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BOSS ME-50B

E

engolf

Jul 31, 2009
15
2
#1
Whatup folks...
I've been thinking of getting the BOSS ME-50B pedal, because it got much of the option i need to play in my band "i'm in a TOOL tribute band, so i need options like delay, octave and so on" and the ME-50B got it all basically! But i was wondering if any of you guys have som experience with this tank? :p
Just give me your opinion..
 
#4
It's simple, easy to use and has tone that, in my opinion, is equivalent to some of the higher priced multi effects units.

Last year I thought I could get a better sound with a different bag of tricks. I spent hundreds of dollars putting together this string of stomp boxes that were all supposed to be the best at what they do. I wasn't happy. I then bought a Boss GT10B which is great! Does everything you could ever ask for. But in the end, its up for sale basically because I don't need all the stuff it does.

The ME50B is small, simple, light, inexpensive(retively) and fits in a standard notebook computer backpack.

I have two of them. I wouldn't sell either one.

One potential drawback: you are limited as to how many, and in what combination of effect strings you can dial up. Look at the manual on the roland website & you'll see what I'm talking about.

Good luck.
 
#6
Hey, Im in a Tool tribute too!
I use a boss ME 20b which is the ME50s little bro.
I have it paired with a digitech whammy 4.
Works great, I would recomend it.
Where are you guys located?
Whats your band called?
here ours...
Link Removed

Good luck with that bro, drop me a line if you have questions.
 
#7
engolf said:
When they say "limited" do they mean, that they can't use like delay, and distortion on the same time? Or am i wrong and should drop playing bass guitar, and start singing?
Click to expand...

Basically, "limited" means that the ME-50B has dozens of effects, but you can only have so many of them running at once, which is a common limitation to most multi-effects units. On the ME-50B, there are three effect banks (filter/tone, drive/synth, delay/modulation) plus compression, EQ, noise suppression, and the volume/expression pedal. Hope that explains it a little...
 
#8
For example you can't use Modulation & Reverb as seperate controls & combine them together, there is a combined modulation & reverb choice which is restrictive. Also Not great when used direct to a PA as there is no Pre amp in the ME50-B. If I was in your shoes, I would look out for a second hand GT6-B, as you can save the patches by the name of the song (or effect) if you wish. If you do go for the ME50-B, you would have to purchase Boss Bank up/down pedals, and wirte down your patch & Bank per song on your gig programme. You can pick up the GT6-B cheaper than a new ME50-B at the moment. Just be sure to change the internal battery day one unless you know it's history. I have both pedals and use both depending on the gig. Don't get me wrong the ME50-B is a wonderful pedal & I would'nt be without it. Just giving you my opinion for your brief, & sing as well, you always get more work when you can chant & play bass !
 
#9
Reading this thread I see good balanced feedback. I have been going through a similar curve but have a learning/play at home perspective rather than live use. I looked at a bunch of pedal reviews and came to the conclusion that:
* Individual pedals are best, but you end up with a messy array
* Multi effects seem to be the best solution but they are limited by exclusive functionality on the pedals (like the ME-50b, or in fact the Digitech stuff for guitar/bass)), or they are not easy plug-and-play (GT-6b). The GT-10b seems to fix a lot of the GT-6B issues but is huge and costs $$$$$'s

I got a new ME-50B for $200 and see GT-6B's going for a little less. My primary reason for going for the ME-50B was the simplicity, and a bunch of physical knobs to twiddle.. BUT when you save something on it to memory it does not have little motors that move all of the controls to whatever the saved configuration was, so you have to write it all down. My primary interest was learning to play at home, and the Boss unit gives you the ability to twiddle to create your own sound, and then go score a few pedals that can do what you want. I really like the ME-50B but if I was playing live I would want to set the three effects pedals up as I wanted them and just go with that rather than try to go up and down banks.
 
#11
It was a 1-off unit that has been sitting in a local music store (San Jose, CA) for years at $249 with no interest so the store owner was willing to close it out for cost (which looking at the receipt was actually $215); I could not resist this deal!

I also saw the price in-store at our local GC had been lowered to $249 to clear them, but they only had the display model (which was not for sale) and no more in the pipeline (which made me think that the ME-70B I have been eagerly anticipating was perhaps imminent, no knowledge on that was available though).

If you can get a new one for $249 then that is a good deal. These things are really solid and I would not see much risk in getting a used one for under $200. Hope this helps.
 
#13
I used one at my guitar center once.It was alright,and i was interested in trying one for a while.I don't think it worked as well as I imagined,but it's ok.As everyone said before,it could use alot more effect combonations.

The main pedal powers the volume only,which i found kind of wierd.But it can't make the "octive" effect go back down to the octive your actually playing.You constantly stay in the upper octive....:eyebrow:(which is why i suggest getting a whammy pedal).And I wasn't even sure how to work it's wah.
The effects themselves are decent,but are very limited and i'd imagine individual effect boxes would sound much better.The one I enjoyed the most were the delay and reverbs.

But honestly,I think you SHOULD buy it for the time being.Only because it will 1.save your money and 2.it pretty much has all of Justin's effects on it(disortion,chorus, flange,delay).But seriously dude,GET A WHAMMY!!!
buy a used digitech bass whammy off ebay,or buy a regular digitech whammy from your local store.Then save up for single effect pedals in time.

hope i helped...:smug::p:D:hiding:
 
#14
I have had a ME50B for a few weeks, but got rid of it. It was too much for what I needed/wanted. So the ME50B was not wrong, but I was:p
Technically it s build like a tank, compact, and it has lots of functions in an good quality.
The only real drawback is the way you have to dial in your effects. The positions of the knobs are not visibly stored because there s no display with the parameter values.
The other drawback is mentioned already: the limited combinations.

If you are an effectfreak it could be your new friend. I learned I am not an effect guy. I only sometimes use a Boss chorus and thats it. I may buy a reverb some day (anyone advise?).
 
#16
One thing no one has mentioned yet and I think is important for a bassist in a TOOL tribute: There is a "lag" when you're in memory mode and change patches. I mean, when you press other pedal for a different set of effects it doesn't change inmediately, there's a silence that, for me, is a "deal breaker".
I have it though and love all the other features but I just can't use more than 3 effects in one song (in manual mode).
 
#17
Been using one for a while and i'm still unsure about my feelings towards it. :<

Octave down is awful, seem to distort if it's at audible levels.

Distortions are bad too or atleast i can't find anything good to say about them.

I like the flanger and phaser alot, seem to be more or less on par with the cheapish (read: ehx) analog pedals i've tried.

Autowahs are ok if you're into such a thing but they seem to lack the sweetspots, for me atleast. Always too much or not enough of the quack.

Synth department is okish but again, they seem to lack the sweetspots. Most of the time they're just a bit wicked distortions as I really have to dig in to get the filters open.

The tuner does it's job just fine. So does the compressor even tho i hardly ever use it.

Overall it ain't as bad as my 'review' might let you understand but it's not worth the money for me. Going to rotate it soon, i think. At the moment i only use it to tune up and play cloudy space jams in my apartment :<
 
#18
I got the ME-50B dirt cheap ($150 AUD at a pawn shop...absolute friggin' bargain!) and its fantastic. While admittedly I'm not a massive effects whore, I'm warming up to them pretty quickly. I pretty much picked it up because I wasn't going to find a deal like that again for god knows how long.

Anyway, I really don't understand why people think the bypass is bad. Sure, its not true bypass but its hardly as bad as you all say it is. I lose very little tone when playing through the effects unit. BARELY noticeable....only to audiophiles I suppose.

The only gripe I have with the unit is the synth effects sometimes stuff up and sound muddy. Its like something doesn't click properly and the effect just goes flat. Like a static fart, for a lack of a better description. To fix it I usually have to turn the unit off and back on. Bit of a hassle but then again, its not an effect I use very often or intend on using anytime soon so its no skin off my nose.
 
#19
Walker Rosewood asked earlier in the thread: My question is does anybody know if the Boss FS6 will work with it, instead of getting two FS-5U's.

The answer is yes, it works just fine and you can use either a stereo 1/4 cable or 2 mono cables to connect it. There is however a caveat as these Boss switches are electronic devices... they do not have a power switch or external power connector. The foot-switch is battery powered and powered on by plugging in the cable, so you have to unplug to save your battery. I'm going to open my foot-switch up and install an on/off switch to lessen this hassle.
 
#20
Thanks for the answer. Might be cheaper then getting two FS-5U and the splitter cable. Less junk to carry around, connect, etc. However that battery deal sounds like a real problem. Much rather have something with a power supply.

Anybody have experience with other external footswitches and the ME50B? The manual makes it sound like the first pedal always goes to the compressor, and a second for the tap. Is there any way to use just one pedal, and have it work the tap? That's all I really want to do.
 

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