Boss ME-50

it's easy to use. the memory functions are less intuitive due to the lack of a digital display

i'm using it with a gibson les paul classic or a fender stratocaster standard--> Marshall jcm900 50W combo. basically the me50 isn't noisy. compared to the stompboxes, surely has a more straight and less unpredictable impact on a tube-amp general tone.

i have used it in a gig and the me50 seems to work good. never, anyway, without a backup (korg1500)

never dealt with the company. the boss website (bossus.com) has a lot of suggestions about the use of me50.

the me50 is good. in my opinion anyway the user pays the easiness of use with a lack of other features. at boss they should understand that the guitar players are not idiots. e.g. the korg multieffects are more complex to use, but have much more other effects and features compared to the me50.

Pretty straight forward.

The distortion tones, while adequate in a pinch, are not the smoothest. Under every distortion, there seems to be an underlying tight bass compression that can't be eliminated. While this is desireable for aggressive rhythm chops and solos, its a bit annoying when trying to get a subtle clip. Very impressed with the modulation and delay effeccts. Nice noise reduction and compression as well.

See sound quality

this pedal is about on par with any other multi effects pedals as far as ease of use and what not, i could totally see an easier way to make these pedals, include a small lcd screen with graphics, it wouldn't cost more than maybe an extra $25 in parts too

this thing is a piece of shit. and i don't just say that lightly, its noisy, it sounds "digital" all of the effects not just the distortion, some of these dunces here say the delay isn't that bad, i guess if its off it isn't that bad. i actually checked this pedal out, because i thought it was just boss putting all their old pedals into one unit, atleast that was what their advertisements and the helpful guitar center sales clerk tried to lead me to believe

its a boss so its safe to say it'll survive a nuke, but ugh you probably would wish it didn't

you need to buy a seperate powersupply for this piece of shit, but my experiences with boss customer service they're friendly if you don't mind being on hold for long periods

basically this is the poormans GT-6, and i'm NOT saying the gt-6 is a nice pedal either it sucks really bad too, is this worth the $230 pricetag? no it isn't. also the amps you use with this will have an effect to the sound, but rest assured every single function on this pedal sounds like crap, now i'm glad i didn't buy this piece of crap, and like all products test them out before you buy, dont' get duped. i was under the impression that there was no difference between these effects and their pedal counterparts, until i tried it out that is. now after all the bad things i've said about this i'll say one good thing, it'd be alright to use if you're plugging into your 15watt practice amp in your living room trying to be quiet so you don't wake the mrs. but please you going to spend that much money for something? just about any cheap multieffect will do the trick get the 50 dollar digitech model

If you can use stomp boxes, you can use the ME-50. It's butt-simple to use - just dial-in the sounds you want using clearly marked controls. It's very intuitive - no confusing menus to navigate through.

Here's where this usnit really shines. The sounds are as good as or better than the individual Boss stomp boxes. The reverb, distortion and compresser (sustain function) are GREAT! The modulation effects are outstanding - especially the Univibe and chorus. Very low noise and very natural (non-digital) sound. This thing rules!

It's very rugged. I do beat it up somewhat, but so far, I've had no problems with it.

Again, no problems here. I my entire career, I've only had problems with one Boss stompbox, which was a digital delay that I accidentally blew-up be connecting the wrong supply to it. Boss swapped it out in gig time at no charge.

I play Blues and Jazz. This thing gives me tones from SRV to Eric Clapton and everything in between. I also get deep, lush reverb sounds out of it for Jazz solos. It's quiet and easy to use...and get this: many of the factory presets are actually USEABLE. This is the best combo effect pedal I've ever used (and I've used a lot - Yamaha, Zoom, other Boss combos, Digitech, etc.). This is the first pedal to fulfill the promise of sound quality, ease-of-use, and versitility. Outstanding value!!

the only problem is that it has not an equaliser and it has no easy switch for the banks (i had to but several pedals for using it wile im playing), the rest is almost TO easy to use!!! :)

i have a Marshall MG100HDFX (cab is MG412 120W) and this Boss ME-50, together the sound perpect and i can create every sound i can think of, i play Metallica, Iron Maiden, Children Of Bodom, Nirvana etc etc, and it all sound great with it.

i mostly use the METAL distortion with my pedal, and it sounds great if you turn a phaser on (you should try it).

if i did not have the Boss ME-50 or it was broken, i would not be able to create all these sounds witch makes my covers more great.

so... yes i realy can't play happy if i did not have the Boss ME-50.

i don'd have expearience with Boss customer support.

i play all kinds of music, rock-hardrock-metal-deathmetal etc etc.
i play for 6 years now and i have it for a half year now, it keep suprising me of the options he has.

the reason i buy this one is that i needen a good quality multy-effect pedal, a friend of mine has a Boss GT-6, it is a very good pedal aswell but this one has all the options i need and is not as expensive as the GT-6 (witch is ?500,-)

Compared to its rivals this pedal is a breaze to use. Just works like a row of stompboxes.
In memory mode however i thought editing patches was a bit tricky to get to grips with and its hard to tell what you have and havnt selected for the patch, However its still a league ahead of anything by zoom or line 6.
the manual is faily concise and could do with more tips on how to edit different effects. i was fine with effects i had met before like chorus etc.. but i was new to phasers and i didnt feel the manual explained how to get the right sound. However 10mins of trial and error is all it usually takes to get what you want

i use a jackson with EMG-hz pickups. I mainly play metal and hoped this pedal would replace by metal zone boss pedal, how wrong i was.
The distortions are very fake sounding and also very noisy, it is good fun to try all the different sounds but none of them were usable, especially the metal ones.
The modulation and delay sections on the other hand were excellent apart from the harmonizer which sounds diabolical. only really good for a bit of fun.
Im giving 7 for this category just because apart from the distortions the effects sound pretty good and not far off what they are trying to model.

boss, nuff said

not dealt with them

Sorry but this unit went back on eBAY not long after i got it. i mainly play metal and i was hoping that this would stop me having to do a tap dance in songs changing effects on and off because i could save patches which i could change in one go. How wrong was i. Changing a patch makes the unit go silent for nearly a second which makes it useless in a gig situation for me, i just find it so frustrating!!!

THe other main problem is the fact theres no onboard active EQ. This is the most crucial thing to getting the right sound out of aguitar and they have left it off! some how they managed to put one on the Bass version of the pedal. what were they thinking....

This is possibly the easiest multi-effect device ever. The dedicated knobs make setting up a piece of cake.

I do a fair amount of recording. Using a bunch of pedals definately causes deterioration of your tone, and connecting and disconnecting pedals is a pain. I've tried a bunch of multi-effects(korg, digitech, boss GT-6, zoom)and a common feature with all of them is that telltale digital sound in the background. This unit is the first one since the original ME-5 that appears to preserve all of the tone of your rig. As with any effects, preferences are subjective. Unless you are going for some heavy mosh sounds or purposly trying to over effect, the ME-50 is a pretty cool sounding piece. Interestingly the clean tones going directly into the board were good. For most of my recording I'll go from the ME-50 into a PODxt then to the mixing board. The rectifier simulation with the boss can achieve a devastating chunk (if you want that kind of tone. I don't really use all of the stuff in the box, compress, OD/DS, NR, chorus/flange, reverb, delay seem to be decent.

Haven't had it long enough. Most boss stuff is reliable, but I always have backup for any gig. What if a 600 pound gorilla falls on it?

I do have a bone to pick w/boss. How could they possibly sell this unit without a power source. Also having to purchase extra pedals to switch on the compressor and the tone modifier is low.

While they make pretty solid equipment, Boss as a company doesn't relly seem to care much about their customers as far as support. From getting copies of old manuals to having to purchase materials to help you use their equipment. They really nickel and dime you. It's pretty insulting to be treated this way. The only advantage they have is that their stuff generally sounds better than their competitors. I guess that's apretty big advantage.

simple

distortion- too digital
modulation- okay but doesn't soak near as well as dedicateds
wah- the worst wah i have ever heard
ns- cuts out sustain
comp- decent
tone shape- negative effect on tone
reverb- dont ver ask
value- its great, but bear in mind that when you buy an all in one pedal, you sacrifice the quality of each effect severely!! most of these reviews are from people that don't know the difference, just get these things, and never play them anywhere but in their bedrooms.

but hey a $300 volume pedal that can play around with a little of everything is great for those kind of people. my distortion & chorus pedals each cost as much as this, but you can tell a world of difference in quality, and so this seems only half decent to me. its not bad, but its deffinately not great either.

boss in known for this

never had to worry about this

try it out and see what you think. everyones tastes are different, but so are everyone's needs, and something like this may accomodate you.

my opinion is that there are far better tools to work with, but atleast its easy to get started playing faster with this.

Simple as pie. Dedicated knobs and controls... distortion on, off, modulations, whatever. effects are simple to turn on and off but its annoying to have to readjust controls if you want to use a different modulation effect

You can definately gte good sounds from this thing. The distortion is decent but pretty gainy. Hitting the VARIATION switch adds more depth and bass to otherwise tiny sounding distortion types. My biggest beef with the pedal is the fact that when ou switch between patches there is a breif cut-off of sound. Its kind of annoying and is what keeps me from using the memory mode, i dont like the gap bewteen effect changes.

its way too easy to hit two pedals at once and enter tuner mode when all you wanted to do was turn off your distortion and put the chorus on at the same time

sounds great, good noise gate and an all-round exceptional pedal

easy as pie to control the effects; all knobs and stomp pedals. Only confusing bit os the MASSIVE range of effects on offer; its very bewildering at first. The presets built in are all rather poor and dont help, but i managed to get some great sounds out of it after a few hours of unpacking.

Now, lets address a few of the grumbles mentioned below. for a start YOU CAN SAVE THE MANUAL MODE SETTINGS!!
Fiddle with the manual mode till you've turned on all the effects you need, now save it as a patch. Then when gigging go into memory mode, select that patch and press "edit/exit"..BOOM, all the settings for that patch are recalled, and you can use the 3 pedals to turn off overdrive, mod or delay the same as in manual. If you now want to edit the settings keep turning the knobs and you'll find they activate when they reach the same position as they were in when you saved the patch (if that makes sense). This gives you 30 manual mode settings saved, surely enough for anyone.

Second of all, the gap in the patch switching..well it is annoying but just stop your strumming a little early. its no big deal for me, especially using the memory mode recall trick above.

wow..this is where this pedal comes into it's own. the distortion models are AMAZING! so realistic, they dont sound digital to my ears. 2 or 3 are totally gross and useless to me (metal, loud, hi gain) but the rest are all rather useable.
I specially love the RAT (not sure what a real proco rat sounds like, but this gives a nice compressed punk style distortion), DS-1 (good for grunge), Big Muff (wow so smooth!) and the Square wave synth sound (i like to play lead using this!). Absolutely best though is the Octave Fuzz distortion; crank the drive past 2 o'clock and every note ends in very realistic harmonic feedback; PERFECT for those Hendrix moments when you dont want to anger the neighbours.

As fore the modulations, they all sound pretty good though im a little disappointed for the chorus, its not very warm sounding. The delays are all pretty good but i still havent managed to find the perfect thick lead sound, oh and the amp simulation through the line-out/headphone jack is brilliant.

built like a brick, id trust this thing.

3 year warrently, shouldnt be a problem

okay, only had this thing a few days and already im loving it. Before i had a Zoom 505 and my god this is MILES ahead, especially on the distortions! Still need time to get used to it but i would probably buy one again (or maybe just go for seperate RAT distortion and big muff pedals?)

I just had to come back here to share this info regarding my ME-50.
I am now using this unit as my stand alone preamp. i found myself in my estimation a POD killer in terms of live vs. live playing usage. i now run my guitars right into the ME-50 and then out to a TC Electronic M300 out to a BBE 482i signal processor out to a Mesa 20/20 power amp out to a pair of Mesa 1x12 widebody cabs. OH MY JUMPIN' G'WILLIKERS !!! what a sound. i have used the POD 2.0 in live applications always never completely satisfied. the ME-50 as i'm using it now out performs the POD in live apps. the sound is a little more believable, although still one of a processed nature, it's realism is more convincing to my ears. i do believe the BBE482i is a must have component to make it all happen though. i use the BD-2 distortion model for my clean tones and they are every bit spanky as can be. i can nail Steve Vai tones using the DS-1 modeler and tweaking the tone knob on my guitar. the Guvn'r modeler gets me Marshall tone galore with a lot more realism. it's still really too bad for all of us that Boss offered these units to us with that damn "switch glitch drop-out" when using it in Memory Mode - that spoils the live usage overall ..... but not the tone.

HEY! YOU GUYS AT BOSS OFFER US OUT HERE IN THE REAL WORLD A FIX ON THIS "SWITCH GLITCH DROP-OUT" BUMMER SO WE REAL PLAYERS CAN REALLY PUT THIS UNIT TO MORE EFFECTIVE USE !!! NOW GET BUSY AND DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!

This Boss pedal is actually quite easy to use. Just turn the knobs and you have your sound. It is harder though to get a good low end deep boost sound. I play mostly low pitch screaming metal leads and with no deep crunching tone knobs its hard to use it over plugging in to a straight amp. I was mostly a lover of manuals and this changed my thinking by the quick easy knobs. Thanks boss!

I play an epiphone double neck custom and its very hard to get the low deep riffs through my crate 120 watt amp. I usually play straight through the amp when I play me screaming leads becasue this pedal does not get the sound i need. Noise gate is horrible and I get that huge annoying buzz no matter what. Distortion is pretty cool but 22 types is too much for me. This sound quility actually would be good for country-high pitched punk, but for low, deep, screaming, crunching, sustaining, dirty, death metal it could be better. Like a tone know with only low pitch would be nice!

Sturdy metal casing--boss makes it built to last

Never had to deal with them

The ME-50 could have been better if it were not so high pitched. You can not even tune your guitar down, use the octave -1 and get a low deep crunch even with the lowest tone mod. or OD DS effects on. The wah is horrible and harminizer is tone gone wrong. The only decent part is the OK delay (that I never use) and the easy to use knobs. It gets in the way when I try to play my tunes. I would never use it live and i'd only use the neat volume pedal in the studio. This pedal is not what suits me and I would not reccoment it. I will probably sell it in ebay or just save it for the volume pedal/backup delay. Not a good multi-effects pedal!

THIS IS WHY I PURCHASED THIS PEDAL! Turn a knob and your done, and you can see where your settings sit at a glance (in stop pedal mode anyway). And a master volume with a matching gain indicator, Praise the lord! Why is it so hard for pedal companies to realize that we may want to control the volume of our pedals. Its nice that it can be used like a regular pedal board or have the presets. Bolth are easy to use without any menus. No manual is needed.

Most of the effects (all the important ones anyway) sound great. They are very thick and warm and have a useful wide range of adjustments. I would even dare to say that most sound just as good as a separate BOSS stomp box. Some of the distortions are good; I just wish they had a regular Low/Middle/High control instead of the goofy Bottom/Tone setup they use. Some of the seldom used effects sounded a bit cheap like the ring modulator and harmonizer but who really cares anyway? By far the biggest let down was the WAH. It just has a very stiff quack to the high end and gets really muddy when the heel is down. It has no adjustments. The other Expression pedal selections like humanizer and +/- Octave worked well though but again who cares?

Remember the advertisement in the guitar magazines about the guitar player used his DS-1 as a wheel block while the band changed a tire on their van? I have had boss products before and I believe it.... If they could only make cars that well.

I figure they would be lonley like the Maytag man. Nothing ever breaks so they have nothing to do.

This is exactly what I wanted. Some effects to lightly color my sound where needed. The only difference is I didn't have to spend a fortune on individual pedals. This pedal honestly works in the same way. This pedal can do 90% of what those huge fancy pants units can do and most people will only ever use half of that. If you have ever scratched your head at a menu this is a very good alternative. But if you?re a wah nut leave room on your pedalboard for a crybaby, I wish I would have.

FLICK THE ON SWITCH ON AND YOUR ROCKIN, IT'S THAT EASY. ANYBODY WHO HAS USED A PEDAL WILL KNOW WHAT TO DO. WHEN I BOUGHT MINE THE GUY AT THE STORE KNEW THE PRODUCT INSIDE AND OUT, I WISH ALL SALESPEOPLE WERE AS HELPFULL AND THIS GUY WAS, HE DEMOED IT FOR ME, SHOWED ME EVERYTHING IT COULD DO AND THEN LET ME PLAY AROUDN WITH IT.
THE MANUAL IS EASY TO READ AND UNDERSTAND, READ IT ONCE AND YOU'LL BE SET. CHANGING PATCHED IS A BREEZE.

WHEN I BOUGHT IT I WASN'T SURE IT WOULD SOME GREAT THROUGH A SOLID STATE AMP, I HAVE A RANDALL RG75 AND WHEN I TRIED IT IN THE STORE IT WAS THROUGH A BIG OLD FENDER TUBE AMP. IT SOUNDED GREAT IN THE STORE AND IT SOUNDED GREAT THROUGH MY RANDALL AT HOME. THE DISTORTIONS ARE GREAT, EVERYBODY HAS THEIR FAVORITE SOUNDS AND I CAN SOME OF THE DIRTIEST SOUDNS EVER. THERE'S A FEW OF THE MODULATION AND DELAY EFFECTS THAT I COULD LIVE WITHOUT BUT PRETTY NEAR EVERYTHING IS FUN TO PLAY WITH. MY STRAT SOUNDED WONDERFUL STRAIT INTO MY RG75 AND IT'S SOUNDS EVEN BETTER WITH THE ME-50. I CAN GET THE AD/DC SOUND TO PREIST AND MAIDEN TO DIMEBAGS SOUND AND GREAT KICK ASS CLASSIC ROCK SOUND. THERE'S TONS OF DIFFERENT SETTING FOR KILLER LEAD SOUND.

I'VE ONLY HAD IT FOR A WEEK. AS WITH ALL MY STUFF I'LL TAKE CARE OF IT AND I ASK THAT IT DOES THE SAME FOR ME.

AGANI I'VE ONLY HAD IT A WEEK.

I RESEACHED MANY MULTI EFFECTS UNITS,,, I FISRT WANTED A DIGITECH GNX3
I THOUGH THAT THE RECORD FEATURE WAS COOL, BUT IT'S WAY TO HIGH PRICED. I THOUGHT ABOUT THE POD, BUT I'M NOT REALLY INTO THE AMP MODELING THING(sorry but I don't see the appeal, if I needed something for direct recording I maybe would have choosen the pod)
I LOOKED AT SOME OF THE ZOOM STUFF AND THEY SOUNDED GREAT TOO
BUT WHEN I HEARD THE ME-50 I KNEW FOR MY PLAYING THIS WAS IT, FROM NASTY AND EDGY TO SMOOTH IT'S GOT IT ALL. I'VE BEEN PLAYING FOR OVER 20 YEARS SINCE I BOUGHT THE ME-50 MY PLAYING HAS IMPROVED AND I'VE ONLY HAD IT A WEEK. I HATE NOTHING ABOUT THIS UNIT ' IT CAME TO ROCK '
THIS IS A GREAT PIECE OF EQUIPMENT AND I'D BUY ANOTHER IN A HEARTBEAT.
LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE WHO HAS REVIEWED IT I AGREE BOSS SHOULD HAVE THROWN IN THE ADAPTER, BUT THEY DIDN'T, NO BIG DEAL, IT'S STILL A ROCKIN' UNIT.

This pedal is very easy to use. The Manual is very informative manual mode is great for gigs memory is good for studio nice stuff

I play a Schecter c-1+ through a Fender Stage 100(the older without the built in cheese ball effects) head and a tone master cab equipped with vintage 30's this pedal does not produce much noise at all. I have been playing for 9 years i am semi-pro gigging in a band that plays funk jazz and jam band type rock i have read some of the other reviews and came to the conclusion that most of you out there turn everything to ten and then try to tweek sound. i have found that on the over drive distortion sounds if you dont put the level past 12:00 and dont put the drive past 2 you get a little boost with buttery sounding od i use the rat and the natural the modulation is nice once again keep the level down never past 12 if you are in a band and you put to much effect on your sound it does not mix well. ever. less is definatly more in terms of good effects driven sound and effects volume let your amp map your tone and just use this to map in style the ring mod is fun for trance and down beat transitions when you are relying on your drums and bass for the song and you for trance type effects the compression is nice when used with your amp distortion

like a rock ........sorry thats chevy
excellent metal case

have had no troubles here

I Frikken think this is a great unit espeacially when coupled with the optional unlatching pedals the manual mode is very gig worthy i dont use it much in memory mode wel because i cant get past that damn delay but recording it is nice in memory mode easy to edit it was hard for me to buy a multi effects i have always been a stomp box guy but this pedal really kicks ass good sounds suits my needs just fine without making me look like a beginer on stage

I play about all types of music, from classical to metal, however I stick mostly with rock. I know a lot of professional musicians like Boss' stomp boxes for effects, so I wanted to try it out. I played the stomp boxes and then I played this. I was amazed, it does not sacrifice sound quality for multiple effects. It produces a thick, full and real sound, that can hang with effect systems much more expensive and complicated than this. I tried some other stuff too, such as line-6 and VOX. I think, without a doubt, this was the easiest to use, and it is very versatile. Its not as expensive as some of the other brands, but I bought it because of the ease of use and sound quality. It just rocks. I would recommend it to anyone. Boss proved that a pedal does not need to be complicated in order to have an awesome sound.

Well its very easy to get a good sound from it but read on!.
Easy to edit a patch.
The manual is easy to understand.

I use a Pevey Triple XXX and a Fender Strat USA.
Well as far as noise goes I have not had any strange noise yet.
Effects sound great.
You can turn the knobs and twist things around and get any sound you want.
All effects sound great to me.

Well can I depend on it ?. I have to be honest with you I dont know yet to early to tell.
But would I use it on a gig ? No I have a fear of it. Its kinda jacked up as far as volume goes and that pisses me off. Ive found it just blasting everyone away or not being able to be heard at all. But wait in the middle of all this you have to bend over and twist more knobs to find the volume you need. And in the middle of a gig would suck.

Unsure just yet.

Well I have been big on the Digitech stuff over the years and I loved Digitech once you learn to use it. And this thing aint even a pimple on Digitechs ass. Sorry! I mean so what you got up to 30 tones saved in it you only can use three at a time. But next patch is needed so bend over and push the patch arrow keys. Thats so stupid!. And the volume stinks on this thing. Make it one volume not ten thousand. And manual mode is great but then wait you turn it off and everything is lost. Poor Design behind this unit however it rocks as far as the effects go. My advice is gerat for recording in the studio however bad for live gigs. And sure it can be used with batteries but just about an hour or so and you better have more batteries on you.

ME-50 Multi-Effects Unit purchased in Nov 2003. 22 types of Overdrive/Distortion, 11 Modulation Effects, 11 Delay types, Expression Pedal with 7 assignable functions, 4 Reverbs, Noise Suppressor, Compressor and Tone Modify EQ Control. The unit will run on batteries but sucks them dry in a matter of hours. Boss power supply is extra.
I bought this unit because I had started to build up a small collection of pedals but hadn?t got around to building a pedal board. I had decided to buy a delay pedal at this point and was looking at the Boss DD-20 which is around #180 in the UK. I then realised that the ME-50 was selling for #199 and was loaded with good quality FX. So the decision was made. At this point I have to say that I use effects sparingly most of the time and I also hate to lug around loads of gear to gigs and rehearsals so the ME-50 was a great solution. I could use it as a row of stop boxes but not have to buy batteries and link loads of pedals together, therefore preserving a short signal path.
This unit has been designed to go straight into the front end of your amp. There are no amp or cab modelling features like the GT-6. It?s covered in knobs so you can instantly tweak your settings and has three footswitches to turn on/off each effect (distortion/modulation/delay). It will also operate in memory mode where you can store sets of 3 patches per bank with 10 banks total. Patches can be edited and stored easily, but recalling them in a gig situation is not as easy as it could be. You can buy an additional footswitch to do this but really it should have been incorporated into the unit. There is also a small but noticeable delay between patch changes in this mode as the unit reconfigures itself. I generally use the unit in manual mode.

I use an American Fender Strat with a SD Hotrail at the bridge and an Epi Les Paul Std. These go into the ME-50, which is connected into the front end of a Marshall AVT50 Combo. I play Rock/Grunge and a little Blues and the band I play in is in the kinda vein of Pearl Jam, Audioslave & Jane?s Addiction. When gigging I use the Overdrive channel of the amp mainly so don?t tend to take advantage of the ME-50?s distortions. I use the OD-1 or Tubescreamer setting on the ME-50 as a solo boost instead. Having said that, the OD?s and distortions on it are all useable and sound great when rounded out by the amp. In fact I?ve been very happy with the sounds from this unit and tinkering with it can lead to a moment of inspiration when song writing as there?s so much to play with.
Playing live I use the analogue delay, wah, tremolo (with some extreme settings, Tom Morello toggle trick made simple!), chorus and a touch of the flanger in places. The onboard tuner?s handy and mutes the output from the unit, you do get some signal still leak through to the amp though but not enough for the audience to notice. I?ve found it to be pretty accurate too, obviously with only a five segment display its never gonna be totally accurate, but for gigs its fine.
The assignable expression pedal is pure gold. When not engaged it acts as a volume pedal. Now I would never have bought a stand-alone volume pedal but now I couldn?t do without this. It?s a handy mute, an easy alternative to volume knob swells (which on a LP on the bridge pick-up is not easy) and a volume/gain control depending on amp settings.
Then stand on the toe of the pedal and you have the pick of a Wah, ring modulator and octave pedal plus a few other off-the-wall options. The wah?s actually pretty good too. I also have a PW-10 V-Wah that I?ve had for a while which doubles up on some of the effects found on the ME-50. The V-Wah is undoubtedly better at what it does and I?ve frequently run the guitar into the V-Wah then into the ME-50. This lets me pick the Wah model I wish to use and frees up the expression pedal on the ME-50 to act as a volume pedal plus one of the other options such as the octave function.
Speaking of the octave function, this is no replacement for a Digitech Whammy. It?ll only take you up an octave or switch to the other setting and it?ll take you down one octave, good to have nonetheless.
I don?t really use the reverbs, preferring to use the amps instead. The reverb with modulation is pretty cool though, giving you a bit of a Jane?s Addiction vibe. Compressor does its job as does the noise suppressor. Mostly I leave these switched out though in the interests of preserving the signal. The Tone Modify option can be handy to sort out a decent base tone with a strange amp, but again I?ve got the unit working well with my amp so leave this switched out. The Acoustic simulator does a surprisingly good job of making the Epiphone sound like a passable acoustic too!
Overall I?m very pleased with the sounds coming from this unit coupled with its easy of use.

I?ve had this unit for about 5 months now and practiced, rehearsed and gigged with it constantly in that time. It?s been rock solid and like someone else who?s posted here I went and bought a big Laptop bag to keep it in. I would recommend this to anyone who has an ME-50, if you get a large enough laptop case you can get your cables, power supply and all sorts of stuff in there and protect the pedal too.
I gig this without a back-up and if I did have a problem with it I?d just do the gig with the guitar plugged straight into the amp. The ME-50?s there to add texture and a little sonic variety, but my base tone is in the amp.
My only criticism would be the rapid way it devours a set of batteries, which isn?t surprising considering its size. It really should come with a power supply, preferably built in. The Boss PSA-240 power supply we have to use in the UK has a cable that?s about 2 feet long, in other words useless. So, you have to buy a mains extension cable for gigging too, ?cos you want the effects unit out on stage with you and all the power outlets are always on the wall behind your backline at least 10 feet away!

Haven?t had the pleasure!

I?ve played for 5yrs now and have a vintage Rat distortion Pedal, a Boss CS-3 Compressor and a PW-10 Wah in addition to the ME-50. As I said earlier, I stumbled across this unit while looking for a delay pedal and I?m so pleased I did. I hate having to carry loads of equipment around especially loose pedals. Now I have this, 2 guitars and the Marshall, problem solved.
The other thing to consider here is that you get, what, 50+ effects in this unit? If you were to go and buy even a fraction of these as standalone pedals lets say 8. You?d be looking at #500 easy plus cabling and batteries/DC multi-way power supply. Then putting you?re guitar through a line of 8 pedals and your gonna start to lose signal. So the purists might say that pedals are the way to go for tone, but at the cost of the original guitar signal? Hmmm?
This way you retain a short signal path and have instant access to loads of great effects. Yes it can sound a little harsh sometimes if you?re DI?ing it, but plugged into an amp (which is how it was designed to be used) it sounds great.
For the price I really don?t think you can go wrong. The downsides are the lack of power supply, and the issue with changing banks in memory mode in a live situation, but these can be worked around.
Used as a row of stomp boxes its great and has been an inspiration on several occasions when song writing.

pretty straight forward and easy to use. patches are simple enough to make, but takes some time to tweak.

i use a PRS custom 22 with a randall RH100 head and Marshall 1960B cab. the sounds you can get out of this pedal are awesome, though i noticed that when using it live there is a delay when switching between presets. this becomes frustrating after a while because the sound cuts right out, which is bad when performing live. the clean sounds are incredible for the most part - great delays and modulation sounds... you get pretty much every boss pedal in one for a fraction of the price. the distortions are alright for the most part, but some of the high gain models are extremely noisy, even when the noise gate is on. i play mostly hard rock/alternative/metal, and find that the best setting for distortion is the DS-1, because the notes stay clear but still have that heavy edge.

batteries don't last very long, so i would reccomend using the AC adaptor. the pedal itself seems to be strong, but the plastic foot switches don't seem very durable.

N/A

overall this is a good pedal for anyone who wants all the boss stomp boxes but can't afford them all. i've been playing for about 5 years and think that it's a good pedal for anyone looking for effects to mess around with. there are enough weird and crazy sounding effects that may help write music, depending on what you're aiming for. if it were stolen i would probably buy it again, simply because i don't have the money to buy all the stomp boxes i need. if you only use a few effects, i would recommend going with the stomp boxes because they are more durable and are easier to get the right sound out of.

Easy-peasy

Good quality, but my old Boss SE-70 had more grunt

Solid and beautifully built.

I walked out of the store and thought I had finally the answer to all of my dreams as a live guitarist. After years of trying out patch-driven midi equiped over-the-top gizmos, I was sure this was the answer. All I wanted was a simple triple stomp-box backed up with a bit of technology to store my favorite patches/tuner etc.
But this unit has in my opinion serious flaws;-
There are two modes of operation....
1)"Memory Mode" where you can recall around 30 patches. These user-patches can store all of your desired tweaks including master levels/reverb/compressor and combinations of modulation, delay and distortion. Great so far. Only problem is you only select one patch at a time (i.e. you cannot have a modulation assigned to one pedal and a distortion to another and stamp on both pedals. Also as you change patches you get a slight delay, as per my 10 year old Boss SE-70, which is annoying enough to stop me using it live.
2) The other mode is "Manual Mode". Now this feels more like a live player's mode... you can use all three pedals simutaneously (e.g. O/D, Flange, Delay) and tweak global settings such as reverb & compressor. Fantastic - no delays in switching either....... BUT!..... no way to store these settings! BUGGER! My unit is only 2 days old and I am using Blu-Tac on every button to stick all of my manual mode settings so that I do not knock the buttons out of place!!!
My other gripe is power....
When I saw that the unit could be powered by 6 AA batteries I thought GREAT I will use re-chargebles. But for some reason they don't work - maybe the unit is very sensitive to voltage levels of NiMH (1.2V) batteries and only works on 1.5V Alkalines. This really p%^%^%ed me off as now I have to buy a PSU.

What a shame it is so NEARLY there...My suggestions to Mr Boss for future improvements....
1) A save defaults mode for Manual Mode... and a "Lock" switch
2) A Midi port to back up patch changes to the "Memory Mode"
3) Design for re-chargeable batteries.

well the me-50 is great but but but when using the 10 patches thats a different matter , wen you change a patch say from clean to distorted there is a 1/2 second gap which when playing live the gap is very un pro. and one more thing , when you plug this thing into a full stack , just turn it up and stand back because when its turned up to band volume there is a very loud hiss that to a crowd your playing to doesn't sound good and is quite deafening , this is a great product for practicing at home but not for a band it realy isn't , i have tried this out fully under all band circumstances and it doesn't perform well at all.
tony , manchester , uk

poor

this thing is extremely easy to use the only tricky thing sometime sis writing the patches but if you have had previous experience with pedalbaords and writing patches its a cinch.

ok this is the drawback of the unit. it isnt as noisy as other units but when you have the noise eupressor it kills A LOT of the sustain i normally get. also on certain distortions when you push it hard you get a little digitized phasing kinda sound if you hear closely. for the most part can get great clean sounds out of this unit and the modulation, reverb and delays sound good.

no problems so far. ive had it for a year.

this is great unit probably for live setting if you dont want to dish out a lot of money for a rack system. but for recording in a studio it lacks the tone i owuld want in the distortions and the expression pedals.

Very easy to get good sounds. The factory patches are useless (Ain't THAT always the case!!!) but this unit is replacing my pedalboard, and is very easy to use. My first test was a direct A/B comparison, using my original pedalboard, at a local Guitar Center.

This is where is was REALLY picky. I LOVE my pedalboard and have not found ANYTHING in the last few years that could replace it! I had a GT-6, which proved too be too damn noisy and killed all the subtle dynamics of my playing. I've tried all the multi-effect pedals by Digitech (hurl), Korg, etc. Whenever I test something, the FIRST thing I do is bypass everything to hear the inherent noise of the unit. Then I A/B the unit with one effect at a time compared to my pedals. I was very impressed, as the ME-50 barely added any extra noise...just a little more than my pedalboard or plugged straight into my amp. Effects feel like my pedalboard and are about 95% there in sound and vibe.

I've never had any problems with BOSS stuff. Built like a tank and just keeps going. Solid metal construction. Solid feel and operation.

Never had any problems to have an opinion.

Well, I'm very demanding of my sound, and have always played through a Fender (for clean) and a Marshall (for crunch/lead). Because I grew tired of lugging these beasts around to every gig, I now use a Carvin Bel-Air (clean channel only) with the BOSS ME-50. Smaller, and easier to lug around. Incredible sound. I play oldies, classic rock, alternative rock, thrash metal, blues, country, funk, pop, top40 etc...semi-professionally.

Things I like most about this pedal...
1. Low noise
2. Unity gain when Master Volume is at 12 o'clock (manual even states this)
3. Great "vibe". Compares well to my pedalboard. ESPECIALLY in dynamics, feel and sounds. Doesn't "Feel" digital or processed.
4. Battery operated (I use rechargeables) so one less wall wart at a gig is great! Yay!

What I don't like:
1. Wish there were five footswitches instead of three. Hate having to deal with outboard bank-up and bank-down pedals.
2. This is a big one...I WISH EVERY FRIKKEN MULTI-EFFECTS PEDAL MADE WOOULD PUT A GE-7 RIGHT AFTER THE DISTORTION/COMPRESSOR!!!!This drives me nuts! Having a simple 7 band graphic EQ where you could actually HEAR the tone difference would be huge! I can't believe nobody does this!

The editting is easy. All effects parameters are directly accessible through the knobs. I only used it in 'manual' mode yet. Didn't have the chance yet to make some patches. But then again haven't really needed patches yet.

The tone modify, compressor and reverb sections should get their own pedal on the board. This is now the only reason I will be making my own patches in the near future.. Otherwise I would've stayed in manual mode :)

The overall sound quality is great. My favourite distortions are the RAT and the natural settings. The modulation en delay sections are good and very complete. I miss some controll on the reverb sections but the sounds are good. The cheaper boss multifx seem to lack some sort of decay knob on the noise supressor. I would've liked that.

Anyway... I able to get a good sound for any style in a matter of seconds.

It's boss... it's made out of metal... and the plastic knobs seem solid enough.

It's good I play everything from rock and blues to metal. It does my thing. A nice touch and definately an improvement over my previous boss multi-effect (a ME-30) is that when you turn the expression pedal effect off it always becomes a volume pedal.
People here say it doesn't have an amp simulator. But the phones/line output has some amp simulation. You can't turn it on or off, it's just there when you use that output. It isn't as versatile or good as some or most of the modelling stuff out there. But I find it good enough for my late night headphone practise.

This is the machine for the guitarist on a budget. Within 10 mins of playing with settings on my amp, i had this thing worked out... still haven't really looked at the manual... although i noticed it is quite easy to follow. As for editing patches, well if i was playing alot of live stuff, i'd be pissed cause you really do need the extra pedals at the extra cost (thanks boss) but thankfully i play in a studio alot so the need to change banks quick isn't really a problem

Very little line noise with a great clean or real nasty, aggresive metal distorion. My band and i play alot of vintage metallica so finding "that" sound is never a problem. Some of the disortions sound a bit repeditive but none the less, good show boss!. The flanger and chorus are great, the wah could be a little more "expressive" but then again, with the right tone you can make the thing scream quite easy... like anything practice makes perfect.

When the band does gig, i don't take any back up, i bought it just under 6 months ago, haven't had a breakage so as far as i can see it should last the same as any other pedal i have bought in the past from boss. (still have my first one from 12 yrs ago)

Haven't had to deal with the company yet so i can't say if they are good or not but, if there customer service is anything like there pedals... i won't be seeing them anyway.

I paly metal so this thing is perfect for me.
I have played for the past 12 years in which i have obtained a les paul studio (epiphone, cuz they r betta than gibson), a esp "grynch" and just recently i have bought a korn signature k-7 guitar from ibanez (awsome to play on). In my opinion, if your on a budget go for it best value for money, but if you are looking for a proffesional point of veiw, shop around play on everything use every knob before you make a purchase.

This unit can make great sounds, it can also make really horrible sounds too. It probably the simplist multi-efects to operate in the world. Multi effects can be harder to work than seperates and you can end up with crap sounds if you are not thinking while you twiddle all those knobs!

Sound quality is excellant, but be carefull with those settings. This unit has very wide ranges on some of the dials and you can easily dial in a very hissy or "bad" sound if you are not carefull.

I have read some comments here about the the fact the unit has no tone controls, (part from the "tone modify" dial.) If you have the overdrive turned on you can then use the 2 very wide range tone controls there to change you sound. If you don't have the overdrive on then switch it on and select "OD-1" "natural variation" and turn the drive know down to very low. Then you won't have any distortion but you can use the tone and level controls to shape your sound - a bit like a pre amp!

This is the kind of reason why the ME-50 is good, you can do all sorts of things with it but it will require some very patient experimenting. The manual is basic and doesn't really explore the subleties of the unit, it just gets you going. Out of the box, all the preset sounds are very mediocre. I just deleted them all and then made new ones that suited me, my style and my instruments. (Modern Jazz - Ibanez semi - flat wound strings - fender amps)

Chorus on the unit is good but not as good as the BOSS CE-20, (what is though?) However you get Uni-vibe, rotary and tremelo on the ME-20 which, when suitably tweaked, provide very cool alternatives to the widely used chorus sound.They are stero too!

Whaa is good, can make some great wha and some really nasty ring modulator noises - ( Don't misunderstand me here. I think that it is very important to be able to make relly nasty noises sometimes!)

You can even run it off batteries, good for those weird venues that never have enough plugs..

Its as solid as all the other boss stuff, (i.e. a lot more solid than most things on the market). I would use it for a gig without a backup, and hell its so cheap you could buy two if your worried.

Its a great match for me. I can make loads of nice tones for use in older Jazz, modern Jazz, fusion etc. and all without any fuss or mucking about.

If you turn up at the venue and for some weird reason the presets sound bad because of the rooms acoustic, then you can easily change the sound in a instant becuase the ME-%) is SO EASY TO USE! Three cheers for BOSS!

The first time I tryed my new ME50 at home with my peavey combo amp, it was a mest with volumes. Most of the people I know would have sold it back or swear at it. But, with 10 minutes of volume balancing between the me50 and my amp, the pre of my amp, the sustain level and the master level of the me50, it sounded REALLY GREAT!
The patch mode is reall well built avoiding the fact of the external switch that you have to purchase separately from the unit (why?) and the half a second that is between a change of patch. (it's really not a problem for me)
The manual mode is....FANTASTIC!!! Is the one that allows you to create the best sound that fits you in a second, understanding everything about knobs and settings.

I use a Gibson Les paul Voodoo and a peavey longtube serie 30w.
I think the ME50 sounds very great with this, the effects are always great, and you should work more on the OD/DS for make sound them very good. The mod effects and the delay are always awesome. Boss quality.
There is the MT2 integrated, so it sounds super, the overdrive,crunch, are outstanding.
I have a band so I can't say anything about reproducing other band's sound, because I have my own. The pedal isn't noisy, and it has a volume control in the pedal so there are no problems.
Of course spending 10 times more (rack units, like the digitech artist for example), you can have better sounds, but for what you pay the boss me50 you have great sounds that can work even in a professional use.

Great. Boss build always the units like tanks. This has metal case, strong builded switches, everything of quality. I will use on a gig without problems. It will last forever!!

never dealt with Boss, and I don't think that there are upgrades for this pedal.

Well, this is a great one. I play rock/metal with dark unfluences, and this pedal made even more of what I need. It has everything that you need, maybe the only thing you should add are external equalizer, maybe a boss one, an acoustic simulator (the one that's integrated isn't very good) and maybe a great cry baby or a morley wha (the integrated one is good but seems to have a very low range of action, your guitar will wha but not scream with that effect).
My favourite feature is that you can create and experiment sounds with an easy that is surprising. It helps a lot to make music. I play from 6 years, I own 3 guitars, and the past effects I had were a Boss OS-2, a ZOOM 510 powerdriver, an IBANEZ wha wha, and the following effects from Ibabez: digital delay,flanger,phaser. Then I changed my flanger with a BOSS one, the purple flanger. And a delay with a ibanez newest feature the tonebox delay/eco. (don't know if is the right name)

Now I own only a BOSS ME50 and every sound is best than before!!

I am no effect guru or digital genius, I have however found this easy to use, although I havent mastered the editing and writing functions,I havent dedicated any time to it either. I have used numerous pedal and rack effect combinations in the past, this is far cleaner and simpler.

I currently am using this in conjunction with a stock Carvin Bel-air, Fender hiway 1 strat,slightly modified wiring harness and stock neck and middle pickup,with a sd hot rail in the bridge,I also play a Mexicaster,with stacked humbucking bridge pick up and sd vintage lipstick, I have found however that the modulation when used in any form i.e. phaser,flange etc, is much higher in output than the other effects, the factory presets I have found at least in the one and two banks are great effects for most music played today, at least in my situation, I would also like to point out that the me-50 is fairly quite and when I use the effects on top of my dirty channel on my amp it makes for a sweet and tonefull combination

I play out at least six times per month and to date have had only good results with it,the steel chassis is tough although I kept the original container and foam for traveling.I also keep the few patch cords I use now in the box and can carry my whole rig in the club in one trip, no I not lazy just like to work smat and not hard.

I have no experince to report

As far as a style of music to play,I would say modern and progressive stuff is what I play at home,but a working guitar player I play what puts cake in my pocket which is everything from the Monkeys to Mettalica and all the skynrd,zztop and other played to death crap in between.I have been playing since 1984 and have enjoyed mediocore success.If it get lost or stolen I would probably buy something with a longer sampling program the two seconds just isnt enough. As far as a numerical rating for my siuation I would give it a 10

This unit is the most easy to use multi-FX unit I've seen. (And, as I work in a music store in the guitar effects dept., I've seen a lot of 'em). I especially like that there are no menus at all, just a bunch of knobs to turn. Editing patches is really simple, too. And the manual even tells you exactly how each of the effects were set on each of the factory presets, so when you first pull it out of the box and hook it up, you can scroll through all 30 of 'em to hear what sounds you like and how to put them into the unit. And I'm absolutely in love with the noise supressor. Ease of use is definitely one of its better selling points.

I'm using this with my Gibson Les Paul Studio Lite (with the 496R & 500T pickups you'd find in the LP classic) and my Music Man 212 Seventy Five combo amp (tube pre, solid state power stage). Some of the sounds are phenomenal, some are mediocre, and two of the 22 distortions offered (the MT-2 and METAL distortions) are garbage. Unlike many of the distortion stompboxes emulated in the ME-50, it offers a bottom control as well as a tone control in the distortion section, so you get more flexibility than you would out of, say, the Tubescreamer effect than you would with the original. And I'm a particularly big fan of the NATURAL od, the MODERN DS, and the MODERN OD sounds. My pet sound that I had gotten used to over a six year period prior to owning this unit was achieved with a Danelectro Daddy-O by tweaking all three of its tone knobs to particular settings, and I've found that I can reproduce this to my liking. The chorus effect sounds a fair amount more metallic than the Boss CH-1 (which I am still forced to use). The wah effect sounds better than my original Crybaby, which I have since disconnected from my rig. All in all, you can get a lot of great sounds out of it if you spend the time to find how to dial them in.

I haven't had it long enough for any problems to surface, but I'm not expecting any to do so. The Boss stompboxes I use are approaching 10 years of service life with no problems at all, and I'm expecting similar longevity out of my ME-50.

I've dealt with the Roland corporation several times, and they've always given me great support (but perhaps this is because I'm a dealer.) I'm highly impressed with them.

I play a lot of classic rock and industrial music, and this thing has some very servicable tones for both styles. My own recordings, which range from folk-rock to (very) hard rock, also have benefited from the sounds I'm getting out of the ME-50. The only real complaint I have is that it only has 2 seconds of Hold time. In order to make maximum use of the thing (especially for live performance), you need a two-button momentary footswitch for bank switching, and the cheapest way to get one is to order the Behringer FS112V footswitch (designed for the V Amp 2) from dbmproaudio.com. I recommend this unit to most of my customers who are looking for a multi-effects unit, unless they're doing direct recording. This is without a doubt the best unit under $300 street price.

Easy to turn knobs yea but that's where it ends. You can fiddle about till you get something sounding half decent but you could be there a while. Even if you remember the settings you still have to alter them when playing in different places. If you store them you get a cut out when changing patches in memory mode. Changing banks is only easy if you buy an additional foot switch.

You can get some half decent sounds but nothing like my tubescreamer and cry baby. It certainly is nothing to rave about compared with other multi effects, about the same.

Can depend on it to mess up a gig. Try playing in a dark hall or with a spotlight on you: not just in your bedroom. You are in the middle of a song and you accidentally hit two pedals at once (which is quite easy with this thing) you end up doing the hokey kokey trying to get back to where you were.

never used them

For me (unlike most other reviews here) I was most unimpressed. The most annoying thing about it is the patches. You set up two sounds for example, one rhythm and one lead, then in the middle of a song you go for a lead break and there is a cut out when changing patches. It is only for about half a second but fucks the whole song up. It also renders the pedal totally useless for this purpose. Added to that the amount of times you catch two pedals at once and it goes to tuner. The tuner by the way doesn't work that well. I have to retune by ear afterwards and if you try to tune to E flat for example (or D sharp as you have to) it comes up with totally different notes. I am a guitarist with about 30 years experience and gig regularly. I will never use this thing on a gig again. A sustain/compression pedal, an Ibanez Tubescreamer and a Jim Dunlop wah are far better for me. Far enough apart to hit one at a time, instant sound change, and better sounds. I have just put the ME-50 up for sale.

I like the ME-50 a lot. I know it is not perfect, but I think it sounds great. Now this category is not really what I pay attention to when I read reviews on anything. I have to say that the ME-50 is very easy to use and to get a good sound out of it. The editing patches requires you to read the manual because that is harder to figure out by yourself. The manual is great because it will tell you everything you need to know about it and how to work it.

I get a really good sound out of this effects processor because I use an Ibanez K-7 7 string guitar with it. I have a crappy little Peavey Blazer something amp. Even with the bad amp I still get a good sound out of it, but that is because of my $2000 guitar. The unit is never noisy on any settings unless you dont have the noise gate on. Let me tell you the noise gate works very very well and it doesn't deaden the sound of the guitar. I think all of the effects are great and you can change and tweak them in almost every way. The only two effects I didn't like were the accoustic simulator(it didn't sound like an acoustic), and the compressor sustainer wasn't that great either.

I can depend on this little unit a lot. It has never failed me yet(I've had it since January 19,2004 to today which is February 14, 2004). I haven't gigged with it yet, but I am going to be gigging with it soon. At a gig I would have a backup just in case, because anything can happen so I would have a backup just in case.

I play all kinds of music like metal, classic rock, regular rock, hard rock, and more. This works for any kind of music you want to play because of the capabilities it has. I have been playing for five years now(I am 14 years old), and I am very good. If it was stolen or lost I haven't really experimented with other effects yet so I would probably try another multi-effects pedal, I'm not saying this isn't a good piece of ear it is a great piece of gear. I just haven't experimented with other multi=effect processors or any effects other than from Boss. This hepls me have fun when I am playing music and the hours pass like minutes when I play with it.

It was really easy to play with alittle and get some ok distortion sounds. It was extremely easy to store the distortion you liked.

The sound quality though was mediocre. I bought mine a couple months ago and tried to mess with it to get some good sounds. I really liked the acoustic simulator, it sounded really close to an acoustic guitar sound. I also liked the delays and modulations(i think there called). The chorus and flanger worked rather well, exceot i dont know when i would ever use flanger. But then when i tried to mess with the distortion, i found a couple that i thought sounded ok. I felt that it was lacking in some way. I had been trying to get a good metallica sound and it ended up sounding like it was missing the roar or rumble i think distortion should sound like. The distortion again was satisfactory but not outstanding. The wah pedal worked but was not the best wah. And the octave pedal was wierd because it went to high and just didnt sound good. So anyways, i think it is a good multi effects, if, it was at a drastically lower price. I returned mine recently and i think i will try out the boos metal zone. I think that single effects just give more depth to the sound. Note though that i am really picky when it comes to equipment i pay a lot of money for. My friend thought it sounded satisfactory, and my music teacher thought i could get whatever sound i wanted out of it. But for me personally it just didn't meet my standards.

I only had it for a couple of months, but in that period of time it seemed well built.

I bought it at guitar center.

I play, well pretty much only metallica. I try to widen out when i listen to music, like radiohead. But when i play guitar i mostly stick to metallica, radiohead and whitestripes, and some acoustic songs by coldplay. I have been playing for 2 years and i own a marshall half stack after owning a crappy crate, so i am really picky on the sound i am trying to achieve.

guess i gotta explain my opinion since ive been "rebuddled". i am not some kid playing with this in my bedroom and very low volumes, i am a professional musician, and i actually have a full studio in my home (yeh for me).

transitor/digital based pedals are not as good as analog pedals in my opinion. i have owned about 37 different pedals and this boss pedal is alright, but dunlop makes a better wah, tonebone makes a better distortion & tce makes a better chorus. not everyone has the time or funds to invest in pedal collections so there are the all-in-one jobbies out there which are great, but you sacrifice quality in each individual effect, when using one of these rather then a designated pedal (even if its another boss pedal). this is all common sense, but thats why the topic is sound quality, and what better way for me to explain to the people then contrast and compare.

this is all my opinion, and attacking my opinion is childish, so your probably some child. any pedal/unit you buy you need to turn it up to high volumes of course, thats what they are made for. and if you buy equipment and spend no time tweaking then why even buy it in the first place.

if your on a budget, and want the most for your buck then thats what these pedals are made for. i am not giving it some super high rating like every single item in the HC reviews always get, because it doesn't deserve that. but i will say that it has lots to play with, decent quality, super easy to use, and a good price tag.

This thing is he easiest thing I have used to date. I didn't really even have to open up the manual, I just plugged in and played.
Concise manual is there if you need it.

I use a lot of Fender Strats, Washburn, and Jacksons with Laney amps. Nothing is really anymore noisy than any other effects I have. Some of the pedals weak spots are the spring reverb, no one wants a spring that is always popping, so I don't know what the hell the Boss dudes were thinking when they designed that?? The hollow and acoustic sims are a joke. The chorus could be a little better as could the wah pedal, the wah has some different feeling parameters. Some of the distortions and overdrives sound nothing like they are suppose to, like the TS 808. Riiiight. The 808 does make a good clean boost to pump out some great leads. Everthing else I really like. The noise gate is very effective. Most of the other effects are very nice.
I have read where some users don't like the distortions at all, well all you have to do is turn down the pedals master a little and the feedback problem is solved. Use your head a little here people and let your amp do the work.

I already busted it up a little, I had it up on a desktop and was useing a short chord and pulled it off the desk. OUCH! Nothing but the stupid little AC jack wrap broke, which was doomed to begin with. I'm tough as heck on equipment but I just love how durable Boss stuff has been.
I always carry backups for gigs and will still with this.

??

I play a lot of covers from a huge selection, everything from Blink 182, Rush, Hoobastank, Zep, Metallica, Rising force, SRV to Anthrax; we play whatever it takes, we even play country. This thing makes making music just so much easier. If you gig and are looking for a clean floor and simple to use effects just go and buy this thing.
Been playing for 25 years and this is the simplest and nicest sounding pedal I have ever used.

The most intuitive user interface i've ever seen.

Not the best, but still great for the price.

Never let me down..

I've been playing guitar for 2 years and i bought my Me-50 6 months ago. I had a Zoom 505 and now my playing style has changed.
I play a little bit of everything, mostly hard rock/metal and it's distortion abilities are great.

The unit is quite easy to use. The manual is written in plain English and contains a great feal of useful information about the effects and how to gauge them to your liking. Creating and editing patches is fairly simple, once again the manual helps in this regard.

The unit works in two modes: manual and memory. In manual mode you create and mix your effects on the fly while in memory mode you use the patches which are stored in 10 banks (you can store 3 patches in each bank). Changing banks by foot is not possible unless you purchase the optional foot controller. I would ideally like to have more patches per bank or easier bank switching but I'm being fussy. You can manage quite comfortably with 3 patches (and you can always bend over to change bank between songs).

The tuner is quite easy to operate. The pedal serves two functions - a volume pedal and effects expression pedal. Switching between the two functions is a little awkward - the pedal has to be pushed all the way down (ie. the volume goes all the way up) and then you have to rest all your weight on it to change to effects expression pedal mode.

I run this unit into the clean channel of my Peavey Triumph 60 (all tube 112 combo - this amp has many chronic problems, I'd advise you to steer clear of it). I only play one guitar - Ibanez AR250 which is a lovely piece of affordable Korean craftsmanship.

I owned a Behringer V-Amp 1 a year ago and ME-50 is noticably quieter. Although, it can get a little noisy when you turn on distortion and the volume is high.

I love the choice of distortion effects on this unit (I think there are about 20 different ones). Most major types of Modulation and Delay effects are included too and I cannot say very much about their quality as I haven't experimented with them too much. They beat V-Amp by a long shot.

I absolutely love the tone modify feature. It lets you change to tone of your guitar to your liking. You are given the option of changing the tone to that of an acoustic guitar or a hollow body electric guitar, boosting the high/low/mid range of your guitar and changing humbucker tone to that of a single-coil instrument (or vice versa). I have managed to pull out some quite good Gilmour-style sounds using this unit and my twin humbucker AR250.

I am also happy with the chorus and the harmonizer Modulation effects. The inclusion of a voicebox effect and a wah-wah is also pleasing. The sound quality is quite good but probably not like the analog processors - this is a modelling unit after all.

It is solid built. It weighs about 3.5 kg - all metal casing. It should be able to put up with a fair deal of abuse (although I have no intention of abusing it)

I've never had to deal with them but I shall rate them with a ten because they are a respected company.

I have been playing for about 3 to 4 years now and this is the second multi effects processor unit I've bought and I like it a lot more than V-Amp. I choose it for the range of features it has. I intend to use it as an experimenting platform - to learn more about effects and integrate them into my playing.

As I said, I love the tone modify feature and the range of distortions (everything from Fuzzface to OD-1). The power adaptor is optional (it cost AUD 50 extra) andd I don't think I would want to use batteries all the time so I had to buy it. I don't like buying something expensive that asks for accessories. But I got a good price on my ME-50 - some AUD400 off the retail price.

I like the aux in feature as it allows me to run my Tascam CD GT-1 into this and play along with my CD's. Also, I love the headphone jack for those times when others are not quite so appreciative of my playing.

Nothing is perfect but ME-50 is a valiant effort.

The pedal is as easy to use as a chian of separate pedals.The only things that are hard are the delay and levels for the effects. I have only just got the pedal and its my first effect so i dont really have a clue on how to use delay properly.The levels are weird because im used to only having to make sure my amp has got even volumes on both of its channels.Having to set the levels for distortion is quite confusing as i cant tell when its the distortion of the pedal or the speaker.

I use this pedal with an epi les paul into a marshall avt50. The distortion sound are good but i dont think much to the variation modes. The modualation has been fine up to this point and it has been quite pleasing. I can nail the sounds of early metallica, audioslave, ac/dc and nirvana easily. The wah on the pedal is okay at low gain levels but it looses all of its power on high gain.My Dunlop crybaby is much better.(I didnt include it as i dont have enough leads to use both pedals yet). The flange and ds-1 sound are really useful, as is the fuzz face and pitchshift.

I havent had any problems yet, and i will be gigging without a backup

I play everything that i can, and this pedal seems to have the versatility to let me get any sound i require.I really like how you can line up the patches so you can switch between certain sounds within a song

Okay, a rebuttle here to the guy that describes himself as the "sour apple" two posts down (if this post is two up after submitting). Any player worth his salt knows the claim to fame of analog pedals and when to use them. But, not all players are hip to climb out of their ever so biased rutts ..... yeah, i use to be one of those guys myself. The Boss ME-50 deserves it's props in all the right areas as it was designed. To use it isn't declaring it's the end all be all of MFX units. To use it is to acknowledge its' place as a tone shaping tool. Ahhh, now we're on the beam Johnny - can you stay there? Tone...? isn't that so such a subjective element anymore these days .... especially with all the gadgetry offered to us (such as the ME-50) that our early guitar slinging idols were devoid of having to use? Kudos , to the modern day players who embrace all the many different tone shaping tools they can lay claim to instead of being pittfallen to "analog mentality"! The ME-50 is a GREAT tone tool to access . No it's not the only choice that one should solely make - but, it has it's offerings that shouldn't be overlooked.

CLUE: with any MFX unit you will have to invest some time to tweak it to perfection with your playing rigg or (riggs).
BIGGER CLUE: you have to operate these MFX units at performance playing levels and tweak them as such to meet those demands. you can't make a judgement at operating it at bedroom levels thru your amp - it's like placing a choke-hold on everything indeed!

I have spent enough time with my ME-50 to know it was a very worthwhile purchase. The best part is also knowing that anyone who hears me live isn't going to walk up to me and say "hey man, your tone sucks bro" .... nah, that just isn't going to happen because i have spent the time to blend this sonic goody tool along with the natural tone of my amps and to let me wander away from my amps tone if the tune calls for it.

The ME-50 is a wonderful diversity of tone tooling that has brought me more variance to tone sculpting with way more ease than i have ever had and without a lot of the unneccessary weight and cabling probs. And, unlike a POD - i don't need to invest in a separate Floorboard and funky cable you hope never gets snapped off at the point of input! It's not a "holy grail" box of goodies here ..... but, when you're using it setup interfacing rightly with your amp (amps) ...... the ME-50 is sure to bring a smile to your audience.

A really useful,easy-to -use, rugged FX unit with ggod sounds for not a lot of bucks.
Three basic pedal modes-distort, modulation (chorus,flange,trem,etc)and delay s are adequate for most applications. As a series of individual pedals ofter repeat
much of their circuitry anyway, it has been possible to put into one unit the versatilty of many pedals.
The manual is straightforward- in any case I only use compression,
mild distort, chorus and delay(all of thses are adjustable to taste)
and may be used together or singly. This gives you a lot of FX for a fraction of the price of a whole array of pedals. Good,clear tuner,too-vital with a strat!

I play a US Strat through this unit and into a 1976 Silverface 100w
Twin Reverb, a great platform for addition of FX. I find that the amps
own tube-generated trem and reverb are better than the ME-50's-
but I also have compression-good, as I play country; nice chorus; good delay , a tuner and a volume pedal.
The distort is fine for what I need it for although I have brought into service an Ibanez TS-9 Screamer on the line-it really is a much better pedal for some songs than the ME-50's distort.
However each pedal effect has tone -shaping knobs so it's a cinch to individualise one's sound. It is not noisy, is light but ruggedly built.

Yes. It is reassuringly rugged and if you mind it-don't drop it or spill beer on it it should last a long time. I never use a backup.
When not in use it lives in a small flight-case with assorted cables,
power-supply, etc.

Never dealt with them.Bought from w.w.w.thomann.de out of Germany-good people to deal with.

I've been playing for quite a long time now and I hace to say that this unit is a godsend and it, for a reasonable price, makes a ggod stab at the most commonly-used effects. It helps me make music, is unobtrusive-use right-angled cables at input and output jacks (stereo available for Chorus)and the whole thing is tidy.
For the money, very good value. No menu-surfing- this lets you concentrate on the gig and is user-friendly. With a good amp and guitar you will find that the Boss ME-50 broadens your sonic horizons.
Anbd that,folks, is what it should be about. The ME-50 delivers in a whole host of applicaions. Some effects-notably the overdrive- are only OK, however.

extremely familiar to those who have owned any of boss' individual effects pedals! easiest of all "all in one" effects pedals units out there. for tone though, your not going to be able to tweak anything special out of these, might as well go with the pres.

WOW! i cant believe that this thing is getting 10 after 10 in SQ. not from me yall! i guess im the sour apple here because this unit is great for versitily, light packing & organized floor space, but each effect is not as good as any boss dedicated pedal, and i have tried all digital/transitor pedals, and analog is better! there are some pretty decent sounds in this for fun, and the not so serious types, but for any professional giggers, then you get what you pay for! the wah in this is horrible in comparison the any dunlop. overdrive/distorion section is the main one, but its based on the od-20 and i never thought that was near as good as a tonebone pedal! modulation is this pedals best area.

sorry you guys but this is to muddled, and non-responsive, and oh yeah it just doesn't sound as good whats already availible. IMO of course.

seems to be built tough. most boos pedals are.

i say its ups to you to make your own decisions about this stuff. never buy something that you heard was great, until yoiu actually play it. IMO analog just blows digital/trans pedals away, and "all-in-one" pedals are designed to sacrifice a little quality of each of these so you can have a buffet fo choices. if its just for fun or practice sure its economical, if its for serious work or gigs, buy analog, and use it to shape your amps natural sound instead of letting it rule your amp.

OK, this is how the pedal is marketed. 'Frustration is off the menu'. This is spot on. I owned the Boss GT6 first like a few people reviewing here. But it was a bit too much to wrap my head round. It was all cycling through menus and programming. I missed having my individual pedals where you can simply twist a knob to get the right sound and play. Even though technically the GT6 is the better pedal in terms of what it can do (more effect types, amp simulator) this is just what I needed for my live set up.

The manual is also easy to understand, however, its rarely needed except to see descriptions of the 30 preset patches.

My current setup with this pedal is a US Tele with Digitech X Synth Wah, Line6 DL4 and a Digitech Whammy.

First and foremost it is very important what amp you are using with this unit. People have complained of the distortions sounding thin etc, with a quality tube amp they shouldn't. I use a Marshall JCM800 4212 (Thats the 50w 2x12 model) and they sound great. There are loads of tones here, froms blues to metal, including some decent fuzz. The distortions stand up with the best of them. I have owned over 60 pedals, from the Zoom 505 through to boutique stuff and for under #200 this is amazing value.

The tone modify is effectively a preset EQ adding even more variations including hollow body and acoustic.

The compressor and noise reduction do their jobs and the reverb is ok, however, I have it switched off and use the amp reverb. The effects in general are of a high standard. The wah is ok, maybe a bit uninspiring, however, previously I was using a Cry Baby 535Q which to me was the best, so its a bit unfair to compare.

The delays are good, with again, plenty of variation from analog/digital to slow echo, space pan and reverse. I still use a Line6 DL4 delay modeller along side this as it gives me more presets to choose from as delay is a big part of my sound.

The expression pedal is able to be assigned to wah, resonance, voice, ring mod, and 1 octave up and down. All with the twist of a knob and is a great feature. There is also an adequate tuner that allows you tune up silently.

Feels solid, good metal casing. I would rely on it.

N/A

Overall, this is a great pedal for live use for any genre. Out of the 2 modes available (manual and memory) I always use manual. I think being in a band playing original music its better to find a sound you like so you can stick with it. Memory mode would be better for cover bands needing lots of different sounds within seconds. The downside to this is patch switching requires the Boss FS-5U for the best and easiest way to change. Also Boss shoot themselves in the foot a bit by not including a power supply. However, you shouldn't let this detract you from trying out a pro sounding, nicely priced multi effects pedal that demonstrates how far technology in the industry has come.

These ME-50 units are simple to use - easy to setup a tone or patch.
Editing is a no fuss cinch. The manual is easy reading and clearly diagramed.

Okay now, a BIG TIP offered here ..... use these thru an amp to get the best result. I'm using the ME-50 thru a pair of Crate V1512 "class A" 15wt. amps loaded with Celestions. I'm diggin' it! I have used Line6 POD's in the past thru amps and it was okay - but i think the ME-50 does a better job and sounds less processed and "FM radio" boxey as a POD. The ME-50 sounds livelier with more real breath to the note - it's not totally all natural but a lot less synthesized in character as a POD. It's quiet when operating - no excessive hissing. Lots of toneful architecture is packed into the ME-50. I really like how it brings a shimmer to my amps for clean chording (my own ME-50 settings). The distortions are plentiful and very dynamic with great voicing and control over the grit/grind. Some have squaked about there being no eq .... eh? There's plenty of EQ built in the "Tone Modify" section along with the settings you determine at the "OD/DS" section. These two sections are where you want to concentrate on shaping your initial tone and then dress them up with the "Modulation" and "Delay" sections. The latter two sections are feature laiden with great offerings for customizing your signature sound or copying another artist's tone. The "Expression" pedal is a nice bonus and yields some very modern whacked out tone shaping.

No Opinion - it's still very new to me and time has to run its course. So, the jury will be out for some time yet. However, i forsee one immediate element of concern .... the three stomp style pedals are made of plastic whereas a metal variety would have been the superior choice for design. I hope they don't crack or chip or whatever ....

So far, i have found the ME-50 to be as versatile in it's offerings as i am a player. I like to play any and all styles i take an interest in. Some have squaked about the "dropout" occuring in "Memory Mode" (Patch Mode). It's true there is lag between switching patches ..... but, that's not how to most effectively use this device. After you have made your custom patches and saved them, then use them in "Manual Mode" along with the stomps to activate on/off your distortion, modulation, and delay settings. Set your amp at a clean chording voicing as your "Bypass" setting and then select from the stomp pedals your additives (distortion,modulation,delay). You can even setup clean tone enhancing patches to add sparkle to your "Bypass" tone (amp's tone).
I admit that the "dropout" between patch switching is a drag - but i just outlined how to work around that ...... and i think this is what Boss had in mind at how to use this unit ..... until they offer up the next generation ME-50 that eliminates the "dead-zone" patch switching and they come after are wallets a second time around! As this unit is, it offers a lot of usable tones. Ultimately, use it in "Manual Mode" for avoiding the "dead-zone" switching. After all, when playing a tune, one patch that's correctly setup should contain enough variables to get you thru it .... it becomes then a matter of ativating or de-activating the (distortion,modulation,delay) settings of the patch. I conclude that the ME-50 is a great pedalboard substitute with a lot less weight and cabling messiness along with all the shorts of those cables. This unit is a compact pedalboard that you should think of operating as in such manner - use it in "Manual Mode" for best results. This is a very cool product .... a little tooling around with it will eventually bring you to it's sweet-spot for your amp.

Simple as pedal

Honestly this unit as fantastic's tone when use with a good guitar and a good tbe's amp.

BOSS quality, built like a tank

Don't know!

I finally choose a BOSS ME-50 for overdrive/distortion and effects! I'm so glad to have made this choice. I sold my IBANEZ TS-9 and BOSS DS-1 to have more cash. The sound of the ME-50 is almost perfect with my US natural ash Tele and 65'Deluxe Reverb RI. The overdrive/distortion are wonderfull but I use principaly scream mode (better tone that my TS-9). Modulation and delay (analog mode) are superb. It's like having more pedals that you can use in a simple quality unit! Futhermore you can plug earphone and play at 3 o'clock am without disturbing anyone.

I consider myself like a tube's purist but I'm not rich enough to buy all my favorite pedals... I have to choose between buying a Maxon AD-80 RI and a Dunlop Cry Baby Classic Wah or the BOSS ME-50. I was very affraid to go digital but honestly with a good guitar and a good tube's amp the tone of the ME-50 is wonderfully good.

I recieved my Boss ME-50 yesterday, and I loved it from the first second I took it out of the box. I've been searching for a specific pedal board that'll give me certain tones, and I've found it. The patches are pretty good too, and they'll be useful for years to come. Manual's also easy too, straight forward, no bullshit.

I'm using this with my Epiphone Les Paul Special that i bought from Sam Ash with Gibson vintage Re-issue strings and a Crate GX-20M amp that's about 10 years old, and the sound is great. The overdrive and distortion are very smooth and the sustain is nice and long. The compressor gets the job done and lengthens my sustain while in clean mode, noise supressor keeps the background sounds down, the expression pedal, nice effects for tone bending, tone mod is incredible. I like how I can get "spacy" sounds out of it by turning the knobs, I'm sure my friend will enjoy it if I played this for him when he, umm, takes a "trip" The delay is fantastic, nice and long, and you can make it sound like a tape fast forwarding. Overall, there's a very nice balance of sound, and boss did a kick ass job with this unit.

I haven't gigged with it yet, but I soon will. I really wouldn't mind bending down to turn the knobs if I have to, it's all good.

Haven't dealed with boss yet, but I'm sure they're good.

Overall, you get value for your money. I've been playing for 3 years, and my main music is Beatles, but I also play AC/DC, Nirvana, Aerosmith, Kiss, The Who, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, The Offspring, Blink 182, Hendrix, and so on. I can easily dial up any tone I need very quickly. If this was stolen, I would first admire the theif for his good taste, then I would go buy another one. The biggest thing with me is, I don't have a lot of money to spend, so it was important that I found a unit that delivered a variety of sounds that was affordable, and this meets my needs. My only gripe is the tuner, I can't get a proper tuning, so I'll continue to use my Korg tuner, but that's not enough to keep the rating down. This is a must buy if you need effects but don't have a lot of money. Kudos to boss, keep up the great work.

Im old-school, and simplicity means everything! I figure if I can use this thing without taking a week with an instruction manual, anyone can!

Hey! finally a friggin effects unit thats compatible with one LOUD-ASS MARSHALL PLEXI STACK!!! Anyone who owns a plexi knows what Im talking about! (there finicky as hell!) This thing quiets down the hiss, and all that other high volume bullshit so I can actually hear the effects. SURPRISE, it doesnt sound any different than when I crank this thing by itself clean! ie: it doesnt radicly change, or take away from my sound.

Never used Boss before. We'll see.

Again, never used them before, so time will tell.

Went pro back in "73" ( yes, I mean arenas and such ). I"ve always used the least amount of crap on the stage as possible! I've tried alot of different rigs over the years, but always kept them simple! ( cause I'm a simpleton!) My tried and true consists of the following, (generally), 65 strat, or 59 LP Junior, into this ME-50 thing, followed by a classic cry-baby, a "69" echoplex, a "70" Maestro PS-1 phase shifter, and into 3, (lately just one), 100 watt plexi stacks (with 30 watt cones. Hey, works for me!

A follow up review,
I got some extremely awesome sounds using this on some tube amps finally.
I have tried plugging headphones into this unit by itself and here is a fact.
Do not judge the sound quality of the pedal if you just plug headphones into at a store, it is a guitar PEDAL, not a direct recording or all in one POD XT like unit. You use this hooked to an amp for the real sound.
Using this with headphones is like plugging your guitar into any single effect pedal and then hooking headphones to it, CRAP.
If you use a Line 6 Amp modeler through it that would make it into an all in one silent recording/ headphone practice. But that is not what the this pedal is meant for. It is meant for being hooked to a medium quality to high quality amp, in which case it sounds awesome.
I really like the Tight, Fat, and Single coil tone shapers, they are cool.
I don't see why people want an EQ instead of the tone modify. You can work the EQ on your amp ya know unless you have something with no mid variables like a Vox.

Still working after a few months.

This is a guitar pedal, so don't plug headphones into even though it has that option, it is not made for that!
Just plug it into a good amp at the store and be amazed by the tonal quality.
Works for all types of music.
Some of the presets suck, some are good, but who uses presets anyway?

Very easy to use due to the specific knobs for each effect. Dedicated footswithes make this unit very easy to use. Short manual is very precise and to the point unlike any other manual i have read which are more like a samll encyclopedia.

I use a 2003 ibanez SZ with a seymour duncan invader and p-90 through a marshall MG100DFX amplifier and a fender 60 watt combo, with a host of all other effects. The effects on this baby were far better than i could of expected from a multi-effects unit so some of my other effects are soon to be ditched to make my board samller and easier to use during gigs. I get little background fuzz when using this even with the distrotions on full whack. I love the range of flange sounds you can get from the twist of a knob in the modulation section. Its great!

Never had any probs with boss, built like a german fighting for a sunbed.

Never delt with the fellars. Bet their nice though.

This is a great little multi fx pedal, and it siuts my style of melodic rock perfectly. I also own in the fx department, a bigg muff, boss DS-2, memory man, digitech whammy and a boss line selector. I would but this again if it was stolen, no doubt, for the money its a brilliant buy. I wish there was an extra footswith included for the tone modify section instead of having to buy another one, but hey, for the money this is a steal.

This is the best guitar realted purchase i have ever made in my life...plug it in turn it on and your ready. I never once read the manual thats how easy it is to use

i run this between my Peavey Roadmaster 160W tube amp and my Fender American Series Stratocaster. This thing has never made any moise, ive never got this thing to sound bad, i can get the sound of Incubus, Tom Morello, Adam Jones...u name it this thing can do it.

This is a BOSS guys c'mon this question shouldnt even be here...

Boss has a GREAT Customer Support program.

When messing around i play Tool, Incubus, Audioslave, Radiohead, stuff like that. My bands style is like Tool/deftones/disturbed this pedal is great if lost i would buy another one...pronto.

It is easy to get a good sound out of it.
Editing patches is easy.
The manual is good, it goes beyond the call of duty by listing the preset parameters.

I use this with a Fender Deluxe Double Fat Strat and a Fender Dynatouch Deluxe 90 watt amp.
It is noiseless.
All the effects are variable, you can make it weak or make it strong. They sound edit your tone just how the real pedal would.
I could get any bands sound with at tube amp, but without a tube amp, I am still pretty damn close.
I do emo/screamo and punk rock with some blues like stuff. It works good for all music styles. For the money, there is NOTHING you can buy better. Whoever gave it a bad score must have got a bad unit or be tone deaf. Everyone I know loves this unit, expert adults and teens.
I love the Od-1, Natural, BD-2, Ds-1, Tubescream, Guvnor, High gain, and big muff the most. My favorite is the Rat, the rat is so damn awesome. All of the other models are good, I just like some more than others due to my tastes. This pedal can do everything.
All the effects are perfect. Whoever said it can't get a good crunch was extremely wrong, the crunch model is very crunchy and so is the Od-1.

I see no reason it would break, and it is from Boss so you know their rep....

I dunno anything about it.

I do emp/screamo and punk rock with some bluesish solos. It works perfect for any style.
I would buy it again if it were stolen because my amplifier's normal overdrive is not good with humbuckers. O yea, this unit sounds perfect with single coils too. I tried a telecaster with it to make sure. I love the wah on it.
I compared it's bd-2 and ds-1 model to the real thing. The match up good. The difference is that the me-50 is quieter.
I wish it had some wah variations like a boss snarlin dogs, but it is ok that it doesnt.
It helps me make music more than anything ever has. I cannot wait to plug it into my first tube amp I am getting soon(fender twin reverb or a marshall DSL50 half stack) I am also getting a telecaster or rickenbacker soon probably so that will be cool to use with the unit.
If you are on a budget, this unit is what you need. Don't settle for less, buy this pedal.

Very easy to use. No tricky menus to scroll through just simple knobs to twist and the odd buttons to press. I hate having to read through chunky manuals so this is great for me.

It takes the best sounds from Boss's vast individual stomp box range and packs it all into one compact unit. The emulations are very good indeed and sound very close to the quality of the individual stomp boxes it is trying to ape (I should know as I have most of the individual stomp boxes). The COSM technology is very good and the overdrive sounds are very satisfying. The modulation and delay effects are also very good. The only let down is the reverb control which allows you to scroll through four reverb modes by means of quarter turns of a single knob. This I find is a little limiting but the reverb sounds are actually pretty good. Anyway, I use an Alesis Quadraverb for reverb duties anyway so no big deal. Overall, very tasty effects available in this multi fx offering.

Had it for nearly a year and no problems yet. It's all metal casing should make it very durable. Typical quality Boss construction.

Never had to deal with Boss even though I have a load of Boss pedals. Boss pedals are made to last.

I play blues and rock and this multi fx will cover most applications with plenty to spare. It's not as programmable as the GT6 but you don't have to spend a week after buying it to get a decent sound out of it. It's a great unit and I rate it the second best multi fx I have, behind my Ibanez PUE5 which has sounds out of this world (get one if you can get hold of one). For the money, I think it is an absolute steal. If it was stolen, I would be upset but I would look around to see what other multi fxs are around before splashing out for a replacement.

very easy to sus out.
patches are 50%good, some are very "one exact style" which limits them.
the manual is spot on for explaining exactly how their pre set patches were made.

i play my 99.9% original 73 strat through this, into a shit standard poxy tramp ohm amp.
it gets me the mick taylor les paul sound im looking for,fucking cool!!!
some of the distortion effects are very good, full stack etc, but seems to have a bit to much amp feedback.
some of the modulation effects are a bit pointless.

i dont gig with it (yet) but its fucking solid metal construction is .....solid!!!!

haven't needed manufacturer back up, but all my boss pedals have never fucked up

I love that you can use the ME-50 in purely manual mode
as if it is a string of stompboxes. You never have to
program anything if you are not inclined. Very intuitive.

I bought this as a replacement for a pedal board that was
stolen at a show. It is setup with exactly the same fx order that
I use (delay>modulation>distortion>reverb) Everything has it's
dedicated footswitch except reverb, but I leave that on anyway.
So $600 worth of lost fx was replaced by $299, and I have more
options in each fx category. Sound quality is Boss/Roland,
exceptional.

My band plays between 4 and 8 shows a week,
so I will be depending on it. If it is half
as reliable as Boss pedals, I have no worries.

Roland/Boss is a little light on archiving info on their products,
but I have had no problem with finding upgrades or repairs
on the Roland/Boss gear I own.

Just a Boss RV5 reverb will cost you $140... considering
it is only $299 and you get expression pedal, 3 dedicated
on/off fx categories, tone shaping, compression, and reverb,
the ME-50 is a bargain. I love knobs, hate menus. Boss did
a great job on the design. Best multieffect for the money, easy.

I am an older musician who was used to using what is now refered to as "vintage equipment". In my younger days when music was a source of income, I made it a point to use only "pro" gear that I may have paid a little more for but you could expect it to provide long life, little if any problems and provided the sounds necessary to cover what was being used on the recordings of the day. But, nothing lasts forever and some time ago I found it necessary to replace my echo unit. It's been a while since I had purhased any gear and I couldnt beleive the price of some of the stuff that's out there. I tried several different units but none had the clear, rich sound that I was looking for. One of the fella's in the band lent me some Boss pedals to try and write from the first note, I was hooked. I went out to buy a Boss echo unit but for not a lot of dollars more I was able to get this ME50 which provides a host of other functions. This unit was made to order! And I mean that litterally. I shopped just about every music store within about a 45 minute drive from where I live and EVERBODY was sold out. Finnaly I found a place that had only the store demo left. They lent me that one until the one they ordered for me arrived. I'm not into a lot of electronic wizardry. Just give me a unit that will sound good live and is easy to use. If an old guy like me can handle it, anyone can. The only minor irritation as far as ease of use is that because the switch banks are close together you have to be carfull not to press 2 of them at a time.

I really like the sound of this unit. The tone modification bank is really handy and I can make use of many of the presets. The acoustic simulater is a bit hokey but it's good enough to get you through a couple songs a night and saves you luggin' more equipment around. I especially make use of the compressor and reverb functions. This unit is really quiet. Of course before I was using individual effects all linked together. This is a big improvement over that and even the guys in the band commented how quiet it was. I am using this unit with a Gibson 335 or a Les Paul Deluxe. For amplification I am using a Peavey Special 150 - a nice clean amp. I currently play 50's -60's rock and roll and some old country. This unit covers any sound I need and does it well.

This is really important to me. I never owned any Boss products before but they have been around forever and if it didn't stand up, they would have fallen by the wayside like many other manufactures have long ago.

I can't offer an opinion on this because I have never had to deal with Boss directly and if there product is as good as I hope it will be, I won't have to anyway.

I guess you could say I'm a "mercenary". I play all styles of music from continental dance, to ethnic, to rock and roll, to country. I've been playing a long time - over 30 years and I need equipment that is versatile, stands up under professional use and sounds good. I've spent a lifetime finding the gear I want to give me that sound. I'm happy with the sound I'm getting so I don't need to try and "model" somebody else's sound. This seems to be the big rage these days and it's one of the reasons I chose Boss over other products on the market. It allows me to complement what I'm doing instead of trying to make me sound like something else.

I choose the ME-50 because it was made of metal(not plastic) and you could dial up the settings directly (no menu searching). It seems pretty easy to use, although making patches its the nromal menu surfingprocess. The manual is basic but good.

Most of the time I play a 20-year-old Ibanez Blazer strat copy through my computer set-up (edirol speakers) so the effects one uses is important to improve the flat sound. As I have since discovered since buying the unit all sounds are quite good except distortion. Nice chorus, modulation & OK delay settings (I leave it on analog delay mostly). The distortion is crap. No doubt about it, you loose the tone of your guitar on any of the settings, lots and lots of noise generated, very hard to get any reasonable sound (my old zoom 9009 & gfx707 had heaps better distortion). Wah pedal OK &^ quite usable. Everything quite good except the 'all important' distortion.

I have had Boss gear for years and they always last very well so I guess that this will be reliable as well.

Have not had long enough to know.

Becasue i do not play live very much at the momnet, I needed a multi effect that is really good. Althought the modulation, delay & wah are ok I will probebly keep it however I and now have to purchase further distrotion effects. 6 out of 10 Its just OK

Good manual
I have never used an MFX unit before - I had it figured out in 5 minutes. Editing patches is pretty easy too. But Boss - include a bank-switching device! With long and pointy toes, it can be done as is, but leaving that out is pretty cheesy.

Using a new Rickenbacker 330 --> ME50 --> ss practice amp or PC for recording.
Its sounds good! At least for my uses. I have not yet used it live, so my comments obviously don't apply for high volume situations.
In general, it adds greatly to the flexibility of my "rig." I was originally set to get a small tube amp along the lines of a Blues Junior or similar. BUt, even that amp is too loud in an apartment.
I like most of the effects. My priorities included a good delay pedal, passable reverb, and good OD and distortion. The ME50 gives me all of those things and more, for less than the price of 2 or 3 good pedals. Definitely high marks for "marginal utility per dollar." FOr you non-econ majors, heaping helpings of bang for the buck.

Individual effects:
OD/Dist - lots to choose from here. I am not picky, and my amp limits touch sensitivity to the solid state realm. Lots to choose from and no complaints.

Modulation Effects
Chorus works for my purposes - adding a hint of shimmer to clean sounds and slightly thickening up distorted leads for an '80s arena sound. The rest of this category sounds like fun once in a while, but not stuff I use on a daily basis.
The harmonizer blows - but as this is not a core effect, no biggy.
Flange is usuable.
Have not messed with the others much.

Delay - very good! The digi-delay options are extensive, and include loooong delay times. The "loop" function is pretty weak though - only enough time to get in a very brief riff, which will drive you nuts in less than a minute, guaranteed. That's a minor quibble though. The reverse delay does what is supposed to, and works well for getting bizarre spacy effects. Analog is decent. Essentially the delay is a DD6 sans a few goodies. I am very satisfied here - and I use delay a lot (With a heavy metal shred machine like my rick, are you surprised?)

Reverb is basically pretty weak other than "hall" - I leave mine off or set it to "hall." Both the spring and mod settings produce an unpleasant, high-pitched clicky sound on my higher strings which makes them unusable. No fendery wash here. Grr! THe "4 settings on one knob" thing doesn;t bother me in the slightest though. BUt, definitely an improvement over my amp.

COmpression - sounds like ass straight through to the amp, because it sucks a lot of tone. It is useful, however, for recording. Maybe a real amp would fix this.

Wah - mixed. On clean sounds it's passable. With distortion, a lot of very obvious digital noise creeps in. As others have commented, the range seems messed up - going from full "wah" to full closed with the barest hint of heel pressure - the transition is not smooth at all. It can be made to work, but get the real deal if distorted wah is important to you.

I really like the "whammy" function of the expressions pedal - especially the detune - used *sparingly,* I think it can really add something. It's not a replacement for a wang bar, but a useful tool in it's own right. It's also a good deal of fun to mess with.

Tone shape
Yeah, a real eq would have been better, but I frequently use the "fat" and "HB" settings on my rick - both thicken up the mids and lower mids a bit, which can help for a bluesier sound. It still, inevittably, sounds like a rick though (yay!) Obviously I am not going to use the top-boosting settings anytime soon - instant icepick.

Insert cliched boss description here ____________________

Despite some of the flaws (reverb!) This unit is a total steal for what you get - I was looking for a good delay, (1) good reverb, and a good dirt box. I got all of that plus a lot of extra goodies. I couldn;t care less if the Big Muff Pi setting sounds exaclty like the real thing - and no audience will either.
THis is a great foundation for those of us needing usuable effects on the cheap. Which is what I recommend this unit for. I won;t comment on its appropriateness for touring pros. Highly satisfied given my expectations.

I play a bizarre mixostuff - some pseudo-jazz, indiepop along the lines of REM, sleater-kinney, the Feelies, Pixies, etc, and am trying to get more into blues based classic rock. Through on some celtic-inspired fingerstyle stuff and that's me. For my intended uses, the delay especially makes the ME50 worthwhile. Again, I am highly satisfied, YMMV.

This unit is incredibly simple to operate. I have had some experience with a Digitech RP1 and the ME-50 is so much easier to edit, save and use patches. The "effects" are divided into 3 sub-groups: 1) Distortion/Overdrive; 2) Modulation; and 3) Delay. All you have to do is turn the dial to the desired type of distortion, modulation, etc. . . adjust it to taste, with knobs incredibly similiar to those on an independent pedal, and play. The manual is simple and to the point. Explains each effect fairly briefly and explains how to edit and save. Of course, like any multi-effects box, some of the factory presets are "cheesey" and have no "practical" use for me.

As for sound quality, I guess I should first describe my setup. I am running the ME-50 through a Crate BXH-220 bass head into a Behringer BG412S cabinet and using either a Fernandez Revolver Pro, ESP M-350, or ESP MV-100 all with stock pickups. I have noticed no noise on any settings thus far or any "weak" effects. The only complaint I have is that the chorus is a little thin for my tastes, however I was spoiled to a 90's Peavey Stereo Chorus 212 for 11 years and it may be due to the speakers in the cabinet. I have had no difficulty so far adjusting the effects to emmulate a specific "tone" whether it be a bluesy over-drive or a screamin' demon metal tone. I must admit that the "wah" function of the expression pedal may be a little weak, but I can not honestly say since I have had no previous experience with a wah pedal of any type. I will say that I am still in the romance stage with it and that this is the 1st multi-effects pedal that I have ever purchased for guitar. Overall the strength of this unit seems to be the "lack" of any amp/cabinet modeling. A majority of the effects are Boss's own with very few attempts to sound like some other company's pedals.

The contruction of the unit would seem to make reliable, however I have not used it in a "live" or even a recording session yet.

I haven't had to deal with customer support yet (knock on wood) and hope that I don't have to.

This product seems to be a good match for what I play. I am very ecclectic in my playing. I play anything from blues to metal, and even throw in a little neo-classical and jazz. The unit seems to be as flexible as I want it to be. I have been playing for a little over 18 years and for the longest time felt that any effects besides distortion, chorus and reverb were simply overkill. The other gear as far as guitar playing goes was mentioned earlier, but I also play bass. For that I have several basses (a Rogue 5 string with EMG Select pickups, a Memphis Jazz copy with EMG Selects, an Ibanez G10, and a Ventura EBO copy) and a Peavey 115 combo amp. If the ME-50 was lost or stolen, I would definitely replace it with another one. My favorite feature is the ease of use compared to any other multi-effects units that I have had the priviledge of helping other guitarists translate, edit, tweak settings, etc... My least favorite feature is that changing patch banks requires purchasing 2 other pedals and a special type of patch cord or bending over and then "manually" changing the bank (i forsee this being most inconvienent at a live gig, unless I happen to play barefoot and have very dextirous toes. LOL). As for comparing it to any others, I looked at several "modeling" amps and a few multi-effects boxes and this seemed to be the best value for straight-ahead effects and ease of use.

I wrote a review earlier. ( $400 can-eh-dian) But after jamming with it at high volumes i noticed something that someone else mentioned.
Most of the od's and distortions give of some rediculous feedback right after playing any stop-n-go chord or even note for that matter.(mostly at high volumes) The feedback an insanly loud and the ns takes a second to kick in. THIS SHOULD NOT HAPPEN.
The manual says that if the distortion level is too high, there may be some noise. WELL IS 12:00 TOO FRIGGIN HIGH???and i'm getting screaming feedback on any guitar I plug into it. The distortion volume should not be lower then the clean, especially in a live setting. so I guess this thing is pretty limited. AND NOW I have to use outside distortion pedals to not damage my ears, and external pedals don't exactly function well with a lot of the effects. (especially the pitch shift) so much for simplicity..............................fuck man...............................................I waited months for this thing and it is bull shit. I have owned it for four months now and the other effects sound great but they are not nearly as usefull without the onboard distortions.(which sound great at low volumes) IF ANYONE KNOWS ANY THING ABOUT THIS PROBLEM TAT CAN HELP ME OUT, E-MAIL ME AT fullmarshallstack@hotmail.com IT WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED.

I own a shitload of boss pedals.They usually make great stuff and this unit is no exception, but i figured BOSS would do it a little better than they did. IF ANYONE WHO WORKS FOR THE BOSS/ROLAND CORP CAN HELP ME (A LIFE LONG CUSTOMER) FIX THIS PROBLEM PLEASE LET ME KNOW.

Plug in your guitar and crank it up, twist a few knobs and it's just like playing with a series of stomp boxes. Editing is a breeze and the manual is decent enough. Boss manuals never go into enough detail for me, but I like reading about effects. Way easy to deal with.

I use the ME-50 through either a Tech 21 Trademark 60 (w/ a Parker Nitefly), a Peavey Ecoustic 112 or Tech 21 Bronzewood 60 (w/ a Takamine acoustic-electric), or mainly a Fender Powerstage 100 PA (w/ a Line 6 Variax) and the Boss sounds great. Very quiet on the whole and the effects are very good to excellent. Presets are, well, presets: fun to mess with but not what I would use on a gig or a jam, but what multi-effector has presets that everyone would use? I can't complain about any of the effects. There are enough distortion/overdrive/fuzz options to please just about anyone. All the major modulation effects are there and they are equal to if not better than the PODxt modulation effects (I also have a PODxt). Okay, so the Boss doesn't model a Phase 90 or a ADA Flanger, but the effects on the Boss hang right there with 'em. The delays are great as well. By the way, the Twin Pedal series has many of the same great qualtiy effects as the ME-50. I'd rate this a 9.5 cause it's not perfect, but compared to other multi-effectors out there (and I've used a ton of 'em over the past 25 years) it's equally as good as most or better, IMHO.

I own a bunch of Boss gear and have never had a problem. Oh yeah, I don't work for Boss/Roland, I'm a 6th grade teacher who loves to play guitar.

Never dealth w/ 'em.

I'm a jam-based folkadelic player who occasionally plays out and I often jam with other like minded folk and the ME-50 does what I need it to do, plus it doesn't have amp modelers/preamps that I don't need and the tone modifier works well for me (I don't need EQ and I hate to tweak endless EQ parameters. I have a VF-1 for that). I own a crap load of Boss gear and have owned pedals and rack gear from Boss, MXR, Electro-Harmonix, Line 6, Akai, TC Electronic, Lexicon, Rocktron, to name a few over the years. There are tons of quality manufacturers out there and Boss is one of 'em. Don't listen to those who bad mouth Boss stuff. Great sound quality. Top of the line durability. Easy to use. And while not the cheapest price out there, it's money well spent. If you're like me and prefer pedals to multi effects because they're easier to use and require less time to program, check out the ME-50. I needed a multi effect to lug around to simplify travel, and it's like using pedals except everything I need is in one housing, and it doesn't have the things I don't need.

As with most Boss products, the ME-50 was extremely easy to use. Its just like a row of stomp boxes. Editing couln't be any easier! Just push a couple of buttons and your done. The only problem comes when you have to change patch banks, unless you buy a couple of extra foot switches you're going to have to bend down and push a small button. Its kind of a pain in the ass but with some careful planning you can work it out by setting up each bank with all the effects you need for a song.

This is where it started to piss me off. With the exception of about 2, the distortions flat out suck!!! They all sound very week compared and thin compared to a regular Boss stomp box. The biggest problem with the sound is a really horrible reverb that comes when you turn on the distortion. Its not like reverb that you want its more like bad feedback. You can't play any kind of stop/start riff without this disgusting noise following.

Besides the problems with the distortions, everything else sounded pretty good. The Modulations all sounded very good with the exception of a couple (the ring mod. for one). The delay was very good, although it could have been longer. It stops at about 2 seconds. The wah is great though don't plan on playing alot with the octive up/down effect, it just sounds like crap. Its very thin sounding. Its cool to just mess around with though.

All around you can get alot of really cool sounds out of it, its just that you don't get the sound quality of a traditional stomp box. Just keep in mind that they are using COSM technology so all the effects are simulated.

Definitly dependable!!! You can count on anything with the boss name.

Never had to deal with them!!!

This would have been a killer tool if it weren't for the crappy distortion. I just sold it and went back to the single pedal setup. If you are looking for a really cool multi-effects pedal i would go for a Digitech. Although they don't have the ease of use as this one I think that its worth the extra few minutes it takes to program them. The effects they produce just sound great. I just bought a Digitech Genesis 3 off Ebay and it is amazing. This is the first effects devise i have ever heard that had quality pre-sets.

I have some experience with multi fx's and pedals. This is easy, but I don't like the fact that there is no bank switch and going to tuner/ manual you have to hit two pedals.editing/saving is simple pushing the correct buttons.

reverb option is a bit minor.I like most of the overdrive/distortions, the U-vibe, the phaser, the standard delay.
I didn't like the ring mod, but I could never use that live anyway.
Very stompbox sound and feel.

never had problems with boss, this looks ok too.

never needed them

I bought this because for rehearsal with my band.I have a line 6 flextone II plus home and a marshall jcm in the rehearsal room.
I like it but I miss the bank switches and the option to customize the expression pedal.

No menus. No scrolling through parameters. No "bank up" or "bank down" pedals. No amp modeling features. This pedal is perfect! It's about time someone came out with a no-nonsense, useable pedal that has the simplicity of stompboxes with the tone to back it up. This pedal is reminiscent of the old Ibanez Power Trio only with more options. It suits me just fine.

I'm using this pedal with a 2003 American Series Strat, 2002 Classic Series 60's Strat with Texas Specials. My amps are a Blues Jr. and a Hot Rod Deville 2x12. This pedalboard doesn't sound as good as individual stompboxes, but with all the options to choose from and the ability to tweak the sound to my taste with the simple twist of a knob, plus the cost savings (Imagine the cost of all these pedals separately) this is a great product. Plus, how often do you really use more than one or two distortion pedals when playing?

The distortions sound very good for the most part, but I have to agree with some other reviewers that the fuzz and big muff settings aren't as good as the originals. But then again, what is? The modulation effects are excellent, especially the chorus and the flange and the delays are equally excellent. I like the compressor feature as well as the tone modify, especially set on "fat". This is a quality product. In comparison to my Zoom GFX-8 this pedalboard sounds better and is much easier to use.

The all metal chassis is very sturdy and the quality is very good. I believe this pedal will last a long time. I've never had any problems with boss products in the past, and don't anticipate I will with this.

I'm a "hobbyist" or amateur if you will who has been playing for 34 years and play jazz, blues, and rock. This pedal will provide me with multitudes of sound to fit whatever style of music I'm playing. I didn't find it overly noisy like some did on the high gain settngs, but a good guitar, a good cable, and a good amp also make a huge difference in the equation. You can't beat the quality of this product for the price. Plus, it's simplicity is great for someone like me who likes to dial in different sounds. I don't play live so I can't comment on how this would perform in a live setting.

Fairly Easy to use. You can get confused if you overthink this product. Manual is solid.

Best used in front of the amp. You can encounter problems trying to use the unit through the effects loop. One of the units strongest features is that it does not colour your sound, if all effects are off. Other types of units I've used in the past have acted as a seperate preamp. Boss has done a reasinable job here.

Had the unit for 6 months - no problems. Steel chassis, not plastic, adds class and refinement. Very structurally sound.

Have not had any opportunity to work with Boss. Have owned Boss floor pedal effects in the past. All have seemed reasonably constucted

I play mostly Blues and Rock. I dont gig, just jam with friends. Boss has designed something here that is meant to be a new Generation of Effects Unit. Noise Gate is very effective. The Wah is the best I have ever used. The basics are covered, Distortion, Modulation, and Delay. The choices within those groups are extensive. Delay algorithms need improvement, but are acceptable, Modulation is the strongest of the three major groups. Many distotions can be selected, the "variation" button gives a passable tube-like sound. Remember the best distortion always comes from the amp itself, tubes still rule in this area. If distortion is what your looking for go for a tube-preamp type pedal. Overall Boss has done a good job with this unit. There are some bugs to be worked out. I especially like that there is always a knob you can fine tune with. Due to the nature of room acoustics, presets you worked on for hours in your room or studio may not sound right wherever you gig or jam. Preset patches are overated. Boss has included 30 presets, that should be more than enough.

Pretty easy and straight forward controls. It took a little time to figure how to write effect settings into the processor, but the manual helped out with that. Just as easy as stompboxes w/o all the cables

Most of the COSM stuff is really good. Some of the distortions are a little too noisy but thats why there is the noise suppressor. Also if you do bends or try to sustain a high note it makes a weird signal sound or something i dont know how to describe it you can hear it if you turn on an effect full distortion and tone then add a little flange and do a high bend at say the 119th fret on the high e.
I wish you had more control over the reverb too. Also the harmonist is ok not the best i've heard along with the ring mod.

Most of Boss' stuff is reliable. I havent need to use a backup but i do have a gp-100 that is collecting dust due to the ease of use, amount of fun i have on this thing and the fact i dont have foot controll which will make the gp-100 more convenient for switch patches.

never had to deal with it

i think its like an 8.5. its a good product to help you get familiar with effects or if you are tired of going through screen and having to punch it your settings. This thing you just turn it on adjust the knobs and play. The only thing i wish that was better was the bank switch, it is too smallyou cant switch with your feet you have to get down and punch it with your finger it would have been nice if they were foot switches like on the me-33 and gt-6. but i plant to keep this unit for a while.

Nothing out there easier...except for the single stomp boxes themselves...

Strat and a Reverend Hellhound w/ext cab..as usual, the presets aren't worth a shit....but it's ultra tweakable...and simple and small...I was tired of cables...If I don't like a sound, I change it...

Don't know about Boss much......the rep is good tho...We like metal chassis and a sturdy pedal...

Big companies usually don't have time to get back to you...one of the reasons I got the Hellhound...they always get back to you.....

We have a very eclectic song list, calls for alot of variables..rock, ballads, blues etc...and this has to be the best deal out there considering what you get...I don't have that Eventide kinda budget...$300 I can do.....Distortions for days, flange, phase, chorus and a passle of delay options....nice.....I would get another if ripped off....Since we're gigging now, I needed a simple, effective tool to pull the deal off, and for now, this is it.....Or maybe I just really like this color of blue..

I was up and running with a good distortion and delay sound in less than 5 minutes. The ease of use and stability of this unit is a relief from the POD 2.0 that I've had to deal with in the past. Creating patches doesn't require a Masters Degree and the manual is quite helpfull if any questions should arise.

I'm running the ME-50 through the front end of a Marshall JCM 2000-DSL 100 with 4x12 cab and because the amp has a great clean sound the ME-50 shines through. I play a Gibson re-issue 76' Explorer and usually play various styles of music and the ME-50 gives me plenty of flexibility. The noise gate works like it should and doesn't hinder soft passages at low volume and the reverbs are good although I use the reverb on the Marshall instead.

I've never had problems with any boss pedals and neither have any of my friends. If you want a dependable, good quality, awesome sounding pedal, Boss is the way to go. I've returned other pedals in the past (Line 6) due to the lack of sound and other complications, so I guess I'll just stick with what works. I can't stand looking at knobs and not knowing if what it's showing is what I'm hearing or not. This pedal is very easy to adjust and read, so there's more time for playing.

Never had to deal with customer service. I guess that's a good thing.

This pedal can cover some musical territory, so I would say it could work for just about anyone that wants good sounds. I've been playing since 87' and probably could open a music store if I had kept all the amps, guitars, effects that I owned in the past. I was able to get the power supply for free due to a misprint in the musicians friend catalog, but I do think that companies should include power supply units for the more expensive products. I bought this pedal for the distortion and delay sections although I find myself using the tone modify and wah pedal on a regular basis. This unit has the sounds and flexibility that inspires me to play and I've had riffs just pouring from my finger tips since I pulled it out the box and set it up.

OK,there's 40-something reviews before mine here that describe the fx features and sounds ad nauseum, with most complaining about having to buy 2 Boss FS-5U footswitches and if you go by the manual, their PCA-31 stereo y-cable to use the ME-50 live, to turn Tone Modify or Compressor on/off or make Patch changes on the fly. So I'm going to do y'all a favor. The switches go for $28 each at American Musical Supply or Musicians Friend, a stereo y-cable will run about $10. And the Boss AC adaptor goes for another $20. Dont' like Boss's $100 add-on gambit? Me neither. So if you have to have the switching, actually,any momentary (non-latching) switch works, Yamaha's FC-5 go for $19 each (@ AMS). But here's the best solution: the Digitech FS-300 3-button switch ($42 @ AMS)comes with a 15' 1/4" TRS-TRS cord. One cord, one pedal. In Manual Mode, Button A switches Tone Modify, B the Compressor, and C will turn them both on/off at once, or if one or the other is on, will toggle between the 2. In Memory Mode, A is bank up, B is bank down, C does nothing. You have other options for AC power, especially if you need to have other pedals besides the ME-50 to handle your auditory masturbation urges; check out the Godlyke (or Maxon) PS9 Powerall to run the ME-50 and 4 other battery pedals for $40.

I use the ME-50 primarily in a home studio application, so footswitching isn't absolutely necessary. Neither was the ME-50; my digital recorder (Boss BR-532, going to move up soon)has most of these fx onboard, but tweaking them's a pain. But I already had the Digitech (and Yamaha) switches for other fx gear. I also had noisy, clumsy, never-enough chain/board of 8 pedals that I'd dealt with for 20 years until I traded them all in for the ME-50. And after one week with this tool, I don't miss them a bit, and I have about 60 more fx to choose from without having to go through the angst and scrolling through menus, etc.

More advice: don't disregard the manual. Alot of reviews here rightfully point out that many/most of the 30 factory preset patches are useless if not hilarious. (Especially how they're described). But Boss knew this, so the manual includes a chart that reveals all the settings for them, so you can figure out what to tweak,to edit them to your own taste or, duh, give you a guide on how to set up your own. That's also why they include a blank patch chart. Make yourself some copies and have at it. It ain't rocket science. Organize your banks/patches as you like, key your setlist.

OK, got that off my chest. Another clarification on ease of use: the Noise Suppressor and Reverb can only be turned on or off by their knobs. No footswitch. Sorry,you Leslie West types. But you were going to have to bend over to twiddle knobs if not swap pedal positions on your impressive array of little boxes anyway now, weren't you?

Switching to/from the (silent and very sensitive, accurate) Tuner or Memory mode, and setting Tap Tempos or the Hold delay (a 2-second loop)are done with the 3 fx switches. The Expression Pedal takes a pretty firm toe-push to swithch, but yu can adjust it's sensitivity. (See the manual; it ain't rocket science).

Unlike your snob-POD's, J-Stations, etc., there is no software to wonder if you need to upgrade or when it will crash. This is simply, with some compromises, an amalgamated pedal board that makes life simpler and if you aren't in love with all the sounds you can coax out of it, read on.

As other (rational)reviewers have pointed out (a) you need an excellent clean sound amp to start with and (b)different guitars, pickups and amps will produce different sounds for the same settings. I'm not going to get into critiques of whether the Overdrives or Choruses sound like 'the real deals' they model, or whether they deliver enough of this or that. Those are totally subjective and driven by the style of music you play, besides whether you've had the cash to actually own or try all of them long enough to really know. I sure haven't. You have just got to try this thing out, with your own guitars & amps, have the store's lamebrain clerk give you the manual, and give it a fair test drive. Take at least an hour. You'll probably want to spend more time once you get into it.

The ME-50 works best in front of the amp, by design. I tried it thru the fx loop of my Behringer GM-110, and I didn't notice much difference in sound. But in front of the amp, working your guitar's volume & tone controls gives you the ability to customize the EQ of 11 preset Tone Modify options, which many have whined about as useless. Limited, arbitrary, yes, but far from useless. I find some are instant kharma. My amp, an analog modeling amp (see my review and 35 others on this $100 marvel), is just a tad short in 'glassy' clean treble, since it's best clean setting is a Fender Tweed, not Blackface/Twin. The Enhance setting adds the missing sparkle. Now, my '81 Fender The Strat and new G&L Tribute ASAT Special really spank and twang like they should. My humbucker guitar is a Cort MGM-1 (Matt Murphy sig model), and it's alnico buckers can now growl like higher output ones. My '82 Rick 360-12BWB has never sounded better,with the Compression and range of Stereo Chorus and Delays here. Acoustics? Gotta cut back the bass a bunch on an Ovation Legend CS-257, and at low settings, the Compressor acts as a Limiter. Do NOT use the 'Acoustic Simulator' Tone Modify setting on it; chalk on a blackboard. That setting needs a bunch of eq help to make an electric come close to an acoustic, but then, the operative word is 'simulator'. Still, while the piezo pickup on the Ovation can be a bit shrill and honky without careful EQ tweaking, it's overall decent. I think an acoustic with much better or dual pre-amping could really fit well. But I'll keep noodling. Another week, I bet I find a good setting or 10.

In fact, my amp's lack of reverb/fx was what led me to the ME-50. I needed a satisfactory 'verb. I've got my choice of 4 very decent Reverbs with this. Some say they're not very tweakable; they're turning the dial too much, because I find they each have a wide range in a short span.

While the ME-50 works OK into a single amp, your really need to run it stereo to appreciate and get the most from all its modulation and delay fx. I'll probably get another GM-110 to gig with a matched pair. But you can go right into a board (or digital or analog multitrack recorder) with either the L/R amp outs or the Phones/Line out and get that. The amp outs give you the straight ME-50 sound; the manual says the Phone/Line out has an amp simulator, I just know the signal isn't as hot, less likely to overdrive a recorder.

The Expression/Volume Pedal is either/or, not both at once, and its range takes getting used to. So one pedal I kept was my Goodrich 300A Volume Pedal, which I put in my amp's fx loop, to control volume after fx and preamp, before Master. The other I kept was my 20-year old MXR 10-band EQ, hooked before the Volume Pedal. Between the EQ's on the amp and the EQ pedal, and some of the ME-50's expression modes, I think I've got all the final-stage tone-shaping I need. Maybe I should have kept my Cry Baby, maybe I'll get used to the range of the wah on this. So far, I don't miss it. Or my MXR DynaComp, Distortion+, Stereo Chorus,Stereo Phaser and little Phase 45. Or my Ross Flanger (and THAT is/was one awesome pedal). Or my Boss NS1 (Japan) Noise gate tha

Well, besides the NS-1 with 20 years on its clock and the BR-532 recorder I've had for a year, and several other Boss pedals I'd had, I've never had a Boss product fail. I expect this metal-chassis, heavy rubber switched 7-pounder to be there when I need it. I handle my stuff with care, pay attention to things like turning down all volumes before powering up or down, and don't take the term 'stomp' literally. Gigging is rare for me these days. But I never had backups for my single pedals. Boy, would that add up. To be safe, if I was gigging nightly or weakly, with this all-in-one baby, I'd save to have a spare. I'd look for one used and could probably find one wiht low miles on it for a song from harebrained doped-out headbanger who couldn't fathom the synergistic relationship of multi-effects, guitar and amp. I'll knock off a point just because it's all in one. Also, it's only a 1-year warranty, not 5 like the compact pedals, so that's another point to dock. (If you try it live, then screw your 'friendly' Guitar Center and buy it from AMS, you get a 2nd year Free, so you can personally add that point back.)I bought mine from my trusted local dealer, so I could trade all those dinosaurs for it. If it was a Zoom unit, I'd knock off 9 points. But as the mantra goes, 'it's a Boss'.

Boss's website isn't that hot. It's to sell stuff with, not to help, although with enough wandering, I found the downloads I needed for my BR-532. Try searching it sometime for an answer to what you'd think is an obvious question. Their online help (search a knowledge base, no FAQ's)is as useless as tits on bull, and phone support is better (than what I just said?). The best support comes from other Boss Customers in the User's group or in User's Forums in Yahoo. So I'll rate the combo of the company (2) and other customers (4), and my dealer(4). If you leave any of those components out, adjust my rating by docking the appropirate missing link's points

Unlike the many Guitar Gods and Wannabes that populate these reviews, I don't play every style, and absolutely no present day metal or thrash. I'm 53, playing since '62. You figure it out. I've covered just about every 'Classic Rock', Brit Invasion, Motown, Stax/Volt, Hot Country, Country/Southern-rock from Eagles to Outlaws to Skynyrd and, throw in Seger, Bryan Adams,Petty, John Cougar, Steve Miller. And yes, the metal in my bag is Zeppelin, the Who, hard rock is Aerosmith,AC/DC. All those sounds are found with the ME-50 and my guitars, amp, etc. I can't stand some of the Factory Presets, setup for guys 30 years younger than me. What can I say. Old Fart. But still rockin'. I've been working on writing my own stuff way too long. Ain't ever gonna be a superstar. Just sane.

My favorite feature? Might be that with headphones and a portable cd-player (with or without ac adapters)you can just use this as a stand-alone, very portable (fits in laptop computer bag nicely) silent jam-along & practice tool. (Or hook a rhythm box instead of CD player...hmm). I know it's my wife's and neighbors' favorite feature when the muse comes to me at 3am. Or 3pm. After 40+ years,I've just found something I wish I had from the git-go. I know I'd be a better musician, even more versatile and polished, because I wouldn't have been wasting time searching for the right sound for any situation or what I heard in my head, and would have been playing and creating instead.

I do wish Boss would include the AC adapter, but that's it. The footswitches are totally optional according to your use/needs. But the AC is a must. C'mon Boss. Get real.

If it were stolen? I'd amire the thief's intelligence and good taste, but want his testicles (or her left boob)in a jar of formaldehyde as their sentence if they were caught, tried, and convicted. Then I'd sell that souvenir on E-bay and go out and get another ME-50 ASAP.

This has to be a 10.

Easy to use when playing around at home. But the clever Boss-engineers came up with a briliant idea: you have to buy several other Boss-products to make it work well in a live situation. Unless you want to crawl around on the floor during the gig, you have to buy extra pedals for switching banks, for tempo-tapping and for turning on and off the "pedal-less" features compressor and tone-modify.
And you also have to pay extra for the DC-adaptor, otherwise you have to run it on batteries. Plus, the manual doesn't say anything about the specific requirements of the adaptor - you "have to buy" the Boss-adaptor. Now that is both clever and cheap, Boss. But mostly cheap!
The design with knobs instead of menues and displays makes up for some of this cheapness, and is the very reason I bought it.

I play Fenders through Fenders and Marshalls.
The distorsion/od-pedal is probably the best, but the one I'll be usin least. Some of the sounds, like the imitated Boss-pedals are quite good, as is the Tube Screamer-imitation. I had hopes for the Fuss Face and Big Muff-imitations, but they were a disappointment.
All of the od-sounds are very high gain, you have to keep the drive knob all the way down but there's still too much drive if you like to keep it almost-clean.
Some of the modulation-sounds are also decent, while some are crap. Boss could have skipped the pan, vibrato and one of the stereo-choruses and put more effort into the other sounds.
The delays are ok. Different stops for different time-ranges is a good feature, makes it more accurate. The analog delay sounds a bit like a Danecho, which is nice. The swell-delay is ok, while the "backwards" delay is useless. The hold-function is hard to master live.
The expression pedal is mostly useless. The "whammy"-function is a nice toy, though. But there is a slight delay before the sound comes out after you've plucked the string, not good.
But, for the money it's (almost) a bargain.

I'd depend on it. A big plus for the metal chassi. The expression pedal will probably give in first, but I won't cry.

Don't know. But I don't expect much, to be honest.

I traded in a bunch of separate stomp-boxes for it. I don't regret it, but I had higher hopes for it. The plus is, I get rid of all the cords and connections and get most of what I need from a single unit. And the basic features are easy to use on stage, thanks to the stomp box-like design.
A plus also for the possibility to turn the compressor, noise-suppressor and tone-modify off.

Easy to use (unless you're stupid) . Not too hard to get a good sound.

My setup consists of a u.s. tele, fat strat (w invader\tex/mex), and an ibanez rg 520. I play through a simple fender hot rod deluxe (erlier u.s. model). The best way to get good effect quality is to run your effects through a very clean amp. even an idiot can figure that one out. So if you are playing through a solid state crate shit and the unit does'nt live up to it's full potential, don't cry about it. I can get all kinds of awsome distortions, delays, flange effects etc. Different distortions will function differenty with different guitar/amp combinations ( the me-50 uses the charecter of your guitar and amp and applys the effect to it) so if your playing through a squirer with three singe coils DON'T COMPLAIN about bad distortion. The harmonist function if excellent but is only useful if how know how to play youy'r damn instrument. Th harmontist is the intelligent kind that can predict if things like if your 3rd shuold be minor or major based on the key and degree you would like you harmonise with. Overall GREAT SOUND.

ROCK SOLID!!!!!!!!!!! Huge upgrade from the me-33 plastic shit.

Friggin ASSHOLES

MAN...........for the price, you can't go wrong
I play just about every style of music and this unit caters to just about all of my needs. The is no perfect pedal but this one is GOOD. They do milk you on the whole bank switching thing, becouse yo got to but fs-5u pedals to switch between more than three banks at a time. But who gives a shit, what else can you get for 400 cadadian dollars...............fuck all.

As most guitarists look for simpler methods to get their sounds, I was pretty darn frustrated with the overlapping menus and digital parameters most floorprocessors use, but with this babe, it's top-notch sound shaping. It's a knob-twisting frenzy! Perfect for guys like me, no manuals, no menus, no big lcd screens. Just knobs.
It's that easy. I looked at the manual and if you don't get it by trying, the manual will most likely get you through.

I'm using the ME-50 through a bigass Marshall stack, and believe me: it sounds convincing. The effects are quite powerful, and if you're looking for easy access effects, this is your deal.
Of course it's not perfect, and sometimes the effects can get a little noisy when you're using a lot of gain, usually this can be helped by twisting a few knobs, unfortunately the noisesuppressor isn't always the answer. It helps, but you'll risk losing your sound and sustain too.
I usually aim for a dark, groovy and fat kind of distortion, like for instance the foo fighters or early Pearl Jam, and with this unit it's easily approached. Approached, yes... it can be quite tricky to get all the parameters right.
There are several kinds of OD/distortion, which means there are a couple of really good ones, and of course a couple of pretty crappy ones. Delay is superb!

It's a Boss pedal, if you don't put in any effort in breaking it, you will enjoy this unit for quite a while.
I gig with it without worrying about a backup.
Just remember not to use batteries. This baby drains your alkalines...

It didn't break.

This unit almost has it all. If you want smooth blues or if you're more interested in chopping desert-riffs, this baby does the trick.
I've been playing for 5 years now, and this is the best suiting pedal for me in this price range. There's better out there, and i suppose buying the singular effects would sound even better, but lets face it, I can't afford that. For me, this is the best solution.
Armed with a pick, a slide, and an E-bow this thing brings a nice quirkiness to my playing as well as those wanted "classic" sounds.
You only have to be careful not to go overboard with the effects, or you won't even recognize a guitar when you hear one...
Of course there's stuff missing, like a pedal to change banks, but Boss would like you to go out and buy that too, you just have to be a little more inventive, it works fine the way it is.
Also some of the effects could use a little fine tuning, and the wah pedal is a little disappointing.
Still at about $ 300,- this is great value

This is top-notch sound editing, i don't think this could get any easier, except maybe if someone else would like to do it for you... Even without the manual adjusting and saving your own presets is easy.

It isn't perfect though, 'cause when you switch patches, there is a short pause in the sound. But then again, this is just a minor problem, 'cause after a little practice this won't be a problem anymore.

I play a ( very...very good... ) 2002 epiphone Les Paul through the ME-50 with, at home, a peavey 158, which sounds quite impressing, but of course not great. But with my band i use a Marshall JCM. Now things get groovy.

There's all kinds of different distortion and overdrive sounds. not all of them are useful, but this makes it easy to approach your favourite bands and guitarists, still getting the parameters right can be very tricky. As someone else already said: "It's not a magic box"
I like all kinds of bands and styles and the ME-50 can handle it. Whether it's smooth blues you want, or chopping desert-riffs the ME-50 is your trusty sidekick.
Of course there are tons of possibilities, but mind you, it's easy to cross the lines and make your guitar sound like a chainsaw cutting through steel.
Most of the effects are more than decent, but some are either useless or not quite good enough. The reverb only works good if you crank it open at the largest preset: Hall
Delay is superb!

Boss has a good tradition in building solid stomp boxes, and so this thing looks like a tank. The only way to break it is to smash your guitar in it (which would be a double waste)while your playing some gig. I gig with it without even worrying about a backup. Just don't use batteries, this baby drains you alkalines...

It didn't break

In my band i usually play grooving rock riffs. I've heard people comparing our sound to foo fighters, and others comparing it to the police, so i'm kind a lost myself :)
I've been playing for five years now and the ME-50 was another step in the right direction. Too bad though that some effects aren't as good as others. The expression pedal works fine, but isn't great, and of course choosing a bank is done by a tiny button, or by buying an extra footswitch... do they think I'm made of money? Also it would've been helpful to have some more patches available, ten banks divided into three patches isn't very much...

I've played through a korg a1G but that was murder to the depth in the sound of my guitar. This one leaves the sound intact, which to me seems necessary, I also used a boss turbo distortion, but that ruled out any sustain. This baby does it for me... armed with a pick, a slide and an E-bow you can bring some kickass quirkiness to your playing, as well as "classic" sounds.
When i bought it i compared it to a couple of other floor processors, but for about $ 300,- there ain't nothing better. There's better out there, i just can't afford it.

Very easy to use. To use this live you need switches to move up and down the patches. People take about not being able to use this live, I don't get what they're talking about. I use it live all the time with no worries. You have to spend time with it initially to tweek it and be smart about the progression in which you set your patches. I set them 3 in a row in progression of clean, dirty, combination with modulation. I have patches for my strat and patches for my Leas Paul. It's GREAT for live use!

I use a Fender American Strat and a Epiphone Elite Les Paul Custom (which I highly recommend, I like it better than the Gibson I had) I play through the Boss ME 50 and I use a A B switch into a Boss TU -2 Tuner because the tuner on this is not useable in my opinion. I then run into a Fender Vibrolux with NOS tubes and Weber Ferromax Speakers (which are awesome!) This unit, properly tweeked and set up with your own patches is awesome, The price is cheep, some of the effects come very close to the originals (I've played them all.

It's a BOss!!

Just about the easiest piece of gear I own. I was able to figure out all the functions in about 5 minutes (didn't even open the manual until I'd played with it for a couple of hours)

I wanted easy and I got easy! No patch cords, etc, etc,

I'm sick to death of having to read manuals for every piece of gear - and I hate scrolling thru numerous windows - this thing is all about tweaking knobs!

Guitar is not my main axe - so I have not owned many guitar pedals, accordingly I can't really judge how accurate the COSM models are. I can get the general tones I want - so it works to my needs. The reverb is limited and the tone presets are limited (I think most people would prefer an actual EQ section).

Some of the distortion/OD models are user friendly and some simply don't seem very "musical" I think the time based (chorus, etc) sounds are pretty decent. The expression pdeal sounds are OK, but the wah is more limited than I would have liked.

Since guitar is not my main axe I struggle to get good tone (chops are easy, tone is a lifelong goal) and I was hopeful this would improve my tone - and while it certainly has many tonal options, it is not a magic box. I think it simply reinforces that tone is more about technique and less about technology.

However, for the price it is OK

Haven't had it long enough for an opinion - but every piece of Roland/Boss gear I've ever owned lasted forever!!!

It does appear to be very solid and I would think it would hold up well in gigging conditions

Don't know, never tried

I wanted easy - this is very easy. I wanted alot of sound options in one box - and this does it. I wanted a lot of bang for the buck and this does it. I think in the under $300 range is provides good value.

I needed this mostly for recording to use thru a POD, J-Station and a couple of low watt amps. It seems to work well as a front end for my amps (a Fender Champ and a small Marshall) but it does not play well with the POD or the J-Station (well after some work it does - but that compromises the whole easy thing).

I don't know if I would buy it again, but I'm sure I'll get my use out of it.

really easy to use, that's why I got that. the patching stuff can be a little confusing but using as stompboxes is totally cool. ease of use is not that important!

i've been busy with some pedals for a couple of years and I can tell what sounds good and what doesn't. this is totally crap! I sent it back to guitar center after 3 days.
as you can see below this page some people love this and some hate. some say that these effects are only immitations from the originals. this is, unfortunately, TRUE! I own a Big Muff Pi NYC reissue and the imitation of this awesome pedal on Boss ME-50 is just miserable. as long as the other distortions
not even the boss originals like DS-1 are OK.
let's take step by step:
tone modify: nice and cool but not so useful
comp: yeah it does the job but extremely noisy
NS: killes the noise and the TONE
reverb: yeah yeah... who needs it? specially this funny one!
dist/OD : one word: Miserable!
effects: there's a lot but they're not detailed, so forget it and it's really hard to get a decent sound out of phaser and chorus, tremolo is the only fine one :D
delay: it's digital delay, not analog so ignore those fake ones and it's fine. slow echo and revers are interesting
expression pedal: a nice function but extremely narrow in a way. wah is bad! really bad!
resonance and ring mods are cool but these two are much more sophisticated that can't be maneged by only one pedal
pitch shifting is good but only +1/-1 octave is not really enough
talker is mute! hahhaha

it's phisically reliable, I guess

never dealt with 'em

a toy!
wanna play around get it, has many features that will astonish you probably
but when using a small stone and knowing what a phaser sounds like, you would never touch ME-50
for $300, you can get some decent stuff.
I returned mine and got Boss CE-5, Boss DD-6 and I'm extremely happy about those 2 very pedals.
at least I can get what I want

the difference between these pedals is I spent so much time to get a good sound out of ME-50 but cound't, but any sound out of CE-5 is amazing!

Very easy even without reading the manual

Sounds good for all kind of music

well its metal so it should last for ever if you take the necesary cares, but will never and i repeat never gig with it, theres nothing wrong with sounds but its unbelievable that boss didnt put the bank selectors in it, besides the sound cut beetwen patches makes useless for realtime situations.

ive never had to deal with them so i cant say

i mostly play METAL (In Flame, Hipocrisy, At The Gates, etc), and with a
few touches i can get a very close sound to this bands, it has lots of efects which are really god but once again the sound goes out when you change a patch and it makes it useless, if it where stolen i wouldn't buy another, and i will advice the theft to sell it as soon as posible

when i was in the shop i was already setting effects up that i'd been using in my old multi fx with the greatest of ease. everything is there and very easy to store in. a fantastically well designed piece of kit.

i'm using it with a yamaha erg121 and a marshall mg30dfx. yamaha, boss and marshall, an absolubtley excellent companionship. i also use it with an audio technica wireless system, and it keeps a much better tone than the zoom ever did. i haven't had much over-noise, but when you want feedback, it's very easy to get some ;)

i would, no, i WILL be using this for every gig i do, and unlike most of ym gear, i think i will be keeping this one for a VERY VERY long time. it is a very reliable unit, i haven't once had to shout at it *and trust me, i have a fiery temper ;)*

i play a very personal style of music, verging on art rock mixed with alternative metal type sounds. i like to use lots of effects with delay and modulation effects together to get ghostly sounds, and this delivers them perfectly. i've been playing 2 years and 5 months, and this is the best buy i've made so far. i would most definately buy it again if lost or stolen. i love it's simplicity, it looks great*come on we're all fussy, we're guitarists!* the only thing i had a problem with was the whammy. setting the switch was a bit annoying, having to bend down during performance. a small footswitch maybe would be better. and i think having footswitches to change between the ten banks would be good. but then, for twenty pounds it's not too much just to get a footswitch is it?? it is a brilliant tool for making good music with, and compliments my style very well, whether i'd like to play some full on death metal, or some soft mellow jazz.

great pedal, great company, great buy!!

::charlie:::

this thing sounded great in the store, just playing the factory patches. i've never experienced that with any other modeling unit so far. editing patches on this unit is extremely easy. it's great that every parameter has a knob that you can turn, just like on an amp or a stomp box.

you can get a crunch tone out of this thing that is just massive. i'm amazed at how good the modeling is and how rich the tone is. the lead sounds are also fantastic. in a matter of minutes i was able to dial up a tone that just sings with a smooth violin type distortion. i've been using this on a gig for the past two weeks and it does everything i need it to do and more.

in the effects section, the flanger is particularly nice. also, the whammy pedal function is really cool, as is the ring modulator and the "voice" effect, which is really a trip.

it's too new to tell how reliable it is. so far no lock-ups or crashes. i have other boss gear that has never failed me, so i'm assuming this one will be no different

i play fusion, jazz, and rock. this pedal works great in a variety of styles. i've been playing for 30 years. if this pedal were lost or stolen, i'd get another one. it definitely simplifies things and allows me to show up with very little gear and be able to get all the tones i want. i've used the pod, the j-station, the dg-stomp, the flextone. i think this is better than any of them.

any thing i would want to see added to this pedal? yeah, more EQ options would be nice. a midrange knob for starters. or a parametric eq perhaps. also, it would be cool if you could change banks without having to use an external footswitch.

however, i'm sure that adding these features would raise the price. for 299 bucks, i just got 11 distortion boxes, 11 amp models, 11 modulation effects, 5 different kinds of delay, a 2 second sample and repeat feature, 4 different reverbs, a compressor, a wah, a whammy pedal, a ring modulator.

that's a pretty ridiculous amount of stuff in one pedal for such a low price.

Very easy to get into right away - the manual is good. Hard to figure out how to place the different sounds in the banks

Fender Stratocaster into 2 Fender Super Champs. Is a little noisy but the noisegate takes care of most of it. I think the only good sound is the chorus. The delay is about average and the overdrive and distortions stinks. The sound has an overall plastic feel to it.

It will last forever - it's Boss

Never used it

I have been playing Rock and roll for almost 40 years and this is my first try on a multieffect.

If somebody stole this unit I'd thank him - just kidding - but I gave it back to the shop after two days - I now rely on my boss CE5 and my Tubescremaer TS9.

Very easy to use, just like stompboxes. I use the ME-50 mainly in the manual ("stompbox") mode, although it works just as well in the memory (=multieffects) mode which I use for some songs. The whole unit can be operated by intuition.

I play a 2002 Classic 50s Strat (alder body) with 2 Seymour SSL1s and a quarterpounder at the bridge and a DeArmond T-400 with 2k-pickups over my Fender Deluxe Reverb RI. We're doing all kinds of music of the last 50 years, like Beatles, Buddy Holly, Surf sounds like Chantays, Shadows etc., plus Tom Petty, Chris Rea, Robben Ford and the like.
I need delays from 150 - 500 ms, overdrive and various distortions and some modulation (tremolo, chorus, leslie). Plus a practical tuner and sometimes the wah. And not to forget the noise gate to tame my single coils.
The ME-50 delivers. For me, the reverb is great, especially "spring" and "modulation". Even overdrive works perfect, although my amp dislikes distortion from other sources (e.g.from my Zoom 2100). The ME-50s' "tube screamer", "blues driver" "rat" and "muff" work extremely well.
When I bought the device, I tested it thoroughly in the dealer's showroom over several Fender tube amps (DRRI, Hot Rod, Vibrolux, Vibro-King). Some other musicians did their own testing and - although they started with the typical notion - "Hey, it's just another multi-effect that only simulates the real things" -, these guys had to admit that the unit is really good. We even compared real stompboxes like DD-3, SD-1, Maxon tube screamer etc. with the ME-50s simulations. You know what? No audible difference.
My band mates say that the ME-50 offers the same audio quality as the original stompboxes, but with much more versatility.

It works since 1 month now. That's all I can say.

I had a problem with my first DD-3 which didn't work properly in the hold mode. No biggie: my dealer just gave me another one (we've got two years' legal warranty in Germany).

Great unit. Good sound for good equipment. I didn't know that the COSM simulation is THAT good. Works very well with alnico pickups and a tube amp, but still ok with cheaper euqipment. Very practical with everything you need for live playing right at your feet. I consider it a special offer.

It couldn't be much easier. Love the knobs. It's a snap to program, modify, and save patches. It would have a 10 if I didn't have to buy the up/down bank pedals separately. Otherwise, it's about as easy as it gets.

I don't understand what issues other raters may have had. This thing sounds awesome. I almost can't get a bad sound out of it. Not very noisy even with some of the higher gain distortions selected. I really love the Boss Chorus and Flanger. The wah is nice, but it requires a full sweep with the foot. The harmonizer is right on and doesn't get whacked out by heavy distortion. I love the delays. Reverse and their "tap" mode are really neat. The Tone Modify is a bit weird (might have been better with an EQ). However, the single-to-hum and acoustic sims are very nice. I also like the hollow body sim.

It's a Boss. I have a Boss HM-2 that's 18 years old, and it still works like brand new. I would suspect that only the cockroaches and Boss pedals will survive a nuclear holocost.

No idea. Many say bad, but never had any direct experience. I hate their website.

I defy anyone to find a box that has so many high-quality effects in one package. I also can't imagine paying thousands of dollars for all of these effects in stompboxes. Nor could I imagine the tone loss in the giant effects chain you'd experience.

I've always been a big Boss fan. I think this might be the best Boss piece of equipment I've ever owned. It's beats anything in this price range, and it's better than some more expensive ones. It's perfect for anyone who wants to stop dancing and start playing.

It can't be easier that this...all knobs and very intuitive. I gotta gound sound out of it in the first 15 minutes of use. Editing patches is as easy as using a stomp box. The manual is very detailed.

I am playing on a ESP EXP guitar and my amp is an 1979 peavey century 200H head on one 1x12 fender special design cabinet and one 4x12 cabinet with celestion vintage 30. The unit is not noisy at all and the noise suppressor is incredible. The effect may not sound as the original one but they are not weaker...they' just different. But if you have good pick ups it will sound amazing. My friend spent a lot of money on a Mesa triaxis and an 50/50 power amp, and my setup kicks his ass. I don't try to get the sound of a specific artist but I tend to like it heavy as hell with a truck load of bottom in teh sound. And this think delivers it. The only feature I don't like that much is the tone modify knob...which is useless. For the rest it it is fine if you take the time to setup properly. Don't expect too much if you play on a korean guitar through a 15 watts peavey amp...nothing will sound very good on that. Ah yeah, I tried the headphones out directly in my pc and although it doesn't sound that great, it still can be very usefull toi record demos.

I use BOSS produst for ten yers and My super overdrive pedal is 20 years ols and I dont see why I should care about it...The thing is built like a tank. But I would always carry an old DOD processor that I have...just in case...

Never dealt with them

I play basically heavey metal (Metallica, Korn, Megadeth, Dream Theater) and old progressive rock (very old gensis and Yes) and this thing can follow me everywhere. When I think of all the money I spent before, it makes me sick. If it was stolen I would buy aother one right away. I love it simplicity...the only things I hate about it are : the reverb knob with 4 types of reverb sharing each 1/4 of the knob, the wah wah sound is not that good. ANd for the footswitch to switch up and down the banks, I made my own with a stereo jack and to normal switches taht I got it at an electronic store...It costed me 10 $ with the casing.

This unit sounds excellent, with a decent guitar and a Marshall AVT. I've experimented with patches, but want the RU footswitches before I get serious with them. Unfortunately, they aren't part of the package.
The manual is easy to use. Unfortunately, it has a flaw, but not enough to return it. The resonance and the Wah are flip-flopped on the designated setting. In the past, I've blasted BOSS for their marginally acceptable quality and difficult settings. They have a winner here, but, the nagging quality issue is still there.

Some setings are weak. Like OD-1. The guitar sounds more powerful plugged in the amp than placed on this setting. The echo, synth, overdrive variations, and chorus settings are all very good. Contrarily, the wah has little range and the metal overdrive variation is ridiculously distorted. I use this with a Marshall AVT50, on various guitars, ESP EX351, custom Strat, SG, and an Ibanez RG. I don't copy anyone.

It's all transistor, so it should have a surge protector. Question for BOSS...on a $300 unit that sounds good, why don't you spend $3 for a surge protection circuit. If you have a surge or brownout, a circuit probably would be fried.

This is a cleverly designed and ruggedly constructed unit- but it has no surge protection and a fairly short two-prong plug. These are shortcuts on cheap safety items. I'm sure units will be burned out, or musicians shocked if something spills on it. This type of engineering continues to be the harbinger of problems that seem to plague all BOSS units I've owned (10).

Excellent sound and easy to use. It would be better if the footswitches were included as in Digitech or ZOOM, a heavier, longer cord with 3-prong plug for more ground, and surge protection. And if the settings were labeled correctly. Why wasn't that checked?

Extremely easy to use in all respects.
I would at least glance over the manual.... it helps quite a bit.
As with new Roland/Boss gear, saving patches and such is a bit intricate, but just follow the manual and you'll be ok.

Sounds great. If you're going to rely on it heavily, match the EQ on your amp with the sound that comes out of the headphone out.
I'm using a Crate Stealth all tube amp.
All of my other effects will most likely retire, except for my V-Wah. The wah is overall good, but doesn't work for everything.
The pitch modulating effects are cool, but only work one at a time... a little disappointing.

Haven't gigged with it yet, but it seems ok

Roland/Boss is great. Every time I deal with them its extremely easy.

I love it. Its an invaluable resource. So simple and sounds awesome.
I wish it had EQ, but its not that bad without it. I compared it to everything else, especially the GT-6, but with a good amp and a good wah, i found it unnescessary. Um.. thats it. The ME-50 is good

Extremely easy to use, that's why I bought it. I hate paging through menus. Boss did a great job of keeping this within the mindset of pedal users, not programmers. I didn't get a manual as this was the floor model, but I don't need one. Individual boutique pedals of course sound better, but this unit comes close enough for live use and solves the problems associated with power supplies, patch cords, etc, in a live situation. The best alternative to individual pedals yet.

I'm using a host of Ibanez, Gibson and Fender guitars. All sound good with this unit. Strats are especially enhamced by this unit. I use Boogie, Laney and Lee Jackson amps. I don't care much about coping the sound of other artists, just getting good tone for my own material. Notg noisey at all, but the noise reduction works great. Effects are the best af any all in one pedal board to date, and easy to use.

Very dependable.
Backup not needed. When it comes down to it, a good player just needs a guitar, amp and cord. Everything else is expendable.

Boss support is slow, but they eventually get you taken care of.

Great pedal for live shred, fusion, progressive, etc. Very versatile. FX are good, but not great. In the studio, I use vintage FX, live this is the way to go for me.

It is easy to use if you can read and know how to twist knobs. But, if you're trying to use chorus and phaser simultaneously, you would have to bend over and turn those tiny knobs. So i guess it depends. But in general, its pretty dam simple.

I use a mexican telecaster with a Marshall AVT50. I know AVT's are noisy in general, but it was even more noisier. I know this because when i used just a single Boss Metal Zone pedal, the loud noise was gone. The effects are okay in general; they are just there. Nothing special except for the distortion. There are over 20 types, so i guess you get a lot of variety in that. I would rather just have a single Boss Metal Zone pedal though.

The label reads BOSS.

i have no clue, but BOSS pedals never break anyway.

I've been playing for about 3 years, so I guess my opinion should'nt be of much value. But i do know for a fact, that individual pedals are certainly much higher quality than the ones of processors. Not many people need 22 types of distortion, and all those junky modulation types. If you like to play around, i guess this is what you should get, above all processors around. But i think a solid distortion, a nice chorus, delay, and maybe a wah or flanger will do for most people. Oh yea, the tuner on this thing SUCKS. There are like five-seven steps. very flat, Sort of in tune, in tune, Sort of sharp, and very sharp. Just get a cheap danelectro chromatic tuner off ebay or something.

Simply put, this unit is a breeze to operate. With this simplicity comes ( at least for myself) a great deal of confidence in the reliability of the ME-50. The knobs turn smoothly and the expression pedal switch has a beutiful sensitivity to it. Saving patches is easy the switching between them is noiseless and smooth.

I'm currently using a fender strat deluxe plus, tele plus, guild bluesbird and gibson SG live. These I run through a mid-90s 'Evil' Fender Twin which acts as a perfect platform for the ME-50. I was delighted at how quiet this unit is and with the use of the noise suppressor, distortion noise is non-existent...beautiful. Some may argue that this unit does not perfectly replicate the pedals it claims to. However, it comes close and often improves upon many of the classic Boss pedals in the area of flexibility. The Tube Screamer model is thrilling- rich, smooth and creamy, while the MArshall Guv'nor is highly reminiscent of Gary Moore's scorching tone on his early nineties blues recordings. The important thing to realize with the Distortion section is that it sounds incredible- whether or not it perfectly replicates a past tone is irrelevant (and of course comparing distortions is highly subjective anyways). The modulations are very nice, with the chorus and uni-vibe being my favourites thus far (Robin Trower's tone is easily achieved using this awesome effect + the Guv'nor). The tremelo is subtle yet effective, much like that of a black face fender tube amp. I am a huge fan of tasteful delay usage- from slapbacks to slightly longer, Colin James-ish Tape Delays. The ME-50 performs these tasks quite well. What I love is how well the effects meld with your amp tone- the two become one entity. I have mainly been using the Analog delay model and have been quite pleased... versatility!!! The wah wah, though not quite as lively as my Crybaby, is excellent in its own right and will serve me well on stage. The talk-box emulator called "voice" is also surprisingly useable, while the octaves are nice (though not something I'll use much). Reverbs are OK, though not too tweakable. If your amp already has a good reverb, there's not too much concern there. I was considering purchasing a highly over-priced Ernie Ball Volume Pedal, that is until the ME-50 found me. The volume pedal on this unit is easy to control and with a little bit of usage, one quickly becomes accustomed to its sweep. Finally, I have to say that I absolutely love the chromatic tuner included(it tunes silently and is convienently accessed via pressing two pedals together). I was slightly irritated with the fact that boss did not include the optional bank up/down footswitches, but then again for the price, you shouldn't really complain about having to invest a small amount more for flexibility. These are definitely essential for live useage. What is so perfect about this pedal is that you've got numerous programmable first-rate effects, a volume pedal, wah, and tuner- all in one package. Its like having all of those pedals and a carl martin combinator at your disposal for a reasonable price, and with great quality. I am pleased with how this has simplified my live rig while not compromising my tone......kudos Boss.

The extremely solid metal chassis gives me so much confidence in this product, not to mention the lovely blue finish. The expression pedals seems like it will stand up over time, and I've experienced the plastic square-style roland footswitches before and they have always served me well. So I am putting my faith in this unit, and embarking on gigs without a back-up.

I've never dealt with Boss but I have to assume the best given their reputation.

I mainly play blues and bluesy rock, and have been gigging for nine years. The ME-50 suits my style (and any style) nicely. If this unit were lostor stolen, I would certainly buy another. I love how this unit renders all of my effects and the resultant toe-tapping dance on stage obsolete- plus you're only plugging one adapter in. My live set-up should be considerably faster. I also wouldn't hesitate to use this thing in the studio... it is so versatile- like having 50 stompboxes at your feet. Overall, it does not compromise my tone and remains quiet, a god-sent when compared to something like the line 6 pedals etc.

First of all, I just check it for 1 hour or so, thus maybe my review won't be as comprehensive as it should... I agree with the major part of the previous reviews wich consider this unit as a pretty good stuff, so I just want to point out a few things.

Pretty simple to get the sounds, god bless the knobs! after some tweak you will have something close to what you're looking for, but I doubt if you can get exactly the sound you have in your head! maybe it lacks of more precise controls...

The manual won't figure as the new ISO-9002 STANDARD but not bad...

I fully agree with one of the guys who told:

"So, when you are looking for a multi-effects to combine with your natural amp sound, you should look for a tc or something... If you want to use distortion-boxes, then this unit is the right thing".

Yeah!, if you love your amp's distortion you're fucked! because, of course, you can turn off the distortion section but then you will find that any of the modulation effects will sound like crap! This scenario is having the ME-50 in front of your amp, ok, then, let's put the me-50 in the fx-loop and see what happens... here you can't use any of the distortions, they sound damn bad, but I don't mind since I just use my amp's distortion, now I can use other effects and they sound good, so what's the problem? you cannot use the wah here! or at least you won't want to use it if you want to get an acceptable sound! I'm not sure why... I supose it's due to the dirtier signal wich is recieved from the preamp... So the only place for this thing is in front of your amp, I tried to cancel or minimize the distortions effect over my natural sound in order to use other effects but no luck... I got interesting sounds but not the definitive sound you always want to use.

The emulation of the mt-2 sucks! but the ds-1 is not bad... I didn't tried the rest too much actually...

cool harmonizer by the way! good wah as well, I found Flanger a bit noisy, but probably this can be fixed after some tweak, at the beggining I found this unit noisy but I don't it is actually, you only have to play with the knobs a little.

I compared the ME-50 with the GT-6 and I din't find a noticeable difference in the quality of the basic effects that both units share. The distortions of the GT-6 are fucking bad by the way, the ones from the ME-50 are way better.

it looks good built and reliable.

Never have dealt with

Higly recommended to any of you who have an amp with an average sound and want to enhance it to get some personal touch, I can imagine a lot of teenagers enjoying a lot this unit. Obviously it lacks of a real equalizer, incorpored pedals to change between banks (that's a great inconvenience, above all because you have to buy them separately), and more memory cells, it's hard to me to understand how nowadays a company can release such product with just 30 memory cells for presets and user presets, I supose that since the presets from factory are ones of the greatest crap I've ever heard they expect you to delete them all, thus now you have 30 for you with should be enough... or not yet? :)

Very easy to use. But I've owned the GT-3 and Gt-6 before. This is easier. All knobs!

I use a few different guitars - Hamer USA Artist and Fender Strat through a Reverend Hellhound amp. i also use this unit to play acoustic through a PA. I don't consider the ME-50 to be noisy. The effects are very good, especially the overdrive. I also like the EQ presets. I find that I use them often. The delay is OK.

I really like this unit. It covers all the bases I need, and then some. It is very musical at home and on the gig.

Simple to Use, Don't need the manual. In 10 minutes you can have the sound you want from country to Metal. Editing and saving patches is a breeze, 2 button pushes and its saved. Manual is ok, but you won't really need it. Would be better if they inclded pedals for the bank up and down instaed of having to buy FS5U;s to do this, butyou can do this on the unit itself.

I use this with a custom shop fender telecaster with a strat pickup in the center thru 2 fender blues juniors. Not noisy at all. Reverb unit could really be better, only a quarter turn for the reverb since there are 4 reverbs on 1 knob. Tone modify is a cheap imitation of a EQ. Should have put a graphic on it instead. The effects are good, especially the delay module. Distortions are good if you tweak alot. Stereo chourus is excellent. The unit steals a little of your tone when playing clean but you can adjust this on your amp with the eq section.

Solid metal chassis, plastic pedals. Is very durable if you are not jumping on your pedal. I gig 3 times a week and do not take a backup. I also have this pedal in a road case.

Havent dealt with them on this unit. Other times with boss I got good response times and acurate info.

I play anything from Country to rock to blues. I have been able to easily find every sound I need when I need it. I have been playing for 25 years and professionally for the last 10. If this unit was stolen I would replace it immeaditely. I have tried all the major pedals out there and this unit seems to be a good comprimise of prive and value for the money without having to chain 8 compact pedals together and deal with the line noise.

For a multi effects, this box is very easy to use. In manual mode you can directly change the sound via potis, there are no difficult menus. Then you push the "write"-button and chose the patch and you have sucessfully saved the sound. By pushing "edit" you can modify single parameters of a saved sound.
You don't need the manual, everything is self-explaning.

It is the perfect unit, if you amp has no good distortion. In my case, I play through a Marshall 6100 head ("30th anniversary"), which has a very harmonic an fat distortion. I tried to use this unit in the fx-loop, but i got disappointed. you can only use it in front of your amp, but then you loose the distored channels of your amp. So, when you are looking for a multi-effects to combine with your natural amp sound, you should look for a tc or something.
If you want to use distortion-boxes, then this unit is the right thing.
My solution to the problem was: it gave it back to my dealer I bought a "Holy Grail" (Electro Harmonix) and a Nobels PRE-1. No I have my typical Marshall sound, a good lead channel and a perfect reverb

I'm not a "read the directions" type of guy. I unpacked this directly from the box, and found it quite intuitive.

I'm not a performing pro...I play to amuse myself in my living room, doing my damnedest to imitate Warren Haynes, Dickey Betts, and Jimmy Page. I play an SG, as well as LP Classic through a Marshall JCM 900, and also have tried the unit through my old Fender Vibrolux. I am particularly impressed by the variety of distortion selections: it ranges from slight crunch to blow-the-windows-out ballsy. The distortion is the main reason I bought this unit, as well as the wah and volume pedal. I previously was using the crunch channel for distortion on my Marshall, and a Big Muff with my Fender amp, but have not been impressed with the Big Muff. In addition, since I have been wanting a BOSS chorus and flanger, and thought this might be the cheapest way to go.

I just got it, but I assume it will be as reliable as the other BOSS products I own.

Haven't had to deal with them.

I've been playing about 15 years. My music is Allman Bros, Led Zep, and Skynyrd. This unit is all I need. If stolen, I'd buy another one. I've just gotten fed up with stringing together multiple pedals, finding patch cords, etc. This does the trick. I agree with what other reviewers have said regarding the fact that the unit doesn't come with switching pedals, which seems less than generous on the part of BOSS.

Very Easy. I also own a GT-3 and considered either upgrading to the GT-6 or the ME-50.

Excellent sounds. Lots of purests from the older generation will say this thing can't possibly sound like all their stompboxes placed neatly in a row. Dead wrong. The one thing I love about this product is the fact it has a more a "crunchy" sound on the distortion and tone than my GT-3. My GT-3 is a great multi-effects pedal. It sounds great and I still use it, but the ME-50 is able to act like stompboxes as well as a mult-unit. The GT-3 has that "synthesized" sound. Now I haven't really tried the GT-6 so I can't speak for how much they've improved the sound, but this thing has killer distortion and sound. I play everything from Pearl Jam to STP to Alice in Chains to Tool and it plays those bands well. Wah's a little weak. But these multi-effect units never give you a good wah on purpose. Boss wants you to go out and buy that nice one for 150 bucks. Does the job for me though. I don't wah more than 1-2 songs a performance. One more thing. I bought the GNX2 by Digitech and compared the sounds. No comparison. This thing blows it away. Digitech has the guitar mags tabbed songs, which I thought was a cool feature. I play all covers. But when I brought it home, I was disappointed at the overall sound. Digitect might be good for teenagers looking to release angst, but any refined musician wants a warmer and more sonic sound. Just my opionion.

So far so good. Only had it two weeks and wanted to write the review more about sound.

Never dealt with them yet

So far this pedal is great. I love it and really found it hard at first to put down my GT-3, make her back up and use this one as my starter. Well one rehearsal with me-band changed that. I still like my GT-3, but the sound quality from the 2000 GT-3 to 2003 ME50 is a definet improvement. The dudes at Boss are just great. Nice job Boss. Keep it up and read these reviews!!!! Some of what people say are true. You're the market leader. The name is always for great tone, reliability. They did it again with this one.

Pretty easy to use, just like a boss pedal on steroids. Idiot proof for the most part.

I play either an American Vintage 62 strat or a Les Paul Special through a Marshall DSL 401 combo. Its pretty amazing how many different sounds you can get with this thing...from Mudhoney fuzz to classic OD to pure metal. The delay/mod effects are sweet. Wah is good too. I'm marking it down a little because the reverb is kind of weak.

Just got it....but its built like a tank.

No experience with Boss customer support.

I don't think I could buy a distortion, a delay, a chorus, a tuner and a wah pedal for under 300 bucks. It has 22 distortion types, 3 chorus, a flanger, a phaser, harmonist, trem, pan, vibrato, uni-v, rotary, 7 delays, 2 pans, an echo, plus a wah, wammy, a noise gate, compresor, reverb, and a volume pedal. It maight take 300 bucks worth of patch cables to hook those all together. I bought it because I want about 50 different pedals and I'm a cheap-ass. Someday I'll get them all, but until then this'll do. I do wish it had a better reverb, but its still worth way more than 300 dollars.

It's was a real happy to unpack this unit and have a look at all knobs! It's very easy to change sound and to swith between tuner/patch mode and back to manual mode. This is all you need if you are a performing guitarist. If I have to complain, I miss a included AC/DC adapter and a included footswitch to on/off compressor. Very good price/performance

Very good sounding unit. I've been playing for 20 years, all different styles and this will do it all. A surprise is the very good sounding speaker emulator. I think this unit will replace both POD and Vamp in my personal studio. Very good dynamics in distortion sounds and extremly good modulation and delay effects. I inteend to use this with my Peavey classic 30 and use lineout instead of micing my amp when Iam performing live. The only effect I don't like is rotaryeffect (unfortunally) and the tonemodify effect (I could not see any use of this kind of EQ). However, This is a 10! A very good sounding unit. Even the expression pedal is very good with a good soundin wha and whammy effect.

This is a tank! Rock solid blue metal. I can't see this unit will broke on a live performance. The knobs could be a bit more reliable but I think they are good enough

Haven't dealt with Roland/Boss but I have ever heard something bad about thier support.

As I mentioned, I've been playing for 20 years and have tried all modeling units and pedals out there and this is what I can see the far best price/performace I have tried. Very good speaker emulator and VERY easy to use makes it a perfect companion, both on stage and in the studio.

ITS FAIRLY SIMPLE TO USE.THE MANUAL IS VERY HELPFUL.PLEASE READ OVERALL RATING

THE SOUND QUALITY IS DECENT.NOT QUITE T.C. BUT GOOD ENOUGHT FOR GIGS.IT HAS SOME NOISE ON SOME PATCHES.AND SOME VOLUME IS LOST WHEN CHANGING PATCHES BUT NOT A BIG PROBLEM.PLEASE READ RATINGS

SO FAR SO GOOD.PLEASE READ OVERALL RATINGS

HAVE NOT HAD TO USE THEM.NEVER HAD TROUBLE WITH BOSS PRODUCTS

IVE BEEN PLAYING 25 YRS.20 YRS WORSHIP.ALSO CHRISTAIN METAL BANDS,BLUES,SOUTHERN ROCK.PLAYED ZION,GIBSON,FENDER,CARVIN GUITARS,MARSHALL,BOOGIE,FENDER,CARVIN AMPSI GOT THIS FOR A BIRTHDAY GIFT.WHAT BOSS FORGEYS TO TELL YOU IN THEIR ADS WHICH SUCKS YOU HAVE TO BUY A PEDAL TO RUN YOUR PEDAL TO CHANGE BANKS THIS IS STUPID ANOTHER WAY TO SCREW YOU OVER.LIKE PAYING BIG BUCKS FOR A AMP THEN HAVING TO BUY THE PEDAL TO CHANGE CHANNELS.YOU DONT BUY A CAR WITHOUT THE KEY.MOST GUITAR PLAYERS LIVE ON LIMITED INCOMES ARE RAISING FAMLIES.AND CANT AFFORD TO BUY THE EXTRAS.BOSS HAVE THE GUTS TO TELL IN YOUR ADS WHAT IS REALLY INVOLVE IN BUYING YOUR STUFF YOU OWE ME WHAT EVER IT TAKES TO GET THE FULL USE OF THIS PEDAL.HEY ALL YOU GUYS OUT THERE LETS ASK HARMONY CENTRAL TO GIVE US APLACE TO TELL THESE MANFACTURERS WHAT WE THINK ITS YOUR MONEY GUYS LETS STAND TO GETHER ARE BUY A BIGGER JAR OF VASELINE.MY NAME IS GARY MITCHELL 325 W. TOWANDA ELDORADO KS.67042

This pedal is great. Dont listen to anyone who says other wise. You dont NEED to buy the additional foot switchs for the up and down switching banks. But they would come in handy. This is one awsome peice of material. Easy to find the sound you want, and to create it.

I use a Ibenez RX series guitar with a Rolland amp. And I couldnt be happeier with the wasy it sounds. I can get everything from Pink FLoyd and LEd Zeppeilin to Tool and A Perfect Circle.

I would not bring a back-up to a gig with this..It is built to last forever

Never had to deal with them

BUY THIS PEDAL IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR QUALITY AND RELIABILITY!!
You wont be disapointed

I wanted to reduce the number of pedals in my live setups as much as possible. I was pleasantly supprised that the effects equaled or came very close to all of them. You can hook up the optional bank up and down pedals for quick patch changes which is well worth the 50 beans. That leaves me with three pedals and one power supply. much better than 10 in row.

This is the first multi-effects unit I've used that has very useable distortions. The modulations are as good as just about any separate pedal. I created useable delays and the expression is very good. My various setups include Fender Strats, Gibson SG, Gibson LP and Carvin DC200 for guitars,thru a Fender Hot Rod DeVille or Carvin Belair. This unit does not work well with effect loops, it's fine straight in. I take two guitars and one amp to gigs now because in a pinch I can come out this directly into the PA.

Fine on 4 gigs so far. It's housing is metal, just like separate boss pedals.

Never had to deal with them.

I've been playing professionally on and off for 25 years. Currently
just a weekend warrior playing from pop to hard rock. This peice of equipment is a turning point for multi effects. The quality is finally there.

Straightforward to use,not complicated and easy to live with on a gig.No complicated menus or parameters to mess around with.Very easy to tweak mid-set etc.

Very good overall,some residual background hiss at a very low level,not noticeable on stage or when playing.The selection of effects and sounds are all usable and for the money it's a great package.

If it's as good as the rest of Boss gear then there shouldn't be a problem.

Never needed to use customer support on any Roland or Boss product that I have owned.

Overall very good value,plenty to go at,everything is usable,price is very good ,for an all in one solution it's one of the best,plus being Boss if you get fed up with it it will be easy to sell on.

I just plugged this baby in and was on my way jammin with any sound I want or need. The manual isn't really needed but helps for some of the knob functions.

This thing is incredible. I've tried a ton of different effects pedals and this thing has anything I need. I haven't got a clue what these other people are doing that claim it sounds nominal or like crap. I play a 2003 Jeff Beck Strat through either my Crate Bluevoodoo BV-60 or through my direct box right into my console for my home project studio. I can easily get anything I want for distortion, overdrive chorus and the dely is awesome. Compressor is great also. No real need for reverb for me, but it sounds fine if I need it. My Crate has an awesome reverb anyway.

Built like a tank.

No need for customer support yet.

This thing was just what I wanted and needed to get rid of all of the pedals with all the cabling and power supplies even though I was using the BOSS tuner pedal that is also a power supply. The problem was that the tube overdrive pedal needed a higher voltage power supply.

Why on earth does this not have integral footswitches to change banks ? The idea of one of these units is to get rid of individual pedals and leads and pedalboards etc. I like the unit but having to buy two additional switches - at an additional cost - and mess about wiring them up was a real turn off. Fine if you want it for bedroom use, but for gigging its a joke without the footswitches. The ME 33 has up and down switches as part of the unit. Does anyone know if Boss will be bringing out a model with the integral footswitch in the near future? As a unit it is so near yet so far.

Man, I have owned other multi-effects units and nothing comes close to this thing for ease of use. I had kick ass sounds in 5 minutes. he manual was helpfull for things like how to use the harmonizer, digital recorded delay and tap delay. Other than that, throw the manual out, the damn thing is so easy to use you don't need it.

I use a American Custom Strat and a personally customized mid 80's Epiphone Paul with a vox wah into a Marshall TSL100 JCM 2000 Half stack (the amp rules ass). It's just not noisy. Really. I had the old Me-30 and the difference isn't even funny. You can crank the distortions and still no hum. I love using the Uni-vibe effect with my Strat and Marshall, it's just a damn good effect. Sounds like the real thing, sounds soooo Hendrixy. The distortions and FUCKING GREAT. Period. The delays and choruses are fabulous. As are the tone modifiers (shouldn't replace an EQ, like it does, but it's still good), I especially like the accoustic simulator. The sound quality will stand up to the GT-6 any day of the week. I'v tried them both right next to eachother.

The thing is a die cast metal tank. I have and will gig without a backup.

n/a, I dojn't know, never tried.

I love the thing. I'm not saying you would. If you plug an Ibenez into it and run with a Crate, it's probably going to sound like shit because your useing shit. Sorry. That being said, if you don't have a deal with epic and therefor can't afford 19 Boss pedals in a pretty little chain, than this thing kicks ass. I didn't go with the GT-6 because I have a sick ass, three channel Marshall. Why the hell do I need digital Amp modeling. This guy has all the sound quality of a GT-6 minus all the amp and cab modeling (which I think is useless anyway).