Boss ME-50B or GT-6B

[g00eY]

Hi,

I've decided that I want to try effects a little and I figured a nice multi-effects pedal would be better than going out and buying a board that costs more than a car. So say I could get a ME-50B for $175 used. Would it be better for me to drop, say, $50 more for a GT-6B?

The way I see is that the ME-50B is easier to use with the analog knobs and everything. The GT-6B, though, is more flexible with the amp modeling and everything, but I hear it is a pain to edit sounds on the fly. Either way I think both will have the sounds I need to get started.

Oh yes, I play mainly for church, if this is a factor somehow. I play harder contemporary praise and worship like Hillsong United.

Thanks,
Alex

[bassicsax]

do you play through an amp or direct box only?

[Foamy]

What about that 20B? That looks like a decent little box also. But you may also want to consider a Sansamp BDI.

[EBMan]

I wouldn't rule out the Digitech BP200 at $150 new. It's very good for what it is. I owned that and the GT-6B. I'm not sure that the GT-6B is that much better. I think the BP200 is underated.

[g00eY]

I play through a DI box that is connected to the house and a amp used as a floor monitor. My church is seriously looking at getting the Aviom system in the next half year, though, if that makes any difference.

Hey Ric - I just sent you back a PM. I will go check out the 20B right now (goes to Boss website really quick)... What's the difference between the 20B and the 50B? At a glance it just looks like an all digital version of the 50B.

[syciprider]

The GT6B is much more capable as an FX multi. It will require a bit more of your time to master though. It took me about two hours to really get the feel of mine.

The ME50B is easier to use but is also less capable. I saw somewhere that it suffers from lag when switching FX.

[Sir Edward V]

Originally Posted by g00eY

Hi,

I've decided that I want to try effects a little and I figured a nice multi-effects pedal would be better than going out and buying a board that costs more than a car. So say I could get a ME-50B for $175 used. Would it be better for me to drop, say, $50 more for a GT-6B?

The way I see is that the ME-50B is easier to use with the analog knobs and everything. The GT-6B, though, is more flexible with the amp modeling and everything, but I hear it is a pain to edit sounds on the fly. Either way I think both will have the sounds I need to get started.

Oh yes, I play mainly for church, if this is a factor somehow. I play harder contemporary praise and worship like Hillsong United.

Thanks,
Alex

I hate the ME-50B, I owned one for 2.5 years, I got so sick of the half-assed tones in that thing I sold it and bought singles. I sold mine for $140. I have yet to regret getting rid of it... though it was a pretty good learning tool, if you are playing in a band and need quality effects this is not the pedal for you.

Never used the GT-6B

[Erick Lam]

The knobs on the ME-50b are a fraud. They're nice to operate but when making a patch, you can't tell what the value is later unless you write it down.

The machine is crippled. Some effects are grouped together and you can't use two effects of the same group at once.

It's still a decent box. I have a profound averson to cables and having a wah, volume, tuner, headphone jack and a handful of decent effects in a small box that fits in a small backpack is really nice but with a 50$ difference, I'd buy the GT-6b. The price difference was much greater when I bought my ME-50b. Now I use a VF-1 with a FCB1010 pedal board.

[g00eY]

Right now I'm leaning towards a GT-6B for it's more loaded features and it has the built in XLR outs that I can use for my DI box instead of buying the ME-50B and another $100 DI. The biggest fear for me is that I won't be able to find the time I need to figure the pedal out (it's gonna be junior year for me in HS), but I guess I could just do a little here and a little there and pick it up that way. Does anyone know how the GT-6B reacts when plugging from the XLR outs to the house?

Anyways, I'm still open to suggestions. My birthday is in a little less than a month and I'm seriously thinking about getting a multi-effects pedal. Another thing I forgot to mention is that I'd like to keep it in the $200 range with a little bit of flexibility.

[syciprider]

When I got my GT6B I was working 12 hour days and working towards my Master's Degree after work. I still found time to figure it out. You'll be fine

[Foamy]

Yeah, I'd say if you are leaning toward the GT-6B, just go for it. I love my GT-6, even though there is a learning curve to learn to "think like the machine", but you're going to have that with any box. The BOSS GT-6B is pretty slick, and more than most of us will ever need.
Cheers!

[g00eY]

Thanks guys. If I do end up getting a pedal, it looks like it'll be the Boss GT-6B.

[johnvice]

Originally Posted by g00eY

The way I see is that the ME-50B is easier to use with the analog knobs and everything. The GT-6B, though, is more flexible with the amp modeling and everything, but I hear it is a pain to edit sounds on the fly.

You are correct. Unless you want amp modeling, there is no point in getting the GT-6. While the ME-50 (and GT-6) are digital, the ME-50 has an analog style interface: the knobs. While I have all of the memory banks programmed with presets, a lot of the time I have my ME-50b in manual mode in my most use settings, and make adjustments on the fly. Other multi units I have seen can’t do this.

Originally Posted by Enchanter_Tim

What about that 20B? That looks like a decent little box also. But you may also want to consider a Sansamp BDI.

I have never used a ME-20. From what I gather, It’s the ME-50 without the knobs. The idea seems to be to make it smaller and cheaper to be able to compete with the “little boxes” of multi effects. Much as I’d like to conserve “pedal board real estate”, I would not be prepared to give up the ME-50’s knob interface.

The SansAmp BDI is not a multi-effect unit; it’s a pre-amp, over-drive, and direct box. I have one but it’s apples and oranges to compare to a multi-effect unit. [/quote]

Originally Posted by syciprider

The ME50B is easier to use but is also less capable. I saw somewhere that it suffers from lag when switching FX.

In the preset mode, there is a delay in switching. I still can switch presets mid-song during a rest. You have to consider how often you are going to be doing this before considering if this is an issue.

Originally Posted by Sir Edward V

I hate the ME-50B, I owned one for 2.5 years, I got so sick of the half-assed tones in that thing I sold it and bought singles. I sold mine for $140. I have yet to regret getting rid ofi... though it was a pretty good learning tool, if you are playing in a band and need quality effects this is not the pedal for you.

The quality of the ME-50b sound is okay but I prefer my analog pedals . I agree that it’s a good learning tool as you get to try all kinds of effects you would probably not use otherwise. The emulation of specific makes/models gives you an idea of the sound quality of them. For example the ME-50b can emulate a DBX 166 compressor (it captures the ‘squishiness’ or an MXR compressor.

Most people will use only a small fraction of the capabilities of a modern multi effects unit and gravitate towards a few favorites. It can make more sense to get the added sound quality and flexibility of stand-alone pedals. Stand alones neither have the memory function nor the ability to make multiple pedal changes with one click.

Originally Posted by Erick Lam

The knobs on the ME-50b are a fraud. They're nice to operate but when making a patch, you can't tell what the value is later unless you write it down.

So write down the values! Thye ME-50 preset function was designed for simplicity: you set knobs where you want them and, when you save this as a preset, the unit ‘memorizes’ their setting. The drawback to this simplicity is you can’t see what these settings are

Originally Posted by Erick Lam

The machine is crippled. Some effects are grouped together and you can't use two effects of the same group at once.

I’ve never had the need to do that.

Originally Posted by g00eY

Right now I'm leaning towards a GT-6B for it's more loaded features and it has the built in XLR outs that I can use for my DI box instead of buying the ME-50B and another $100 DI. .

This would have been my wish too. But I have DI’s on other devices that I use when I gig (Radial Bassbone, Aphex Exciter, SVT amp) so I have no shortages of places to plug the XLR.

[g00eY]

The DI boxes my church uses are cheap $25 passive Rolls DI's. I assume the XLR out on the GT-6B would be better? My church (where I do almost all if not all my live playing) is seriously looking at a whole new sound system. I think they're looking at JBL 18s or 15s to match the JBL mains they are looking at. We're also looking at the Aviom system. It seems like the amp modeling might be a good thing to have since I won't have my own rig with me when I play. Thoughts?

[coolrunner989]

go with the gt6 - it'll cover everything you need/want and you can get a feel for what you need and use, and how you want those effects to sound if you want to go sigle pedals (like I just did this summer - i had a gt6 and switched to singles)

I never used the xlr out, but everything on the gt6 is top notch, so I wouldnt hesitate to use it.

[g00eY]

I just thought I'd let you guys know - I ended up going with the Boss GT-6B. I found one used for $240 and it should be getting to me some time this week. I'm pumped!

[BassManKev]

the gt-6b is infinitly better than the me50b, i cant even be bothered to type the huggge list of reasons why

[*insertcoolname]

I, too, have been looking at the gt-6b. When you get it let me know how good the effects sound (real or "half-arsed"). Anyone else have thoughts on the quality of the gt-6b?

[OhThePeacock]

F.Y.I, there is a article on multi effect pedals in this months bass player, Boss ME-20B, Line 6 Bass Floor POD, Rocktron Utopia B100, and the Zoom B2.1u

For anyone whos interested.

[g00eY]

I'll have a really hard time trying to describe to you how the sounds are. This is going to be my first dive into the whole effects thing, and I don't really listen to music with bass effects a lot either. Maybe someone a little more experienced with effects can chime in. I know that on musiciansfriend.com and harmonycentral there are reviews that say that the basic effects are pretty good, but then stuff like the synth are pretty weak.