Re: Boss ME-25 vs. Zoom G3X
Thanks for the input, everyone. I'm in the process of trying both of these. First, I have the Boss ME-25. It's actually quite nice when you figure out how to program it. It does not have the concept of modeling individual pedals like the G3. It has a set of effects in a chain and you turn each one on or off and adjust their parameters. You can then save up to 60 patches.
One misconception I'd like to clear up that not everyone knows is that it does have very good amp simulation. However, it's not on by default. The designers must have assumed that you would be plugging it into your amp and not a PA or recording mixer directly. Turning the amp simulation on is pretty goofy, you have to plug headphones into the headphone jack. They did this so you would have the sim when you were practicing. However, the main outputs are still fully active and the good sim sound is there. With some of the patches, the difference between the headphones plugged in or not is pretty dramatic. I almost always preferred the tone with the amp simulation turned on through my powered PA speakers.
What I like:The quality of the effects is really good. The delays, distortions, reverb, and amps all sound better than I have had before.
One feature I absolutely love is its Freeze feature. The main Freeze pedal on the market is the Electro-Harminix and I've seen some Stick players use it, like Bob Culbertson. The Freeze feature in the ME-25 is better. It is used with the expression pedal which gives it another dimension. You freeze a sound by pressing your heel down on the expression pedal. Then you can vary the volume of the frozen sound with the pedal. I can see lots of times where this would be awesome. The E-H Freeze pedal goes for $125. The ME-25 is $199. Frankly, I could see getting the Boss just for the Freeze feature alone. If you think of it as a freeze pedal where you can have effects on the frozen tone this would not be outrageous.
The ME-25 is small and rugged and has a reputation for running a long time on a set of batteries. With the way I would use it I think it would last forever.
What I didn't like and why I'm returning it.Some don't like this unit because it's hard to program. I did not find that to be true if you read the directions and follow them. What I don't like is the number of foot switches. It has 60 patches and you can move up or down the list of them with two foot switches. That's it. If does not have the concept of banks, each with a set of patches. If you only use a few patches in a performance that might be fine. But, if you want a different set of patches for different tunes then this just won't work well.
The unit does not come with a power supply. You have to purchase that separately and they appear to be hard to find. Sheesh, that seems pretty basic. I guess they figure we all really want to burn through batteries. You turn the ME-25 on by plugging in the input cord. I don't like that, I want to leave my rig set up and turned on in my office next to me so I can just grab my Stick and play at any moment. That's the one part I miss about playing acoustic guitar and I make up for it by leaving everything on with the volume turned down.
The ME-25 does not have a Class Compliant USB interface and needs custom drivers. For the few of you who might not know what this means I'll explain. There is a common design for USB interfaces and most modern computers, like Macs, have the drivers for it built in to the operating system. This common system is called, "Class Compliance". More and more hardware systems are at least conforming to it. Some will have extra, non-standard, features that need custom software. But, you can still use it without those drivers. The ME-25 can only be used with my computer with Boss's custom USB drivers and I won't risk installing them on my main laptop. I'm a software developer and I avoid installing anything that has the slightest possibility of destabilizing my computer.
It has one input. It can only be used for the melody side of my Stick. I would like a little bass amp modeling sometimes on the bass side and that means a another unit. I'm trying to be really simple.
The last and biggest reason it's going back is that it's not enough. It does not give me enough more than the chorus pedal and mixer with cheap reverb I have now. It would give me the Freeze feature, delays, and distorted lead guitar tone. Those are just not that important to me. There are things I would like to have, like shimmer reverb, it just can't do.
ConclusionI will probably try the G3X but I might not bother. I don't think it will give me enough either. What I really want appears to be either too expensive for my current and future budgets or is impractical for frequent live performances. I'm very much an amateur musician with one kid in college and another just starting High School. Any significant music investment will go to the second Stick I would like to have. I guess I'll have to make music the old-fashinioned way, with just my fingers.
Thanks,
-Eric