Boss ME-30

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.