NPD: Boss ME-80

I've been a single pedals man, for years now.
Always found the multi effects units too fiddly.
And somehow, all that choice made it less creative, for me.
I've been playing more heavy rock and metal recently.
Just using overdrive/distortion and a little reverb, for effects.
Loved the simplicity and didn't want to get my full board out.
I thought about getting a modulation pedal but wasn't inspired by anything in particular.
Thought about a harmony pedal but decided against.
Then I spotted the Boss ME-80 at my local store and liked the look of it's all knob,
no menu outlay.  It was on offer, at a very good price.
So I figured, even if i just found 3 or 4 really useful sounds, it'd worth the cash.
Plus I liked the look of the expression pedal, especially for dive bombing the pitch.
So I got it today and have been running through the preset sounds and the expression
pedal effects.  My main overdrive pedal is a Blackstar Dual, with valve.
It's great for mild crunch and balls out metal.
I didn't expect the ME-80's overdrives to match the Blackstar's and I was right.
However it does have some other lovely sounds.
Surf Tremolo, Phase Lead, Rotary Crunch, Talk Pedal, Twin Lead harmony and Synthy Lead,
to name a few.
These plus the dive bombimg and wah-wahing expression pedal have made this Boss a good buy.
BTW, I run the Boss through the amp's send and return, whilst having the Blackstar Dual
between guitar and amp.  Very chuffed and it's all relatively simple.
Also the Boss has a nice tuner.
I know there is a lot of room for sonic creativity, with the ME-80 but I doubt, I'll
ever use it's full capacity.

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Comments

  • grayngrayn Frets: 870
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  • grayngrayn Frets: 870

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  • Looks like that first post is written in iambic pentameter, started having flashbacks to A-Level English Lit! B)


    Good review though. I'm a total beginner with effects/pedals of any kind, but was thinking of going with one of this thing's baby brothers like the ME-25 or GT-1 as a first foray, instead of going down the route of building up a pedal board. Have you tried getting any bluesy or crunchy/classic rock type tones out of it? That's probably more what I'd be looking to get out of it...
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  • grayngrayn Frets: 870
    I was surprised at how well it did a bluesy crunch tone.
    Not as good as a valve pedal/amp but very decent and useable.
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  • I had one of these when I first started and loved it. Got starry eyed over pedals and got rid of it. I've now come full circle and just bought a Pod HD500 and the only pedal I'm keeping is the Trio+. Enjoy! 

    My Trading Feedback    |    You Bring The Band

    Just because you're paranoid, don't mean they're not after you
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  • grayn said:
    I was surprised at how well it did a bluesy crunch tone.
    Not as good as a valve pedal/amp but very decent and useable.
    Interesting. I'm hoping the junior versions produce more or less equal quality in terms of sound, just with fewer options and knobs and patches etc. 
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  • LuttiSLuttiS Frets: 2243
    I had one of these when I first started and loved it. Got starry eyed over pedals and got rid of it. I've now come full circle and just bought a Pod HD500 and the only pedal I'm keeping is the Trio+. Enjoy! 
    I've just gone the other way.. Started with ME50, moved to HD500 and a Trio, now getting starry eyed over pedals :)

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  • grayngrayn Frets: 870
    LuttiS said:
    I had one of these when I first started and loved it. Got starry eyed over pedals and got rid of it. I've now come full circle and just bought a Pod HD500 and the only pedal I'm keeping is the Trio+. Enjoy! 
    I've just gone the other way.. Started with ME50, moved to HD500 and a Trio, now getting starry eyed over pedals :)

    No reason you can't have both.
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  • grayngrayn Frets: 870
    LuttiS said:
    I had one of these when I first started and loved it. Got starry eyed over pedals and got rid of it. I've now come full circle and just bought a Pod HD500 and the only pedal I'm keeping is the Trio+. Enjoy! 
    I've just gone the other way.. Started with ME50, moved to HD500 and a Trio, now getting starry eyed over pedals :)

    No reason you can't have both.
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  • The ME-80 is the best mulit-fx I've ever owned. The tubecreamer into a clean amp is all I need for 80% of the time.
    The Blogging Musician ;https://adamharkus.com/
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  • I owned the ME80 a year or so ago and although the effects were good i just could not get an amp sound that I liked.
    This led me to sell the ME80 and upgrade to the GT100, bad move.......I still could not get the basic amp sound I wanted so I got rid of that too and replaced it with the Headrush Gigboard which has the amp sounds that I want.
    (As a footnote, a number of years ago i owned the boss GT6 and loved it, it is a shame that boss are no longer at the top of the pile when it comes to multi-effects ).  
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