Boss DM-3 Analog Delay

I use my delay to fatten up my sound. I never liked digital anything, so this pedal is what I recommend. It is super easy to use. I play a strat and a les paul into a 100W marshall JMP. I use a metal zone and the DM-3. That's it end of story. All I need.

Yeah, it's a little noisy but who can tell when your playing whole lotta love with my marshall on like 8. I like heavy classic kind of stuff. Hendrix, Zepplen, Rush, Sabbath etc... I use a 1987 '62 reissue strat into a marshall 100W JMP tube head with just the DM-3 and the metal zone. That's it! The holy grail as far as I'm concerned. I also have 2 gibson les paul customs that you would think I play all the time but I don't. I break them out every now and then. I think this delay is all you need.

Boss doesn't make an anolog delay anymore. What a shame. I bought mine used years ago and never had any problems.

Not Applicable.

I don't have time to waste trying out all kinds of equipment. When I decided to get a delay, I asked around to other guitarists who I knew and most said to go with the DM-3. The best advise I could give to someone looking for a quality sound is go with a JMP or JCM800 marshall 100W, use one cabinet or two depending on your situation. Use a good guitar i.e.- there are many strats to choose from but many that sound different and a lot that don't stay in tune. A good strat will stay in tune. I have one so I know. Les paul is a sure bet too. If you can't afford at least a standard wait until you have enough $ it will be something you will have your entire life. I would get another DM-3 if I lost mine, but I see them around for like over $100.00. Ouch!!

Very simple to use, only rate, echo and intensity knobs. It's easy to get a great sound out of first go. I havent even bothered looking at the instruction booklet yet.

The sound quality is great compared to Digital Delays of the same era, even better than most of the ones that are available now. I think it's better than the DM-2, it seems to have better control and it's far easier to get the sound your after. I've been putting it through my Peavy practise amp and it sound just dandy with a Boss EQ pedal and should do me until I find a Space Echo.

I dont think I've had a boss pedal break on me yet.

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It's a pretty versatile delay, I think you could use it for just about anything in it's delay time. I've yet to crank it out of my Fender Bassman 4x10' but it sound fine to me. I wouldnt hesitate recommending it to someone who's keen for a good analouge delay.

Three knobs (repeat rate, echo, intensity). One foot switch. An LED indicator. Compared to a Boss DD-5 or a rackmount delay this is a much welcome piece of cake.

Like many these days, I wanted an analog delay to warm up my sound. I was using digital delays without putting much thought into the sound I was getting. Eventually, I started paying more attention to my tone and found myself adjusting the high freq cut on the digital delay to simulate an analog machine. I found this pedal in a used shop for $45 and thought I'd pick it up. It's very quiet and produces much less noise than, say, an Electro Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man (which I also now own). The delay repeats went up to about 350 milliseconds, however with the longer delay times the repeats get very buzzy sounding. There is a trim pot on the circuit board that controls the delay time. I adjusted it to where, at its maximum setting, the repeate rate knob gives you about 300 milliseconds. So, basically I traded some delay time for a little bit less buzzy distorted repeats. Of course, the whole point of analog delay is that it's NOT a pristine sound. But at higher settings the quality of the delay repeats was a little too fuzzy for my tastes. At moderate settings or for a quick, slap-back effect, there is none of the buzziness and it's very warm. I did a side by side comparison with one of the new Ibanez AD99 Analog Delays and the DM-3 had a much stronger and warmer output.

Boss pedals last foever. Maybe get an ACA adapter to avoid battery changes.

Eventually, I got an EH Deluxe Memory Man, which goes up to 550 milliseconds and is smoother and cleaner than the DM-3, but is still warm and natural. My intent was to sell the Boss, but it has it's own unique sound and I think it does slap-back echo a little nicer than the EHDMM. Plus it can run on a battery and is more compact/portable than the Mem. Man. And when I look at the price I paid compared to what these are going for on the web, I feel like I got quite a bargain. I think I'll keep it! :-) If you want a good analog delay in a compact package it's hard to beat the DM-3

It is very user friendly, very easy to experiment with. It only has 3 knobs for intensity, echo level, and repeat rate . It is not a fancy pedal like the boss dd-3 or dd-5. But don't let the simplicity fool you, you can get a variety of delay sounds.

Currently, I am using a Fender Am. std. strat and a Marshall vs265 amp. I use the dm-3 with along with a boss ge-7 equalizer and a ns-2 noise supressor through the effects loop of the amp. It isn't noisy when playing through the clean channel. It sounds much better through the overdrive channel. I began experimenting with the analog delay after listening to Eric Johnson and Santana. I wanted to emulate some of Johnson's sounds for which he uses MXR and echoplex delays. This was a cheaper alternative and the quality of the sound is excellent. I owned a Boss dd-3 and I replaced it with the dm-3. The dm-3 has more 'character' and is much warmer than the dd-3. It makes a wonderful slapback delay

It is very reliable. Never had aproblem a problem with any boss pedals I have owned in the past..

Never dealt with them, so no opinion.

I play instrumental rock/jazz. Also some latin-blues-rock a-la Santana. I found that analog delay was what I needed to improve the tonal qualities of my overall sound. Something that the dd-3 didn't provide. I highly recommend the dm-3 for the music I play. The sad thing is that it is not manufactured anymore and it is getting expensive so browse the web!

A simple 3-knob analog delay. All knobs are labeled accurately :-} I've used it for "huge rolling space" sounds, and rockabilly slapback. While the quality of sound decays quickly with multiple repeats, it does create a cool, vast-sounding sound scape (which is why I like analogs).

Having ran it w/ a Heartfield RR, a Crybaby, and a Laney AOR 50 thru a Randall 4x12, I found it great for psychedelic soundscapes and Jimmy Page-type noises. As the battery aged I found I had to crank the volume knob (on the effect) a little further, and it got a bit hissy as well. It had a fairly healthy appetite for batteries when used in this fashion as well. With a tele and Vibroverb or Vox AC30, and the delay set only to fairly tight slapback I found battery life greatly extended. This is perhaps the best delay I've used for slapback as it sounds quite "natural" for that form of music (i.e.-real analog sounding-like an old record). While I give it a ten, it's for its' great NON-pristine sound quality.

I've had this thing since around '88, and have used/abused it on the road and in the studio on a regular basis since then and it hasn't given me any trouble what-so-ever. I keep looking at the Dan-Echo ads and drooling (I do that without the ads as well), but I really don't see a reason to replace this thing yet.

As I've seen w/ most Boss reviews-NEVER USED 'EM.

I currently play roots rock/rockabilly/honkytonk and use this thing strictly for slapback. Previously I used it as echo unit, noise generator, freakish soundscape tool (think Daniel Lanois/Sonic Youth) and all around uglytool. I've always used it w/ a Fender type guitar and tube amps. It plays well w/ other effects and is quite versatile. I find the decaying sound quality far more useful/fun than an infinite and clean repeat as found on a digital effect. If it ever dies I'll probably look at other boxes, as variety is the spice of life (and I don't think they make this anymore-thus any that I buy will already be "old"). There seems to be several new analog delays coming out, so there may be better ones, but if I find one that's NOS somewhere, I'd definitely buy it too. If analog delays float yer boat but you can only afford one-get a DM3.

3 knobs - "repeat rate" is the delay time, decreasing as you turn it clockwise, which is opposite the DM-2 (or any other one I have used), "echo" is the wet/dry mix, but it never seems to get all the way to completely wet, "intensity" is the feedback control, once again never quite going to the infinite "whoo-whoo" of the DM-2. It also has a "direct out" jack for dry output. Nothing hard to understand.

Real quiet. I also have a DM-2, which has the same clean, natural delay as this pedal, but much stronger. I keep the "echo" knob about 9:00 on the Dm-2, and I have to put the DM-3 at 2:00 to reach the same level. Of course, this is probably because of the individual qualities of the specific pedals I own. I really can't tell any difference between the two effects. They both sound great!

It's a BOSS

Sounds great, use it all the time, I have a DM-2 for backup, but I've never used it in that capacity. Analog sounds so much better than digital that I want to puke when I hear a digital delay.

3 knob analog delay.

I find that, contrary to popular belief, that analog stomp boxes are actually quieter than the digital ones. Sound is similar to the venerable DM-2, but this unit has longer maximum delay time. I have a DM-2 - they do sound different. This is a little brighter. If analog is what you want, it's hard to go wrong with this unit.

Bought is used. Works great. Boss is bullet-proof.

Never tried. Bought it used, so who cares?

Personally, I like the DM-2 a bit better (just a bit warmer).