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With an out-of-town gig less than two weeks away, I decided that the time was right to get something smaller than my current pedalboard. I read all the reviews I could find and decided to go ahead with a Boss ME-50 multi-effects unit. I know that a lot of people opt for the GT-8 because of the amp models, but since I really just wanted a good variety of distortions, delay, gate and tuner, the ME-50 had everything I needed. I'm happy to say that it does everything I wanted, and potentially a lot more if I ever want to play with other effects.
It has all of the typical Boss overdrives and distortions - OD-1, OD-2, BD-1, MT-2 and others - but also non-Boss stuff such as the Marshall Guv'nor, MXR Distortion+, ProCo Rat and Big Muff. There is also a "variation" button for each, which ranges from a subtle boost to a major change depending on the setting. I was surprised to find that the Blues Driver BD-1 or MXR Distortion+ (with variation on for each) sounded best through a tube power amp for metal tones. The Tone Modify control is basically a bank of pre-distortion EQ presets that works very nice depending on the pickups you're using, and I ended up using the analog delay setting (although it's still actually digital) instead of the DD-style modes.
Overall, it's way better than the multi-effects pedals I remember using years ago, and I'm looking forward to gigging with it. For our next show, I'll just plug my wireless receiver into the ME-50, and the ME-50 into a Peavey Classic 50/50. Now I just have to decide what guitars and cab to bring.
It has all of the typical Boss overdrives and distortions - OD-1, OD-2, BD-1, MT-2 and others - but also non-Boss stuff such as the Marshall Guv'nor, MXR Distortion+, ProCo Rat and Big Muff. There is also a "variation" button for each, which ranges from a subtle boost to a major change depending on the setting. I was surprised to find that the Blues Driver BD-1 or MXR Distortion+ (with variation on for each) sounded best through a tube power amp for metal tones. The Tone Modify control is basically a bank of pre-distortion EQ presets that works very nice depending on the pickups you're using, and I ended up using the analog delay setting (although it's still actually digital) instead of the DD-style modes.
Overall, it's way better than the multi-effects pedals I remember using years ago, and I'm looking forward to gigging with it. For our next show, I'll just plug my wireless receiver into the ME-50, and the ME-50 into a Peavey Classic 50/50. Now I just have to decide what guitars and cab to bring.