BOSS has expanded its ME series multi-effects family with the ME-20, a powerful multi-effects unit optimized for live performance.
Description:
The ME-20 provides overdrive, distortion, delay, chorus, phaser, flanger, tremolo, rotary, and EQ effects, taking BOSS’s performance-based philosophy to a very affordable price point.
The ME-20 features a newly designed super-rugged metal chassis complete with three footswitches, 5 real-time control knobs, and an expression pedal. The EZ Edit feature allows preset effect templates to be selected which call up entire effect settings with the turn of a single knob. The OD-DS solo function gives guitarists an additional punchy and high impact lead tone per patch.
In addition to the realtime performance-based operation, 30 user memory locations are available allowing players to store their favorite sounds for easy retrieval during practice and performance.
Battery or AC operated; the ME-20 Multiple Effects Processor allows musicians to take it anywhere, anytime.
I just bought one of these little boxes and it’s true that this thing is road tough. The metal chassis is really strong and should last forever! The foot buttons work really well as I haven’t had any problem other than I have mistakenly pushed them twice a few times because I couldn’t believe that I pushed it hard enough to engage it.
The fx are great and the first hour I had it home I had a delay from some place that sane people never go and I was lovin’ it. I found I could play through the delay (effect choice 2, pedal 3) leaving a ringing group of notes, turn it off and then play over those notes. Then turn it back on and change the repeating notes. Awesome and spa-a-cey.
Programming this thing is so easy, it brings tears of joy when you think back to all those little jumper cords between pedals, changing batteries and always reaching for the floor to twist knobs between songs. I only have three patches to choose in each bank but for one song, what more do you honestly need? I program one patch on pedal one as the main rhythm sound, pedal two as an alternative sound for bridges or intros/outros and pedal three has the solo tone which is generally the rhythm tone tweaked and/or with the solo function added to the patch. What could be easier?
The only compalint I have is with the expression pedal. It doesn’t have the longer (better) movement range that I have gotten used to through the use of my old Crybaby (long gone) and the GT-8. Even the range on my old ZOOM GFX 707 is better, as far as I can recall (it’s broken). I can also see adding a footswitch later so I can change patch banks on the fly as it takes several seconds to do it just with the pedal itself.
This thing is definitely not going to replace my GT-8, but it is a nice second multibox to take to practice as it fits right into my guitar bag. Can’t do that with the GT-8! It’s a keeper.