Boss GT-3

Requires some time to get into. After you become familiar with the process it becomes quite intuitive.

Use with American Strat and front end with a stereo power amp to twin Celestian boxes. Sound is nothing short of tremendous. With some tinkering the sounds can be quite realistic (Don't really want to go there!!! What is the right sound?)

Only had for a short period of time. It is built like a tank!!

Haven't req'd any support

Have tried just about everything. I have a background in audio speaker design and just wasn't getting the sound that I LIKED until I decided to go with the seperates approach. Don't think I will look back from here.

I found it very easy to use, though i must admit at first it was intimidating, but once you start porgraming it really isn't all that hard. The manual kinda sucks, i mean it explains everything but to obviously, like it'll say metal1 distortion is a powerful metal distiortion and metal2 is a metal distortion that is harmonically differernt (or something just as useless)That doesn't really help me.

Honestly it's best run in stero. Mono sounds pretty good but stero is 1000 better, even for mono patches. I'm not all that particular i think an effect is an effect, and any effect can be used somewhere. But i think basically everything sounded great to me except for the harmonizer and the preamp sim. The harmonizer's tracking can really drag behind and the pre amps sound great as long as you stick to the low gain models. The soldano and 5150 and such really don't sound that hot at all. One last thing, it has a virtual effects chain which is maybe the best thing i've ever seen in a unit, gives you so many more options. Also it's laid out very well, though it's complicating you have sooooooo much control over the sound it's amazing

yI would gig with out a back up. It's solid as long as you take care of it

never tried

I've been using the Boss GT-3 for about 3 months now and I'd have to
say that it is very easy to use. And I haven't even used the 'EZ edit'
feature. However, I've been playing for quite some time I've had a bit
of experience with using numerous rack mount effects and stomp boxes.
If you're a beginner, you might be a little overwhelmed with the
multitude of choices and parameters at first. But the whole thing is
well engineered and laid out very logically. One particularly nice
feature is the 'manual' mode, where you can turn on/off up to 6
effects in an individual patch, just like you were using a series of
stomp boxes. You can get a lot of mileage out of just one patch! The
instruction manual is helpful so you should read it to make sure
you're set up correctly and to get a good idea of what's available to
you, but it could have been a bit more thorough in some areas.

I'm using Carvin DC-200 and DC-135 guitars into the GT-3 which runs
directly to a Rocktron Velocity 250 power amp and a Marshall 4x12
cabinet. I've seen a few complaints on this site about noise, bad
distortions, lousy pre-sets, etc. Personally, I do not agree. The
preamps and distortions/overdrives all sound accurate for what they
are emulating, and each have lots of variables and EQ to dial in just
what you want. You've got nice overdrives, fat metal distortions,
psychedelic retro fuzz, and everything in between. The factory presets
give you just a taste of what this thing can do. For me, I found a lot
of great sounds right off the bat, but I had to do a bit of tweaking
to get ones that sounded like 'me'. I've been using the Turbo
Overdrive into the 'Clean Twin' preamp to get the general crunchy tone
I was looking for. The flanger, chorus, delay, harmonizer, and phaser
surpass all others I've ever used. The wah is okay, but not as good as
my Cry-Baby. The acoustic simulator does a decent job emulating an
acoustic with a piezo pickup. In the context of a full live band, it
does the job if you don't want to haul a real acoustic around for just
a couple of songs, or if you need to jump to an acoustic right in the
middle of a mainly electric song. The synth sounds are kinda nice to
have available, but be sure to play cleanly and accurately for it to
track correctly. I haven't really delved into some of the other stuff
like the humanizer, slicer, and ring modulator too much yet, but
they're interesting effects that could yield great new sounds in the
hands of the right creative mind. The thing you've got to understand
that this is an extremely versatile unit here, folks. It's designed to
satisfy everyone from an ultra clean country bluegrass picker, to a
screaming death metal maniac, to a general classic rocker or jazzer.
You're not necessarily going to love everything in there. What sounds
like crap to one player may sound perfect to another. It depends on
what you want to hear and what you're used to playing. The key is to
take a little time and patience to get to know the GT-3 and you WILL
find just what you're looking for, plus some other stuff that can spark new ideas.

I've used Boss' products for years without problems, and I'm not
expecting any trouble with this one. It seems built to last. I'd use
it without a back-up.

I haven't had the need for it yet.

I play original progressive rock (in the vein of Marillion, Rush,
Genesis, Yes, Pink Floyd, etc.. Go to www.progrock.net/Bands/Iluvatar
for info) and I found everything I was looking for (and more) in this
unit: excellent sounds (fat smooth overdrives/distortions, brilliant
sparkling clean tones), ultra-flexible programming, simplicity,
reliability, all in one compact unit. It can be used with your amp or
direct into a PA or studio mixer. I even found a Boss GT-3 users site
(http://members.tripod.com/bossgt3/) where you can get more info,
download patches from other users, and get free PC software for the
GT-3 to back up all of your patches. The only thing I struggled with
at first was how to conveniently arrange all my patches for live use.
There's a number of different ways you can set things up for yourself,
you just have to decide what is going to work best for you. My one
concern is wether or not I'll be able to read the display during
occasional outdoor performances. Overall, as an artist, I feel I have
a huge palette of great sounds at my disposal with the Boss GT-3, and
I haven't even begun to tap into it's full potential. You get serious
bang for your buck here. If it was lost or stolen, I'd definitely buy
another.

I personally think it is very easy to get good sounds out of this unit. One important factor, though. I think it is important to have versatile gear.
Editing patches is easy: There are 2 functions.
EZ edit and "normal" edit
EZ edit allows you to have an overall idea of the sound you are looking for.
If you are picky about your sound, you better know what all the parameters do, because there are a lot.
I was disappointed in the manual though. In a way, you don't really need it, but some sections are omitted for some reason. I'm the type of guy that reads the whole manual to see ALL the features. How can you master your gear if you don't have all the info?
I don't think this has been updated. It is an update from the GT-5 in a sense that it has more effects AND better price. The A/D conversion is even better than the GT-5!

I'm using a Fender Strat made in Mexico, with a Fender Princeton 112 Plus combo. I plug the GT-3 in the power amp in and then control the volume with the knob behind the GT-3.
Well it is noisy for 2 reasons:
1)pickups on Strat hum (but sound better)
2)Excess gain on distortion/OD.
But every guitar player encounters hum when gain goes up, so nothing different so far.
The effects are amazing! The clean sounds are just beautiful! The distortions are not bad either, but the preamps are better. Some presets w/distortion are really, really good! But this unit is probably more efficient in the studio than live. I imagine that if you plug in a Les Paul, you might only want to use the clean sounds, because Les Pauls have so much attitude as is that adding digital distortion to it will be just stupid.
My amp is a Fender Princeton 112 Plus 65W RMS.
You can get pretty much any sound you want. My favorite artists are Dean Deleo, John Petrucci, Joe Pass, ... You can get all those sounds, but don't abuse them! The abuse of effects is what gives bad reviews to these floor processors.
I personally favor all of the COSM vintage/analog sounds on this. They are very realistic! It just feels weird to hear huge sounds on a small cheap amp.

It's made of metal and I think you can depend on it.
I would use it on a gig without a backup for sure, but I haven't tried it out yet. Only in the studio so far.
I give it an 8, because it's a Boss and haven't used it enough yet.

Never had to deal with the company.

I play all kinds of music. I even plan to use this with my bass gear.
It is what I should've bought a long time ago! This is a perfect match considering that I am asked to play in sessions from country to metal, so...
I have been playing guitar for 9 years now. I own: Marshall Stack JCM-900, Les Paul, V-Twin, Rat, DR-202, DD-3, VS-880, Warwick Thumb bolt on, SWR amp,...
I would buy it again because it's a great deal and extremely convenient.
I love the fact that this simple piece of metal takes most of my time, and as soon as I turn it off, I want to plug back in again. I hate the fact that it slightly buzzes or hums and if you touch the unit, it goes away. My favorite feature is probably the preamp section! The fact that you can go from a clean chorus/delay/reverb sound to a fat STP radio OD in a split second.
I compared it to all the floor processors. I tried Digitech but did not like it at all. Even had the money for the GT-5, but opted for the GT-3 because I believe it sounds better. Sound is my priority, and this unit is the one with the highest A/D conversion, the most effects, the best reputation and COSM. If you own a VS, you know how cool and useful this feature is!
I wish it had tubes maybe? But it's hard to tell!
Yes, it definitly helps my music. It brings diversity in songs that pretty much used to have 2 or 3 different sounds.
Make your own opinion on this. Go out and try it for yourself. See if this is what you need. Apply it to what you would use it for. I have read everything I could find on the web and magazines about this unit and even checked these reviews that helped a lot!
GO OUT AND TRY IT FOR YOURSELF!!!

It was delivered at 4:30 PM. I went on stage with it at 8:00 PM. I'd always used stomp boxes - never even seen a processor up close before. Bought it on a whim. Got zillions of presets, so I spent a couple of hours listening to presets, wrote down the ones I pretty much liked, and loaded them up front to be easy to get to. Most of the clean presets were pretty good. Most of the dirty ones were apparently chosen by computer nerds who wouldn't know a good guitar tone if it busted their eardrums. Had a *horrible* time getting the volume levels even enough to use live. Some presets way too quiet, others much too loud, even at the lowest exp pedal setting. It was no sound at all or way too loud, no in between.

The next week I spent a lot of time editing patches. It was easy, but I still read the manual. I don't use the "EZ Edit" feature. The manual isn't that great - maybe because it seems to me that I should be able to do some things that the manual doesn't tell me how to do. Maybe the unit doesn't do what I want it to, I don't know.

PRS or a Strat or a Tele into GT3 into Fender Tube Amp at first. Headphones at home, sometimes. Live shows anymore, I just plug it into the board so I don't have to bring an amp. I still bring my own wah pedal, though. I can't stand the wah on the GT3. Unit is only noisy on high-gain patches. Most preset patches are too over-processed. Too much chorus and delay and stuff. Too much distortion, not enough balls. They *can* be fixed, mostly. Start by ignoring the pedal OD's and use the amp models for drive. They're all good if you treat them like the amp they imitate.

The chorus, delay, tremolo, vibrato effects are super. The flanger and the wah are truly weak. The auto-wah is OK, if you turn off the pedal-pusher and use it as a filter only. The acoustic simulation is a joke, as is the pickup simulation. The harmonizer isn't as good as my HR-2, even though I thought it should be identical (they're both BOSS, right?). The auto-riff, slicer, and most of the other "modulation" effects are wasted chip memory. I wish I could use 2 mod effects or 2 special effects at once, but I don't think I can. I use the synth presets sometimes when I'm feeling silly. Haven't worked up the nerve to try to edit those patches yet, though.

It's heavy, metal, and appears sturdy. But the manual tells you to carry it around in the box it came in, which is like real thick cardboard. Is it that fragile? If so, why don't they make like an anvil case for it? I'm confused!

There's not even a phone # in the manual to call if you need help. The manual appears to be translated from the Japanese (what is an "assumed" expression pedal? Or an "internal control pedal"?). How do you get in touch with these people if you don't have your own computer to access their website? Apparently, they're unlisted...

This pedal works great for the style I play - clean, or clean-on-the-edge country, blues, classic rock. I bought it so I wouldn't have to schlep around two or three suitcases full of stompboxes. It does *not* sound as good as my stompbox chain! It's just more convenient, and that's why I bought it. After 35 years of playing out, I now judge the quality of a show by two parameters: 1- How much does it pay? ;and 2- How easy is it going to be to load in and out? I'll still use my pedals in the studio, where sound quality is the goal. But the GT3 ain't bad. Now I don't even pack an amp - just my guitar, my wah, the GT3, and cables.

I still think it should allow me to create a patch and use the ctl pedal to change more than one parameter of the patch, then toggle back. Some songs need more than four different guitar sounds, and I'd rather use the ctl pedal than change banks up and down. I wish it had a good wah. I wish I had like an anvil case for it - I carry it wrapped in one of my daughter's old blankies. Does it help me make music? Yeah, I guess some of the zany sounds help get me out of a rut sometimes. Does it get in the way ? Yeah, when I want to make it do something it won't do, and I start pining for my stomp boxes again. But overall, it's a plus and it saves my tired old back. Especially when there's lots of stairs!

This unit was purchased to replace a Digitech RP-5. I did alot of serious research into what would be he best unit for my needs, within a specific price range. During my research, I never once considered ease of use to be a factor. I'm rather technically inclined and I usually figure these things out. Having said that, my initial impression was that the RP-5 was an easier unit to figure out, out of the box. I was very wrong. Within a day or two, I was changing patches and exploring all of the different effects and patches that I could create. The Alphanumeric screen helps a great deal. Digitech went cheapo on their stuff by making most of their screens numeric. The GT-3 hit the other spectrum. You really know what your doing and where you are in this thing. No doubt about it. Easy to get a good sound??? Absolutely!

I use the GT-3 in two specific situations. In rehearsal, I plug into the MAIN IN of a Roland JCM-120. I set the Utility section to "Guitar Combo (Power Amp)" and I'm humming. In performance, the only thing that changes, is that I am using a Peavey Bandit instead of the Roland amp. In both cases, I am using either a HAMER strat or a custom guitar built by myself. They both have DiMarzio pickups (Steve's Special in the bridge and Air Norton in the neck). The Sound Quality is mind boggling. The variety of tones that one can get here is amazing. Not only does BOSS include COSM amp modelings of Marshalls, VOX, Fenders, Soldanos, and the peavey 5150, but you also have the choice of using BOSS distortion pedals. i.e. if you want to use BOSS's Overdrive pedal, there is a digital model of it.

Once you get the tone you want, you have an unbelievably beautiful chorus, a heart wrenching flange, a deep phaser, a very good harmonizer, shitloads of verb and delay.....the list goes on. And they're all quieter than a dead mute.

I play in a Journey tribute band...one of the important parts of my job, is to duplicate Neal Schon's tone as closely as possible. Within 3 days of owning this thing, I was able to NAIL down his tone for the ESCAPE album and get good ones for the others. (However, I plan to sit down and get each tone perfect for each song)

Well, I haven't had it long enough to claim that it's indestructable. One of the things that sold me on this unit, was reading an interview with Victor Johnson (Sammy Hagar's guitarist), who plays the GT-5. He said that his unit has had beer spilled on it, dropped from high heights....etc...etc...That's important to me, I tend to be tough on equipment. I need something that'll survive.

As for what I think of the unit, It's completely encased in metal. Very sturdy construction. Not like the digitech, DOD and ZOOM shit...where it's either all plastic or a combination of plastic and metal.

I've never had to deal with Roland on this unit (Fingers crossed) soI dont have much of an opinion.

As for Rolands web site, it's NOT very informative. It needs to have more information about the unit and a PDF of the instruction manual.

I play rock. However, this thing is good for any style of music. ANY!
If it were stolen, I would track down the son-of-a-bich that stole it, cut off the balls and feed them to him. Once he was done feasting, I'd shot him dead. Then I'd go out and buy another GT-3.

If you're gonna get effects, dont buy DIGITECH, ZOOM or DOD....they're ALL shit compared to the GT-3!!!!!

I've had it for a week. It's simple to use and edit presets but I haven't quite mastered the pedal assignment feature. The manual is OK-but could use more specific examples.

I'll be using two ways. On acoustic duo gigs using a Dano Convertible direct through the PA and, with a band, a Yamaha AES800 through a Peavey Studiopro 112. I love the clean sounds. I'm still working on overdrive.

I play a country, blues, funky hybrid. This thing is near perfect. I've been playing twenty years. The Gt-3 replaced a Line 6 AX2. I'll have more versatility now since I can use for acoustice gigs.

I was browsing through these reviews hoping to find someones comments and insights on this unit. Guess i gotta go first. I'm brand new to multi effects. my prior rig (haven't sold anyof it yet) was- Fender Am. Std. Strat, Vox gold Ltd. ed. Wah,2 Boss Blues Drivers,Voodoo Lab Microvibe, old echoplex, Fender reissue reverb, '65 Fender bassman head w/ 2x12 closeback cab. I'm still learning to use the GT-3, but so far it's very promising. quite easy to get good sound just from the preset patches. very simple also to edit the patches.The manual was surprisingly simple to understand, but I found myself refering back to it quite a bit as I'm still learning. I've played for 30 years (SRV, Hendrix, Blues, Classic Rock) using Boss stomp boxes analog equipment. I have resisted digital multi-effects because of my fear of them being over complicated. I think I've made a change for the better because of all the possibilities this unit has to offer sonically.

So far no problems whatsoever, have done six gigs thus far. Carry a blues driver with me just in case.

Called Roland tech to ask about what I could not find in manuel. It was there I just did not know where to look. They were extremely helpful and courteous. I feel like I can call anytime.

The only issue I have with the unit is that it takes alot of time if you are unfamiliar with digital multi-effects to learn how to get the best sound out of it. There is an incredible amount of variations that can be programmed into it. My blues driver had three knobs. This is like a floor pedal with a thousand knobs. The downside is it takes time, the upside is you can get any sound you are after. I would love to hear fom anybody else that has been working with this unit so possibly we can save each other time if one or the other has found settings for particular sound (srv, hendrix etc.) that we can share.

I purchased the GT-3 from musician's friend catalog and had to wait for 2 months to get it! It was back ordered, and there were 60 other people in front of me on the order list. The wait was worth it though, because when I opened the box and went to playing with it, I got a pretty good sound right off the bat. The manual was easy to read, and in just a few minutes I was editing variables with ease. It was much easier to program than an old Digitech rackmount with MIDI footswitch a friend of mine had that I used to borrow.

My setup is an ESP M-250 LTD guitar and a M-80 Pro Fender half-stack. I also sent the GT-3 through a Fender Champion 110 small amp. It sounded better with the stack, but the little amp still had a decent sound when the EQ was tweaked just right(bring up the low end). The unit was incredibly quiet on most settings. The only settings that were a little loud were those that emulated other amps that I know are a little noisy anyway (you have to be true to the sims!) I think that most of the effects are really of a good quality. I record in a home project studio direct into a computer through a mixer, and the GT-3 has produced some of the best tones (after tweaking presets of course) I have recorded to date. The best thing was that it gave me that thick distortion that I like. It also had a good clean sound for chords and the like. You can get good metallica, Korn, NIN, and ministry sounds if you know what preset to start from. I like a lot of gothic and dark music that is melodic also and the crunches give about the right amount of dist and clean to not overdrive this type of music. The only thing I could do without was the country settings and some of the synth and ring modulators (I don't see the use of the telephone other than getting your friends to go "what is that!?!"). All of the other effects come on handy depending on what you want (overdrive, blues, jazz) and with a little work do well for those styles.

I have not taken it on a gig because I have been in the studio working on a demo. For this purpose it has been great. I can really torque the expression pedal, and it takes the abuse just fine. The only thing I would suggest is maybe dropping the display further down into the machine to help prevent scratches. I would probably use it without a backup, but I hate to be unprepared so would have something in reserve just in case. It is DEFINITELY tougher than any other of the plastic pedals I have tried though.

I haven't dealt with them, but I think that the amount of time the unit was on back-order should have been shorter.

I play a lot of melodic mixed with heavy rhythym music. I have found that this unit fits my needs really well. I have been playing for about 5 years, and have tried a lot of styles before finding my own and the GT-3 just helps me develop that further. If it were stolen or lost, I would probably get the insurance money and order it that day. It's quality is the reason for this. I have not found another all-in-one unit that has the sonic quality of the GT-3, and I tried a ton before ordering it. The only thing that would make this unit better would be a dedicated tuner/bypass pedal (I know this has been a subject of controversy, but I like to have the CTL do it's true function for the patch) and have the pedals revert to the previous patch when you hit it again. All in all, if you are looking for a good project-studio quality pedal, the GT-3 is the way to go.

Have to say that I am not a BIG techno geek. The manual and color coding on the board are outstanding

Awesome sound. I play a Fender Strat with a Fender chorus amp. This is a very quiet clean sound anyway. The effects pedal takes it to another limit. People are complaining about the distortion but I find it to be OK. These people must be metal heads or something. The only complaint that I have is that variances on sound levels when switching sounds.

Rock STEADY, even my bassett hound steps on it without any problems

N/A

Best effects pedal on the market today. You get Roland quality sound with a bullet proof case. I would buy this again. I can't wait to take it out an play some gigs with it.