Boss AD-3

The unit is quite easy to use. Being a very subtle processor in the first place, it sounds good out of the box and with minimal tweaking can punch up and balance the sound of your acoustic. Its a "set it and forget it" sort of device. The manual is useful to a point. It was clearly written for the lowest common denominator. I would have preferred an actual technical description of the more esoteric controls.

I use the AD-3 with a James North custom dreadnaught equipped with a Fishman Natural Matrix II piezo. I run the guitar through the AD-3, then through a Morley volume pedal. The rig runs through the board (P.A) for performance. I also use it with a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe for practice and as a DI for hard disk recording. The AD-3 is dead quiet in all of these scenarios. Pushing it hard doesn't add any noise. It clips easily with my active pickup but handles clipping well right up to the edge. There is plenty of headroom on this thing. The overall EQ is subtle, but effective. It rounds out the tone nicely and lets your guitar's tone shine through. It punches up the sound, perhaps not as effectively as a Yamaha AG-Stomp or one of the high-end Fishman pre-amps, but well enough. The results are pleasing, versatile and certainly good for the low cost of the unit. The chorus and reverb are designed specifically for live acoustic performance and work well.
The anti-feedback controls are very effective. My sound guy is very happy with the headroom I can get with this thing.

Like most Boss hardware, this is a solidly built, sensibly designed unit. The chasis is steel, which is appreciated. My only complaint is that the battery compartment is plastic and uses six AA's, making battery replacement slow. I would have been happier if Boss would have designed the unit around a simply battery arrangement. I don't like using AC Adapters on stage. Battery life is not great, according to Boss. However, I've not had a problem yet. If I were to have a backup, it would just be another AD-3.

I've never had to call Boss.

I play bluegrass/roots, singer/songwriter, and country music. I've been playing for close to 30 years. I've owned lots of guitars. I compared this usnit to the Boss AD-5, the Yamaha AG-Stomp and various Fishman pre-amps. The AD-5 has a poor reliability record and more functionality than I need. The Yamaha is a beautiful do-all device with the best sound that I've heard for this application, but its way too expensive for my needs. The Fishman pre-amps are very good, but expensive and don't include the other processing features. The AD-3 seems to be the best bang for the buck in acoustic processors. The affect is subtle, but consistant, natural and well rounded. Its now part of my permanent rig.

This little box is good for what I use it for, which is playing acoustic guitar duet music at coffee houses and bookstores. It's versatile, and the manual is pretty thorough. You just have to tweak the knobs a little to get used to it.

I'm using a Taylor 515B (Lemon Grove) with a Martin Thinline 332 pickup in it. I also use a Morley PVO volume pedal, as my guitar doesn't have an adjustable volume. The pickup is a little weak, as it's 18 years old, and they've come a long way in pickup design since then. But, the adjustable gain on the AD-3 helps boost the signal up to where I need it for my amp. The AD-3 has just a faint amount of noise present while using it, but, that may be caused by my boosting the gain up to get a stronger pickup signal. The noise isn't enough to really be a bother though, and after a few seconds, I didn't notice it anymore. I'm running the guitar through one of my regular electric guitar amps, which is the Line6 Spider 112. The Spider has an awesome vintage Fender clean sound. The chorus in the AD-3 sounds better than the chorus in the amp, so I use the pedal's chorus. It's more tailored to the acoustic guitar than the Line6's. The 'bottom, and 'top' eq's on the box are like the Boss Acoustic Simulator foot pedal, only more usable and less noisy. They are great for adding depth and texture to the guitar. The best feature of the AD-3 is the 'feedback eliminator' switch. It took me a few minutes to figure it out though. You have to make your guitar feedback, THEN press the switch, and the unit will find the feedback and eliminate it. At first I pressed the switch, and then started playing guitar, and the feedback came, and I was wondering why it didn't kill it. Then I figured out that you push it while the feedback is happening, and it goes away. It's all there in the destructions..er,..instructions. All in all it was worth the money, even though I thought it was a little pricey to start with. But, hey, it's a Boss, and you'll never need another one, so spend a few extra bucks for the thing.

I think that I can depend on this unit. The chassis of the pedal isn't quite the quality that I'm used to from Boss, but this isn't an ordinary stomp box, either. I think that as long as you don't drag it behind the car on the way to the gig, it'll be just fine.

Never dealt with Boss, and probably won't have to.

I play rock covers in coffee houses and book store cafe's. This thing is great for what I'm doing now. I've played for years, and I'm happy with this unit. If it were stolen, I'd definitely buy another one. It's kind of useful for my particular situation, where my guitar is too valuable to cut a hole in the side and install an eq/volume thing. And the anti-feedback thing is worth the price of the unit alone. I did compare the unit to an Akai something or other that does essentially the same thing. The Akai was cheaper, but all my electric guitar pedals are Boss, so I thought I'd just stay with what I know works. The only thing that I wish that this unit had was a built in power cord. It uses the standard Boss PSA-120 adaptor, or batteries. The cord on the adaptor is kind of flimsy, but I've bought enough of them over the years that I've got back-up if I accidentally pinch a cord in two.

Very easy to use and adjust at a gig. No-brainer analog design and easy to read. Footswitches are large and easy to hit on the fly. Anti-feedback feature is a must for acoustic performances, especially with a band.

Sound is awesome. I have played it through a PA and a guitar amp. The Guitar amp setting is amazing. I play it through a Fender Blues Deluxe on the clean channel when I'm not in the PA. I have a Gibson J-185CE with a Transducer (factory) and a mic (mod) which I first run through a fishman blender and then to the AD-3. The anti-feedback feature allows me to get more mic which gives the guitar a more natural sound.
I also play my PRS Hollowbody II w/piezo through it. I have even played the electric side of that trick guitar through it befor going int my Tubescreamer and it sort of compresses the sound which helps the distortion stay smooth.

It's never given me a problem. Very sturdy. I don't have a backup and would not even think to get one.

N/A (see reliability)

I will never sell this pedal. It has so many uses if you like acoustic guitars and play in a band. Also a must for acoustic solo performances. It's very inexpensive for what it does. The only expensive part is that it forced me to keep guitars that I thought didn't sound so good before I plugged them into this unit. Oh well...

Mostly standard patchwork, however the connection for directing it to a PA is a 1/4" Pin and you must buy a Stereo 1/4 to XLR and guess which plug/switch combanation to use. Manuel could have been better at this point.

I play in two groups. A church service group & a contemp. christian concert group. At church I Direct it into the PA. system and the other I go through a Rolland JC-55 Amp. This unit pumps HARD and is very sensitive on it's volume control, but the Chorus is great (I play a Martin D-35/W Factory installed Martin Thinline P/U). The AD-3 really shines going through the Amp. with it switched over to the Guitar Sim. With a little tweaking, It sounded just like my Martin only real loud, throughout the music. The anti-feedback pedal works good and quick to stop the howling if you should need it. Spring reverbs are still the best though and the reverb in the AD-3 isn't needed for me.

It's a BOSS and built like a tank. nuff-said

Never had to deal with them

Play contem. christian music and It is great for any Acoustic stuff. They should put in an XLR connector for DI stuff. My favorite features are 1) The natural sound from a guitar amp. 2) Chorus pedal (pedals have a LED on active) 3) the manual anti-feedback and the pedal (allows you to correct just about any problem during songs) 4) the feedback pedal has a LED when active so you know when you have it turned off. Boss should dump the reverb and put something else there. It's cheaper than it's competition.