Anyone still using a Boss ME-50B multi effect pedal?

[Thom Fioriglio]

Hi all, I'm still relatively new to the Bass effects pedal world. I have a Tech 21 Bass Fly Rig 2 and a Zoom B1 Four. I prefer the knobs of the Fly Rig to the menus of the Zoom. Which got me looking around and I came across the Boss ME-50B. I know the Boss name is ubiquitous to high quality bass effect pedals and of course some are legendary. Which makes me curious about the ME-50B. I know the pedalboard has been around for quite a while now. And may seem outdated compared to digital multi effects units like the Zoom or HX or Boss's digital offerings.

My primary uses would be compressor, EQ and tuner with the effects as something to play around with and experiment. For its age, is anyone still using this? How does it stack up against Boss stand alone pedals like the OC-5 or Comp? I also would be interested in things like overdrive or fuzz.

Thanks.

 

[MCS4]

I haven't used it live in probably 12+ years or so, but I still use it as my "base station" for practice at home. Like a lot of older multi-effects, it is somewhat hit or miss in terms of which effects on it are great for live use.

Speaking for myself, I would not use any of the drive effects from this unit live now that I have become accustomed to using individual effects that work much better, although I find some of the higher gain options to be useful for writing in rock/metal genres (tend to get lost in a live mix though).

The modulation, delay, and reverb effects are generally pretty good. The EQ is also fine.

I never found any good use for the on-board compressors, but there are a bunch of different options there so it is at least possible one might work for you.

Edit: Just wanted to make clear that I did use this unit as my main or sole live effects for probably 40+ gigs as well as various rehearsals and recording sessions, albeit many years ago, so I obviously was satisfied with it back in those days.

I never spent a ton of time with the octaver, wah, and other effects on that part of the unit, but generally I didn't find them to be all that great other than just for experimenting with sounds at home. I won't directly say that they are bad for live use though because I really just didn't use them enough to have a strong opinion.

Otherwise it is definitely a tank and will hold up to heavy live abuse, and the tuner and volume pedal are nice in live settings as well.

Edit: Just wanted to note that I did use this unit as my main or sole source of effects at gigs for a period of multiple years, albeit a long time ago, so I certainly found it to be useful for that purpose back in those days.

 

[Thom Fioriglio]

I haven't used it live in probably 12+ years or so, but I still use it as my "base station" for practice at home. Like a lot of older multi-effects, it is somewhat hit or miss in terms of which effects on it are great for live use.

Speaking for myself, I would not use any of the drive effects from this unit live now that I have become accustomed to using individual effects that work much better, although I find some of the higher gain options to be useful for writing in rock/metal genres (tend to get lost in a live mix though).

The modulation, delay, and reverb effects are generally pretty good. The EQ is also fine.

I never found any good use for the on-board compressors, but there are a bunch of different options there so it is at least possible one might work for you.

Edit: Just wanted to make clear that I did use this unit as my main or sole live effects for probably 40+ gigs as well as various rehearsals and recording sessions, albeit many years ago, so I obviously was satisfied with it back in those days.

I never spent a ton of time with the octaver, wah, and other effects on that part of the unit, but generally I didn't find them to be all that great other than just for experimenting with sounds at home. I won't directly say that they are bad for live use though because I really just didn't use them enough to have a strong opinion.

Otherwise it is definitely a tank and will hold up to heavy live abuse, and the tuner and volume pedal are nice in live settings as well.

Edit: Just wanted to note that I did use this unit as my main or sole source of effects at gigs for a period of multiple years, albeit a long time ago, so I certainly found it to be useful for that purpose back in those days.

Thanks. I appreciate the helpful reply.

 

[Nephilymbass]

Hi all, I'm still relatively new to the Bass effects pedal world. I have a Tech 21 Bass Fly Rig 2 and a Zoom B1 Four. I prefer the knobs of the Fly Rig to the menus of the Zoom. Which got me looking around and I came across the Boss ME-50B. I know the Boss name is ubiquitous to high quality bass effect pedals and of course some are legendary. Which makes me curious about the ME-50B. I know the pedalboard has been around for quite a while now. And may seem outdated compared to digital multi effects units like the Zoom or HX or Boss's digital offerings.

My primary uses would be compressor, EQ and tuner with the effects as something to play around with and experiment. For its age, is anyone still using this? How does it stack up against Boss stand alone pedals like the OC-5 or Comp? I also would be interested in things like overdrive or fuzz.

Thanks.

It was nice being a sort of hands on knob turning kind of multi but the thing with the me-50b is a lot of the desirable sounds from the me-50b are also in newer smaller pedals like the ms-3. While the ms-3 does involve some menu diving it’s not as bad as say a hx stomp or fractal ax8 and it has loops so if you don’t like the me-50b drives or compressors you can use separate pedals and put them in the loops.

 

[shirky]

I still use it. I use it for compressor, EQ, volume pedal, tuner, slow gear, and chorus.

It also has an auxiliary jack which is convenient and makes it a good practice tool.

There are a variety of compressors.

I’ll agree with previous posts that the octave, synth and drive sounds aren’t great. But for my purposes this older multi works great.

 

[Tommy TGrip]

I bought one this weekend. I read a lot of reviews and was not expecting much but I am pleasantly surprised. I don't mind the drives at all. The muff is great and the bass driver is very usable. The master controls can be varied for each patch so even without the effects, there's the option to quickly change EQ and volume between songs. Tuner works well enough for live. The compressor options are excellent. The octave down with fuzz is as good as the MXR sub octave fuzz. Modulation effects seem decent.