Boss ME-33

This pedal was super easy to get a sound out of. I had past experience with a Multi Effects processor so I found it pretty easy to use this pedal. It was a lot different than my past DOD processor, but once I got into it it was way easier to use. Editing is a breeze but really in depth. You need to know what you're at to use this pedal. The manual is awesome. It even gives you a complete breakdown of all the preset patches on the processor. It is very detailed and makes it easy to figure out how to use this awesome processor. My unit is fairly new, and I'm pretty used to it now and have made several effects which I use gigging.

My setup consists of a Les Paul Custom and a Peavey studio 112 amp. This Processor suits it. Of course I believe this processor suits any setup really. Very felxible. It isn't moisy, no excess noise. I lvoe it. The auto riff effect and humanizer don't seem like practical effects though. Probably things that'll never be used only for a laugh. The other effects were everything I hoped for. Awesome variety of distortions, the wah is great with certain distortion (probably my favortie combo - wah/distortion). THe clean effets aren't one bit distorted, and the Acoustic gutiar simulator is amazing, gives you a whole new sound for clean effects. BOSS is renowned for leading the industry with effects so nothing is really bad on this processor/

I use this all the time gigging. You have to be wild to beat this up performing, or jump on it or something. It is plastic so it's not indestructible, but use it right and it'll last a long time. I never have a backup while performing. It's dependable, As long as you have a power supply, which is what I use. I've never tried a set with it running on just batteries so I wouldn't be able to say how long they last. But no problems yet. Leave it to BOSS, they know what they're at.

Never dealt with them.

I play many different styles. I play Fast Rock, Blues, slower melodic stuff, and I play in a worship band at my church. This pedal suits all my needs. I have patches for all the different styles and I'm a very picky guitarist. VERY picky. I play lead mostly and I'm currently in a trio band. These effects fill it in very nicely. My first processor, the one before this one, was a DOD VGS-50. It doesn't even compare to this BOSS, and it's in about the same "class" of processors. Not only are the ME-33's sounds way better and cleaner (I found the DOD's effects to be distorted) but the ease of use is 100 times better.
I love many different things about it. The wah distortion, the variety of distortions, and the acoustic simulator seem to be my faveorite things. THere isn't anything I wish it had, I'm still trying to use all the different effects and editing things on it as it is. It has everything. It definitly helps me create music by giving me a variety of sounds to play with. Definitly not a beginner gutiar player's processor. You need to know what you are doing and the theory of effects and EQs and what they are used for to make any sense of editing. But it is the pedal to buy. awesome design since htey upgraded the ME-30. I won't give it a 10, because I'm sure for hundreds and hundreds of dollars more you could get a little bit better pedal (whihc makes no sense) but it will get a nine. This will be my pedal for along time. And If I say it's good, you can be sure it's good.

Pretty Easy. I plugged it in and was messing around with it in a few minutes. To do some of the cooler stuff and what not it may take a little timeing in reading the manual. That was very helpful even if you have had expirencecs with effects such as this one

AMAZING. Every BOSS pedal you could want is on here. The only bad thing is the Wah. It's ok not much mid but the treb and the bass are good on it. Everything else is just amazing if you can't get the tone you want out of it you a moron.

Hard plastic metal bottom. but yet again it is BOSS. Only thing is make sure the batteries are new or your useing the AC Adaptor.

never delt with them and i don't think i'll have to. But the website is very cool.

I play tons of things. Blues/jazz/classic rock/ metal. It can handel it all. I've been playing for about 2 years and this is my first effect of any type. If stolen i'd buy it again in a second or shoot the bastard who stole it. BUY THIS ASAP!!!!!!1

it tooks me 5 hours to take over this unit ..it easy soooo easy u don't have to acsses a lot of things to get ur sounds with those knobs the editing is more easier and faster !..pretty good on stage!

i can't give anything a 10 cos there's always better :)i use a Yamaha Drop-6=>me-33=.60wt epiphone and it sound perfect no noise at all ..i like the effects ..there's some weird effects but the effects r great the chorus is quite good ..sounds great in any volume , the accoustic simulator can fool some one! especial the finger pick..distortions r awsome ..simply all the effects r coool and sounds ..live...not digital! i've tried many multieffects..but the sound digital in some way ..but this one has an analog sounding..sounds alive!
if u spent some hours on it..u can get any sound u like! from metal to blues..for any artist u know! it depend on u ppl ..the more u spent time adeting sounds..the most u get sound quality ..well the presets i didn't like it a lot..but u can eddit the most wanted sounds it the words ! there's nothing u can't do with this unit!!!

as usually boss pedals r the best! but the me-33 would be better if it was made from metal..laight metal not plastic.
any way ..its good this way too ! any way u won't jump on it!

i didn't have any problemes with this unit

it have a great shape,usefull large LCD,perfect sounding,not noisy,it have all the familiar effects + u can eddit the sound u like..what do u want more in a multi effect pedal..+ it is boss!!!!!
but there only one things i wish that it was better..when u swith thru effects..almost a half of second pass without a sound..and that's bad on stages..but any way it's great,i play from blue to metal and it's doing great!

Very easy to use, great manual included. Editing is a breeze

Great tones to be had, this baby can do it all. Very low noise level. Effects are equal to the individual pedals I have, except the chorus(I have a CE-2).

No problems, it's a Boss.

Never dealt with them

Great deal if your looking for a variaty of sounds. I tried the Digitech Rp200's, Zoom etc. This is the best of the bunch IMO. Only wish would be a metal housing, of course the price would go up. Glad I found this one.

It so easy. Only things are turning a few knobs. Baclit lcd screen is big and usefull. You can see more comfortable what you do at its screen.

It has incredible sound quality according to its price. Distortions are good. Modulations are so real and clean. Only wah is not so good. I use external wah pedal (crybaby) with me-33.

I have no opinion.

I have been playing guitar for 8 years. Me-33 is my favorite effect units. I used Digitech and Zoom but Me-33 has really quality effects. Also I can't compare me-33 to digitech and zoom.

Me-33 has only one negative note : after sale no customer support and no web page including patches etc.. But I found only one web site about me-33 : ( http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bossme33/ ) This is really good. But I want more web site about 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.

n/a

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

Its very easy and enjoyable... when you read owner manuals, you have more experience in setting the patches...

That is great sound quality. when you buy me-33, you cant have any comments. after 2-3 weeks, you can catch real quality sound. because me-33 required good patch settings. when many parameters set truely with combining other effect parameter, you will provide incredible sounds. Especially for beginners, if your sound week, use the compressor. This will make stronger your sound. And amp simulator gain and level is very important. to strong sound, rasie up gain and level.. (control your audio device volume level to prevent harmfull and be sure that audio (your guitar amp, phones or other audio devices) volume doesnt too high level and after rasie up gain and level knobs in amp simulator..) This parameters are more important for strong distortion sound. I will not make comment about other effects(modulation, chorus, flanger..) all of this are great...

I really trust it.

customer support usually doesnt depend on the manufacturer, it usually depend on which dealer you bought from.. because the dealer provides contact between you and manufacturer.. I hope that your dealer is good. :)))

overall, when you make true setting, you will find incredible effects. dont make comment if you used it a few time. learn good and true settings and then make comment.

Scrolling a few knobs is enough to edit effect parameters for good quality and strong boss effects. Owners manual effectively helps you how you change the patches.. Baclit LCD is great and useful in dark side.

I hve been playing guitar for 12 yrs in Turkey. And I play Steve vai, Joe Satriani style. (Especially lead guitar)Me-33 gives you quality in single pedal in a multi effect proccesors and maybe more... Especially modulations great. Delay has DD-5 quality. (and 2000ms).Distortions is good and strong. Me-33 has 6 different distortions. (Overdrive, fat, blues, distortion, metal, fuzz). And plus it has more distortion sound by using guitar amp simulator.(you can provide it by chancing the amp gain level knobs). I found real Joe satriani tones in me-33.(especially his dramatic lead guitar sounds with pitch shifter and other)
I give 10 this category. because if you will not record ultra high quality in a studio(as a famous group, for example metallica), me-33 will be full enough in standart studio recording, stage and your house. hovewer if you are a music star or famous group, you usually use the studio efect processor (rack). so dont think more further in normally me-33 will give full effect quality in your house, live, stage and studio. so I gave it 10....

trust it...

No problem

Im living in Turkey. And importing and taxing of me-33 affect its price. Its price is higher than USA and Europa. Normally its prices avarage is 249-USD but I bought it 350-USD in Turkey. (In real The dealer wanted me-33 400-USD but I didnt give that money. Finally we agreed on at 350-USD. For example GT-6's price 600-USD in Turkey this is incredible price. While buying me-33 it is important which country you live in. Overall me-33 has no negative comments as countable.

this has got to be one of the easiest guitar devices i have ever used. It is allot more spacious than having a bunch of pedals lying around.

the sound is great!
the wah-wah sound isn't as great as i thought it would be but still it sounds decent

this is very reliable and all the buttons are so easy to acces.

didn't speak with company

i like to play all sorts of music, especially hardcore stuff and it sounds just like the real thing!

Very easy to get the basics, a little fiddling and you should get great sounds.

Sound quality was awesome, that has to be said. But then what lowered my rating, and made me sell ME-33, was that when you change from chorus to dist, for example, there is a 0.5 second gap. During that time, no sound comes out of the box. And that is unacceptable. Which is a shame, because apart from that, the pedal is great.
No I have separate little Boss stomp boxes and Dunlop wah, and I'm going to stick to them.

Oh yes I trusted in it.

Didn't deal with them.

The sound-switcing gap thing is so horrible. Otherwise this would have been 9 or 10..

Since the unit does have some depth programed within the multitude of effects (that's a good thing), and could require some fine-tuning to get a particular prefered sound, I would say that the manual in this unit should be a must. However, spending some quality time and having a previous knowledge of similar products would probably get anyone by without a manual.

Ultimately the ease of use depends on what your doing with it. The quick-knobs are an idea that should have been avaliable on digital effects many years ago - and they make tweeking the unit quick and simple. Once behind those knob settings, however, programming becomes a little more complex. Regardless, there are no complaints on my part regarding ease of use here. Looking at it logicly, you can't expect to have tons of flexability and a library of sound options without a little complexity in the "use" department. Because if there was no depth to programming this unit it would probably be just another glorified stomp-box - which it most surely is not.

My guitar is a 76' Les Paul, and I am running the ME-33 directly into my JBL PA-System with the 'line' output option selected on the ME-33.

To give up my quick history here, I have been playing for 22yrs, own and operate a recording studio, and do session work with other musicians. Being able to create tones/sounds is essential for my work, and the tons upon tons of guitar gear I've run through is endless. I've owned everything from MXR to Eventide to ART to Digitech to Zoom to Alesis. You name it, I've used it. But enough of that ...

This unit is without a doubt, the best sounding, most flexable, best unit I have yet to hear or own. Within the first week of tweeking it I was able to simulate everything from a Hot-Rodded Mullard-packed Marshall, to a Triple-Rec. Mesa-Boogie, to the Van-Halen "Brown Sound" to Peter Framptons uni-vibe tone, to Jeff Becks Semyore-Duncan sustains. The CMOS sampling was done flawlessly on this unit, and the flexability within those tones was fabulous. The pick-up simulator was pretty on-the-money, but almost pointless when compared to the overall tone control of the unit. I am not going to say I now own every type of amp by having this unit, but I will say that I have a thousand times more flexability and selection than the poor hump who cashed all his chips in on a single Mesa Boogie. I never heard any Mesa Boogie simulate a JC-120, Matchless, or a Marshall as well as this; and in fairness, simulate is an insult - it's right on the money.

Effects are a BOSS specialty. I've always loathed Digitech, found Zoom to be absolute garbage, and never understood why DOD was even in business. All those BOSS stompboxes that we spent the $50-$100 on individually are ALL flawless reproduced in this unit. There is not really one effect that is weak here, and not one effect this unit does not have. The Delay has perfect loop capabilities and remains clean and crisp. The Chorus/Flange are effective and tasteful. Overdrive is true old-fashioned OD-x style, Reverb is studio quality, Phasers and Univibes perfectly simulate the "jet sound" or a rotating speaker. The Feedback option is unbeleivably cool, simulating perfect feedback at low volumes. The expression pedal offers very very very cool dive-bombs and whammies (ala Tom Morello RATM). As usual, the Ring Modulator is avaliable (but not really applicable). Pitch Shifting and Auto-Licks are great. And those are just some of the effects the unit has.

The unit has more to describe, but too much to bother writing about here. What sold me was the creative power this unit had in acheiving every sound from the standard rock to the freaky and twisted ala Zappa. Given a good studio tech, it would not be inconceivable to record all of Radioheads KIDA using this unit alone. On the same token, recording any Rage Against the Machine, Mr. Bungle, or Kraftwerk (for that matter) would be something this unit deserves to do.

At the studio I now use the ME-33 to play with sounds and tones for musicians to hear on their music. I've even used it in mixdown as an outboard effect module. In my 22yrs as a player, and my 10yrs as a gear-monkey and studio geek, I have never come across a product that is so complete as the ME-33. I sound like a BOSS promotions stiff - but in reality, I am so thankful that a unit like this is finally avaliable.

My only feature I found to my distaste was the lack of BLANK user patches avaliable for the user. Although I rarely ever use factory sets, I don't like recording over them just to save my own- as they are great for a foundation. A seperate group left blank at the factory would be ideal.

And one more thing. BOSS, don't be so cheap. Include the wall-rat in all your products. They cost you a quarter to produce, so lighten up.

If there were cons, they'd be here.

At home or in the studio I would have no problem. However, the pastic expression pedal and plastic casing would probably give me concern depending on what kind of live situation I was playing. The BOSS GT series was more road worthy but twice the money. If BOSS were to encase this unit in a roadworthy box they'd have a product God himself would struggle to improve on.

Never dealt with BOSS Customer Support.

I have heard nothing but great things about them though.

I play in a wanna-be Mr. Bungle style band that requires SO many sounds and very tweaked guitar tones. However, my primary use is at home/in studio - to which it has been a godsend.

Other gear, for reference: Marshall JCM800, Metaltronix 100W head, Soldano 50W head, 2 Celestion 4x12 cabs, 1 Greenback 4x12, 1 Roland JC-120, too many rack-mount pre-amps to list, too many rack-mount effects processors to list, blah blah blah.

I've covered everything else. But I will say: Forget the "for the money" crap - all electronics are cheap by nature and expensive by brandname. This unit is sonic beauty for all ranks of players, beginner to advanced. Studios spend thousands of dollars on gear to create tones and sounds that this unit made for under $250.

I would replace it immediately if it were to go away.

I found the ME-33 to be extremely user friendly right off the bat..
Editing patches is as easy as as adjusting old stomp boxes, with the added benifit of good old fashioned KNOBS, unlike some past Boss guitar effects processors(early ME units).I also love the dedicated expression pedal button.
Manual is complete, however a copy of a blank patch table would be a nice insert for future buyers.
The only downside to the Boss from my perspective,and maybe others, is the lack of a REAL tube preamp section. While amp modeling is a fantastic way to get simulated sounds from the characteristics that previously had only bee achieved with a REAL tube, the fact remains that the sound is in fact "simulated". The addition of an actual Tube(12ax7a) could take this Modeling unit to the level of perfection thus only achieved in the higher end two spaced rack units (Digitech GSP 2101,2112,2120) , or multiple 1 space rack units.
In closing I have to say the upgrading myself to the ME-33 from the Me-30 was well worth what moneys were spent.
Product changes were needed and Boss once again proved that it does listen to those who buy there product.

I use a Peavey Ultra 60 head, 2x12" Fender cabinet.I Play through a tweaked out Squire Stagemaster 7-string guitar.
Effects are part of the sound , notaround the guitar sound, like most stomp box setups or multi effects.
Artist sound reproduction is fantastic, yet challenging. Remember they are not always using a chorus for the chorus sound on the song. many factors besides your effects make sound reproduction possible.Another words its not going to sound like Metalicca if your playing thru the wrong patch with a single coil guitar pickup. So think outside the norm.
All effects are well developed, but we should expect good sound from a Boss product, they have been dong this a long time. This brings me back to the need for a REAL tube section in the distortion section .
The wah pedal is one of the nicest I have used,letting the user control what kind of wha being used would be a nice addition(RP-7 had 9 wahs for use on the expression pedal)

Have not had unit long enough to comment on this.
However the ME-30 that is still have is still productive and on standby should the need arise, and it was purchased as a floor model, for $89.00 after being on the display wall at a local music store for about a year or so.

Never had to use customer support

I use my Boss to play progressive, Melodic,Hard Rock. The Styles of John Petrucci,Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Eddie Van Halen.
I have been playing for about 17-18 years now, after switching from trumpet, to guitar.
If it wee stolen or lost I would either rplace it or upgrade further to the Boss GT-6.
I love the fact they backlit the LCD(ME-33 display was light absorbant..RE:GLOW IN THE DARK!!!) I hate that it is plastic!!The knowbs!, I love the fact it has knobs. Did I mention that I hate the fact it is plastic!!
Purchase of the ME-33 was based upon features versus price,versus budget, and budget always wins with me. if you had and extra $100 or so, then I might say to go with the Boss GT6. but for the price the ME-33 has the others beat. As stated previously the addition of a REAL tube preamp section would keep me coming back for a new one very time they updated it!!This honor previously went tonly to the Digitech product line,until they stopped producing the floor models with the REAL tubes.
Have not had the unit long enough to sy how it will affect my music,however my ME-30 made a difference,so I expect the same with this.
In addition, i encourage beggining players that have a ME-33 enjoy the AUTO-Phrase feature but dont rely upon it to play your instrument for you. use it as a tool to experiment with..A guitar sounds only as good as the hands that are commanding it. Peace people..

All effects are easily added to any sound. The manual is easy to read and apply. I don't think editing the patches could get any simpler. The expression pedel is pretty sensitive and takes some practice to get the volume where you want it.

The effects sound great. I have owned Boss effects before and the ones available easily sound as good. The ME-33 really does require good quality patch cables or else lots of interference noise. Some dials make some noise when turned. So far I leave my amp on clean channel and just use the ME-33 for all other effects. Wroks out great.

Had for a month, no problems.

They haven't phoned me yet......

I play a Fender Squire Strat through a Fender Princeton Chorus. I play in a garage band and practise every week. the pedal makes absolutly no noise between songs! I really do like all the effects and sounds you can make. Although the delay when switching between effects is really annoying. I pretty sure I made a good decision when buying this unit. I like the Wah pedal.

If you want anything but a clean sound it is disfunctional. It is very easy to edit patches, the manual has all the info necessary.

I use a Wolfgang & a Les Paul Custom with a Marshall VS 100 combo.

The good effects are: delay, stereo chorus, tremelo, flanger, phaser, smart pitch shifter, compressor, eq, reverb.
The effects that suck: Overdrive/Distortion (all variations), Amp simulation(all variations), panning.
The ok effects: guitar simulation, riff thing, and all the other ones not mentioned.
The manual function is good, in the manual mode you get the effects of the patch you had selected before mashing the manual button.

The OD/DIST are thin, the amp simulation doesn't sound like any amp I would want and makes my marshall sound like crap (that must have taken the developers some time to add that feature)

It is probably very reliable, I have been using the ME-30 for 4 years, this pedal will probably last as long.

Never have needed it.

Overall- Boss has taken a step backwards from the ME-30, by swapping the good sounds of the me-30 for that COSM crap, it is not even possible to duplicate the sounds of the ME-30. I am taking this thing back to the store tomorrow. The ME line no longer takes the place of stomp boxes, which is what it should do. It is worth 1/2 of list if you are a gigging musician and know what you are looking for, and all of the discount store price if you are just starting and don't have alot of money for bunches of boxes.

Much simpler than other manufacturers multi effects. I really love the actual dials on the unit. Much better than pressing a button and waiting for the value to change. A bypass footswitch would be nice, as I run my ME33 stright into my amp. The expression pedal is nice and fluid. The display is awesome, I love the Icons. Almost like a Palm Pilot screen.

I love this thing, I had a boss GT3 and this blows it away. Noiseless & the effects sound great if so long as you don't overdo the effects. The wah sound is surprisingly good. I actually like the Presets, they are a great starting base for your own creations. I love the preset called StudioLead. In fact I love the distortion capabilities of this thing, the Feedback idea is cool, it really gives the edge to your solo's.This is great for a Lead I can get a Dave Gilmour sound easy. On the clean side things are nice too I like Uni Vibe patch a lot.

Only had it a few days, so far so good.

Not had to deal with Boss directly.

I play mostly blues and rock. This is the only pedal I use right now, and since I just got it, I'm not sure if I'd replace it. I've used others in the past, such as the Digitech RP300 and it sounded no way as good as this thing. As of today, I would replace it.


For the price and ease of use, I wouldn't trade it for a more complicated unit like the GT-6. I also tried the Digitech GNX 1 & 2 and I did not like them at all, the Lead sounds were not what I was after.

Good sounding, depending on how much energy you are willing to put into adjusting parameters.
Editing is easy enough.
Not difficult to learn,-and quickly done, once you know how to do it.
No problem !!
The manual helps a lot,and is in my opinion very good.
I bought it new recently.

If you listen to all the preset sounds in a headphone,you get quite impressed and want to use some of the sounds.
I guess this goes for any dig. box with "modelling"

I now want to tell why I think "the wet soap" tends to slip out of ones hands" in many cases.

Gear:
Ibanez Les Paul copy -old,with di marzio super dist. in neck position.
Vox ac 50 running a high quality 12"(Custom)in open back cabinet.

Noisy? Do not know the problem.
The "quality" of effects vary a great deal.
Wah is not even worth the name of it.
But I do not use it either.
Tremolo is also "not so good"
Distortions are not very "inspiring"
(Distortions in my old Zoom 505, own settings !!!, are terrific, compared to what I so far have been able to get out of this one.
Delay,echo,compr.,eq.,chorous and phase are high quality,-as I hoped it would be
Some "modelled" amps are also very good.

Maybe because of 24 bit prosessing,the difference between "prosessed but no-effects" sound and bypass is very small.I take this as a sign of high quality.

"Sonic Nirvana " may not be found by means of a floor dig. prosessor.
BUT i is a great tool,and it helps you on the way,no doubt.
After struggling with adjusting parameters for quite a long time I now make new and very inspiring sounds.
eks.: open D sounds of Creedence and Keith Richards.
In these cases I use only comp. eq., and reverb.
(Of course,be aware that head and hands are sound-producers nr1 !!)

I guess any high quality dig.box can only be a useable tool if you put much work into listening and adjusting.
Remember that these tools have many "faces":
They are so versatile,you HAVE to make adjustments depending on your gear.
Ever tried to turn knobs on a PA-rig without a plan,or knowing what you are doing? It is very easy to make it sound "unsatisfying".
The chance of "unsatisfying sounds" is four times bigger with these "boxes"
The parameters and possibilities are so many.
You HAVE to make one group of settings for your git.amp.,and one quite different group if you are trying to run direct through PA.
I believe that one neeeds a very high-quality PA to get good sounds in this case.
Imagine a PA that delievers the sound-quality of a good headphone on a BIG SCALE.
The quality of crossover and mid/high freq. get very important here.

-the sound of these things do not satisfy you completely.
Perhaps as prosessing power grows,in the future they will.

You can hear that it ia a "prosessed digital" sound
There are other and well known "ways to Rome".
But good things cost!
In a high quality dig. box like this one,
you get many useable and functioning sounds for the money.
The fascination of it lies in the many posibilities of guitar-sound.

FINALLY:
+ important effects are GOOD,and making loveable patches is possible.
- distortion,wah,tremolo

High quality!-looks and feels strong.
But,I want knobs and display to be better protected.

Low rating because of this
(Look at Zoom gfx707 and how it is done there.This solution does not have to cost more.)

Back up necessary?
My Zoom 505 would serve as a back-up,(he he )
it has survived so far,
(guess this one will too,actually)

no comments

Been playing for quite a long time,-dancing-orchestras and as a hobby.
Have owned quite a lot of the most well known guitars and amplifiers through the years,and own currently,among other things,some good analog boxes.

Would i buy it again?
Have not compared this box with similiar products in the same price-range.
Believe that the strong sides of this box are STRONG.

I chose it because of:
Boss reputation,
24-bit at modest price,
live friendly:
easy choise of banks(up and down)3 patches pr bank and useable vol.pedal
printed reviws and user rewiews on theese pages.

Yes,it helps me make music and opens new possibilities.
Eq.,comp.,reverb,delay and vol. ped. are the main reasons why this is so.

Almost forgot:
There are two worlds,of course:
STEREO or MONO
My comments are mainly based on mono through my Vox AC-50(JMI)
Stereo trough a GOOD PA (or two git. amps) opens new great possibilities -I believe.
Have not had the opportunity to test this out properly yet.
Guess our PA is "not good enough"
(crossover+mid/high -elements)

The unit EATS batteries.Power supply is not included,but is a MUST.
Wish it had some patterns of Rolands good drum-sounds internally.

There is some kind of "digital" sound ,which I believe this unit shares with all its "brothers" so far.
This is based on other reviews
-have read a lot of them.
(Not to mention the Zoom 505,but this is another generation AND price-class.)

-as one said earlier on these sides.
FORGET IT, make use of its good sides and play !
This unit will do a good job for you if you adjust it properly,