Great comparison. I have had a ME80 for six years and I really like then preordered a ME90 from Sweetwater and when it arrived, I found it to sound very “digital,” lacking warmth and smoooooothness. After three months, I sent it back and have since kept using my ME80. This video proves my point and confirms my decision. The Big Muff has a smooth analogue sound that is very pleasant to the ears while the ME90 has a harsh, digital, sound that is very odd since the digital Boss modeling amps don’t sound like that. Lastly, your video does something that even some Andertons comparisons don’t do, you managed to really get the differences in tone to come across in your video. Well done.
It would be interesting to get my hands on a ME80 to do a comparison with the ME90. I definitely agree that it was tough to dial in the tone to be the same on the ME90 as it was on the Big Muff. I have watched a video recently where Nita Strauss (Alice Cooper/Solo Artist) talked about amp and pedal modeling. She said she tries not to get caught up in the models sounding exactly like the irl gear they’re portraying and to just find the sounds she enjoys and can use. At any rate, thank you so much for watching and commenting! Never stop jamming! 🍻
Great content and thanks for the shoutout. I appreciate that you adjusted until they sounded similar and they do indeed sound much more similar than I thought they would. I’m looking forward to seeing how other pedals compare, especially distortion and drive pedals. If I can make a friendly suggestion: I don’t know where you’re at but up here in Canada, the big national brand will rent out everything from tube amps, heads, modellers, guitars, and any pedal you can think of. Daily, weekly, monthly, all quite affordable. That might be a way for you to demo all kinds of hardware in an affordable way. In the alternative, a DS-1 (for example) can be picked up cheaply on the second hand market and then when you’re done with it, probably sold for about the same. I think running both the pedal and the ME into the front of a good amp head would be very helpful. You can have, say, a second hand tubemeister head in the room with you and the speaker cable running to a mono price cab (with v30) in the next room and mix that up or simply use the Redbox DI out from the tubemeister silently. I do think Boss did a good job here. It’s not a 1:1 analogue, of course, but it’s “good enough”. I have a feeling the Boss pedals will be much closer. Edit: just got to the part where you compare them both same settings: the me-90 has more presence but is very fizzy that way. So: don’t run it that way. Make it sound good. That’s what the knobs are for. :) Second edit: Just for to the complication at the end. Back to back switching like that I guess the ME is not that close to the real pedal. The real deal has a more bright presence and it’s much more pleasant and would cut through a mix better. I wonder if that could be dialed into the ME. Still, without being able to A/B the ME would totally cut it for a live gig.
You’re welcome, and thank you again for watching and commenting! I really appreciate it. Looking into renting some gear is a good idea. The DS-1 is yet another pedal I used to have, but you’re right, I could get another one pretty cheaply. I am looking at some affordable tube amp options. I play music full-time, so it might take a little while to save up for an amp and cab. I actually need a new interface, too - which has been more of a priority for recording. Hopefully, some more people will join my Patreon. Everything I’ve ever made there has been reinvested into my music and content (not a plug btw). 🤘🏻🤣 I really did try to dial in the ME-90 Muff Fuzz as closely as possible. I think to get it to sound even closer, I would have to mess with the EQ on the preamps as well as the separate EQ section on the device. I wish the ME-90 had a graphic EQ. Then, I could really find the right frequencies. However, I do think Boss did a pretty good job. The attack is there and the overall vibe is very Muff-like. Again, for a $300 multiple effects, you get pretty close.
I live giiged the ME80 for years. Been using the ME90 for a few months now and love it! I like it even better than the ME80, which is good, I didn't waste my money, lol
That's cool to know that the ME-90 is actually an upgrade! I just filled in on guitar with a band this past Saturday. The other guitarist had a 4x12 and the bassist was rocking 6 10s, and both of them were blown away by the tones I was getting through my ME-90 direct into the PA! Thanks so much for watching, and never stop jamming!
