Multi Effects? Boss ME-50B?

Fionntallica · #1 10-28-2010, 06:12 AM

Hi dudes!

So I have teh moneyz at the moment and I was thinking of using it to get a Multi Effects pedal.

Here are my preferences:

Tuner
Wah
Decent Distortion/Overdrive
Whammy capabilties
Expression pedal

The Boss ME-50B looks like the best option for my price range (€200) but I suppose I could go up to €300 if I found something much better.

So who has experience with this pedal? Can anyone reccomend another one?

Thanks!

F

Crowder101 · #2 10-28-2010, 06:21 AM

I have owned the ME-50B for about 6 months. It does what it claims. I never really needed the distortion or wah, but i wouldnt say they sound too bad. The tuner is excellent imo. The compression is good too. Its a well built pedal. im sure the other effects are good as well. hope this kinda helped.. Good luck on your decision

M Sterling · #3 10-28-2010, 07:33 AM

I used an ME50B for awhile. I think it is a great multi unit to get you familiar with different effects. The effects sound good live and are very easy to tweak on the fly. I now use stompboxes for my effects, but every so often I use the me50b for a rehearsal or a gig that I don't want to bring my pedalboard to. I mainly use the wah, octave (up and down), delays, and phaser. All of these sound very good with a little tweaking. Hope this helps!!!!

GianGian · #4 10-28-2010, 07:44 AM

What about sucking bass, or poor tracking? It is a digital unit right? Just curious.

Tangentor · #5 10-28-2010, 09:17 AM

It's a digital unit with COSM effects. I bought it three months ago, at first, strictly for its compressor. That section has several great compressors for recording, but I like the Limiter choice best for live work.

I was careful to A/B my tone with and without the effects unit (I plug into the effect and from that into the amp input - I don't use the effects loop) and I can't tell that my P-bass with flats is losing anything just because of being plugged into the unit. I also tried a Jazz with rounds; same thing. (I don't go for a modern, active tone, so there very well could be some loss that would affect those players.)

I also started with a neutral patch and added limiting to taste, then copied this patch across several banks as a starting point for my overdrives/fuzzes/distortions/etc. I really only used EQ on some of them; I use my amp EQ mostly, and for recording I may do some with the mixer.

I like how the overdrives/dist let you blend in some clean tone. Since all my patches are clones of the same 'perfect' tone, all my dirty patches share the same foundation, and thus are really consistent when switching live.

There are limitations as to what effects you can use at once - that might be a big turnoff - but I'd say that either in "memory mode" (which I use), or "stompbox mode" (also fun and useful), the ME-50B is great for what I do.

If you want to hear it in a recording, I have two songs on my Facebook Music Player, right toward the top of the list:

http://www.facebook.com/chriswilliamsmusician

"Face The World (2010 remake)" is Jazz Bass through a 60s sounding preset (the bass is pretty present and gets more active after the first chorus...)

"Day To Day (2010 remake)" is P-Bass through the same preset, but EQ'd differently in the mix

I wrote both of these songs in 1991, so forgive that songwriting.

I redid these for an old friend who wanted to hear them again, and I wouldn't un-vault the originals

If you want to hear the ME-50B in more of a rock setting, listen to "Obligations (2010 remake)"

And one of the ME-50B overdrive patches I made is used prominently in "Screwface (2010 remake)" - then switches to a fatter reggae tone.

bassman1185 · #6 10-28-2010, 09:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GianGian

What about sucking bass, or poor tracking? It is a digital unit right? Just curious.

It doesn't lose bass on any settings (except for some extreme distortions) and it tracks well. I had an ME-50B for a long time, and it worked great for me. I kinda wish I still have it, honestly. If you look used, you can get them for pretty cheap nowadays.

I think that the Line6 M9 has muscled in on the ME-50/50B territory to some extent. I'm kind of looking into picking up an M9 as a replacement for two or three of the pedals on my board.

stingray56funk · #7 10-28-2010, 09:21 AM

M9 or M13 by Line 6. I've used mine for over a year and haven't looked back to individual analog pedals. Love my M13!

sk8 · #8 10-28-2010, 09:22 AM

Zoom b2.1u could be another option

Fionntallica · #9 10-28-2010, 11:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tangentor

It's a digital unit with COSM effects. I bought it three months ago, at first, strictly for its compressor. That section has several great compressors for recording, but I like the Limiter choice best for live work.

I was careful to A/B my tone with and without the effects unit (I plug into the effect and from that into the amp input - I don't use the effects loop) and I can't tell that my P-bass with flats is losing anything just because of being plugged into the unit. I also tried a Jazz with rounds; same thing. (I don't go for a modern, active tone, so there very well could be some loss that would affect those players.)

Thanks very much for the help Tangentor and everyone else....
I think I'm gonna go for the ME50B seeing as its within the price range and seems to be fairly versatile and has all the features I want.

Cheers!

Crystalman85 · #10 10-28-2010, 05:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sk8

Zoom b2.1u could be another option

+1 on the zoom b2.1u. I've owned one and it sounds awesome. it's got great sounding distortion channels. I have sound samples of the zoom b2.1u on my soundclick website. here's the link.

www.soundclick.com/crystalman85

Feel free to check it out.

GianGian · #11 10-28-2010, 08:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bassman1185

It doesn't lose bass on any settings (except for some extreme distortions) and it tracks well. I had an ME-50B for a long time, and it worked great for me. I kinda wish I still have it, honestly. If you look used, you can get them for pretty cheap nowadays.

Seems to be good then. Thanks.

Gaetano Paul · #12 10-28-2010, 10:18 PM

Boss GT-10B or GT-10

snaverb · #13 10-28-2010, 11:03 PM

I prefer the Boss ME-50 over the ME-50B

To me the 50B has too much bass on the effects and gets muddy.

The regular ME-50 gives me just what I want

Fionntallica · #14 10-29-2010, 04:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crystalman85

+1 on the zoom b2.1u. I've owned one and it sounds awesome. it's got great sounding distortion channels. I have sound samples of the zoom b2.1u on my soundclick website. here's the link.

www.soundclick.com/crystalman85

Feel free to check it out.

Thatnks for the samples but I'm jus not feeling it..... Seems the Boss has more features and amp patches aren't really what I'm looking for....

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gaetano Paul

Boss GT-10B or GT-10

Yeah would be an option alrite...
If I had 500 quid....

Quote:

Originally Posted by snaverb

I prefer the Boss ME-50 over the ME-50B

To me the 50B has too much bass on the effects and gets muddy.

The regular ME-50 gives me just what I want

Do you have any samples I could listen to?

cheapbasslovin · #15 10-29-2010, 06:51 AM

Here's a couple of sites with some stuff I recorded off an ME-50B. Amends has some Slow Gear effect, Beneath Your Fragile Smile has a fun Muff>Wah effect and a real light phaser. All of them have some Muff and some of the SansAmp model.

I was playing a Schecter Stiletto Elite 5 through an Ampeg model on a Bass POD (I didn't set up the patch so I don't know any more details then that).

FWIW I prefer my M13 1000 times out of 1000 to the ME-50B.

http://www.myspace.com/camorramusic

http://podsafeaudio.com/jamroom/bands/216/