Re: [Harp-L] boss me-50

[Richard Hunter <turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Nick Kirkes <nick.kirkes@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
<  My wife bought me a boss me-50 multi-effects unit for my birthday 
<this year
<and, while I'm having fun messing with it, I can't seem to find the <right
<tone with my blues jr.
<
<I was hoping some other L'ers might have this unit and could share some
<insight into settings they liked.<<
<
<Regardless of the tube swap I did, I still get a lot of feedback if I'm 
<not
<careful with the volume pot, especially when I start throwing in tone <from
<some of the effects on the me-50.
<
<The rest of my gear includes:<
<
<Blues Jr. w/ Eurotubes Harp Kit (tube replacements)
<Shure Bullet w/ vintage element

First, the bullet mic is not a great choice for use with a multieffects 
unit.  Its frequency range tops out at about 6 kHz, so you're missing 
all the high-end glory of phasing, flanging, chorusing, etc.  An Audix 
Fireball or even a full-range vocal mic would give you a lot more 
clarity in the top end, and so much more clarity for the effects.  If 
you want to keep the same mic, then try to cut the mid-range EQ on 
either the ME-50 or the Blues Jr., because that's almost certainly the 
range that's feeding back.

Second, a tube amp is very powerful signal processor all by itself, so 
you're dropping a very potent signal processor on top of another very 
potent signal processor.  I recommend that you think of the ME-50 as an 
entirely separate rig from the Blues Jr., and that you develop a set of 
sounds for it with the idea that you'd run a line from the ME-50 
straight to the PA on a gig, not to the Blues Jr.  If you don't have a 
PA amp to work with at home, you can get a pretty good idea of what the 
thing will sound like through a PA by using headphones (the ME-50 does 
have a headphone jack, doesn't it?).

If you don't want to go that route, then start by using the ME-50 as a 
delay and/or reverb processor, and don't use the EQ, amp modeling, 
chorus, etc. effects until you've got good reverbs and delays dialed in. 
 Start with a short slapback delay (100-150 milliseconds delay time, 
feedback or repeats=1).  On the reverb, start with a medium hall reverb, 
and be careful not to use too much--10-15% is usually about right unless 
you want one of those Little Walter "Blue Lights" sounds, which you 
probably won't for every song.

This should get you started.  With any device that does as much as the 
ME-50, it will take you a lot of time to explore everything it does--I'm 
talking probably 40-50 hours to come up with a 10-20 sounds that you 
really like, and that work well with your stage setup.  So once you've 
got a few good things happening, just keep experimenting, and make sure 
to document every sound you like.

Good luck and regards, Richard Hunter
hunterharp.com
Latest mp3s always at http://broadjam.com/rhunter