gonna check it out! ... was hoping for something i could put in the pedalboard but sounds like just the ticket
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Multi-Effect w/out MENUS!
- Thread starter Green Knight
- Start date
Got myself an old Boss ME-50B. I can run three effects at once and maybe replace my compressor (I wrote confessor for some reason and I'm not even remotely Catholic) and preamp too. Maybe just that and the POG II and the PS6 if, of course, the BOSS ME-50B meets my low standards for sound quality.
ME-50 is discontinued. The New Hotness is the ME-80, which has presets and programmable memory, but no menus.
Guys tend to sort of run down BOSS these days where there are so very many boutique pedal builders, but they're solid. I too have no patience for scrolling and scrolling through some tiny screen, so I use this:
. . . . because I can look down and instantly know where everything is set, it's wall-wart AC powered, all metal case, and I pick up this one box and go home. Very useable and user-friendly for me. I'm sure I could find this or that effect separately I might like better, but nothing could be faster to set up, use, and get down to business.
BOSS - ME-50B | Bass Multiple Effects
. . . . because I can look down and instantly know where everything is set, it's wall-wart AC powered, all metal case, and I pick up this one box and go home. Very useable and user-friendly for me. I'm sure I could find this or that effect separately I might like better, but nothing could be faster to set up, use, and get down to business.
BOSS - ME-50B | Bass Multiple Effects
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Congrats! I've really enjoyed mine, there's a LOT going on in that rig.
Then we’re moving from fly-rig to multi-FX and there’s nothing wrong with that. Actually, we could tie the BFR to Tech 21 guitar fly-rig for a slew of one knobby-jobbies.
Riis
I picked a used Eleven rack for $250 a few months ago and use it for guitar and bass. I absolutely love it. The SVT model in it is fantastic and the guitar amps are great too. The effects are pretty good too.
My guitar player uses a Fractal Axe FX III and the bass models in the Axe FX are not as good as the Eleven Rack.
Sounds awesome with headphones or live.
My guitar player uses a Fractal Axe FX III and the bass models in the Axe FX are not as good as the Eleven Rack.
Sounds awesome with headphones or live.
+1
The thing that keeps me from sealing the deal on the Fly Rig is the relatively limited compressor. It doesn't need to have 542 knobs and 3-band capability, but you generally need a little more tweakability for usable compression. I could always use an outboard compressor, but that kind of kills the point of the Fly Rig.
Other than that, I'd say the Chorus side of the pedal having some additional modulation effects, more specifically flange and phaser.
Yeah, I could definitely see a flanger as it's one of the more commonly used mod FX.
The compressor is a bit of a sticking point. It's not bad on the BFR v1 when tied-in with the tone control...which was omitted from the v2!
Riis
Another vote here for the Boss ME 50B . I've been using one for probably close to 15 years, and it's still going strong. Exactly what it sounds like you're looking for. I also hate scrolling through menus.
- Aug 30, 2003
- 1,479
- 457
- Disclosures
- Engineer & Owner, Sonic Nuance Electronics
the Boss ME50B comes to mind. Well built like anything from Boss. Pretty well thought out from what I recall when trying one.
I was going to suggest the Zoom B3n. Although there is a menu structure, most of it is around patch naming, chain editing and system-level settings. The effects themselves generally have 4 parameters and they all have dedicated hardware knobs. You can see all of the effect settings together in one place, just like stomp-boxes. IMHO it strikes the perfect balance between a 'row of knobs' and deep editing. It is not that deep insofar as you don't get anything extra (other than backup/restore) by using the PC-based editing tools, but things like switching the order, text-based names for patches (rather than cryptic numbers that you need to remember), pre-selection and all that stuff bridge the gap between the BOSS and something like the Helix, which is heavily menu-driven.
On board menus... Boss MS -3 suffers but... use the PC editor to set it up as multiple banks of 4 stomps and all of a sudden on a gig it is simple. You do have to spend a couple of hours on the PC editor first.
In my project space, I leave it connected to a mac.
On a gig, I have zero tolerance for knob twisting - by anybody. Dead air is dead air... Watching someone dial in their perfect TS9 sound is simply not entertaining...
for the record, I hate Boss/Roland menus. They are freakin' horrible. Seemingly designed by a psychotic 3 year old... They exist only to make Helix menus look easy...
Beauty of the MS-3 editor is that it is one layer. Kinda like an updated ME-50 but plus sized in ability, downsized in performance.
In my project space, I leave it connected to a mac.
On a gig, I have zero tolerance for knob twisting - by anybody. Dead air is dead air... Watching someone dial in their perfect TS9 sound is simply not entertaining...
for the record, I hate Boss/Roland menus. They are freakin' horrible. Seemingly designed by a psychotic 3 year old... They exist only to make Helix menus look easy...
Beauty of the MS-3 editor is that it is one layer. Kinda like an updated ME-50 but plus sized in ability, downsized in performance.
So many great responses! At the end of the day, I decided on a ME-50b ... the very definition of rows of knobs! No little menus!
After all, what's less rock and/or roll than having to jam with your reading glasses? And more rock/roll than knob-fiddlin'?
After all, what's less rock and/or roll than having to jam with your reading glasses? And more rock/roll than knob-fiddlin'?
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Just wanted to mention the possibility to have a chain of Hotone XTomp pedals, which are basically generic stompboxes with 6 knobs, and you can pick what effect you want in each from the library (preamps, amps, cabs, eqs, dirts, modulations, anything really). It could work for someone I guess
