I purchased this to produce orchestral etc. sounds without the need to add a midi pickup to all my guitars. While the MEL9 is not nearly as versatile as my Roland GR-30 synthesizer, it can be useful f.ex. when you want to add the occasional sound layers, especiaIly in a band without a keyboard player. There are 9 sound presets and controls for balance, attack and sustain. Most of the presets sound surprisingly good, "Orchestra" being one of them. Switching presets requires twisting the preset pot as the effect on/off is the only footswitch (there would have been plenty of space inside the unit for additional footswitches).
It is important to note that the MEL9 requires a relatively high guitar pickup output to work properly. A compressor in front of the MEL9 is recommendable, particularily with low/medium output single coil pickups.
The MEL9 works well with clean or mildly overdriven sounds. However, with an high gain amplification setting or with overdrive/distortion pedals also the MEL9 sounds will be distorted. There are ways get a overdrive guitar sound together with a clean
MEL9 sound. The best option, dry output for the amplifier with the effect output going to the PA mixer reveals a major flaw of the MEL9. All fine when effect is on. But when off, you hear the DRY SIGNAL coming out of the PA. So, a switch blade (or better, a volume pedal) between the effect output and the mixer is necessary.
Overall, the MEL9 is good sounding but has shortcomings. In particular, if you purchase a MEL9, you may also need a compressor and something to control the effect output.
