Boss ME-50B Bass Multi Effects Pedal Reviews

4.2/5.0 based on 7 customer reviews

Sweetwater Advice

Daniel Fisher

One of the most overlooked features of the BOSS ME-50B (and ME-50 for guitar) is that it can be battery powered! While there are a number of fine battery-powered multi-effect units out there, few of them can boast 'one knob for every parameter.' If you like BOSS pedals (and so many pros do) you'll find that this pedal delivers the same tones and effects as the single pedals it's replacing, but now you can save the settings as presets and use it on the streets, with a wireless on the balcony, or even through your car stereo. (Please pull over first.)

Sort By Date Sort By Rating

Customer Reviews

Kermitt Duke
from Clanton, Alabama USA
May 9, 2012Music Background:
band member (bassest)

BOSS ME-50B

The Boss ME-50B is great. Now I can get the sounds just like the lead guitar. it's got every thing I wanted and more.

Your Friend,
Kermitt Duke

Chooch Schubert
from United States
November 15, 2011Music Background:
Bass player for 25 years, recording and live sound engineer

A world of difference!

I am so happy that I purchased this pedal. I had been using a Line6 POD XT for years on both guitar and bass. I figured that "effects are effects", but was having difficulty playing live since I didn't have a footswitch.

I was deciding whether to buy a footswitch for the POD or just buying a new pedal, and I'm glad I went with the ME-50B. I wasn't expecting such a huge tonal difference in using something specifically designed for bass, even without using any effects.

The bass tone is HUGE in this pedal. And I love the aggressive distortion, which really fills out on stage.

I was disappointed at first with the Hi Band distortion in that it's not much of an "effect". It seemed really weak - but when playing with the rest of the band it sounds awesome. The tone really cuts through the mix and doesn't sound distorted, just un-muddy and clear. It has become my "all the time" config, only switching to heavier distortion, or clean with reverb depending on what the song needs.

I had considered buying the more expensive GT-10B since there is more flexibility in having more switches available and more memory banks, but honestly the ME-50B has everything I need performing live. I don't touch half of the effects that this thing is capable of, so I know that I would never touch the advanced features of the GT-10B.

The construction is very solid and I don't hesitate to slam down on the switches when I'm in the moment. The expression pedal flips on seamlessly and adds a lot to your performance.

The only downside is there is a delay when switching memory banks. This is only a fraction of a second, but is noticeable, so I'm careful to make drastic sound changes only in between notes.. It just takes a little more awareness while playing live so that there isn't a noticeable drop out of sound when you switch which doesn't bother me - but it may be a deal breaker depending on your playing style and needs.

Dave
from Cincinnati
December 20, 2010Music Background:
Pro Musician

Good pedal, not the best for live

The compressors and drives in this pedal are pretty nice. The main problem is that when you use the pedal in memory mode, patches either factory or by your own design, there is a noticeable delay. The sounds are great, the construction is top notch at this price point but if you save a really great clean sound and you step on a preset in which you have save a really great distortion there is a delay and your sound actually cuts out for a second. Pedal is best used in manual mode or in the studio. Great pedal but has limitations.

JONC.
from AKRON, OHIO
May 7, 2006

GOOD MULTI EFFECTS

FIRST OF ALL, GOOD, SOLID CONSTRUCTION. BEFORE YOU BUY THIS, REALLY THINK ABOUT WHICH EFFECTS YOU WILL ACTUALLY USE WITH BASS IN THE REAL WORLD. MOST OF THE EFFECTS HERE ARE WELL DONE. SOME ARE CHEESY. I FOUND THAT THE THINGS I REALLY WANTED TO USE WERE THE VOLUME PEDAL, COMPRESSION AND CHORUS. ONCE IN A WHILE THE WAH, DELAY AND DISTORTION DURING A SOLO. EVERYTHING ELSE SEEMED ONLY USEFUL TO HAVE FUN WITH AT HOME. IF YOUR MUSIC CALLS FOR A LOT OF EFFECTS, THEN THIS IS A GOOD, SOLID PEDAL. THE BEST THING ABOUT THIS, AS ANOTHER REVEIWER POINTED OUT, IS THAT EVERYTHING IS IN ONE PEDAL. NO CORDS EVERYWHERE AND IT DOES HAVE A TUNER.

jimmy dee
from
February 1, 2005

BOSS ME 50-B

This is quite possibly the best bass multi effects money can buy, and it isnt that expensive! absolutely brilliant, i have been playing for 4 years and bought this product fairly recently. it has so many effects and really helps me when i do gigs, loads of distrotion and heavy metal style sounds and it even has a built in tuner! what more can u ask for!!!!!!

adri vosters
from the netherlands
December 1, 2004

very easy to use

many good sounds

works great

good value for not that much money

Jim Adams
from Indianapolis, IN
July 1, 2004

ME-50(B)

I played around with an ME-50 for about an hour while killing some time while my daughter shopped nearby. I bought both the ME-50 and ME-50B. I've dumped an 8-space rack of gear and can now carry all my effects, cables, wireless transmitter, etc. in a single laptop computer-type bag. All I need to do is swap out the ME-50 or the ME-50B depending on if I'm playing bass or guitar that day.

Very easy to use and I find the presets very useful. I had practice with my band a couple hours after I bought the units and incorporated the ME-50B into our arrangements that evening...even found a couple of sounds that we were looking for but had never found. It's just what I was looking for.