Boss GT-3

No way is it easy. It has 5 eq's. How can stringing together 5 eq's
be easy? It's not hard to program, it's just that the tone tweaking
NEVER ENDS. It's sort of like having a bass guitar amp with 93 knobs.
What's the point Vanessa?

Any sound can eventually be made with this thing. BUT BUT BUT don't try to adjust it at a rehearsal or at a gig. And that is my complaint. It may sound super at home and you get a great sound thru headphones or your computer but when you run the same patch thru your amp it might sound like its coming thru a tunnel. There are simply too many eq options and the thing is thin to start off with. You've got distortion eq. then amp eq then eq then another eq (I'm not kidding) and then a master treble and bass
and then a bunch of different output selections such as phones, stack,
combo, power amp combo, etc. And boss recommends setting your guitar
amp at bass 0 mid 10 treble 0 WHAT THE HELL IS THAT? Who in the
hell would ever set their guitar amp at bass 0 mid 10 and treble 0
I swear that's what it says to do in the manual. Read it for yourself. Another note, the amp distortions are much better than the
stompbox distortions. How can a fuzz box sound better than a
blazing Marshall? Answer.... IT CAN'T!!!!! For me their inclusion at
all is somewhat of a perversion. Like preferring a magazine to a real girl.

very solid construction

who can say, but boss stuff is solid

I had to sell it. Because although it can make ANY sound. Finding and changing sounds on the fly (I hate that expression) (why can't we change sounds on the cockroach for a change?) anyway changing sounds
quickly, well it's TWEAK HELL. it Will get in the way of inspiration.
A guitarist needs a good tone FAST so he can find a GROOVE. Tweaking
the GT3 is sort of like having to go to medical school just to let a
fart.

At first the unit seems quite complex, but after a few weeks of use it's very understandable and simple to use. the instruction manual can be useful in some area's though it's not needed for most cases. editing is complex but not hard.

i'm running an epiphone SG through the GT-3 into the power amp of a marshall valvestate 8080. with this setup i can get a wide variety of sounds. the presets on the GT-3 are very poor, that's why you need to program your own effects. to get a good distortion you need to use a distorion, preamp and equalizer on the the GT-3, just using a distorion is to weak. the GT-3 was designed to plug into a power amp and to use the preamps on it. if used the correct way the sounds available can be great, but if used incorrectly it can sound like shit. when used correctly the only effect that is a minor let down is the wah pedal, but it still does the job. the GT-3 can produce very heavy distortions, soft jazz tones, cool chorus's, trippy vibrato's and many more adventurous sounds. you won't get mesa boogie triple rectifier tones out of this.

very dependable and solidly built. no backup is required for giging.

never needed to contact them

i play in a hydrofunk band but personally i play anything from jazz to funk to triphop to blues to metal. this unit can accompany all these styles of music. i've been playing for just over three years and the GT-3 is not designed for begginers. i've owned other distortion pedals, boss ds-1(shit), danelectro fabtone(great) but no longer need them because of the GT-3. i'd probably get it again on insurance if it were lost or stolen but i'd probably try other units just to see what they're like. if the GT-3 had warmer distortion and a more variable wah i would give it a 10. but for the price you can't buy better.

"How easy is it to get a good sound out of it?" -pretty easy, this is my first effect & it doesn't seem difficult to put patches together.
Manual is a little spare, but i didn't find it that necessary.
my unit has not been upgraded.

"Noisy?" Generally not too noisy, although it seems like the delay, the compression, and the equalization have more noise than is ideal.
"Are effects weak?" I think the effects are generally probably not as good as you could get in better individual pedals, but still reasonably good, given convenience, ease of use, and value for the money.
"Are certain effects very good/very bad?" I don't really like the wah-wah or the flanger. The overdrives & distortions are reasonably good. Compression, eq, delay & chorus are good. Vibrato is pretty good. Don't really care for the pickup or preamp simulators but they're not bad. Haven't really used the reverb b/c I use my amp's reverb. Haven't really used the various other effects (harmonizer, phaser, tremolo, slicer, ring modulation, feedbacker, acoustic guitar simulator, auto riff, etc.)
"What setup are you using this with?" Fender Stratocaster/Jazzmaster/Jaguar/Telecaster>Boss GT-3> Fender Vibrolux Reverb.

very good. if i ever got a gig i would feel comfortable using it w/o a backup.

n/a

"How long have you been playing?" Seriously, 4 months. Played keyboards & bass for a few years. I think this is an excellent product for all players of little or no experience, as well as anybody who wants the convenience of a multi-effects unit. This is the only effect I've ever owned, but I liked it better than the other multi-effects I auditioned. The sound quality, I think, for the # of effects, is as good for the money as you can get. Hopefully in the future I will have lots of cool analog effects, but this is more than good enough for the foreseeable future.
"What other gear do you own?" I'm playing Fender Stratocaster, Telecaster, Jazzmaster & Jaguar into the GT-3 into a Fender Vibrolux Reverb Reissue. Plus an Epiphone electro-acoustic, but I play that directly into the amp. (As I said, I am new to guitar, but I did decide to splurge big-time).
"If it were stolen or lost, would you buy it again?" -Yes.
"What style of music do you play? Is this a good match?"-The sound I am seeking is sort of Ira Kaplan/J.Mascis/Kevin Shields. This unit is probably not good enough to give even a much better player than myself a true approximation of those guitarists' sound, but it's close enough for my purposes.
Easy to use, easy to get decent sounds, definitely doesn't get in the way of making music.
Overall-This is my best effort at an objective & independent review. I would definitely recommend this product, but since I do not have a great deal of experience with guitar effects, please take with a grain of salt.

This is the first multi-effects processor I've used -- I bought it to replace a bunch of pedals that were stolen from me. Anyway, being used to pedals, there was a little bit of a learning curve for me. After I got used to how the thing operated, I found it pretty intuitive. The manual is very dry reading, but it did help me a little in terms of learning the basics of the GT-3. Editing patches is a little bit if a pain since the unit is on the floor. When I'm at home I pretty much leave the thing on top of my amp. I would hate to have to screw around with patches at a gig, because there are a lot of parameters that can be modified with each effect. It's not hard to edit patches, but it is a little time-consuming.

My main guitar at the moment is a Parker Nitefly-SA, and my main amp is a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe. I run the signal from the magnetic pickups into the GT-3, then into the first input of the fender, and I run the piezo pickups dry into the second input. I really love the clean sound I get when doing this. The modulation effects are great in my opinion, and the noise gate is much better than on Line 6's products. I've heard a lot of people complain about the distortion on this unit. They are a bit harsh to my ears. One thing I have found to remedy this is to set the reverb on my amp at around 3 (this is also utilizing the reverb on the GT-3). This takes a little of the edge off the sound. I like the amp models very much. When I was shopping for effects processors, I tried the Line 6 pod as well, and found that I liked the models on the GT-3 much better because they seemed a lot less abrasive. I have owned a few of the amps that the GT-3 simulates, and it certainly doesn't produce an identical sound, but it's close. I guess that's why they call them amp models instead of amp clones. Anyway, with a little bit of tweaking the amp models can sound really great.

It hasn't broken down yet, but I haven't had it long. I've heard that Boss products are pretty solid.

I've only had this thing for a week, so I haven't had to deal with them. The warranty sucks big time, however. I guess I'll just hope nothing goes wrong.

I play a lot of different stuff from Steely Dan to Rush, to original material, and the GT-3 covers all the bases really well. I don't know how it would do for metal though, since I don't play that too often. I really love the fact that I can get a great sound out of one box instead of a mess of pedals. The sound of this thing rivals that of processors costing three times as much if not more, it kills anything Digitech makes. If it were stolen, I would certainly buy another one. The only thing I wish it had was more of a selection of reverb, and a better warranty.

IT IS PRETTY SIMPLE TO USE. EDITING PATCHES IS REALLY EASY. THE MANUAL IS A ROUGH TO UNDERSTAND. I WISH THEY HAD GIVEN SOME SETUP EXAMPLES OF CURRENT GUITARIST SO THAT YOU COULD TOY AROUND WITH SETTINGS AND LEARN. ALSO A BIG THING THEY LEAVE OUT OF IMPORTANCE IS A GOOD EXPLINATION OF THE EFFECTS CHAIN SETUP AND THE DO'S AND DON'TS

I USE A FENDER STEREO CHORUS, MARSHALL VAVLESTATE, AND MARSHALL ARTIST 1/2 STACK WITH THE PEDAL. I PLAY AN IBANEZ S470 AND 570, EPIPHONE LES PAUL STANDARD, FENDER MEXICAN TELECASTER AND STRAT. THE UNIT CAN FEEDBACK EASILY. I WISH THEY WOULD HAVE PUT IN A UNIVERSAL VOLUME SETTING. WHEN YOU GO FROM ONE PRESET TO THE NEXT THE THING CAN SCREAM OR BARELY BE HEARD. THE DISTORTIONS ARE GOOD BUT YOU REALLY HAVE TO TOY WITH THEM. IN ALL ITS JUST LIKE OWNING A FULL COMPLIMENT OF BOSS PEDALS EXCEPT YOU DON'T HAVE TO TOY WITH THE KNOBS FOR EACH SONG.

IT'S BOSS THEY'RE 100% RELIABLE. THE GREAT THING IS THERE IS NO BATTERIES TO CHANGE. THAT PAYS FOR THE PEDAL IN A FEW MONTHS.

NEVER HAD TO DEAL WITH THEM.

I WOULD REALLY TRY IT OUT FIRST. IF YOU LIKE BOSS PEDALS THAN BUY IT. NOTE, THE WAH PEDAL IS HORRIBLE SO MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A GOOD ONE TO USE. THE SECOND THING IS BE PATIENT AND REALLY FORGET THE PRESET STUFF MOST OF IT NEEDS TO BE SET PER YOUR RIG ANYHOW AND BE CAREFUL WITH THE VOLUMES OF EACH PATCH.

I got it for X-mas and figured it out right away. Takes lots of time to get it organized and programmed but it is worth it. The manual is pretty good. Helped explain the basic things.

I connect the output from the GT-3 into the input of my amp (Crate Half stack) then plug my guitar into the input of GT-3. This thing sounds amazing when at low levels but I can not get a damn good sound from it at higher volumes. It really pisses me off. If anyone has any help for me, PLEASE E-MAIL ME !!! adidas@kornographic.zzncom
I can get any damn sound from this. Great product, but I don't like how I can turn it up. Some one help !

Very, Very durable.

Havn't had to,,,yet

I think this thing is great. I would like to use this in my band and at gigs but until I can get a good sound from it when turned up,,,I guess I won't be.

The sounds are pretty to form. Each effect offers a lot of different peramiters which can be set reliativley easy. The banks are full of preset effects that can be tampered with and set to your own ear. To be truthful, I didn't read the manual. I'm the kind of person who has to figure it out for myself. I found the manual a little confusing, but like I said, I'm a "do it yourselfer", so this may be the opposite for you.

I'm using a Mexican Fender Strat with this processor. I'm also using a really really crappy Crate GX-15 (15 watt, 8 inch speaker), but I patched an old record player to it and crank the sound out through 4 speakers, and it sounds great! They effects are pretty clear and sound really good. The distortion and overdrive effects will obviously produce fuzz in the back ground, but I'm sure it's mostly because I play close to, and facing, my amp. At a recent jam session I had with my band I used a longer cable and stood facing away my from my amp, and there was a very little amount of fuzz.

I would deffinatley wip this processor out at a gig or concert, as a matter of fact, I DO!!!

I was told by one of the guitarists in my band that I sound 10 times better because of my processor. I only play rock and using the effects that it offers, I agress with my guitarist. If it was stolen or lost I would probably get the Boss GT-5. It's the same thing as the GT-3, but it offers more effects under each one of it's banks. It's usually about $550-$600 in comparison to the GT-3's $350-$400. This product is deffinatly worth what you pay for it.

Very easy to use

Great sound, some digital, but everything else is great

OK I HAVE HAD A FEW E-MAILS ON THIS ONE. I SAID THAT I GOT IT ON CHRISTMAS, AND THAT I GIG WITH IT ALL THE TIME, BUT I SUMITTED THE REVEIW ON CHRISTMAS SO HOW COULD I GIG ALL THE TIME WITH IT??? WELL IM NOT THE ONLY ONE IN THE WORLD THAT HAS IT! MY BAND OWNS ONE, SO I GOT ONE BECAUSE IT WAS A GREAT TOOL. THIS THING IS GREAT. LIKE I SAID BUILT LIKE A TANK!!!

I called them up and they were very nice. i just had a quest about carrying case that are built for the GT-3. nothing wrong with my boss stuff... yet. not saying that somethings gonna happen but... you never know.

great. this is a fix to the reveiw 2 reveiws down. i love the GT-3 now! its the best!

simple to use, yet time consuming to program. that is if you care about your tone.

to all who think the GT-3's distortion sounds are "too digital", think agian. i am a tone freak and i just got this unit, the first thing i did was figured out how to get the phat tone. if you use the "clean twin" preamp matched with the "distortion 1", "natural od", "turbo od", or "fuzz", you should be able to get a great tone. if you kick the drive down to "7" on the fuzz you got jeff beck. of course amps and axes mater, but if you know what good tone is you can achieve it with the GT-3.

have'nt had it long enough to break

rolan is too slow, but they are a big coorporation

just know how you want to sound, and devote your time to programing the thing and it will do some miracles

Boss started out with the GT-5, wich was supposedly the "top dog". Now they came out with the GT-3 and it is much better. at $250 cheaper, 4 new effects, and a much easier, sturdier sytem blows away the GT-5. The sound sounds great but sounds a little digital at times. I will talk about how to fix that later on. It is very easy. I didnt even have to consult the manual. I got it on christmas day and was editing and making new patches within 10 minutes of trying out the gt-3. this is the way to go, in any instance, unless you are rich and can afford rack units, and every pedal you want. the manual is so-so. its not great but it gets you rolling. the Auto-Riff is crap. i dont know why you would want to use it.

I use a fender strat or an esp > into a boss mt-2 distortion pedal > then into the boss GT-3. I then run the Line-6 distortion box (DM4) in the GT-3's effects loop(less noise this way) > then into a marshall VS265R combo amp. It sounds great. but like I said up there it sounds a bit digital when you have the distortions mixed with a mod or when there is high treble. you can remedy this by buying a distortion pedal. the best out there is the MT-2 or the DM4. it is noisy on high gain and volumes. the effects are pretty good except the auto riff. it is worth nothing. total digital crap! i can get linkin park and korn and rage and metallica and slipknot in conjunction with the Mt-2 and the DM4.

oh god! watch out if it drops on your foot. it wont hurt the GT-3 but it shure will hurt you!! this thing is built like a tank. i gig with it all the time!

N/A

I play heavy metal and some blues like SRV and some 60's rock like Hendrix. i have been playing for 7 years i own 2 guitars 2 amps and 2 distortion pedals. my setup is great. you can get any sound out of the boss GT-3, but beware. I advise you to buy the DM4 or the MT-2 or you will get some digital, but if you like that then you are set. i would definitely buy another one. i dont like how when you swich to a different patch it isnt smooth. it is a rough transition. Nothing compares with the GT-3, only one other multi effects processor is better and that is the VG-88 by roland. But the catch is it costs $1000 dollar!!! It helps me make a whole variety of sounds and it expands my creative juices, but if you are looking for this to make you a better musician, it wont. the only way you will get better is by practice. THIS IS THE BEST MULTI EFFECTS PROCESSOR. NOTHING COMPARES!!!!