Boss GT-3

Its a piece of cake to get this sucker to rock =). I was up and running in about 10 min. But after a while ya start to see the deepth of the GT-3. God, you can do some advanced stuff in it.

Im running it into my computer with the speakersimulation and takes the sound out trough a JVC stereo reciever and I get a great fat sound. Im thinking of getting a keyboard amp for it coz they say ya get the best uncoloured sound that way. Its sound great. The presets are a little corny...but with some tweeking ya can get it to scream.

Im just a bedroom rockstar so I think I will not have any problems with it.

Im into a lot of Metal. Iron Maiden, Obituary, Alice in Chains. Almost anything. I've been playing on and of for about 5 years. I defenetly would by another one if it got stollen but first I would check out the VG-88.

Sort of easy I guess. The initial tones are not good. It seems fairly easy to change parameters but I have yet to make it sound GOOD. I had no problem assigning patches to certain pedals after reading a little.

I use either my EB/MM EVH Signature, Les Paul Custom 57 Reissue Black Beauty and a Washburn RR-150 and usually through a Peavey Classic 410 or a 5150 212. The noise gate is good, the clean tones are good but the overdrives suck. The tone is thin. I guess not weak if you like that digital tinny sound. It actually makes my Les Paul NOT sound like a Les Paul. The other guitarist in my band thinks I'm committing a crime when I plug it in. There is no overdrive, it is all digital distortion, DIGITAL BAAADDD!!!! I bought it for rehearsal and to try to use different tones, but all the tones are terrible and I have tried tweaking with no success. I tried the 5150 patch and it sounds nothing like Eddie, even through a 5150 amp and EVH guitar! The Led Zeppelin patch does not sound like Jimmy. I try to get a nice vintage amp tone for rehearsals that I get out of my HotRod Deville or 5150 for gigs, but no go. But I give it a 3 because the cleans aren't too bad. The acoustic sets aren't too bad either.

I have used it at gigs, it seems very reliable. Nice sturdy metal case. I never use a backup except for the Tube Screamer I always keep in my gear bag.

Never tried. Won't upgrade or if it breaks I will throw it away. May use for a trade in on a Mesa V-Twin pedal. The trade in value ought to take care of the tax! Might sell it on eBay.

My band plays everything from blues to alternative but mainly classic rock and blues. This thing sucks for those type of tones. For 80's metal, I guess it would work. The cleans aren't too bad. I guess I just prefer that straight into tube amp tone. I have been playing for 9 years. I have 7 guitars and 3 amps and a hand full of stomp boxes and this POS. If it were lost or stolen I would be upset as I wouldn't get a trade in value for next time I buy something, or I would replace with a Mesa V-Twin but I would NOT buy this again. I love nothing about it. I hate the distortions. Maybe if it had actual 12AX7 tubes in it. I guess I just outgrew that heavy digital tone a long time ago.

-you can edit patches easily.
-i don't know if the manual is good. i didnt really need it.

-you can play ANY kind of music with it. you can make any amp sound good.
-it's not noisy at all
some of the effects are useless for me, but for some people they are good.
-i have a peavy stereo chorus 400 and a fender 85 watt guitar amp.
-yea, metallica, creed, stevie ray vahn (i can't play like him though), zz top, any country music.

yea. it's dependable.

don't know. never had to fix it.

-i play mostly rock and blues.
-i've played about a year and a half.
-i'd find who stole it and kill them. then i'd get another one.
-it's easy to use and carry. you dont need pedals or anything, just and amp, 2 courds and a guitar.
-i wish it had another pedal so you could have a volume and a wah pedal at the same time. but i just put 2 of the same patches next to each other with one set for wah and the other volume.

I'd have to say that this unit is probably easier to use than it appears on first glance, but at any rate well worth exploring! The easy edit function is a nice touch, though; but once I started digging into this box, I learned it quickly. Although I've been playing for 24 years, this is my first guitar multieffects unit, and I love it. Recommended. Sometimes when you see a processor that looks right-and this is my first new pedal in 14 years-you just gotta try it. This is the right one for me at the right time.

I'm accustomed to experimenting with all sorts of sounds, mostly electronic, using guitar (Les Paul copy modified by Paul Reed Smith years ago, an Ibanez EX350 w\Floyd Rose bar, a Westbury Standard with Dimarzio PAF hum in the saddle, Super-Dist. hum in the bridge, and others), synthesizers, drum machines, sampler, etc. I find this unit to be damn near perfect, except for 2 things sticking in my craw:
you can't have a vol. pedal and wah pedal in the same patch and switchable (which I don't understand, but can easily get around by having adjoining patches identical but having one with wah and one with vol.), and I just noticed that if you change one effect's position in the MANUAL setup-such as preamp-it'll also change ALL others in your patches (that have 'manual' setups) to that same position. In other words, if (in 'manual' mode) for pedal #1 there's 'preamp,' all the other patches that you have with 'manual' will have 'preamp' for pedal #1 as well. I thought this was a defect, but when I checked the 'manual' setting for all the presets (which can't be altered), I noticed "EQ" is set for pedal #1, so it must be in the design. (You'll only notice this if you press the 'manual' button-it won't work for most of the (preset) patches if you use the Control pedal).
Anyway, the sound quality is excellent-things 'glisten'-but without a doubt, I wasn't satisfied until I tweaked and tweaked--then and only then was I delighted with the rich, fat, sparkling colors and tones on this beauty. Oh yeah, the wah is just adequate.

Can I depend on it....only time will tell; but like most of my peers here, I've never had a problem with Boss devices. This box is a good bit more complex than my Metal Zone, though, so I'm crossing my fingers.

Haven't tried.

Excellent. I'm very satisfied. It's the next step for me, and probably all I'll need. I haven't tried many others, but my gut told me this is what I need now.
I choose my weapons carefully, and if I like something enough and the time is right, I'll get it. My music is paramount to me, it reflects my personal vision, but the things I record are all experiments-I never know what will come out onto tape, but I place few limits on what music I create. I have never done anything but original stuff, and do it all myself. This is my new tool and toy. Check it out...

I had it for, hmmm, about 20 minutes and i had 7 completely customized effects without even cracking the manual. The pedal is so easy to use.

i had a zoom gfx707 peice of shit. it made my very nice amp, Hiwatt lead 50 or sumpin like that, sound shitty and it pissed me off. My friend had a Korg AX1000G and i loved the way that thing made his amp just sing. Same story, the sound i get from this machine is just amazing. The distortions tho, they need tinkerin, there arent enuf mids and lows and a little too much trebles. But then again doesnt all effects processors need adjustment?

Well ive had it for 2 days now and im positive ill have this thing for years to come but i cant comment on it now.

I could tell u if i talked to them.

I play metal, but my favorite band to play is Pink Floyd so thats all ive been playing these last few weeks. My favorite song is Echoes. Ive been playing guitar about 5 years. I have the afore mentioned Hiwatt 50 lead and a carvin DC127C. If it were stolen or lost i would be so damn pissed cuz im a busboy and i saved up my first two weeks of working (2 straight weeks im only 16 so its a decent job for my age) and spent it all on this machine. I doubt it would get lost cuz its rather big and its not like im gonna take it to california or something on a gig, the farthest id go is some dark club and id keep a close watch on it. I compared it to the Digitech RP7 and the GT5 and even the GT5 wasnt as good as the GT3. The RP7 was nice and it had some good sounds because of the tube(s) but the GT3 was well worth the extra $60.

Getting a good sound is really easy...once you figure out what you're doing. Learning the in's and outs is tough, but the pay-off is huge!!! Editing is pretty easy when you get the changes wired, but if you ddon't know what you're doing, changing on the fly could get you lost. You really need to know what it is you want to do, or you could spend days looking. The Harmonist is hard as hell to program, and takes forever to change. It sounds really good if you can do it, though.

I use the GT-3 with my Randall full-stack(straight and slant 4x12 cabs) and 120-watt head, or my 50-watt Crate Bass amp (just to be quiet at home). I use my Paul Reed Smith Standard-24, usually with the first or second bridge pick-up for both rhythm and lead tones. Some of the heavy distortions get really loud and feed back, but the limiter can handle that if you use it right. The effects are usually great- I, as of yet, have had no problem with the pedal except for me programming it retarded. I haven't tried to imitate anyone's sound, but I bet it could be done. The pre-programmed "Satch tone" is an excellent distortion. The telecaster effects are very stong, too. I think some of the synths are a little weak, but I don't use them, so I don't care too much. I'm not into trippy sounds, so I leave a lot of the weird patches alone. I like a little compression (which isn't too great on this)and lots of different chorus's. This pedal has a ton of programmable chorus that is great, and totally editable by itself or with other effects. The reverb is really good, too.I can't comment on the amp modeling, because i don't have anything to compare it to. I think it is probably really good, though.

This pedal has really strong metal chassis. The digitech peadals are weak in this area- I don't think they can withstand any real wear and tear I don't really like floor processors for a gig, but this thing kicks ass. I've knocked it all over, and it still works. For a really cheap price, I could even replace it easily if I had to. Most of my playing is really clean so if it busted I could run straight through my amp. However, I don't think it would. I wouldn't recommend using the expression pedal too much, though, because it feels weak. Just get a real wah and volume pedal- they are good investments.

I haven't ever dealt with customer repair, I can't tell you about this part. The pedal hasn't ever needed work, so I don't know.

I play a lot of rock and blues and Christian worship music. I run right through my full stack with no effects for blues, but I get great rock distortions and trippy effects from the GT-3. I've been playing for two years, but don't let that fool you. I'm a trained classical guitarist, and know what I'm doing (for a teenager). I play ni local shows, and at church, and the pedal is totally reliable all the time. I'd probably get another one if it was lost or stolen, but I might buy another floor processor just to try something different. This pedal is sooo cool once you get it figured out. It's harder than most floor boards to use, but there are more effects and more adjustable parameters than anything else. I checked everything out_all the big Digitechs- RP-21, 20, 14D, 2000, KorgAX1000, line 6 POD, Johnson J-station. I think this one is the best I've used. It's tougher, and much higher in quality than the others. I wish the display screen had a digital diagram for the equalizer, and that the expression pedal felt more reliable under my foot. Sometimes I think it is going to snap. It won't, but that's how it feels. I highly recommend this pedal to any and everyone interested in good, high quality, inexpensive effects. Alng with tfree or four smaller stompboxes (tuner, octave, volume and wah) to control every possible parameter, you have yourself a studio worthy set-up. The MIDI capability is a plsu, although my computer programs aren't set up for it yet. That should be really cool.

I like the old days of spinning a knob here and there to dial in certain parameters but, with this much packed into a box, that would make for an awful lot of knobs. After a bit of getting used to, I can change things on the fly pretty fast and everything is real consistent.

I love the sound of this unit. I'm running the melody side of a Chapman Stick through it. The instrument itself sounds wonderful as is so I had to be real careful to select a unit that would enhance, not detract. I'll be adding a second GT-3 to process the bass side.

The unit is not that old so I guess this one is a bit hard to call but it's sure built durably enough. Like any other Boss product, it'll probably out last me.

I play a Chapman Stick through this unit. The style of music ranges from rock to funk to progressive (although not metal). The quality has been outstanding and it's worked very well for everything I want to do. Once I get the twins setup, it'll be even better.

Once I read the manual it was easy to program and edit patches,but I must say the levels on almost everything have to be tweaked so the peaks and valleys match up.

I play a les paul and a schecter a-1 through my gt-3 then into a marshall jmp-1 preamp into a 5150 head into a blue voodoo 4x12 cabinet although lately I've been going from the gt-3 into the 5150.
I tune to a b flat and use heavy guage strings (13-65's) and tons of distortion.The main uses for my gt-3 are the tuner, noise suppressor
and the volume pedal-all of which sound and work great except for the volume pedal.It seems to have a breaking point and doesn't work well for subtle swells that are slow but if you just use it for on/off type use it works fine. The noise suppressor is killer, I can let go of my strings at full volume and it makes no sound or feedback unless I want it too.I set the threshold high and the release low and it does an excellent job-I highly reccommend a boss noise suppressor to anyone who plays any kind of metal!Just remember to run it first in your chain of effects if you're using a pedal, if you're using the gt-3 though program it into a patch that has nothing but the noise suppressor and maybe the foot volume controller thats what seems to work best.Most of the effects sound good but like I said the levels need to be tweaked to your liking.I like the space/echo effects but they sound really harsh and trebly-once again try adjusting levels
and the eq.I also use the sub eq for a slight mid boost to get rid of some of the "mud" that comes with tuning low with lots of distortion.I don't like the phaser/flanger effects they sound boring and plain, pedals are better.I play stuff like slipknot, mudvayne
soulfly and sepultura and my rig works really well for me.but, i'm thinking of getting some pedals for flange/phase effects and just using the gt-3 for the tuner,noise suppressor and volume pedal.

I play live with the gt-3 and abuse the hell out of it, my singer threw water all over it at our last show and it still works fine(although I was pissed)it gets kicked around alot by me and our bass player and comes back for more-it's a boss, built like a tank!I use it without a back up although a back up would be nice in case the memory battery ever failed.Write everything down in case this ever happens cuz reprogramming the whole thing would suck!

Never dealt with Roland and hopefully I never will, I've recorded twice with it and practice every day with it as well as play live all the time and in the 6 months I've owned it I've had no problems.

I play modern metal and the gt-3 is a good match for this style of music but I'm still gonna buy other effects pedals for flange and
phasing effects it lacks in those departments.I've been playing for 14 years and right now I'm pretty happy with my sound, although I'd
like to get a VHT head or a Mesa/Boogie triple rectifier in the future to run in stereo with my 5150.If it were lost or stolen I'd buy another after I beat the crap out of whoever lost or stole it!

After dealing with several different effect units over the years (Digitech, Alesis, Zoom) the GT-3 falls into the so-so. Do yourself a favor and check out all the info you can find on the unit. It comes with a typical Roland manual which makes you feel like you are speaking Tagalog in France.

Yeah, I know everybody else hears noise or can't get the sound thick enough or can't get that elusive 1958 Plexi sound (or whatever). That doesn't mean it isn't there, it just means you need to tweak the sounds a little. I have gotten mine to ALMOST perfectly sound like what I might need for tracking (everything from an SRV style blackface Twin to a Randall solid state black metal grind). If you can't get the sound you want out of it, try bringing global hi eq down 4 db and run the output into an ART tube MP pre or a Tubeworks blue tube.

Metal Metal Metal RULEZ!!! Don't ever buy plastic effects

I've been doing stoner electronic and nothing I've ever used has sounded this good! Throughout my 12 yrs of playing I've tried everything and this box 'does it' for me. I wouldn't use the synth live but it's great for recording, and for those of you who don't like the tracking - PLAY CLEANER!! (just kidding - try running a mild overdrive BEFORE the synth and 160bpm 16ths are no prob)

The GT-3 can be intimidating when you first plug into it, but with a little time and some reading in the user manual, no problems. http://members.tripod.com/bossgt3/ is a good site. Check out the Supplemental user manual. Everything is pretty straight forward, although editing can be time consuming.

I'm playing a Amer. Stand Strat directly into the GT-3 and running straight into a Church PA system (church seats approx. 1000). I'm running back to my amp from the direct box so I can control my own monitor. I love this effects pedal. I can get a good "acoustic sound" out of my Strat. Not an acoustic guitar out of it, but and acoustic sound. My acoustic-electric Yamaha sounds really good through the GT-3 with some chorus/delay and EQing.

You can get basically every sound you could want. I've read in these reviews that the distortions suck, but... Tweaking is involved. Most of the presets have to be redone/thrownout. Reverb and delay are very good. The unit, overall, is very quiet. Heavy distortions can be noisy, but that's the way it's supposed to be. Wah is lacking, but I haven't had time to tweak it. I usually play with a Vox Wah, and can't quite get the sound I want. This unit also has some wacky sound -effects. You can get some string/pad/space sounds. I might have some use for these, but the church band also has two keyboard players who handle that stuff... Most guitarists aren't going to have any practical use for these, but they're fun to play with. I've only had it for about two weeks and haven't had a lot of time to explore all the possibilites.

It's built to last. All-Metal chasis. No backup.

Only had it for about 2 weeks. No problems so far...

I play in a church that does a little (very little) southern gospel, funk, pop/rock. I also play blues, rock, acoustic (Third Day, Delirious). The GT-3 lets me get all the sounds I want and more. I would definitely get another one if I lost it. I had a Zoom 505 before (crap), I also own a Ibanez Tubescreamer TS-9, and a Vox Wah-Wah. I don't use any of them anymore, except the vox occasionally (I'm hoping to tweak the settings on the GT-3 and do away with the Vox as well). I just love playing through it. The sound I get out of it gives me goose-bumps. LOVE IT!!