Boss ME-50

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.