Boss DD-3 Digital Delay

Three sweep rotary knobs and one incremental mode knob. All clearly labelled and unambiguous in what they do. And, of course, that great slab of a Boss footswitch plate. This unit is delay made easy.

As it is mounted on my pedalboard it is powered from a mains converter, so failing batteries are not a consideration. HOWEVER when I first acquired it I did notice how willingly it ate PP3 9 volt cells. There is no way I would use this pedal without mains power.

I generally use the DD-3 to colour clean blues solos, so it is used in a fairly subtle way. But when the mood takes me I like nothing better than to crank up the delay and feedback and have a bash at some John Martyn Inside Out-type stuff. Getting the sound? no problem. Hitting the right notes? well that's nothing to do with the DD-3...

The HOLD function I played with at home but would never risk using it in a live situation. Come to think of it, I can't think of any reason why I would need to use the HOLD function in a live situation.

Very transparent sound, with little or no sound colouring as far as I can tell.

The DD-3 is the final processing stage in my pedalboard. Like the other FX units it is powered by a 9 volt 1,000 mA stabilised power supply. Why it took me so long to put a pedalboard together is beyond me! Apart from mains power, secure patch leads, a safe, robust flight case to protect the stompboxes and much reduced setting up/breaking down times, what have the Romans ever done for us?!?

But I digress. Guitars {2x Les Paul, 1x HSS Strat) go into:-

Boss CS-3 >> Morley Power Wah >> Rat II >> Boss DD-3 which then feeds either a Hiwatt Dr103 or a Marshall 30 watt combo, depending on venue size.

When I fitted the DD-3 to my pedalboard I didn't tell the rest of the band. At the first gig when I used used it for the first time on a Peter Green-era Fleetwood Mac number, our keyboard player was seen leaning forward over his keys mouthing "what the f*ck was THAT?"

I assume he was taken aback by the fattening and sweetening of a clean out-of-phase Les Paul sound. It really does make a massive difference to clean sounds. I don't tend to use the DD with huge overdrive.

It is a pretty versatile unit, I can easily get a good Shadows approximation to seriously upset our drummer when the Apache lick is thrown into a solo. Mostly I don't want an overly intrusive "daaaang-yaaang" delay. A more subtle, atmospheric quality to simple yet emotive blues lines is all I seek. The DD-3 delivers but I can't always say the same for the guitarist!

Overall I am impressed with the DD-3 and find its quietness and lack of colouring as satisfying as its versatility and ease of use.

This pedal was bought second-hand, albeit only six weeks after it was initially sold. Being a Boss played a big part in my decision to buy second-hand. They are known for being rugged and reliable, and working pretty well. I can't ignore the fact I paid half RRP for it though!

I play regular gigs with a blues band and the odd pick-up rock'n'roll band with some mates.

I find that four FX units (or five if I opt to use my old Electo Harmonix talkbox) are enough to give me plenty of total variety for the blues band. Compression, wah, distortion and delay provide the principal characteristics. Pickup selection and use of guitar volume and tone pots provide the subtleties.

The DD-3 has added an extra dimension to my sound that is both subtle yet noticeable. When I need a bit of slap-back for some good old Rock'n'Roll I am confident it is easy to set up the sound and the DD will deliver. I would have little hesitation in having another DD-3 if my current one were lost or stolen. The chances of it actually failing are pretty remote. And the fightcased pedalboard means that knobs, switches etc. are far, far less vulnerable to damage.

It's a Boss. It does what it says on the tin. Yeah, I'd have another one! Actually I'm quite happy with the one I have...

easy enough to use 4 knobs . i pulled this one out of the drawer after my 4 month old sib mr echo switch went bad.and after not using this pedal for a while i forgot how weak it was......oh did i mention it is dark and weak?

i use about 6 different guitars through a fender hotrod deluxe and vox ad30vt.this is the 2nd dd3 ive owned.the first one back in 1993 wish i still had that one because i really liked the realtime feedback control it had.......now the new taiwan made one is weak, dark,and just all around crappy sound.it is next to useless. the repeats dont have any umph at all.

it is a boss ive never had any realibabilty problems i will give them that.

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i play psycadellic rock and like to add feedback while changing the delay time in real time this pedal is not up to the task.i also use an sib"mr echo" which is much mor bright and musical and smokes the dd3 by a mile.but this pedal needs a new switch which is a common problem with that model...i also have a ds1 distortion which does not sound like the old ones......in short all their taiwan made stuff is junk. boss has declined from a top notch company to making useless crap...i could go on about the me50 multieffects processor but thats another story.i need a good delay for my pedalboard and may get a digitech digdelay as the line6 is noisy.

It is pretty easy to get the sound you might want out of this pedal. I had no problem getting what I wanted and don't even have the manual ! Pink Floyd/Radiohead sounds are super easy to get.

The sound kicks A$$ for what I have as far as gear, which isn't that much. I play through a 2004 American Deluxe Tele to a Fender Twin Reverb, my pedals in order from left to right are DD-3, PS-5, Mt-2, and BD-2 (Keeley mod), what can i say, i like Boss.

Like i said above, very easy to get Radiohead/Pink Floyd sounds, The BD-2 going through the DD-3 sounds great when playing "Comfortably Numb"

With the PS-5 and DD-3 together you can get somw Bad ass RADiohead sounds, spacey,spacey,weird, great stuff.

Boss has always been reliable, extremely, but i never had to call them or anything.

Never had to call

I play just about everything exept death metal. I've been playing guitar for 6 years. With my gear it sounds awesome BUT it is the only delay pedal i have owned but i dont think i'm missing anything by not getting DD-5 or DD-6, IT suits my just fine with the style i have which i pretty broad.

Not too hard to use. I imagine if you need to sync to midi gear your clocks would wander, but thats the beausty of live sound.

I would play this through any set up. It does sound very good, however keep in mind it is a digital pedal. i took this thing apart and looked at and I was like, WOW this is a serious work of circuitry. It may be digital, but it has all the integrity of a botique shop analog pedal. This is made in Japan.

Made in Japan. Rock solid

No need.

Glad to own a pedal like this!!!!!!1

its real easy to get good sounds out of it. takes a little getting used to how to dial in what you want it to do, but that makes sense since delay pedals are a bit more in depth than your standard 3 knob overdrive pedals. the manual is alright. okay, i never read it. i guess that goes to show how easy it is to use this.

my main setup is as follows: Les Paul > Maxon OD808 > Boss DD3 > Blues Junior. it isn't noisy, so thats a huge plus. the effect sounds great. i got this for a few reasons. one being that i'm a lone guitarist and i wanted to make my sound a bit bigger in some songs. i also wanted to add some atmosphere in a few tunes. also, i just think that delay, when used sparingly, is an awesome effect. i picked this unit because its been around for so many years and there are a few bands that i love that use this pedal. also, it was in my price range. i bought it without trying it and its absolutely a keeper.

seeing as though there are about 120ish reviews for this pedal and only 15 people put down scores for customer support and i'm sure that out of the 15, not even half of them contacted the company because of a defective dd3, i think this is very reliable. also, i've had several boss pedals before. boss doesnt always make the best sounding pedals, but they are among the most reliable.

never had to contact them, which is how i like it

I play brit-rock and the like. Influenced by Oasis, The Beatles, Coldplay, Dave Matthews Band, BRMC, Interpol, and other bands. I've been playing for almost 6 years and have owned a lot of gear for only playing for <6 years. Aside from multi fx units, i've only had one other delay/echo pedal and that was the Danelectro Dan-echo. It sounded great, but i could never get exactly what i wanted out of it. Not knocking it though. I did have it a few years back, I'm sure if i had it now i'd be more capable of finding use for it. If it were lost, i'd definitely by another one. this pedal has given me a lot of inspiration. I was contemplating either this or the Line 6 Delay (whatever its called...) but went with this for a few reasons. One is that its Boss and I know that it wont break on me (unlike EHX pedals). Another being that there are a few bands whose delay sound i wanted to somewhat emulate use this pedal, and it wouldnt have been smart to get any other delay pedal other than the one i'm trying to emulate.

Very easy to use, simple and straight forward. Didn't even look at the manual, there's pretty much no reason to.

The DD-3 is probably THE most popular digital delay floor pedal of all time. It's easy to use and gives you a good range of delay setting to work with. Not noisy, doesn't color the guitar's sound when off. The repeats on the delays have a specific sound to them though. I can tell the DD-3 apart very easily - the repeats have a hint of coldness to them. It's a digital delay after all, but the point is that digital is supposed to copy the note exactly as it comes in and it doesn't. Some people like the sound of it, I don't. It's a matter of taste I guess, but the point is that it definitely has it's own digital/cold sound.

It's a BOSS. Don't need to say much more :)

Never needed it for BOSS.

I play everything from jazz to rock, funk and blues. I play on recording session of all kinds, on my own projects and live. I'm a professional musician in Los Angeles. I've been playing for about 15 years and have owned and played A LOT of effects - I'm very picky about sounds :)

You kind of have to learn how to use it, but once you do its very easy to get a desired sound out of it.

Use this with my Fender stratocaster and a charvel 15 watt amp. It doesnt create any extra noise. The sounds are always great! I can always get the exact sound I am looking for and its beautiful. It repeats sounds perfectly. I also sometimes plug this in through my microphone and it creates a perfect echo of my voice. Perfect for many uses.

It will never break, but the battery will die after about an hour of playing. But that doesnt mean you'll actually get an hour of playing in, since the quality starts to go down after a half hour and you'll have to re-adjust the knobs to get the desired sound again. Basiclly, if you get this you MUST get the boss power adapter. If you do, this pedal is perfect.

This seems like it would be good for any kind of music that uses effects. If it were lost or stolen I would replace it pretty quickly. I love all the sounds that you can get out of it, you can even make it sound like there are 2 guitars. I use it all the time, it adds a noticeable flare to my music.

Not as easy as most boss effects, but it has a lot of versatility. Minor adjustments with any of the three "main" knobs (EV, Fdbk, delay)produce a wide variety of sounds. I generally keep the right-most knob on 800.

Basic setup: Les Paul Studio or Fernandes Retro Rocket Pro -- Vox wah--TS9--TS9/808 mod (analogman)--Mini Bicomp (analogman)--FX Loop--Dunlop Univibe--Boss Phaser--DD-3--to Fender Hotrod Deville 410.

No new noise when I added the DD-3, and at "band" volume who hears it anyway? After playing around with the DD-3 for an hour, I found several different settings that improve my sound/tone a ton. I'm the lone guitarist in a 3-piece band, and this does a great job "fattening" up your sound. Chords and leads now take up more space musically in a nice subtle--but very noticeable to your ear--kinda way. Band mates commented immediately the first time I ran it. Really amazing what it can do for leads. Again, the versatility of it let's you go from Van Halen to Radiohead pretty quickly/easily. One downside, if you consider it one, will be the constant tweaking during a set. I can already see the need to write down my various settings for certain tunes, so I don't have to dik with it too long. It has quickly become another one of those pedals that may be tough to live without. If I was at gunpoint, I'd take my TS9/808 and Mini Bicomp to the grave, but this wouldn't be too far behind. A good test to see what it does is to play a favorite riff/chord progression with it on...then play the exact same thing with it off....It's tremendous.

I give it a 9 because the fastest modes aren't really applicable to my playing style (kinda tinny and 50's ish) but what I get out of the 800ms setting far outweighs that shortcoming.

Uh, Boss...brick sh!thouse. period. Definitely need the boss adapter (or other power supply). Will suck batteries through a garden hose.

Uh, Boss...Customer service not their strongsuit...luckily some quality effects are!

I play a wide range of stuff...From the Bob Dylan to Beck. Doors to Phish. Mostly bluesy or rocking jams. The DD-3 performs. Great for spacey solos/jams. Lots of possibilities. If stolen, I'd demand a federal manhunt, but would buy another without thinking twice. The hold feature is OK to practice quick solos, but I don't use it much. And Battery Eater could be a nickname for this box--get another power supply. Would love to take a nice analog delay for a comparison test drive, but I'm an impulse buyer and that could get expensive! This will open up creative doors that you never knew you had! End of story: Just get one, you won't regret it--you'll never know what you were doing without one.

Takes a little learning, but if you have any experience w/ delays it?s nothing too complicated. The Level nob is very responsive, as is the Feedback nob.

I play a 1991 strat plus, mid 70?s Aria II, and a Gibson 1949 BR 9 lap steel. My effects chain runs so: Ernie Ball Volume, Crybaby wah, TS-9, Seymour Duncan Booster, Boss DD-3. I play through a 1971 Super Reverb and Mesa Boogie Subway Blues.

The DD-3 and I have been through a lot together. After I retired my old Crybaby it became the oldest pedal in my arsenal. I have over used it, under used it, abused it, forgotten it, and cherished it. Still, when it?s all said and done, I love this thing. I almost gave up on it to go to Line 6 DL-4. I LOVE the DL-4, but I?ve realized that the DD-3 is a cool little mofo. I really like the sound of it better than the DD-5 or DD-6. It just sounds warmer to me. If you disagree than buy one of the others. As for the DD-2, I?ve never had the privilege of playing one, so I don?t know. The DD-3 is not just a ?delay pedal?, it?s a sound effects unit. Really! Given some time and ingenuity you can get rockabilly sounds, Gilmour sounds, space ships, and sitars. It really I very cool.

The only thing that is pretty useless is the hold function. If you had more time it be great, but you really don?t enough. It fun to play around with though. You can do some interesting loop sort of things. Every time you introduce a new sound it will slightly change the fist sound that is repeating it. As you introduce more sounds all of them start to change. It?s a bit unpredictable thereby making it unreliable for on stage use.

I have the same pedal for close to 10 yrs. It has never given me any problems.

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As a delay unit it serves a specific function. It woks for me b/c all I use a delay for is Gilmour stuff and slap back stuff. You have a broad range of slap-back sounds. Likewise, the Level and the Feedback nobs are very responsive. Through all our trials the DD-3 and I work well together. You just gotta giver time and find the little things you love about her.

I picked the DD-3 due to its simplicity, ease of use and because Boss uses more analog components. I also do not use excesive delay times or any funky sounds, like reverse or space echo, etc. Just a straight-ahead delay the way I like it.

Quite easy to change from one setting to another. Manual is not really necessary unless you don't understand type on the pedal. Mike's website gives you instructions on the high-cut switch, which is helpful. But other than that, it's easy to use and sounds great.

Lots of different guitars and different amps. I use the effects loop on my Rivera, but do not on my Vibro King. The King has a loop, but any Fender sounds better with pedals in front, so there you have it. I also have a deluxe reverb that uses the pedals in front. It all sounds great. I don't have that much modulation. Just delay and a phasor. With the pedals in front, it sounds good too. I have a compressor and a couple of overdrive pedals that don't hamper the tone at all. The wah can sound weird with the delay on with too much level, but wahs sound weird anyway. The high-cut filter really does add an analog deminsion to the pedal. The middle position of the high cut switch leaves the delay in stock digital form. So don't worry if you think the mod makes the digital delay unuseable. Some folk like digital delays. I do not, but after paying out the butt for an analog that could give me only 300 ms. of delay, I had to do something else. Far left the delay is darkened, but still has lots of bounce. Far right the cut is great. You hear the first couple of repeats, but the sound really starts to drop off just like an analog pedal. Perfect! Just great for what I was looking for.

Boss makes reliable stuff. I don't know how well this will last after the mod, but since Mike has been doing this for a long time and there doesn't seem to be many issues related to reliability, I am not worried. He's a good guy and backs up his stuff. So there you have it. I wouldn't kick the switch with your foot or drop the pedal off a tall building, but it seems to be modded with great care and precision.

Mike is great. Follows up and personally signs the receipt. Lots of folks use him, so that's a testament of his commitment to customer service.

I tried different digital delays that claimed to give analog sounds. Well, they really did not. Still metallic sounding and stiff. I didn't see myself paying over $200.00 for a delay pedal that had tons of sounds just so I could get one or two. After all, I could just spend another $150.00 and get an analog with more delay time. Instead I thought I'd try this guy from Analog Man. I'm very happy I did. I feel this pedal sounds great. In fact, I'm so happy with the pedal, I will not hesitate to send more pedals I think could be great if they had one or two things different about it. I owned a DD3 before and sold it because of the boingy and semi-harsh sound. This simple mod changes everything about it. I'm not knocking people who like digital delays. Many have found great use for them. I just like a little bit of slap back or a subtle amount of echo. For the money, I just think this is a great deal for those wanting an analog sound from a digital delay. If you can get a hold of a DD2, I would bet that would even sound better.