Boss BF-3

The controls are pretty basic: resonance, manual (controls the target frequency), depth, rate, and a mode knob that switches between standard, pan, gate, and 'ultra.'

I find it pretty intuitive. I wouldn't change anything.

This pedal sounds fantastic in my rig whether I'm using it on clean tones, metal rhythms, or screaming leads. The versatility is wonderful.

My favorite feature is the stereo panning option. If you've got 2 amps, you can make it slowly pan back and forth between them, or set the rate faster and get a dizzying tremo-vibe type effect. I never use the 'ultra' mode because it's too much flange for my needs, and I've never gotten around to trying the 'gate' mode because the description didn't pique my interest.

The BF-3 plays well with other pedals, like my MXR Chorus and my Digitech Whammy.

I A/Bed this unit with a Line 6 Flange and the Line 6 sounded cheap and cheesy in comparison. With the line 6 it sounded like there was resonance and swooshing on top of my tone. With the Boss, the flanging sounds more like part of my tone.

The only complaint I have is that it significantly boosts my overall level when I turn it on and there is no way to control this. Knocking off 1 point for that.

I've had it for about a year and a half. No problems.

There is no way to guarantee that any pedal will be the sound YOU are looking for, or that it will sound good in YOUR rig. People who don't understand this should not post reviews.

For my purposes this baby does everything I want and I'm happy to pay $120 for a flanger so versatile. Compared to the vintage MXR flanger I used to use, the BF-3 sounds better, is easier to use, has far more tonal possibilities, and can do panning. The only thing I would change is to get rid of the damn volume boost.

Just play with it till you find a sound you like.

You can conjure up an array of sounds from mild to wild!

It's a Boss pedal, nuff said!

not needed

I play metal and rock, and I must say, this is the best flanger I have ever owned!

Not too complicated, but the "Manual" knob doesn't seem to do much.

I bought this pedal based on the rantings and ravings of people who rated this pedal here. You must all be tone deaf. This pedal sucks!!

It sounds cheap, cheesy, tinny, weak, and totally horrible. This pedal kills my tone. I play a 1979 Les Paul Custom thru a Fender Twin Reverb. This pedal noticeably kills my tone and is of no use to me.

I fail to see how Boss has managed to hold such a large market share among effects pedals. There are SO many better pedals out there in the same price range. I replaced this with an Ibanez FL-9 Analog Flanger. The difference in sound quality is overwhelming.

Reliability is a moot point when a pedal sounds this bad. I removed this pedal from my line up and replaced it with an analog flanger that sounds 100 times better - and is made of METAL, not plastic like this crappy pedal.

N/A

Very bad sounding pedal. Save your money and buy something other than overpriced and over rated Boss junk!!

Bought used with manual.
Honestly, I Found it a bit Confusing, I still don't Know What the "Manual" control Does.

I'm Using This With an Ibanez Iceman bass.
At First I Liked it, But even on Ultra Mode it seems Too Subtle for my Liking.

My Main Problem though, is that When The Flanger gets to the "Top" Of The Cycle, It Tends to "Honk"
Also, The Gate Setting is Pretty Much Useless.

Never Had a Problem with it, Or any other Boss Products

Never Dealt With them

Honestly, I think This pedal is WAY overrated, It Sounds Weak, honky and Unimpressive, I've Gone Back to using a Flanger on my Zoom B1! It Sounds Better Than This In my opinion.

Bought new, had manual so immediately could dial in the two sounds I particularly needed from a flanger for current gig. Without manual may have taken a bit of experimenting - but then again that's partly because it does so much.

Using PRS EG4 into Blackstar A30 via MXR dynacomp, tubescreamer, (BF3), delay, reverb, noise gate, boost pedal. Standard sound is great but this does so much more. Fixed flange and pseudo-chorus effect are very good.

Usual solid Boss build.

Not needed

I play a wide range of covers including big ballads and Brian May solos so I need to imitate a lot of colours I may not have chosen for myself. This is key to that. I can't understand why anyone wouldn't give this a high mark unless you want top line studio effects for recording and, frankly, if you did you wouldn't be using a pedal anyway. I remember early 80s flangers and for the money this is ridiculously good value. Unless money is no object look no further, and even then try it.

too much tweaking for me to get the sound I want out of a flanger :(

not bad sound but very stero sounding and I dont even know what old-school flange sounds like. but the boomarang flanger sound gets a bit crumbling sounding or something in the bass end. or maybe i need to tweak with it more :( who knows. my first flanger was the dano diner flanger and this one second.

its made for a fat foot like yours

i own a tele with fender deville 212 and various other pedals...
i like alternative rock been playing 12 years.

ive owned it for months and still havent found the sound im looking for out of it. im thinking because its got too many options in the 4 knob sound ratio. its expensive as hell too, the color is cool though... the sound is good and decent and is fair with other pedals but its made for flanger tweakers or something not a flange noob... im thinking about getting the MXR flanger to replace this with.

I wasn't really sure about the "momentary" mode at first but overall, it's easy to use.

Very good. Very versatile. Can be as present or transparent as you want. Pretty quite overall ...Basically, all the things you want in a flanger. The thing that sets this pedal apart is the "manual" knob that allows you to change the range that the pedal operates in. You can get a low wooshing sound or a higher swirling sound.

Boss is supposed to be bulletproof.

Wouldn't know.

It's a good pedal. It's more versatile than anything else I've tried and has a "stronger" effect than the DOD flangers I've owned in the past (FX-75B, FX-75C, and GS30.)

Lots of different sounds at your disposal, and quite a few knobs to tweak, it can be quite daunting at first.

I love this pedal. It sounds very smooth, there isn't too much noise except with really heavy distortion, but I have a noise suppressor for that. There is a wide variety of sounds available, and the inclusion of the gate mode is a great idea, tremolo as well! I actually like the volume boost now as well, at least you can hear the effect, I'd rather have a volume boost than a volume drop. It's only slight anyway.

Had it for nearly a year, no problems. After all, it is a Boss. *groan*

N/A

For the money, this is fanstastic. In fact I'd say this is the best damn flanger on the market, for versatility and sound. It doesn't sound digital - unless you want it to. Hell, Joe Satriani even used one in his live rig from 2002-2005. Yep, this pedal is awesome.

With 5 adjustable knobs, this pedal is very easy to change the sound you want to get out of it with the flip of a knob. Also it allowes you to set your own tempo just by holding down the step pedal... very fun to work with... Also it has a bass and guitar input (wont work with both pluged in), and a stero output...-

With this BF-3 Flanger, I power it with my One Spot, and then i run my Ibanez RG-7321 to a DS-1 Distortion, MT-2 Metal zone, BF-3 Flanger, NS-2 Noise Supressor... Aslong as the MT-2 and the DS-1 are not on at the same time this pedal is amazing. Gives you a real Van Halen sound (Aint talkin about love)... Id give it a 9

The only 3 things to survive a nucular war are polititions, cockroatches and boss effect pedals.

Guitar Center hooked me up. VERY GOOD

Over all ill give it a 9, its a damn good pedal very happy with it. Gives you a good flange sound...

It's easy to get a good sound out of this once you know what you can adjust, and know what you're looking for. It has Res, Manual, Depth, Rate, and Mode. You get 4 choices for modes. It's very fun to mess around with until you know what you want.

I'm giving this a 10 because, well, what else can you expect?

I think the effects are great, my only complaint with this pedal is there is no volume knob, because if you have the wrong settings on the amp, the volume will increase 2000% when you turn it on.

Well, maybe not 2000%...

I use it with my distortion usually, which sounds awesome. In the Ultra mode, this gives you a very strong flanger sound, which is awesome.

I use the Standard mode too, which is great, as well as the Gate/Pan.

I'm giving this a 9 because it could use a volume knob, although if you get the right settings it says at or close to the same volume.

I can throw this off of a overpass onto the freeway and it would probably still survive. This thing can take more of a beating than I can.

I've never had any problems with it.

Even if I did, I can trust BOSS because since they were around since the invention of the wheel.

I play alternative rock, much like Nirvana or The Foo Fighters.

I love this pedal a lot.

In fact, I actually lost my old BF-3 a while ago, and guess what? I purchased another. It's that good.

To sum it up, this pedal is everything awesome in existence.