The BOSS ME-50 is a rather powerful multi-effects processor designed for guitarists of all varieties. As can be seen in the above picture, there are tons of effects that can be used either individually or in unison. There are more than a dozen types of distortion/overdrive, meaning that pretty much any type of distorted tone can be achieved with ease. Speaking of ease, the ME-50 was designed to have the simplicity of any single stomp box in an all-in-one package. The knobs allow easy adjustment of any effect on the fly. Moving on, the modulation section includes things like chorus (mono and stereo), flanger, rotation, and other effects. These are great for clean tones and for making solos really pop in a mix. The modulation effects can be very subtle, or they can be deep, sweeping, and very intense. The delay section is exactly what it sounds like. It contains all types of delay, from just a few milliseconds of delay to several seconds (and even backwards playback!). The expression pedal normally functions as a volume control, but can be used for wah, pitch shifting, and voice type effects. It's easy to use and very useful. Also included are nice features like a built in chromatic tuner, a noise suppressor, four types of reverb, and a set of effects that change the tone of your pickups. The other main component of the ME-50 is the memory function. it comes with many built in patches and you can easily create and save your own patches. This makes it easy to set up the ME-50 for gigs by creating sequential patches for any type of music. I've used this unit both live and in the studio for about 9 years now, and I love it. It has the ability to create any tone that I want with relative ease and is nicely portable for the musician on the go. Highly recommended for fans of multi-effects pedals, variety, and easy tone creation.
Why would you need/want any other pedal when you have something like this?
ReplyDeleteAlso, is this thing still available?
One might need/want other pedals for three reasons. First, it isn't true bypass which means your signal is always being processed. This can make a difference in the studio if all you want is the sound of your guitar and amp. Second, you might want to change the order of the pedals in your effects chain, and the ME-50 doesn't allow you to do that. And lastly, this pedal covers everything in the BOSS lineup, but you may want different pedals for different tones or even something like the BOSS seven band EQ which aren't modeled by the ME-50. Availability wise, I'm pretty sure they still make it, but the ME-70 was designed to replace it. The ME-70 loses some of the effects, but models amps and cabinets in addition to the standard effects lineup.
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ReplyDeleteBasically, while you can get any tone you want, some standalone pedals offer more tonal control or different sounds that can make a difference especially in the studio.
ReplyDeleteInteresting. Sounds like an opportunity to make another digital pedal that does even more.
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