This thing rips! I run an open jam, and i needed a device that could dial in just about any sound or effect that anyone is looking for. And this does it with ease and little set up time. I run a Boss GE-7 eq with it through my effects loop. It makes it even better! Plus it's built like a tank. I leave my stomp boxes at home now.

I have owned the same ME-50 for almost 5 years now. Don't heed bad reviews, especially by people who cannot spell.

First, this thing is rugged as heck. Every week I go to practice (0.5 mile walk) and back again with it at least three times, six treks total. I've done that for almost two years. I've also had that thing in and out of backpacks so many times. I've been using it those 5 years solid. I'm military and this thing has literally been with me all around the world, with and without amp.

It's rugged. I've only had to fix it once (one battery pack line to the mainboard got pinched in half, don't know how), and the fix was very easy: I did it myself. Taking this thing apart, I noticed that all screws have washers and so do all the ports with nuts that hold them to the back of the unit. It's a tank. When that line broke, the unit still worked with the power plug. The only other problem I have experienced is (due to my abuse) the foot pads coming off, but nothing that epoxy can't fix. On mine, one foot is Double Bubbled on, and it's not coming back off.

I've been using this thing with rechargeable batteries primarily this five years, and it definitely gets the advertised 8-12 hours on battery power.

This thing is all a guitarist should ever need for most gigs: you have manual mode for playing around, and one memory bank with three patches available, all without bending down to change something. And don't listen to other reviews: you can edit patches while using them. You just need to remember to save your changes.

The tone is the most analog other people and I have ever heard in a digital unit. It sounds great with a Pro Junior, a Schecter C-1 Classic, and a Lite Ash Stratocaster. People are always telling me how nice it sounds.

The patches are more than almost anyone should ever need. The factory patches are actually usable in a band, not just some stupid random presets. You can reset to factory patches very easily. You can edit patches very easily.

Try taking a GT-8 or bigger in a backpack: I have a Camelback Codura and it fits nicely in there. A GT-8 would not fit. Using a Boss dual footswitch, you get up/down in patch and in manual mode you get compressor and tone mod on/off. This setup is much easier to fit into a backpack.

The expression pedal has much more range and a better feel than that of the GT-8.

As for not having a "solo on/off" to boost volume temporarily while in a memory position, you gotta learn how to play expressively on a guitar, or else the limiting factor is you, not this pedal. Me, I also switch from neck to bridge (jazz to JB) for my solos, so I get a boost there. You can also use the external footswitch to give you a boost by adding compressor and/or adding "Mids" tone modify.

As for switching patches playing live, yes, this thing has a very slight delay. It's not a factor if you are thinking ahead while you play in a band situation, but you can also use manual mode to do this same thing if you think about your setup.

Overall, all the negative comments I have read over the years about this pedal make no sense. This thing is totally awesome, and has all the sounds I need. I would buy another one if this one broke. If tomorrow I went "pro" I would go buy like 10 of these things so that I never have to change my rig.

I purchased this thinking I was going to be able to do away with the hassel of stomp boxes. I was wrong. The thing echos likke crazy. I have to buy seperate pedals to bank up and down. You need another pedal for the tone modify. The construction is decent. But if I had to do it all over, I would have gone wiyh the Line 6 floor pod. Better sound and it even comes with a power supply. The ME50 does not. BAD CHOICE!!!!!!!!!

I have owned this since about two months after owning my guitar (Schecter C1 classic), when I first got it I loved the tone, but as it aged and my experience grew I realized my setup sounded quite dull compared to most others I played with. I found most of that could be attributed to my combo amp (MG30DFX). Once I played it on my friends tube amp my tone was beautiful, and very adjustable. The wah pedal was very stiff, and eventually quit working (now its a permanent volume pedal effects wont engage, but the two years that it did work it was fun to play around with the different sounds. Distortion seemed to be lacking just a little. It sounds good, but definately not great. Really I still consider this to be a great multi effects pedal as I still haven't found reason to buy a new one yet... probably still a good year or two away from that. Oh yeah I've gone through two power cords on this thing, one was my fault, but the other I have no idea why it went out on me, and if you plan to commit alot of you day to playing through it the batteries will be exchanged many-o-times.

There are pros and cons to any multieffect unit and no, they will never be as good as individual stomp boxes but the Boss ME-50 is as good as any i have played on. First the individual knobs are great, you don't have to jack with menus and manuals. Some of the distortions are weak but the ones that model boss pedals do the job relatively well. The delays are nice, however I really would not recommend using the reverb. Just use the verb on your amp or in FOH. The modulation section is great too. Chorus is a little electronic sounding but the phaser, flanger, tremolo, and harmonist are amazing. I play both my fiddle and guitar through this and if you know how to set it up you will have a good sound from it.