Boss ME-33

Pretty easy to use, BUT, there is such a massive time delay between switching patches i had to return it immediately.

I only had it a couple days, but i found it difficult to get a really smooth rich nu-metal sound out of, which is what i prefer. How ever the volume pedal has an unbelievably smooth taper to it, which is something not common in alot of multi-fx units. The wah was OKAY but if you want wah, buy a real wah pedal. The modulation effects were also really good, full, and rich sounding.

It seemed relatiely reliable, but i've never trusted plastic, and it's not like my BOSS stompboxes that i can throw across the stage and not have to worry about. Those thing are tough as nails. But I can't rate this because I didn't get a chance to see how reliable it was.

Here's the bottom line, if you're looking for good quality studio fx for the guitar you COULD buy this if you're on a budget, although it's not the BEST out there and I lean more towards digitech. If you need a multi-fx pedal to play live DO NOT DO NOT DO NOT BUY THIS!!!!! the time lag is horendous.

VERY easy to use
easy to edit patches
manual is very helpfull
lots of effects

best sound quality
sound quality turns shit if too many effects are added on one patch
im using it through a vox pathfiner and gibson sg
get any sound

extreemly dependable
wouldnt ever need a back up

not needed

THIS IS THE BEST CHEAPEST THING EVER MADE

Really Easy, it took me 5 minutes to learn how to create my own patches, how to copy and to rename, very easy.
The Manual is easy to understand, the effekts are explained well, and creating patches is descibed in a step by step guide (e.g. press this butten, then press that butten and so on).

I've got that thingy since one day, and used it on my Computer, with Headphones and my old Ampeg BA-112 (I know it is an Bass Combo, but it sounds great *g*). The sound is clean, and the Effekts are great.

It's plastik, so i won't jump on it, but it looks really reliabil.
The Patch-Switching is fast (well, not the fastest, but really ok).
Yes, it think i will use it without a backup.

Never dealt with Boss/Roland

I mostly play Metal, and it sounds great for this style of Music.
If it would be stolen, i would by it again.
I love how fast you can change settings, and that the lcd is backlit.
I wish it would be MIDI connectable.
It doesn't help me make music (you know, you can't play better 'cause you are using an MFX), but it helps me to get more fun making music.
ps: sorry for my bad english ;-)

Simpler than the more expensive boxes, which is one of the main reasons I bought it. I love the actual dials on the unit. Much better than pressing a button and waiting for the value to change. I would add a bypass footswitch, although I don't need it as I run through a pedal on my amp to turn on and off the ME-33 loop.

The pedal is difficult to turn on and off, but there are ways around it, so I'm not too concerned.

My set up is this: '89 Fender Clapton Strat with original Lace Pickups (active) into the ME-33. From the ME-33 to a Mesa Boogie Mark IV combo (circa 1990) Switchable effects loop. I've been playing for about 12 years and have used several different boxes and pedals.

I really don't mess with the OD/Distortion, since I like my amp's sound. There isn't much noise that I've noticed yet, unless you use a lot of compression. The effects sound great if used correctly, or it can sound like a toy if you put everything up to 100. The wah sound is surprisingly good.

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

N/A

I play mostly blues and pop 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 a rack mount Digitech (I forget the model), and several individual pedals (all BOSS). As of today, I would definately replace it.

For the price and ease of use, I wouldn't trade it for a more complicated unit like the GT-5 or something like that. Those things that will take 2 times longer to tweak on stage. It's not worth it.

There is too much time lag when switching patches. I wish it had a by-pass pedal to turn it of when I just want the crunch of a Marshall. The plastic case will end up pissing some folks off if dropped off the stage.

Use batteries the wallwart is way to noisy

Great if I don.t drop it!

Never needed them. Maybe they are like the Maytag man.

Great Boss sounds that the discontinued in the floor pedals of old. Feedback etc. The prime reason I bought it

Very good! I am a relatively new guitar player who has not used any effects before (outside of the amp's onboard stuff...overdrive, reverb, etc.) and I had it figured out pretty quickly. The Manual is pretty good too, although I agree with one of the other commenters in that they should have sent two of them. By the time you have every nuance figured out, your first manual will be worn to shreds! My advice...read the manual on it all the way through before you start diddling with things.

Editing patches is easy and quick, with both the option to save or cancel the changes if you've botched it. Since the User 1 patches are all backed up in the Presets, there's 30 quick and easy patch places to customize right off the bat. You may want to run through the User 2 patches before deleting them outright, or you may lose a good preset. Also, there is another comment that says you can't rename the patches after edits...that is wrong! Not only can you re-name any patch you edit, but you can give a new name to a preset patch and re-locate them to make a good, logical playing order. (although for the life of me, I can't imagine playing a live gig and remembering all 100 settings!)

I gave "ease of use" a 7 because this one is easy...once you learn it. Let me bore you with a story...I went into my local shop hoping to find a good collection of effects (rather than loading up on a bunch of individual stomp boxes) and ended up with over 100 tone options! Yikes! Eventually, I'll start complaining that it's not enough...but I may have grandkids by then...who knows?

I can't give anything a 10...especially since my experience with effects is not as much as most of you out there. One thing is for certain...it is very good sound and covers a wide range.

When I got to the music store that day, I was looking for...well, anything. I had been looking at guitars to find something new and different to re-kindle the flames, so to speak. Instead of trying out different guitars, I asked the guy (Sean is his name) about effects and if they had something that was a combo set, instead of bringing home 4 or 5 different stomp pedals to lay around the living room. He showed me the ME-33 and it was all over.

They had a bunch of different BOSS effects laid out to try...the ME-30, ME-33, GT-5, etc. All of them looked great, and I could see the differences between the construction of the ME-33 and ME-30 immediately. The ME-30 was a good idea with a bad design...the pedals overlapping, poor LCD, etc. In contrast, the ME-33 looked worlds above the ME-30, with more effects possible and a better foot layout.

I tried this thing out at the store with a limited edition RG Series Ibanez (I can't tell you the exact model but it was rippin') on a Roland (again...no model number) big-ass amp. Of course, it wailed. The real test, when I took it home, was to try it out on my wimpy Ibanzez AX axe and amp...and it sounded just as good! Total surprise! I've even considered taking my old Global guitar (hacker!) out of the closet just to see how "bad" it will perform! (my Global is a really bad copy of a Strat made in some unknown Asian country for Target stores in the 80's!)

I don't get a lot of line noise, as some of the other comments have brought up. Maybe it's their hookups. The distortion and COMP are out there...and I disagree with the guy who said don't use the amp simulators if you have an amp. Even if it's transparent...the effects that you can get are not subtle and may be worth the while. And if you have a basic or generic amp...the effect added could raise your opinion of the old box you have, too!

Seriously, as someone who is trying to self-learn guitar, this box is the bomb. I have already made presets for good renditions of G n' R, AC/DC, KISS, Acoustic (America) , Electric Acoustic, the Black Crowes, and a bunch of other settings. (Pop in a favorite CD...run through the presets, etc. to find a close match...tweak the settings...and write to memory...it's that simple!) Having this kind of tonal power helps out a lot with trying to learn songs and styles. I mean it's one thing to have a tab of the Black Crowes "Addiction"...it's another thing altogether to have the tabs AND an amp effect that matches their tone to learn the tune by!

I would say I can depend on it. I am a beginner/intermediate guitarist who's still got a lot to learn, etc. I don't imagine taking it out of my home studio for any "gigs" anytime soon, although I would at this point. The effect range is ridiculously huge and if you take the time to tweak it in, I'm sure it could well cover the amount of effects one would need for a concert.

However, if I made my living playing guitar, I don't think I'd go on the road without a backup system...or a good amp with a lot of effects modeling capabilities.

I think it is a great system, however, it is digital and constructed of heavy plastic. While I may never wear it out myself, I can't imagine what would happen if you stomped on it during a live show...or hell, for that matter, could a band like KISS ever use something so small and fragile with those big boots???

Another thing, I read in the manual where they talked about backing up the settings, however, I see no way to do that other than writing everything down on paper. In this year 2001 that we live in, is there no way to backup these settings to disk or computer???

I have no idea...I haven't dealt with Roland or BOSS before now. I can see from the other responses that the experience can be great to bad.

Totally excellent! For the money (less than a new guitar) you can enhance your existing setup to include tones you never thought you'd need (or want..or even hear!) Like I said, I was looking for 4 or 5 good effects...I wound up with 100 different tones combining a dozen effects...for under $300!

Since I play mostly at home, the system is really efficient. For all that it does, it slides under the couch and is nowhere as big as a Marshall stack or rack of guitars. I am learning worlds of techniques and other things just running the same old tunes through the different effects. I imagine that as a studio instrument, it would be incredibly valuable.

I can't see it on the road or at a live show, however. I mean, it's great and all...but I am a KISS fan. Seriously, how would you step through the different patch banks with 7" leather heels on??? And even for the average band...the energy level and physical abuse put on the gear would not be good for this box.

Now, if you were James Taylor or Jim Croce or any other sit-down artist...that's another thing!

I found the unit abit odd to use at first but after awhile its very easy to use

The sound is very clear and I love the distortion effects! they sound very alive. the rest of the effects are great apart from the auto-riff that seems pointless? also the humanizer could be better

Its a tough plastic box but i feel it something you need to look after! it could crack if hit by something big and heavy (i.e an amp falling on it) apart from that, I have not known a boss unit to die on me on its own!

I have dealed with Boss before, I needed a nob that got hit and broke on a Boss SE70 unit, they were very good and fast to respond over e-mail and sent me a replacement part for a small fee!

This unit is very good! great range of effects and sound quality, good value for money, easy to use and it has a tuner and pedal built in!!! what more do u need?

???? I love the tone and ease of use. Has anybody got an opinion of which distortions is better? Whould you prefere to use the natural distortion of a good tube amp or are the patchesin the Boss me-33 better? I've listened closely to the reverb and echo in line before the amp imput. It muddys the sound considerably. Its always better to add reverb / delays in the mixing board as to keep the natural sound of the tubes without cluttering up the signal.

Im using Les Pauls and Strats. My signal path is guitar to me-33 to a jcm 900. The Strats are noisy. The wall-wart is noisy, but I've never seen an effects pedal quiet enough to brag about. I inserted a Lexicon pcm 60 reverb into the effects loop of a Marshall JCM 900 which I hear is the worst place to place reverbs and delays. I wish I could figure out a way to put this reverb after the amp and between the speaker as not to muddy up the sound. This reverb sounds better than the stock Marshall reverb tank.
The me-33 sounds really good once you learn how to use it.The presets are strange and useless. I could spend the whole summer checking out the possibilities and reprograming it and have a good time doing it. To set this thing up I think I'll use 1 effect per bank with 3 different settings per effect Ex. Bank-1/ pedal-1 would have light distortion 2 would have mild distortion and 3 would be heavy. At least this way I can make some sense of the layout and can find things. Its easier to memorize 10 banks/ effects compared to 100 settings making no sense. He Humanizer is worthless. The only phrase I liked was E I E I O. The harmonist works and tracks well. This is an effect that should be continued to be developed. The feed back is cool also! Years ago, Boss made a distotion pedal with this feedback effect. It worked great. On the pedal you could adjust the note of feedback ex. b3 or #3 or 5th. Then the stopped making them- Dammit!
Can find one anywhere. This was the first thing that attracted me to the me-33.

Plastic scares me. It may take one good drop of the stage or crushed by a heavy amp in the trailor. Get a case for it and keep it there. The bitch is that the case will cost near the pedal price. BE CAREFUL!

HAVEN'T DROPPED IT OF THE STAGE YET-MORE LATER

The knobs for adjusting the parameters are slow to respond and need to be "zeroed" sometimes. Also they don't provide you with a means to "name" your edits. Other than that it's layout is very easy to follow and I was writing my own patches in minutes.

The 6 amp simulators were allot better than I expected, as were the 9 different types of distortion. The modulation effects and pitchshifting is also excellent. For the shear amount of effects you get it's well worth it. I suggest using AA batteries though as a 9volt adapter is even noisier than usual with this pedal.

I haven't had it long enough. Boss stuff is usually solid.

Roland/Boss are very helpful and quick to respond, I own allot of their gear. Repairs ain't cheap though, recently the screen cracked on my XP80 synth and it was $400 to replace ! Protect your gear folks.

For direct recording to my Digi001/ProTools the ME-33 was a great buy (since I can't blast a Marshall stack in the apartment).
I've also processed vocals and harmonica through the unit and got some amazing results.
This has quickly become an integral processor in my home studio.

iS THERE ANYTHING THAT THIS THING WILL NOT DO ? IF THERE IS i HAVENT
FOUND IT YET. THE PRESETS GIVE YOU A GOOD IDEA OF WHAT IT WILL DO
BUT THATS ALL THEY ARE REALLY FOR ANYWAY. VERY EXCELLENT SOUND VERY
QUIET AS EFFECT PROCESSORS GO. NOT THE EASIST THING I'VE EVER SEEN TO
EDIT PATCHES,SIMPLY BECAUSE IT WILL DO SO MUCH.THE MANUAL IS GOOD
BUT THEY PROBABLY SHOULD HAVE GIVEN OUT 2 COPIES BECAUSE IM SURE I'LL
WEAR OUT AT LEAST ONE MANUAL LOOKING BACK TO SEE WHAT ALL THE DIFFERENT PARAMETERS DO.

I PLAY A 73 FRETLESS WONDER AND A 81 STRAT THROUGH THE BOSS AND THEN TO A BANSHEE TALK BOX. THAT'S REALLY ALL I NEED NOW. HAVE HAD MANY
EFFECT BOXES OVER THE YEARS LIKE SOME OF YOU HAVE GOTTEN SUCKED IN ON
THE ADVERTISING AND HYPE OF "VINTAGE EFFECTS " AND REISSUES BLAH BLAH
JUST GET ONE OF THESE AND THROW ALL YOU'RE MAGAZINES ETC. AWAY-FORGET IT AND JUST MAKE MUSIC. AS I SAID VERY QUIET.EFFECTS ARE AS HEAVY OR
AS LIGHT AS YOU WANT. I HAVE TRIED IT THROUGH A 4 TRACK THROUGH THE
STEREO, THROUGH A CRATE VINTAGE 3/10 JUST REMEMBER YOU DON'T NEED
THE AMP SIMULATOR WHEN GOING THROUGH AN AMP. I DON'T BUY EFFECT SO THEY CAN BE TRANSPARENT, WHY BOTHER? I LIKE A LOT OF EFFECTS AND LIKE
TO SWITCH BACK AND FORTH FROM CLEAN TO HEAVY WITHIN A SONG WITHOUT
SOUNDING WIMPY. WAH IS EVEN GOOD.

HAVEN'T HAD IT THAT LONG BUT BOSS HAS A GOOD REPUTATION AND I DON'T
ABUSE MY PEDALS. I WOULD USE THIS WITHOUT A DOUBT WITHOUT A BACKUP.
I WOULD NOT WANT TO DO A GIG WITHOUT IT. JUST SPEND SOME TIME AND SET
IT ALL UP WHERE YOU DON'T HAVE TO BACKTRACK THROUGH PATCHES. YOU HAVE
60 YOU CAN EDIT.IF THAT'S NOT ENOUGH YOU ARE MORE OF AN EFFECT HEAD THAN ME, AND I THOUGHT I WAS BAD.

I HOPE IT DON'T BREAK BECAUSE I'LL JUST HAVE TO START SAVING AGAIN
FOR A NEW ONE.I WOULD HATE TO HAVE TO SELL MY BANSHEE BUT I WOULD TO
GET ANOTHER ONE.

I WRITE MOSTLY DO MY OWN MUSIC BUT WHEN I PLAY OTHERS STUFF IT'S
USUALLY STEVIE RAY,ZZ TOP, YOU KNOW-GOOD STUFF-BEEN PLAYING 25 YEARS HAD A GUY AT A MUSIC STORE AS ME WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO OUTGROW THIS
STUFF-REFERING TO EFFECTS-TOLD HIM, WHAT AND TAKE ALL THE FUN OUT OF
IT? COMPARED THIS WITH DIGITECH AND KORG, I DON'T KNOW WHY,I ALREADY
KNEW WHICH ONE WAS BETTER. THE ONLY GRIPE I HAVE IS THAT IF IT WERE
HEAVIER IT WOULDN'T TRY TO FLIP OVER WHEN YOU USE THE PEDAL,BUT I'LL
FIGURE OUT HOW TO REMEDY THAT PROBLEM. EVERY EFFECT IS AS GOOD AS
STOMP BOXES,HAVE HAD SOME OF ALL OF THEM.JUST GO BUY IT AND STOP
READING THESE THINGS.

Very simple has i pretty good manuel that explains most thing very simmple to setup u be playing quickly after u take it out of that box

Pletty of great sound some of the level is differnt but u know
My setup is Kramer Striker>ME-33>sm-7smash box>marshall mg80rcd soon to be with half stack if i could get a damn job!! i am in a band,Waiste of space,we play metal tool mixed with slayer kind of stuff so we will be recording a demo cd shortly. well i just got the me-33 today took it out of the box read a little bit of the booklet setthe pedal up started to play.it has great patches 90 most all are great sounding all effects sould great every thing is great sound. i also use one effect and my distortion pedal. do not get me wrong the me33 has plenty of distortion except i wanted to get my sound as i used to some what and no extra noise even with my other dist pedal on wit anther dist on th me33 great sounds

ya it will last a while
try not to use batteries because i am sure it will take them up fast power supply

???i am sure it is pretty good

This is on of the best i have heard i would say it is better than most other multi effects great sound no noise sweet pedal i would get another if stolen

It's fairly straight-forward and intuitive to use. The manual lacks detail and is poorly organized, so the best way to learn is to mess with it a while and use the manual for reference only. Editing patches is very easy.

I play my home-built Strat thru a Carvin DSP-type amp. Noise is fairly low, audio quality is better than other units priced in this range.

It's fairly reliable, although it did "whack-out" once or twice and needed to be re-booted. My Zoom 505 occasionally did the same thing. Like all digital effects boxes, it's not as reliable an an analog unit.

I emailed Roland with a few questions and email bounced back with no forwarding address. Roland is playing "musical websites" as well...some of their sites that we functional 6 months ago are gone-zo. I'd suggest buying this from a store with a 30-day trial period, 'cause /RolandBoss won't help you.

I play a lot of blues in the style of SRV. I'd say you can get reasonably close to SRV's sound with this thing but again, nothing will really replicate the sound of analog effects and tube amp except analog effects and a tube amp! But for what it costs and what it does, it's not bad. It's quieter and more flexible than a Zoom 505 and costs about the same.

Read the manual first. Though I do enjoy buying cheap gear off of people who couldn't figure out how to use it, you're much better off reading what they have to say first. :-)
I did the normal thing of running through all the presets... ugh... a few were cool but the rest were nowhere near what I consider "professional" sounds.
It took me about 15 minutes to get some decent settings out of it. 2 clean and 1 distorted. I write and debug code all day, so needless to say the programming of this thing was not challenging at all.
The only problem I have with using this is its size. If you try to run over and use the expression pedal it'll stand up on its side and you'll twist your crazy ankle! Of course I'm kind of a freak when I play, so this might not be a common occurrence.

I used my rg560 studio guitar for this, into a crate GX-130c. This unit sounded great! The ultimate test for me is when you hit the "bypass" when you have the level of the unit and your amp synced there is little to no difference.
Once you get the hang of the modeling you'll find it's very easy to get some killer sounds out of this.
I was going to get the GT-5, but I tried both and in my opinion the GT-5 is not worth the extra $300 .Right now this is the only effects box I'm using and I'm totally satisfied. Already recorded a few tunes with it and I'm very impressed!
When I first plugged it in it was noisy as hell, but it turns out that it was the old patch cable I grabbed to plug it in. Time to bust out the soldering iron!

Seems fairly dependable. Step on it all you like. people have been knocking the crap out of Boss pedals for years....they build quality stuff. Though it's like any other peice of gear, if your bass player drops it off the back of the truck, it may break. ;-)

I've dealt with Boss in the past, great people. Friendly and attentive.

In the last few years I've quit shredding and concentrated more on expanding my musical vocabulary. This unit is great, you can switch from style to style and it always sounds great!
I would buy another one the same day if it got stolen. Great peice of gear.
I give this a 9 because my fiance really likes it. She's been listening to me play for years and the day I bought this she came downstairs and said "Wow honey, you're getting really good!" Thanks honey....glad you're listenin' :-)

Editing patches is a snap, and you can swap patches and exchange them.
Everything is very tweakable which does add some complexity to the unit, but for how complex and tweakable it is, it's very easily run and edited. The manual is great, very forward and to the point.
Saving patches is easy and you can rename them. the knobs are awesome when it comes to tweaking individual effects....it's like running stomp boxes, and you can run it in a "stomp box mode" under the manual setting. So if you read the manual for a while on the hard stuff like swapping/exchanging patches, and on some of the hiden cool stuff then it'll be awesome. even if oyu figure it out on your own, it's not too bad. one more thing, the expression pedal switches on and off like a real Wah pedal....push hard on the toe. it's sweet.

I am playing a Peavey Predator w/whammy and 3 single-coils, and a Gibson 75 Les Paul Deluxe w/ a 490 and a Dirty fingers. Both are played into a Fender Hot Rod DeVille 212, which is a GREAT amp.
I've heard that Multi effects are noisy...well...not this one. It's very quiet....now if you run metal distortion, on top of an amp model, a guitar sim, chorus, phaser, and eq, she's gonna buzz. BUT, I own several distortion stomp boxes and they buzz too, so if you are running tons of distortion, that's what ya get.
I haven't figured out how to get a deep sweet Metallica chorus feel, like on "Nothing Else Matters", so if anyone has any patches on that, send em!! I think it's there I jsut gotta tweak it. the Distortions/Overdrives/Fuzz/Metal are all tweakable from huge to tinny. they sound great. the phaser is good.....I like the flanger a bit better. A POD/Nirvana/'Tallica Lead sound ain't hard to get at all. haven't made any Creed patches, but I plan on it. 3 doors Down...yeah....gotta work on those a bit more. But it sounds good...the Wah is...well I dunno. I've never played with a "real" wah, so I can't say. it takes some getting used to. But the EFX don't sound digital or lifeless. the tubey efx are great...it sounds real.

This thing is built tough. it;s really heavey duty...I have bashed on it yet..I only got it yesterday, but I think that if you don't jump up and down on it, it will last forever. On the ME-30 I read complaints about the expression pedal being weak...not here, it's tough and smooth. I wouldn't gig without a back up because I've burned up two wall worts on my stomp boxes, and if it happnes here I'm screwed. Never gig w/o back up....it'll bitecha in the butt eventually.

NEver had to probably never will, but I've heard great stuff about Boss, even over Digitech and Korg.

Overall it's good. IT's a bit of an overload right now cause I've never had that much at my feet, but it's good. It's tough, the LCD is backlit, the EX tones help with distortion...it'll do anything you've heard before. some of the stuff like auto riff is worthless unless yuo can't play guitar at all, but you can erase the lousy pateches and build better ones. the tunes is GREAT, the tweakability is almost unlimited, it's plug it in and Go. I'd buy it again, this is the unit that bridges between your Korg ax-1g's and your Roland $1K units. this is that crossover. go check one out and let it sell you. save your pennies...these babies are better than DOD, Digitech, or Korg.
Email me if you figure out any deep Metallica chorus stuff, or if you find a ME-33 homepage wtih patches.
Enjoy!!
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Pretty easy to get around on...I started tweaking right away and only had to consult the manual a couple of times to figure out how to save patches and do the EZ Tone stuff. I would have liked it if the various levels would show right away above the knobs so that you have some idea of where it is before you move the knob. LOVE the built-in tuner.

Unit seems VERY quiet and the bottom line for me is that it seems to get pretty decent quality distortion effects with very little effort. I have tried the POD (took it back) and have an ME-30 (not as nice-sounding as the ME-33 and certainly not as flexible. As hard as I try, I can't get the compressor to sound as nice as the one in my ADA MP-1.

No ideas. I'll never take it out of the studio. I'm using it as a POD-replacement. Couldn't wait for the Amp Factory, and the one I tried at NAMM sounded like it had the same capabilities as this ME-33. My ME-30 has the backlight out (or is it just not backlit?)

For the type of music I write, this unit seems to fit the bill. I am using it mostly for chunky rhythm distortion sounds. It definitely sounds better than mic'ing anything else (I have a TriAxis, MP-1, JMP-1 and the ME-30) going direct, and that's the bottom-line. The guitar modeling thingie seems like a little bit of smoke-and-mirrors, but I'm sure I'll use it to quickly get tones. I do like the EZ Tone function...it's another way to get good starting points for sounds.