Boss GT-3

I find that the Boss GT-3 is equal to most audio programmable processors in it's ease/difficulty of use, which is usually not overly simple. Editing patches is relatively simple. The manual is pretty much as everyone here says, it's not that great-just ok. I wish there was more detail. (-1 for the manual).

I have always been the proverbial "tube purist" whenst it comes to guitar sounds and have owned Marshalls, Fenders, etc., however, I just recently joined another rock band and needed something that could give me alot of switching capabilities for distortions, volumes, and fx. Outside of one or two multi pedals with a tube,("one 12ax7 does not a tube amp make"), the GT-3 sounded the best. I've seen alot over the last 20 yrs., and this unit has probably the most useability of any processor, especially for the pricerange. I appreciate that they didn't put stupid colors and silly racing stripes, and bright paint all over this thing; it looks "adult". Anyway, at first I didn't care for the distortions too much because I hate that digital sound; they're usually grungy in the low-end, not tight enough. After a day or two of farting with the tweeks, I began to realize what an awesome piece of plastic and metal the GT-3 really is. This thing is the tits! (-1 'cause it's solid-state).

Kick it, beat it, smack it, whack it..... no, not me you idiot- THE STOMPBOX!

Whelp, the hour I first took this unit out of it's box and started plinking away on a clean Jazz patch, I noticed a faint, underlying distortion, which sounded like input distortion. Not finding an input level adjustment anywhere, I called up the Boss dude and said, "Dude; blah-blah-blah". And the Boss dude said, "Well blah",(which when translated means, "You need to turn down the internal gain or lower the High/Medium/Low gain settings"), at which point I said, "BLAH!". Therefore, I think they have good customer support.

I wike it awot, you cwazy wabbit! If it was ever lost or stolen, I'd come over there steal yours! HA!! (She gits a "10").

I have to say when I first saw this unit.....I could not believe it. It is a every guitar players dream come true. If you know how effect work this is a very easy unit to operate. It took me like a week to learn all its little quirks and it is awesome. Some of the presets are great and can let anyone get started without a hitch. The manual is O.K it just talks about all the different parameters within the different effects.

I have been playing guitar for 15 years and the sound from the GT-3 is one of the best I have heard. I primariy play strats through a several amps that I have collected along the way(fender, mesa, marshall) The sound quality is fantastic. The pre amp section is very true. Having played through several amps, I can tell you this thing replicates their sounds almost exactly. I am now able to get great warmth and tone without having to crank my amp up. Guy/gals listen up.....get this thing if you want versatality!!!

If you tweak right you can get great distortion without almost any noise. The modulation effects are over the top.....I never owned a harmonizer before and I have to say this one is really good. I can play pretty fast and this thing follows you like a shadow with out any blip or skipped intervals. I cannot name a effect here that has betrayed my expectation. My only grievance is that the max delay time is too short. For a unit like this I would have expected at 3 sec. With so much capability that would have enabled guitarist to play along a repeating rhythem.

I have actually dropped it once while taking it out of my car. I dont have a case for it and this puppy survived with a few scratches.

I have played with several effects and amps and the GT-3 has to rank amoung the top 3. For a multi effect unit I think it is the best in the market. I compared the modelled amp sounds to the line 6 amps and it is as good if not better. There is more noise in the line 6 amps than in the GT-3. Plus there is a lot more flexibilty in the GT-3 than in those amps. It is almost impossible to tell any difference between the actual amps and the modelled sound thru this Unit.

The flexibiliy in the GT-3 is the its greatest strength. You can change and manupulate any effect, any parameter any time and the memory storage for patches is just incredible. I have had this for 6 months now and boy has this improved my sound.

I play all kinds of music and this suits them all. I have managed to get almost every guitar hero's sound from this. Its a great bargain and would recommend it to anyone. I will definetly buy it again it its lost.

The booklet is really easy to follow but you don't really even need it.

You can get any sound in the world out of this thing. It depends on what kind of amp you have, but I have a crappy Crate Gpx 15 and it still sounds great.

You can stomp the shit out of this thing and it will ask you for more!!!

never had a problem.

You will never have to buy another pedal. It can do anything that you would desire.

I have had this unit for 4 months and I am now really used to it. Initially it was a little comlicated due to large number of parameters that are available at your disposal. Give yourself 2 weeks and you should be a master at it. Some of the effect presets (not the 200 patches) are good and should be able to let a new user get decent sounds right away. On the other hand the patches mediocre. They have been created more to show you what this unit can do rather than for use by guitarist.

The sound quality through this is good and bad depending on what you are trying to do. I use it with a strat through a Fender Princeton 65. There are different ways you can use this unit?.1) As the manual says in to the Efx return of the amp or 2) you can put it through the loop and use your amps pre amp or 3) you can put through the input of your guitar amp. The 3 methods yield different results and are best suited for specific purposes.

If you want to make the GT-3 your primary sound processor then use it like the manual says. This way you can take full advantage of the Amp modeling in the unit. Many of the Amp sims are great. But don?t buy this unit for that alone because it has some drawbacks. I?ll come to that in a bit. If you are trying to get clean / clean crunchy or classic rock distortions this unit can do wonders for you. BUT IF YOU ARE IN TO HEAVY METAL DO NOT BUY THIS UNIT FOR THE AMP MODELLING OR DISTORTIONS. At very high gain levels the amp models are breaking down resulting in a lot of noise and the sound gets very digital. But if you are not going to play very highly distorted music, make the investment and buy the GT-3. Clean to crunchy distorted sounds are just superb!! Also the distortions in the GT-3 are not at all like the stomp boxes we know. There is a lot of noise that even the noise suppressor can?t manage. Again this happens only at high distortion levels. The best way to get good distortions in the GT-3 is through the amp modeling section. I?ll talk about the amp models and effects later.

If you like you main guitar amp then use it in the loop. Make sure to turn the amp modeling off. This way you can keep your amps sound and use the modulation effects, delay, and chorus along with the other SFX. I do this as I really like the Princeton 65. I find this a good alternative to what the manual suggests without getting poor results.

If you want to connect the GT-3 in to your amps main Input, then you are in for some rough time. The Amp modeling section does not work well this way. You can however turn this off and use the other effects. But since the best distortion in the GT-3 is through the amp models, you are never going to get good results. What?s happening is ?the processed sound from the amp modeling section needs to be amplifies as is. If you are going to put it through another non linear amp then the sound is no longer what the GT-3 created for you.

There is only one way to get maximum results from the GT-3. That is to play it through a linear amplifier like a Keyboard or a acoustic amp. This is the only way you can hear how the GT-3 sounds like, of course the other alternative is to use a headphone. The reason why the results are not the best when used through the EFX return as the manual suggests is because almost all guitar amp speakers and cabinets are not linear. They have been designed to create a specific sound and will not truly reproduce what the GT-3 sends out.

Some of the best amp models in the unit are the Clean Twin (Fender), JC-120, Crunch (sounds like Crate), and blues. The Soldano model is also good. The Marshall?s are O.K. Don?t get me wrong here, it not like the other don?t sound good its just that at high gains they are noisy. But they all give a very nice warm crunchy sound at lower gain levels. The ?sound? replication is very good in almost all of the models.

Coming to the effects?..Unbelievable!! However there are some that are so so. The Wah Wah, is definitely one. I am not an expert in wah wah and I can tell you myself that it does not sound good. I have tweaked the parameters all I could but it has not helped. The distortions (there are nine of them) are good for most part, but when you start cranking them high they start producing a lot of noise and sound very digital also. But they do give you that nice warm classic rock sound with out much fuss.

Now to the stars of the unit?..The delay, the chor

I have experienced only one problem........sometimes when you have the 2 pitch stereo harmonizer going and you save a patch, when you try to retrieve it the sound it gone. I have not figured out why that is happening. But its not always though!! Over all I think I can depend on it.

No experience here.

I have been playing for about 12 years now and play a lot of different material. I don?t do too much of the very high distortion music. Mostly jazz and crunchy blues also a lot of John McLaughlin type of stuff with Indian classical music. I use this unit primarily to write my own material and it gives me a lot sounds at my disposal. I have managed to get Malmsteen like lead to the giggles and gargles of Vai with this unit.

I have not compared this to many other units side by side although I have played with some of the others like Roland GP100. This does sound very good, except for the drawbacks that I have mentioned. But it?s a question of what you want your processor to do. It cannot play for you!! I think it can compliment most styles of guitar playing very well. I would recommend it to all guitarist even the professionals. Remember a good guitar player needs very little effects to sound good!!

I have already posted a review of this unit (see further down the page). Having owned this for a few months now, I have learnt a lot more about this unit. Getting a good sound is quite easy, only the distortion and eq is hard to tweak to get a good brutal metal distortion, (IT CAN BE DONE), i have created two distortions now as well as a couple of clean sounds and some other more FAR OUT sounds which I shall not tell you about.

Herein lies the problem with distortion.. it is difficult to setup for different amps and rooms. At home I play for a small Squier 15 watt practise amp. I have recently joined a band and am using this unit through a Marshall Valvestate 100 head and into a Marshall cabinet (size? i'm fucked if I can work that out, probably a 4x8 or something). The distortion I use at home sounds great but at practise I have the same distortion but on a different patch, but here through the Marshall it loses it's character. If you practise through different amps, you are gonna need to setup a separate distortion for each amp to ensure heavy or subtle distortion is going to be effective in any environment (bedroom, rehearsal studio etc.). Nevertheless I have tweaked the studio patch so it is listenable and hassome tone to it. All other effects such as chorus, reverb, delay etc seem effective no matter where you plug it into. Patience must be one of your virtues if you metal lovers are going to achieve a snappy, crunchy, brutal distortion through different amps. Also use the Utility Global Settings according to the amp type you use and also experiment with the effects chain facility and try arranging the Preamp, EQ , Sub-EQ etc until you are happy. This unit is a great piece of gear and really what is the difference between analogue and digital, THEY'RE JUST SOUNDS, TWEAK EM 'TIL YOU LIKE EM. I am currently the new guitarist in my band with our lead guitarist moaning that it is too digital or that it is basically crap and the others joking that it' more of a computer. This is an effects unit, an alternative to sounding the same all the time, a gateway to another world, if you have something like this to help you achieve sonic utopia, what does it matter that it is too "digital" and not "analogue".

No need for a backup, it's that tough I stubbed my toe (one with hyper-granulation from an ingrowing toenail), and yes it was fucking painful. I also crushed a spider that was walking across it by accident (you do get over-enthusiastic with the stomping you know).
Although this unit seems to pick up alot of dust if not used for a time. It's tough and can withstand alot of punishment (it hasn't even fucked up after being left in the boot of a car for hours)

I love heavy metal and rock and other styles. Basically it has helped me achieve new sounds, that is what it is supposed to do, not make you a cup of tea, not make women feel attracted to you, it does not get it it's kit off, it creates sounds and a shitload of them at that. I use this for personal use, for band practise and will also use it live and for the studio. It has helped me get creative within the band, i used it to add a nice chorus and delay to a moody, slow-picked part at the end of one of our fast songs. I adds new dimensions to your playing, my advice though is to not be reliant on effects.

For anyone who has ever dealt with any sort of floor effects processor before, this unit is really straightforward and easy to figure out. Having an EZ-Edit option almost seems pointless. Everything is laid out on the machine very nicely. Getting a good sound out of it is really a matter of tweaking. Some presets are rather nice (JC120, Rotary, etc.), but a lot of them are downright useless (ie/ most or all of the synth options). The manual was a bit confusing, especially with regards to putting this unit through an effects loop. In fact, I don't think that they explain that aspect of this unit at all! Overall though, using the GT-3 is a piece of cake.

I'm putting this thing through a 5150 head (soon to be replaced) and a Mesa Rectifier Cab. For guitars, I'm using a Gisbon SG for a lot of the chunky stuff, and a Tele for more ambient noise (by the way, this unit sounds really good with one of those cute little Danelectro guitars!) On some settings like the acoustic simulator, the GT-3 exudes a lot of washy background noise. The gate option, for the most part, is useless in combatting this. Personally, I don't really bother with the acoustic simulator anyway. There really is no acoustic simulator that comes close to the sound of a real acoustic. One thing I can definitely say about this unit: don't rely on it for your distortion. A lot of the amp settings sound weak. In fact, when I do use distortion, it is usually to make the effect sound smaller and more tinny a la Cigarette Box Amp. Usually, I just bypass the unit with the CTL button whenever I need to go for gain. Chorus, Delay, Reverb on this thing are great; I really get a lot of use out of them. I found a lot of EXACT Incubus-like sounds in this machine, and a few Deftones-ey presets that I could tweak. Therefore, if you like your new metal, pick this up. Of course, it goes a lot further than that. I got pretty close to a lot of Radiohead sounds as well, though I think I could have gotten closer with analog effects. In closing: try to ignore that the presets were most likely made by guys who still have mullet haircuts and who spend their nights and days searching for the coveted "brown sound", and make your own effects.

It seems really durable, being a giant slab of metal and all. I gig without a back-up.

Never dealt with BOSS.

I play a SOAD/Far-style punk rock with u-Ziq/Aphex Twin type ambience and drum beats. I have to get A LOT of sounds out of a unit, and this thing does the trick nicely. I wish that it had more lo-fi sounding options, but, as I said before, I can get pretty close representations of those sounds with a little tweaking. I compared it with the new Digitech RP-2000, and they seemed pretty close. It was kind of a toss up, so if this were stolen I'd probably either pick up a new one, or look more closely at the 2000. Two MAJOR complaints: My playing style requires my guitar to be very detuned, usually so that the 6th string is in A or B. At this low of a frequency, the guitar synth becomes VERY confused and VERY useless. Also, the stupid tuner doesn't register anything lower than an A#! That is very poor planning, considering the magnitude of bands that tune down to that pitch (ie/ Meshuggah, Machine Head, Hatebreed, Nothingface). Therefore, I strongly suggest, if you play in this style of music, that you use an external tuning device. On the bright side of things, this unit lets me be very creative and I've written more than a few songs based around the way that a certain effect will make me feel. A worthy invesment.

It's so easy to get your own patches and to get them of the internet.

Amazing sound every time. No doubt the best FX around 4 this price. I use this with a Peavey Bandit 112 and a lengend les paul and a my own custom guitar with DiMarzio Breed Humbuckers.

Very good build quality already used it at a gig at high volume. Brilliant.

You can't buy a better effects for this price I fell in love with it the first time I heard it.

well let me start out by saying i love this thing. it is not as easy to get a good sound as a korg ax1g, but when you do its amazing. it has so many numbers to tweak so its not as easy as a chain of boss pedals.

im using a epiphone les paul special II and a peavey classic chorus amp. The gt-3 sounds very good clean. but when you get into a high gain situation it gets wiered and digitized. if you edit a patch at a low volume and then turn it up it sounds like my kid brother eating taco's. If i were you i would buy the boss metal zone or an ibanez smash box(both great pedals in my opinion:).

As fo the effects>they rock
most of them sound as good as thier real life counterparts if not better. i love the ability to turn each one off in manual mode or with the controll pedal.it also includes an extra jack for up to 2 external pedals to controll effects.

i would use it without a backup definately .

ive never had to deal with boss and i hope i dont.

i play a neometal rock orented style. it suits it very well.
if it were lost of stolen i would definately buy another one if i had the money. ive always been in the constant search of the perfect tone and if i find it it'll be with this thing.

Really the GT-3 is a well designed unit. However, it does take a little time to adapt to the methods of changing the parmeters, but once you get everything figured out its quite simple. The owners manual can be quite helpfull in the first few weeks of use. Dont be afraid to reach down and push some of those little buttons. Play with it till you find the sound you want. (Which may take some time.)

The sound quality really depends on what effects and distortions that you ae using. I use the Metal 5150 amp simulator with a micro-pithchshift from the harmonizer a lot and the sound is really flawless. NOT!!!! It SUCKS!!! If you want to use any kind of heavy distortion with the effects on this unit, you will NOT be satisfied. If you even think of buying this unit for the distortion and/or amp simulation save your money and buy the exact amp that you want or a nice Line 6 amplifier. Most of the distortions and amp simulators on this unit ar sub-par. Dont get me wrong, not all of the simulated amps are bad. If you are wanting cleaner sounds with good effects, delay, and reverb, this thing is superb. The effects themselves sound quite good. Just dont try to run them with a really heavy ampsim.

So far so good. I've had it about eight months and haven't had any probelms with it......yet anyway. Although, it is built quite rugged.

Haven't needed it yet.

I play heavy Van Halen/Metallica/Pantera type stuff and things. Had I known that the GT-3 would sound this way before I bought it, I would have just saved up my money and bought a 5150, Line 6, or Marshall. I would get the Line 6 if you are looking for good amp simulation and effects at the same time.

For the uninitiated, the GT-3 presents an interesting blend of classic and contemporary patches - able to be tweaked easily and quickly. Whilst hardcore users will tweak all parameters (to death!), the beginner can achieve professional sounds through the simple factory presets, and without sounding cheap or predictable.
Editing is very simple, with the LED screen presenting all the necessary information in singular sections - one step at a time. The manual is direct and informative, and helps when making accurate decisions regarding tone, frequency, etc.

I use a Fender Strat Plus with Lace Sensor pick ups, a Takamine semi-acoustic 6 string and a Seagull 12 string acoustic (hooked up with an external pickup). I also have other assorted cheap guitars to numerous to mention. I run them all through a Marshall Bi-Chorus 200 head and two 300 watt cabs (JCM 900 A+B).
The GT-3 is run through the main input of the Marshall, as the effects loop severely compromises the distortion sounds of the deck. When properly rigged for looping, the stero capabilities of the amp and the processor combine to give amazingly full stereo effects (based on clean). The distortion is another matter entirely. Firstly, the sound of a Marshall stack is, traditionally, great (no more need be said). However, in routing the GT-3 through the clean channel, the full body tone of Marshall distortion is unable to be used (as boost severely screws up the processing sounds). I have tried different kinds of routing and effects lining, but the problem prevails. Now, I am uncertain whether I should blame the amp or the processor for this, but either way, I sacrifice Marshall tone for a significantly reduced distortion sound (even with modification) coming from the GT-3. When playing certain material this is OK, but when approaching anything remotely overloaded (from Cream, Hendrix or Led Zep to Slayer, Korn, etc) sound is compromised. Oh well.
'Clean' sounds through the GT-3 are, in most cases, amazing. Any of those phenomenal Hendrix ballads, from 'Axis' or 'Ladyland', sound great when played through the GT-3 effects (tweaked, of course). Any U2 sound (delay, etc) is also well catered for, and gives depth and clarity (where other pedals or decks can slide the sound and end up producing poorly regulated feedback of the signal). The Harmoniser effect is very clear and distinct, and evenly descends when one plunges through the octaves in a theremin-like whoosh. Conventional use of the harmoniser also yields a broad envelope of sound, which can be accentuated with chorus, etc. The broad parameters for each of these effects also help in isolating different elements easily, which makes pursuing a certain sound intriguing and interesting.
However, and I say this when using a cheap Ephiphone Les Paul or a Strat (with, admittedly, lace sensors), the flange and compression effects (even with drawn out tweaking) can give a high, cutting tones that can reverberate and distort (not at all good). One has to be very carefull with the compression and limiter, testing the sound at different volumes in order to ensure that the patch sound remains constant across different registers.

The GT-3 has always produced the same patch sound when needed. Rather than start looking for the problem on the deck, one always has to consider the different environments one plays in before searching for problems at the 'gear' level. Tweaking may be needed for some effects in some circumstances, whilst not for others. If your rehearsal space or area differs from a live situation (and it often does) then a patch may sound different, or present itself differently in a live situation (or in another practice area). In this case, use headphones to understand the difference in environmental changes, switching between 'open' sound to 'headphone' in practice in order to understand how sound changes. A patch should always sound the same through the same headphones, wherever you are (theoretically), so one has to make sure that any differences may not be issuing from the deck itself.
Not all of us can afford backups. The GT-3 works well with its adaptor - I cant speak on the reliability of a battery in a live situation (I wouldn't do that EVER!)

Never dealt with customer support - but that could be because I treat my equipment well.

I mean, seriously, what idiot would remain friends (or in the same band!) with someone who threw water on their equipment!! Huh?!?
(James Marshall Hendrix excluded, of course).

I play every style of music (and I do mean everything). Many of the effects give 'eastern' flavoured songs a lovely sound, but more conventional or popular genres are well catered for.

I have been playing for 12 years and have owned too many other units to mention. If this deck was stolen or lost, I would test other products first, but for its price, the unit is acceptable.

What do I love about the deck? I likes its spacious design - pedals are spread evenly across the unit. However, tweaking in a darkened live situation would be near impossible, not because of the LED, but because the buttons are small!

I compared this unit to individual pedals, other DOD and BOSS pedal decks and rack mounts. For price, it seemed to strike a balance between professional sounds and cheezy trash gimmicks (the mark of a good deck!!!) Not all of us can afford vintage effects gear.

I wish it came with a recording contract as well.

The only thing the deck gets in the way of is the bass player walking/moving around the stage. This is great, as I like having one side all to myself. (With sequencers and programming, who NEEDS a bass player anyway? Certainly no self-respecting guitar player.)

I'd like to share my debts with you, but is that what you're really asking?