Boss DD-3 Digital Delay

Very easy to use, it's simple, my favourie delay. Mine is an original blue label 1980s MIJ (made in Japan) version.

Amazing, the MIJ is noticably much much better sounding than a normal DD3, it's basically more analogue sounding, and a lot warmer, you can get much nicer sounds with the feedback controll, best delay I've ever owned, even over a WEM copycat tape delay from the early 70s. The MIJ version is the one you should be going for though, it's much nicer. I'd give it 12 if that were possible!

It's never let me down, the only slight thing wrong with it, is the circuit has to kind of 'warm up' so it takes about 10 seconds to first come on, but after that it works flawlessly. The MIJ versions were even better made than any new one, and they are bigger, and more rugged around the edges, even the screw and rim has a much better design, and is made form better quality rubber, it's basically indestructable!

I've never delt with the company, but these MIJ version, don't need it, you won't find a better delay than this one!

I paid more than a new one would cost, and I used to own a new one, and the MIJ version really is so much better, mainly in the way it sounds, it's apparently completley different internally, but this pedal is the pedal I was searching for many a year to find. I got mine off ebay, from Canada, one of the finest purchases I've ever bought! It's just so warm, so full, and unlike the normal DD3, the delay fades in tone with each echo, like an analogue one, yet it's still clear and defined.

It's not a difficult effects box to figure out and you can get some great sounds out of this with minimal effort.

Sounds good (warm) with the extended delay times to tinny with the shorter times. Overall great sound, although I'm no David Gilmore at least I can pretend with this one. Also great for shoe-gazer type rhythms (my bloody valentine & slowdive type stuff) that what I used it used it for until it broke.

It broke when I stomped it during a live performance. Started making terrible cracking and popping noises. Really upset at this because of the high price I paid for this and the fact that I only had it for about a year or so. I don't get all this talk about boss boxes being indestructible; I've had two and they both inexplicably broke.

I don't know, I guess I could have called them when it broke but I hate talking on the phone.

sounded good for the short period of time it functioned properly but it is a really expensive paper weight now.

Bought 2nd hand, worked it out pretty quickly.

This pedal is just excellent.
I've used it for vocals, bass and guitar, sucks the batteries, but with the powerpack, never stops bringing the love.

I have had it for I guess 9 years and how old it was before I got it, no idea.
I have thrashed this thing. It's been gigged heaps, recorded in studios for vocals and bass, never had a box, just kept in a bag with leads and other pedals.
The jacks have never even crackled.

Asked the company for a manual via the net and they emailed me it the next day. Only got the manual because I had a needed a manual for my ME-50 which was all in Japanese and thought 2 birds with one stone.

This pedal is just the best.
If you don't have one, you're missing out.
Delay decay on this is one of the underrated and most important features on these pedals.
If I have to replace it, it'll be because it was stolen. It will probably outlive me.
Hopefully not, in hindsight...

It takes a while to get the time right for the song.

There is no sound like boss delay it is very metalic and tingy. I have a Line 6 DL-4 which I love but there are times that pull this pedal out to get certain sounds I just can't get with the DL-4.

BOSS

I have 4 delay pedals this one the DL-4, a Boss PS-3 and an old DOD delay(not certain if it is analog or digital). I might not replace it only because I have the PS-3 which gives the same metallic delay, if not for that I would replace it if it were broken or stolen. It is a great pedal but it will not give you any kind of analog or tape warmth it is very digital.

It's relatively easy to use. All the knobs do exactly what they say they do.

This is where I might get a bit nasty. I'm going to subject my overall opionion on (specifically) Korean made boss pedals.
Bottom line is, they are generic sounding comsumer grade pedals meant to satisfy the 'common' consumer. They are good enough, that's it. I have owned this pedal for 3 years and I'm finally ready to get something that will actually make me say 'wow, that sounds REALLY good!' First let me say I own a boss cs-2 compressor (Japanese) and I LOVE it and will play it until one of us dies. I also own a boss ge7 equalizer and it does what it is supposed to do but then again, there is no sound quality involved, only functional value. I recently tried a TC electroncs vintage delay and it made the dd-3 look and sound like a TOY. This is generic delay, period. If gereric, lifeless sound is what your looking for, this will satisfy your pedal board. The first delay I ever owned was a dod dfx-9 and even THAT sounded better to me than this thing. It had more character and a more clear distinct delay sound. I have never been happy with this delay and since delay is my favorite effect, I have to say like many other boss pedals I've owned, this is a big disappointment.

I have to give them credit for this, I've never had a boss pedal break or malfunction on me.

Never had to deal with them, which is a good thing.

I may be a bit of an audiophile snob, probably because I have worked in high end audio stores and I prefer to buy the best once than cycle through several models of the same effect to get what I'm looking for. I'd rather research the best delay for example and pay more than settle for 'boss'. Boss to guitar equipment for me is equivalent to Bose or Denon for a home theatre system. Why would I settle for that if I could put my mind to it and get a Marantz, or better yet a Bryston. If your happy with your dd-3 (and other boss pedals for that matter) take this with a grain of salt and don't attempt to try a REAl delay like a tc electronics. If you own a boss phaser, don't try an EH polyphaser and I could go on for any pedal boss has made in the last 15 years. With everyone loving boss so much, its no wonder that 99.999% of guitarists are always looking for that "Magic" tone but never finding it. To do that you have research and spend a bit extra, not settle for this consumer garbage.

This is extremely easy to use. If you cannot get good sounds out of this, please just put all your guitars away and go back to acoustic.

This can achieve any kind of good quality digital delay, from short repeats to long sounds. It does not colour your signal at all.

Boss!!

N/a

Really good pedal. One of the best for what it does. Very usable (unless you do not like delay)

Very easy to use, manual was written clearly.

My set up is US Strat>BOSS NS2>Cry Baby Wah>DODFX84>MXR phase90>BOSS Ac3>BOSS DS1>BOSS DD3>Marshall 100W 1959 Super Lead head>Marshall 1960A cab. I found the delay quality to be excellent, everything I play is accurately repeated. Great for getting that U2 delay sound. The Hold feature may be useful to som ebut i dont use it.

Its a BOSS pedal ,no more to say!

Never needed to deal with them

Overall this is great pedal for me. I am the only guitarist in my band, we play funk/fusion and I need to cover a lot of ground sonically an this spedal helps me achieve some extra umph when playing lead parts.This pedal really fills out the sound especiallyas we have no second guitarist to play rhthym under the lead parts. If lost I would replace imediately!

maybe 5 minutes and you know whats going on here.
and another 5 to have a practicable setting to use.

Mh, its Ok, its just a digital delay wich exactly repeats the tones you play! without adding there some " warmth " or " noize " or whatever !! Nothing !! Steril repeatings !! But that is what I want !
You know, I play very " warm " sounding equipment, wich has MY Sound
imaginations, perfectly. So I dont need a delay to manipulate my tone, I need it only to repeat my sound as it is, pure !!
Not more not less !
For that its great. I have a " allround setting " at 600 - 700 msc.
and the volumen is set from 11 - 12 oclock !! Notice ; The Delay must be a part of your main sound but not BE youre main sound !!
So, too much delay kills youre tone ( set it at low Volumen ).
I play a Fender std. Strat and a Thinline Tele, a Prs Single Cut and a Music Man Petrucci ( Piezos ) as my new "Baby". These Guitars go to a Korg Dt 10 Tuner and direct in the Input of my Mesa Lonestar or Engl Souvereign 1x12er Combos.
In the effect loops, comes the DD 3, a Roger Mayer Voodoo Vibe, a Maxon Ts9 ( boost ) and a Cry Baby GCB 95 F. Thats it !! Oh, yes, dont forget the Footswitches for Amp chanels.
With this Rig I play anything from 30`Jazz, 40?? Blues, 50` Rock and Roll, 60?? Rootsrock, 70??Psychedelic, 80`Metal, 90`Grunge or 2000 New Metal....And guess what.... I do play all of it !
Live or in the Studio, the DD 3 works fine for me!
So I think 9 points are enough.

A Good one, Its fixed on my Pedal Board since 3 years and I never had any problems. Locks well build, Feels well build. So maybe it is well build ?!

Never need them....no Points for the unknown

Mh, in my ears, a delay is a " must have ". First comes a great Guitar, second a great Amp and at 3th, a good delay. But the biggest part of making music is youre soul and youre fingers, without that, the biggest Equipment let you sound S*** and nothing can change that, FACT !!!
What can I say ? If you need a " simple " delay and not a tone manipulating - so called " analogue delay " - then Test one of the Boss DD 3`s.
I test it against the DD 5, 6 ( both bad ), the digidelay ( nice toy for only playing home ). Maxon and Ibanez AD 9, AD 900, AD 999 ( good ones but not for my needs ), T REX Replica the same as good ( or better ) as the DD3 but to over priced...And the biggest jokes from Danelectro.
But thats me ! So test your own likings !
Me ? 38 years old, since 16 years Pro ( means I earn enough money to live from music. ), 120 gigs a year, every month working in the Studio, in free times I teache pupils to play....Blabla....

For a delay pedal this is fairly easy: once youve selected the speed range and the effect volume, its just delay time and resonance: if you know what you're after then this is a pretty easy way of getting to it. Delays are a more difficult animal than most effects but this one should be pretty easy to use.

OK, some people are obviously buying this pedal thinking it'll get them that lovely warm tone theyve heard in all those 70s recordings (25 years before digital technology was fast enough to repeat a high quality sound byte within 20 milliseconds) and think that this will do it for them. Theyre thinking of analogue delay pedals (which, in my opinion is a very different effect from digital delay: just coz they both say 'delay' doesnt mean they should be compared).

What this pedal does, what all digital delays do, is repeat exactly what you played at precise intervals whilst degrading at a set gradient. The Boss DD3 is the DADDY of repeating EXACTLY what you played at EXACT time intervals. It doesnt lie and it doesnt cover mistakes and has very different applications from analogue delay pedals, if youre gonna pay #100 for a pedal then you should look into what it does.


My rig goes:
USA Fender Fat Strat/ MIJ Fender Jazzmaster - EHX Big muff-Fulltone fulldrive2-EHX Small clone-EHX Small Stone-EHX Pulsar Tremolo-Boss DM-2 analogue Delay-Boss DD3 Digital Delay-Korg DT10 Tuner-A/B Box with A into a fender hot rod deluxe (clean) and B into a Marshall JCM800 2x12 combo (dirty).

The DD-3 and the DM-2 give me massive variety in delays, where one fails the other can support and both together make the craziest noises ever.The quality of the output has been said to be sterile etc but its just doing what its supposed to, I guess if the 'attack' was lowered it'd sound less mechanical, but for me it does exactly what it says on the tin.If youre rig sounds rubbish this pedal will make it sound worse.

Boss are solid, ive got or had a few of them, and though the japanese ones feel more sturdy (like my DM-2 and ive also got an OC-2) the taiwanese ones are much better built than other similar units. This DD-3 is tiawanese (I think there are only a few japanese DD-3s, but the DD2 was made there and its pretty much the same). Ive gigged and will continue to gig without a backup. IM not rich enough to get another one and i dont think i care enough: if it craps out mid gig ill pull it out and use the dm-2 to compensate and vice versa.

never dealt with them

I like it. Others may not. Im into indie, grunge rock and some other stuff and I really like the smashing pumpkins, sonic youth, nirvana, trail of dead, radiohead, manic street preachers, jeff buckley, PJ harvey, Bloc Party etc etc. this pedal is indespensable: if lost id probably gewt a DD-6 for the tap tempo but I really do like this pedal: boss excel in making stright to the point pedals that do what they are told, thats why the pitch shifters and delays are great but the distortions and modulation pedals suck a bit. If you buy it dont think itll make you sound like gilmour in a second, youve just got to learn to use it. After overdrive this is the most used pedal on my board. Worth it, every penny.

the four controls are pretty self explanitory. this pedal comes with a well thought out manual so you shouldn't have any trouble getting the best out of it.

spot on sound wise. another good one from boss. the signal sounds a little metallic the lower you set the repeat rate but who buys a delay pedal and sets it so you can hear little or no delay. a few people have moaned about the sound of the pedal. these are the people who don't realise that with every new pedal you add to your chain you have to tweak your amp and guitar controls a little. nothing just fits straight in

well its made by boss, you could turn it on and off with a tank

never had to deal with boss as i've never had a problem with there gear.

well worth the money, even at brand new prices this is a total bargain