ES-5 Effects Switching System Review

More impressive than its capability is its usability

I have owned musical devices in the past that have left me feeling...well... exasperated. I once had a Digitech multi-effects processor and I could never figure out how do anything other than use the factory presets. So frustrating.... The instructions might as well have been in Greek. Not so, the Boss ES-5. While I confess I probably don't know how to do 20% of what this switcher… read more can do, I can already do virtually everything I know that I want to do on it, and it was actually fairly simple to understand. The most amazing thing about this switcher is the ideas it has given me, things I now want to do that I didn't even comprehend before I had it. I have heard people say that the buffers on the ES-5 (and ES-8) are so-so. I am not sure what that means for me yet. Also, while the ES-5 has 200 available presets, its big brother, the ES-8 has 800, as well as 8 loops versus 5. However, don't let 5 loops vs 8 loops fool you. It's not so black and white. For instance, suppose I have four pedals, none of which are overdrive, and they currently take up four of my five loops. Then suppose I win the lottery get a Strymon Riverside AND a Strymon Sunset, as well as a Boss OD 200. Well, I only have one available loop left. What to do? Well, because those pedals are all MIDI controllable, I could decide to make my remaining loop a general overdrive loop with all three pedals wired into that one loop. If I have a preset where I want JUST the Riverside, I could turn off/bypass the other two OD pedals with MIDI commands (in that preset). The same holds true for any preset. I can target the OD pedal I want by bypassing the other two. It's a wee bit extra programming, but I'm just describing this to say that you CAN have more than 5 pedals available in your presets, if you leverage MIDI. Looking forward to my new MIDI-enabled pedals to get here. Let the fun begin.

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Best deal on a switcher

These units are exactly what is needed without the high price of profession touring rigs. The ES-5 which I have does all you need. Switch pedals, switch channels on amps, control MIDI you name it. The multiple ways to route the signal path is great too, series, parallel, you name it. Best accessory I ever bought.

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Perfect Organizer

Wow, i use this switching system to run a relatively small pedal board. So nice to be able to kick in 3 effects at a time for leads with one switch! There is a small learning curve but its super easy to use depending on how complicated you want to make. it will really expand your sound while making things easier too - no more tap dancing around on stage! Once you use it you won't… read more be able to go back! Highly recommend!

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Boss Nailed It!!

If you are a working guitarist who wants to stick with all analog gear like me... a multi-channel tube amp with FX loop and a pedal board you wouldn't dream of parting with... this controller will make your gigs a snap.You want any pedal combination in your signal chain switched on (or off), with channel switching in one stomp? Done. How about changing your signal path order? No… read more problem. Put some pedals in your effects loop and others in front of the amp? Yep. Want to recall a delay program from your Strymon's MIDI port? Sure thing! Want to set up a "lead" patch that will also give you a +6db boost? Check!Look at it this way... you can have most of the capabilities offered in a digital multi-fx pedal for your analog rig. I've used this pedal on a few gigs now and it's made my life so much easier!!! With 20 patches that do everything from cleans to heavy overdrive with or without delay, reverb, chorus, and channel changes all happening with just one stomp, I am a very happy guitarist!On top of that it's easy to program, easy to understand its layout. 5 Banks, 8 Groups in each Bank. Took me a couple of hours to come up with 20 patches that covered everything I needed for gigs (4 groups of 5 presets in one bank) and I have more than enough memory left for different setups. For example, I will set up a different Bank for using my pedal board with a single channel, no FX loop amp.And if that weren't enough, Sweetwater hooked me up with with super fast delivery that had me gigging with this within a week of ordering it!!My only complaint is, there aren't enough switches on the unit to dedicate to both, Bank and Group switching. So I opted to program the top 2 switches (Bank & Mute) to function as Group Up/Down, since that gives me 40 foot switchable patches in one Bank. That's all I really need since I'm separating my Banks by rig setup and 40 is more than enough for one rig. But, I can use an external footswitch for Bank Up/Down if I want, and actually plan on building such a switch myself. And given the ES-5's relatively small footprint on my board, it's not a major problem for me at all.So if you're considering this... just get it, you'll be very glad you did!!

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No More Tap Dancing!!!

This thing does exactly what I want it to do! I love being able to program patches and turn on/off my drives with one click. My tap dancing days are over!!! And the midi functionality is super handy, as I can change patches on my delay pedal even if I don't have it in one of the loops. One of the most handy things is the external control functions. I use this to turn on/off my… read more reverb and tremolo on my Vox AC15C1. Just hookup a stereo cable from one of the ext ctrl plugs on the ES-5 to the footswitch plug on the back of my Vox. Being able to program the reverb and tremolo individually per patch is just pure awesome. I almost bought the footswitch for the Vox, but now I don't need it. People with dual channel amps that are footswitchable will appreciate being able to program in channel changes per patch. Another handy feature is the ability to change the pedal order per patch. I like being able to place my compressor before or after my drives to create a different sound or level of sustain, and changing my drives order around gives me different gain-stacking possibilities. The fact that this is all programmable makes experimenting super easy without needing to rewire things. If I have my way, I will always own a device like this for playing live. You just can't beat hitting one switch to change sounds or to go from one part of a song to another. This is a game changer for me! And thanks to the always awesome customer service from my sale engineer Chris Jenkins. He and all the other Sweetwater staff truly are the best in the business!!!

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