to get an me-50, or not to get an me-50?

wallakoala · December 13, 2007

I know most of you guys are gonna say that I shouldn't get it, but pretty soon I'm going to receive ~300 dollars. Right now, I have a boss os-2 (overdrive/distortion...its not that great), a danelectro fab chorus (friend gave it to me) and a vox clyde mcoy wah. This is all going into a traynor ycv50blue amp.

I mostly play classic rock-ish stuff.

So I can either:

A. Buy the me-50, have a ton of mediocre effects (how are the overdrives btw?)

or

B. Buy maybe 2 really good effects. I was considering the fulltone ocd, what do you guys think about that. I also really wanted a delay, possibly the dd-20.

I know all of you guys are going to say B, but I, being a high school student, really have very limited supplies of money to spare. What do you think I should do?

Drumas funk · December 13, 2007

I say go for the individual effects. I always end up selling away my multi units. I took my MS out of my rig because I felt it harshed up the tone too much. The only effect unit I regret selling is the Tonelab.

Actually, when I was only beginning (up until about a my 4th year) I really enjoyed having a MFX, so I suppose it might be a better decision for you since your only in high scool, I do believe you'll outgrow it, but for the time being it should be really helpful.

Marvel627 · December 13, 2007

trust me, choice A seems tempting as a "holdover" solution, but go with B, u'll be happy u did. It really comes down to:

A) Waste my money now on a box with a tone of mediocre stuff that im gonna chuck a year or two down the line anyhow

or

B) Put my money towards real good effects that can last me a lifetime or i can trade for other really good effects down the line

Noise... · December 13, 2007

I'd go for individual pedals. And absolutely, RESEARCH THEM FIRST.

I fell into the trap of buying by brand name early on when I was getting into effects. I ended up with a bunch of slightly expensive, crap effects with flashy names. Now I've sold them all off and I'm almost finished building up my good board.

Believe me - getting good pedals from the get-go is great. You've got a good amp, and three pedals. IMO, if you don't like the Boss, sell it. They're $80 new, so you should get at least $50 from selling it. Maybe even more.

As for your other two, I see no reason to replace them. I've heard nothing but great reviews on the Fab Chorus, and that Vox wah is supposed to be one of the best non-boutique wahs you can get.

Now, with individual pedals, expensive isn't always better. Name means NOTHING.

For delay, I'd recommend an Ibanez DE7. GREAT delay, amazing sound - very analog sounding on echo mode, and a great, versatile delay on delay mode. It's only $70, so that's one base covered for not even 1/3 of your cash.

If you sell the OS2, you'll need another dirt box. This comes down a lot to preference. What kind of dirt sound are you looking for? I really like my Electro-Harmonix Double-Muff for general distortion. It has a slightly fuzzy quality to it, but IMO, sounds great. They go for about $50.

I'd also add in a fuzz, and maybe some modulation. you should be able to get a NYC Big Muff RI and a Small Stone Phaser within your price range. Going over a bit, you could grab an EHX Electric Mistress over the Small Stone.

krisnrg · December 13, 2007

or try to score a ME-50 used...I got one for $150.00 thats roughly the cost of one good effect. The thing is it sounds ok in front of a decent tube amp(I have a Hot Rod Deluxe). The distortions a actually pretty good an so are the delays.

Right now I have:
DS-1
MXR 10 band EQ
Boss DD-6
and the ME-50

until a get the cash to get a tube screamer clone an OCD and a good chorus the ME-50 can back me up lol

vrm · December 13, 2007

score one used and if you don't like it off it and get most of your $ back.

Surrealistic Brillo · December 13, 2007

I know most of you guys are gonna say that I shouldn't get it, but pretty soon I'm going to receive ~300 dollars. Right now, I have a boss os-2 (overdrive/distortion...its not that great), a danelectro fab chorus (friend gave it to me) and a vox clyde mcoy wah. This is all going into a traynor ycv50blue amp.

I mostly play classic rock-ish stuff.

So I can either:

A. Buy the me-50, have a ton of mediocre effects (how are the overdrives btw?)

or

B. Buy maybe 2 really good effects. I was considering the fulltone ocd, what do you guys think about that. I also really wanted a delay, possibly the dd-20.

I know all of you guys are going to say B, but I, being a high school student, really have very limited supplies of money to spare. What do you think I should do?

If you don't already have some stand alone effects for dirt that you like, don't get the ME-50. Get your basic tones first, then use the ME-50 to add some of the other effects you like but might not use as often.

If you're considering a DD-20 but don't need 24 seconds of delay, give the ME-50 some serious consideration.

I've got a couple ME-50's and I have to say, I'm quite impressed with them.

Surrealistic Brillo · December 13, 2007

or try to score a ME-50 used...I got one for $150.00 thats roughly the cost of one good effect. The thing is it sounds ok in front of a decent tube amp(I have a Hot Rod Deluxe). The distortions a actually pretty good an so are the delays.

Right now I have:

DS-1

MXR 10 band EQ

Boss DD-6

and the ME-50

until a get the cash to get a tube screamer clone an OCD and a good chorus the ME-50 can back me up lol

Here's a tip...want to get a more "analog chorus" tone from your ME-50? When using the Chorus on your ME-50, set the "Tone Modify" section to "Mild". I found it rolls off the highs in just the right way as to simulate an analog chorus sound...it compared very favorably to a few different analog chorus pedals I A/B'd it against.

The same technique also works well for the Phaser.

ninjaaron · December 13, 2007

Get they ME-50 used and flip it pedals for better stuff when you have the cash. Won't loose any money.

But really, the ME-50 is pretty good. The only thing I would say is put your OD and wah out front, and use those as well.

z1o · December 13, 2007

individual pedals like the Ibanez De7 delay, cheap and very good!

SirJackdeFuzz · December 13, 2007

In 2002 i nearly bought one (the only multi-fx board i ever thought of getting) but once i heard those dirt (simulated) channels i swore that i will never move away from single stand-alone units !

And if i doo, it means i found the perfect amp !

IMHO, I found it really fake to my ears when i tested it through a SS Crate full-stack, BJr into a Marshall 4x12, Classic 30 w. V30 and a Hot Rod Deluxe 2x12.

That is me, YMMV

Lanefair · December 13, 2007

You should get some good dirt pedals and then a Zoom G2 for fx maybe. Good tone starts with a good dirt section.

Ultra.Fuzz · December 13, 2007

You should get some good dirt pedals and then a Zoom G2 for fx maybe. Good tone starts with a good dirt section.

That or an RP150.

The Rocktron (G100) Utopia seems to be pretty good and has a different concept - kinda like fewer effects, one of each, with a good number of parameters to mess with. You have four preamps - noise reducer - compressor - [wah, tremolo, phaser, flanger, chorus or pitch shifter] - delay - reverb.

I've read fairly positive reviews on that one.

It doesn't have a tuner though... Which may be a bad thing.

If you're going for the used route I'd say MagicStomp (which does share some similarities with the Utopia as it is based on dedicated algorithms).

I'd say these would be better options compared to the ME-50 (it's not a bad unit though).

Of course with $300 you could get some good/great pedals too (like the - already mentioned - DE-7).

Not every multi has a ton of mediocre effects and not every single pedal needs to be expensive to be good/great.

bowlingshirt · December 13, 2007

Try finding a used Yamaha Magicstomp for a multi-effects device, and you'll still have some cash left to get a decent pedal or two.

wallakoala · December 13, 2007