Boss ME-33

I must confess, I have a love hate relationship with Roland/Boss. Too frequently their products were excercises in futility when it came to programming. Thankfully much of pain is missing with the ME-33. It is a basic multiprocessor. I used a GT-3 for several years and struggled with it's button and nested menu interface. It sounded great but was hateful to program. The ME-33 has six knobs for use in programming mode and can be adjusted in realtime. There is also a E-Z Program feature that allows limited programming which can be useful if you need to tweak on stage or for a particular track. The manual is easy to follow if you need it.

Sound quality is excellent. Compared to the GT-3 there are few differences which is good. The acoustic simulator is a bit noisy but sounds great, it could fool someone in a mix. Distortions and effects sound very good. In general the distortions and amp/speaker models are fairly polite although it is possible to get so very intense metal sounds. I run this into a DAW and it sounds convincing on in a number of musicial styles and timbres. Standout effects...stereo chorus, delays (simple but effective) and pitch effects. Best feature....excellent routing of effects. For a $199 effects processor you don't usually see this kind of flexible routing between effects. Also the control pedal is very good

Works great, has acceptable battery life but I wouldn't use it without a AC adapter. I'm not gigging right now but if I were I'd use it without a backup although in a worst case scenerio I'd bring along a Behringer V-Amp.

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I play a lot of styles of music. I need tonal and effects that can rip through a mix in one minute and shift around in a spacey wash. The ME-33 does both and most things between. I've been playing for 30 years and use the ME-33 with a Carvin LC127t guitar w/coil tap and phase inversion. Interestingly using the pickup modeling can create some unique sounds. As an example I use the coil tap on the guitar with the H>S model and it sounds very Strat like. If stolen I'd replace it although I'd check around because I'm a tone junkie. If there were anything I would like to see in the ME-33 it would be a couple more delay models. You need to try anything you buy, or at least be able to exchange if you don't like. That said I think a lot of guitarists will enjoy this box, it hs much to offer for it's price.

The me-33 was quite simple to operate. I have had prior experience with processors (ART ECC) and this was a no-brainer. I like the easy tweaking knobs although I would have liked an eq in there.

The factory setup sucked! I liked the amp models, thats what I mainly use for the distortion. The other effects are descent too. I'm currently using this with a crappy peavey twin copy, and it sounds ok.I play different styles from metal to jazz to funk, and this pedal works out fine for all.

At first glance I thought that this was a toy, but I've spilt several beers on this and its still kickin'. I have used this at several shows without a problem, but I always bring my other pedals just in case. PS the battery life is very short. DONT RELY ON THE BATTERIES UNLESS THEY ARE NEW!!!

Boss is always cool when it comes to cust support.

I compared this to the digitech gnx2 and they both sounded good so I decided to save $150 and get the ME-33. I have owned many boss pedals in the past and this replaced them all. I strongly dislike the break in sound when changing between the settings, but overall this pedal is good. I've been playing and performing for over eight years and this is one of the best pedals that I've used. For the price you can't go wrong. I have a fender mexican strat but I'm usually playing my Jackson with a dimebucker at the bridge. E-mail me with any questions.

I upgraded from the ME-30 to this unit so getting the sounds I wanted has been fairly easy. The tweaking is easy and great for studio work.

Running a Peavey Wolfgang either direct into soundboard or sometime into Peavey Stereo Chorus 400. I was a little anxious plugging it into the amp for the first time since the ME-30 always sounded thin this way. I was pleasantly supprised! Using the metal amp I created a Boogie patch that is so sweet with this setup. Most of the pre-sets are crap and the auto-riff seems like a waste of patch space but after a couple of hours of tweaking and testing you can really get to know this unit. I try to get patches that have a good clean and distorted sound when in the manual mode. If you set the clean sound first (you won't get a good distortion sound if the clean sound is crap), then add distortion you can get more use out of it as a pedal board. The delay between patches is somewhat limiting for performing songs with several different sounds, but for studio or just jamming, its great.

If anyone knows how to set up a web-site for patch exchanges, e-mail me and we can get a user group started. I've got a form designed for patch submission but I don't know much about HTML and all that.

I don't do much other than studio and jamming so gigging doesn't come up to often, but I would rely on it without back-up based on my experience with the ME-30 and having owned several BOSS effect over the past 15 years. Everyone says it eats bateries but you could get enough life to do 2-3 gigs (The bateries that came with it gave me over 10 hours!)

Never had reason to deal with Boss/Roland.

Overall I am happy with this unit. Switching from the ME-30 to this took a little getting used to for the pedals in manual mode. I play mainly hard rock to metal (Van Halen, Ozzy, Dream Theater) and find this to be great for that style.

before owning this i owned a ME-30 which is very simalar so it took me 5 minutes to work this out and the manual was extremely helpful when i didnt know how to do something

I play a mexican strat and a danelectro 56 u2 through a marshall valvestate half stack
The Presets are terrible i borrowed it from the shop and when i plugged it in i was going to take this back i thought it sucked but when i had a fiddle with the sounds i got some great sound
Some distotions can be tinny but when you tweak them they sound good
the rest of the effects are good i love the humanizer

I have only owned the ME-33 for a few weeks i have used it for one gig without back up it seems pretty sturdy shame that its plastic though i play in a punk/ska band and it definately holds up live

havent dealt with them

i play punk and ska and i get some really good sounds out of this
if it were lost or stolen i would definately replace it at the time i had the oppertunity to buy a Gt-3 but i bought the ME-33 becouse of its ease of programmin and the sounds are just as good

It is a well thought out unit, which is very versatile, but as there are so many possibilities it took me days to get to the range of sounds that really impressed me. I'm not experienced with effects which may have slowed me a bit.

squire tele, marshall ss 30watt, I've only had this a couple of weeks and havn't had the chance to try it in different setups but I thought it might help to have these initial impressions. This transformed the sound of my basic setup, making the guitar and amp sound a great deal better. The basic effects seem fine and are very adjustable. With my guitar the Twin amp modeller was very effective,esp for overdriven rhythm. The single coil - humbucker simulation seemed accurate also.

The footswitches seem strong, but maybe not the volume pedal. The unit looks a bit cheap and could be more robust but should be fine. I don't think you could go for long without buying the power supply.

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Speaking for myself I wish it was smaller and lighter( 4Ibs). Its light years better than the Zoom 505II. For the money, it offers a great deal.

The ME-33 is as easy to use as any multi effects pedals I've come across. The manual is great but you don't really need it if you have experience with multi effects processors. If you're new to multi effectors, it won't take too long to get the hang of it. Editing patches and creating new ones is a snap; as easy as the Toneworks AX1000G I used to own and way easier than the GT-3, VF-1, Lexicon & TC Electronic racks (of course the depth of editing doesn't compare) that I have or have had.

The ME-33 sounds, in my opinion, better than the GT-3 and almost as good as the VF-1 from Boss. It sounds better than the AX1000G, which is s'posed to emulate a bunch of vintage pedals and effects and sounds prettty good as well. Compared to the higher end Lexicons, TC Electronics, Rocktrons, etc., the ME-33 is lower quality but still sounds great. It's not noisy at all, is easy and quick to tweak, costs less than $250, and provides a variety of effect options for a plethora of styles. It's comparable to the dozen Boss pedals I use in my acoustic set up and takes up a fraction of the space considering the need to power each pedal (I use a Voodoo Lab Pedal Power and a TU-2 to juice up my pedals). I'm using the ME-33 into a Bronzewood 60 from Tech 21 from the piezo of a Parker Nitefly (I run the magnetic pickups of the Nightfly into an AdrenaLinn processor to a Trademark 60). I use a Lexicon Vortex and JamMan into the loop of both amps. I can get two completely cool tones at the same time without being redundant and the ME-33 complements the AdrenaLinn beautifully.

Effects wise, the ME-33 does all the Boss basic effects very well, with everything you'd expect with regard to tweaking. The delays and modulations are reproduced comparable to the Boss pedals. The phaser even gives you the step options found the the new PH-3. The auto wahs available are great while the pedal wah is inferior to a traditional wah (or even the V-Wah). You even get the auto riff found on higher end Boss multi effectors. Be careful with the feedback effect; higher settings sound unnatural but it does add some cool options. Overdrives/distortions are good, not great, but used in conjunction with the six amp models provide you with drive and crunch and fuzz. Hell, spend some time with this thing BEFORE you go out to play a gig or a jam and it's all you'll need (save for a Loop Station or maye a preamp) to bring. The ME-33 sounds really good and doesn't cost an arm and a leg.

I have a dozen Boss pedals, a VF-1, a V-Wah, a BR-8, and 2 Loop Stations (no, I don't work for Roland/Boss) and have never had a problem. Can't say that about too many other electronics companies. I'm confident in the ME-33.

I play a variety of styles, always from a jam point of view, and the ME-33 fits right into my concept of a palette of tones. When you're looping, it helps to have many options. I've been playing for about 25 years, have owned tons of gear, and have always come back to Boss for sound quality and dependabilty. I also use some Tech 21 pedals, Lexicon and Alesis rack gear, the aforementioned AdrenaLinn, and I've tried just about everything else out there over the past 10 years. I'll always wish this piece or that has something it doesn't, which is why I've used so many brands and effects over the years, but the ME-33 provides so much in the way of sound quality, variety, and ease of use, that I can't help but like it a lot. I was considering the GT-6 when I bought this and don't regret it a bit. The GT-6 just had way too many options for me, especially the amp models. I just don't need that many. If you want a simple to use great sounding multi effector, then check out the ME-33. If you want more parameter options and more amp models try something else. At least give this one a listen.

This was incredably easy to use. The patches provided are not very usable for me. But the ability to change stuff on the fly is absolutely great. I wish they would ship it with one of the user banks just blanked out..a starting point with no effects..and no amps defined. I read the manual but didn't need to. I found the tweaking made only slightly more difficult by the fact that if a parameter is say at 50%, you have to turn the knob to the 50% position to 'pick up' the setting. But for the price this is excellent!

I do wish, though that they added a few more knobs for real-time instant control of the Bass/Mid/Treble settings on the amp simulations instead of the the single 'Tone' control. That probably though would make it a real competitor to the GT-6

The sound quality for this unit is absolutely great considering the price! Maybe not even considering the price! I mainly use the amp simulations and Chorus and Phaser effects and found these all to be very very good. I the ME-33 with either a Boss BR-8 (at home) or a keyboard amp and it works awsome both places (For the record, the ME-33 has much better effects than the BR-8)

I have owned TONS of Boss gear over the years, even including a ME-30 for some time, and have never had it break. I do feel however that the ME-33 is made to only run on batteries in practice conditions, I never will gig with it unless it is plugged in. Battery life is miserable.

Never had to call them.

I play in a Worship Team and record at home. I am using the ME-33 in parallel with a Roland VG-88 so that I can layer sound and/or take advantage of each of the different units strengths. (Forgetting price, the ME-33 DOES have some advantages over the VG-88, and VG-88, of course does the COSM guitar thing so it is invaluable as well)

I had and returned a Korg AX100G...for the extra $60 dollars the ME-33 is twice as good as a device.

I have been playing now for 6 years solid. I play a Fender Strat US model with Lace pickups. The signal path that I use is: Roland GK2A carries both the divided pickup signal AND the normal guitar signal to a Roland VG-88 processor. I take the GUITAR OUT of the VG-88 into the IN on the ME-33. Both the VG-88 and the ME-33 outs go to separate channels on my keyboard amp. If that does not make sense, don't worry, the VG-88 can be a complex (but incredable) device. This gives me the ability to use a modeled guitar (like a 12 String Rick) plugged into a clean amp and have a distorted Marshall amp layered on top.

I looked extensively at getting a Boss GT-6 and just could not cost justify that expensive of a processor to run in parallel with the VG-88. The same is true for going to individual pedals...too expensive. I looked for a non-Roland product so that I could get some other manufacturers take on chorus/delay/reverb etc, but ended up with ME-33 cause it is just SO good. The ME-33 runs very close in sound quality to a GT-6, perhaps in some ways identical, has a good user interface...the only thing it lacks in MIDI control.

I may have been swayed a little because years ago I owned a ME-30, but this thing is just so easy to use and sounds so good I'm surprised that it doesn't cost alot more.

Bought this unit last Sept. Been using Boss GX700 with Roland FC 200 controller. I am a club player and the GX700 is kept at one club while i wanted to use the ME33 for other clubs for one night gigs as this is not much of a hassle to brong along.It is a pretty simple unit to use and the sound is more analog unlike the GX .I do like the dist n amp simulator. The rest of effects are pretty ok up to Boss standards and is pretty good effect for club usage. I do nned to tweak a little for different club due to different amp combination I gues i base my sound more on to a Peavey amp with scorpions speakers 100watts. Pretty easy in editing patches and the manual is pretty straight forward unless english is not ur native tongue.

I use a fender ultra plus red lace sensor at bridge blue at neck and a standard fender pole piece at middle. As mentioned amps is never fixed. I have a 10 watts peavey training amp at home for practice haha. I realised with the wah on i cannot get the eq on for this effect which is a waste. I dont actually try to emulate anyone particluar sound but prefer a good tone for every kinda music coz that is what i do though a little Gary moore in his heavy rock days has a great influence to me. The in between minute break between patches is such a let down esp for Boss coz they actaully dont have it for older units like ME 6. THis unit is like boss pedals all in one.

Boss products are always dependable. Been using them for a long time.
I do use this unit stand alone for one night gigs. No spare effects with me at all.

I have dealt with the local agent back here and service is great.it is working fine like new and it is in its original condition.

I play more top 40s , hard rock and everything from beatles , pink floyd to likin park and r n b . just a typical pub band. Been playing for abt 6 yrs in club scene. Own GX700 with FC 200 controller my all time favourite. If this was stolen will look around first before deciding. This unit is small light n convenient can slot it in my guitar case with everyrhing else. I hate that it only has tree patches per bank. The dist cum amp simulator are really great. Wish they could come up with this exact stuff but with a minimum of 5 patches per bank and no break between patches change.

within 15 minutes of opening the box, I had it figured out.

running either PRS Custom 24 or Strat through ME-33 to either JCM 2000 or AC30. Bought this thing really for the Vox because I like the JCM's Gain with a little DD-5 delay sprinkled in, and needed a multieffect to play around with on Vox.

so far so good. only had it for a month or so.

I have probably 20 stompboxes, and for the price of one or two, the ME-33 replaces all of them. Really impressed with the sounds that I can dial in. I'm into Tool, Rush, Creed, Bob Mould, and the ME-33 produces all of them (although I still favor the Marshall gain for Tool). Expression pedal is a nice feature. Maybe the wah isn't as nice as my Dunlop but what do you expect for $250 bucks.

I've had a ME-33 for 2 months now. Its the eariest multiple effects unit that I've used. Everything you need to change an effect is right there and can be done in seconds. The manual is great too, it can help you out with pretty well everything

The sound quality is great. I play lots of metal and punk. and a little of everything in between. The effects are quite, give off very little, if any feedback. The distortion is really great. The only problem i've found with this unit is the wah. its not very good

I use this unit as my main effects board. I've not yet had a problem with it and I take it to every gig I play

I didnt really deal with the company, other than them suggesting the me-33. I tried it out and loved it

Overall I'd say this is a great unit for anyone from a beginner to a pro. But you should try it out for yourself. Its a really great unit. Definetly one of the best on the market