Boss blast from the past

[Ringo]

I've had this pedal before but I recently picked this one up again and I plan on keeping it this time.
It is a Boss BE5, the first multi effect unit to my knowledge.

It has a compressor, overdrive / distortion, digital delay, noise suppressor and analog chorus.
The effects sound pretty similar to early individual Boss effects I've owned, which is to say they sound good.

It won't replace my other big pedal board but it is great for when I don't have room for the big board, and it's easy to grab and go, it will fit in my gigbag / case

And for those interested here are some pics of the circuitboard, it looks like 5 Boss effects wired on one board.

[cellrebral]

Pretty cool. My dad just gave me a Boss ME-50 to try and repair, his cat used it as a litter box and it hasn't worked since. I haven't cracked it open yet, but expect to find some fried resistors to replace.

[mtjo62]

I had a BE-5M which was the programmable version. Actually a very good pedal and surprisingly sturdy for a plastic housing. I found the OD/Dist way to fizzy but the delay was cool and the chorus was really thick using it in stereo mode. We used to use it in our old 4 track setup to split mono tracks and the compressor was great at taming the vocals. Switches started getting intermittent and I traded it for some other pedal.

[Ringo]

The OD is better than the distortion, used with a bit of compression I can get a good sound, not as good as my Barber LTD, Zendrive etc.. but passable.

This pedal looked rough when I got it, but cleaned up well and everything works, a testament to how tough Boss gear is!

[giginthesky]

wonder if this was before or after the me-5.

[Ringo]

I believe the Boss BE5 was their first multi effects unit from 1988.
Then they came out with the BE5M next that was basically the same but you could program some patches.
Then the Boss ME10 came out around 93, fully programable, great sounds but harder to use, no knobs, menus and soft touch screen to adjust everything. My buddy got one new and used it for a while until he got a GT3.
He still has the ME10 but hasn't used it in years, I think he paid around $600 for it new!
Multi effects have come a long long way, I don't really like the more complex ones , I'd rather have a set of pedals, easier to use live, but the old BE5 is really like a small pedal board all in one.
Ibanez made some comparable units too that sound really good.