Boss ME-50

Very sraightforward piece of gear and lots of fun. I've had it for 3-4 years. Much has been said about this product. Certainly, if you compare it to individual analog stomp boxes, they would all likely win out over this. But, compare this with the dog's breakfast of boxes, wires, cords, connectors and cutesy flashing lights and, for what this thing does in one box, it is a very respectable piece of gear.

OK, this is a guitar effects compilation box. No amp mods. It doea a lot and I am not a fan of all aspects of this thing, to be sure, but, thats OK. As a player, (Fralin equipped Project Strat into a Traynor YCVR-20WR) I want clean sounds. And I want bluesy break-up. I'm not after heavy distortion. With the ME-50, I get a good, fairly flexible delay; quite a good chorus; good reverb; usable compression; some usable distortions and a volume/wah pedal. The ME-50 gives me ALL this, all quite gig-worthy and usable. I don't like the gimmicky stuff and the Tone Modify section is pretty useless. The Tremolo is also not great (I add a Boss TR2).

From a sound standpoint, one other writer below noted that this thing sounded better through a tube amp and he/she is bang on. Through a previously owned solid state Princeton Chorus, I found distortion to be disappointing, muddy and no projection. A tube amp will make a difference.

Built like a brick S-house

Not needed. Good resources on line if needed.

Been playing forever (45 yrs!!) and like clean sounds and bluesy tone, some distortion for slide. I back up singer/songwriters with this thing (get Declan Sinnott kind of sounds - See youtube with Christy Moore.) I play classical, dobro, Strat, acoustics. Yes, I would get another if pinched. Does is help me make music? Hell, yes!
The best feature for me is the fact that IT DOES NOT have amp modelling to mess everything up! I already have a reasonable sounding tube amp and the ME-50 helps me to get more out of it.

It is very easy to use and get a good sound out of it. i just recently bought it so i didn't try out the editing section but im sure its amazing. If you have any questions about it, the manual will answer them for you.

i run 2 fender strats, a univox hi flyer phase 4, a fender mustang, a fender jaguar, an epiphone et-270, and a fender duo sonic thru it and from the pedal it runs into a fender fm212r. there is annoying noise or anything, but it ur amp is noisy, there is a noise suppressor in the pedal! the effects aren't weak in it. they have the same strong sounds as the compact pedals. i am a huge grunge guitarist and i'm nirvana's #1 fan. i know how to replicate kurt's sounds and this pedal does it. if you're a grunge fan, you'll definitely want to buy this. You can get nirvana, foo fighters,smashing pumpkins,green day etc. sounds. i compared the distortions with the single compact versions. for example, i compared the ds-1, the rat, and the big muff to this pedal. they are exactly the same sound. you can easily match the sounds with some tweaks of the knobs. Not only can you get grunge, but you can get every other kind of music out of it. all of the effects sounds great except the acoustic mode under the tone modify. the acoustic doesnt sound very good but oh well.

this is a very very dependable pedal. it's really tough so it wont break. that's how every boss pedal is. i would play this pedal anywhere(band practice,jammin,gigs, etc.)

i didnt buy it directly from boss. i bought it on an ebay store. no problems with it since i bought it.

like i said, you can play any kind of music with this. i have been playing for years. i used to have 19 pedals, then 15, then 9, then 5 and now i only need one. it's an easy setup. you don;t have to have all those single compacts pedals and all that hassle. if it was every stolen or lost, i'd buy it again. i love everything about it. what is very helpful is that the tuner is silent so you can tune without anyone hearing you. i think the only think you might get annoyed with is the expression pedal. you might not like the fact that you must have it pushed all the way forward for full volume but that's no big deal. another thing you might get annoyed with is activating the expression. you have to push it forward and push a little force more to activate it but it doesnt bother me. this pedal will not only replicate sounds but it is perfect for writing your own music and getting your own sound.

After using a Zoom in the past (a mess to program and never sounded "real"), this is SO SIMPLE. There are too many effects for my taste, so I only use about 1/2 of what this offers. I don't have a grip on the overdrives, they are OK, sure I can get a good sound if I spend some time (and there are tons of choices)

Reverb is good. Not sure what the neg. comments are about

Delay is fantastic, Compression is good for CLEAN (don't need compression for distortion anyway). Tremolo sounds great. The Presence tone helps a clean sound too (gives it the Fender "Ice" Sheen).

With Delay, reverb, compression and Presence I get a fantastic Mark Knopfler tone drop the delay add tremolo for a Robert Cray / Jimmy Vaughan...blues but clean

My gear: 1992 Mexi-Tele, and a pro Jr. Fender amp (has just volume and single tone knob... all tubes 15 watts but LOUD). I also have a cheap strat and a nice yamaha acoustic that I use for solo and unplugged shows.

My main instrument is bass, but I have not used the me-50 with bass (plus I am not into bass effects)

The Me-50 takes care of the rest - reverb, comp, presence, delay, trem, volume

No need for amp modulation (my amp is perfect as is).. plus I think they sound phony.. so I just needed some effects to open up the sound

In bands I play alt-country, classic rock (Stones, Who, CCR, Springsteen, Wilco)and blues, but I like to play Van Halen, Motorhead, AC/DC stuff too jut for fun. The Me-50 should be able to do it all.

I have had this for just a week, but BOSS stuff is reliable, so I think I would trust it to work for gigs without a backup (can always go right to the amp if needed) Might still bring my tuner, I keep hearing that the built in tuner is sharp.. may have to check this out

Tele + Fender Pro JR + Boss ME-50 gets me that classic fender sound without an army of stomp boxes. Would a top of the line reverb, top of the line tube screamer, top of the line compressor and top of the line delay do a better job? Maybe (ok they would) but for $160 I would be able to get ONE of those, and still need a pedal board, a tuner, patch cables, wah, volume, AC adapters,power strip...and figure out the chain of command...I need a beer!

I spent less than 30 minutes setting this up, and I have my basic sounds. The Wah is next on my list, then working out the Fuzz for some Hendrix!

Bottom line is that the ME-50 can get the classic guitar rock sounds better than an amp modeling processor. It sounds like BOSS pedals not a computer.

The Boss ME-50 offers hundreds of sound variations. I shelved a lot of my old single effects pedals. This unit was designed well, built like a tank and is easy to use. I bought mine gently used, owner forgot the manual though. No matter, you can download the manual from Boss' website. Pedal is divided into 3 sections with separate controls for each effect; Overdrive/Distortion, Mod (Chorus/Flanger/Phaser/Harmony, etc...) and Delay. You can set the compressor, threshhold, reverb, modify the tone... Basically you can mold almost any sound you wish. The effects pedal is METAL (yes!) I hate plastic. Easy to use from the first 10-minutes.

Sound quality is Good -> Great. Some effects are better than others... even approaching greatness in some areas (chorus is outstanding, delay control is very good), but others are just good (Fuzz & Overdrive are sometimes muffled or tinny sounding). This effects pedal won't help a poor quality amp, but if you have a decent rig it can enable you shape new sounds. This thing is built for gigging. It replaces at least 4-6 stomp boxes and you'll no longer have the stage being a tripping hazard. Simple, easy to use and easy to modify to fit your sound.

The built-in tuner is just for show. It's close, but not good enough.
I REALLY wish that BOSS did something a bit more with the expression settings. For me, the {Wah, Resonance, Voice & Ring} just doesn't do it. The +1 /-1 octave is bad, sounds like squeezing your music through a garden hose. The Voice is typical 1980's and Ring isn't used much. I wish they gave a few more options with the expression pedal.

One of my favorite features is the output for Mono amp or for Left/Right amps. Very few pedals give you an ability to control output for two amps. It isn't stereo, but you can create cool sounds with two quality amps and the right settings.

You can definitely depend on the BOSS ME-50 for any gig not involving water sports. This thing has a solid metal housing, knobs are sturdy... just try to break this thing!

HOWEVER, you either need to buy a separate plug-in converter for the DC in, or use a single 9-volt battery. The battery will last you for maybe 8-10 hours of use or more... but bring a spare fresh battery just in case. It sounds dumb, but I prefer to use the battery so I don't have to plug it in. That way, the effects pedal is free to be put wherever I want it and moved any time I want with just a small kick of my foot. Not having that plug-in umbilical cord gives you more freedom.

You can depend on this ME-50 effects pedal better than you can rely on most band members or stage help.

Boss... you get good customer support and they do answer the phone. Never needed them, but they will be there if I do. Enough said.

I play mostly classic rock, blues and some 70's acid rock. Been playing for a few years. The ME-50 is not the be-all/end-all of effects pedals, but it is an excellent pedal for musicians on a tight budget. I like that it is compact, well organized and looks good. Some guitarists look like they can launch a space shuttle with all their wires, pedals and programmable effects spread out on the stage. This stomp box will do what most will, but you can carry it under one arm, lay it on stage, plug in your guitar and amp and be ready to jam. No more screwing around with tangles of wiring. The pedals are also easy to use.

I play a Fender Mexi-Fat-Strat, a seriously upgraded Washburn Mercury Fat-Strat (the GOOD one) and an Agile AL-2000 (Gibson style) with humbuckers that scream. Amps include a Behringer Virtube UltraTwin, Fender and Peavey singles.

The only thing BOSS could do better is to add more usable effects for the expression pedal and put in a better tuner. They devoted a lot of space to the Fuzz / Overdrive... but sound quality is more important than selection quantity. Work on improving the overdrive sound. It works for my purposes, slightly distorted, but would never satisfy a true metalhead or someone into serious OD distortion.

This pedal is definitely worth every penny. I would recommend it to any serious guitarist. If you play 70's-80's classic rock at all... this is a must have.

If you can use a stomp box, you can use this. You don't even have to know what order to connect the effects in. Experienced effects users may not need the manual but it's good to have it as a technical reference. Inexperienced effects users should consider going to their neighborhood music store and asking for advice about how to get the best sound out of each effect. Not everyone has educated ears. One important rule: with any effect/module with a level control, set this to where the volume is nearly the same with the effect on or off. You can apply a little extra kick with a compressor or an overdrive but with a long chain of effects, the level should be pretty much even throughout the chain if you want singing, controllable feedback and a minimum of noise. For a simple multi-FX unit it doesn't get easier than this.

I almost got the ME-70 for the COSM amp models but I had to have the RAT. I intended to use it with an amp, anyway. All BOSS effects have generally good sound quality. The only complaint I have with their overdrives/distortions is that they aren't very dynamic compared to analog boxes made by other manufacturers. The most can be gotten from the overdrives by NOT using a compressor with them (since they do that themselves) and by trading a little gain for a little extra brightness. Some previous people have mentioned that the compressor is somewhat lacking. The comp is one of my favorite effects and I know my way around one. Yep, it could use an attack and it's own tone. You should be able to match the "clamp-down" time with the natural pick attack of your guitar, and the more sustain you use, the more you need to brighten it back up a little. The solution to this problem, when you use the compressor for sustain, is not to use too much of the effect so it doesn't affect the attack so much. It may be a subtle effect if you're using it to smooth out distortion, but compression *should* be a subtle effect. Crank it up more and brighten the tone if you're going to do some chikin-pikin.

The chorus is...well...a BOSS chorus. They invented the thing. Would have been nice to have the chorus/vibrato as a separate module, though, so you could mix another mod effect with it, like the harmonist (Boston! ...nope). The flanger sounds okay but is limited by the lack of a "MANUAL" control. The flanger is my absolute favorite effect because I have my own special way of tuning the sweep and getting the speed just right to produce this signature "rolling" effect of mine, as well as a pretty convincing Roto-vibe. I can't do that with this. Also, it's a bit plain. Ten years ago, BOSS was putting digital flanger circuits with a "Separation" parameter in their COSM rack units to give you a nice "through zero" effect. They could have built a little of that into this. But I'm not too upset. Whaddya know? It's *got* a Uni-Vibe! Gotta know how to make it throb like Robin Trower though. A phaser is a hard effect to do digitally, but BOSS manages quite well.

The delays are adequate but the reverbs need more flexibility - more parameters. I don't want *their* reverb, I want *my* reverb. So I blend a little of theirs with the amp's reverb. A little spaciness and a little natural ambience. A spring reverb is pretty good at simulating early reflections.

I can't say I have much use for the "Tone Modify" section, as I have a collection of different guitars. But it's fun to play with.

As everyone knows, anything by BOSS could probably reenter the Earth's atmosphere and still work. Still have the NS-1 noise-gate I bought in the 70's. I use it onstage for my acoustic guitar. Haven't had this long but it seems rugged. I DO keep a backup pedalboard (loaded with my old BOSS pedals), but only because I happen to have one.

Never dealt with BossUSA. Never had a Boss pedal break down. I did have a Roland JV80 synth and if if Boss is anything like their parent company, they'd get a failing grade. But I don't know so I won't voice an opinion.

I'm a progressive/art/space rock guitarist of some 35 years experience. My go-to axe atm is a '96 Fender Dlx Strat + with Lace TranSensors. I've got a larger rack system I use for bigger venues. I use the ME-50 mainly for practice and jam sessions. I attempt to duplicate the sounds of my rack on the ME-50 and manage to do a passable job. It sounds good through the clean channel of my tube combo. Ha! That one guy below who compared the ME-50 to all his boutique gear just so he could brag about his boutique gear was a riot. The next guy straightened him out. Remember dudes, "It's not the gear, it's the *ear*."

I used to use a Boss GT-5, and it was really hard to use. I never really liked the presets on it, and it was really hard to get the right sound when I wanted it. On this unit, it is really easy to get the right sound out of it-- it basically has about 50 stompboxes all packed into one. Right now, i'm happy about its sound.

When i first read about the patches on this, it said 30 user and 30 factory patches. However, once you write a patch, the factory patch goes away, being erased until you reset it.

The manual is good; however, if there is some way to get around erasing the factory patches, it doesn't tell you.

Theres no way to upgrade the firmware. I don't think there will be a need to.

Setup: 2008 G & L Tribute w/ a Traynor Amp. I dont get the part where the ME-50 is draining their sound, my guitar i got for 400 and the amp for about 600. It doesn't drain my sound at least.

It hasn't failed the noisiness test. Whats cool is that i have a uni-vibe effect, can't find that anywhere for some reason.

The compressor can use some work, i already used it on some gigs and the reverb fits the rooms perfectly (i use room and hall reverb). The overdrive/distortion settings i use.

I haven't really gotten around to using the presets, i don't think im using them since there is already so much versatility in manual mode.

I always get the sound of my favorite artists: Hillsong United, David Crowder Band, Planetshakers, other Christian Rock artists.

Umm, its almost perfect. Just don't put it in water and your fine. Maybe they can make a waterproof version of it.

Haven't had to deal with them yet.

I play Christian Rock, and also some Altern Rock.
I've played for about 8 years. Im 15, don't know if my age affects the way i hear the sound; to me, its almost like stompboxes.

If it were stolen or lost, I'd cry for a day.

Before buying, I wanted to buy a GT-10. I decided on this after an hour with each one. It was a lot easier to use.

I wish it had a loop station, like the GT-10, since im the only guitarist in the band and right now, i cant play lead and rhythm at the same time. I don't know if anyone can.

This has actually helped me make my own riffs and stuff.

My friend has a digitech; i kinda like its sound but i think its made out of plastic so its not as durable as this tank.

Dead simple - no need for the manual, just plug in, twist a few knobs and play.

I have an early 80s Jap Strat (one of the good ones), and a badly treated Fender Ultimate Chorus. Most of the sounds are pretty good, not sure it needs so many distortion options, and the compressor is a weak point - but overall, a very impressive budget effects rack.
Can't get my head round all these cowboys coming on here saying they have used the me-50 with their Parker Fly and boutique amp and that is sucks out their tone!! WTF!!! If you really spent ??15k on your guitar and amp, why are you buying a ??150 effects rack and did you really think it would sound better than your amp!!?? Note to these people - my amp is not very good, that is why I have this effects pedal not Dave Gilmour's rig. I'm giving it an 8, but for the price should be a 9 or 10

Not let me down so far

Bit crap - I know its not expensive, but would be nice if it came with a power supply. And the Boss website sucks.

Been playing for about 25 years, mainly country, blues, classic rock and folk rock. For most of that time haven't really used effects - just the odd bit of wah wah for Hendrix covers.
ME-50 is pretty easy to use - if I had the spare cash I'd get individual stomp boxes, but for the budget I'm on it's a great bit of kit.
The only thing I wish it had was a power lead.

It is totally easy to use i havent opened the manual once.i love that it works the the pedals im used .

my setup includes gibsons,danelectros,epiphones and for amps i use crate,fender and marshalls.i own half the peadals on the dist part of the me-50 and they come really close.i dont think theres anyy real bad effects.i dont really use the modulation besides tremolo but im an old school dude!the spring reverb rocks love it.

no probs as of yet

n/a

this thing rocks i love it!!!if stolen id shoot the bastard

Totally simple to use, just turn knobs until you get what you want.

Sounds fine for now, however obviously everything in here could be much better done in individual stomp boxes.

yeah its a brick, i treat it like s*** and its still going

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Our band listens to old Modest Mouse and Flaming Lips, Sonic Youth, Nirvana, Animal Collective, Spiritualized, My Morning Jacket, TV on the Radio, Velvet Underground etc etc, so mush that together and thats what kind of guitar sounds i need. Good to have this pedal to give you basic options for a wide range of effects.
Been playing for a few years, I play mostly a japanese Fender Jaguar with Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounds and sometimes a Highway 1 Tele. I also use a vintage MXR graphics equalizer, all through a valavestate Marshall 50 watt. This pedal sounds fine through all of that, although im planning to get a fender twin reverb, and am not confident the ME-50 will last too long once i get that.

Basically i bought this when i had little experience in effects because it seemed simple enough to use, had a wide range of effects, and being BOSS would at least not sound completely terrible. I was right on all these assumptions, and since buying it have been slowly phasing it out with individual stomp boxes. It's helped me work out what effects i want to use in different songs and what kind of pedals i need that would sound better than whats in the ME-50. So for that purpose its a great little unit for the price - Although be prepared to start moving on as soon as you've spent an hour playing around with it (but this is a good thing!!) Peace.

(I guess I don't have to tell you anything about the setup, concept or colour of this thing. The Boss hp will you give you a worthwhile description AND pictures. So I'll cut straight to the chase.)

The design ist simply brilliant, it is exactly what I've always wished for: no buttons, only knobs. That's how guitar equipment works, people!
You can treat it as a series of stomp boxes that have already been connected for your convenience. With some experience you can have a rig set up in five minutes. Guitarists who are used to dealing with stomp boxes will instantly feel at home. Multi effect enthusiast may save their setups on up to ten banks if they prefer. Both modi are very reasonable.

There are some setbacks of course:
- Obviously you can only use one effect from each module at once. So, no Chorus+Vibrato for you. I think most of us will be ok with that.
- The sections "Tone Modify" and "Compressor" can only be switched via external pedals. Which of course you'll have to buy separatly. Same problem if you want to switch between banks.
- The noisegate and reverb can only be controlled manually.
- There is no real bypass.

My setup:
Gibson LP Traditional - Weeping Demon - TC vintage compressor - ME-50 - H&K Replex - H&K Duotone Head

Now, the sound. That's the whole point, right?
All in all I'd describe the sound as... ok. It's all usable, you can work with most of it. But don't expect any wonders. It's a digital unit after all, and an old one.
- The Overdrives can't compare to the analog pedals. In combination with a tube amp you should be all right. Some are better than others, like the "Rat" and the "Guv'ner".
- Modulation is usable all in all but far from a t.c. electronic Chorus+ or a T-Rex Tremster.
- Tone Modify is basically an EQ. Some settings are nice, the "Acoustic" works. I prefer not to use it though.
- The Compressor is mediocre at best. If you only need it to control your clean sound's volume it will do.
- Noisegate is useless.
- Reverb sounds rather cheap. It's the main weakness I think.
- The Delay section works fine. The time can be tapped, there's a slow echo and even a reverse. The analog delay even sounds a bit like a real one. No rival for my Replex though. Far from it.
- The Expression pedal is fun. If you don't care much for your WahWah sound, this one will do. Resonance is cool for distorted stuff, the ring modulater is even kinda charming.
- Tuner: all you'll ever need.

Built like a tank. Played a few dozen gigs with it, and it was never treated kindly. Never needed a backup.

Never had to contact them.

I've been playing Metal, Goth Rock and plain Alternative Rock for almost 15 years. Most of the gear I own is premium quality. The ME-50 is not.

It does have its use though. If you're a beginner and want to find out about effects in general, try a few things and get a feeling for the subject, the ME-50 is just right. Same thing if you merely want to play a few gigs in small clubs. And be honest: the price is amazing.
If you wanna get serious with your sound though, this little baby is not enough.

I still use it on occasion, but neither for recording nor the good gigs. Pity. If there were a "deluxe" model with a really good sound design, I'd buy it instantly.

No death by menu here. treat it like 3 stompboxes (with a few extra features.) If you can't figure it out, start wearing a helmet.

FTR im using a schecter hellraiser (EMGS), ME-50, and crate V50-112.
The first thing that I noticed was how easy it was to get a usable sound from this. I love the distortions and delays. There seems to be one to suit just about any music style. The reverbs leave alot to be desired, use the one on your amp if you have one. I think that this sounds much better plugged into a tube amp, but I guess everything does.

Its a boss. Will work well as a wedge for chopping wood.

No experience, don't think ill ever need to get it repaired.

I used to be a diehard Line 6 guy. Once I plugged into this thing, that was all over. If you have anything by Line 6, take it back. If you can't, make use of it (coffee table, frisbee, etc.) Plug in to this thing and you will be inspired.
Forgive me for not going into the snobbish tech-geek verbage that you've seen so much. This pedal gets the job done.
If this were stolen, I'd hunt the guy down.

This is a great product. For the money, I'd be surprised if you can find a better multi-FX unit. It's like having a whole bunch of stomp boxes in one, simple to use unit, but without the cost, wiring, noise, and the need for a 6-foot long pedalboard.

The manual is very easy to follow and well laid out, but I've not found the need to refer to it since I first set the unit up as the ME-50 is so intuitive to use.

Personally I'm not a big fan of the presets, they sound too overdone to me. But it's very easy to create your own sounds on the fly (just like with individual stompboxes).

If you want to spend all day editing parameters and getting lost in menus get a GT-10, but if you want a decent set of effects that you can dial in a sound you want very quickly (this thing has a knob for just about everything) get yourself an ME-50.

I'm using this with a Fender 2006 American Series Strat, with Custom Shop 69 pickups, and a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe amp. I run the ME-50 straight into the amp's clean channel.

With this setup I can create just about any sound I like, it really is awesome given what this unit costs. There are some silly effects I won't ever use but as you'd expect with BOSS the effects are mostly excellent quality.

I've not been playing guitar long so I don't know how 'accurate' the COSM-modelled pedals on this unit are but they sure sound good to me.

I don't use the Tony Modify feature much, instead I prefer to use a BOSS GE-7 EQ pedal (in the FX loop of my Hot Rod Deluxe) for finer tone-shaping. If this unit had a GE-7 built in, it would be killer. So it loses a point here. Also, the tuner is useful to have but I find it's not as accurate as my Korg tuner, in fact the ME-50 seems to tune my guitar slightly sharp.

As with pretty much anything that comes out of the Roland factory, it's built like a tank. I only play at home but I'd have no qualms taking this thing out on a gig if I had to. In my keyboard-playing days, I'd used a lot of Roland gear and it's extremely reliable. It has been said that the only survivors of a nuclear holocaust would be Keith Richards and cockroaches. You could almost certainly add any piece of gear with the word BOSS or Roland on it.

Roland UK support really is great, impeccable in fact. I've dealt with them a number of times over the years and they really do look after and value their customers. Within a couple of days of registering this product on the Roland UK website, I had a letter from them with the name of a Customer Service person to contact directly in case of any issues.

I've not been playing guitar very long, less than 2 years, so when it came to investing in my first multi-FX unit earlier this year there was only one name that sprang to mind, and that is BOSS. Their products are great value and very dependable.

I had considered buying a GT-8 at the time I bought this, but I didn't need amp modelling and didn't want to have to spend hours tweaking it to get a good sound. I would definitely buy it again if it was stolen or lost. If a newer, updated version of this comes out in the near future I would be seriously tempted to buy one.

i dont think ive ever found a pedal which is eaiser to use. the manual is brilliant, tells you EXACTLY what you need to know. ive not tried editing patches yet

i use a jackson JS30RR randy Rhodes v and Line 6 Spider III 75 watts with this and to be honest the distortion on the line 6 is better than the ME-50's, also the flanger i find is terrible compared to the line 6. but i do like the chorus, rotary, phaser and delay etc. the noise suppressor is great at what it does, the reverb is ok but i never really use reverb in my band.

i would'nt use this at a gig because i feel i can get better tones through just the Line 6. but i use it in rehearsals all the time and it hasnt failed me yet

never had to deal with them.

i play all sorts of music everything from abba to slipknot and elvis to ozzy and i can find a distortion to match every single song i play on it. the fact you have to buy a seperate footswitch(s) to change tony modify, compressor and bank up/down mid song is slightly annoying, and the fact you have to buy a seperate power supply is ridiculous as most multi effetcs i've used in the past such as zoom, korg etc. dont. if it was lost or stolen i would replace it, as its very good to use and also very handy to have, i originally wanted boss stompboxes but it became apparent i didnt have the money so i was reccomended a multi effects pedal. and got this one as i was set on gettin a boss pedal. overall i would reccomend it but i would probably buy a seperate flange pedal

The layout is logical and intuitive

I use a 1988 Strat Plus with EMG's. It is played through an original Blackface Twin Reverb with a Mesa Boogie V-Twin valve preamp. The tone is to die for. When plugging in the ME-50, ALL of that luscious tone was sucked out and uncermoniously discarded. This pedal is a tone robber made worse by the lack of a bypass. To say it is pure crap is being kind.

I wouldn't even use it for a gig let alone backing it up with another one!

What's the point in fixing garbage?

YUK!

It very easy to use. Its easy to program if you like to do that and it even easier to use as a multi stomp box effect so to speak. It very easy to get started and get the hang of it, the manual is pretty good to.

There are many effects on this and some are good and some are bad but most of them are atleast ok. Personally i have found a pretty raw and good distortion on it, a very good harmonizer, the delays are pretty decent, some cool spacy reverbs. Of course you can find much better flangers, phasers etc on individual pedals. A big drawback with the programmed effects is that you get a little silent "brake" when you switch in beetwen them. Its a good "all pedals in one" multi-effect and very much worth its price.

I have had some problem with the expression pedal and it needs to be adjusted every now and then. Other than that it has worked fine for me on gigs and rehearse.

I play extreme hardcore/metal and have been playing for almost 15 years and uses alot of effects and this pedal is very handy and easy to use. I use it with different tube amps and rock/metal guitars. It has its drawbacks, the silence beetwen programmed sounds, some plastic/bad effect sounds but overall for the price and versatility i think its very good! I would buy a new one if i lost it.

I was given a demo on the Boss ME 50 and liked it. Went to buy the GT 10 thinking it would blow it away with more everything. I WAS WRONG. JUst the HARMONIST alone on the ME 50 blows away the GT 10. THe GT 10 sounds raspy, digital. Hard to program. Don't have the time and patience to deal with the programming or read the manual. The ME 50 is straight forward with better distorted sounds. Where the ME 50 shines is the other effects - delay, reverb, compressor, harmonist, chorus. The ditortion is hard to dial in at low volume even with the amp eqs flat. The only caveat about this is the difficulty to access patches. YOu will have to be tapping to go from patch 1 to patch 6. By the time you get there, the song is half way over. The factory settings are way too loud ( output level set too high). I wish the ME 50 had 10 foot switches instead of 3 to give you different flavors of sounds without dancing like a Riverdance dancer.

Distortion is not as good as the the other effects (Chours, harmonist, delay, etc...). The sound of the chorus and delay are superb - dreamy. The harmonist is great, love it.

great so far.........

don't know yet

Buy this for the sound effects. Distortion is not that good. The ME 50 puts the GT 10 to shame in terms of sound. If you want a raspy, retarded sound and waste your whole day trying to program and re-program an effect , get the GT 10. If you want a wholesome sound that sound full, get the ME 50.

It's the easiest floor pedal for amp modelling to use. It's interface has plenty of knobs so there's no confusion with effect parameters. It has utility predominantly for spontaneous playing-unfortunately, no midi. It's forwardness with all of the knobs on its surface would have made it a better studio unit with midi because its reverb has a sweetening effect- maybe the vf-1, or a boss g-8, or gt 10 for syncing midi?

It has my favorite sound because there were several tone modifying features to entirely reshape the quality of the sound aside from the amplifier simulations, so it was probably a unit that could process software synthesizers for a roland sound along with delivering recording quality tones, or jam quality tones, depending on how important having the midi i/o should be. It has one effect per type- distortion, modulation, and delay. Each section has the sound quality of the better units, the more expensive units, so it's delivering a better sound. The sound is really streamlined for the sensual approach of knob twists so it is best suited for a retro vibe, either as a pedalboard replacement, or as a virtual representation of a signal chain of pedals. The reverb is really cool sounding for software, and the guitar, aside from its unrealness, so its really an electronic sound, so it's really useful for putting an even coating of Boss/Roland over a production, or guitar tones. It's a bunch of stempboxes run into a guitar amp. Nice crunch. Better sustain. Nice fusiony tone- thinking Al Dimeola or maybe Albert King.

Well it feels tough. It feels sturdy. The power supply is replaceable.

I haven't tried their customer support. Their web system is mostly promotional with manuals. They have useable gear, mostly.

The delays and reverb give the production a coating of the roland. The distortions into tube equipment gives it a hyper real crunch. It's not nearly as well designed as the GT 8 where apparently these dual amps and more complicated patches are possible, so it's a short-cut as a studio unit, although its sound is studio, and is probably an economical pedal so players that prefer the economical effects approach to more complicated effects will get a lot of super brilliant sounds. Good 70's tone and sustaining leads. Good delay(no midi).Good crunch.

Very easy to use, I had the ME-20 prior to this so granted I had a bit of a head start. However if you can use a stompbox, you can get some sounds right away. Editing patches will take a little more time, just consult the manual.

I use the ME-50 with a G&L ASAT deluxe guitar, through a mesa boogie mark IV head, with a sonic 2X12 cab loaded with celestion vintage 30's. Now if only I could play guitar better....heh the unit is not noisy, and the noise supressor works really well, compared to the ME-20 its much easier to use, you just turn the knob man. The effects are definitely cool, I checked out the Rat distortion today and was pretty satisfied. Usually I hate digital distortions, but through my tube amp it sounded just fine. Part of the reason i bought the unit was that it has a Univibe type modulation effect, used by trower, hendrix and others...I tried it out today, for a short time, and I wasn't horribly dissapointed. I think its totally usable.

Made in Japan I think, anyway its built dam sturdy, Ive never had an issue with roland or boss gear.

I emailed them once and they responded right away with a spare manual for my ME-20 so that was fine.

I play Blues/rock, cream, the who, classic rock stuff like that. Im gonna try and play some metal, Black sabbath and Metallica stuff, so it will be nice to have all the different sounds this thing can generate. Playing off and on, for like ten years, as a hobby really. I love the stombox type layout, I love the sounds, and the build quality seems really good. Cant say I hate anything, but I suppose I will use my Vox wah pedal, as the wah wah is just average on the unit. It definitely helps me to make music and want to practice cause you can dial in pretty much any sound you can think of. Some of the weird **** I will never use like the ring mod thing and others...but hey nice that its there for someone you know? Im gonna give it overall a 10, primarily because I paid only 200 bucks for it, including two footswitchs and the gig bag, so the value was unreal. For full retail at 300 bucks id drop the rating to an 8.

Ease of use - this is one of its best features. The 3 pedals almost function as separates (1=Dist; 2=Mod; 3=Delay). The other knobs are intuitive and clearly labelled. Expression pedal easily-assignable.

Use w/ Marshall Valvestate.

The effects sound great for a multi FX in this price range. Solid and full - probably pretty close to quality of separates. Distortions and delay are most impressive; flange/phase/chorus less so. Expression pedal is great, especially octave pitch shifter, but the wah setting could be better though.

Another downside - reverb is low quality.

Solid - no worries.

n/a

In terms of quality of sounds and ease of use, this is the best multi FX in its price range. Obviously separates will give you superior sounds, but this is space economical.

Boss has a repuation for being reliable but boring - I prefer the quirkiness of Zoom, who are a more innovative and imaginative company, even though the quality their sounds is not as good as Boss. Zoom also put drum machines on their Multi FX, which are great for jamming at home. Boss should have put one on this pedal, but I guess they view add-ons like drum machines as amateurish - Bullsh*t - so what.

I'm writing this review as I'm about to sell this unit. I'm downgrading to a cheaper cheesier Zoom, which I will use in conjunction with some quality analogue separates.

This has got to be the easiest to use good quality multi effect unit on the market. Very easy to tweak, but doesn't have the "deep dive" tweaking capabilities of the more complex effects units, which is fine with me. I had TC Electronics G-Major for several years and although you can great sounds out of it, editing those sounds was a major pain. The setting knobs basically work like stomp boxes and I'd say if you're a stomp box type person and not a menu editing type person, the this unit is a great fit. It's got every major effect, a very usable wah peddle and no preamp modeling, which for me is great.

Editing patches is very easy, just turn the knobs. It has three modes ... preset, manual and edit which gives a lot of choices in how to use the pedals. I tend to use manual mode more as I like having pedal switching for each effect rather than moving from patch to patch. Don't think the tuner is that effective, but it's there nonetheless.

The fact is, this is a fun effects box. You can get millions of different sounds in seconds and it's all visible right in front of you. No menus, no complex buttons or parameters. As a result, I experiment with it a LOT MORE than I did with the G-Major and it's just a lot more fun to work with because there is zero chance of making a mistake, hitting the wrong button, screwing up a setting, etc... And for me, that's a HUGE plus. There's something about being able to see how every effect you're using is set right there in front of you versus having to toggle through 10 menus one by one to see what all the settings are. I found that to be a major fun buzz killer. You can see the delay settings while you tweak that chorus and quickly make small changes bada bada bing and you're strumming in seconds.

I use the ME-50 in the effects loops of a Boogie Studio Preamp (pure tone magic) which feeds a Mesa 20/20 stereo power amp and then out to two 2x12 cabs. I use a Voodoo Sparkle and a Barber direct drive in front of the preamp. Have some nice Les Paul's, Strats, Teles, Gretsch and other guitars.

Soundwise, I really like the ME-50. I don't use the overdrives, mainly because I love the tones from my preamp and distortion pedals. Having said this, I don't think the overdrive models in the ME-50 are very good. They all sound to me too compressed and "splat" like. I definitely would not suggest anyone buy the ME-50 for the distortion effects, because you'll be disappointed. Also, all the other effects on the ME-50 sound much better with the overdrive/distortion turned off.

I happen to really like BOSS effects, so this is partly why I like the ME-50. The stereo chorus is great, the delays and reverb (spring reverb setting sounds like crap, however) sound great and you can get a very wet sound out of the ME-50. The wah peddle is very usable, as well. Part of what makes the unit appealing is how easy it is to make big or little tweaks. Compared to a rack unit like the G-Major, it is so much more tweakable simply because there is zero hassle involved in making changes. The phaser and flange sound fabulous and both have a lot of range. I don't use compression much so can't give a good review. One thing I really like about the ME-50 is it sounds good with the effects used in a subtle way and also good with them used in a dramatic way. I never really found the G-Major to sound that great when the effects were laid on really thick.

I'll say it one more time, if you buy this unit, you must have a good preamp/distortion setup already in place. If you've got that, then this unit really fits in well.

I'm dinging the sound simply because of the distortion effect. If I was BOSS, I would have left them out or put in a much better, more usable distortion effect.

Another thing I really like about this unit is it doesn't color my guitars much. My Les Paul's and Strat's sound like themselves through this unit and this is not the case with Line6 gear.

It seems very sturdy and well made. It's a BOSS, so quality is probably there, although I don't have years of abuse on it to report on as I keep mine in a clean home studio. My experience with BOSS in terms of quality has always been good.

Website is useful but I've never called BOSS.

I play rock, blues and use mostly rootsy tones. I do a lot of looping and like dreamy sound textures too and the ME-50 allows me to get there very quickly without having to go through 5-10 minutes of patch editing.

I've owned a lot of high end tube and digital gear. The ME-50 effects sound much better in my rig than a PODxt, or the VOX Tonelab and I like it a lot better than the G-Major, although the G-Major did sound great once you got it all set up, which for me was always a hassle. The ME-50 sounds like stomp boxes to me and I love that sound. It mates really well with my Mesa Preamp and has virtually no noise at all when the distortion effect is off. I think the Wah peddle is a total surprise in terms of quality sound. Some reviewers say the wah sucks and I simply can't understand that at all.

All in all, this is my favorite effects unit and I've tried a lot of different ones, both pedals and rack type units.

I bought an ME-50 a month ago after using its predecessor, the ME-30, for the last eight years. There are some comparisons between the two that I thought might be useful if any Boss guys are reading this. First of all, I love the ME-50 - sound quality much better and the ease of use with the knobs on top is great. Very easy to get a good sound. Patch editing, though, is harder than on the ME 30. On the ME 30 there were 30 predefined patches and 30 user defined patches. On the ME 50 there's only 30 patches - if you want to make your own you have to overwrite the factory settings. What gives there? It was good to have the factory settings as reference points. On the ME 50 if you overwrite them you can get them back by using the restore defaults option but then you lose your own patches. In this area I thought the ME 30 was more flexible.
Second, on the ME 30 you could name your patches, and the settings were always visible for you to re-edit if you wanted to. On the ME 50 you have to write it all down somewhere. I would have thought that retaining some form of menu that let you see what you have done was a worthwhile thing.
Third, I liked the foot switching between levels on the ME 30. While bending down on the ME 50 isn't that much of a problem, it is a step backwards in my view.
I'd like to see Boss bring back the editing functionality that the ME 30 had.

I have played the guitar for 30 years and now play in a classic rock cover band using a Strat into a Bronx 112 tube amp. Mainly looking for good overdrive and distortion. Sometimes use the chorus, phaser and delay. I love the sound of the ME 50. My criticism here is of the wah - it doesn't seem as strong as it might be - I actually think the ME 30 had better wah. Also on the ME 30 you could put the wah before the other effects, or after. On the ME 50 you don't get the choice. What gives there, Boss guys? Another step backwards. On the plus side, the resonance and voice settings on the expression pedal are brilliant, and I like the octaves also.

Seems to be reliable. Anyway I have my Behringer pedal to fall back on if needed. Haven'r really owned it long enough to have an opinion but I had no problems with my ME 30

Never used them

I actually went to a music store to try a Vox Tonelab and the guy there basically told me not to buy one and get a Boss ME 50 instead. The Tonelab had some funny hissing noises that worried me. Don't have any of that with the Boss. If you're not interested in modelling other amps, which I'm not, then the Boss is very practical and easy to use.
How could you improve it? See above. Also, other writers have complained about the delay when switching from one patch to another so I won't go over that again. But to get over it, what I do is have another pedal (a Behringer Vintage Tube Overdrive) that I use with the overdrive/distortion on the Boss to go from rhythm overdrive to a sharper sound for solos. I know you can solve this problem by having different patches but I prefer the control that comes from being able to kick a pedal in without a gap. What would be really good would be to to have a programmable pedal that you could assign effects to. So you might have your overdrive pedal on one setting and your assignable pedal on your lead setting. It would also mean you could use two modulation effects together if you wanted to. Where do you get the room to do this? How about a few less distortion options - 22 is really over the top, and many of the 'variation' sounds seem pretty much the same as the others. So I would say 11 options is quite enough. Also I've never understood what the ring mod idea is all about (reproducing the sound of playing with your whammy bar fully depressed). Does anyone really use it? If so, tell me when your next gig is and i'll be somewhere else. So there's some room you can save, Boss guys, so how about making the changes I've suggested?
If it was stoen I'd get anouther one - I love it. But it could be so much better by just bringing back some of the ME 30 functionality and giving us that programmable pedal. Come on, Boss, just do it.

Seems pretty simple to use, just bought it last week, and was able to produce the goods pretty quickly, everything looks straightforward and intuitive. Manual is simple enough.

I use a deArmond m75t, and a Peavey T-60, amp is a line 6 spider. i have a lot of other efx, but plan to use this more or less on its own. Sounds are sufficient for the chaotic racket I generally make.

Bit early to be sure, but have had my ME-6 for about 16 yrs and bought this to update it. Looks and feels tough.

Phoned Roland here in Ireland with a question about a power supply straight away, got through clean and got clear sound advice.

I play experimental/drone/noise rock, good to have lots of efx to create the necessary chaos. Playing for about 23 yrs. Got a couple of amps, about 8 guitars and half a dozen other efx., mainly line6 modellers. Wish it had more pedal swithches, so u dont have to buy extra or keep bending down....

How easy do you want? just turn the knobs and get the sound you want... Only issue is creating/editing patches could be simpler, and switching between banks without an extra footswitch is a pain.

I'm reasonably happy with the sounds thru my Strat/marshall setup, but, can't find quite the tone I want with my Epi LP.

The drive channel is good, with lots of sounds from Boss' Pedal range, but see the variation button as pointless, I hardly use it.

Modulation and delay are good, get no complaints at all, however, would have liked a ping/pong style delay.

The expression pedal is okay, the Wah could be better tho. On some distortion settings (like the MT pedal) it's almost useless.

The other functions are all reasonable too, Reverb on Hall, room and Mod are okay, but spring is a little strange.

Compressor and NR are good, and I use them quite often with the Strat.

Only issue really for me is switching between patches in memory mode takes about 1/2 a second.

Had it a few years, and it's been heavily used. I'm massivly impressed with the expression pedal, still feels like new.

No need ever to deal with them.

It's not perfect by any means, but I've not used any multi fx anywhere near this good, and this dependable. IMO with a seperate Wah, you need nothing else!

Very easy to use. Chunky dials rather than menu scrolling makes this very user friendly. Everything seems to be laid out as it should be for simplicity. Programming patches is straightforward. The manual is worth a look though.

I play a mexican strat and a korean squier tele (don't laugh, I've upgraded it and it sounds a lot better than it should!) into a Fender Deluxe 90 for rehearsal and a Sunn ST-15 (fender in disguise)for home practice. You may have gathered I'm a Fender man.

I know all the reviews of this pedal do this but at the risk of being repetative I'll go through the sections.

Tone Modify - A basic EQ. Does the job but be careful with it.

Compressor - OK.

Noise Gate - Very useful. I dial it to 12 o'Clock and leave it alone and it does the job well

Reverb - Urrgh. The Room and Hall settings are just about OK but the Spring setting sucks. No idea what Boss were thinking. If your amp has reverb use that, if not then use a bit of Hall or Room or do without.

Overdrive/Distortion - Sounds like the box's it emulates. A couple of the COSM variations sound a bit wierd (Like the OCT FUZZ a lot!). Effecively you get 22 different OD/DS box's that are as adjustable as you want. Something for every taste.

Modulation - all good. Phaser is excellent and I love the Uni-v. Stereo chorus sounds are fairly good through two amps.

Delay - Plenty to suit most styles and tastes. Clear and easy to use. Does what it should very well.

Expression Pedal - Acts as a volume pedal until you push it down hard. Wah is OK but not Jim Dunlop by any means. Octave pitch shifter is OK if you like that kind of thing. Will someone explain to me who uses Ring Mod? I sounds awful and I can't think of any use for it other than to make your guitar sound like a robot farting.

There's also a master level dial which comes in handy if using headphones. Otherwise I leave it at 12 o'clock

You could use it to knock in tent pegs at a festival gig before you went on stage.

The military are borrowing the design for tank armour.

They found one under a glacier and it still worked.

the ancient pyramid builders of Egypt used it to......

You get the picture

see above

Do you know anyone who owns 11 different distortion pedals and uses all of them on stage at the same gig? Of course you don't. But if you own this then that's what you have. You can have a different sound for every song if you want. Now most guitarist tend to settle on a sound they like and stick with it for most of the stuff they play but this pedal allows you the flexibility to be adventurous. OK so you need to buy a seperate switch to change banks without bending over and pressing a button but you get the point.

I've been playing for well over twenty years and I really like this pedal. I play everything from Johnny Cash to Q.O.T S.A.

Some reviews have said that this messes up your tone. Tone is purely subjective and I think they are wrong. I think that like all pedals it allows you to experiment with sound and that's a good thing. Most tone purists I've met are too far up there own arses to be able to hear anyway.

It does what it's meant to do. It isn't hand wired with antique cloth covered wire and have it's glass tubes warmed between the thighs of young maidens but it sounds pretty good all the same.

For the price (I've seen these new for ??160) you can't do better than this.

Very simple to use in manual mode, not much mucking around, just plug straight in and dial in.

Memory mode takes a little more time, but still isn't too difficult.

I've had this unit for around two years now, and still can't get anything better than an "average" sound out of it. The OD/DS section is lacking and has few decent sounds.

The Mod and Delay sections do as they say, pretty standard. Not bad, but not amazing.

The Wah is good as a begginers wah; as in if this is the first wah you've used it's perfect, but otherwise you will know there's much better out there.

Built like a tank - Very strong structure, you could drop it a thousand times and it would still work.

I've gigged with this unit many a time, and the only problems I have had have been with the power cable, which wasn't even an official boss one.

Never needed it.

If you're looking to buy your first effects unit, this is perfect; very simple to use, and will teach you a lot about basic effects. If you're looking for a certain sound from your guitar, this unit is not for you. The effects are mediocre and weak.

If this unit were stolen or lost I wouldn't buy a new one, I would look to buy seperate stomp boxes, or improve my amp rather than effects.

Very easy to use. Wish that you could name the patches though.

sounds very good. I wish that it was true bypass.

I have been playing rock and popular type music for about 15 years. I like simplicity and the boss unit offers that. I do have to say though that there is a serious problem with the tuner. I have the white Boss stage tuner and the ME 50 tunes sharp compared to the stage tuner. The stage tuner is correct. I would love it if Boss made a big boy version of the ME 50 that had a good tuner and was true bypass and you could name your patches.

The setup is very straight forward. Very simple to use and, when you need it, the instructions are very clear and concise. You can reach professional sounding tones with a little tweaking, although, it can suck a little tone out of your signal on certain effects, particularly when using the noise suppressing function. Most casual players would never notice though. Very user friendly in general.

Again, a little noise suckage here and there...but nothing dramatic. Very cool sounds come out of this thing. The distortions are top notch, especially with the variation button depressed to get that COSM goodness. It has a few subtle effects that are a great addition to the overall package. The expression pedal is an excellent addition to this gizmo as well. It's not "excellent" or anything, but is definitely worthy of casual use.

I've had this unit for over 2 years and have never had a single issue with its reliablility. It is in fact "built like a tank." BOSS rules...end of story!

Never had an issue to warrant using BOSS's customer support. I probably never will.

Great piece of gear to add to the old repitoire. You have many effects at your feet and is great fr gigs, practice, etc. If I ever need to replace it, I would replace it again and again with no reserve. I love it. You will too! Just buy it!!!

The pedal has 2 modes. Manual and Preset.

MANUAL MODE
===========
In manual mode it is very simple to use...basically it's the same as having a bunch off BOSS pedals sitting on a floorboard. You get a tuner, compressor, noise gate, tone shaping eq, reverb, expression/volume pedal, overdrive, modulation, and delay.

Tuner - works great. just like the standard boss tuner pedal but with less lights to display sharp/flat.

Compressor - works great. although I don't use it all that much.

Noise gate - works great. sounds comparable to other good noise gates (ie rocktron hush, etc).

Reverb - I don't think it's as terrible as some people have mentioned here, but that being said I generally use the reverb on my jcm 900 instead.

Expression/Volume Pedal - Works great as a volume pedal. The wah is ok, but if I really used wah i'd probably get an external pedal. and the rest of the expression pedal options are kinda useless.

Overdrive - Awesome! Great stomp box type od/distortion effects. Since I already have a tube amp with great tone, I use these exclusively to get a more boosted overdriven sound for solos or heavy riffs that I want to thicken up.

Note: if you're expecting the sounds here to compare to the kind of warm "tube amp modeling" sounds you'll find in a vox tonelab (or some other similar pedal) then you'll definitely be let down. these sound just like the pedals they're saying they are: DS-1, DS-2, BD-2, OD-2, rat, muff, etc. What I'm saying is don't try to plug one of those overdrive tones straight into your solid state amp on clean and expect it to sound like slash. I can only imagine the terrible tone you would get using even an original metal zone pedal thru a clean solid state amp.

Modulation - Pretty standard effects. Chorus, Phaser, Flanger, Tremolo are all decent. Nothing amazing, but they'll get the job done. It's neat that they inlcuded the rotary setting although I've never actually used it in a song.

Delay - All sound very good. I originally rented the Line6 delay but decided that for the amount of money it costs I could probably get something with more effects than just delay. The Me-50 hasn't let me down. I was able to get close to the same sounds I was using on the line6 plus I have all the other effects on the me50 to play with.

Tap Tempo - It's great that they included tap tempo for both the mod and delay! My only beef is that when entering tap tempo (long press for 2 seconds) the effect will cut out for a split second.


PRESET MODE
===========
Preset mode is actually quite simple to use. Pressing "Write" once activates the save sequence. Select the bank and preset number (1-3). Then press "Write again. The number blinks a few times and you're done.

That being said, preset mode has a major downfall which I'll go into further in the next section. (that's why I only gave this section a 7 - because the downfall makes it difficult to use depending on your application)

I've never even looked at the manual; but I did rent a boss ME-20 (and read it's manual) before purchasing the ME-50 and they operate in a fairly similar manner.

The sound quality of the ME-50 is great.

I'm using this as my only effects unit with my Marshall JCM900 Dual reverb half stack. I play a Gibson SG standard and a Gibson Les Paul Special (both with 490/498 pickups). I play mostly rock/indie/punk music.

The main things I use on the ME-50 are:

-volume pedal
-delays
-a few overdrive/compressor/ns settings
-and some flanger/chorus


Originally I was pluging straight into the ME-50 and out of that into my marshall. Some people have complained they could "feel" something different when running thru the unit; but the tone seemed pretty comparable to me and I never noticed anything strange.

My only gripe was that with the ME-50 muted (either in tuner mode or with the volume pedal off) a tiny amount of guitar was still getting thru to my amp. The amount was very small and was definitely bearable but just not ideal.

Here's the real problem...
My current setup is a little different, Not because I was unhappy with the tone, but because I discovered the major downfall with Preset Mode:

LOADING A PRESET CAUSES A VERY AUDIBLE MUTE!

I haven't recorded the output to see exactly how long it mutes for when it does a preset change but my guess is at least 100 ms.

This isn't a problem if you don't change presets while you are in the middle of playing; but if you for instance want to kick in an overdrive preset half way thru the chorus then be prepared for your guitar to cut out momentarily. Basically if you are planning to use preset mode as advertised then you will be VERY disappointed.

Note: this has actually proven to be less of a problem for me than originally anticipated...

My workaround - I've realized that I generally only have (at most) two "tones" per song: my regular JCM 900 tone, and an effect (overdrive, delay, overdrive with delay, etc).

So what I do is:

-plug guitar into my old boss tuner pedal
-one output goes to A side of an A/B box
-other ouput goes to ME-50
-output of ME-50 goes to B side of the A/B box

Before each song I simply load up the proper preset in the ME-50, and then I can switch to it on the fly (with no audible mute) using the A/B box.

This solution also solved my problem of low level noise making it thru to my amp while the me-50 was muted, and it also gave me a slightly better tuner than the on board one on the me-50.

The other solution to the problem would be to only use Manual Mode (in which case there is no audible mute when engaging effects); but that's not a very good solution if you use multiple effects of the same type throughout your set (ie. mild chorus in one song, heavy flanger in another, light tremolo in another, etc) because you'd have to dial each of those in by hand.

I haven't owned the the me50 for long but it's built like a tank, and judging from the reliability of other boss pedals I've owned I don't see any reason it would breakdown.

Never had to deal with them.

Like I said above....I'm using this as my only effects unit with my Marshall JCM900 Dual reverb half stack. I play a Gibson SG standard and a Gibson Les Paul Special (both with 490/498 pickups). I play mostly rock/indie/punk music and I have been playing guitar and bass guitar in bands for about 13 years.

The ME-50 is a great effects unit. I really like the fact that it focuses on effects as opposed to all the amp modeling pedal boards because I already have an amp with tone that I like.

I own a VOX Tonelab (not the pedalboard one) and I quite like the amp modeling for use in my home studio; but for live I wanted something that was just effects.

It's built tough (solid metal body - like most boss pedals) and I would probably replace the ME-50 if it were lost or stolen.

It does have the major drawback that preset mode has an audible mute when changing between presets (see above); but with my current workaround I no longer have a problem.

That being said I'm definitely keeping my eye on a redesigned newer version of the ME-50 that would hopefully use a faster processor to reduce the mute between presets to something useable.

Definitely a good value for the price considering what all those boss pedals would cost you to buy individually.

After I bought this unit, I simply hooked it and used it. There were a a few non-obvious things, like how to switch operational modes of the expression pedal, or store patches, but if you have experience with other stompboxes, figuring out how each module works shouldn't be too much effort. The signal flow makes sense, and the controls are reasonably well labeled. (Hard to see in on a dark stage, though -- I used to put mine up on a bass cab so I could fiddle with realtime settings on the fly).

As for the manual -- I think I glanced through it once, and then lost it. The unit looks intimidating -- all them knobs! -- but it's not nearly as difficult to use as, say, a G-sharp, a V-amp, or a POD.

I have many guitars and amps, but my main live rig consists of swapping between a Parker Fly Deluxe and a 92 Standard Strat, into a Fender ProSonic. I've used the ME-50 live, but sometimes it's a pain to haul around, so I use a Yamaha Magicstomp on my pedalboard now. Then and now, my main use for the ME-50 is studio work, where I run all sorts of instruments through it. (Distorted, flanged cello, anyone?)

At the time I bought this (2001?), I already owned a POD 2.0, but I wanted something a little more basic, something with lots of creative colors but without amp simulations. (I was also annoyed that the POD didn't have a phaser effect.) This unit delivered many of the sounds I heard in my head, and then some. In the studio, I often put it ahead of a POD (which goes direct into the board), and just use the POD for amp/cab simulations.

I was especially pleased with the delays and distortion/OD effects, which are quite versatile. The distortion/OD FX are labeled as emulations of various classic stomps, but I found that only a few of them were reasonably faithful to the original FX. However, almost all of them were useful in one way or another, so no complaints.

A couple other FX are standout from my point of view: the harmonist feature (pitch shift and harmony tricks) and the Univibe emulation. The Univibe isn't all that close to the original, but if you set it right, you can get interesting banjo or pizzicato-violin sounds from your guitar, subtle woowoowoo coloring, or full-on Hendrix noises.

As for the harmonist -- it tracks fairly well with guitars, and allows you to play two-line harmony lead parts in various keys (music theory helpful).

An off-label use for the harmonist feature, which I discovered by accident, is as a bass sub-octave effect. (I play bass as well as guitar in my band.) Set the harmony interval to -1 octave, with the effected signal mixed at about 80%, run your bass through it (with a little distortion in the chain), and you get a seriously heavy doubled bass tone that tracks better than any of the bass-specific octave boxes I've tried over the years! Yes, it warbles and mistracks on sustained low notes, but that's part of the charm. Also, it can't handle much below the open bass A, but an octave below open A is already lower than my low B string, so I'm happy.

I've also used some of the distortion/OD effects with bass. Most of them are tuned for best tone in the midrange, so it's not something I do very often, but it's good to have extra colors in the paintbox.

The preset patches, as with many multiFX units, are a mixed bag. Some are great -- there's a couple OD patches I use all the time. Others are just filler, too weird or boring for day-to-day use. Certainly, the presets are excellent starting points for your own tweaked patches.

Some of the effects -- notably the phaser and flanger FX -- are noisy, in ways we're all familiar with (whooshing when no notes are played). But I can filter or gate most of that out in the studio, and live, no one notices. The "rotary" effect isn't the best -- there are better Leslie emulations in the PODs or in the Boss GT-8 board, for instance -- but it has a certain primitive charm if used with distortion.

The compressor and noise gate are somewhat better than average. However, I'd like more control over the compression parameters -- you're offered only "sustain" and "level" controls. The noise gate has to be adjusted carefully, or it will ignore/clamp your signal when you don't expect it (and make spitty sounds as it does so).

The ME-50 has stereo output, which is nice if you use dual amps. Those effects which have a spatial dimension (chorus, pan, rotary, and the pan delays) sound pretty good in stereo.

Generally, the tone is very good. If you want excellent-to-perfect FX sounds, you're in a completely different price range (or medium, such as ProTools).

The thing is bombproof, except for the knobs (which I've had to reattach once in a while). I've hauled mine around in a duffel bag for several years. I've dropped it and buried it under piles of stuff. It's been rained on and broiled in a hot car. Aside from damage to the paint job (and loose knobs), it keeps on working just fine.

It's a fairly expensive unit, so I don't think I'd get a backup. If it failed at a gig, I have ways to get equivalent tones, so I'm not worried. Except for electrical damage, however, the usual rigors of live performance shouldn't hurt it.

Apparently, you can run the ME-50 on batteries, but I've never tried this. Given the horsepower in the box, I suspect it eats batteries like crazy.

The power switch is a little slider on the back, which seems a bit vulnerable (I'd prefer a solid toggle or rocker switch). There's a plastic cleat on the back which can be used to anchor the power cable and prevent it from being pulled out by accident (it also protects the plug a bit).

I've never dealt with Boss product support.

I've been playing for 35 years. I play many different styles of music. Jazz, classical, folk, metal, punk, indygrass, whatever. I can find stuff in the ME-50 to support anything I'm doing. It's a creative tool, but it also offers simple meat-and-potatoes effects when I don't need anything unusual.

I'm really pleased with the ME-50's versatility. As I say, I've used it with bass on more than a one-off basis; I also use it with bowed instruments, mandolin, and keyboards. Percussion tracks, doubled through this gadget, can take on a whole new personality.

I favor simple, one-box solutions for guitar (as opposed to the bank-o-pedals scenario), and I like the analog-style, knob-driven interface, so this works well for me. The price was right for me when I bought mine, and I think it's still a good value at today's prices.

There are other multieffects units out there that have the same, or similar capabilities. Your mileage may vary. Personally, I'd recommend this for the guitarist/multi-instrumentalist who wants a flexible creative tool with an analog personality, rather than just another menu-driven amp-modeling DSP box.

Once you realize how the pedal is made up its very very straightforward.

If you want to get the most out of the ods/dist models you need a tube amp, otherwise they will sound very harsh and uninspireing. The modulations and delays sound good through SS/digital rigs regardless. Reverbs are plain crap IMHO. The noisegate and compressor do there job. I use the enhance setting on the tone modify it seems to improve my tone slightly. I'm playing this through a valve junior and im really loving the ds-1 model. Rating for going through a tube amp only.

Well built. So far so good. Had it about 3 years

Never dealt

Perfect for gigging, no cables to trip over, easy to tweak and good tone if the rest of your gear is of good quality.

you can operate this unit with your eyes closed from the minute you take it out of the box. excellent layout. no learning curve at all with this unit. editing patches is almost too easy. the manual is to the point and worth reading even if you don't need to.

using an ibanez rg350 into a marshall 40w valvestate i get a very good tone, nothing breathtaking but enough to give me those usual sounds, spacey, heavy, bluesy, folky, jazzy and even some weird synthesizer effects.
what stand out for me is the delay, distortion colours, the phaser and chorus. the tone modify feature only seems to have an impact with clean tones. the octave mode is excellent, although that and the harmonist effect and the ring mode effect can only be used for single notes i.e chords sound terrible.

no problems at all very reliable

im sure they are useless as usual and thankfully ive never needed them

Ive owned about 5 multi effects units and this one is the best but not by much. It has its drawbacks, the wah is very weak indeed, when i line it up with my Dunlop 535q wah or even my Digitech Hendrix wah, the Boss ME50's effort at the wah is just lame. The voice and resonance are interesting but again they don't pack a punch. the reverb is also weak and seems to steal so much tone compared to my amps reverb.
distortion effects are good, the OD-2 setting is the one i find gives the best tone for me, the others get too mushy and nothing i do can get them to sound any good. the guv (high gain) is meaty and crunchy also but again the rest are just lacking for my set up.

last but not least is the compressor and noise reduction, just fantastic. i get a lot of interference from my PC and other stuff (like picking up radio stations and taxi's as they drive past) and this thing eliminates them, and as for the compressor i can huge sustain, in fact the most impressive thing ive noticed about this unit is the ability to get infinate sustain using the compressor and wah pedal set to about half closed.

Extremely easy to use and versatile as hell! You can get pretty much any sound out of this pedal that you want by doing a little tweaking here and there. As with any pedal it's good to pay it some attention. I spent about a week getting to know mine before i found "my sound" but that's only because i'm picky!

It does look complicated at first but read the manual through and it's plain sailing from there. You shouldn't need to read it again...

I play indie rock, alternative, metal and funk and this pedal does EVERYTHING i need. My current set up is a Burns Marquee into a Mesa/Boogie Roadster with Engl 4x12 and the ME-50 is my SOLE effects unit. I can't see why you would realistically need any more pedals than this. It seems to incorporate just about every decent pedal on the market as well as the whole Boss range.

First of all the Distortion options are superb. The Boss OD-1 and OD-2 settings are great for thick, liquid soloing while the BD-2 is exceptional for rhythm sounds or for fattening things up if you're the only guitarist in the band. With a Muff, an Ibanez Tube Screamer and a Marshall Guvnor also on board...you're sorted for overdrive and distortion. There's also a nice octave fuzz and a Square synth sound (think effector-13) if you need to wierd it up a bit!

The modulation channel is where i think the pedal lets itself down slightly. The phaser is stunning, as is the vibrato, but the other settings offer a very limited range for tweaking. The flanger could be MUCH better and the chorus needs fattening up a little more. Having said that i enjoy the Harmonist and the Rotary (very Lesley sounding) options.

The Delay is all good. All the Boss options are here along with some nice extras. The Hold setting offers a short sampler which is very nice for those set breaks or when someone snaps a string. Keep the crowd going with some nice layered delay sounds! It is, however, beyond me why anyone would use a 0-30ms delay...

The combined volume/expression pedal is great. Anyone who finds it difficult not to knock it out of expression into volume needs to take a little more care when jumping on it. Don't try to play chords in the +1 octave, -1 octave or ring modulator modes though - not a nice sound.

The reverb is ok but i don't use it. I use my amp for that.
The compressor works well - nothing wrong there
The Noise Gate is a nice feature however you will need to play around with it in relation to the distortions.
The Tone Modify knob is one of the best things about this pedal. There are 10 settings and each one sounds totally different.

I've had no problems so far and i've had mine for over a year. It's very sturdy and i wouldn't particularly urge you to buy a case for it. I just whack mine in a bag with all my leads and it's been fine up to now. It's been dropped, kicked around and stamped on and not even a scratch!

One thing though - load it with 6 AA batteries regardless of whether you have a power adapter. If the adapter gets yanked out (which it shouldn't because there is a hook to wrap your power cable around!) you don't want to be left scrabbling around on the floor trying to put it back in!

Never needed it

It's a great pedal. You can get any sound you want from it with little work. However it could be improved slightly. SOME of the modulations need looking at (tremolo, all 3 choruses and flanger) and i WISH that the power adapter and bank switching pedals were included. Also don't expect instant switching when in patch mode. There is a noticeable lag which gets VERY annoying. However a little practice and you'll get used to it.

Overall i'd recommend it as a good first pedal. It's got everything you need and is very easy to use. If you're thinking about buying a multi-effects pedal and don't want to spend your life savings on a processor, go for the ME-50.

Contact me if you have any questions about the pedal :)

I stay away from the memory mode, and in manual mode this is the easiest multi-effect I've ever used. It really is like a consolidation of a few Boss pedals into one. Fantastic to use, especially when I want to change settings on the fly mid-song.

I am quite picky with tone, and after tweaking the compression and noise gate I notice no audible alteration of my tone. The distortions are decent (especially the tube screamer and fuzz face, very close to the originals which I own and have tested side by side), but the key to my distorted tone is my amp (15w Crate Palomino, fantastic little amp despite its brand name). The modulation and delay effects are top-rate, and sound identical to their Boss stomp counterparts. The modulation effects are extremely sensitive and can be tweaked to just where I like them. Pity I do not have a second amp handy at the moment as I would love to play with some of the stereo effects. The expression effects are all of good quality as well. Volume works spot on, and the pitch shifts are excellent. The ring modulator is wild, fun effect to play around with in extreme moderation. Resonance is kinda lame (perhaps it will come to life in stereo?), and I find the voice effect somewhat difficult to get a use out of (for now anyway). The wah is excellent, sounds very Vox-ish, but I would have liked if it had a wider sweep. For what I was looking for--Modulation effects, delay, comp, noise gate, wah, and some 'go to 11' for solos, etc.--this thing is perfect. Although I will never sell my Turbo Tubescreamer, I am going to be parting with some old stomp boxes now that I have this thing.

I love my single effects, don't get me wrong, but I'm sick of pedals dying on me and I can't afford to have them repaired anymore. If there is one thing Boss is known for, it is rock solid tank-like reliability. This is made of steel and high quality rubber and I know it will last me as long as any of my other Boss effects.

None of my Boss pedals have ever broken, so I have no experience with Boss' customer support. This is a good thing.

Having owned myriad stomp boxes over the years, there is nothing like tweaking individual effects to taste. But, on the other hand, I enjoy the simplicity of having everything in one compact unit. The ME-50 offers a nice middle ground. It is extraordinarily simple to use and is very much like having several Boss stomps at your feet. The quality of most of the effects is top notch, I do not notice rampant tone sucking or digitization problems as I have with multi-effects in the past (Line6 PodXT Live, for example). For a little more than I paid for my Line6 DL-4, which is a fantastic pedal if it didn't break :( , I now have a compact, easy to maintain effects unit that keeps it simple and straightforward. There are enough sounds in the box that I will not need any more effects for a long time. And I can trust that Boss makes reliable products that last forever if properly cared for. Feel free to ask any more specific questions, as I am something of an effects junkie and I will be able to get as little or most technical as needed.. I'll be glad to answer anything I can.

It is the most strait forward, easy to use multi-effects system on the market period. One knob for each effect what more can I say.

It's no better than the individual pedals that it models, but no worse either. I only own three guitars...(i know, the few but the proud). A cort M-600 (extremely accurate knock-off of the PRS Custom 222), Seagull Enterage rutic acoustic-electric, and and antient relic (1905 or 1935 not sure which) SS stewart archtop. And from what I've found this unit will even perform at an exceptional level with acoustic guitars.

Expression: I use all of the expression settings except the ring mod because it's freaky and they all do what they say they do quite well (except the pitch benders, they only perform when playing one string at a time and muting the others)

Tone Modify: These are great tools, set it for what ever type of music you're playing and leave it there.

Reverb: useless, they are almost un-noticable when turned on.

Noise gate: set it to about three o'clock and leave it. It works perfectly

Disortion: high quality, extremely versitile. The varient patch works great with tubed amps. Any style of playing that uses distortion can be covered with this unit. Also for added base boosting without distortion set gain to minimum and use the bottom knob to get wicked base.

Modulation: all great versitile tools for all music styles. Harmonist one string at a time. Couldn't tell you about the pan effects...only own one amp.

Delay: Perfect and extremely usable from subtle to in your face no problems with this.

Over all I've found that haveing on bypass doesn't affect the sound of play at all and the effects only have things to add no draw backs

Had it for a year now never shown a hint of an inckling of an issue. Made amlost entirely of metal, and where there's no metal there plastics so solid they could be run over with a hummer.

I'd gig with this unit in a thunderstorm, infront of the entire world if my life depended on it without a backup... Nuff said

Wouldn't know... never had an issue

I play anything fron blues to hard rock and it will deal with anything that I can throw at it.
I've been playing for about 4 years now, I've got 3 guitars, The boss metal zone MT-2 distortion drive, and a very recently aquired Fender Blues Deluxe. If your amp has an effect loop use it with this unit. If this one for any reason was lost or stolen I'd get another one hands down. love the versatility, hate the rever on it, particularily like the distortion. I had a pedal that was made be some company called Zoom for a day and it broke so I got this before that I had a digitech that died in 6 months so this is the longest lasting pedal I've had. It has been the single best purchase musically I've ever made and it will continue to be for a long, long time

This pedal is a God-send for the gig'ing musician. Ease of use, convenient, instant set-up and great sounds is why ya buy this particular effects unit. I've been using the ME-50 for a couple of years now and have had no desire to go back to the 5 to 7 individual pedals I use to set up. I play country, rock, surf, a lot of Chet fingerstyle. Everything I need for the gig is in this unit and can be adjusted easily in real time without having to scroll through menus. It does have 30 presets and I've played with them but its rare that I will pull one up at a gig. I just use whats there in the non-program mode and there is a lot there; excellent compression, excellent distortions, great Univibe, great phaser, great flanger, excellent tremelo, all manners of delay including a cool reverse delay, four different reverb types with full adjustment on one knob (probably the most important feature for quick set-up in various rooms), excellent volume pedal, accurate tuner, nice wah and expression effects. But the big deal is that all of these are so easily accesible and adjustable for each new room you in which you find yourself.

Great great sounds come from this baby. I've been gig'ing with it for a couple of years and still find new ways to use it. Recently at a rehearsal, I couldn't understand why my sound was particularly good. When I got home and hooked up my gear to investigate whether I still that great tone, I noticed that I accidentally had the "tone modify" section engaged. It was set to "Enhance". I don't know exactly what "Enhance" does electronically, it may just be an EQ setting but boy did it give my country playing a nice big steel string character. It also sounded good in conjunction with the distortions and delays. I love the variety of distortions. If ya need a fuzz, its there in a few variaties and sounds great. I'm not a metal cruncher so I can't speak to the quality in that regard but it has great flexibility in overdrives.
The Modulation section also has very high quality sounds. I am particularly impressed with the Univibe. It has all the delays I need and accompanying adjustments, again very easy to dial in at the gig.

The single reverb knob to adjust all reverb possibilities originally seemed like a cheapy way to go BUT it has proven a golden feature of this unit. The knob has 4 reverb types assigned to it. Starting at the 6-o'clock position is a room reverb that reaches max depth in the 9 o'clock position. From 9 to 12-up is hall reverb, min at 9, max when the knob is turned to 12. The last two quadrants of the knob are given to Spring reverb (not very good or useful), and "mod" reverb whatever that means. I use either the room or hall reverb settings. Its the fist thing I set at the gig and is very quick and easy. No scrolling through 27 hall reverbs, no 32 room reverbs to select just the right one, no stereo reverbs (as if audience is gonna notice that at the gig) etc...Nope, its just one knob with enough variation. Set it and forget it.

Compression is another "set-it-forget-it" function but has two knobs, level and sustain. It works very nicely.

Threshold, set and forget again is nice gate feature if you're experiencing a lot of noise typically when using distortion with a lot of drive and single coil pick-ups. I could detect no robbing of tone what-so-ever even when the threshold is tured all the way up.

The volume pedal is a fantastic feature in that you keep your full range tone when pulling back on the volume. The other expression effects such as wah, and some very fun pitch-bend effects are great BUT you lose your ability to control volume when they're engaged (so you have to use the guitar volume knob if you find you're too loud).

I tested the ME-50's tuner against a good full-VU tuner. It is calibrated right on the money. It only has five leds to guid you to the right note which is a little "coarse" but once you're used to them, it works very well.

I have played with the programming, its very easy to do. I think I have some nice ones in there, but I only rarely use my programs at a gig.

The unit is very robust. I carry it around in an old brief case. The expression pedal, even though plastic, is very strong and sturdy heavy duty plastic.

Haven't gone there yet.

I have found the other fancier largely-programmable units useless at gigs. They sound great when set up at home but take 'em to the gig and they need to to be readjusted 'cause every room sounds different. If you are a home-enthusiast, sure, a fancier programmable set up may offer more possibilities, but the ME-50 has plenty of options as well and is much quicker to adjust on the job.

Ok i rated this one a lil while back. Now i think i can give a really good review on it cause i have put tons of hours into it and used it quite a bit. So Ease of use: Not very easy at all, if your a very specific person with your tone, if you actually know the difference between a boss ds-1 a rat and a tubescreamer. your not the kind of person thats gonna just want to use the presets. And it will take you a while to get to the point where you can start getting the sounds your looking for out of this beast. You can get there its just gonna take a while, the worst part about editing patches is theres just to much crap in the top end of the unit. i really think the preset eq is kinda useless, im almost inclined to super-glue it to the off setting. never read the manual, im not a manual guy, my opinion is ill figure it out eventually. my advice is if you get one, study the manual or just be patient in learning it.

Ok heres where i get to say what ive learned, Now here is the one thing about this unit that is unmistakably the biggest error with it and hopefully someone will come out with some sort of mod to fix it down the line. or upgrade. its the one thing you will not be able to get past. theres a maybe one second delay when switching effects. if your not the kind of pewrson that uses more then one effect in a song dont worry about it. if you are, your gonna have to learn to work with it. now with that being said. Distortion: Not bad but you will have to get the hang of them. certain things dont work well together on this pedal. if you have the distortion on stay away from the eq. as they mess with eachother real bad in your tone. the od's are good, the rat is dead on. the tubedriver sounds weak, not a suprise for some reason, its a boss pedal right. the guvnor is ok. the ds 1 is pretty damn accurate. stay away from the plus settings. keep that button off till you learn the pedal well. Mod: ok the chorus is weak with the distortion. clean its not so bad, about as good as the domestic boss chorus they have now. thats clean though. same with phaser but works perfectly fine with distortion, same with flanger. they all sound pretty close to there domestic counter-part pedals. now im not talking about the vintage MIJ models ok. this is a 300 max pedal and you shouldnt expect that, if you want that what are you doing with a multi pedal anyways? now the trem is the same, right on with the boss pedal. all the mods are pretty much just as good as the domestic counter parts. except the non boss settings. now those are another thing. not too good. the roto vibe is pretty lousy, the rotory setting is awesome, just avoid with distortion. ok Delay: all great, thats where this thing shines, if your all about complex delay in your band and thats your main thing and you can deal with loosing tone in a live situation yes, you need this, yeah this thing kills your tone, but tone loss versus having to try to tap out your delay time at a gig and it ruining the song for everyone, yeah this thing wins. ill get back to this at the end. Expression: excellent, follows better then the whammy 4 which doesnt say much for the whammy 4 now does it considering it cost more and only does its deal, but hey i have a whammy so ill just stop right there. eq: sucks, id just forget its there unless youve already figured the whole unit out. only about 3 of the settings are worth a damn. fat helps fill out sometimes. compressor and the noisegate do exactly what there supposed too. Tuner: ok in a live setting, im just gonna skip forward. this thing is only good in a practice setting or a live setting. do not buy this thing thnking your gonna throw it on your pedal chain, your not. and a bypass is just silly cause the damn things pretty big. i use live a MIJ jazzmaster with a vintage duncan neck, quarter pounder bridge. then my fender tuner(by the way if your a fender fan, dont get the boss tuner get the fender, works just as well and is half the price!!) then this unit, then my 4 10 fender hotrod tube amp. why? cause it does not play well with others!! i might throw in my jekyll and hyde eventually but like i said it does not play well with others!! this unit is great cause it gets close enough to the sounds you need without having to spend all the time setting up your pedal rig. i dont like the idea of bringing anywhere from 250 to 1000 dollors worth of little boxs that people can snatch into a gig setting. plus if you have crazy settings it can be a real pain in the ass between songs unless you wanna bor the audience to death. they didnt come to watch you screw with your pedals buddy remember that. dont go and get rid of your vintage pedals. save them for recording. this is just good to have for live situations and practices. or if your poor. if you only use a few effects, then use those live. if you have twenty pedals. then you should get this. it gets the job done.

ok heres where i go back into sound quality sort of. for what it does, man this thing is built great! just as good as any other little boss box. thats what makes it worth it. i love the interface. i hope this sends a message to all the other multi pedal makers out there. back to basics like the old ibanez multi units. thats what people want. you can beat this badboy up and itll just come back for more. metal case, tuff knobs. honestly id say for what your paying you really have no right ot grip about the lack of tone quality considering its built this well. this thing should be called the working mans box. thats more or less what it is. if you gig and dont wanna destroy your vintage pedals, get this lil beast. youll be glad you did when your bandmates 500 dollor wh-1 gets stolen. even if you get it jacked, 300 isnt as bad as loosing those vintage pedals. so with that said this thing was built to take a licking and keep on ticking.

like youd need it. ha

ok, so all and all. this thing is great for the working and gigging musician. it can take the live shows and be just fine. i wouldnt be suprised if it outlasted all my other gear. its not the greatest sounding thing. but in a live setting it gets the point across just fine. at home i have a visual sound jekyll and hyde, whammy 4, boss eq-7, mxr phase 100, boss hyper fuzz, boss rv-3, pro co rat, boss ds-1,and im forgetting a few sorry. now does sound like those pedals. no not exactly, it does get the point across, well except for the rv-3 nothing really sounds like the rv-3. now if you have a 2 grand amp and a 2 grand guitar. dont buy this. your stupid if you do. why would you mix a 300 dollor pedal with 4 grand of gear. but if your rocking out a 800 or less guitar with a 800 or less amp. then this unit is perfect for you. since you like me obviously cant afford to loose your vintage pedals. if i lost this lil guy id replace him in a heartbeat and id feel it was worth it. and in my opinion this is the best multi unit out there in its league. the only one id compare it to is the old ibanez 9 series multi unit if you can actually find one. dont come up with your sounds on it if you can, it works better if you come to it with a preconcieved sound. so with all that said you you do punk, go get a marshall head. but rockabilly, surf, trippy stuff, indie, metal, or just your own thing. check it out, you might find its worth the dough. when you take two minutes to set up at a gig instead of 15 youll be glad you got it.

A little background real quick. I'm a teen musician who works on guitars as a main hobby and does sound engineering on the side. So I guess you could say I know my way around the block decently well. I play anything from Pop to Metal. So it's a big spectrum I like to cover. However, money is tight when your a high school senior and getting that big rack system you're dreaming of isn't really an option. So after a hand full of people recommended me this unit, I took the dive. My set up mainly consists of various Les Paul shaped guitars running through this and a couple of pedals into a modified Peavey Classic 50. It's a great budget setup for versatility.

Well enough about that let's get to the review.

Out of the box things weren't too hard. I've been adept with computers and electronics my whole life so this was basically child's play after the first 20 minutes. What can I say? Read the manual. You'd have to be a fool to not figure out this unit. Separate knobs for every effect. Come on. It was made to be user friendly.

Patch editing is pretty much a breeze. Set it and forget it to be sure. Everyone gripes about the patch change time. But in reality, even the high end units like Lexicon and TC do the same thing. IF YOU ARE SWITCHING PATCHES WITH ANY MULTI-FX UNIT THERE WILL BE DELAY. Deal with it. It's not that bad.

The manual is great. Any small details left out can be easilly figured out if you do a little experimentation. But it really does a good job of explaining everything.

Overall I found it VERY easy to work with.

Me playing lots of different styles, I have to have a large pallete of sound to work with. Let me first start out with an effect by effect review of the unit.

expression pedal - As a volume pedal it works just as it should
wah - pretty standard wah. It's usable. I actually use it a good bit.
ring modulation - this is a freaky effect. Stay away unless you're into weird styles like acid or whatever.
pitch shifts - I love this thing. Works just as it should. Perfect.

Tone Modify - Everybody says they want a 7 band EQ. But Boss didn't put it there. So we get this. It's actually pretty decent. The acoustic sim is great. Everything else is uh...usable.

compressor - I always keep it on. It sustains perfectly.

noise gate - Let is be said. When you turn on the Distortion for high gain, this unit gets noisy. And you will use this. Otherwise don't.

reverb - the only thing on the unit that really suck bad. Don't get me wrong...they are okay. But let's be honest...the spring verb on my peavey is better.

pre-amp - A lot of people are either love or hate on this. But I think Boss did a great job. MOST of the stomp emulations are great. A couple kinda suck but for the most part it's spot on. Let me warn you though, getting into the big high gain modes can be really noisy. So be warned.

modulation - I use chorus a lot. And this one it pretty good
flanger - great
phaser - also great
harmonizer - It gets the job done pretty well.
tremolo - it's good if you sit down and turn the knobs a while
pan - same as tremelo
uni-vibe - meh...it's okay
rotary - tweaking required and then it's just okay


delay. VERY VERSATILE. Sounds better than single pedal delays.

Oh and the tuner works great.

Well I haven't exactly dropped it or anything, but I've hauled it to practice and shows multiple times and it's never had a problem.

It's amazing for the price. Nuff said.

This processor is much more hands-on than most of the other processers I've used before. Just about every function has a dedicated knob or button attached to it. The tuner is easy to read, though I personally don't use it much. I also can't really speak for the memory mode either, as the real beauty of this processor lies in the manual mode.

Let me first preface this section by saying that I'm only 18 years old.
Most of the time I spend playing with other people usually ends up being a sort of ambient/extremely experimental/noise jam. I've been playing for about six years now, and my setup is as follows:

Fender 60's Strat / Schecter Tempest Custom (both stock) -> ME-50 -> Digitech RP350 (crap pedal, stay away!) -> Fender Hot Rod Deluxe

I haven't been touring my entire life, and I've never owned a rackfull of state-of-the-art gear, but I like to think that I have a decent ear for good sound when I hear it. Most of the sounds available are very usable, though the tone modify section doesn't seem to anything special in terms of practical application. All of the OD/distortions have at least a few solid sounds in them. The three different choruses, which admittedly all sound the same to me, are pretty good. I've never been one to obsess over a good chorus sound, so I don't know what to compare it to. The phaser, which is the effect I use most often, works well for what I do, which is setting the rate at 2 o clock, depth and level at 10 o clock. I don't use the flanger much, so I'll just omit that one. I do use the harmonizer an octave down on occasion for those especially strange moments, and it sounds good. The rest of the effects are pretty standard, nothing special, but nothing to complain about.

I use delay heavily, and this thing delivers what I need, and nothing of what I don't. I especially like the reverse delay. I can't really take advantage of the stereo opportunities involved with the delay section, so I can't comment on that. The reverbs, I believe, are the only real problem with this processor. Boss could have easily taken out the virtually useless tone modify section and had the room to expand upon the reverbs, making it more than a simple line 6-style knob. I mainly use the reverb on my amp, but for really ambient moments, cranking the Mod reverb will make my sound swirl around the room.

I really only play at home, every once in a while jamming with a few friends, so I can't really comment on how this box would hold up to relentless gigging. Seems like its definitely built sold enough for my applications.

I've never dealt with Boss.

If this thing were lost, I would be furious, because it would take me weeks of saving and working for minimum wage to replace it, but I defeinitely would. I've gone through a number of modelers and processors and modeling amps and this and that before coming to this one. I've owned a Digitech RP200, a Vox Valvetronix, a Behringer modeling amp, The infamous Line 6 POD, and a bunch of other crap I can't remember. This one is staying with me, because of the awesome hands-on approach and the fact that it doesnt try to model an astounding array of amps. Most of the boxes modeled are Boss products anyway, so the core tone of the original is there. Overall, I wouldn't recommend this to a gigging professional, as there are many more capable and better-sounding (and markedly more expensive) pedals out there that can satisfy your needs. But, for someone just getting into multi-effects or the thousands of guitarists on a budget, it wouldn't hurt to give this thing a try.

The ease of this machine is terrific, basically connect two wires - one to the amp - one to the guitar and voila.

The name of the effects are pretty straight forward, for example; the metal effect is labelled, 'METAL'.

the effects are adjustable from 1) being hardly hearing it. To 10) your amp almost getting up and shouting at you...it's amazing...

It has 3 Chorus' and they are all amazing, trying to get sort of BMFV sound is so easy.

The ease of of getting your fav. bands sound is so easy, and sounds amazing

This is the only thing I would say lets it down, it almost eats batteries...I would only use it at a gig if I'd put new batteries in it just before

It is incredibly robust, but is quite heavy, and the edges are quite sharp to carry with bare hands. But can stand a good old STAMP!

Haven't had to deal with BOSS

I play trance metal and screamo and it's perfect. For stuff like Blues and Jazz it would be perfect to as it has got Blues Drive on it and other great effects for things like that.
I use it with a Fender Princeton 65 and it was slightly tinty before I got it and it was not what I wanted but it made it sound lovely and meaty.
I chose this one over the 'Line 6 Floorpod' because it looked more professional and more robust.
It has everything I wanted out of a multi effects pedal and I love it
The only thing that lets it down is that it eats batteries

9.9999999999999999/10

Pretty easy to use. Problem is, it's an absolute TONE-SUCKER! But easy enough to figure out.

Like the sound of your amp? Then don't buy this. I have to rate it low here, because this unit significantly altered the basic tone of my Mesa F-30 amp. It cuts the gain down noticeably when you run through this effects unit, that's with it going in front of the amp, in the chain, like a stomp box. If you do it through the fx send/return in the back, it doesn't alter the amp tone, but then the distortion settings are useless, as they really need to hit the front of the pre-amp to sound right. VERY disappointed in this effects unit! :(

Who knows, their stuff seems well made.

Don't know.

A "5" is a gift really, as this unit is basically un-usable to me. I can't deal with the tone-suck factor.

Well it's not exactly easy. I got mine from a pawnshop and had no manual till recently. but ill say this its easy enough to where i picked it up without the manual. editing the patches is kinda annoying. more annoying for the distortions however. I give it a 8 because out of all the multi pedals that do this much. It has to have the most clever set up ive seen yet, i mean the knobs do make a big difference.

Ok the first thing you gotta know about this pedal is it has to have the worst bypass ive ever heard. I mean bad. Almost useless. Im takingthe advice of the other guys and buying a bypass loop pedal as soon as i get a chance. Ok, now the delay. well the delay is amazing considering its a combo pedal. i loved the analog delay. it sounds better then some of the high end delays ive worked with. i could see having it just for that its so good. The wah expression etc. well not so good, honestly ive never scene much use for a wah not my style but i have tried it and owned my share of wahs and i gotta say its pretty weak. the other setting are to wierd to have much use for on a basis i use a whammy for all my crazy actave moves and its well obviously not even in the same market with the expression pedal. i think its only good for the volume. volume is a hard thing to get wrong. the mod, etc. ok i am in love with the rotary setting, its incredible. very useful if you want one, and not bad compared to what you gotta dish out for a rotory pedal. the flange is weak, chorus ok, phaser is well, cheap sounding. tremolo is tremolo. not amazing but ok for a tremolo. its not the boss tremolo pan or anything but its good enough if you have one song that needs a trem. and the others well arnt really worth mentioning in my opinion. distortion.ok, the ratt setting is pretty right on. i own a ratt and compared them and its pretty close. the rest are pretty lousy since the tone is so weak to begin with. DO NOT buy this for the distorion. you will end up very upset. ds 1 is ok, but ds 1 lacks tone too so i guess its right on. the fuzz's are weak fuzz is always fat in the bottom once again this thing has no real bottom end so no good fuzz. the metal zone setting is aweful but so is the metal zone so its all in opinion. you can not get a warm distortion on this so dont try. but theres a few sweet crunchy setting that are great for what they are. the compressor is awesome and the reverb is annoying as hell! and a pain to get it out of the mix. i give it an 7 cause when they got things right on this pedal it was dead on. its pretty close to its stomp equals for alot less. and sadly alot less bottom end too.

its boss. enough said.

never needed it or knew anyone who did.

Well if you want this pedal cause youll just never be able to buy all its components go for it. its definetly worth it. but if you own a amp that has a tone thats worth a damn be prepared to buy a bypass pedal. hell it shoulda just came with one its so harsh. if it wasnt for the bypass id give it a ten easy. if you play outta a peavey or crate (solid state)etc.. well then dont sweat it. but if your a tube man. you might just be better off dishing out the money for the pedals or at least getting a bypass pedal. other than the tone id say this is the coolest multi pedal ive ever played with.

ME - 50 ahhh The beauty of simplicity / knobs are easy enough. Just play around a little to suit your style. I have not edited anything yet. Seems simple , I just purchased this about a month ago, so no rush to be to picky, sounds great right out of the box. Manual included with product, easy to understand.

I play live in full Church group. Mostly all modern Christian worship and praise, this ranges from old old 1-4-5 country style to on the edge of metal, This units' functions handle all types very well and sound quality is superb. I run straight into PA and all mod effects and OD/DST are great. I use a Les Paul / all p/u positions used depending on what sound I need per song. No noise at all during any settings / (have threshold very low) I practice at home on all types of music - country to heavy rock with a Fender 15 and a really cheap Behringer / pretty good sounds from both considering the amps' quality.

BOSS no more to say / do not use a backup

Never needed , having a reputation like Boss / I expect CS should be OK

Perform modern Christian / play everyting else for fun & practice - country to hard rock / me 50 covers it all. If it went away I would buy another . I like most everything about it / mods not difficult at all but can be tough to dial in to preference sometimes.The OS/DST options are awesome. It really should come with power supply. I ck'd out the line 6 POD also before I bought this. I believe Boss makes a better line of products + I read reviews for weeks before deciding. (Line 6 amps sound like WalMart stuff) I used a Zoom G2 before - its OK but sound quality & ease of operation cannot compare to ME 50

I bought this unit precisely because of ease of use. I was sick of the tangle of leads with my stomp boxes. The ME 50 replaced 6 Boss stomp boxes I had in a purpose made Boss pedal case. Two leads and a power supply and you're away. But not for long...

Straight out of the box it takes about five minutes to start getting reasonable sounds. The manual is well laid out and straightforward and the ability to twiddle familiar knobs a la stomp boxes to access the sounds is a plus.

I found I could work my way through all of the sounds very quickly but must admit I hadn't got to the point of organising a series of banks. However , it is a big drawback to have to use two footswitches to access banks.

All those groovy Boss sounds ( and a good tuner) in one simple box ... or so I thought.

I have to admit that's where my exploration stopped. read on to find out!

Here's the thing. The sounds from almost all of the effects are a pale cold imitation of my beloved stomp boxes. The digital sounds are like a photograph. They look (sound) like the real thing but they're not.

To be fair some of them are good. Several of the distortion sounds were more than reasonable and the ability to combine the Compressor easily is a good thing.

However .. it lacks WARMTH. It lacks MUSICALITY. I hated it!!
I was surprised because I was expecting the Boss pedals in a box. That's NOT what it is so beware.

The chorus/flanger/phasers etc are OK but nothing special. No depth no beauty.

The expression pedal is fine. Great to have a volume pedal but the other effects are mostly superfluous and the Wa is kinda Woeful. Compared to my Crybaby it's a dud.

The delays are a problem. Compared to my Boss DD3 they lack warmth, flexibility, depth and the sheer beauty of sound I'm used to.

And the tone modify is at best just OK. Kinda gimmicky. My trusty seven band Boss graphic EQ is so much better ... a true studio quality instrument.

I played it straight for three hours carefully going through the effects I would use in various combinations. I realised that this unit no matter how competent and well thought out can't compete with Boss stomp boxes.

I was replacing a DD3 Digi, a Chorus Ensemble, Tremelo,Flanger, Compressor Sustainer and DS1 Distortion. After feeling sick and realizing I'd made a HUGE mistake .. I rushed around to the music shop around the corner where I had them on consignment and got them back back from the nice man just in time! Man I kissed 'em I was so pleased to see those candy coloured babies back. And took the BossME50 straight back and thankfully got my money back. I was so relieved.

The stomp boxes are king of what they do. If you only want a few sounds take my advice ... stick with your stomp boxes at all costs.

I only had it for one day but it appeared absolutely bullet proof. I've never had a problem with Boss products over thirty years of playing.

I think it would be a reliable workhorse.

Never had to deal with them.

I play straight ahead jazz ... for which I use my '86 Ibanez GB10 or my 2000 Dot 335. For jazz I use my Polytone MegaBrute which is simply brilliant with no effects. Warm and wonderful.

And a kind of hybrid flat out Hellecasters style surf in my duo The Surftones. That's where I use the pedals. The pedals have supplied me with exactly the sounds I wanted for years. I put them through a ten year old Fender Hot Rod Deluxe which is a killer amp.Tone central when it's cranked.

I use an American Standard Strat with noiseless pu's and the S1 switching. And a 98 American Standard Tele which is a gem. Prior to that I played an '86 Strat Plus with Kinman noiseless pu's which was a beautiful axe with tone to burn.

The Strat just sings with the Boss pedals. The DS1 is all you need. That and a little delay, a touch of chorus or flanger where necessary. Whatever the drawbacks of pedals with convenience, they more than make up for it with their beautiful unsurpassed musicality.

Don't make the mistake I made if gorgeous tone is what you're after.

The ME 50 is a wonderful piece of design but it's a digital dud when it comes to pure warm tone. Warning ... new is not better when it comes to technology.

This was very easy to use, compared to other processors out there. Easy to edit stuff. How much simpler can they get.

Let me begin by saying that I boutht this unit INSTEAD OF THE DD-20. I needed more delay settings I only have a DD-5 and my band was playing stuff that had called for more than one delay.

With that said, the delay on the ME-50 is identical to the DD-5. With no noise when used merely as a delay. Bottom line if you like boss delays you'll love the delay on it.

Now for the other effects. Flanger is awesome, sounds just like my BF-2B (which sounds the same as the BF-2).

The Wah is also quite good, I don't use much wah, but I have a classic crybaby (that i'm borowing) and the ME-50 wah gets the job done.

The distortions sound ok but not amazing, I A-B'd the muff sound against my English Muff'n with a 12ax7c and 12ax7r in that order. similar but the EM has so much more life I mean the thing is tube for goodness sake.

The pause between sound switching is very minor, all you guys out there whining about that should be playing with other pedals anyway. I have mine going through a "true bypass loop box" I hit that to turn the pedal "off" (it is still on just not in the loop because of the TB loop box).

I gave it a 10 here because it is perfect for what I bought it for "delay" and a few extras Wah, and flanger. The octives also sound decent, when used right.

Its BOSS!

Never had to deal with them

I have been playing for 12 years and have had all kinds of equipment and pedals. If you are buying this to make up for a few mod pedals (flanger, phaser, chorus) and delay pedals you don't have get it. The distortions are ok but not that great very digital sounding. What do you people want for 300 bucks? Even if the price was a bit more for what i got it for it is amazing and does what i want it to do, I have other pedals that do the rest.

Very Very simple to plug and play. Good instruction manual when you want to dig deeper.

I agree with the "pros" on here that some of the effects are iffy and some are great, it's pretty subjective however. I have it in front of an Epiphone 5w Valve JR head (no mods other than a JJ EL84) pushing a Marshall 2x12 cab and it's a pretty stellar rig. I play 2 different hot-rodded Epi's: a Studio Paul w/ Fernandes VH-1's and a good wiring harness and an SG with Gibby pups blah blah blah.

It's a Boss. I could throw it down the stairs

I'll most likely never have to find out.

I'm a power chord basement guitarded onanist, so for me it's perfect. It makes me want to plat more so how could that be bad? If I were the real deal, yes I think I'd move up. Probably the best entry level piece of kit out there. Tons of em on e-bay, don't pay more than $200. Well worth it.

See previous posts

Used this at band practice the other night through a Hybrid amp 65 watts with master on about 7. I used the tube screamer and muff models mostly aswell as chorus and tremelo fx aswell as a little delay here and there.

I thought it sounded great, the other guy was playin through a GT6, he was there tweaking and menu surfing and i was there just twiddling the knobs. It so easy to setup its stupid.

I found that the MT-2 sounded very digital though.

When using the master volume on the ME50 leave some headroom don't crank it all the way up, let the amp do most of the work.

Had it now for about 2 years, so far so good.

never dealt with boss

In terms of features, build quality, ease of use and sound I'm very satisfied. You do need an amp of reasonable quality though.

this is an update on my previous review... so i got the chance to gig with it a bit... pedals are a bit close together for my taste. accidently did the dual pedal stomp a couple of times (pressing two pedals activates the tuner, or memory mode, both resulting in signal cut, no good) probably drop my overall rating of this unit to a 8.5. still a good bargain, but got i wish that the preset switching was better.

I AM AN EXPERIENCED GUITAR PLAYER OF 15 YEARS, I HAVE PLAYED ON EVERYTHING FROM THE SIMPLEST OF RIGS TO THE MOST COMPLEXE OF MIDI RACK MOUNT RIGS...

Pretty straight forward, if you've had any experience with any kind of programmable multi effect, you'll have no problem with it. 2 MAJOR THINGS i didnt like about how it runs. when running in "memory" mode (using stored presets as opposed to using the three pedals, preamp, modulation, delay as straight up pedals) there is a lag between switching presets. yes, your entire signal cuts for a split second, noticeable, but not a major deal depending on how you use it.

its not hard at all to get good tone out of these selections. the manual is pretty straight forward and easy to read.

like i said, if you've had any experience at all using multi effect units, editing and manuevering around this unit is a breeze, but is also simple enough if its your first time dealing with programming.

i give it an 8 because of the lag when switching presets, however when just using the pedals as preamp, modulation, delay, switching the effects on and off is seamless and crystal clear.

i listen to everything from led zepplin to TOOL, i hate modern rock and emo garbage. TONE IS MAJORLY IMPORTANT TO ME. (david gilmore. that's all i gotta say)

my current set up is as follows - Paul Reed Smith McCarty 22 and a 1975 Fender American Stratocaster > rocktron banshee talk box > boss NS2 noise suppressor > VOX Clyde McCoy Wah > Ibanez Ts-808 tube screamer > MXR Phase 90 > Boss ME - 50 > HAO Rust Boost > Morely A/B/y SWITCH > Fender Blues Junior 15 watt all tube combo and a Peavy classic 4x10 50 watt all tube combo.

as i said before tone is incredibly important to me, as is any noise, coloration or shit added to my tone. i spend an entire hour going back and forth comparing my signal with the unit in my line and with it out of my line. i really heard little to no coloration or noise added. enough to be impressed.

here's a break down of what the unit offers

expression pedal... great volume pedal
wah - pretty good for setting it to a certain lead tone, not much sweep to it if you wanna go crazy slash style.
ring modulation - a little out there, but could be cool if you like your acid
pitch shifts (1 octave up or 1 octave down) a little "warbly" but pretty cool for those crazy solos

Tone Modify - i wish they had given control of this for a full 7 band eq, but so far i havent really been wow-ed by it. the acoustic simulator sounds great through my prs, not so much with the '75 strat. hollow body emulator is crap.

compressor - pretty good, but i dont use compression much

noise gate - for a one knob set up, the thing is pretty on the money, a great asset to this pedal. very sensitive and really allows you to find the sweet spot so you dont loose any sustain.

reverb - reminds me of how line 6 sets up their reverbs. all in all pretty good tones, doesnt have anything on my Fender's reverb though.

pre-amp - okay... so the real challenge was when i went back in forth trying to match my ts-808 with the supposed ts-808 emulation this thing has. and i gotta say, pretty damn close. infact, the drive knob goes further and offers more gain. 4 knobs here, drive, bottom (great for low end response) tone and level... the preamps are REALLY impressive, ESPECIALLY for boss. i hate most boss preamp pedals, but i cant get over how many useful lead tones there are in this thing, from blues to metal to industrial saw tones... this thing is pretty crazy.

modulation - chorus not the best i've ever heard, but gets the job done
flanger - sounds wicked
phaser - really a clear sounding phaser, very adjustable
harmonizer - a little warbly but fun to play around with, dont get your hopes up, its no 4k dollar eventide
tremolo - a little choppy, really takes some fudging with
pan - same deal
uni-vibe - kind of weak
rotary - kind of tuff to work with

BUT HERE'S THE KICKER! TAP TEMPO MODULATION... yea... that's right... i said it..tap tempo modulation... genious! however, not accessible in preset mode. they really fucked up the preset, or memory mode as they call it. i'd really hoped that once you selected a preset you'd be able to step on the pedal again to bypass. you'd think that'd make sense... but no. and if you want to flip through banks, make with the bending down, cuz unless you buy extension pedals, your only bank changing options are the two buttons on the interface. (shhhhh, its only 200 bucks)

delay. its a boss delay pedal.. it kicks ass. whatever you want, this thing does it. tap tempo is great, reverse is trip tastic, everything else sounds fantastic. tap tempo works great

did i miss anything? i think that about covers it, again, the preamps were really impressive, very true recreations of the big muff pi, pro co rat (my personal favorite) fuzz face, blues drive, mxr distortion + and yes, even the ts-808.

oh wait the tuner! duh... its a boss tu-12... its right there in the unit... step on the left most two pedals .. its fabulous

just got it, i'll let ya know

i play everything from reggae to metal to jazz and you name it. as said before i've been playing 15 years, i'm very very very serious about music and tone. i've owned tc electronic units, digitech units, both midi controllable and floor boards. for the price, this thing is pretty awesome. i basically got this thing to simplify my pedal board, i gave my delay pedal the boot, gave a few other distortion pedals the boot, gave my tuner the boot, and will probably give my phaser the boot. i wanted something that i could simplify my pedal board with, and get a little more as well. this did above and beyond that. and althought memory mode is so disappointing, it really does have some usefulness to it, it does suck that you ahve to program a "bypass" pre set to get back to square one. i supposed if this thing was all that you had at your feet that you wouldnt need to do such things, but with such a wretched clip inbetween presets i dont know why ANYONE would do such a thing. if lost i would defintely think about getting another one. i really wish it had dual processing so that they could work on the clip between presets, its lacking in some areas, but it really kicks ass in others. for the price i really dont think you can find a better deal. why buy 2 boss pedals you want, when you can buy this thing and have everything you'd need from their repitoire. i give it a 10 because for the price i really dont think it can be beat.

This guitar pedal is no hassel at all. it has three main banks, distortion, modulation and delay. There are also threshold, sustain, reverb, tone modify and a rather good expression pedal. The distortions are some of the best i have heard on a multi-effects and there are a number to choose from. The modulations are all the ones you would need e.g. chorus, flanger, phaser, harmoniser etc.
In the way of delay, you can modify it so much that it is perfect for whatever you are using it for.
The expression pedal is also one of the best i have seen. The wah isnt quite up to the same standard as a cry baby but for a ??170 multi effects is excellent. You have even got an octave changer on the expression pedal aswell!
It is pretty easy to use all the effects although you cant change the sound to another one on the same bank as it but i wouldnt think you'd have to. Editing patches is a bit of a problem with the ME-50 and i still havnt figured out how to do it.

The sound quality is brilliant. The distortions have a great sound ranging from natural to fuzz. The mods are great as you can tweak them down to the last little bit to get the perfect sound. The delays are just as good as the one you get from the single pedal that boss do. The expression pedal is also really good and probably what i use the most. Reverb is ok but could be a little less delicate because if you touch the knob only slightly it changes alot. I love the tone modify as it allows me to use an acoustic guitar sound on certain stuff and it actually sounds like an acoustic guitar!

I have only had this pedal for around a month now and to me it has been very reliable. You can run it on both batteries and the power cable (which does cost an extra ??20) so if your cable goes weird during a gig it will switch strait to battery power so i would advise using the lead but keeping a battery in it just in case. I have played with it at around 3 gigs and i have trusted it without backup.

N/A

I think that overall this pedal is one of the best on the market. Considering the money you save when you buy it instead of individual pedals it is genius. There is so much on here i can vary all of my music so i have a different sound in every song. So i would say it is definately worth buying one if you are looking at pedals.

This Pedal is amazingly easy to use. I've had the full range or digitech, zooms, moderls, digital effects and amps, and this pedal goes great with my Peavey Valveking 112. The headphone jack is great for not upsetting the landlord! Patch editing is awesome, and HERE'S A NOTE ABOUT THE FOOTSWITCH: They do not sell it with a footswitch, and want over fifty bucks for the dual switch to go bank up/down. I have an old Peavey two button latching switch with "MUTE" and "REVERB" labelled on it. It's OLD. But it's simple and you can find them REALLY cheap. And it works just like the Boss version. Just remember to press the button twice to get it to do what you want (bank up/down in memory, compression/tone modify on/off in manual mode). This cheap peavey switch makes this pedal fully functional and at very little added cost (150 used with power adapter)

I'm a big fan of neil young, hendrix, ccr, led zep, muddy waters, warren haynes, pretty much anything with some distortion and balls! But also i love a nice clean ringing tone, something to make the angels cry with joy right? This unit can make the devil proud and the angels sing praise for sure. The distortions get pretty heavy/muddy but just tweak the tone or drive. I'm going from this unit directly to the peavey vk112 (great tube amp/great price) from a Gibson Les Paul Standard. No more need for my assortment of seven or eight individual pedals. There's less noise too, no more pesky hum/buzz from pickups/signal chain--you know, all those cables that are always gettin' in the way and shorting out. The chorus is excellent, just crank up that e. level if you can't hear it enough. Stereo effects are superb, don't have the dual amp setup yet but with headphones it's nuts folks. Sonic power from every direction! Overall the tones are adjustable from cold crunch to warm brown sound.

I got it used, but it's a tank like everything else I've had from boss. My Ibanez pedals always conk out at some point, and even a few DOD's (not the grunge, that thing is a panzer as well). I don't think I'll be experiencing any problems with this one, great heavy look, not the plastic crap all the companies want you to buy. METAL! It's the way to go, thanks BOSS for realizing this. We giggers tend to find beer in the most unusual places, and who knows when someone may trip over your kit... this'll take it all.

No need, no idea.

I play a range from folk rock to hard rock with blues and jam and jazz thrown in for good measure. This pedal can do ANYTHING. Lots of other multi-effects units on the market are hard to access/program tone. I had an ME-5 back in the day, it was pretty good for the age, but wow... the me-50 blows that and all the new zoom/digitech's out of the water. My amp sounds great, no need for amp modelling. Super easy to access tone, and none of the crap and space affects thatdon't even sound musical on this beast. Just what you need and tons of stuff you'd never know you'd need...but not too much. I've been playing for 15 years, had a LOT of gear, but finally am satisfied. For the first time.
My fingers hurt. I've been playing a lot more lately, it's inspiring to put simply. I've tried to think of something bad to say about it for fairness' sake, but it came with a power supply and i had an old footswitch that works perfectly on it, i'm a happy camper. Oh and the sustain.... between the les paul, tube amp, creamy overdrives (22 different distortions, all quite noticeably different) and sustain/compressor.... hells yes!