropped it by accident and not a scratch on it.

Don't know, never need to call.

I've been playing metal, death metal, rock for 11 years now and this is a good buy for people with a small budget but need all those effects. Overall, if you're a professional, you'll get tired of it quickly as you'll want more options on it as we all do with the years of experience gained on the road and jam sessions. I would buy it again if I were still broke but I got something better now so it all depends on your budget. Also, I find that they could of added an a.c. adapter with but they do give you batteries.

This pedal is kinda hard to get used to. If you normally play anolog, then you won't like it, but if you like processor, then this is a great pedal. The ease of use will be kinda hard to get used to but once you have it down it's totally awesome. I love it. It has a very wide variety of effects from phasers to tremelo to distortion. (7 different types of distortion I might add!)

The sound quality is pretty good, but could use some improvment. It's a processor like I said, so you can't get that perfect sound that only anolog can provide. Overall you can get pretty good sound out of it if you know how to use it right.

Probably the back bone of this processor is its reliability. As long as you use the specific power source provided, you should have no problem shorting it out or anything like that. You never have to worry about a backup when you are doing a show, because the ME-30 never fails. It has never let me down yet!

I haven't had any problems with it yet, and i'm the third owner. I knew both of the previous owners and they never had any trouble with it either so... But they did give me an awesome deal. $100!!! Vs. 299 store bought!

I have played with it a lot and decided that i don't really like the presents that much. I made my own effects and I love them. My style ranges from old school punk to rap to 90s to more punk and then my all time favorite: THE 80s!!! the compressor does a nuber for me in that sense.

It is very easy to use once you learn how. The user interface is as though you have a chain of Boss pedals in front of you. The manual is very staight forward with pictures and diagrams. Explainations are given for everything.

You can have a set up with just this. It's not noisy, in fact I find that it naturally cleans up the extra noise that your guitar makes. I found that the EQ just adds extra noise and does little. The distortions are good. You can set them really low and just use them for gain to give extra punch. I personally have never seen a need for really heavy distortion so I can't really say I find the quality good at those levels. The modulation effects sound excellent. However I find the compression to add extra noise and take away natural tone from the guitar. I play mainly blues and classic rock like Zeppelin and Hendrix but I can't neccessarily say that this pedal can immitate the sounds of them, but it does come close.

I never used it at a gig. Mostly just jamming with friends and it seemed to work fine. If there's one thing I would recommend it would be to buy the adaptor. I probably wouldn't use a back up at a gig b/c it is sturrdy and reliable, also it's a Boss.

I have never dealt with boss customer service and I hope I don't have to b/c by most accounts of Boss customer service it seems to suck.

I play mostly blues and it provides light gain for punch. I've been playing about 5 years and I now own about 2 fender strats, 1 tele and a Aria Pro II Les Paul style. The ME-30 works well with all. I am now moving on to buying individual pedals to gain a more natural sound. If I lost it I would probably buy it again b/c it seems to do it all. I would use it at gigs for ease but not in the studio. I love the ease and light distortion. I can't really say that I hate it. It is very practical and sounds excellent. Naturally if the effects on this are compared to single pedals, the ME-30 effects come very close but the singles are ultimately better. Overall I have to say Boss (the master in guitar effects) did a very good job on this: easy to use, all their best effect, in a user-friendly compact unit. Of course this is how I see the ME-30. Please don't take my word on any of this unless there are consistent ideas with other reviews.

I organized all of my own patches 0-9 and it was a piece of cake, the only thing that took time was getting them all to be approx the same volume, at first I would hit a loud channel and blare the speakers. It took a lot of playing around to figure it out completely, Don't use the preset channels, they suck, make up your own.

I have a fat strat and a princeton 65 amp, i only use the me-30 for now and its really all i need, ive got a delay w/ feedback set to 100% which makes loops that dont stop!!! the ring mod is worthless(except time-(floyd) intro) and ill get a new dist pedal, but delay, wah, flanger, chorus, compressor, and reverb make this worth it. The stereo headphones when the master vol is cranked is absolutely amazing, sounds like a CD!!!

Its all I use at gigs, and I'm comfortable w/ that.

I play Phish, Dave Matthews, Grateful Dead, Sublime, Chili Peppers, and I can get the ME-30 almost to be a perfect match. After writing all new patches and organizing them, I decided that this pedal is amazing.

very easy to use, it's just like pedals you get almost all the boss pedals and it's easy

sorry!!!!! I think it sucks, I also have the GT-3 and from my expirences with both I am just going to go for pedals.

it is very strong so it's good

this unit is relatively easy to use once you get past the first 10 minutes or so.. perhaps reading the manual would help a bit.

most of the effects on here are very good (the phaser rocks, the chorus is good, and the delay is nice) but the distortion settings suck. i've seen people say that the distortions are good - but they're not. i play everything from stevie ray to oasis to the talking heads.. and i can't find a setting that works well for any type of music. i mean, the distortions aren't horrible, but i would never play a live gig with the distortions available on the me-30.

i've played gigs with it without a backup, it's pretty reliable. the batteries last longer than expected.

never had any problems..

as i said before, i play a fairly wide variety of music, and besides the distortions, this is a great unit. so - buy this if you're looking for a good multi-effects pedal board and already have a guv'nor plus or ts-9.

Okay, I've sent back 3 different multi-effects processors this month. This thing is the easiest I've used yet. Patch editing was painless as can be. Totally cool how they show you little peddle icons, and the knobs on them. Pretty good manual, I kinda wish they would've shown some cool examples, but I found tons of those on the net, (www.voicenet.com).

I'm using a 40 year anniversary Strat, and a Les Paul studio going through a Fender Super 60 tube amp. The distortions on this are the best I've found yet. Seems as though the people that don't like them are into this grunge punk shit. We play mostly Blues, Classic rock etc. Great Chorus, I've always been a Wah user, and this one sounds pretty good, though maybe not good enough to get rid of my Vox.

So far, so good.

Haven't had to deal with them yet.

Been playing for 20 years, and always seem to go back to seperate pedals. This thing seem like it might change that, but I have to play it live at a few gigs first. I tried an expensive Digitech, (RP-2000), and it sucked compared to this Boss unit. Everyone's right about them making a mistake not lighting the LCD panel, and not including an AC adapter. Other than that, give this sucker a try!

It is very easy to set up different patches.

There is a problem with this unit... it is prone to feedback at live performance volume levels.. it is noisy at times

I've used it at two live performances, and it appears to be very reliable... always have a backup... although I don't ever feel like the unit will fail.

You can get a good thick distortion sound out of the unit, but I tink the classic rock and vintage distortion patches are weak. The chorus is strong, and the delay is deep, but the eq, and the flange suck.

Wow, so many reviews on all this gear.. guess I better review my ME-30. hehe- todays the first time ive used this review section.. and I've found it pretty useful.. I'm actually (next week) upgrading to a GT-5 pedal and the other guitarist in my band is grabbing my ME-30-
hmm- about ease of use- I've actually found it pretty hard to get a good sound out of it, not really because of the effects unit- but because I haven't figured out my whole setup yet.. ie.. my amp etc.. I found (I'm using a Marshall VS265R by the way) that using the presets on the ME-30 is a nightmare as far as feedback goes with amps.. and you have to really watch levels.. especially with different guitars (different tone settings etc).. its all pretty confusing... the manuals sufficient I suppose - (really could contain more information-contains enough to get started though).
Editing patches is pretty easy.. kinda scrolling left and right with the arrows.. its not too complicated.. having a LCD display that actually lit up (without holding the thing up in the light) would be a neat addition.. - with amps and effects.. I've found things change with different volume levels, so you really need to try things the way things would be when you're performing (to avoid problems).

Anyhow.. ramble ramble.. haven't really had enough time to fully use it (and I'm moving onto a GT-5 :D - everyones goin for the latest gadget thingymebob.. ahh well.. - just saw a GT-5 going for $550 (australian so umm like $250US or something.. which is mighty cheap)
anyhows.

Hmm (not sure if I've structured this all that well.. but the sound quality.. I've found.. through headphones (in stereo-wahoo) was brilliant.. umm but when I got my new amp.. I found I had a few probs getting levels etc... but I doubt its to do with the effects unit.. --anyhow.

I really like the phase effect.. i know this sounds crazy.. but if you put the rate up to 95 or something and the depth up pretty high.. you can get the sound of a bird tweeting.. hehe

also, I've used the Me-30 a lot on vocals with good results.. reverbs etc are really cool.

Hehehe.. I worry about it gettin scratched etc (the lcd panel) but other than that its pretty strong.. umm one thing though.. sometimes when you stand on the expression pedal (I don't really like other people using it).. -- if you bend it forward and lean back at the same time.. you can kinda feel the plastic bend.. so umm I wouldn't be suprised if some people have broken this.. anyhow.. maybe thats just me.. umm I don't think a backup is necessary.. but definately a spare power supply.. they stuff up a LOT for me.. I think having a spare one of those is a MUST.. umm I remember once lending my power supply to a friend... I got it back and didn't notice that the voltage had been switched, and plugged it into my ME-30.. i turned it on.. it lit up.. came up with an error message.. no dramas (was a bit worried I'd stuffed it bigtime..)

anyhow.

hmm I think we're all agreed that the roland site is one of, if not the worst site around (at least the boss section).. sure its cool for those who want a quick look at it.. but for people looking for detail or user support.. I've found harmony central is your best bet.. theres also a ME-30 page somewhere that has a few hundred patches.. pretty neat.. sorry I can't remember the address.. anyhow.. customer support really needs a LOT of work. (one of the reasons I've chosen to go for a Protools system rather than a VS unit) anyhow.

I haven't really had enough time to use it at all.. I know a lot of local bands that are using the ME-30 and the guitarists sound is pretty good.. I think that effects are only a minor part of this though.. I think more work needs to go into customer support-- especially helping people figure out levels for there guitar-me-30-amplifier.. its a tad confusing.. whether to use the me-30 distortion, or your amps, or both.. your amps reverb, or chorus or both.. you know??

anyhows.. for those who I've seen figure it out- levels that is.. a mighty fine pedal. - especially if bought second hand the way I did, $150 Australian (retailed for nearly 800 when I bought it)... hehe

Anyhows.. any info re levels etc would be most appreciated - musicfest@hotmail.com

Tweaking's not hard at all, but it takes alot to get the sound you're looking for(just like a pedal, though). Definitely easy to get into and start messing around and it's easy to set up your patches. Tweaking the individual effects is exactly like a stomp box, so if you have a favorite setting on a certain pedal, it'll work here the same.

I'm using an Epiphone Korina Explorer, a Digitech XP-100 Whammy-Wah and I just picked up a used SansAmp GT2. This unit is amazing for the price, no joke. All the effects range from good to great. The delay, reverb, phaser, flange, chorus, tremolo, EQ and noise suppressor are things I use constantly. I was using the distortion up until I got the SansAmp and they're honestly really good, unlike some people would lead you to believe. If you're into Boss pedal distortions, you should dig these, especially with the EQ. The Vintage setting was amazing, I played an open A chord when I first tried it and it sounded just like the opening to "Won't Get Fooled Again" by the Who, which is pretty damn cool.

I'm into alot of stuff, but mostly heavy stuff like the Deftones, Staind, Sevendust, etc. and so I like to mess around with effects. This unit is definitely worth the price, every negative review I've seen so far(except the people with Gretch's, etc.) was wrong to my ears. If you're in the market to get a bunch of effects to play with or whatever, definitely look into this.

It's tougher than I thought, but I don't stomp on it...... I'd gig without a backup(I haven't tried it out live yet) because I haven't got on. Definitely don't stomp on it but it should stand up to a good bit.

Overall, this is a great little unit. The effects were all great and really superior to every other multi-effects in the price range. Of course, buying each pedal would be superior, but when you factor in the price it's not worth it. Overall, considering the price and quality, this is easily a 10, pick it up if you're thinking about it!!

The factory presets are pretty weak and useless, but editing
is easy. And if you know what sound you're after, it's easy
to get that sound. This unit is very simple to operate.

I use an Ibanez studio 300 guitar, a rackmount tube preamp
with parametric EQ, and powered speaker cabinets. This unit
is very quiet, except when combining heavy distortion with
delay, chorus and reverb (combining these effects will give
you moderate feedback but a killer tone.). I can get any tone
from Eric johnson, to Steve Vai, to Chuck Schuldiner. But I'm
more concerned with creating my own sounds than copying others'.
The only effect that lacks flexibility is the wah wah. And the
phrase trainer's samples lose too much sound quality when
reducing the speed.

I don't have a backup and don't feel the need to get one.
I've been using mine for over a year and haven't had
problems with it.

Never dealt with the company.

This unit can get you great tone for about any style of music.
My style is heavy metal with Jazz, Classical, and even flaminco
influences. I've been playing about eight years, have acquired
a very demanding style and am EXTREMELY picky about tone. I've
tried dozens of other processors and effects and I'm very pleased
with this unit. The GT-5 and GT-3 and other processors like them
have many more features (more than I could possibly need)
but this covers the basics very well. If it were lost or stolen,
I'd buy another.

Well, I thought this is a great pedal with pretty crap presets...have to do some knob turning when trying to get a really good sound. Thought it was awesome with flanger, chorus, etc...

Well, I am mainly using a 65 Watt Marshall with this pedal but haven't tried my Boss Metal Zone yet...Great sound!

Got a kool replica for Limp Bizkit on the Family Values 99' video.

I've mainly just tried to Get MetallicA patches and made heepz of kool ones for S&M, MOP etc...

I think the amp helps a lot!!!!!

Yeah...Plastic, dropped it once...never broke.

YEAH! definitely gig with it!

Never dealt with em'...Hope I never have too!

I mainly play heavy stuff...any kool. MetallicA, Limp Bizkit, KoRn, Green Day, Deftones, SlipKnoT, ...

I use an Ibanez with this pedal.

U need to get it! the point of it is to buy this pedal so when u gig u don't have a huge rack of pedals!!!!

AWESOME PEDAL! would buy it again if stolen!!!!!!!

Pretty easy. After screwing around a bit you'll be fine.

I'm pretty impressed by this unit. After hearing a DOD GX-7 thingy(DOD is the worst shit on the planet - go Boss or Digitech), I was turned off to multi-effects. Until my friend bought this box. It sounds beautiful. My setup is - Ibanez RG to Vox Wah to MT-2 to Princeton 112. When I plugged in the ME-30 I took out the Vox. I was impressed by the effects. The distortions are damn good for a multi-effects unit. The "Grunge" screams Korn - the muddiness is perfect. The modulation effects are pretty good, except for the flanger - it seems painted on. The effect I love most is the chorus, it is very thick and rich, almost as good as a Dano Cool Cat. The wahs are cool, and the delays allow an insane amount of delay time. Overall, a very cool unit.

Made of plastic, but it is a Boss. Do yourself a favor and buy an adaptor.

Customer support in big companies is shit.

Excellent! A definite good buy for 250 bucks (I think).

Compared to a stomp box it's a little tricky, but compared to other multi-FX's...piece of cake. Manual helps you if you're lost.

My Washburn P.O.S. into the pedalboard into a Peavey Bandit 112.

Compressor and OD/Dist/Fuzz can get a little noisy, but that's expected. There IS a noise suppressor, but it cuts sustain.

I graded every effect: 1-Great 5-Terrible
Compressor - 2
Distortions - 2
EQ - 3 (only 3 bands? I get that on my amp!)
Noise S. - 4
Phaser - 1 (I don't need it, but it's good quality)
Delay - 1 (2000ms!)
Chorus - 1
Pitch shifter - 3
Tremelo - 1
Flanger - 2
Reverb - 1
Phrase Trainer - 1
Amp Simulator - 3

Plastic...don't drop it. Should've been metal.

Boss kicks @$$.

GT-3 is my next one. This is more beginner stuff.

Just like the knobs on your stomp boxes!!!!!!!!!!!!

I use a crappy Les Paul fake this ME-30 and a Frunt multifunctional amp with a 4 x 12" box with 4 different speakers. I play Death/black metal and well it sounds just like a metal zone (which is good) you'll need to set your amp as neutral as possible and set the EQ to taste, I also get a cool Jazz/blues sound out of it, you just need to find the strong points in the unit and use them. The dual bending of my strings sounds a little shitty when using Hi gain settings combined with hi chorus volumes, but since I hate chorus on my distortion this doesn't matter. All in all a good product.

Although this thing is plastic it's MUCH tougher than for instance ZOOM and Korg products, I used it on several gigs, they did a pogo over it in rehearsal and it's still alive and kicking, which I can not say of the ZOOM 3030 of some of my colleagues

Haven't met 'em.

Well it doesn't sound bad at all, it doesn't go with the hype of emulating amps or so. ONE TIP: experiment with the G. Amp sim on or off even with using an amp!

I only used this unit for 3 days (but extensively during that time).

Editing Patches: Somewhat tedious with the effect icons flashing, especially the pedal icon jumping all over the place. Adjusting digital parameters on fake icon analog knobs seems annoying too. Decent sounds came out without too much effort, but it seemed difficult to really dial them in.

Manual: Very poor. No explanation of the effect parameters or their impact on the sounds produced.

While Playing: Footswitches are too close together. Switching the tuner on by footswitch is difficult. Having names for the patches is a nice feature so you can remember which patch is where without writing them down. The expression pedal seems limited without being able to control modulation parameters or distortion.

It sounded OK. I play a Strat with bridge humbucking pickup and Marshall 30-watt combo. Very noisy with low level inputs, but sounded pretty good playing loud. I couldn't figure out how to put it into bypass mode with footswitches, but this would have helped a lot of the time with cleaner sounds. The modulation effects sounded much like the corresponding BOSS stomp boxes (which I think sound very good).

Didn't have it long enough to know.

Have not used BOSS customer support.

All in all, for the price, I think the ZOOM 3030 is a much better value. I took the ME-30 back after 3 days of trying to get it to do what I wanted and bought the ZOOM instead (and saved $70).

The ME-30 made playing a variety of music (slow vs. fast, clean vs. distorted, modern rock/classic rock/country) more difficult instead of easier and better sounding. I was disappointed in BOSS for this unit.

This pedal is great. Its easy to get setup and get the sound you want. for me, i just got it, put in the batteries and just started playing away. i hardly had to look at the manual and when i did, it was only for a couple seconds when i wanted to find out how to rename a patch. and making/editing patches is so simple, its like having all the stomp boxes right in front of you (it takes a bit longer to change the settings rather than having the knobs). but thats not bad!

My setup is a Crappy Jackson-->ME-30-->Boss Flanger Pedal-->Distortion pedal-->Kustom AMP. Other than my pedals, my setup isnt the best but it still produces a wonderful sound. I usually play Korn, Limp Bizkit, RHCP, RAGE, and Deftones (theyre AWESOME). now, i can get almost all the sounds of these guys with my pedal, its so wonderul. the sound quality of the pedal is great, i dont konw that much about pedals but when i sit back and listen to my brother hammer away at the pedal, its just sounds awesome!

i think this thing is pretty dependable, im not too crazy about the plastic but still i can put my full body weight on it. i mean its a reasonable quality pedal according to the price! i would definatley buy another one if this one got stolen or broke. but i dont think id buy another one for back up, cause my parents wouldnt buy it...

Never had to deal with them.

The style i play is basically Heavy... and this pedal helps me play that kind of music... ive been playing for 1 1/2 years and that might not sound much, but i must say im pretty good. and if anyone wants PATCHES, go to altavista and search for "The Unofficial Boss ME-30 Home Page" its an awesome sight with patches for allll types of sounds!

I haven't spent a lot of time using effects before this and I have been creating my own effects quite simply since I got it. No complaints here. It would be nice if the screen was indiglo or something. It is a tad hard to read. I hate bending down and squinting.

My set-up is quite simple. I have an Epiphone Les Paul Junior going through the Me-30 and out a DOD ice-it amp. Pretty basic. My biggest complaint is with the distortions. Sadly, My amp distortion is so much better than all of these. Way too digitized sounding and I can't get an organic howl out of it. My amp can normally give me sweet natural feedback and tremolo. Most of them sound the same anyway. I normally use a little bit of my amp drive with the extra ooomph coming from the pedal. I really like the 'amp' setting for listening through headphones. It takes that digitized edge off of keeping the roommates happy.
The Delay is nice. There needs to be a phase pedal option. There also needs to be a way of using tremolo AND chorus And Flange. Overall I like most of the effects if they are tweaked well. Get rid of 80% of the presets though. Most of them aren't even cool effects, they just sound like crap. Also it is a bit noisy. (that could be my setup though) *GET YOUR OWN DISTORTIONS

I would totally gig with it. It sucks that it's plastic. Set up right its pretty damn cool. I have noticed that on a lot of my own constructions there is a microsecond of silence when switching between effects so work this out in your music.

I play a lot of R.E.M. and U2. I like to make noise. Soft or violent. Unlike most on this sit, I don't play Metal. (In all honesty, I'm not that skilled) It is nice for some U2 stuff. I've been playing a lot of Zooropa stuff and it's pretty good. I'd need an entirely different set-up to get Pete Buck tones. I can't find anything to get that southern chime. I bought this in Toronto. This was an amazing purchase for me. Considering a good Delay, Phaser and a tuner would come to about the same price, I scored big time.

If you like to move, tweak things, computers, amplifieres, guitars, electronics, this unit will be very easy to use, at least it was for me, because I'm into that things of settings and that. Editing patches is like moving knobs in stompbox, and the manual specifies all you can need.

Well, at last I'm writing my review about this unit, I'd wait a year because I want it to test it relly good, so when you read this, you'll get a good review, not a poor review that someone wrote after a day he bought it.
I use a Lyon(by washburn) ->ME-30->and my Marshall, thats' all, I play only Metallica, that's why I've get all the souns I wanted. That pretty heavy, nasty Mesa/Boogie distortion of Metallica you can get it out of the ME-30, TRUE! Also patches for One, Nothing else matters, welcome home, Kirk's wah, Unforgiven live, Call of ktulu, Master of puppets, etc... Amazing sounds, everuthing I'll need. By now you'll probably say, "This man is an @sshole, how can he get those patches with this unit" Well, very simple, for the acoustic patches there's no secrets, only chorus, reverb, EQ, etc... But for Distortions you have to turn on Compressor, EQ and that's it, of course, beside distortion, I Know why the other people in this review didn't get the distortions they wanted( Metallica, Nirvana, Offspring, Megadeath, etc), it's because they thouhgt it'll be enough only turning on the distortions and that's all, well, WROOONG. And if you want any patch of Metallica, I GARANTIZE perfection, but only with Metallica, I haven't tested with other bands, just tell me and I'll send you my patches. Well, I have to recognize that distortions aren't the best if they work alone, but put some compression and EQ. Well, one thing it was a little anoying is the fact that EQ and Phaser use the same place, so, or you use EQ or Phaser, you can't use them both at the same time, also with modulation effects, I wanted to try chorus and pitch shifting, well, not in this machine. The expression pedal has helped me a lot. that's because I don't like to play with my guitar knobs. Take this advice, If you buy a different adaptor than Boss PSA, you'll get a terrible noise, I have that problem, I can't find that adaptor, well in Latin America. I rated with a 9 beacuse it's everything that I'll need in my whole life, well, if I have money for a Mesa/Boogie triaxis I'll buy, but still using my ME-30.

Well, it's a boss, come on, but the only thing is that is made of plastic, that could be a litlle problem if you don't take good care of your things. I'll use it in a gig without back, well, besides this I don't have any other effect or unit.

I never had to deal with Boss, that could be because there's no Boss in Ecuador, but I think they will be friendly and very helpful.

I play Metallica and fits for me.
If my unit were stolen or lost I'll go buy it in an instant. I love almost everything of this unit, but I wanted to have harder distortions and don't use it with EQ and compressor.
I compare my unit with Zoom, taht really sucks, also DOD, it didn't reached Boss, and with Digitech RP-7 wich I think is the equal to Boss ME-30. It helps me a lot in my songwritting and in my music. If you have money for a Mesa/Boogie Triaxis, buy it, but if you don't go buy this unit.

Very easy to use, and pretty simple to create/edit patches. The manual is pretty thin, but covers everything I needed to know.

I used this for direct recording (rock), and was not very impressed with the sounds. It may be better for gigging, but I didn't try it. The distortion sounded kind of wussy, and when the amp simulator was on it took all the bite off of the sound.

I didn't have it for a long time, maybe a year before I switched to a VF-1 (which is much better for what I needed). It has a plastic case, so I doubt if it could stand a lot of road abuse. But I never had any problems with it while I owned it.

Never had to call.

For a rock player there are much better sounding units out there, but for it's price you can't expect nirvana. If I had to recommend something to someone, I'd probably tell them to skip this one and spend a little more money on something they'd be happier with.

Its real easy to use, you can edit the patches fast.

I mostly play metallica,offspring,smashing pumpkin. I can get a fairly good sound with it, i do not know why the #$?$ they thew in a ring modulator.....

Some people have said that the reliability is good IT ISNT.
Its in plastice and one of my knobs is abit broken so that i have to litterely jump on it to switch. same thing happend for the other guitarist in my band who also have got the me-30.

havent spoken with 'em

I wouldnt use it for gigs and im sorry that i didnt just buy some single effects that sounds better.
but again that would be more expensive ...

It's pretty easy unit to use, you learn to use it quickly.

I have Jackson PS-4 and old Yamaha JX 35. I've managed to get pretty good sounds with it, except that my amp sounds like shit when you turn bass level higher. I have NO idea, what the ring modulator is used for. I haven't had any use for that.
I used to have a Boss Metal Zone and in my opinion you get that sound from this unit.
But the factory settings are "#?%#&/(#.

Boss is very good manufacturer, so... But it's plastic.

Never needed any support

My friend had Zoom, don't remember what, but that sucked. No Zooms for me... I'm glad I bought this. I'm sure this is the best in this price category.

This unit is fairly simple to use. I mostly use it in manual mode (which defeats the purpose of a multieffects unit). Tweaking the sound takes too long to get what you want.

Like some of the other reviews I've read, I agree that this unit is not set up for playing Metallica or AC/DC. The distortion is ok for older rock, but just doesn't cut it for an awesome distinct distortion that you may be looking for. I like the chorus, flanger, and delay they still don't sound like the single effects units though. The ring modulator?...what's that useful for? That should never have been included in the ME-30. The wah is mediocre. The expression pedal is too touchy. Overall it has good sound.

I've never had a problem with it. It's a boss, but I don't slam it in car doors or anything. Expression pedal is kind of flimsy, and it doesn't weigh very much. I'd like it to weigh more because it has a tendency to rock or slide when you use the expression pedal. I only weigh 150 lbs so I'm not a beast either.

never tried tech support. Hope I don't have to. Their website is ok, but could use a little doctoring. They need to have more details about their units than just selling points.

It's compact, easy to use in manual mode, sounds pretty good too. I still like it after 1 1/2 years. I'm thinking about moving onto something else though. I'm looking for a more distinct original sound. Maybe you can get it with the ME-30, but I don't know. I'm not going to spend hours tweeking effects, I'd rather use my limited time to play!!!

Probably the easiest effects unit to use ever bar none. The stompbox icons show exactly what is switched on and you can tell your settings at a glance. It wipes the floor with the competion with the boxes replacing thoser wimpy little lights that are so irritating on other pedals (i.e. ZOOM). My only problem with the unit is that the L.E.D screen is only visible from certain angels and on stage in complete darkness the illuminous screen dosn't really help see your settings until you get close. However, finding your way around is no problem even in the dark. The manual mode is good althougth their is no switch for the phaser and EQ (which is instantly available anyway). The manual is good and comprehensive (it even tells you the settings for the preset patches) but the unit is that easy you don't really need it anyway.

I'm using this unit with a Tangelwood guitar (model unknown) and a Laney TF200 and it suits both items well, and it gives the impression that it could adapt to any equipment you possesed. The unit is noise free until you crank up the gain with the compressor switched on and then it starts to fuzz and crack if the strings are uncovered or you approach a power source. However, most of this is my guitar anyway so I'm assuming that on better models it will become less apparent.
The effects overall are good but none really stand out. The delay, compressor and tremolo are highlights, all of which react well and are a pleasure to listen to. The ring modulator is useless (although I did write it into a song just so I could scare the audience) and the flanger is wild, but if you tame it it is worth the effort because it gives some great sounds. The pitch shifter is good and gives a good delay on the signal which is perfect for down-tuned distorted riffs. But, it does tend to get muddy when played with chords. The expression pedal gives a good response but needs a better range of movement. The wah sounds fine but is difficult to set half cocked because of the smal movement range of the expression pedal. However whith this unit it is almost impossible to tell the difference between itself and an analoge model. The noise supressor works but it cuts the signal to early when its needed to cut down on fuzz and gives a short unnatural stab of sound on the bass strings. The treble end of the guitar is fine though and it rings on for ever without causing a major problem.
The only real dissapointment is the distortion which is to thin and needs some serious boss beef added to it. Ther only passable one here is the 'metal' sound which has a nice tone when combined with the compressor, 'fuzz' is appaling and is only really usable with the wah pedal and 'warm', 'blues' and 'crunch' just sound like the same distortion with a slightly different EQ. 'Vintage' is enjoyable when combined with the superb reverb which can gave a Fender a run for its money. Having said this though, for the price, the ME-30 is better for sound quality then all the recent oppposition on almost all areas and gives good value for all its sounds.

This is a boss pedal, we are talking serious build quality here. It has a plastic case which is hardy enougth and gives a firm enougth feel under foot. The pedals are firm and can be stamped on as hard as you like and the expression pedal is perfect and needs to be switched just like a real pedal by stamping on it as hard as you can. It dosn't slide even on a slippery stage and has a well protected base with some serious looking metal. You could use this thing on mars and it would last.

Never had to use them

I play everything from vintage Chuck Berry and Jimi Hendrix to Korn and Superfine and it plays well although you are much better off with amp distortion from a good valve or tube amp. The distortions are just too thin, but when combined with another stand alone unit or amp overdrive the sound is faultless. This is my second efects unit after a ZOOM 505 which cost #99 at the time and 1 year later I bought this for #50 more with a huge improvement in quality. If someone nicks it I would definatly replace it seeing that the price has dropped from the very good flying pig place. It has superb sounds but is let down by the distortion and the compressor just gives the sound pure beef. I wipes the floor with price equivalents from DoD, Digitech among others. It does need a few more effects in chain such qas the ability to use phaser and EQ or flanger and pitch shifter. It is a great help when trying to compose write or do anything else.

This is my first multi effects system, but ive played many others and ive not found a more easier thing to use than this. The little stompboxes tell you exactly witch effect is being used and where. The virtual knobs are great too because its like you're operating an actual boss pedal. It took me no time to learn this thing, but the manual can be useful. It shows EVERYTHING!

I use a Yamaha Pacifica 112->ME-30->Crate GFX 15. When i turn these on, the sound is very clear. I havent really experienced any strange noises. Most of the effects are great. The distortions and overdrives great, kinda loud though even if on a low volume. The wah works fine, you can get a R.A.T.M sound pretty well. The ring modulator scared the hell out of me, and its pretty useless. The rest of the effect are nice though. One thing that would have made me a lot happier is if they would have put a phaser pedal on. The only way to get it in manual mode is to press a cycle through the effects. The tremolo is nice and smooth.

So far this thing has lasted well. Its plastic, but its a BOSS. Indestructable. Metal would have been nice though.

Never delt with them.

I play mostly hard rock and metal such as Korn and Creed. I can get all my Korn effects and good distortion for creed. Im an intermediate guitarist and i also play an ovation. If my ME-30 were lost i would definitly buy another. Compared to a DOD and Digitech around ME-30s price range, ME-30 is the way to go. This can also help you make music because you can mess around with the different effects and get cool sounds. You gotta get this!

I got this as a gift and It kicks ass, I start just messing around with it as soon as I got it, but I skimmed through the manual and it makes it alot easier to set the sounds. But if you think about it only the pieces of sh*t processors are completely easy to use.

I am using this with a strat mostly and, I am using a DD-3 delay, MT-2 distortion, and a crybaby, besides the processor, the distortion on the ME-30 isn't great but its not necessaraly horrible, everything else is great though, and the ring modulator kicks ass. Especially with distortion

Its a boss, its not going to f*ck up

I have never had to deal with boss on any product I own from them.

I play just about every kind of music, this thing covers it all, if you dont have millions of money to piss away I would get this one.

Just like having a bunch of stomp-boxes. It stores 30 user patches; more than enough. The manual is pretty good, though unnecessary. This is MUCH easier than other multi-effect units. Easier than the Boss Gt-3, Gt-5, and the DOD Tec4, which were the competition for this little unit.

Wheeh! I had a complicated setup until today, when I revamped and auctioned a lot of needless gear. I have 7 guitars. My main axes are a Danelectro 12 string, an Ibanez RG550, a Fender Am. Std. Tele, and a Gibson LP Custom. My other three are backups; a Dano DC-3, a Fernandes Decade from the Fernandes custom shop, and a Fender Roland Synth Strat. I run those guitars into a BOSS DS-1, an EH Big Muff Pi, a DOD Death Metal, a Dunlop Crybaby, a DOD Envelope Filter, a BOSS ME-30, into a Roland synth set, into a Roland Jazz Chorus JC-120, which I keep dry. I color the sound with the pedals, adding only light reverb from the JC-120. I play punk (NOFX, Ramones), ska(RBF, Scofflaws), classic metal (Sabbath), shred (Ozzy Osbourne), and new metal (Limp Bizkit). This pedal handles all of them with the greatest of ease. I will rate each effect individually.

Compression: Don't use too much! Very nice, fat, cheesecake sustain. Great booster. Rating: 8

Distortion: Rather weak. I prefer to use a DOD Death Metal for heavy distortion, and an EH Big Muff for lighter distortion. A DS-1 is good for light overdrive. I do not use distortion from this box; I use other pedals to get it. If this would be your only box, and distortion is what you want, then look elsewhere. Metal distortion is the only reason this gets a rating above 0. It is fairly good. But Fuzz, and the rest are very very fake sounding. Rating: 2

EQ: Very simple. I don't like it. I plan on getting a BOSS GE-7, because this EQ is only 3 bands. Not versatile enough, but it gets the job done for guitarists on a budget. Rating: 6

Phaser: I never use this. Kind of worthless. Only good for Van Halen style chords, but it's kind of cool. I just don't know when to use a phaser. Rating: 6

Noise Suppressor: Clips if set too high, Experiment to find out the best setting. It does work though! Rating: 9

Delay: Excellent. Sheer brilliance. Rating: 10

Chorus: Really nice. Covers every possible necessary chorus sound. Incredible! Rating: 10

Flanger: A little extreme for me, but amazing if used right, and sparingly. Makes noise if used with too much distortion. Rating: 8

Tremolo: Really funky. Talk about trippy! No problems with it. Rating: 9

Pitch Shifter: It's much more of a toy than an effect. I have never found a use for it, ever. If you set it to go one octave below, and drop the direct volume and raise the effect volume, you get a cool synth bass sound. If you raise it an octave, and keep both direct and effect levels high, it sounds like a synth 12 string. Never used it in a song, though. A little slow on tracking, but that adds to the craziness of it. Rating: 8

Reverb: Really nice. I always use the reverb on this unit. It is very live feeling, and organic. Rating: 10

Wah: I never use it. I prefer a Crybaby. This wah has no range to it. Rating: 3

Ring Modulator: Sheer fun. Amazing, tones. I use this a lot to add background effects to a song, like over the chorus. It is freaky, and sounds deliciously warped and hideous. Rating:10

Arm: Lots of fun, but not as good as a Whammy pedal. It is, though nowhere near as expensive, so it's good for what you get. Fun to get eerie effects in the bridges of songs.

I usually multi-track guitar parts on my bands songs. We have two guitarists. There is a distorted electric on each side of the mix, and then clean electrics with this unit's chorus in the middle.

Brilliantly reliable. NO problems, gigged with it 8 times. No backup. I do use an AC power source though. Always have back-up batteries!!

N/A

This unit helps me do anything I want with my sound. I use other stomp boxes to augment it, but you can't beat the shimmering clean tones of this unit. It fits all styles of music. I wish the distortion was better. I compared it to plenty of other Multi-Effects units, but BOSS reliability, and the ease of use of this one won me over. The clean sound is AMAZING with tinkering. The ring modulator is delicious.

To hear the ME-30 in action, check out my punk band on mp3.com, Porn Flakes. Just search for us after January 8th, and feel free to give us, and the ME-30 a listen!

This is my first multi-effects unit, I've ben playing for about 3 years, and when I first turned this thing on I got really LOUD screeching sound. I had no idea what I was doing. everything looked too complicated, but after about an hour of tweaking and messing around with the buttons, I knew how to get a basic sound of what i was searching for. This was a christmas gift, I got it yesterday, and I'm still trying to figure it all out, but if I can figure it out in about an hour without even taking a glimpse of the instructions, well then it cant be all that complicated can it? I'll take a point off just because it looked like it would be to hard to deal with at first glance! ;)

I'm using an Epiphone Les Paul Special II with a Fender Princeton 65 amp. It's a very clean sounding amp, and it compliments the unit well. The only thing that seems noisy and annoying is those damn jetplane and ring mod effects! What was the point of those anyway? The WAH WAH sounds great! I could sit for hours messing around with that. I have a nice clean reverb on my amp, but the reverb on the effects unit isn't all that bad, sometimes I just turn down the amp reverb and use the effects reverb just for the hell of it. I like to play classic rock, alternative rock, and Metallica(old school style). I use a chorus when playing Metallica's "fade to black" and if you tinker with it, you can get it to sound identical. The chorus sings, and the distortion rocks! I also tried this unit out with my sisters Squire Strat, and it sounds better than my Epi. :( She's learning to play some southern rock on it (Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Simple Man, Free Bird" and it sounds great. I wish Somebody had some effects patches they could send for artists like Lynyrd Skynyrd and Pink Floyd for "Time". E-mail us if you do please!

I don't do gigs, but I'm still young so that could be in the future, but I'm too paranoid to gig without insurance, so I'd take along a couple of effect boxes to be on the safe side. It has a nice hard plastic casing, I've only had it a day though, so I'll let you know if its dead in a year.

haven't dealt with them.

I play a wide range of music styles, and this effects unit fits the bill. It has any sound you could think of or just invent yourself. I've been playing for just about 3 years, I own a Epiphone Les Paul Special II, Fender Princeton 65 Amp, and a Rogue AE300 Acoustic/Electric (It sounds great with this guitar if not better than my Epi!) I also have a couple effect boxes, a Boss DS-1 distortion, and a DOD FX-50B Overdrive Plus. I don't know about anybody else but I can get a nice crisp clean sound, or a great distortion that doesn't sound all muddled. If It were stolen I'd be pissed. I would go right down to guitar center and buy another as soon as possible. The thing I love about it so far is the beautiful chorus, and the built in wah wah pedal! What do I hate about it? Well that damn ear bleeding screeching sound that erupts from my Amp when I but the Unit next to it! Imagine being in a small room, having your head right next to the amp speaker, and then having that sucker go off screeching! I've seriously still got a headache from that. I was a gift. I was hinting I wanted a Zoom 505, but they were nice enough to shell out the extra cash and get this! =) Overall I love this multi-effect unit. Its my first one. The first time I've played around with chorus, delay, wah wah, and all those cool effects, even though I've been playing for 3 years, and what better way to introduce me to a wide range of sounds than this! I think.....I KNOW it will greatly enhance my playing abilities within a year just having something like this to make you sound even better than you are gives you confidence to keep playing and practicing!

Editing patches was very easy. It didnt come with a manual, but i could pretty figure out most of it on my own. There was of course a few things i didnt know about it before i got the manual, but reguardless it was very easy.

I use a Epiphone Les Paul Special 2 -->ME-30-->Gibson 120W/Fender Sidekick. I find the distortions great, just what i need, but its hard to get a good clean sound. It can get very noisy at times but over all i can get some pretty good sounds out of it.

Yes, i can depend on it. I would use it at a gig without a backup, just keep it away from the amp, its very noisy, and the sound man might tell u to unplug it(just a recent experience)!

I actually had to deal with them to get a manual. IT took forever, and didnt want to send one directly from there. They sent away to British Columbia to get one for me. And 4 weeks later i didnt recieve it, they finally decided to send me one. I have 2 now though :-). Ill give em a 3 just for getting it to the right address.

With the exception of the customer support, its a great pedal. Its got everything i need. There is a great site on the net that posts patches. I wish boss would have that somewhere. If it was stolen or lost, id definately consider on buying another one, depending on the amount of money i had. I play heavy music, and the distortions/overdrives are perfect.

Ease of use?, there not much to it,to edit the effects, you gota mess wit the menu which is always a bitch, but still simple, pretty easy to get a good sound, but still not as good as the boxes

the setup i used w/ it was ibanezrg7620>boss me-30>peavey special 212, u could have great control over the unit but still hard to get some quialty sounds, NOTHING COMPARED TO THE REAL PEDALS, i play mainly korn, deftones, coal chamber stuff so i mainly use the distortion, chrous, flanger, phaser (complete peace of shit), and the tremelo which is pretty decent. there all really good FOR A MULTI-EFFECTS, but sill, NOT LIKE THE PEDAL. i have replaced it was a line6 POD and some other pedals of my choice, sounds much better. but if you want a standard multi-effects, this is the way to go.

it's a boss, need i say more?

bottom line, this is a good multi-effects if you can't afford the real pedals.the only things on the pedal that suck is the "ring modulator" (compleatly usless and sounds like shit) and the phaser (shitty sound),the metal distortion (waaay too much tremb that the EQ cannot change), and the amp simulator for direct recording (sounds like shit). still cool. i give a 9.

It's easy enough to alter the effects as long as you're not on stage, because it's impossible to see the screen in the dark. Also, it is hard to get levels right in the effects, because the level moves too much at a time. Basically it is too hard to get the sound that you want, unless you are lucky.

I use a Marshall Valvestate 100 and an Ibanez UV777.
*When I have my amp volume low the distortion and everything else sounds ok, but when I turn it up to half way and higher it screaches no matter what, and with undistorted effects it crackles and sort of distorts. Also, distortions are usually too fuzzy or too twangy. It's hard to get the right distortion.
*When you mix phaser or flanger with distortion it sounds really bad, because they phaser or flanger sounds too dominant no matter how low you set it.
*When you use the pitchshifter there is a delay from when you play the note and when the sound comes out of the amp.
*There is a short delay when switching effects in the banks.
*When you use the tremolo or pitchshifter it puts out other sounds with the tremolo or pitchshifter effect.
The ME-30 makes me think it is a bunch of cheap, low-quality effects put into one pedal.

Once my ME-30 stuffed up for some reason and it wouldn't work using the batteries - only with the adapter. That's just about the only trouble i've had with my ME-30, but I know somebody who also has an ME-30 and so far he has broken the expression pedal, the bank up/down pedals and something else, but i'm not sure how rough he is with it. I use this at gigs without a backup and it hasn't been a problem on stage yet.

I play heavier music eg Korn, Fear Factory, Slipknot, and originals, and I think I could do better with single pedals. If it was stolen or lost I wouldn't buy another ME-30.
It's not easy/quick enough to add/remove effects when you're trying to write a song, there is too much stuffing around.
When I was using this pedal in the shop, I thought it was cool because you can make the delay go for ever, and you can get weird screaching sounds from it, but after a couple of years I figured out that you can never use effects like that in a song without making it sound bad.
I don't think the price is as good as people say for what you get, and i've seen it advertised for $200 more than what I paid for mine.
I am probably going to sell my ME-30 to get a distortion, phaser and delay pedal. If anybody knows of a distortion pedal that suits 7 strings for good low-end sound, please email me.

It is fairly easy to get a good sound,once you read the manual. If you have experience with this type of effects, you probably won't need to read it. I've always been a stomp box man myself.

I use a Charvel model 6 guitar,and a Peavey Transtube amp, and I can get just about any sound I want. It hs a noise gate and it needs it. If you operate it with batterys it's not noisy at all, but if you use the adapter it's very noisy, but the noise gate takes care of it. The distortions are analog,and sound great. The other effects are digital, and they sound good for the most part. I don't see any use for the ring modulator, to me it sounds like crap
!

I think you could depend on it, after all it is a Boss. I've used alot of Boss stomp boxes,and they are tough as rocks. I use this without a backup. I've had it about 5 months and have not had any problems.

Never had to deal with them, like I said, Boss is built like rocks!

Overall I would say this is a good buy for the money. I play mostly classic rock. I do have a few minor gripes. The foot switches are too close together, and it's easy to step on two pedals at once. I wish it had a foot controlable bypass. And I don't know why Boss didn't spend 20 cents and put a damn light bulb in it. You can not see the display without bending over and getting a good look. They have a luminess display, meaning you have to put it under a light and charge it up like the old style wrist watch. I compared it to other products like Digitech RP-3, and Zoom 505, and this leaves the in the dust. I didn't like the sound of the Zoom, and I don't like the footswitches on the Digitech.I've had problems with DOD footswitchs and they look and feel the same.If it were stolen or lost, I would definatly buy another one. It's the most bang for the buck.

The ME-30?s operation is intuitive and easy, but it helps to read the manual at least once. One of its best features is the capability to store, edit, and recall effect patches using the pedal board setup.

My setup: Epi Explorer (EMG 60 & 81)>Crybaby>ADA MP-1>ME-30>Fender Super Reverb (Left Channel)>Peavy Rage 158 (Right Channel).

Here are my feature ratings:

1. Compressor ? F
2. Distortions ? F
3. EQ ? G
4. Phaser ? G
5. Noise Gate ? P
6. Chorus ? G
7. Flanger ? G
8. Pitch Shifter ? P
9. Reverb ? F
10. Wah ? P
11. Whammy ? F
12. Ring Modulater ? P
13. Phrase Trainer ? P
14. Tuner ? G

(Excellent, Good, Fair, Poor)

Compressor works fairly decent. The ME-30?s distortions sound very digital to me, as do some of its other effects, but you can tweak out some good tones. I am bypassing the compressor and distortion sections of the ME-30 because I generally prefer the MP-1?s more organic distortions (Tube and S.S.). Equalizer is good. The noise gate is ok, but I don?t use it much because it cuts off sustaining notes if not set right. Pitch-shifting effects (pitch shifter and whammy) seem to lack the processing power required for smooth and natural sounds, although the whammy?s good for an occasional dive-bomb. As far as the wah goes, you?d be better off with a Vox or Crybaby wah pedal. Ring Modulator is unmusical and useless. Reverb is all right but also sounds digital, I prefer my amp?s spring reverb. I do like the phaser, delay, chorus, tremelo, and flanging effects. The tuner section is also good. The phrase trainer is barely useful. I guess my general opinion on the ME-30?s sound quality is that if used properly (with subtle, meticulously tweaked effects) it can enhance your sound. If not, you can end up with a very digital, processed color to your sound. One major note, to maximize this unit?s sound quality use it in stereo!

It seems to being holding up well after owning it for about a year, but I don?t gig at the moment and I try not to abuse my gear.

I really can?t say since I haven?t experienced any trouble with the ME-30 and it?s the only Boss product I?ve ever owned.

I would recommend this for a beginner or casual guitarist. Given the price, it?s hard to go wrong with the ME-30. In my opinion, I think it?s more of a transitional piece of equipment (whether due to money constraints or lack of experience) than a permanent addition to your rig. It all depends on how critical you are about your sound. It does have some good quality effects, but it?s likely that as time goes by you?ll find yourself looking for something better.

Fairly easy for a multi effects unit, not as easy as a DOD TEC-4 but that thing is a piece of shit anyways.

Not bad for a cheaper multi effects unit but don't give up the individual boxes. The distortions are different, but i would never give up my boss metal-zone (MT-2). The trick to obtaining good distortions with this unit is to just use the equalizer to really adjust the tone and use a distortion box like an mt-2 or what ever your preference for distortion is. I recently played a show with this unit and i love the distortions for live use, they don't sound studio processed and they give a really good live tone, its not so much Metallica distortion but its really crunchy and heavy kinda like a headstones distortion, but as far as bedroom jamming i always use my mt-2 with the equalizer on the me-30. The whole reason for buying this unit was to get a few more effects to add to my rig like a flanger, pitch shifter etc... Since i rely mostly on Distortion, Wah, and delay (which i have individual pedals for) i don't need real high quality flangers, phasers etc... to use, i just like to have em to beef up my sound sometimes, so that is why i bought the ME-30. Although i was not expecting real awesome effects, these really surprised me, the chorus is really good and so is the flanger, not quite boss stomp box quality but non the less very good effects for a live band, i wouldn't be so quick to jump into the studio with this unit, but for small gigs it kicks ass. The coolest effect ive played with so far is the whammy pedal on this thing, it kicks major ass, its no digitech but its definately the best one ive heard on a cheaper multi effects unit.
especially compared to the ZOOM's peice of shit excuse for a whammy pedal. I don't much care for the delay on this unit, u cant tweak it just right for some reason, although the 2 seconds is nice for somthings, i stick to my trusty DD-3 for any intricate delays.

I never go on stage without a backup, but im sure u could trust this thing, after all its a boss. Im not to crazy about the plastic tho, and the expression pedal doesn't seem real solid, but it hasn't failed me yet.

Never dealt with boss

I play just about anything, if i hear it and i like it then i'll play it, but my main style is metal/hardrock. I love Metallica, Headstones, Black Sabbath and Led Zepp. This thing kicks ass for Hard Rock music, it doesn't quite give the Metallica super crunch but thats what ive got my metal zone. I've been playing for about 6 years now, and ive owned an amazing amount of gear in those 6 years, currently my setup is: 1.)Samick KRT664, 2.)Gibson SG, 3.)Crybaby, 4.)MT-2 Metal Zone, 5.)DD-3 Delay, 6.)ME-30, 7.)Peavey Stereo Chorus 400. If it were stolen or lost id replace it if i had the cash, and if there wasn't somthing better on the market. My fav feature would have to be the expression pedal and manual mode, manual mode is where u can setup each individual pedal to act as a stomp box, and that is how i use this pedal mostly. Ive had alot of Mfx units over the past two years (DOD-TEC4, ME-5, ZOOM 3030) and this thing is by far the best ive come across yet, but id like to get my hands on a digitech, ive never had much chance to play with any of their gear yet. I wish the expression pedal could control more, like depth of flanger/chorus, amt of distortion etc... but u can't get everything for the price i payed for this thing. It doesn't really help me make music, but it definately doesn't hinder me either, its just there to help me bash my way through a set somewhere without sounding to shitty i hope =v).

I've finally get rid of this thing. I really didn't get what I wanted and that was a good distortion sound. When I first bought I used to think that this box is great. You get alot of different effects and so on. But as I grew up I began to realize that this is not I want to hear from my amp. I wanted to make music not just tweak my sound all the time. And the thing that really made my angry was that the distortions were either too fussy or sound crappy otherwise. After 10 months I went and traded this to Ibanez TS-9. Now I only need my Crybaby and TS-9 to play anything. I have finally found what I've been looking for. I just want to say that Boss ME-30 is not a bad effects unit it just did not work for me.

Up, Down; 1,2,3 easy. but on changing the effects "knobs", thats a little confusing

I use a american stratocaster into a randall 12" I went through every factory preset, they all didnt sound like their titles, like breeze, sounds like a baby screaming when getting hit upside the head. I own a boss mt-2 so i decided to go into the manual mode, turned on the distortion. Didnt like it, changed the knobs, still didnt like it, one more time, taking 5 mins. to get 1/4 of the way to the mt-2. the noise compressor cut off all long notes, IM not saying that boss is bad, its this multi effects unit that isnt good, most boss individual pedals are awsome.

Its plastic, but it might stand up to sitting in my basement

I play metallica, alot of metallica. This doesnt match metallica at all. If thing were stolen I would see it as being out 200 bucks. But in the next year or so i plan on getting into individual stomp boxes. I give it a 3 because it has nothing to my liking

This pedal is cut and dry. It doesn't get much easier for this type of pedal. The sound is good, it sounds good loud, the editing is easy if you know what the effects are and if you don't the book really lays it out for you. Read the manual before you play. You can learn cool things.

I'm running my pedal with three guitars (fender toronado, gibson sg standard, epiphone LP special strung low B) all through a JCM 2000 Marshall. All the effects are good, but I agree with others in saying, what the hell is the ring modulator for? I love the distortions (I never really use overdrives other than when i'm playing classic rock) especially the metal distortion. The Chorus is great as is the Flanger, the wah is a problem though. It's a real pain to kick on and off throught the expression pedal ,sometimes I think I'm going to break it from pressing too hard, but then I remember it's a boss. Another problem is that my expression pedal is always coming loose, so forget keeping the volume low with the pedal. Other than a couple short comings I love it.

No matter how many pedals I get I just seem to come back to the ME-30. I have all the user memory banks full all with effects I made from the bottom up and I just can't seem to stop using it. In a year and a half I haven't had a problem (except the expression pedal) and I would definitely go on stage without a backup.

I've never dealt with them.

I play a lot of metal (Metallica, Fear Factory, Meshuggah) and it works perfectly. It's fair for blues and it's great for classic rock (Santana, The Doors, CCR) the Leaf preset on the pedal is great for most classic rocks sounds except the distortions. I wish it had a Harmonizer but whatever. If it were stolen I would replace it that day. Basically, no matter what I say you have to go by your ears, but I've been playing for over 3 years and I think it's worth a try.

This thing takes too long to REALLY figure out whats going on. The virtual knobs suck. they barely have ANY settings.

I don't know where to start on this. I turned it on in the store, thinking it will rule with the responses on here, WELL GUESS WHAT EVERY BODY, THIS THING IS 1/2 ASS. I went through all the presets couldnt find anything good. The master level it always too high on the settings, which takes a bit to change. So I figure, "Well if I'm gonna buy this thing, I'll compare it to my MT-2 Metal Zone." I put in on the the "manual" mode, hit the OD/DS pedal, Shit, Changed ALL the knobs once, shit, Changed em again, Shit, Changed em one last time, SHIT! I swear. I was playing my American Stratocaster into a Marshall of some kind. (i didnt bother to look) If you want distortion, DONT BUY, DONT BUY, DONT BUY!! Get am MT-2. I tried out the reverb. The reverb on my amp is better than that, and mine only has ONE KNOB!

**FOR ALL YOU OUT THERE THAT LOOK AT RESPONSES AND JUDGE PEDALS BEFORE YOU HAVE PLAYED WITH THEM, DON'T.**

I dont know, its plastic, so...

I play Metallica METALLICA METALLICA!! And AC/DC. IF YOURE A METALLICA FAN, DONT BUY DONT BUY!!

You don't need a degree to work this little baby out. So easy to use as it emulates a virtual series of little Boss stomp boxes. Editing is easy once you read the manual first.

I use a Ibanez Saber 470 and run the pedal through a Peavey Studio Pro 1x12 65W Transtube Amp. It can be noisy especially with the presets but once you fine tune it and have noise supressor on, you should have no problems. I love the sounds which come out of this. I have been playing guitar for 14 years and always loved Bosses effects.
Since all the major Boss effects come in this ME-30, it is a great plus and the price is ridiculousy cheap. I particluary like the Metal distortion's Chorus and the delay. The pitch shifter is pretty good but can waver if you wanna try to down tune your guitar with this effect - hey but it's great for twin rythem and lead. Compressor's great too but don't over do it and it will cause a bit of noise. Overall, the sound quality of the ME-30 is excellent. With the right setup, you could sound nearly like Satriani or Maiden (Of couse not exactly unless you buy what they use. If you are contemplating buying the ME-30 or the Roland GT-5, buy the ME-30. The GT-5 is expensive and it's and overkill of effects in which some of them sound crap (Different engineers worked on the GT-5, they have no idea on effects). Just ask any rock star in the Music Shops.

Although it's made of plastic, it is quite tough. The expression pedal is surprisingly strong and I'm not worried in breaking it. I would use it without a backup as I have got faith in it. But don't use batteries as they run out very quickly. Boss should've never included a battery compartment as it is a waste of time as they don't last long. I love it!

Nver dealt with Boss as I have no problems with it.

The Boss ME-30 is a great sounding machine. The price is value for money. I play mainly Metal and it does the job (Any I also use it for recording purposes - good Guitar Amp simulator). If it was stolen, I would probably buy it again or whatever new version Boss comes up with. The only thing I don't like about it is the display screen isn't bright enough and the ring modulator sounds like a cat being chewed up by a garbage truck. In it's price category, I think it is the best sounding multi effects around. Don't look at another one before you try the ME-30. It gets a 9 out of 10 from me as nothing is perfect.

I don't think it could possibly be any easier. It's just like using a bunch of stomp boxes, but without the tangled cords.

I use a Strat with a Fender amp. The sound is excellent. The distortion, reverb, chorus, flanger, tremelo, phaser, and delay are great. The pitch shifter isn't as good, but it's OK. The ring modulator is pretty cool. All the other effects are about average, but you won't find anything better for the price range.

No problems.

Never had to deal w/ the company.

I play blues, metal, punk, rock, and Latin. This is pretty musc the best unit in this price range. If I had $600, I'd probaly get the GT-5, but for any amount less than that this thing rocks. Compared to much more expensive units, it isn't that good, bu for under $600, it is the best I've used

Very easy to use. It has this cool "Virtual Knob" thing that makes adjusting the parameters seem like twisting the knobs on a stompbox.

My setup is as follows: Guitar-->Dunlop Crybaby-->Boss ME-30-->Squier 15 or Fender Princeton 112 Plus. The quality of the effects is generally great. Just what you would expect from Boss. However, there are a couple of weak points: The wah is terrible, but that wasn't a big concern for me because I already had a crybaby. The noise suppressor works but either doesn't kick in if the threshold is too low or cuts your sound off too abruptly if it is too high. I haven't found an appropriate middle ground yet. Also, the pitch shifter tends to give the sound a really nasal tone and a "shimmering" sound (which is not a good thing.) It won't be a problem if you are using to add a fifth to your notes or something, but when trying to use the processor to act as a capo it will screw you up quite a bit. The ring modulator is fun for robot-like effects but utterly useless practically. Most of the effects that don't work well are the ones you probably will not use too much. All that aside, nice volume pedal, compression, distortions, chorus, tremolo, phaser, EQ, flanger, delay, reverb, and whatever else is packed inside this box. The distortions sounded good when I played through the Squier 15, but when I got the Princeton I noticed how odd they sounded. A good solution is to play with your amp's distortion to give it a kind of "authentic" sound and then use the processor to control the subtle parts of the tone. Another cool thing that you can do if you play through the mono output is plug a dead cord into the other output and then set the delay on "pan." This sends the signal to one output, waits two seconds, then sends it to the other output (where there is no speaker connected), then waits another two seconds before sending it to the first output again. End result: You get a full four seconds of delay! This is nice when you want to record rhythm parts. Do it with the four second delay with feedback and level on 100%, then turn the delay off. The rhythm part will keep echoing, and you can switch to another patch (as long as it does not use delay) and start soloing.

I gig without a backup because I can't afford a backup. It hasn't failed me yet, but it is made of plastic and doesn't seem like it could take a bashing. If you are going to take it places, get a nice case. (The "official" one costs about fifty bucks.) It eats batteries like a starving monkey, so get the adaptor for use at home and only use batteries for occasional gigs and stuff.

Never had to use 'em.

Excellent. Not professional quality, but great value for the money. Unless your last name is "Clapton" or "Santana," go ahead and buy one. You will not be disappointed.

This thing is really easy to use... Read the manual and you'll understand everything.

It's just a little bit too noisy, but for 340 dollars, what do you expect. The OD/DS is a little plus, but you need to have tubes in your amp... I don't like the delay, nor the compressor (too noisy). I use a Les Paul, Musicman 100-RP and a Marshall 4x12 (Celestion) and I get a fair sound, but I wouldn't go into a studio with it...

PS: putting the volume pedal in front of the dist, and using the compressor gives you a relly good feeling of expression-pedal. mix the delay, chorus, reverb (50% from the amp) Add some noise sub. Try that out...

I can depend on it... Been using it for about 2 years now, and there's nothing wrong with is. (The pedal can get a little bit loose... but that is really easy to fix)

Haven't dealt with them...(yet)

I play almost any cind of style of music... and I like to put together a lot of different effects, I like the Boss ME-30 because it's so easy to use, and it's PRICE. that's something that I really agree with. If it would get stolen, I wouldn't by a new one, I would by something a little more expensive... But I do like it, I really do, That's why I give it a 9.

This thing is so easy to learn. I got it home and asked my friend to help me using this. He says just mess with it. I fiquired out how to edit all the patches in just seconds, literally. Everything about it is easy to use

This thing sounds amazing. The distortions are all distortions that I use when I play. I espeacilly like the blues and the metal distortions. Theyre really warm and full for when I jam with friends or play gigs. The chorus is awesome. I get that sound at the begining of ONE by Metallica. The only complaint is when I use the noise supressor cuts my sound off short and the ring modulator is useless.

All in all there are 7 distortions, noise supressor, compressor, wah, volume pedal, ring modulator, EQ, Delay, Phaser, Flanger, Tremelo, Chorus, Pitch Shifter and more I just don't care cause I named enough. The pitch shifter aint all to great either but the distortions, chorus, flanger, EQ, Phaser, are all pretty nice. This pedal has the most "usable effects" out of any multi effects unit in this price range. I give it a 9 cause the ring modulator, noise supreser.

Oh yeah lots of people say the wah sucks. I actually like it. It's not the greatest but it is usable.

It's a BOSS

I play metal to blues to 50-60 love song type music. Anything I hear I'll try to play. This is perect for anyone and for any style of music. For 150 its so usefull that I cant afford not to buy it

This unit is really easy to use. You can find all the sounds you want after a couple of days, without even reading the manual.
There are some boring things, like not being able to bypass the Me-30 with the foot, but i got used to it.

I use it with a Fender Tele Custom and a Marshall Valvestate 80W, and some other boss pedals. Modulation effects are great, especially the phaser and the Tremolo -you can get some really weird sounds with them- delays and wah are okay. Distortions suck - i use my amp for them -.

Quite reliable despite the fact that it's just plastic... Don't jump on the expression pedal.

Don't know.

This unit is all right if you want modulations. But don't buy it for the distortions (i've tried the Digitech RP-3 and they're much better). I think it's the most interesting cheap multi-effects unit and i definetely recommand it.

It gets a bit complicated to switch patches while I'm onstage but it's relatively easy. The manual is well made and explains each effect well. Editing patches is easy but it gets tedious when you have to switch through all the different effects and parameters.

My main setup is my Hamer Sunburst Flat Top for drop D songs and my Ibanez Talman for songs in standard tuning. It then goes through a Danelectro Daddy-O overdrive, then the ME-30, then to my amp which is a Marshall Valvestate 8100. I don't use the Boss for distortion at all when playing through the Marshall as the Marshall makes some of the best distortion on this planet. I use Boss for it's modulation effects and also some e.q. to bolster the low end since my band is a metal/hard rock band. The delay is excellent and goes up to 2 seconds. The chorus is serviceable but can't be used when rate and depth are both turned all the way up...then it sounds awful. The phaser is okay. The tremolo is actually pretty good. The pitch shifter is worthless unless you go all the way down or all the way up a full octave. I use it detuned a full octave when I'm in drop D which is actually C# for me. Gives a good low end. The Flanger is also real good. The thing I love the most other than the delay is the silent tuner. I didn't realize this thing was chromatic until recently. I can tune down my normal 1/2 step on stage and it's accurate. When I switch guitars I can hit the tuner button and change guitars without a bunch of thumps from the cord hitting the floor because I forget to turn the amp off. All in all for the price I paid, the effects are good.

It's actually very solid but since it's plastic, I'm not going to say it's built like a tank. I've had it for a year and a half and it's held out very well with all the shows I've played.

not applicable

I eventually would like to go to individual effect boxes but I am a poor sumbitch. This thing suits me fine right now for what I'm doing. The delay and the silent tuner is what I mainly love about this thing. I would recommend it for the beginner and intermediate guitarist as well as one on a budget like me. In my opinion, though, if you've got the bucks, get individual stompboxes.

Not as easy as stopming a box, but for a Multi-FX, very easy. Editing Patches is really easy. You just choose your effect,choose your "knob" and change the setting.You can choose to save or erase it too. The Manual can put you on the right track if you get lost.

I use this Pedal board with a Washburn and Crate amp. The OD and Compression are very noisey on high settings, but with Noise Gate, it's dead silent.All the effects are great. Exeption: What the hell is this Ring Modulator for? Any how,Any artist I need to imitate, I just tweak awy until I find it,and I always do. Dispite what other reviews sayed, the distortions are great! I recommend Fuzz and Vintage overdrive settings. The Delay is as good as a DD-5, exept no realtime tap function.

It's a boss, so It'll last. I would use it at a gig without backup. I think it would be better in metal, but then the price would go up. They should make a special limited edition metal casing version. I couldn't afford to but it, but it would be nice.

I play Beatles, Rockabilly, surf, and all that other 60's stuff. This works great. I traded a Dan-echo, Cool Cat, Boss SD-1, and Morley Wah strait up for this thing and didn't regret it. I'd definatley buy this again. The Phrase trainer is great. This blows away the ZOOM 505. I wish this thing came with a Harmonizer. I'm not going to complain of the Plastic Casing cause this thoing is the best. One set-back... not much range one the volume pedal. (Yes, the Wah is good.)

I don't know if anyone cares about my input with all these other submissions...but you're getting it anyway. This is a very sophisticated, yet simple to use piece of meat. All the effects are in little pictures on the display. The buttons are labeled in ways that make sense(effect, patch, edit, store, etc.) The manual is almost not needed except for the part about the recording feature. Everything is ready to use from the moment you unpack it and plug it in. Simple as that.

I play with headphones alot, due to my living quarters.... which sounds great. When I'm not doing that, I use a Peavey Wolfgang Special through a Marshall VS265R 2x12 combo...I also have a boss PS-3 pitch shifter/digital delay petal, an MXR flanger that I'm using on loan until I can find my own, and a George Dennis superb quality Parametric Volume/wah. The effects are very defined and can work for all types of music I play(rock, blues, classic rock, even metal). I mainly bought this to provide distortion for recording..but wound up with much more. It has the most useable effects of most any multi-effect unit out there. You can get all the weird space sounds for having fun, but for the most part, you get good distortions, good cleans, reverbs, choruses, wahs, and all the things you actually NEED. I don't try and sound like too many other people, but for fun I tried getting that processed Joe Satriani distortion, perfect...the classic Hendrix/Page overdrive, perfect...and that super heavey pantera "chunk"...perfect. You can get so many sounds. The only effects that could be considered weak would be the wah and flanger... but I already have top of the line products for that, so it makes not difference.. If you don't have a wah or flanger though, this will certainly get the job done well. I think my Marshall has the edge in the chorus department, probably because the Marshall's is stereo, I don't know. The reverb is a toss-up between the ME-30 and the amp. This is all quality stuff... If you can afford both, I'd get this thing and the pictch shifter/delay pedal, because they do slightly different things..and the PS-3 is the best damn pedal for those things there is.

It is made mainly of plastic...but still seems very durable. Boss has never let me down...and I've been through a lot of their stuff. I wouldn't buy a backup for it, mainly because my amp could probably save me in case of a problem. I don't see this thing breaking down on me anytime soon. Just buy a power supply for it...the batteries(included!) last close to a week...but you don't want to have them die in the middle of a gig.

Never dealt with the folks...I'm sure they're great.

I already mentioned the style deal above somewhere...I've been playing for a while.. I'm mainly a bass player. I love playing Van Halen and Satriani on guitar... Vai is God, but his music is really complicated, I don't care how good you are, he's better. I love this thing. The End....listen to funk!

This thing took me about a week to learn, but that's because it was my first experience with any effects anything, and had no idea just what the heck a phaser or anything else did. Once I figured this stuff out, though, this thing was a blast. I was up in no time thanks to their nice presets, and I actually sounded good (which, for me, is a real surprise.)

I'm playing right now with a Masada Les Paul-looking thing and a Peavey Rage 158 amp. It sounds real good, a little noise hither and thither but that might be due to the fact that my room is a zone of complete electromagnetic distortion. Other than that, though, it sounds wonderful. The Guitar Amp simulator sounded great when I plugged my headphones into the unit for practice.

I don't do gigs because I suck, but for home playing it's been quite reliable, and it still works after a year in my dorm room, which is a real testament to the durability of this set.

Never needed it.

This is a good buy for anyone who doesn't have $2 1/2 grand to blow on effects pedals. My only beef was that it didn't come with an AC adaptor, and batteries didn't last long, so I had to buy an adaptor from Radio Shack. Buy this effects set - it will change your life. Well, maybe not, but you'll sound real good.

LOOK. THIS THING IS VIRTUALLY FOOL-PROOF. A KID COULD USE THIS THING. I SCANNED THROUGH THE MANUAL A BIT THEN THE NEXT THING I KNOW, I WAS PUTTING UP THE PATCHES. I'M PRETTY SMART AND HAVE AN ABOVE AVERAGE IQ, I'LL GIVE YOU THAT BUT ANYONE COULD TOY WITH THIS AND LEARN QUICK. AND IF YOU ARE REALLY STUPID, I MEAN REALLY STUPID(THOUGH I DON'T THINK ANYONE IS STUPID--JUST SLOW), READ THE MANUAL AND LEARN IT BY HEART. THEN TRY THE HUNDREDS OF PATCHES IN THE NET RESOURCES RIGHT IN THIS SITE!! I MEAN A LOT. THIS IS EASY.

I'M USING AN IBANEZ RG270 AND A PEAVEY 110 ENVOY TRANSTUBE SERIES. IT IS VERY QUIET BUT CAN BE NOISY AT TIMES WHEN THE COMPRESSOR IS ON HIGH SETTINGS. I STILL NEED TO FIGURE OUT TO CUT THE NOISE OUT WITHOUT BUYING ANOTHER NOISE GATE. I DON'T USE THE COMPRESSOR MUCH, THOUGH. THE OTHER EFFECTS ARE GREAT. I DIDN'T LIKE THE WAH THAT MUCH. FIRST TIME I ARRANGED MY PATCHES, MY DISTORTION WAS SO WEAK!!! I WAS PONDERING THAT I WAS SCREWED. I WAS GETTING UGLY SOUNDS. BUT AFTER A FEW MINUTES, I DISCOVERED THAT THE WAH WAS PUT IN ANOTHER POSITION!!! WELL SPANK MY ASS AND CALL ME CHARLIE!!! THE DISTORTION WAS AWESOME. IT'S METAL ALL THE WAY MAN. I DON'T KNOW WHY PEOPLE SAY THAT THE DISTORTION WAS WEAK. IT'S GREAT!! I CAN GET THE HEAVY METALLICA SOUND. IF YOU WANT THE DISTORTION TO BE MORE FULL AND BASSY, THEN TURN UP THE AMP SIMULATOR AND THAT MAY DO THE TRICK FOR YOU. I DON'T DO THAT. I JUST TWEAK THE EQUALIZER AND ALAS! A FAT SOUND!!! BUT I DON'T WANT A FAT SOUNDING DISTORTION. I WANT TREBLE, METAL RULES!!! USE A HUMBUCKER AND WHAM! I CAN GET GLASSY TUNES WITH IT, STEVIE RAY VAUGHN SOUND, CLAPTON, METALLICA, KORN, GEEZ, ANYTHING IF YOU'RE PATIENT ENOUGH!!

I'LL DEPEND ON IT CAUSE IT'S BOSS!!! I'LL USE IT WITHOUT ANY BACKUP WHATSOEVER IF NECESSARY.

NOT TALKED WITH THEM YET.

I PLAY MOSTLY HEAVY METAL, TRASH AND SOMETIMES CLASSICAL, EVEN BALLADS. THIS IS PERFECT FOR MY TYPE OF MUSIC. I DON'T KNOW FOR BLUES PLAYER BUT IT IS FOR ME. IF THIS WAS STOLEN, I WOULD BE REALLY MAD AND IF I FIND THE ROBBER, I'LL GET MY GUITAR, AIM ITS SHARP HEAD WITH THE TUNERS AT HIS/HER ASS (EQUAL OPPORTUNITY) TURN IT SIDEWAYS AND I'LL PUSH AS HARD AS I COULD UNTIL THE END COMES OUT OF HIS/HER MOUTH. THEN I'LL KICK HIM IN THE NUTS. I MAY BUT SOMETHING ELSE WHICH IS MORE EXPENSIVE LIKE THE ROLAND VG-8 BUT RIGHT NOW, I NEED TO BUDGET SO THIS IS FINE. I LOVE EVERYTHING EXCEPT THE WAH AND THE COMPRESSOR. I HOPE THE WAH HAS THE MORE TRADITIONAL SOUND TO IT. IT IS SO DIGITAL THAT THE D STRING SOUNDS LIKE AN OCTAVE HIGHER. BUT I GUESS IT'S STILL OK. THE COMPRESSOR SHOULD BE MORE QUIET. BUT THAT'S ALL. THE OTHERS ARE AWESOME! THIS IS CHEAP BUT RELIABLE AND HAS GREAT SOUND QUALITY YOU CAN EXPECT FROM A GREAT COMPANY. THUMBS UP TO BOSS!!!

I see there's a lot of reviews here, but I mean A LOT. So I'll try to make this one just for the person who wants to buy something and isn't decided yet. Thinking about the complications of operating it? Don't. This think is dummy-proof. When I bought it I didn't even get to read the manual.

The setup I'm using is a Jackson Randy Rhoads Performer w/ a Crate Excalibur 120W head and 4x12 stack. I run it all thru the effects loop, meaning that my guitar is jacked in the head's input instead of the pedal. This reduces the noise in the ME-30 (which sometimes will bother you). My main worry with pedals is the delay between switching patches. Since I'm the rythm guitar on my band, I need a really seamless change between clean/distorted sounds. The pedals that have this (like SDISCII RP2112) are way beyond my reach right now. But this pedal closes the gap in this. I found out that with some work and practice one can work this out. Also, the change from clean/distortion is smooth (more notably when one has the delay on). I also needed really big distortion, without mids and with a great bite for fast palm mutes/picking. At first I put the METAL distortion w/ the drive at 100 and played great in my practice amp, but when I cranked it up in the Crate it almost blew up the speakers and sounded like a funky fuzz. I found out that the best settings for Metal distortion are not 100% drive. Keep this in mind. It has more distortions but they leave me unimpressed. The clear effects are good, the wah-wah is so-so (get a Crybaby), you got tremolo arm effects and ring modulator which are good only after looooots of thinking 'When am I gonna use this?' and tweaking.

Boss has a great dependability and track record, so I'm riding on that. It has not faltered me. I can use it without backup because for my band, effects are not critical, just enhancers. I can use my amp's clean/distorted sound. It doesn't get a 10 because the output jack were giving me some hassle, it cut the guitar's signal (guess it's from lack of ground inside). *******NOTE********* The 'luminous LCD' boasted on the ME-30 is nothing more than this: you put your pedal up to a light for some time, then turn the lights off, and VOILA! your pedal's menu is lighted. This wears off, though.

Never dealt with problems concerning Boss/Roland.

I play a lot of styles (Latin, Hardcore, Metal, Progressive Rock) so I needed something versatile and with good distortion. This pedal gives me both. I've been playing for four years now, and my other gear's a Peavy Bandit 112 combo (for practice), a Fighter guitar import (really cool), a Strat, and PA equipment for voice amplification. If it's stolen, I would ache to want one but won't have the money to get one back (tight budget). Compared to similar pedals, though, this is a good bang for buck. I love the tweakability of the modulation effects, hate the feedback/noise w/the compressor. Chose this product over others by price. I wish it had a seven-band EQ.
Folks, compare it to the RP-7, RP-3 and 21. This beats them all in bang for buck. What you get is what you pay for and more.

Like any button/menu-based system, it's kind of a pain to navigate around, and easy to accidentally hit the wrong button and end up editing the wrong parameter. The screen wastes too much of its limited space with cute icons, and doesn't give enough space for the actual text labels, so you have to be at least 12" or less from it to read it. Not good if you're editing patches that make use of the controller pedal. Otherwise, once you get the hang of it, the editing proceeds rather smoothly.
I wish you could assign the controller pedal to something other than volume, pitch shift, wah, or ring modulator. It would be cool to get increased overdrive, reverb depth, etc. from the pedal control.

I'm playing this with an Ibanez Artstar fat-body archtop electric. The amp is (laughably enough) a Peavey keyboard amp, which I purchased for running a microphone, midi equipment, and guitar through all at once. What's surprising is how good the amp simulator on this unit makes the guitar sound through the sub-optimum amp (because it sure sucks as a guitar amp otherwise). I also use the unit for going direct into my PC sound card for direct-to-disk recording.
It tends to be a little noisy on high-overdrive, high-compression settings. I don't use them much, though, so that doesn't bother me. A fat archtop guitar doesn't like high-gain settings...
My favorite setting on this box is the "vintage" distortion, moderately compressed with a slow attack (to preserve the initial attack but make the archtop's notes last a little longer), some EQ to cut the mids and boost the highs a little, and light delay and reverb. Tasty, tasty. Also cooked up a few really spanky clean tones.
The pitch shifter effect is unconvincing, but you can't expect too much when doing that kind of pitch manipulation. The reverb isn't particularly lush, but it's servicable. I can't find any use for the ring modulator, but just call me an old pre-industrial bogart.
The pitch shifter can provide a fairly nice harmony/doubling effect, provided you cut the level of the shifted version relative to the original. Otherwise, the unnatural nature of pitch shifted sounds tend to sound robot-like. (Again, this might be cool for those of an industrial bent).
The presets are a mixed bag. Many exaggerated, overblown settings. My presets tend to be small groupings of similar sounds with subtle variations between them.
Having one "catch all" amp simulator, though, makes me hungry for newer effects (Line 6 POD) with multiple simulators.

I haven't gigged with it, but it hasn't failed me at home. Don't plan on going far on battery power, though. You'll need a wall ward.

No need for customer support yet.

I'd say this is a very good unit for the price. Does a fine job of giving convincing tones when going direct, and a good grab-bag of effects.
I play a wide variety of styles, but have tended to gravitate toward a jazz-blues direction (hence, the archtop). I find traditional jazz sounds largely boring, though, and I like how I can keep a lot of the archtop tone but with a good bite and attack with this pedal.
I chose this one because it seemed to offer bang per buck. I got it through a mail order catalog, so didn't get the chance to do ear comparisons. Given that you get a controller pedal along with all the effects, it's a good deal and I'd recommend it to others.

Amazingly Easy. Its like adjusting a bunch of individual stomp boxes, you just scroll through them and adjust. I really like the ease of use because you can still do it while drunk/stoned. Editing, swaping, and moving patches is extremely easy. If your not brighter than the average house plant, then the manual (which is written very well) will be more than enough to help. I had this thing figured out in 5 minutes when i was playing with it in the store the first time I saw it.

Its hard for me to really rate this because my amp is a piece of crap. (some cheap japanese import) but even with my crap amp, if i turn all the equalizer settings to flat and cut the gain, use the ME-30's amp simulator, i can make it actually sound pretty good. With the distortion up it can be quite noisy, but not enought for me to care, because you can cancel most of it out with the noise suppression. The effects are pretty good, with the exception of the wah, but i never really use it, so i dont care. In order to get good distortion you have to fiddle with the equalizer for a bit, but not too hard. Its quite nice because it will fit a wide range of playing styles.

I always play my guitar through it, and i have been using it for a year so far, and i have had no problems at all. I would be cautious about bashing it around too much because its plastic, and my main consern would be stepping on the screen and cracking it, if it really would crack. knowing the way boss' effects stand up, i really dont think you can hurt it too bad.

I have never delt with boss.

Mostly i play punk, its not spectacular for punk, you can get the same sound im after with a boss metal zone. the real reason i bought this is so i could play many diffrent things, and the thousands of diffrent sounds you can produce with this, its perfect, and the price is right too! Overall, i enjoy it very much, and would recomend it to anybody who would like to expand their playing syle.

I'M GONNA KEEP THIS WHOLE THING SHORT AND SWEET. AS FAR AS MULTI F/X IS CONCERNED THIS UNIT IS FAIRLY EASY TO USE, I ONLY WISH THE DISPLAY WAS LARGER. EDITING PATCHES IS SIMPLE, PERHAPS MORE SO THAN ANY OTHER UNIT IN ITS RANGE. THE MANUAL IS ACCEPTABLE (BUT I NEVER LEARN ANYTHING BY READING).

HMMMM... SOUND QUALITY, ALL I CAN SAY IS THAT OVER ALL IT'S THE BEST YOURE GONNA GET FROM A MULTI F/X FLAT OUT. IT IS A BIT NOISY AND YOU DO HAVE TO COMPROMISE SOMEWHAT (WHAT, YOU WANTED SOMETHING FOR NOTHING?) I'VE GOT A BASSWOOD IBANEZ JS MODEL AND RUN IT THROUGH A CRATE AMP AND THIS THING SEEMS TO DO THE TRICK, I'M NOT REALLY PICKY ABOUT SOUND SO MUCH BECAUSE IN THE END THE AMP TENDS TO SLAP ON ITS OWN SIGNATURE SOUND ANYWAY. HOWEVER, WHERE I DO TEND TO GET PICKY IS WHEN I USE IT THROUGH MY 4 TRACK, THIS MY FRIEND IS A WHOLE DIFFERENT STORY. LIKE EVERYONE I WOULD HAVE TO SAY THAT THE COMPRESSOR IS KINDA LOUD BUT IT'S GOT ENOUGH PLAY THAT YOU CAN ADJUST ALOT OF THE NOIZE OUT AND STILL HAVE IT ON. THE DISTORTIONS ARE ALLRIGHT, EACH HAS ITS OWN VOICING THAT IT KINDA KEEPS NO MATTER WHERE THE LEVEL SETTINGS ARE. I SELDOM USE ANYTHING OTHER THAN THE METAL BUT THE BLUES HAS ALSO GOT SOME SOUL TO IT, THESE 2 ARE PROBABLY THE ONLY THAT DON'T SOUND OVERLY PROCESSED. THE EQ AND PHASER ARE LIKE ONE IN THE SAME "PEDAL" SO U CAN ONLY USE EITHER AND NOT BOTH, WHY THIS IS I CANNOT IMAGNE. THE EQ IS STANDARD AND THE PHASER IS PRETTY GOOD, VERY ADJUSTABLE BUT SOUNDS PROCESSED. THE NOIZE SUPPRESSOR IS JUST KINDA THERE. TO ME IT SEEMS KINDA PICKY, LIKE ITS GOT THIS HUGE RANGE GOING ON BUT DOESNT DO MUCH WITH IT (THAT'S JUST OPINION THOUGH). TIVE GOT TO SAY THAT THE DELAY IS QUITE IMPRESSIVE, VERY VERSATILE, ADJUSTABLE, AND INCREDIBLE! ITS NICE, DONT THINK YOU NEED A WHOLE 2 SECONDS THOUGH BUT I'M NOT ARGUING,IT HAS BOTH NORMAL AND PANNING SETTINGS. THE MODULATIONS "PEDAL" RUNS ONE OF 4 EFFECTS. FLANGER, CHORUS, PITCH SHIFTER, AND TREMOLO. FIRST OF ALL, WHO THE HELL NEEDS A TREMOLO? THE CHORUS IS PRETTY GOOD (I THINK BUILT IN CHORUS ON AN AMP IS MUCH BETTER) BUT IT SEEMS KINDA FLAT. THE FLANGER IS PRETTY GOOD AS WELL, HOW MUCH DOES ONE REALLY NEED TO BE ADJUSTED? THE PITCH SHIFTER WORKS, NOT GREAT, BUT IT WORKS, DETUNE IS THE ONLY SETTING IVE EVER USED FOR LENGTHS OF TIME. LETS SEE, NOW DOWN TO REVERB. I GUESS THIS SOUNDS PRETTY GOOD TOO, ITS GOT A HALL OR ROOM SETTING THAT ALMOST ACTS LIKE THE DIFFERENT VOICINGS IN THE OD/DISTORTION SETUPS, I USE IT ON ALL OF MY PATCHES, I GUESS U COULD SAY THAT IT'S KINDA DOCILE. IT DOES SEEM TO BE VERY ADJUSTABLE. THE DIFFERENT OPTIONS FOR VOLUME, ARM AND WAH WHICH ARE DRIVEN BY THE "EXPRESSION" PEDAL MAKE THIS PRETTY FUNCTIONABLE AND VERSATILE. PLEASE DO KEEP IN MIND THAT THE WAH ON THIS THING IS AN ABSOLUTE PIECE OF SHIT! I JUST REALLY TRIED TO USE IT TONIGHT AND MAKE IT WORK BUT NO WAY, FORGET ABOUT IT. THIS IS IN FACT THE REASON I CAME HERE TONIGHT, IVE OWNED THE THING A YEAR OR SO AND JUST NOW DECIDED TO DO A REVIEW. THE WAH SUCKS BIG FAT BURLY DICK. OVERALL, THE EFFECTS ARE PRETTY GOOD, WELL WORTH THE MONEY AND VERY VERSATILE. IVE BEEN ABLE TO EMULATE SOUNDS (NOT TALENT) OF MANY MUSICIANS FROM RANDY RHOADS, SATRIANI, VAI, TO ALEX LIFESON AND EVEN CARLOS SANTANA. IT'S PRETTY VERSATILE, YOU JUST HAVE TO SPEND THE TIME TO TINKER WITH IT.

AS FAR AS RELIABILITY GOES, WELL, IT'S A BOSS. THE ONLY PROBLEM I'VE HAD WITH IT IS THE TUNER, THE READINGS GO FUNKY. IT DOESN'T HAVE A READING FOR THE "B" STRING SO I TOOK IT RETURNED IT TO THE PLACE WHERE I BOUGHT IT AND THEY GAVE ME A NEW ONE, A WEEK LATER IT DID THE SAME THING. SO AGAIN I WENT BACK WITH IT AND EVERY UNIT IN THE STORE THAT THEY HAD DID EXACTLY THE SAME THING, GO FIGURE. OH WELL, SMALL PRICE TO PAY. U SHOULD BE ABLE TO TUNE BY EAR ANYWAY.

IVE NEVER DEALT WITH THE COMPANY SO I WOULD HAVE NO IDEA.

I PLAY DAMN NEAR ANYTHING THAT I CAN MAKE SOUND GOOD. I TEND TO LIKE THE PURELY INSTRUMENTAL APPROACH TO MUSIC SO IM PRETTY MUCH INTO THE SATCH SCENE. I THINK THIS WOULD BE A GREAT UNIT FOR ANYONE, FROM THE WEEKEND GIG WARRIOR THAT'S IN A BAND TO THE FULLY AUTOMATED MUSICIAN LIKE ME (GUITAR,BASS, DRUM MACHINE,4 TRACK). IT'S FLAT OUT THE BEST DEAL FOR THE MONEY, IT'S NO RACK SYSTEM BUT IT IS ENOUGH TO HELP YOU EXPAND.

The ME-30 is very easy to use. The display makes editing patches a breeze. The manual is very in-depth. The ME-30 is the easiest multi effects i've ever used.

Awsome sounding effects! Especially the chorus & flanger. The overdrive/distortions were pretty good, especially the metal. The delay has a max. time of 2 seconds! The noise suppressor is pretty good.

I haven't used this at a gig yet. But so far it's been extremely reliable.

Never had any problems yet.

I've been playing for just about 2 years, I play mostly Punk, ska, and metal. This pedal is perfect for the types of music i play. I compared this product to the Digitech RP-7 & the Zoom 3000. I chose the Boss because of the quality of the effects and the inexpensive price. I would definitly buy another ME-30 if anything happened to it. This product really enhances the way you sound in a positive way. The ME-30 is truly what all multi effects should be!

The ease of use for this is great! I figured out the whole unit within 15 minutes with a little help from the manual. (which is well written) The greatest thing about editing patches, is that when you edit a certain part, you see stompbox dials that you can "turn." It's a lot easier than any other multi-effects pedal, which just have some number LEDs.

I'm using a crappy Ibanez through a crappy Crate. (I should be picking up some new, good gear in a few weeks) The ME-30 really cleaned up the tone, so it actually sounds decent. (although it does require the listener to be slightly intoxicated). This only gets a 9, because it does not make make my crappy Ibanez/Crate setup sound like vintage Gibson through a Marshall (but I guess I'm just a little too picky) The distortion is also a little weak.

Well, I don't gig (I'd get laughed off the stage with my Ibanez/Crate), but I've been using the ME-30 for a long time. I'm into the grunge scene, so I like to jump up and down on the stompbox in front of a mirror, because it makes me feel like Kurt Cobain. I'm lame, sue me. Besides, it's a BOSS! The thing is made mostly of plastic, but I hear that they can withstand direct missle assaults.

Roland (Boss' parent company) sends me stickers, along with some weird stuff like pink socks, whenever I email them. I give them a 10 cause the guys at boss kick ass

I play grunge/rock/metal/classic rock, and mostly anything except r&b and top 40, cause that isn't REAL music. I've been playing for two years with my crappy Ibanez/Crate, and like I said, it makes my setup sound halfway decent. If it were stolen, I'd probably hit my parents up for some cash to buy another. I compared it to a lot of other multi effects pedals, which all sucked royally. I like the fact that it's easy to use. I hate the fact that the backlit screen doesn't help that much, and it doesn't make me sound like It's definitely helps me make music (although my parents say that what I play can't legally be defined as music). I give it a 9, because this is one sweet product. And the price is amazing.

This thing is a complete cinch. At first I thought it might be hard, but I only spent 10 minutes figuring it out without looking in the manual. The manual is good though...it gives nice descriptions of everything this unit can do, and in the back there is room to write down your patches. I would give it a 10 but sometimes I have a problem in saving my patches when I am working off one that already exists---sometimes when I try and save it to a different number it just swaps the two patchs.

This thing is the bomb, well...at least for a multi-effects unit. If you want the real thing with better quality then go out and buy a nice rack system, or spend the money and buy all the pedels included in this thing. Lets see...theres the Boss CS-3, OD-3, SD-1, BD-2, DS-1, MT-2, FZ-3, GE-7(almost), NF-1, DD-5, CE-2, BF-2, PS-2, TR-2, and RV-3. That is a ton of pedals, and for digital effects at this price you cannot find better. Not Digitec, not Korg, not DOD....nothing. Here is the lowdown on what things sound like. Compressor: Great..I love it...it does make noise when it is on but that is normal. OD/DIS: These are some of the best digital overdrives and distrtions I have heard in forever...a lot of people have made the comment that they have too much treble, but I found that the secret is to turn the AMP simulator on and leave it on...it gives everything a much more crisp sound. The vintage and warm overdrivers sound good...I use them for softer songs and sometimes just for the gain. The crunch overdrive is good...I use it for praise and worship type music. The Blues overdrive is the best one on this unit, I use it even in songs that aren't blueish. The Hard is ok, but don't turn the gain up past 50 or it looses some on the low end. The metal is EXCATLY like the Boss MT-2 and it has some excellent tone, but I don't use it simply because it doesn't fit with my music. The fuzz is really neat, set the gain low and use it for lead and it sounds great, not to good for rythm though. The equalizer is awesome and it picks out the highs, mids, and lows nicely. I don't much care for the noise suppressor...it only really works when the level is set all the way to 100 and then you loose some 'hang time' on those strings. The delay is very nice...i think it is actually better than the DD-5. Chorus sounds excatly like the stomp box...EXCELLENT...the flanger is good but tends to overwhelm the tone if the resonance is too high. the Pitch shifter could be better...there is a slight delay for it to find the pitch...it finds it well, just slow. Tremolo is good. Reverbs aren't very lush, but for digital sound decent. Wah is good but needs more depth(it works nicely though, just needs a bit more umph), wammy sucks, ring modulator is good ONLY when there is no distortion. This is an all around good sounding until and has great sounds(for digital)

I do depend on it. It gets me through many gigs. I have an old DOD that I use as a backup, but I KNOW I will never need it...it is a BOSS, and BOSS rocks.

never had to mess with them

I play christian rock and it suits me just fine for the moeny I paid and the incredible sound I get. I have been playing for a while now and I only own a few other multi-effects pedals(cuz I am too poor to buy a whole friggin system). I would buy it again if something happened to it. I love every aspect of thise great pedal, except the saving problem I have been having. GO OUT AND GET THIS IF YOU DON'T HAVE ENOUGH MONEY FOR A WHOLE PEDAL SYSTEM...you won't be let down.

ME-30 is very easy to use. But if you haven't used these kinds of machines before it'll take some time to realize what is going on. But in about 5 minutes you'll be making your own patches. Manual mode is also very good, you can change 5 effects on/off. The big LCD screen really helps you so you can see what effects are on and what aren't. I think it's pretty hard to get good sounds out of it. The manual is quite long and will tell you what to do.

I run this through a Fender Strat and Fender Vibrolux Reverb amp. I also own a JD Crybaby wah for wahing, because ME-30's wah isn't the best one available but great for multi-fx wah. I would use it on a gig if I wouldn't have a separate wah pedal. Anyway the sound quality is great and most the effects sound good to me. I don't know why some people are wining about the distortions. They are great but you have to tweak ***ALOT*** to get it sound good, also remember to turn Guitar Amp Simulator on. Once I was playing with a friend of mind who has Jackson "heavy" guitar and Tech 21 Trademark 60 amp. We tried a couple of Metallica's songs and we both were totally blown away because of ME-30's distortion, wah and reverb. I mean the distortion sounded almost BETTER than Tech 21's, whic distortion is amazing.
Chorus is excellent but if you put rate or depth too high it'll sound like your guitar is out of tune. The Delay, well I don't use this one much but it's sometimes fun to use this with Pitch Sifter and play some harmony stuff. Compressor is a little bit noisy and that's why I use it only if I'm playing with ME-30's wah. Flanger, Phaser and Tremolo are also very good. Reverb is kind of weak, because I'm used to my amp's excellent reverb.

I've owned it about three months and so far I haven't had any problems with it. I usually step pretty hard on but it has survived and I think it will never broke. Altough I'm a little worried about the plastic cover. But as they say: It's a BOSS !

I've asked a couple questions about Boss products and they answered very quicly.

I play in a blues/rock band and we usually play stuff like Hendrix, SRV, Santana, Gary Moore and The Shadows (I'm not joking). I love it my band love when we get gigs the whole world will love it. ME-30 does everything I want and it's absolutely fantastic. If you want good multi-fx box and don't have lots of money, buy it and get everything what you want. Run to your local music store now !!!!

I found the ME-30 to very easy to use. The first time I fooled around with it, I was able to figure out how to program patches without the manual. However, I'm pretty familar with how processors work because I used to have a zoom and I figured out how to use my friends Rp-7 cause he didn't know how to use it!! Also, the instructions are very helpful if you have no clue what your doing, which shouldn't be the case.

I think the sound quality is awsome!!! when I first plugged it in at my house I was real surprised, becasue at the store it sounded good but not great!! I use a Marshall VS100R with a 68' reissue white stat. I also use an old tube amp for the stero effects. That is another thing that made the ME-30 sound so good. I haven't heard too many people talking about the stero effects of this thing, and if you don't plug this thing in to an extra speaker, your missin' out!!! For example, the delay has a pan feature which pans the delay sounds from the left to right speaker! It sounds crazy when the delay is real fast!! The chorus also sounds twice as good with a second amp, as well as the reverbs!! So if you have ME-30 and aren't using a second amp, do your self a huge favor and get one or borrow one off your friend if you have to. You'll be amazed at the difference! I even compared the ME-30 to the Rp-7, and thought the sound quality was just as good. And for the money, it's damn good!!!! Another thing I would like to mention is the ring modulator. I've heard a lot of people say it's useless, but I think it's great!! If you set the ring modulator with some delay and a soft disortion, you can really bug out to it!!!! Especially if you have two speakers hooked up!!! You have to fool around with it to really start to like it. It's good for slow, metal songs if you what weird noisies in the background.

I've had the ME-30 for about 3 months now and so far so good! I would use it at a gig, but I would make sure I remembered what I programmed in what bank because the Lcd doesn't do a whole lot in the dark. You have to put it under a light for awhile or in the sunlight, and it still fads after awhile. I use it mainly to record and in my home. But I also jam with it, when I play with my band. A fun thing to do is to plug a mic into it. I've able to come up with some real funny shit, as well as freaky!! If you use with the pitch shifter, you can sound like Mickey Mouse or Barry White. It's also fun to call people on the phone with your voice all jacked up!!! But it's definetly dependable, unless you really abuse it, like dropping it a lot or spilling beer on it or something!! It's Boss so I'm not worried!

Never had to deal with them.

I play a wide variety music from hendrix, to funk, to blues, to jazz, and metal, and I found this unit to be able to cover everything. You just have to sit down and really tweak your sounds to get what you want. Use the eq and compressor they help a lot!!! I compared it with the Rp-7 and found that the sound quality was just as good, and it had the same phrase trainer that the Rp-7 had. Rp-7 did have a few more effects and the parameters went higher, but for the money and sound quality, the ME-30 was something I couldn't pass up. Maybe when I get enough money, and need more variety with effects, I'll buy a bigger processor. But if you only want to spend so much money, but still want cool effects and great sound, get the ME-30, it's the best out there for the money.

Ease of use was a bit of a contradiction for me. It's very easy to select patches and get going with it. It looked like it should be easy to edit patches too, but it ended up taking me a whole evening to figure it all out. As others have pointed out, not all effects may be used at once. You have to pick between EQ or Phaser, and one of Chorus, Flanger, Pitch Shifter or Tremolo. I haven't found this to be a serious limitation so far, but I guess time will tell. The manual is regular 8 1/2 by 11 stapled black and white booklet with illustrations, and is adequate. It took me a while to find some of the finer points on programming it, like how to pick one of the mutually exclusive effects mentioned above. The patch bank pedals are nice. You can set up patches in groups of three which make sense to you, and the ability to name them is really useful. The phrase trainer feature is easy to use, but I'm not sure if I'll use it much. It is possible to adjust most of the effect parameters satisfactorily with the exception of some of the ones that are tied to the expression pedal. For example, if you select the ring modulator, there's no way to mix the effect with the original signal. With something as wacky sounding as a ring modulator, you might want to do that. Also, the depth of the wah, and pitch range of the arm effects are not programmable - I guess you just have to train your foot to move the pedal carefully.

I'm using it with an '84 Fender Squire Bullet (basically a strat), and a Peavy practice amp. It is acceptably quiet, especially if you are not using a distortion effect. In fact, I traded in a Zoom 505 because it was too noisy for me, and I find the ME-30 way better. As with most pedals, some of the presets are good, and some aren't, but there are enough adjustments on this thing that you can fix up the ones that aren't to your liking. In general, I find the ME-30 to be more "musical" than the very bottom end multi effect pedals, and worth the extra money.

I don't gig. This is just for fun, so it's not a consideration for me.

I play a variety of styles, and I think the ME-30 can easily match anything I might want to do. I've been playing on and off for about 20 years. This is only the second multi effects unit I've owned, the other one being the zoom 505 which I traded in for this one. If I lost this unit, I might look for a unit which fixed the shortcomings I mentioned in this review, but if there wasn't one available in the same price range I would buy it again. I wish it had multi-tap delay, reverse reverb, and more simultaneous effects. Overall it feels more like a piece of music gear and less like a toy than some of the bottom end units.

Very easy to use, manual explains pretty well although you wont need it. I would give it a 10 if it weren't for one shitty thing, you can't use some effects if you are using another, like using EQ prohibits you from using phaser as these are on the same slot, using chorus prohibits you from using flanger, tremolo and pitch shifter as these are also on the same slot.. (Why??!) Only that lowers my rating for 2 points. One more thing pissed me off..That luminous lcd display, you can't see a shit if you're in a dark room unless you put your unit under light for some minutes before..That's -1 point. Just be sure you prepare everything before playing live and you will be just fine..

I run my Fender Strat through a little Crate GX-15. At first I went mad as every distortion and overdrive sounded like shit, by turning on the guitar amp sim. though everything started sounding like it should and I ended up getting any sound I want. From the most clean acoustic guitar sound, a H-E-A-V-Y distorted metal sound to a fucked up fuzz distortion like NOFX uses is in the song Brews. I don't know why most are complaining about me-30's bad distortions, I love them and I will always use them, wont even spend money to buy a separate stomp box as I feel I don't need it. It's all about tweaking, If you put your ass down and tweak the shit out of it you wont get dissapointed.
Now there is an expression pedal too. It can be used as a wah pedal, as tremolo arm, as a volume pedal and for the awful ring modulation (ring modulation always sucked, don't mind it). The wah is usable although not the same as a separate wah pedal, but again a good separate wah pedal costs almost 1/3 the prize of the me-30 so don't start whining. The first thing i tried with it was the riff from Bulls on Parade (Rage against the machine) and it worked well, then I tried some fill-ins and solos from Black Album and they also worked out fine.
The pitch shifter is cool, you can actually make your guitar sound like a bass if you like although there is a small delay before you hear the detuned note.
There is a noise suppressor included. Use this carefully or it might cut your tone when you pick your strings without much power. It got a threshold from 0 to 100, I suggest you set it at 65-70 as it will cut almost all hiss created when you have many effects at the same time and it will not ruin your tone.
The me-30's sound quality R-O-C-K-S and is simply worth a 10. No more to say about that.

I've only had it for two weeks. Although it's plastic, It's Boss so I it could be made of paper, I don't give a shit, I trust this company more than possible. I will gig with backup although that's something I would do even if I owned the most expensive unit ever, you never know what will happen. About the expression pedal: I've read a review of a guy who was 300 lbs =] , it hasn't broke for him so I am pretty sure It wont brake for me either.

Never dealt..

I play alot of shit, hardcore, metal, grunge, punk-rock..etc. In my band we are playing a mix of metal and hardcore. The me-30 is helping me ALOT when it comes to recording own songs and playing with my band. I love it and If it were stolen I would report it to the police as "missing baby" and buy a new one the same day (If I had money...)
Before buying it I tried out the Digitech RP-3 and the Zoom 2100 as they are all about the same prize, and I can say for sure the Boss ME-30 kicks some serious RP3-2100 ass.
The things I miss is a volume knob, a backlit display and the ability to use EQ - phaser and flanger - chorus - trem arm simultaenously. But again these drawbacks are compensated by the low prize and great sound you get.
If you can afford something more expensive you are lucky and could buy something better in they way of effects, like a multi-effect rack unit. But again if you are low on cash or just looking for a good multi-fx console, just run (fast!) down to your local music store and buy it now!!

It's very easy to use if you are familiarized with that kind of machines. If you're not, it's a little bit difficult, but the manual is very usefull

Except for the Wah-wah, Whamy, Ring modulator, that are disgusting, and the OD/DS that is very noisy, the rest of the effects are very good. I use my ME-30 with a JD Cry Baby, both connected through my Fender Performer 650 effects loop, and it sounds great with my Fender Stratocaster Silver. I'm using the amp drive, since it's a valvestate. The reverb isn't so good, but if you don't have any other, it's very usefull. I prefer to use the amp reverb. The volume pedal isn't the best, but it's enough for me. The other effects are enough for anybody

It's made of plastic. I broke the wah-wah switch when I didn't have the cry baby. The rest is perfect. I don't have a backup

Never heard about it

If I had only US 500, I would buy it again, because it's excelent for the price. I would change it only for a set of racks, like Marshall distortion, and others. Obviuosly those are very more expensive than ME-30, so I suggest you try it.

This pedal is really easy to get a good sound (with some of the effects) and It is really easy to get accustomed to changing patches, etc. especially if you are used to using stomp boxes. The manual could be better on explaining some things, but overall it isn't bad.

I run my ME-30 through the effects loop on a crate 2x12 combo and a Fender Lone Star Strat. The Metal and Fuzz distortions are always noisy even with the supressor. For the most part, the effects are pretty good, with the exception of a few useless ones like a ring modulator, and a few crappy whammy bar effects. The best effect is probably the chorus, which is always really rich and smooth. The worst is the wah, which has absolutely no depth to it.

This pedal is very dependable, however, if you are going to use it for more than an hour at a time, then use the AC adaptor that comes seperate.

The customer support is o.k. they give a lot of helpfull info, if you feel like calling or writing. The manual should come with enough to get you started without having to go through that trouble, though. There are troubleshooting sections, etc.

I play just about anything, except country, and this pedal serves its purpose well. I have been playing for 3 years and have owned pedals made by DOD (WHICH REALLY SUCKED!!!) and a digitegch XP-100 which I still use for detune/Wah effects. If it got stolen, I would have trouble deciding whether or not to buy another ME-30 or to invest in some good old stomp boxes. I love the fact that I don't have to hassle switching every single effects (like with stomp boxes)every time I want to get another sound out of my amp. You just have to switch to a different patch. I hate that there is only one way to route the usefull effects, like distortions and Modulations (Chorus, Flanger, etc.).I also hate that BOSS wasted their time adding some useless effects, like Ring Mod and Whammy, instead of conserving the processing power to make the other effects sound better. Like I said, I had a DOD(Tec8-G) and this ME-30 totally blew it out of the water. The overall quality of the effects offered, however useless they are, are way better than anything DOD could ever think of doing. The ME-30 doesn't really lack much at all, although, it has a little too much. It really helps make music, because sometimes you play something good with a certain effect, but you change the effects around, and it gets 2x better than it was before. It really diversifies your sound.

As a first time multi-effects pedal user, I found this to be extemely intuitive (with the help of the manual). The icon-based format is great! The manual is well written.

I've run this through both a Marshall 60 watt 2x12 tube combo(for about 1+ yrs) and a new fender vibrolux(+ - one month). I plug either my Heritage 535 or a mid eighties Ibanez roadstar II into it. Let me just put a synopsis of my evaluations here: Chromatic tuner: It's accurate and I like the fact that you can either use the display screen or the LED's.
Noise: Not too bad; the more effects used at once, the more noise
Factory presets: Good for showing off what the pedal can do, and also as a starting point for beginners to see how to (or how not to) run effects together. I've acually found that a couple are pretty usable.
What's good: Chorus, Tremolo, Reverb, EQ(o.k.), "Vintage" and "Metal" distortions(with *a lot* of eq/levels tweaking), Delay, Phase Shifter, Flanger, Volume pedal, Wah(so-so: not much of a sweep and is rather thin), compressor, noise supressor.
What's bad: The other five distortions, the whammy bar effects.
What's useless: The ring modulator(unless you like to pretend you're Rodan in a Godzilla flick), the pitchshifter/detuner -- really bad!!!!- it does not give true chromatic shifts(At least not if A=440, and even if it doesn't, the pitch isn't accurate relative to the dry signal. You can use it in conjunction with the pedal or not; set it completely wet or a mix -it just doesn't work correctly.
A word about the distortions: I've never really liked BOSS distortions- at least the ones I've tried over the years(i.e. since they came out). So that may explain why there's only two of them that are passable after *extensive* tweaking with the EQ engaged. It seems as though each of the OD/Distortion types have their own general voicing and no matter how much you tweak, you can't change that voicing. So you either like it or you don't I guess.
If a 10=pristine sound quality, then this thing's a 5; but I give it a 7 because of the price/performance ratio.

I've used this since before they were advertised, the dealer had just got it in that morning. So that's been since October of '97 and I haven't had one problem with it at all-- and I've gigged with it every weekend. Just a word to all of you out there worrying about its being plastic--I've stomped on this sucker and I mean HARD and it has shown no problems yet! As far as gigging w/o a backup, I always bring a couple of stompboxes with me just in case. But the thing is, if a person really depends on a multi-fx unit and it goes down, they're screwed.

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.

I never even had to look at the manual. Editing patches and singling out a sound you want is a breeze.

I use a Fender Strat (both a Mexican and an American Standard), a Fender J.A.M., and a Marshall Valvestate 10. Most of the effects are great...the compressor, chorus, and delay especially. The wah isn't bad, quite a bit weaker than my Crybaby, but not horrible. The only effects that I don't think are very good are the pitch shifter (noticable delay), reverb (shallow and weak), and the distorition (just all out weak and bot great). The ring modulator has got to be the most disgusting, worthless thing I've ever heard. The tremolo arm pedal-based effect is cool. Overall, this is a great deal for the price, but you'll want to get an offboard distortion, and possible reverb.

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.

Very helpful, but rather condesnding, and oh the time I was on hold! A 7.

It's great for what it is, so it gets an 8. It'll never be as good as having off-board pedals, though. If the distortion was better, I'd give it a 9, but the OD/dist on it's pretty sorry.

At first I didn't know how to handle it 'cause I haven't deal with these kind of things before. I messed around about five minutes and I learned how to get sounds out of it. Editing patches is pretty easy. But the buttons that edits the sound are pretty small. Manual is good. It gives you all the details about each effect.

I'm using a Fender American Standart Stratocaster -> JD Crybaby -> ME-30 -> Fender Vibrolux Reverb. I can get pretty good distortion out of it. Actually I boughted this thing because I wanted a great distortion. I'm not even using these flangers, ring modulators, tremolo arms. I find that I dont't use 'em for anything. Chorus is pretty good. And also tremolo, compressor and eq are execellent. This thing rules.

It looks a bit of week. Made of plasctic -> not good. Hasn't broken up yet.

Never deal with the company.

I play Jimi Hendrix and all kinds of other music. It's good. Buy it

This is an update from my first post on 05/20/98.
I've had a few months to put the unit through its paces. The main thing that I have found is that while I'm on stage (I play with a blues band) I don't have time to stand there and hit bank controls until I have found the patch I need. If I were only playing, it might not be such an issue. Since I have joined this band I do about 1/3 of the vocals. When you play blues not every song needs vocals. That makes it easier. Now that I do sing, The ease of use in a live situation is of major concern.
I have found a way to maximize efficacy and be happy with the overall sound. I have started using the "Manual" setting. I didn't want to at first. I thought I would be limited. I was left with no alternative. Do you know how stupid-feeling it is to be playing in front of about 200 people and while you're singing you're also trying to find the patch that goes with the next lead break? You think you've found it. You stomp on the patch button, thrust your pick to the strings only to find out, through the first note, that instead of a soulful, singing, creamy overdriven tone you accidentally hit the patch used for your ultra clean, ultra glassy 12-string patch.
That was enough for me. I had to find another way. I used my favorite tones for each manual patch. Rather than have a unit that does everything, I now use it to hone, more or less, what has come to be known as my signature sound. I use the expression pedal as a wah. I just need to get a volume pedal.

Since I'm not trying to find the highest quantity of sounds, I can now have the highest quality of sounds. I can tweak the noise levels with a lot more accuracy and satisfaction.

I've used this thing at all my gigs since I've had it. I have had no trouble out of it at all. But remember, it is plastic. I give this rating a 9. If it were metal I'd give it a 10.

N/A

My band is a blues band. I have a style a lot like Robben Ford and Larry Carlton. Good tone means a heck of a lot. Ease of use ranks very high as well. I have, with some tweaking, made this unit something that, I feel, I can take anywhere. I am very proud of it; but while I'm in this band the settings are fine. Who knows; the band may break up and I'll start playing progressive rock...

Found the ME-30 easy to use. It has icons of stomp boxes which are set up to like the individual Boss pedals. The instructions are complete and easy in the owners manual. My biggest complaint is that Boss didn't add an external volume pedal like Digitech's RP7.

I've read comments from the others and have to agree with most of them. The distortions are not bad if you take the time to work with the settings and the EQ. I took my stomp boxes and tweeked my sound until I got it close. Boss states that the distortions and compressor are analog, they are analog "emulations" and not true analog. It makes a difference in the overall sound

I did not care for the plastic casing. I would have rather of seen it built like Boss's individual stomp boxes. I was also concerned of the volume pedal and the strength of it on weekly gigs. Its made by Boss so it should last through thick and thin.

I recently sold the ME 30 and went back to my Boss stomp boxes for the following reasons:
I play every weekend and need something that will hold up to the use of the road.
The individual stomp boxes sound better to me and are easier to edit while on stage. You dont have to bend over and reprogram the stomp boxes when you need small adjustments.
The ME30 is limited to Boss sounds only. With the individual stomp boxes you can pick and choose the other companies pedals.
When you change patches the ME 30 is noisy.
The LCD screen is worthless. In a dark stage setting you can't see what you programmed.
Overall, for those who don't play in a hectic road gig environment, the ME30 would work out OK. For the studio use it would also be a plus. Also those on a tight budget would benefit due to its low price.
For me it didnt work.

The boss me-30 is very simple to operate, infact, it's laid out like virtual pedalboard on the lcd screen with the parameters of each pedal showing. The manual is easy to follow and understand, and even comes with a section for writing down your own patches in case the internal memory goes out.

I use the me-30 with an Ibanez guitar that has a h-s-h configuration with coil tap, so I've already got a great sounding, extremely versatile axe. I run it into a crate TD-70, a 1x12 70 watt combo amp with a 12ax7 in the preamp. Like most multi-effects, the factory presets mostly suck. It's like they say, "look at all the wierd unusable sounds this pedal can make!" But with a little bit of tweaking, all your favorite boss pedals are there. The noise gate is superb, and there are 8 different styles of distortion. There's not a tone I haven't been ablt to get with this pedal. The only thing I wish they had done is use a virtual GE-7 eq pedal instead of the 3-band virtual eq pedal they give you. That would give you a bit more tone-shaping ability.

Never had a problem with this or any boss product. I gig every weekend using this pedal with no back up. Looking at it, the built in expression pedal seems flimsy, but I weigh 300 lbs and have had no problems!!

A player on nine years, I make my living playing and teaching guitar. I am in a variety rock band that plays everything from Grand Funk Railroad to Def Leppard to The Wallflowers to Megadeth to Kool and the gang to Stone Temple Pilots. I also play in a "sight-reading out of a fake book" jazz band. I mean real jazz. I mean Miles Davis Jazz. The songs I write for the band I'm trying to put together sound like John Fogerty covering Sting songs with Eric Johnson on guitar. This pedal gets me at least very close to any tone I need. It's the only thing I use live, for recording, I use it and an original Ibanez TS-808 tubescreamer. My favorite features on this pedal are the ease of switching patches, the unbelievable amount of effects(great tremolo!!!!!) and the built in expression pedal which turn wah on and off within one patch! The built-in tuner is easy to use with just your feet for quick tuning even mid-song. I tell my guitar students, it's the best buy for the money in the guitar world right now.

The ME-30 is all around a good unit for programming.. the layout is nice.. but the tiny little buttons can sometimes mess you up. One HUGE problem with this unit is to turn on and off the wah.. i weigh around 250 pounds and i can stand on this pedal (hoping not to break the PLASTIC!!)and it won't turn on or off.. you have to hit it JUST right for it to do anything i don't think i'd use the wah live. The least Boss could have done about this is put an external effects loop on the ME-30 so i could use an external wah! (or other device)

I'm running a Vester Maniac Series 2 into a little Fender Champ 15GR my 120W Traynor got stolen :( I love the sound anything i want to do with this unit i can. My only disappointments are the wah and this fricken ring modulator. The wah is very "steppy" it's not as analog as i'd expect from Boss. Ring modulator is the most useless effect i've ever come across.. it's only good to imatate my cat, nothing musical about it.. it's noise. I was also disappointed by the EQ the treble and bass are fine.. but the mid setting should be like the one on their Metal Zone.. parametric, I feel like i'm setting my amp not an effect. I saw someone say that the distortion on the ME-30 was nothing.. i beg to differ.. i can choose from 7 different types and they all sound like they are supposed to.. IN YOUR FACE! AND DISTORTED AS ALL HELL!!

I've only had the ME-30 for about 2 months now. So far nothing has gone wrong.. but the expression pedal really worries me. I'm afraid i'm gunna break it in half :) Boss definatly should have made this board out of metal, also the board is so skinny when i try to turn the wah on or off sometimes the opposite end of the unit lifts off the floor. I definatly wish this unit was wider and made of metal. But as for workmanship.. nothing can beat Boss

Never had to deal with support.. and i probably will never have to :)

I play anything from Metal to Progressive Metal to alternative to whatever :) I've been playing for 9 years now and if this baord was stolen or lost.. i'd have to think hard about getting another one, i'd most likely get a rack GX-700 or GP-100 if i could afford it. But I love the price of this little board, for what you get in sound it's a good deal. I had a Digitech RP-3 on loan before my ME-30 came in.. i almost like the RP-3 better except for the ME-30's icon display and price. I REALLY REALLY REALLY wish Boss had put a backlite display in this unit, i had to rig up my own light that shines on the display (switched with power switch) so i could see what i was doing :)If the ME-30 was made of metal and was wider i think it would be more appealing also.

It's a cinch getting around on this thing. I pretty much mastered it in the store. The only time I opened the manual was to find out what the "guitar icons" were supposed to do (not much, it seems. Can anyone explain to me the purpose of these things?). Still, if you want to make a tweak, it's never as easy as a stomp box.

I use this with a Parker Fly and a Crate solid state amp (!). I leave the Crate on a neutral clean setting and get all my "sound" from the guitar and the ME-30. I'm a music director at a large contemporary Christian church, and I need to be very versatile in my sounds (next weekend we're playing "Friends" by Joe Satriani, followed by "Thy Word" by Amy Grant. Last month we did "The Living Years" by Mike + Mechanics and "Bealleu Wood" by Garth Brooks). I'd say it's pretty easy to dial up sounds in the B+ to A- range. The distortions are nice and versatile (and sound better than the other reviews led me to expect) though you do need to get in there and tweak, tweak and supertweak. My homemade EVH patch had my metalhead buddy (who uses a 5150 head with a Marshall cabinet) scratching his chin and asking how much this thing cost.
The chorus is good enough, but made me miss the Boss CH5 pedal. It didn't do well on the "Come As You Are" acid test. Flange, trem, phasor, EQ, delay and noise gate work as expected (very good).The only effect that made me really crinkle my nose in disgust was the wah pedal.In a pinch it's ok, but if you're gonna play "Dazed and Confused", budget for a real wah pedal (get the Vox!)

Well, because it's BOSS I'm expecting it to be reliable. To tell you the truth, the plastic casing doesn't inspire confidence (though it's nice and light to carry). If it didn't say BOSS on it I probably wouldn't trust it. Digitech can do metal in this price range, why can't BOSS? If you're a wild & crazy guy onstage, you probably could bust this thing. I don't worry about a backup.

You won't need it.

I've been playing for 28 years (I'm 38). Since I'm playing almost every popular style of music there is, the "all in one box" is the best route for me (short of a Bradshaw system). I know I'd be happier with the BOSS GT5 (and a better amp), but I'd rather save money than spend it. The ME-30 is a GREAT value, and is plenty good enough for all but the most critical applications (don't bring it to a Steely Dan gig).If it were lost, I'd buy it again. I've tried the cheaper digitech stuff and this is waaay better. The only thing I really don't like about it is there's only three preset pedals, so I'm banking up and down more than I like. Also, the screen is useless in a live setting. Don't bother naming your patches, cause you can't see them. The tuner is nice (it mutes you while tuning) and the phrase trainer may come in handy one of these days. If you're on the fence, get off. Buy it.It ain't poifect, but it's the best in this price range.

It is a lot more easy to use than it originally looks. Exactly like dialing in a stomp box, only with a few more buttons. I am only giving it an eight because you can't switch to bypass or manual mode without bending over to hit the buttons(no foot switches).
This thing is so easy to use that the very smae day I got it I was able to program it and use it at a concer that same night.

I play a Peavey Predator or a Hammond Les Paul copy through a peavey PA system and/or a fender frontman amp. For some reason, I can't put the ME-30 too close to an amp or speaker or it starts to hiss, but as I move it away it causes less noise. Let me go into detail about the effects them selves. Compressor-Excellent for doing rythms, but if you are going to use a heavy distortion it is not so useful and makes more noise than it is worth. Distortions-excellent after you tweek them a little. There are 7 types:Vintage, warm, crunch, blues, hard, mtal, and fuzz. Equilizer/phaser-I don't know why these two are in the same box, but both are really excellent at what they do---especially the phaser...it is hard to believe that this effect is digital. Noise Surpressor- This comes in handy when you have heavy distortions, but I don't use it on clean sounds because it cuts off too soon, even at low levels. Delay-Oh...this is beautiful. Just put it on, turn the dials all the way up and have a blast. Modulations- these bad boys sound great...just like their stomp box counter parts. There are Chorus, Flange, Pitch shifter, and tremolo. Reverb-this is nice but can very easly be over done with this box. Wahs-this is actually my first wah pedal, so i can't compare it to anything...I like it. Wammy sounds ok, as long as you go only about half up...after that it gets a little bit digitized. Ring Modulator- I have no idea what to use this for, but i guess there is something or it wouldn't be on here.

Even though it is made out of plastic, it is very durable...i will gig without a backup.

never had to mess with it

I play christain rock, and this little box can make any sound that i need and so much more. I would buy it again. The only complants I really have is that the screen is hard to read. It has really improved my music writing ability. peace out <><

Let me start out by saying that I read all of the reviews (good and bad) I could find for this thing before I made the purchase, and after all was said and done, I bought it. I think this thing is ultra-easy to use, it is just like dialing in the stombox, just on screen. The stompboxes are on a screen lined up like you would have them on the floor, editing them is incredibly easy. I never even opened the manual until someone told me there was blank patch sheets in the back to write down your own patches.

I am using it with a Yamaha Pacifica 112, awesome guitar, and a 200w Peavey tube amp (Classic VTX). I don't find it noisy at all, it is all in how you dial in the effect levels and the master level. I have been playing guitar for about 13 years now, I have played in several bands ranging in a huge variety of music, I have always used the long chain-linked row of stompboxes and wahs, what a pain in the ass, especially now that I have this, I look back and think how stupid I was. The only disadvantages I have come across are the following: Background does not illuminate (although it is supposed to be like a glowong type thing, it just doesn't work) therefore it is hard to see on stage (especially in bars and pubs). The pedals are a little tight for my liking, I have gotten used to it though. The wah is hard to turn off and on, I just set a neighboring bank w/ wah and switch back and forth. It has 2 guitar emblems, a Strat and a Les Paul, they do absolutely nothing and are just a pain in the ass. All of that being said, I love it.

I gig with this thing about 2-3 times a week, I practice with it also, it has a built in amp simulator, works great with headphones! I leave the pedals at home, no back-up, fancy free, me and my ME-30!

Never had to call them.

This baby will match any style of music, you can even get other peoples patches off of the unofficial Boss ME-30 Page, they have quite a few with a good variety of artists, I submitted 2 there myself. Look, I will sum this whole thing up, it has over $2000.00 worth of equipment inside it, it has 16 different Boss pedals, a wah/volume pedal, built in tuner, a phase trainer, and an amp simulator. Now of course it is all Boss products and you can't have your Danelectro Cool Cat with your crybaby and whatever else you use, maybe someday they will all get together and make the ultimate Multiple Effect Box, but until then, this is it baby!

Others have commented on this, so I won't get into the details. I find it very easy to use, and the manual is good as well. If you didn't know what some of the effects did, the manual gives a brief description of each one. I'll second the opinion about the LCD -- it is too dim, making it nearly useless under less than optimal lighting conditions. Another thing I found annoying is that you don't have the option of manually turning on/off individual effects in a particular patch (ie, while you're playing). Also, the phrase learning tool is useful, but there is a noticeable pause between the end of the phrase and the time it takes to loop back to the beginning. I found this a bit irritating, but then again, I haven't used this feature much so perhaps I'm doing something wrong.

I'm playing this with a US Fender Strat Plus into a Fender Stage Lead 212 (solid state). I also use the Tech21 SansAmp GT-2... I essentially use it as a pre-amp/distortion pedal. I found that this pedal really improved my overall sound quality (gives my amp a warmer, more "tubey" sound), especially since the distortion on the ME-30 is a bit weak. The wah is also very weak -- I use a dedicated wah pedal instead. The other effects are very good, however -- delay, chorus, flange, pitch shifter, eq, etc. The thing I like about this unit over individual stomp boxes is that I can punch into a slightly (or very) different sound at the push of a button. For example, I can use patches with different settings for delay, chorus, flange or whatever all in one song, which would be cumbersome to do with individual stomp boxes. Since I like to vary my sound throughout songs to keep things sonically interesting (I come from the Eric Johnson school of playing... try to cram as many effects into one song as possible :), this is a nice feature, and the quality of the delay based effects in the ME-30 makes this possible.

It's housed in plastic, but it seems very sturdy. I haven't had any problems with it yet, but I take good care of my equipment.

Haven't dealt with them...

I play in two bands -- a goth/black/death metal band and a jazz/blues/funk band (yeah, I listen to a wide variety of music). The ME-30 is an essential tool in my setup. I'd probably buy it again, but I'd also look around to see if there was anything better on the market. It also comes in handy for private practicing (has a headphone output and line input) and direct recording (complete with amp sim). I'm very happy with it overall.

this pedal is easy to use its just perfect your foot can find it

Put it this way it sounds 10x better that the tec8,all the dist modes are killer,espesially the pitch shifter its great

its plastic ,and one thing in dark places you cant see the LCD so i dont know

its so much beter than the dod,digitech,zoom equivelents.its got any sound you want.if you think it sucks suck my dick

I found that the ME -30 is very easy to use and program patches. The icons represent individual stomp boxes whcih simplify the set up process. The ME-30 can be switched off using the bypass switch. The manual switch enables the user to have up to 5 effects in an on/off configuration.

I have been very happy with the sounds that the ME 30 is capable of. I takes some time and experimentation to get the sounds that you desire but it's worth it. The only weak point of the ME - 30 would have to be it's distortions. With a little patience and use of the EQ abd distortion settings you can get some good sounds.

Have had the ME 30 foor the last 3 months and have noticed no problems. I play live every weekend and have had great luck with teh ME 30. It would also be foolish of anyone not to brings at least some kind of back up to the gig

Dont know yet.

Ive been playing since the mid - 1960's and the ME 30 suits the country/classic rock that I play. I currently use a Custom Shop Tele and Matchless DC -30 (and sometimes and old 65W Music Man). If the unit was lost or stolen I would go out and buy another one. I owned and RP7 prior to the ME 30 and was very unhappy with it. The RP7 lacks the adjustments to compressor settings which I use alot. The ME 30 has the flexibilty and the classic Boss sounds. My main complaint with the ME 30 has to do with the "lousy" LCD. On a dark stage its worthless. I don't seem to mind the plastic casing with appears to be well built. I also wish Boss made the distortions that sounded like their "stomp boxes". Overall, I really enjoy the ME 30 and have found that a little time and patience make a great sounding unit.

Despite the many good reviews the ME-30 has received for this category, I myself have to say that this unit is pretty difficult if not entirely impossible to use in live situations. This is due to the fact that it doesn't provide a by-pass foot-switch-- this should be mandatory. It also doesn't provide a "manual" footswitch to allow you to use each pedal as an on-off switch for each effect in each individual patch as do other comparably priced multi-effects units. The tuner is just about as useless. And the controller pedal does not allow much, if any programability over important parameters like depth ratio or speed. You pretty much have to put the damn thing on a table to see the read-out while you program it. I hate little rubber buttons. Not easy to use.

I have a fairly wide range of guitars that I use--Gretsch Chet Atkins, Fender AM Std Strat w/Duncan JB jr, Std. Strat, and Duncan stacked (p100) humbucker, Rickenbacker, and Martin acoustic. I play through Fender Vibrolux and Pro Jr. amps. The Boss ME-30 is NOISY and taints the original vintage sound of my set-up. I recently bought some Danelectro pedals (Daddy-o, Dan-Echo, Cool-cat) that blow the ME-30 away. I guess if you play a watch-a-ma-caster through a Crate or a Peavey, adding the terrible sound of the ME-30 won't matter to you.

If you do choose to use this chunk o' plastic on stage, make sure to use duct tape to secure the adapter cord to the bottom of the unit. It pulls out much too easily and there is no retainer. I give give it a 5 because I don't think it would break under normal? circumstances.

I deal with Roland extensively regarding my VS-880 recorder and have gotten satisfactory if not fantastic results. I love my VS-880. Never have dealt with them on pedal effects issues.

I play vintage rock, swing, 60's, SKA, pop, and jazz. Mostly rhythm, some lead. Played since '72. I record original music and burn my own cd's. Play and sequence my midi stuff with Roland keyboards, Boss Dr5 drum machine, on Macitosh computers, mix with Mackie 1402 and sing through JBL. I would replace this ME-30......with another product. In all fairness, I guess it's my fault for expecting a low-cost unit to perform like a high-end one. The low-cost Danelectro pedals on the other hand have been a big happy surprise.

This unit is very easy to use. Editing patches is a breeze, and I didn't even need the manual to figure it out. There aren't that many good preset patches, but you can edit them and make them good.

Most of the effects are good quality. You CAN get the distortions to sound good if you fool around with the settings and use the EQ. I can it to sound like my DS-1. I play a through a Crate 15XR amp, and can get some pretty good sounds. I like the way it is setup like a bunch of pedals, except that chorus, pitch-shifter, tremolo, and flanger are on the same pedal, so you can use one of them at a time. Same thing with the Phaser and the equalizer. There is also no pedal for the equalizer/phaser in the manual mode. I don't like the noise suppressor, but it works. The whammy and the wah effects are pretty good but the pedal itself is a bit sensitive and small. There is also a small delay when you use the pitch shifter. Speaking of delay, the delay on it pretty good. Not as many features as the DD-5 though. Overall, this pedal sounds great for its price.

The bad thing about it is that its plastic. It's still pretty sturdy, and I play it with my band and it hasn't broke yet. It sould last if you don't jump on it or throw it.

Never had to call them.

I play music like Silverchair, Nirvana, Korn, Metallica, Green Day and others, and this pedal can do it all. If you are looking for a good multi effects unit for a cheap price, this pedal is for you. I use the tuner, chorus, delay, and equalizer a lot. The phaser, flanger, and wah-wah also help improve my sound. I think this unit would be a good addition to anyone who can't afford a bunch of stomp-boxes.

This is a very easy pedal all in all. If you work at it you can get Big Muff type sounds as well as Led Zepplin Distortions. Some of the other stuff is a little harder and involves more tweaking.

I would give it a higher rating except in my opinion the delay down right blows (too damn noisy) the Whammy sounds so digitized it's not even funny. Not to mention the Ring Modulator is good for justa bout nothing. Also little things like on the Flanger and Chorus towards the end if the deptha and resonance is on real high it can change the pitch or better yet detune your guitar sound. This could be desireable but it pisses me off real bad

It is very, very dependable

Never had to deal with them

I pplay Smashing Pumpkins, Pink Floyd, Led Zepplin and this does the trick for the most part. I've been playing for 4 years now and i am very particular to my sound and some of the effects i can't even stand to use. i'm a big analog effects kind of guy so i'd rather stick to the stomp boxes. I love the distortion i've heard a lot of complaints all you have to do is dickaround with the tone EQ and amp EQ and you can get really good sounding stuff like everything from the Huge Big Muff to that shrill Nine Inch Nails sound. If anyone has any tips on the delay priamarly how to make it less noisy on close to infinite repeat please E-mail me.

This little box is incredibly easy to use. Editind patches is a breeze and the manual is helpful although you might not need it.

I use an epiphone SG and a fender hot rod deluxe (read the reveiws)and this thing suits me just fine. I play alt-rock radiohead stuff and every little effect is in or can be created in this little magic box. The distortions are good the ring modulater is worthless but fun to make noises with. The phaser isnt as good as my MXR phase 90 but pretty close. The tremelo is great and the flanger is cool. The Flanger is like a phaser but more metallic. The chorus is smooth as well. The wah waahs are good too

I really wish boss had not put this in plastic. It is sturdy and wont break down on you unles you jump on it and try to smash it but its nice to have that security. I compared it to the Digitech rp-3 and i cant believe how flimsy the digitech stuff is. I could break it without trying. The Boss looked like a tank compared to it. Overall boss make very reliable products.

never dealt with them i dont think i will ever.

Compared to the other multi fx processors this is by far the best. Anything you could imagine is in here and if it isnt you can just make it.