Boss ME-5 1988 vs GT-100 2012.

Now I was playing 'em both the other day and whilst in terms of features and versatility the GT-100 wins hands down. In terms of sound quality I found myself more impressed with the ME-5!!! :eek: Course the ME-5 being over 20yrs old is all analogue except for its reverb and delay module vs a more digital GT-100. Maybe thats what it is...I need to get myself into gear and start tweaking the GT-100 cos it surely is capable of some great sounds but I do find myself often thinking that many of todays processors in some ways ie sound of the drives haven't really gone forward much if at all. I've no plans for the GT-100 in a band setting...but if I ever do I can only see it being FX only and use my fave drive pedals in its loop or go 4CM with my Marshall.

I keep thinking the ME-5 and a tuner/Wah in front of it and maybe a 2nd delay and volume pedal after it could become my main board. I could probs get by with 1 row of 4 pedals for most stuff..or use it in manual mode. I generally have simple needs! :eek:

It's old but I have a soft spot for the ME5 - one of the few multi floor units that seemed to have a chunky sound that still felt like the pedals... I saw one in the dressing room at a gig last week - looking very dusty and forgotten - it nearly fell into my bag and had I not been distracted ;-) I would have spoken to the landlord about it...

Thats exactly it - nail on head...the ME-5 IS just like the pedals! That i'm sure is why I like it so much. :)

To me there's no question that the ME-5 sounds better than the modern units, but it is very limited by modern standards. Editing on the fly is a total pain as well...

Sadly I came to the conclusion that by the time I'd added a tuner, wah, tremolo and phaser it would mean adding so much extra that I'd be better just doing the whole lot with individual pedals in the first place. I felt that the drive module was the weakest too, despite being analogue - there's no tone control which means having to permanently dedicate the EQ section to it, which further reduces the flexibility. I really didn't think it sounded as good as my old SD-1 and DS-1 either.

..but you get patch mode...so less tap dancing if your using multiple FX at once! The ME-5's footprint is smaller than if you were using all those as individual stomps..hence why I might still go this route. :)

And how often do you use tremelo and phaser? Me...very occasionally! As I said..simple needs for me! :D

I still have an ME5 and it sounds great into a cooking Marshall.

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Originally Posted by Sir Axeman

And how often do you use tremelo and phaser? Me...very occasionally! As I said..simple needs for me! :D

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For you, yes :). I use tremolo and phaser more than any other effects except overdrive/distortion (with tone control required ;)) and reverb.

still occcasionally use a BE-5 for dodgy gigs ( there are still a few unfortunately ) or quick practice sessions with an old intermusic imp practice amp ( thats a serious blast from past ) ...

took the BE-5 to France earlier in year for a weeks skiing / gigging - and along with a borrowed vox ss combo run clean + it did the business ... i bought it new back in 80's and never ever had an issue with it ...

ps - it sounds great into a light overdrive valve head ... blues to 80's shred ( if thats your thang )

How do you find the chorus on these,
Mine seems to be pretty weak, may need repair,
The compressor and EQ on these things are secret weapons if used right.:D

Interesting, it's somewhat depressing that the onward march of technology sees things getting more convienient with greater functionality but at the expense of sound quality (CD's were invented almost 30 years ago when digital was still an infant, but most people are now happy with inferior MP3's is another example). I was thinking ther other day about how much my small board of 7 pedals has cost me compared to a multi-fx unit - but then I compared a zoom multi effects unit and whilst it was all there the sounds were small and processed, when you took it off the tone without just sounded bigger, then when I used my board (all anolog save for a Diamiond delay in loop), the sound was just massive, and it sounded very one dimensional going straight to amp afterwards.