Two years later(2023)this guy is fantastic!!!! Just purchased this unit tried to set it up but unfortunately couldn’t make any progress, then I came across his channel, couldn’t believe how simple he made it setting it up for my needs! Keep up the great work!!! Thank you a million times.
This is one of the most informative videos on this effects pedal I have ever seen the manufacturer does not even do this well. I bought one a year ago and it's still in the box in my closet but I think I'll pull it out now thank you my friend
Just set this up after using it for 7 years the wrong way. I always went into the fx return of my Egnater, avoiding the amps preamp and using the fx preamp. I tried it now into the amp input, disabled the preamp in the fx, and the tweaked the patches, and wow! Custom Strat, with Noiseless pickups, now has 4 deadly patches that allow the amp to do its thing. Thanks for the great demo and tips!
I just wanted to say thank you, I bought this pedal and was about to take it back because I didn’t like the tones because I too was using separate pedals. But I went through following you video and BAM, it was great. Thanks so much
I've had one of these for 6 months and never really got a sound out of it I liked. This video was extremely helpful. It really is best served as an FX pedal without the shitty pre-amp. Thanks man.
You try to activate the cab sim by putting the headphone adapter in the headphone jack? I see that is a must when using preamps. Or it will sound fizzy. I'm waiting on mine to be shipped. I'm coming from boss gt1. This unit seems better for navigating. Hahah. Hope this helps.
I pulled my me-80 out of the closet and let me tell you the information you shared was so incredible that my brother went out and bought one the same day
Excellent tutorial. I did the same thing. I stop using this pedal and I went back to it and started from scratch and found a whole new sound. Thanks to your video I just got more ammunition. Thanks.
Wow! Just the video I needed!!! I have a me-80 for a few years, new in its box and every time I played with it, I was just very disappointed with the sound, so it sat there and I had decided to get rid of it. I did a lot of experimentation and just came up, boosting up the signal at the compressor section in “solo” before going to the preamp and sounded way way better. Now I know that it is a keeper and a way to simplify your pedalboard, plus a great sound! Thanks for making this video, just gave me a lot of options with this unit!!!
Great approach to using the ME 80 as well as any pedal or amp . It's easy to go overboard using these multi effects units as they do so much. Good helpful video. Cheers!
Thanks to this video I was finally able to get good sound through the Yamaha THR30II. Turning off the pre-amps made a huge difference and I realized I was thinking backwards. I had been trying to find a sweet spot on the Yamaha and then get all the tone through the ME80. Essentially I was using the THR as a monitor. It is working much better to get a nice tone from the Yamaha and then using the ME80 as an effects processor. I appreciate your time and effort in making this video.
I like your approach to programming. Most people, including myself, have been doing it very haphazard and the results are not always good or predictable.
Hey mate best video I have seen. I am a late in life guitarist, which isn't my first instrument and have never used pedals, This has given me a leg up into some great sounds and a great starting point on how to use the ME. I am using a Strat and a Fender Tonemaster! thanks Peter
The preamp section works great if you are running directly into the return of the effects loop of an amp. It's not bad for recording via USB either, but you have to make sure something is plugged into the rec out/phones jack to trigger the cab simulation.
I randomly stumbled uppon this video after sorta giving up on truely messing around with the pedal board, its my first board ever so I dont really know what im doing. But thanks to you I finally learned how to save tones, and now I spent some time trying to recreate tones from bands I like! Thanks for making this video (because I probably wouldve never truely figured out that you could store multiple until far beyond)
You saved my day! I got my guitar stuff back into action and was shocked about the bad sound of this device with the preamp section engaged. But always liked th effects. No I know how to use this device for the first time since I bought it. Thanks so much!
Having knobs to adjust things on the fly is huge compared to menu diving. Also, sometimes it's really good to have limitations. Much better than option anxiety.
Thank You DJ. I bought one of these in January, '21. I immediately searched for ME-80 vids & I came across this vid. I am now reviewing your tutorial again. You kick-started me on this correctly right from the start, so I just wanted to say thank you....
The ME-80 has been my staple since it came out. It’s one of the best, if not the best multi effects out there. These are basically pedals in one unit like you mention. My mainstays are Reverb, Delay, Distortion (DS-1) and Chorus. I use the compressor as a boost and I use the Stack Pre-amp as Marshall-esque overdrive which works amazing as an articulate overdrive. The rest are a bit of fun, but I’ve effectively got 6 regular pedals plus a tuner and a volume pedal for the price of two or three pedals and it all fits neatly in one unit. I own many high quality pedals, but the ME-80 can hold its own with any of them for what I play at least which is clean, blues, classic rock and alternative. A good amp is definitely a key though as you also mentioned. 👍🙂
I turned the pre-amp off and have been in heaven with this thing. 2 years of being unsatisfied, and bam, my effects now sound like they do in my head. Thanks man!
Thank you! I’ve never had much luck with my Boss ME until I saw this and turned that damn preamp off. Now it’s working much nicer as a set of pedals. Thanks for the great information!
Totally agree with your comments. I used a GT100 for a few years and I discovered the impact having a pre-amp on along with the amp pre really destroyed my sound. Great tips. thank you.
Remember, don't use the GT-100 preamps when going into the preamp of a guitar amp. At gigs, I have my GT going into the effects return or power amp in of a Peavey Bandit, bypassing the crappy Peavey preamp, and I use the GT preamps (mostly JC-120 / Twin / Marshall) - but remember to also turn off any speaker / mic sim.
I thank you for your sobering assessment of the Boss ME 80. I've been thinking about purchasing this pedal for over a year. Watching this review made me realize that haven't the patience to fumble through a ton of knobs and switches to achieve the sound I'm looking for. Thanks again for saving me $300 and for saving me hours of frustration. Cheers! 🤔😃
Okay, I'm not sure why TH-cam put you in my mix but I'm so glad they did! I've owned one for awhile now but there were a few things I couldn't figure out that you cleared up for me. By the way, I began using Boss processors in the late 90's and tried to set my first one using the headphone jack and learned the hard way that processors sound very different through amps than they do the headphone jack. After I spent days setting it using the headset it sounded awful when i plugged it into my Twin lol. Great video! Thanks 👍
That'll get it done. I showed up to an open mic about a year ago and used a guy's rig: it was an older one of these units going into a quilter interblock 45 pedal shaped amp, into a little 10 inch cabinet. I didn't think it was going to get the job done, but it worked great! It cut right through the mix, felt good, had enough gain. It doesn't have to be complicated!
I love this pedal, went from boss stomp boxes to this when I realized it was going to cost the earth to get everything I needed. Once I realized this sounds exactly the same I was sold. Agree that the pre amp is terrible, I don’t think I’ve ever used it since the first time!
I won't fight you on that the pre amp lacks drive. I usually mix them with the stomp boxes. If you mix the metal preamp with the Turbo Overdrive you can get a nice merciful Fate tone. Then I use the E.Q. to brighten up the sound for the lead.
Very helpful . Having the plug in the headphone jack and then connecting the left and right stereo 1/4 TRS outputs into a mixer supposedly also provides the amp simulator on these two outputs as well per the manual.
I used to play a bunch in high school and haven't played in 15 years. Just started playing again and wanted a few pedals or effects and got overwhelmed by all the options so decided to just hit the easy button and looked at a few reviews and bought this. Was going back and forth on my decision and found this video and holy crap I'm stoked. I just bought my first tube amp, a fenders blues junior now with a cannabis rex speaker. Also picked up a monoprice 15w tube amp for the effects loop and the 1w attenuation setting and swapped the stock FBJ speaker into it. I'm planning to run the effects pedal into the monoprice effects loop, but I think it would sound great if I take your advice and ignore the preamp section. Honestly, so glad I found this. I'm really excited to experiment with this. Seems like there are so many incredible options!
Just to complete the little testing, I grabbed my old VOX Tonelab LE from the basement after several years of not being used and played a litte with it. I WAS AMAZED by the quality of the sound quality coming out of the amp section - and there's a good reason for it: the modelling of the amps is done by simulating their power amp sections with a little built-in tube that is wired differently, depending on the amp-selector knob of the Tonelab LE. SO, AMP MODELLING IS ANALOG. You can go with this pedal board directly into every PA and deliver great sound. Probably, that is the reason that I saw so many guitar players using this device for their live gigs in bars or on stage while I raley came across a BOSS floor pad on stage.
Probably the best video I've seen on the ME-80 so far.Great job DJ.I'm strongly considering ditching the pedalboard as soon as I can put my hands on one of these.I have an ME-50 but it doesn't give me enough control.Works for supplementing my other pedals but I need to simplify my setup.Thanks for the great demo.
thank you so much for this! I have been using the ME-80 since 2019! recently bought a twin reverb and me default settings sounded like trash. Recently learned that it was my pre-amp that was ruining my tone! thank you for this video because i wasn't sure if it was just me! The pre-amp is pretty good on cheaper tube amps when dialed correctly, but not on a pro tube amp i know that now
Best logical overview and general setup I've seen...love mine. No effects box cables or board construction to worry about. Really is well thought out piece of equipment...thx
Just got the ME-80 for Xmas 2022. Been playing for 30 years and it’s the single best purchase I’ve ever made. This video is the realist/best run through for getting killer sound out. It’s honestly kind of dummy proof if I can figure it out. 😂
@@chrismoore4930 Using the patch function and writing my own settings to 1-4 pedals. Clean on 1. Light delay. Light reverb. Harmonizer. Dirty on 2. Core effect. Mid reverb. That’s my basic ass setup. It’s easy to get paralyzed by all the options so find a good starting point and test options from there. Find something good and save it to 3. Repeat.
Ok, yeah. I found a great start patch for clean and a nice one for dirty, but I would like to use this in manual mode also. I would like to go from clean to a blues driver or high gain, just can't figure out how to use one of the other pedals for the 2nd distortion. One guy was using crunch in the pre amp area, then using the dist in (od/ds) to beef it up to add more gain for solos or heavier distortion. Thanks for the help.
Finally!! (Well, for me, at least). 1/2 of 1% of all the videos posted on TH-cam are by people who have zero concept of "teaching" or who are more interested in the production value of their post than the content. It is refreshing when I stumble into the ether of the rare individual who knows how to deliver as Sergeant Joe Friday, "Just the facts, mam." I am a long time acoustic player and I am new to pedals. Your video doesn't assume I have experience with pedals. It just "Keeps it simple." Thank you!
I have never seen this explain this way and I've been on the phone with the guys who build these things and they were not as forthcoming with information as you are wow
Been looking at these reviews on this unit all day. Some love it, some hate it. I was really on the fence about getting it based off such mixed reviews. After watching this video I am going to get it. Especially since you stated "It's going to sound like crap through a crappy amp" I think I'll be alright since I play a Les Paul Custom through a Marshall Stack JVM 410 THANK YOU SO MUCH for clearing up the fog in which all other reviews created.
Hi you are a genious and your right pairing the on board amps and cabs choke up the unit. I just purchased this Boss ME80 for 185 today 05/09/2024 and added it to my Boss Collection the GT3 ,GT5,The GT6 ,GT8 and the GT10 alongside My GT100 and GT1 and GT1000 and last but not least the GT PRO rack with floor controller. Thanks a lot for showing me simplicity. I dig it man. 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉cheers🎉🎉🎉🎉❤❤❤❤ Oh By the way my Amp im using is a Peavy Renoun 400 1981 set to pure clean no reverb i removed it. Bad reverb tank so the ME 80s reverb is awesome to a DI box to my multtrack Korg D3200 no buzzing. Ground lift. 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉❤❤❤❤
Excellent. I love learning that there is a nice, clean way to have an arsenal of good effects, and it's such a great price. Nice guitar too. Thank you for the great info. Wondering where you keep the "overall level" or "master volume".
If u want to boost mid or add in effect on top of your created patch, for that there is option call CTL function u can use that instead of saving it as separate patch.
Great & very helpful review, thank you. I would just respectfully disagree about the pre-amps but it probably depends on one's style. I have a Princeton Reverb Reissue & Supertweed clone as reference. I'm running the ME-80 through a Fishman 220A column for tiny gigs & convenience. I use a clean to crunch tone & am perfectly happy with the ME-80 pre amps. "Crunch" is the most natural sounding for a Fender amp guy. With careful gain & eq settings it's not "bad" by any means & certainly good enough to forget the difference & play. The front end attack is definitely solid state but I'm not getting any nasty fizz when the gain starts to push. The 3D quality & full bass isn't there but the basic tone is & I'm hearing nothing offensive. It passes the back of the room test, can you really tell the difference in a bar setting. So credit where credit is due for the pre-amps!
I could not resist testing it out right after youd vid was over - stunning results! Never heard my Strat sound as good over the Boss ME-80 before. And, instead of going into a guitar amp I tested it going right into my stereo in my home office via a little mixer. OK, I do not have the nice sound of a wooden cabinet from a guitar amp - but anyway, the sound is so accentuated, providing direct response to the way I hit the strings. This was completely missing with the pre-amp section of the ME-80 engaged - It always felt as if the SW in it was permenantly 'trying to decide' how to interprete the signal coming into it. BTW, this appears to be a major flaw to most of that kind of pedal stations. And your tip to start the setup from all-clean sound was great, too. I could get with only 3 preset memory slots the whole bandwidth from clean, funky Nile Rodgers to Brian Setzer Rockabilly and nice blues. Thanks again for sharing with us!
I've seen many are not using the cab sim which is needed to get preamp to sound right. Which means stick a jack in headphones jack but use adapter not headphones unless using them to monitor. For some reason it's the only way to get the cabinet sim to work. How crazy of Boss not to add this. Hahahah.
Hope that helps. If you still have the unit. I use gt1 it's amazing for what I have. I am being gifted a me80 and when it arrives I'll see what else I can create with it. I'll review it as well. I'm not that good on guitar yet. I'm an old drummer. Hahaha
Dude this was an amazing video. Now ima buy one cause its wayyyy cheaper than buying each freaking petal. The 38 secend looper, the many delays, phaser, on and on Great vid
Just got the ME-90 and this is a great help to me to get it set right. I’ve a fender tonemaster deluxe reverb and all I’m seeing is folks talking about using the 4 cable method to get a great sound out of the ME-90. Was starting to think I’d made a mistake as my amp as no FX loop. Are you considering a lab ME-90? Great vid!
This is very, very good information for the ME-80. I found myself doing this as well a good while back. Once you take out the preamp section and start with a very nice clean tone on a good sounding clean amp, it then truly comes alive. I am using a the "Power Amp In" on a Katana MK2 50 watt amp and it's definitely a great place to start! This video has some very good information in it!
If you are NOT using the preamp modelling then you should be going into the front of your amp, not the loop is. The loop in expects a preamp to be being used in front of it. You can then use the amp modelling if you want in that situation, BUT, that will never sound as good as using it straight in to a tube amp and turning off the stupid preamp and then it will sound it\s best. This was designed for you to still enjoy using your great amp preamp in your amplifier. So plug it itin to the front of your amp.
Great video! Just bought one of these brand new went ahead and got the adapter too. Already diving in it’s so easy to use. It is also easy to find really bad sounds but the tone starts in the fingers
I totally agree with you and using the same way with tube amplifier! I found also very helpful for recording using the clean built in pre amp (which is the less crappy 😂 and more transparent)
I had an ME-80 several years ago. I think it's a great unit and actually quite intuitive. I got out of playing for a few years and sold it. I used it mostly at church straight into the board. At the time, it fit nicely into a 17" laptop case. If you don't want to spend $700+ for a GT-1000/Core, this is a very viable choice. Lastly, if you want to use the amp modelers, USE THE RETURN on the amp! If you're trying to model the front end of a Mesa but going into the front end of a Marshall, it's not going to sound good! I run my GT-1000Core into my Orange Crush 60 Pro and it sounds great!
for the Orange Crush, I've got the CR60 also. After awhile the orginal speaker sounded like it had a blanket over it, so I upgraded the speaker to a V30. This opened the amp's sound up. The clean channel has break up and it sounds amazing with the better speaker. If you decide to upgrade, check out speakers and their frequency curves and match the curve to what you want out of the amp.
@@JE-western-rider Thanks for the tip. I go into the return so the only control that does anything is the master volume. I have an Avatar cab with Eminence Legends in it. I'm curious how one of those would sound in the Orange.
Lol, that's scary because they're all definitely bad. You just wanna use these things on "EQ" in the Preamp section and get any dirt from the little overdrive section.
I'm not sure why, but I've owned one of these for about 6 months and I cannot for the life of me get a decent overdrive tone. I like the reverb, delay and modulation effects, but really don't like overdrive or distortion. Incidentally, I don't use the preamp and I use manual mode more often than not. I play through a clean Hot Rod Deluxe iv. I'm tempted to keep it and add an overdrive pedal, but it is up for sale at the moment.
Getting a good overdrive or distortion sound isn't easy with the ME80 and I don't have the knowledge to tell you why! However, I get a nice clean sound going then crank up the gain and use a boost and it's fine. The EQ section is useful too.
Hi, I also use the Boss ME-80 and a Fender Champion 100 amp. My question is, if you are not using any pre-amp with your ME-80, does that mean you're using the pre-amp of your Fender amplifier? Also, I always have plug in the headphones area to activate the cabinet emulation because without it, it sounds crapy to me. Aren't you using the cabinet emulation in your video? It sounds amazing.
This guy is amazing. Also wanted to add that if you use a good set of studio headphones, it sounds as good too. Specially with a 1 and a half year old kid in the house where I play when he takes naps lol.
Did some experimenting and YES!!!! Ditch the preamp section, use just as in the video and it, not only sounds great, but also have all that versatility explained here!!!! Trully thankfull!!! Wondering about the other warning you forgot, you can post it in commentaries, :) Thanks again, now it acts like a latest tech pedal with unmatch versatility!!!!!!!
Tone snob here. Just saw one of these cheap at a pawn shop and wondered if it would work just like you explained. Thanks so much for this video. GrAbbing it tomorrow to have some fun with and at least as a backup pedalboard. And btw batteries is a major plus!
Thanks for the video. Just wondering if you stuck with it and if you still have your old pedals? If so, would you mind doing a comparison of the pedals vs the ME-80? Thanks!
I own that deluxe. Honestly that amp sounds killer without any overdrive or distortion. Sweetest spot is the vintage channel at about 5 1/2. And actually with single coils it may not have the chunk of a PAF but the thickness and chime cuts better. I just can’t bring myself to put anything in front of that channel and I’ve been an fx nut my whole life.
Great video, really good explanation. Is there any delay on switching the patches or effects for live use? I have a Mooer 150 which sounds nice but the delay between switching makes it impossible to use. Looking to change to the ME80.
Two years later(2023)this guy is fantastic!!!! Just purchased this unit tried to set it up but unfortunately couldn’t make any progress, then I came across his channel, couldn’t believe how simple he made it setting it up for my needs! Keep up the great work!!! Thank you a million times.
😂😂😂 dude it’s a footboard you turn a frickin knob 😂😂😂😂
Agreed
@@easilyoffended7772i guess it was important for you to be a knob.
Man U messed up. Shoulda got the ME90
This is one of the most informative videos on this effects pedal I have ever seen the manufacturer does not even do this well. I bought one a year ago and it's still in the box in my closet but I think I'll pull it out now thank you my friend
Just set this up after using it for 7 years the wrong way. I always went into the fx return of my Egnater, avoiding the amps preamp and using the fx preamp. I tried it now into the amp input, disabled the preamp in the fx, and the tweaked the patches, and wow! Custom Strat, with Noiseless pickups, now has 4 deadly patches that allow the amp to do its thing. Thanks for the great demo and tips!
This is one of the most informative videos for the ME80 that I’ve seen. Thanks for posting!
Agree I have had one for a while and about to ditch it. I have hope again. Thx
I agree !
Absolutely
I got the ME 80 and a new SG Standard. Your vid is the first one I've seen that speaks to me. You're the best, dude! Thank you kindly.
Okay, I was thinking of the me25, but you got me ready to jump off the cliff for this me80. Your subtle humor kills me. Thank you very much!
This guy is absolutely right I love my ME80 I can get just as good of tone from it as my pedals and the ME80 is easy to set up at gigs.
I just wanted to say thank you, I bought this pedal and was about to take it back because I didn’t like the tones because I too was using separate pedals. But I went through following you video and BAM, it was great. Thanks so much
Hands down the best video on the Boss ME80!!!! Thank you for the help!!
I've had one of these for 6 months and never really got a sound out of it I liked. This video was extremely helpful. It really is best served as an FX pedal without the shitty pre-amp. Thanks man.
You try to activate the cab sim by putting the headphone adapter in the headphone jack? I see that is a must when using preamps. Or it will sound fizzy. I'm waiting on mine to be shipped. I'm coming from boss gt1. This unit seems better for navigating. Hahah. Hope this helps.
I was smiling out loud listening to you give your opinion on the preamp. I love the confidence with which you show your disdain! 😆
I pulled my me-80 out of the closet and let me tell you the information you shared was so incredible that my brother went out and bought one the same day
I was about to sell mine. After your review now I’m keeping it! Thank you!
Well thought through! I see BOSS has now come up with a new one.. the ME-90. Many of us out here would be very interested in hearing you review it!!
I will!
@@deegolaloved your me-80 lesson! I just purchased the 90 and look forward to your evaluation and lesson for it! Thanks for your time!
Got it and working on the review
You have no idea how much this video has helped me alot I’m still a bit confused but I’m understanding a lot more better !!
Excellent tutorial. I did the same thing. I stop using this pedal and I went back to it and started from scratch and found a whole new sound. Thanks to your video I just got more ammunition. Thanks.
"The Pedal Whisperer"...
this guy is talking to me - he didn't just start playing fast rock leads like everyone else - he is explaining stuff from basic - thanks
Wow! Just the video I needed!!! I have a me-80 for a few years, new in its box and every time I played with it, I was just very disappointed with the sound, so it sat there and I had decided to get rid of it. I did a lot of experimentation and just came up, boosting up the signal at the compressor section in “solo” before going to the preamp and sounded way way better. Now I know that it is a keeper and a way to simplify your pedalboard, plus a great sound!
Thanks for making this video, just gave me a lot of options with this unit!!!
Great approach to using the ME 80 as well as any pedal or amp . It's easy to go overboard using these multi effects units as they do so much. Good helpful video. Cheers!
What a great video. My ME-80 is arriving tomorrow and after watching this I literally can’t wait. Such a common sense approach. Thanks dude!
Thanks to this video I was finally able to get good sound through the Yamaha THR30II. Turning off the pre-amps made a huge difference and I realized I was thinking backwards. I had been trying to find a sweet spot on the Yamaha and then get all the tone through the ME80. Essentially I was using the THR as a monitor. It is working much better to get a nice tone from the Yamaha and then using the ME80 as an effects processor. I appreciate your time and effort in making this video.
I like your approach to programming. Most people, including myself, have been doing it very haphazard and the results are not always good or predictable.
Hey mate best video I have seen. I am a late in life guitarist, which isn't my first instrument and have never used pedals, This has given me a leg up into some great sounds and a great starting point on how to use the ME. I am using a Strat and a Fender Tonemaster! thanks Peter
The preamp section works great if you are running directly into the return of the effects loop of an amp. It's not bad for recording via USB either, but you have to make sure something is plugged into the rec out/phones jack to trigger the cab simulation.
I randomly stumbled uppon this video after sorta giving up on truely messing around with the pedal board, its my first board ever so I dont really know what im doing. But thanks to you I finally learned how to save tones, and now I spent some time trying to recreate tones from bands I like! Thanks for making this video (because I probably wouldve never truely figured out that you could store multiple until far beyond)
You saved my day! I got my guitar stuff back into action and was shocked about the bad sound of this device with the preamp section engaged.
But always liked th effects. No I know how to use this device for the first time since I bought it. Thanks so much!
Excellent review! “it will sound like crap” - that’s what I wanted. What to not expect. I’m buyin’ one.
Thanks soooo much! I could watch you all day 😂 you turned my view of my ME-80 around I thought I had made a mistake
Just came across your video DJ in 2024, and have to tell you thank you. Great job Brother! Thank You!
Having knobs to adjust things on the fly is huge compared to menu diving. Also, sometimes it's really good to have limitations. Much better than option anxiety.
Well stated. Option paralysis sucks and wastes so much time.
I don't wish to be a bother but no one has explained this as thoroughly as you have
Thank You DJ. I bought one of these in January, '21. I immediately searched for ME-80 vids & I came across this vid. I am now reviewing your tutorial again. You kick-started me on this correctly right from the start, so I just wanted to say thank you....
The ME-80 has been my staple since it came out. It’s one of the best, if not the best multi effects out there. These are basically pedals in one unit like you mention. My mainstays are Reverb, Delay, Distortion (DS-1) and Chorus. I use the compressor as a boost and I use the Stack Pre-amp as Marshall-esque overdrive which works amazing as an articulate overdrive. The rest are a bit of fun, but I’ve effectively got 6 regular pedals plus a tuner and a volume pedal for the price of two or three pedals and it all fits neatly in one unit. I own many high quality pedals, but the ME-80 can hold its own with any of them for what I play at least which is clean, blues, classic rock and alternative. A good amp is definitely a key though as you also mentioned. 👍🙂
Do you know how to save parameters for effects that I want to switch on once I move over to manual mode?
I turned the pre-amp off and have been in heaven with this thing. 2 years of being unsatisfied, and bam, my effects now sound like they do in my head. Thanks man!
Thank you! I’ve never had much luck with my Boss ME until I saw this and turned that damn preamp off. Now it’s working much nicer as a set of pedals. Thanks for the great information!
Totally agree with your comments. I used a GT100 for a few years and I discovered the impact having a pre-amp on along with the amp pre really destroyed my sound. Great tips. thank you.
Remember, don't use the GT-100 preamps when going into the preamp of a guitar amp. At gigs, I have my GT going into the effects return or power amp in of a Peavey Bandit, bypassing the crappy Peavey preamp, and I use the GT preamps (mostly JC-120 / Twin / Marshall) - but remember to also turn off any speaker / mic sim.
I thank you for your sobering assessment of the Boss ME 80. I've been thinking about purchasing this pedal for over a year. Watching this review made me realize that haven't the patience to fumble through a ton of knobs and switches to achieve the sound I'm looking for. Thanks again for saving me $300 and for saving me hours of frustration. Cheers! 🤔😃
Okay, I'm not sure why TH-cam put you in my mix but I'm so glad they did! I've owned one for awhile now but there were a few things I couldn't figure out that you cleared up for me.
By the way, I began using Boss processors in the late 90's and tried to set my first one using the headphone jack and learned the hard way that processors sound very different through amps than they do the headphone jack. After I spent days setting it using the headset it sounded awful when i plugged it into my Twin lol.
Great video! Thanks 👍
That'll get it done. I showed up to an open mic about a year ago and used a guy's rig: it was an older one of these units going into a quilter interblock 45 pedal shaped amp, into a little 10 inch cabinet. I didn't think it was going to get the job done, but it worked great! It cut right through the mix, felt good, had enough gain. It doesn't have to be complicated!
Woooow thank god for this video. This was the most helpful ME80 video I have ever seen thanks for this
I love this pedal, went from boss stomp boxes to this when I realized it was going to cost the earth to get everything I needed. Once I realized this sounds exactly the same I was sold. Agree that the pre amp is terrible, I don’t think I’ve ever used it since the first time!
I won't fight you on that the pre amp lacks drive. I usually mix them with the stomp boxes. If you mix the metal preamp with the Turbo Overdrive you can get a nice merciful Fate tone. Then I use the E.Q. to brighten up the sound for the lead.
A video that makes sense. You've saved my hope in my me80. Thank you
Very helpful . Having the plug in the headphone jack and then connecting the left and right stereo 1/4 TRS outputs into a mixer supposedly also provides the amp simulator on these two outputs as well per the manual.
I used to play a bunch in high school and haven't played in 15 years. Just started playing again and wanted a few pedals or effects and got overwhelmed by all the options so decided to just hit the easy button and looked at a few reviews and bought this.
Was going back and forth on my decision and found this video and holy crap I'm stoked.
I just bought my first tube amp, a fenders blues junior now with a cannabis rex speaker. Also picked up a monoprice 15w tube amp for the effects loop and the 1w attenuation setting and swapped the stock FBJ speaker into it. I'm planning to run the effects pedal into the monoprice effects loop, but I think it would sound great if I take your advice and ignore the preamp section.
Honestly, so glad I found this. I'm really excited to experiment with this. Seems like there are so many incredible options!
Very helpful, thanks! I never use amp modelers and play the ME80 to my Vox AC30 as a pedalboard and it is great indeed.
Just to complete the little testing, I grabbed my old VOX Tonelab LE from the basement after several years of not being used and played a litte with it.
I WAS AMAZED by the quality of the sound quality coming out of the amp section - and there's a good reason for it: the modelling of the amps is done by simulating their power amp sections with a little built-in tube that is wired differently, depending on the amp-selector knob of the Tonelab LE. SO, AMP MODELLING IS ANALOG.
You can go with this pedal board directly into every PA and deliver great sound.
Probably, that is the reason that I saw so many guitar players using this device for their live gigs in bars or on stage while I raley came across a BOSS floor pad on stage.
Probably the best video I've seen on the ME-80 so far.Great job DJ.I'm strongly considering ditching the pedalboard as soon as I can put my hands on one of these.I have an ME-50 but it doesn't give me enough control.Works for supplementing my other pedals but I need to simplify my setup.Thanks for the great demo.
These are so underrated. They sound great and they're tough.
I have struggled to get great preamp tones from this unit. Thanks for the tips!
Excellent video! I have one and I have not been using the drive pedals but after seeing how good you make them sound, I’m going to try!
thank you so much for this! I have been using the ME-80 since 2019! recently bought a twin reverb and me default settings sounded like trash. Recently learned that it was my pre-amp that was ruining my tone! thank you for this video because i wasn't sure if it was just me! The pre-amp is pretty good on cheaper tube amps when dialed correctly, but not on a pro tube amp i know that now
I've recently pulled the ME-80 out of my closet of "forgotten gear" for my fly rig! Great video!
Excellent approach! From scratch and very logical. Great video!
Best logical overview and general setup I've seen...love mine. No effects box cables or board construction to worry about. Really is well thought out piece of equipment...thx
Excellent review.. Just got a me 80..n u r absolutely right about the pre-amp section!
Just got the ME-80 for Xmas 2022. Been playing for 30 years and it’s the single best purchase I’ve ever made. This video is the realist/best run through for getting killer sound out. It’s honestly kind of dummy proof if I can figure it out. 😂
Are you using the pre amp?
@@chrismoore4930 Fuck no. It sounds like shit almost exclusively. Especially when mixed with the effects.
How are you getting a low gain and high gain with the pedals? Like light crunch and switch over to lead?
@@chrismoore4930 Using the patch function and writing my own settings to 1-4 pedals. Clean on 1. Light delay. Light reverb. Harmonizer. Dirty on 2. Core effect. Mid reverb.
That’s my basic ass setup. It’s easy to get paralyzed by all the options so find a good starting point and test options from there. Find something good and save it to 3. Repeat.
Ok, yeah. I found a great start patch for clean and a nice one for dirty, but I would like to use this in manual mode also. I would like to go from clean to a blues driver or high gain, just can't figure out how to use one of the other pedals for the 2nd distortion. One guy was using crunch in the pre amp area, then using the dist in (od/ds) to beef it up to add more gain for solos or heavier distortion. Thanks for the help.
i bought this a while back, i have it plugged into my boss katana 50ll sounds lovely! great setup for bedroom jamming and experimenting.
Are you using the preamp bypass on the katana?
Finally!! (Well, for me, at least). 1/2 of 1% of all the videos posted on TH-cam are by people who have zero concept of "teaching" or who are more interested in the production value of their post than the content. It is refreshing when I stumble into the ether of the rare individual who knows how to deliver as Sergeant Joe Friday, "Just the facts, mam." I am a long time acoustic player and I am new to pedals. Your video doesn't assume I have experience with pedals. It just "Keeps it simple." Thank you!
I have never seen this explain this way and I've been on the phone with the guys who build these things and they were not as forthcoming with information as you are wow
This video is so important even the Birds stop by to learn some tips
Been looking at these reviews on this unit all day. Some love it, some hate it. I was really on the fence about getting it based off such mixed reviews. After watching this video I am going to get it. Especially since you stated "It's going to sound like crap through a crappy amp" I think I'll be alright since I play a Les Paul Custom through a Marshall Stack JVM 410 THANK YOU SO MUCH for clearing up the fog in which all other reviews created.
Hi you are a genious and your right pairing the on board amps and cabs choke up the unit. I just purchased this Boss ME80 for 185 today 05/09/2024 and added it to my Boss Collection the GT3 ,GT5,The GT6 ,GT8 and the GT10 alongside My GT100 and GT1 and GT1000 and last but not least the GT PRO rack with floor controller. Thanks a lot for showing me simplicity. I dig it man. 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉cheers🎉🎉🎉🎉❤❤❤❤ Oh By the way my Amp im using is a Peavy Renoun 400 1981 set to pure clean no reverb i removed it. Bad reverb tank so the ME 80s reverb is awesome to a DI box to my multtrack Korg D3200 no buzzing. Ground lift. 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉❤❤❤❤
thank you so much for this video!, I was about to sell my pedal board but i decided to keep it
Excellent. I love learning that there is a nice, clean way to have an arsenal of good effects, and it's such a great price. Nice guitar too. Thank you for the great info. Wondering where you keep the "overall level" or "master volume".
If u want to boost mid or add in effect on top of your created patch, for that there is option call CTL function u can use that instead of saving it as separate patch.
Great & very helpful review, thank you. I would just respectfully disagree about the pre-amps but it probably depends on one's style. I have a Princeton Reverb Reissue & Supertweed clone as reference. I'm running the ME-80 through a Fishman 220A column for tiny gigs & convenience. I use a clean to crunch tone & am perfectly happy with the ME-80 pre amps. "Crunch" is the most natural sounding for a Fender amp guy. With careful gain & eq settings it's not "bad" by any means & certainly good enough to forget the difference & play. The front end attack is definitely solid state but I'm not getting any nasty fizz when the gain starts to push. The 3D quality & full bass isn't there but the basic tone is & I'm hearing nothing offensive. It passes the back of the room test, can you really tell the difference in a bar setting. So credit where credit is due for the pre-amps!
GREAT VIDEO!!! Helped me out a lot and ive owned the me80 for over a year now.
I could not resist testing it out right after youd vid was over - stunning results! Never heard my Strat sound as good over the Boss ME-80 before.
And, instead of going into a guitar amp I tested it going right into my stereo in my home office via a little mixer. OK, I do not have the nice sound of a wooden cabinet from a guitar amp - but anyway, the sound is so accentuated, providing direct response to the way I hit the strings.
This was completely missing with the pre-amp section of the ME-80 engaged - It always felt as if the SW in it was permenantly 'trying to decide' how to interprete the signal coming into it. BTW, this appears to be a major flaw to most of that kind of pedal stations.
And your tip to start the setup from all-clean sound was great, too. I could get with only 3 preset memory slots the whole bandwidth from clean, funky Nile Rodgers to Brian Setzer Rockabilly and nice blues.
Thanks again for sharing with us!
I just love boss effects and modulation, so bough this. good tube amp is best companion for boss me 80.
Great demo of the ME 80! I have one and the advice for not using the pre amp was very helpful. Would love to know how the amp was set. Thank you!
I've seen many are not using the cab sim which is needed to get preamp to sound right. Which means stick a jack in headphones jack but use adapter not headphones unless using them to monitor. For some reason it's the only way to get the cabinet sim to work. How crazy of Boss not to add this. Hahahah.
Hope that helps. If you still have the unit. I use gt1 it's amazing for what I have. I am being gifted a me80 and when it arrives I'll see what else I can create with it. I'll review it as well. I'm not that good on guitar yet. I'm an old drummer. Hahaha
Great video, great playing. I love the ME 80. The freeze function is great and the AC Sim is surprisingly usable too.
Dude this was an amazing video. Now ima buy one cause its wayyyy cheaper than buying each freaking petal. The 38 secend looper, the many delays, phaser, on and on
Great vid
Just got the ME-90 and this is a great help to me to get it set right. I’ve a fender tonemaster deluxe reverb and all
I’m seeing is folks talking about using the 4 cable method to get a great sound out of the ME-90. Was starting to think I’d made a mistake as my amp as no FX loop. Are you considering a lab ME-90? Great vid!
This is very, very good information for the ME-80. I found myself doing this as well a good while back. Once you take out the preamp section and start with a very nice clean tone on a good sounding clean amp, it then truly comes alive. I am using a the "Power Amp In" on a Katana MK2 50 watt amp and it's definitely a great place to start! This video has some very good information in it!
If you are NOT using the preamp modelling then you should be going into the front of your amp, not the loop is. The loop in expects a preamp to be being used in front of it. You can then use the amp modelling if you want in that situation, BUT, that will never sound as good as using it straight in to a tube amp and turning off the stupid preamp and then it will sound it\s best. This was designed for you to still enjoy using your great amp preamp in your amplifier. So plug it itin to the front of your amp.
What a simple approach to tone. Thanks
Great video! Just bought one of these brand new went ahead and got the adapter too. Already diving in it’s so easy to use. It is also easy to find really bad sounds but the tone starts in the fingers
Great video buddy. Just ran across this now. Thanks 😎👍💪👌💯🎸🎸
Thank you ! I'll be setting my tones today .Great tones you have and easy to follow Cheers Keep on Rockin"
Excellent tutorial! Clear and concise. It really helped. Thank you!
Liked & Subbed.
I just bought a used me-80 so very much appreciated your video. BTW using a regulated 9vdc adapter should fix the noise issue..
I totally agree with you and using the same way with tube amplifier! I found also very helpful for recording using the clean built in pre amp (which is the less crappy 😂 and more transparent)
I had an ME-80 several years ago. I think it's a great unit and actually quite intuitive. I got out of playing for a few years and sold it. I used it mostly at church straight into the board. At the time, it fit nicely into a 17" laptop case. If you don't want to spend $700+ for a GT-1000/Core, this is a very viable choice. Lastly, if you want to use the amp modelers, USE THE RETURN on the amp! If you're trying to model the front end of a Mesa but going into the front end of a Marshall, it's not going to sound good! I run my GT-1000Core into my Orange Crush 60 Pro and it sounds great!
for the Orange Crush, I've got the CR60 also. After awhile the orginal speaker sounded like it had a blanket over it, so I upgraded the speaker to a V30. This opened the amp's sound up.
The clean channel has break up and it sounds amazing with the better speaker. If you decide to upgrade, check out speakers and their frequency curves and match the curve to what you want out of the amp.
@@JE-western-rider Thanks for the tip. I go into the return so the only control that does anything is the master volume. I have an Avatar cab with Eminence Legends in it. I'm curious how one of those would sound in the Orange.
Great video on the ME-80! Every demo I’ve seen focuses on using the Pre Amps. Good to know.
Lol, that's scary because they're all definitely bad. You just wanna use these things on "EQ" in the Preamp section and get any dirt from the little overdrive section.
Useful! Best of thoughts and good wishes from the UK. Subbed!
I'm not sure why, but I've owned one of these for about 6 months and I cannot for the life of me get a decent overdrive tone. I like the reverb, delay and modulation effects, but really don't like overdrive or distortion. Incidentally, I don't use the preamp and I use manual mode more often than not. I play through a clean Hot Rod Deluxe iv. I'm tempted to keep it and add an overdrive pedal, but it is up for sale at the moment.
Getting a good overdrive or distortion sound isn't easy with the ME80 and I don't have the knowledge to tell you why! However, I get a nice clean sound going then crank up the gain and use a boost and it's fine. The EQ section is useful too.
This was so helpful. Thank you for posting!
Hi, I also use the Boss ME-80 and a Fender Champion 100 amp.
My question is, if you are not using any pre-amp with your ME-80, does that mean you're using the pre-amp of your Fender amplifier?
Also, I always have plug in the headphones area to activate the cabinet emulation because without it, it sounds crapy to me.
Aren't you using the cabinet emulation in your video? It sounds amazing.
Such a great lesson! Thank you!
This guy is amazing. Also wanted to add that if you use a good set of studio headphones, it sounds as good too. Specially with a 1 and a half year old kid in the house where I play when he takes naps lol.
Does it? Have you tried ?
@@persiaguitar Use it almost everyday
Did some experimenting and YES!!!! Ditch the preamp section, use just as in the video and it, not only sounds great, but also have all that versatility explained here!!!! Trully thankfull!!! Wondering about the other warning you forgot, you can post it in commentaries, :) Thanks again, now it acts like a latest tech pedal with unmatch versatility!!!!!!!
Tone snob here. Just saw one of these cheap at a pawn shop and wondered if it would work just like you explained. Thanks so much for this video. GrAbbing it tomorrow to have some fun with and at least as a backup pedalboard. And btw batteries is a major plus!
I got one of these about 3 months ago and run it thru a Boss Katana II 100, a great to be able to change individual settings. Great video btw.
Thanks for the video. Just wondering if you stuck with it and if you still have your old pedals? If so, would you mind doing a comparison of the pedals vs the ME-80? Thanks!
I own that deluxe. Honestly that amp sounds killer without any overdrive or distortion. Sweetest spot is the vintage channel at about 5 1/2. And actually with single coils it may not have the chunk of a PAF but the thickness and chime cuts better. I just can’t bring myself to put anything in front of that channel and I’ve been an fx nut my whole life.
Great video, really good explanation. Is there any delay on switching the patches or effects for live use? I have a Mooer 150 which sounds nice but the delay between switching makes it impossible to use. Looking to change to the ME80.
Nope. Switches work instantly. No lag or pause
Good stuff. Am returning my Mooer and will be ordering one of these 👍
beautiful video tutorial .... you have opened a world to me please continue like this : ))
I own a fender champion 100 which is a solid state amp and it takes boss pedals really well. Would the me-80 go well into this amp if I play rock?
This is excellent! A vid that explains the writing process would be very useful and much appreciated
Beautiful Charvel!
I LOVE ME80. However, I prefer using as a hybrid system combined with external pedals. Like my RAT and Ross Compressor connected before my. Me80
If you have any more information on this effects pedal please do another tutorial I have made leeping advances with mine since watching your video