Boss GT-3

well... as a previous boss user i know the drill about sound editing so it was pretty easy for me to get a good sound.. just about 10 minutes and i replicated some of the sounds that i've programmed in my previous unit(boss me-10)

about editing patches you have 12 modules, its easy to edit if you use basic effects but if you want like 8 or more its kinda tricky specially the pedal/assign module and the manual it's not that explanatory

the manual is quite big in size but sometimes its confusing in its terms but if you know about guitar effects it can be pretty easy

Firmware.. well i bought used so i dont know if the previous owner updated the firmware, but i really doubt it because im in mexico and its not that easy to do that in here

well my rig it's easy one dean playmate an washburn(cheap model) and a SG clone a dunlop crybaby standard, a zoom hyper lead distortion unit the boss gt-3 and my 40w amp

this unit if it is properly configured it can be quite noiseless(it has a noise supressor) the only noise i detect it,s my CRT computer monitor but it's normal i just turn it off and the noise its gone

if you like tweaking your effects it can be a pretty good unit, however some preset's can do job very well, the weak effects are the harmonizer, sometimes cant track very well unless you do some tweaks, the wah(lack's of frequency Q) the acoustic simulator its good but its a simulator so you wont be fooling anyone.. also the synth it's pretty lame specially when tracking but again it's a multi effect not a dedicated unit(also i dont use it) now the good features about thing... the modulation module its quite good, chorus, flanger, phaser slow gear and slicer(one of my favorite ones), it has great distortions(analog circuit) so it can do the job but then itgoes trough the other digital effects so it loses some of the magic, the pre amps are quite good but emulated i think in amp simulation the best right now are line 6, good delays . good EQ's a fair reverb also the auto riff its a good feature to do some weird noises and my personal favorite the manual mode, with this you can enable disable 7 effects

i like creating my sounds but also like to sound like others with this you can get close to that but un less you have some of you favorite artist rig you cant get the exact sound however with this you can get really close and even fool some amateurs

i never gig with my gt-3 but soon i will and i think it will do the job pretty well

i previously own a boss and i gig with it and i have no problem

in a gig sure i will use it with a backup its a boss so it can resist anything its build with metal and by the way its used but the brand its reliable

i never dealt with boss here in mexico because there are nowhere to go

my previous unit (boss me-10) fail me a month ago and the gt-3 its the succesor but the old unit and i mean old was 12 years old of extreme abuse so it did last pretty well

i play mainly rock(from chuck berry to new stuff and all in between) so this thing can match up really good an i can get almost every sound i like, also a like to experiment with electronic music, conceptual music so the unit and some of the effects can really create an unique sound

i've been playing since 2003 and i used a lot of gear(1 digitech,4 zoom, 1 korg, 3 boss) when i got my previous boss unit i decided to stay with the brand and it was a good choise

if it get stolen i would love to get another one back but its quite hard to find it here so i will upgrade to a gt-8 or a gt-10

i love the distortion unit because its analog circuit and the selection of effects, and as i say i love the manual mode and the CTL because i can switch from distorted to clean in the same patch or turn on/off any efeccts, ant the chain order feature it really helps when creating souns

now i own my first multi/fx a digitech Rp 50 and there is no point of comparision but i still use it to practice or when i dont want to carry the goos stuff,

also i have 2 zoom units the 707II that was my first good look at tweaking and i still love some of the sounds but the unit its on sale an the new g2 wich i found very easy to use and i use to practice or jamming and finally my crybaby wich i use it in every gig and the gt-3 cant substitute this one

i wish it has a on/off switch for the expression pedal but that feature came on the gt-6 but with some tweaking i can virtually do it

sorry dude the boss gt3 has got a battery in it its like the size of a quarter
,hummm???? is anything he said true? lol
i didnt know it had one either ,and i have one, but yes its got one in there

great equipment though!

Ive heard people say that this pedal is complicated to use its hard for me to say as ive used a few boss gt pedals so when i got this pedal it was all familiar to me... i think if anyone has a small amount of expirience with multi effects will find their way around this unit no problems

I got this GT3 after my boss gt8 was damaged at a gig (cracked screen) i bought it cheap of a freind as a temp until my gt8 was fixed.... i must say i was blown away at how good the gt3 was its sound quality is amazing i only really use a few effects like delay and chorus and it does it perfectly with pleanty of room to edit, the overdrives in this thing are great to and cover pretty much any style... i never really used the preamp modelling in my gt8 as went straight into the amp the gt3 has a few amp models that sound great but if you want a pedal to run direct with amp modelling i dont think the gt3 is for you.. i use this gt3 with a few stomp boxs and it works pefectly with them.. all in all a very good sounding pedal that sits well with any set up

built like a tank

very very good.. boss have always had good customer support.. my power supply was damaged at a gig and they sent me a new one free of charge

I love this pedal and will probably use it live instead of the gt8... i love the size of this pedal as it fits in my pedal board also it only seems to have effects that are very usable (apart from auto riff) and not full of pointless gimicks like on most multi effects... this is definetly more a pedal to use with an amp rather than direct as the amp moddeling is not up there with the likes of line 6 and the gt6/8/10.... it works well with other pedals im using it with an ibanex tube screamer, boss blues drives and a vox wah all running straight into the front end of a vox ac30.. overall a pro sounding pedal that is built like a tank

I just wanted to correct the previous review on the site to download the user manual, the correct site is www.media.rolandus.com/manuals/GT-3_OM.pdf

good luck!!!

I found it very easy to use after downloading the manual... (media.rolundus.com/manuals/GT-3_OM.pdf)is where you'll find it. The sounds I got at home (for the most part) weren't usable at a gig, though. Some definite tweaking came into play.
The patches are easy to edit, once you learn how.

I'm using a stratocaster thru a yamaha G100-210 amp at home...and a marshall hybrid half stack with a crate 212 at gigs.
It's very noisy on any of the distortion settings.
The effects sound great at home, but, thin and harsh at the gig.
I need to learn how to tweak them some more, I guess.
As of yet, I've not been able to re-create the sounds of any of my favorite artists with the thing, but, I'd love to be able to get Stevie Ray's sound as well as Skynyrd's sound.

I just need to play with it for awhile...I'm sure it's everything I need.

I haven't dealt with the company.

I play Classic Rock, Blues & red dirt Country, I've been playing for 30 yrs.
I would buy another one if I could get it as cheap as I got this one.
I'm bound and determined to make it work for me. I've always heard great things about BOSS products, so I'll keep tweaking until I can't tweak no-more!!!

I have been playing for 7 years and been through several multi-effects including Boss ME- 50, also spent three years piecing together stomp boxes. I never could get the right sound. The GT-3 came along about a year ago and corrected that right away. To get your sound with any effect it takes time tweaking your amp, effects, and guitar to match each other perfectly. This unit does take a lot of time get to know and to find your perfect sound. Bu to get professional quality it takes that amount of time with any effect. Since it is base completely in menus instead of knobs like ME-50 it does take more time. But the possibilities are exponential comparatively. The manual is only helpful if you know nothing about the unit. Then you unless you know tech specifics it still doesn't help much. Once you get familiar the patches are somewhat easy to use.

Currently I am using this with the left output into P.A. and the right out into a raven RG-60 for stage sound. My Guitar is a Godin SD hot rod with Duncan vintage rails in the neck cool rails in the middle and dime bucker in the bridge. With the hot pickups the distortions are not necessary if you use middle or high gain in the preamp. The Tuner can be use as bypass and it sounds very clear. The wah effect is great. In any given bank i use one patch with an edited sound, that same sound in the next bank tweaked with a solo/ delay sound, the next patch tweaked for use with Wah Wah, and the last patch same sound with a heaver sound. I have never had luck with the Acoustic simulation. It is easier to find a good clean sound and add chorus. Or use an acoustic with anti feedback through a electric amp if it is necessary.

This thing is solid i move it anywhere from ten to fifteen time a week. It is Boss, It will last.

Never had to use it.

I play mainly Praise and worship. But i also have played blues and country. I have been playing for seven years and in large church and venues for five. I also Have an old harmony rocket modified with Emg's that play through a York man bass amp I own several basses and acoustics. I sold all of my effects when I got this. Which included Ibanez weeping demon, tudescremer (ts-9), Rat distortion, digitech blues drive, boss Metal Zone, Super chorus, Digital delay (DD-5, and DD-6) Chromatic tuner,MXR phase 90, and Ernie ball volume pedal. I had all the good stuff but since i move around so much it was a huge hassle to set up. Know i plug in three cords and i am done

I made new sounds for the gt3 with exelent reports from friends,and other profesional musicians.I tried the gt8,and attempted similar sound modifications,but the sounds were not as rich and powerfull like my gt3.Last year i use it live in concert and everyone kept looking were my sound was coming from because they did not see any amp,because i plugged directly to the PA console,and all the musicians were very impressed by the sound from this small unit.i will not trade my machine for any other.
Sinserelly Herman Nieves

Excellent sound,i use it for recording straight to my recording gear.I can soun from joe satriani,ingwie malmsteen or steve vai when i want,just pushing one botton.

always,i dont have a backup gear.I stop using stomp boxes years ago after i got my gt-3.

Never.

I play from rock,jazz,neo clasical,latin,etc.Been playing guitar for 28 years.and recording for 19.I test different boxes from diferent companies and sice i'm very picky about my sound nothing had given a more precise sound than boss pedals,and for that reason i tried the gt-3,and the result was more that i expected.

I have had this for seven years now and feel like adding an update, as many people have been pretty harsh about this unit. I do agree, however, that getting a good sound out of this requires some tweaking. I got "my" sound by first taking away everything from a patch, adding a bit of reverb and delay and then letting my amp and my Marshall Guvnor make the sound. This worked for years and when you count in the GT-3??s tuner, it was still a good deal - I would need three pedals for that basic set-up. The manual was not too helpful, but luckily a lot of good resources can be found on the Internet

I??m using the GT-3 with the Marshall Guvnor and an Artec Soloist Distortion in the effects loop. My main guitar is a Gibson RD Artist and my amp is a Marshall Bluesbreaker with a Marshall Power Brake. For years I was perfectly happy with my sound and I could use it for the different genres I play, but a couple of months back I joined a heavy rock band and I had to found some new sounds - specifically a distorted, compressed rhytm sound at a low volume. Imagine my delight when a GT-3 patch - 5150 Drive - provided exactly that with no tweaking at all. And I also rediscovered the JC-120 chorus sound which I now often use as my clean sound. I guess my point is: The GT-3 is a serious piece of equipment. It??s just that it is not that easy to make your own sounds with - especially not for guitarists who aren??t used to scrolling through menus

I have used it for seven years now without a back-up. It??s a Boss - `nough said

Have never had to contact Roland

I have been playing guitar for 32 years. As I said, I have been playing the Boss GT-3 for seven of those. Every time I have been thinking about removing it from my set-up - coz everybody knows that "real musicians don??t use multi-effects" - I have reconsidered, soz I have always used the GT-3 - and now I use it more than ever. If it was stolen I would certainly buy another one - especially since they are pretty cheap these days

I found the GT-3 very easy to get a good sound out of and relatively easy to tweak. I don't use any of the preset patches but editing is fairly simple. I use it only for effects and midi-switching of my amp channels.

I use the GT-3 with various Ibanez guitars, and Peavey amps. My main amp is a Peavey JSX 120 watt head but I also use an Ultra 112 combo. I use the midi out on the GT-3 to an Axxess electronics CFX4 to change channels on both the JSX and Ultra combo. It works fantastic and gives me the quality effects that I need. Reverb, delay, and mod effects plus EQ for a solo boost etc... I run the GT-3 in the effects loop of my amps and it is very quiet and does not affect the tone negatively.

Rock solid. I just purchased a second one used but have had mine for over 10 years without any problems. I have one at our practice space and the second one coming for home use.

Boss is rock solid. Never even had to call them.

The GT-3 works great and to this day I can't find anything better for near the cost you can get them used.

I really need to find a manual (I bought it off a friend) But, Using the presets, It's really easy, and it sounds great. It's great for playing live because you can switch from tone to tone very easily.

I would say it's okay. Personally, I think I've gotten better tones out of individual effects pedals, But, For having so many tones at access with such ease, There really is nothing to compare it to. I'm running it through my Line 6 Spider III, If you own one of these, Leave the channel on Clean (I add a touch of reverb too) Or else it will sound like utter crap.

I've only had it for a week or so, But, I would say it's pretty reliable, I'm not in a position to really judge it on a life or death matter, because most of my songs are played on a slightly distorted channel to begin with (That I can achive with my amp) I really just use it for the cool effects (Flock of Seagulls type effects)

I play Down-Tempo Industrial, and this thing really gets the job done, since 90% of my show is improvised B.S., This thing helps really make it something worth while, I really can't say anything bad about it, except that on some settings it doesn't sound very sharp (Noticebly so) But that's perfect if you're looking for a little bit of dirt. Also, Some of the tones on there are just stupid (Like Casio tones) Telephones, Helicopters, so on and so fourth. I don't personally use them, But if that floats your boat, then by all means, go for it. If you can find one for under $175, I'd say go for it without thinking twice. Don't pay more than $250-$300 for it though, Not that it wasn't worth it at one time, But you can find it for alot cheaper. I bought mine off a co-worker who just needed extra money and really didn't want the thing for $30. He bought it used for $150, From a guy who bought it new at $200, if that gives you any idea.

Its not that easy to use but, once you play around with it you'll get the idea. Editing the patches requires knowledge of the programming behind their make up.
The manual is very technical, it takes some logic to understand. no firmware included in this. Its a straight up stand alone unit

I can definantly achieve the sound of my favorite artists. They include mostly metal performers such Van halen, metallica, As I lay dying, Godsmack, lamb of God but, I can also get Hendrix and clapton on this as well. This unit will give you the sound but, its up to you and your fingers to play it.
I play through a fender front man and it sounds great despite playing through a small practice amp. A lot of people complain that it sounds cold, sterile, and digital however, it sounds that way because those people have no clue on how to properly configure it.
Here is a key tip for you all. On the output setting, use the LIne out headphone setting if your playing through any amp smaller then a Combo or stack (in other words if your playing through a practice amp). If you do set it to combo or stack output setting while playing through a practice amp, set the amp's treble and bass EQ to 1 and playing around with the MID. If you leave all the amps EQ's in the middle at 5 it's going to sound trebly. IT will sound that way since the Stack and Combo setting is meant to be played through 30" speakers which have the boom that even out the treble. Does this make sense now? Once modifying your amps eq's to the way I mentioned before, your unit will have the smoothness and warmth you want. Again, boss produces pro studio quality equipment. This is not a toy like the line 6 POD's. The GT-3 requires precise settings to get your sound and Unlike the line 6 stuff the boss GT-3 has the right balance of depth and volume. I owned the POD xt and although the sound seemed dead on to what I wanted, it lacked a convincing volume presence that can project your sound forward.. Digitech is a joke and bigger toy then line 6. The sound is thick digital and amateur.
I'm giving the Gt-3 an 8 because the GT-6 gets a 10 for having broader features.

I play metal, rock, classic rock. The GT=3 small and can produce any sound you want, heck of a good match for me.
Been playing for 8 years, own a bunch of ESP EC guitars and an epiphone gothic all of which sound great through this. As mentioned before boss really blows away line 6, digitech or korg.
Only thing I wish it had was step activation wah but, programming the control button to activate the wah during a patch can compensate for that. In fact it motivates me to use the wah even more.
Definantly inspires me to play music. The sound projects and cuts through the mix. this is a great unit. I'm never abandoning boss ever again. Took Boss for granted before because I had an untrained ear but, I'm a much better player now and can hear the difference boss makes against their competitors

This is an update, of sorts: I reviewed the GT-3 a long time ago, and I was surprised to see that people were stil interested in the old box, so I thought I'd stick my nose in again.

If you're used to multi-effects, the GT-3 is pretty straightforward; if you're used to pedals, it's kind of weird. Most effects have more parameters than pedals have knobs; the Phaser has 8 parameters, but an old Phase 90 has one knob. The Guitar Synth menu will mean nothing to anyone who hasn't played or programmed a synth, and then there are submenus you access with the Utility button. It's deep. BTW, I recently progammed a GT-8 for a friend; the knobs don't help all that much, they get you some quick control, but bypass a lot of parameters.

Editing can be tough; again, it's digital multi-effects processor depth vs. pedal simplicity. You'll want the manual; it's helpful, but not comprehensive. Boss/Roland manuals have gotten better over time, but this sentence is classic Boss/Roland, from page 43, describing the Fuzz effect: "This produces a basic fuzz sound with." I found the same line in the manual for the GT-5, and the GT-8! There's an Unofficial GT-3 manual out there, along with a bunch of user sites. You'll find a lot of help quickly, with any search on "GT-3".

Experienced users have been giving the GT-3 9's and 10's, while less-experienced users have rated it 4 or 5. I'll give it a 7, depending on your experience.

I'm not going to review ALL the effects, I really just wanted to address some problems people have described.

First, forget the presets. Make a BLANK patch for yourself, and copy it as many times as you can stand pushing the same buttons over and over. It's a pain at first, but it saves you wondering if you're about to overwrite a good patch. You can always copy a few prestets from the factory bank.

Second, dig in to the Utility menu; this is where you can select your output (Line, Guitar Combo, etc.), check all your levels, do your MIDI setup, and program new riffs for the Auto-Riff and custom scales for the Harmonist. Selcting the right Output is crucial to your sound; for example, if your have "Line" selected as your Output setting, the Speaker emulator is always on! If you're having tone problems, most of the solutions are probably in the Utility menu.

Third, it's very easy to over-EQ your sound with the GT-3. The compressor has a Tone parameter, there's an EQ effect, and a Sub-EQ in the Modulation bank, the Dist/OD effects have Bass/Treble, the Pre-Amp has Bass, Middle, Treble, Presence and Bright controls, the Delay & Chorus both have High Cut, and Reverb has both Low- & High Cut. If you tweaked ALL of those EQ's it's like chopping your tone into bunches of little frequency bands that you cut or boost. Roll back the EQ's as much as possible when crafting your tones, especially if you're running into a guitar amp, after the GT-3. Less is more, inthis case, less EQ, more tone.

Fourth, the GT-3 sounds best into a really clean guitar amp, like a JC-120, or a Keyboard/PA rig. Maybe a Polytone.

The distortion can be tweaked into some usable sounds, but if you have a favorite dist/OD pedal that's crucial to your sound, patch it in through the Ext OD loop. Don't make yourself crazy over it.

If you have an amp that's the heart of your sound, why would you use the GT-3's Pre-Amp effect, anyway, unless you use it as a sort of pre-amp/overdrive. Use the effects you need, and forget the ones you don't.

I tend to stick with the JC-120 & Clean Twin models for most things. I use all of the effects except the Sub-EQ, and maybe the Humanizer. The Harmonist effect isn't as lame as the Harmonist pedal, but if you need a serious Harmonizer/Pitch-Shifter, this isn't it. The 2X2 Chorus is much cooler-sounding than the regular Chorus. Live, I run my GT-3 into a JC-90 or a house PA. There are so many sound options in the GT-3, it's hard to rate; dig deep, and you might get 9 or 10 quality sounds; stick with the factory sounds, and you're down around 5 or 6.

Had mine long enough that I've forgotten exactly when I got it. I've used it for years, without a backup, but I might get another now that they're so cheap.

The Roland reps who come around and do in-store demos are knowledgable, and helpful. On the phone, you might get anybody; they'll try to help, sometimes you just can't get there.

The GT-3 is a pretty deep box, for about the price of a Metal Zone, maybe less. If you're willing to spend time programming it, you can probably get most of the sounds you want, or pretty close. Some players will be better off with one good Dist/OD, maybe a Delay pedal, and a killer amp. I've been playing for a long time, have used tons of effects, and I'm pretty satisfied with the GT-3. I've been a Boss user for a long time, and it's cool to have most of the classic Boss boxes all in one box, even if some of them have mutated. If you love knobs, don't be fooled by the GT-8. It's a very different box, and the knobs don't tell the whole story.

Takes a short time to learn how this unit programs, the manual is some help, after a few edits you see that it isn't all that difficult.

A great all in one unit that I've used for 8 years, I even returned a GT-6 to hang on to the GT-3. It will react differently with any amp, I use it will a Line 6 2-12 or a Line 6 1-12, set for clean. 57 re-issue Strat with Duncans is the guitar of choice. You'll experience some noise with some of the high gain type setting, OD, Dist, and the out of the box pre-sets are ok but you'll want to edit those.

I do own 2 of these and have never had to use the backup....yet

It's great if you play a lot of different styles, clean, OD, Compressed Straty tone. I gig 5 nights a week and have been for many years, a great all in one unit

I spent a lot of time modifying parameters here and came up with nothing close to what sounds like what they say it represents.

I can get that sound that makes me feel bad or sad depending on what bank I choose from. It dont matter which number im on its really weird uhmmm 1-4 to 50-3 just pick any assignment and modify till your enjoying the process of tweaking and forgot about guitar, its really funny. marshall fender cabs guitars chords you know the style i used this stuff in conjunction with gt-3.

The chorus sounded good at instances but it was facsimile of a good chorus pedal. Boss makes descent chorus and delay pedals so I wondered if gt-3 cosm could nail the representations of them accurately?

These dayz I just put on one of the infinite looping fx banks and it puts a smile on my face, interesting sorta like hiphop being heard from the neighbours place down the street or like putting a video cartridge in a game console and hearing the opening track repeat. Its all the same.

Gt-3 makes me feel like guitar was a bad choice I should quit while their still is time but still I insist their is hope in this unit even I failed the moment I got sucked into its purchase. Complete doom.
Entertaining the pleasures of what gt-3 is capable of.

You can get every sound possible except the one your looking for that resonates well with your rig. You really must have boutique ears to give it anything close to a 10.

Im just so happy boss crammed every pedal model they could in gt-3 so I could gock at the digital screen and think to myself in comfort that I have access to all their effects! I feel jaded and want to seduce myself to escape the harsh reality of bad tone.

This gear made me read the celestine prophecy just so I could remember the section on co-dependancy because i felt alone and forgot everything about having great solid tone was.

Uninspiring gt-3 beat me.

At first glance its a multi fx board ... so expect to brain pick at this unit for longer than a minute till it makes sense to you. I got this GT-3 without a manual. If your a tweak nut your constantly going to use using the parameter push buttons and jog wheel buttons etc just to get to what your trying to adjust. Its to be expected since its digital apparatus.

Ok first i have a 100 watt marshall from the 1970s with four inputs. Its into a 4x12 cab. Im using my fav guitar a fender tele deluxe.

Im going from the mono(left) output on gt-3 into the front input of the marshall(no fx loop here). Suddenly I noticed a whole new world of sound thats wet and colorful but not necessarily good to my ears.

Boss(roland) has always given out a generous amount of fx with any of their fx products. Most units they make are solid and good.

With the gt-3 your great tube amp you own might just might lose all of its rich and organic signal. You might try the fx loop on your boogie soldano orange or whatever but you better shut off everything like gt-3's preamps, overdrives and eq and let your amp do its thing and use the gt-3 just for the reverbs, chorus and delays and modulation fx otherwise your tone might suck.

See what I mean??? you might be better off getting stand alone pedals that will enhance your sound. Think fulltone, roger mayer fx, foxrox pedals, mxr, boss, dunlop or any boutiqueness... take like 3 and chain em up old skool and Im sure you'll agree it still sounds better than this digital representation of the real deal.

Gt-3 is noisey and the noise suppressor really wants to kick in so the natural decay of tone is now suffering to. Ok lets shut off the suppressor right?. Lets fiddle with the eg, preamps, and overdrives we could modify the parameters or turn off stuff we dont need so much of and adjust the db of the eq etc etc. Still wtf am I doing wasting my time! Tone became weak anyhow and i lost most all of the marshalls original great signal. Its as if im listening to my amp with a layer of glass over top and its raining on it as well LOL!!! Total abuction!

Boss fx have always made great individual pedals ive owned most and since the ce-2 came out in the day! The gt-3 is unit is ok from an illusion of what fx can be but not quite the same animal though. Thats what im saying. If i was a guitar noob and didnt understand tone i would be in heaven with this.

Im giving a 6 just because I would feel bad for giving roland boss a lower score cause I like their pedals and hope they investigate digital artifacts and read harmony reviews.

You could depend on it its made tough enough but i would never bring it out in public cause i wouldnt be proud of it being associated with my sound. Pretty convenient eh? to have everything in one mfx to do the job. That is reliability within itself.

I was happy more than anything bringing this to a friend who could appreciate this for what it was. We tried it on his fender amp and same thing i was convinced it wasn't my fx board and quickly put it in the past very fast! He liked it and was sold on it which tells me many things. Its not a very musical sounding piece of equipment IMHO.

I use this for chorus, reverbs ect and i use my treble booster in send and return for my rock sounds, This is a great sounding pedal i use my gt3 through my brian may deaky amp.

It's a little difficult to find what you are looking for. But then, most players have no idea what sound they really want. After you figure out how to dial up the effect you're seeking, it really can be an very functional pedal.

I guess this depends. I play a mixture of Southern Rock, Jazz, Blues and Funk. It's not that hard to come up with something on this pedal to fit those descriptions. Since there are many different types of preamps and distortions, it's hard to find a good clear consistent sound that doesn't feeback too often. I run this through a Marshall 1959 SLP and a JC-120 as a stereo output. I get good tone but it did take awhile to fine tune the settings. The only issue I have with the pedal is that on some patches, when you switch the control pedal to add or subract an effect within a patch, sometimes it decreases the sound momentarily like it can't figure out what to do for a second. All in all though, if you want any effect to mess around with, this has it.

Very dependable because it's Boss. I've been using it for about six years. A backup is a good idea but I haven't needed one yet.

Never dealt with the company as I have not needed to. This thing does not break easily.

Since I stick to more rock and jazz tones, I tend to want warmer sounds. To make my overdrive sound more consistent I have gone to a Fulltone Fulldrive 2 so that I can depend on the sound better. I may upgrade to a few new pedals and use them in conjunction with the GT-3. I am a control freak and it's hard to be consistent with this processor if you like a lot of different tones.

This unit takes some time to really get to grips with, although te interface is logical enough. If you like tweaking, this is a good'un!
Advise: get the manual. Its fairly easy to get started with the G3, but its a good thing to have the manual to 'go deeper'into the unit.

With time, patience, and knowledge of sound and what you want spent on it this unit DOES deliver. Modulation effects are easy, typical Boss strongholds, but the overdrives available are more tricky. Use these together with the EQ and the Pre- amp options, and remember that less is more. Also, set your relative volume levels correctly, balances those patches/ sounds right.
This gets used with a 1979 Gibson The Paul and a Squier Tele, into a vintage Roland Bolt 30 Hybrid ad an Epiphone valve junior head. Results are very good, but it takes some effort! Worth it though.

Bulletproof. Very solid steel chassis, good old Boss switches. Excellent.

No idea.

I like playing classic rock, everything from Led Zeppelin to britrock. Like the sound of valves being given a good thrashing. But: like a bit of Pink Floyd/ stonerrock too, so decent effect are what I need as well. The GT3 has those, it was relatively cheap at the time and I have no regrets buying it. Delivers all I need. Does whacky stuff as well ( synth, etc) but thats just very gimmicky. Stick to what this unit is good at , and that's providing rock solid reliability, good sounds, plenty of options and a lot of hours well spent! Not for the starting musician this one, but a good choice. They go for not much money these days.

This pedal is for someone who is willing to tweak. First of all ignore all of the pre-sets.

It's easy to get at all the settings and change, but extremely difficult to get the tone I want. I like this better than the GT-6 or GT-8 because there are less knobs to break off and or accidently bump while playing. It's head and shoulders above any digitech multi-effects I've played around with.

It's hard to get exactly what you want. This is especially for distortion. The natural, Turbo, and blues settings are way to clean whereas the Metal, Dist, Crunch, Grunge settings are way too muddy. The key is to add the right levels of compression (sustain and attack) and a good pre-amp. Make a setting for each guitar/amp set-up you want to play out of. Once you've found it, though it's just amazing.

Bought it used, haul it around at least once a weeek, and have dropped it many times. The thing is as solid as a rock.

?

I play mostly punk with distortion, delay, compression, reverb, and clean. Guitars: 1960 LP Gibson and an American Std Tele. Amps: Vox AD100VT (tube hybrid) and Fender Princeton Chorus (solid state). This is all I need and I love it! I bought mine for $75 and it's worth every penny. Since then I've tried both the GT-6 and GT-8, I won't be upgrading anytime soon. The next thing I want to try: TUBE AMP.

was not that easy to use

this peddle was very noisey and the distortions where horrible they all sounded fuzzy i took it back to guitar center for digitech rp 250 newest peddle sounded alot quieter and sounds sounded better

I bought is used at guitar center and had it 2 days took it back but i know it was in perfect condition used and worked like it was supposed to

Insanely easy to use! It operates on a push button > options kinda procedure then you basically just tweak til you get your sound. Tonnes of options but presented in a fool-proof way. Editing is a piece of wee really, ive edited patches during songs and without a hitch, one thing i loved about that particular option was the subtleness in which this can be acheived. Basically, strum...add delay, chorus and some phase and theres not even a hint of an obvious change.

For clean effected tones (i love my effects) this unit is close to perfect, i have patches where ive mixed up to 6 different fx and the sound quality is awesome. I must admit that for heavier distortion it can be a little disappointing. I find it quite difficult to achieve a full on phat distorted sound even with all the pre-amp and gain options, still the overdrive is great. Can't say enough for the other fx though, such a massive range in effect sounds!!

Well ive had a pint spilled on mine, plus its been dropped by some idiot from a great height and yet it still works. Most effect users know that Boss have superior reliability with their products. Watch out for the adaptor though, ive had my unit for 5 years and went through 4 adaptors.

Never had to contact Boss actually....so i can't really comment.

Like i say ive had my GT-3 for 5 years and its never let me down. I can switch from a clean tone with lots of effects to a dirty sound with a little reverb all in the tap of a foot. Ive made up some cool patches on this thing, i recommend this unit to any guitarist who likes to mess around. It has everything plus some additional effects that you may or may not use. I should add that ive used a GT-5 and a GT-6 now and neither have come close to this (although this is obviously just my opinion). Theyre quite cheap these days so if you like sounds id say buy this in a hurry. Well played Boss!

Easy to understand, very adjustable. I just wish there was an interface for it that didn't take so much effort. Somebody made a midi interface that works in Windows, but I am Mac-based, so I haven't seen whether it works or not.

This was given to me as a gift. I was originally a skeptic, so when I got it I thought it would be an interesting toy for over-the-top sounds. Trouble is, I never really use over-the-top sounds. In fact, I like to get my distortions by driving the amp or by using messed up speaker cabinets. This doesn't work well for shows or for practice, and since we started doing shows, I had to find a way to get the sounds consistantly.
I pulled out the GT-3 and started tweaking. After a while I realized all I needed to do was set the volume on my Bassman head to about 8 and vary the input volume, and then add a couple of messed up distortions into the mix. Two of the pedal switches are simply high and low volume. The high volume sounds no different than plugging straight into the amp. I would have never thought this possible. If you keep the cords short, there is no discernable difference in noise level. The lower volume is just like turning the guitar down with its volume knob. The distortions match any of the pedals I have used in the past, I can approximate the Big Muff sound, the DS-1 sound, the Tube Screamer sound, the Distortion+ sound, etc.
The touch sensitivity and feedback that you can get plugging direct into the amp is the same. I keep scouring the web to see if someone who knows better than me feels differently. I can't believe a digital effects pedal can feel so real.
I have used it for recording guitar parts late at night when I didn't want to wake anyone up. If I don't take notes, I forget whether I mic'd a cabinet or went direct with the GT-3. Also, the effects are great for messing up tracks when mixing. If you put the signal through a impedance matching box (like a Reamp) the resulting signal is as clean or as dirty as you would like it. The Arpeggiator on a vocal part is really funny.
One note of caution- at least for me, all the presets are useless. I cannot imagine using a single one of them. I can't believe the pedal actually sold when the first thing folks would hear when plugging into it was one of these over-compressed, noise gated monstrosities.

Built like a Sherman Tank. I have been gigging with it for about 5 years and it doesn't even show it.

N/A

I play punk rock and country-ish punk. I have been playing for 27 years. I use a Bassman head (AB165) with a 2-12 cabinet with Jensens or an Ampeg V-3 cabinet. I also have a Gibson GA6 Tweed Lancer, a Bassman 10, and a Fender BXR 300. Guitars- Epiphone G400 SG with Gibson humbuckers from an Epiphone Genesis, '84 Telecaster, '98 Strat, Hohner Les Paul copy (heavily moded) and a Peavey Fury bass.
If somehow my GT-3 was missing, I would buy a new one asap. It doesn't get in the way, and does what I need it to without fail. I haven't had any trouble with it in 5 years and cannot say that about any of the stompboxes I have used in the past.

this is pretty easy to use... you have to be stupid not to know what ur doing with it after like an hour of messin with it...

im using this with an ibanez rg220b and a peavy shitty combo amp but it sounds good... it the harmonizer thingy you can do alot with and alot of the other effects are great too... some of the distortions are week and just get in the way when you try n figure this thing out but its not a big problem if you play soft stuff..

idk if i would use this in a gig rite now but in the future when ive figured everything out about it..

no i havent haD to

i play alota metal and grungy stuff but mostly i make up my own stuff...
ive been playing for like 3 years, so if it were stolen or lost idk if id be able to buy it again for this price cuz i just sorta came across it at a pawn shop.. id deffinatley use this pedal for recording.. you can get whatever you desire out of it.

Itwas difficult at first, but after explorere for hours, it's a peie of cake, i know how to use this easily

I have a Jay Turser Vintage Series, it's a crap guitar, but with this, it sounds great. I also have a crap amp, but now I use my Gt-3 as an amp and my actual amp as the speakers.

The GT-3 helps me with all my gigs, gives me Wah, Distortion, Clean, CHorus, and everything I need in one. Sadly, I don't have a backup, but it's so dependable I know it won't break down.

Never used it, it never broke down on me

I play Punk, Metal, Jazz and Rock. It helps me with all the sounds I want and my band even wants to buy one, but it's out of production. I'm sure the GT-6 and GT-8 is even better, so I recommend this product.

At first it's difficult because it has many effects and many buttons, but if you take a quick read over the manual, it becomes very easy to use. The problem is that many of the people do not read the manuals and expect to learn how to use it magically. Have a quick read over the manual and you can create almost any sound possible.

I'm using an Aria Pro II ZZ (Explorer) Deluxe, the same makers for Cliff Burton basses. My amp is a Yamaha T100C designed by Soldano with vacuum tubes. With this amp the GT-3 sound great. I'ts very important to adjust the settings and utility to your personal amp, beacuse this will make the difference in the sound. People that said they don't like the sound i'ts because they didn't adjust the settings and utility according to their amps.

There are too many effects I don't use. My favorites for clean is the JC-120 with the harmonizer, 5150 Trash sounds very like Metallica and Pantera, for solos I use the BG lead that sound like sweet child o'mine slash solos and intro. The Metal solo effect i use with the wah that creates a very Kirk Hammet sound. Also i like the phaser ande delays. I like so much the Satraini effect named Satch tone.

I want to remark that I change a little bit the factory settings for these effects, to make them more accurate to the real ones.

If you change some patterns and settings in the effects you can approach to the effects you want for sure, try making variations and you will get it.

I have it like 3 years ago and the other user had it for two years and it is in perfect conditions, without any problem.

Good materials

I, have no contact BOSS because I never need it, it works perfectly and easy to use with the manual.

I play Metallica, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Guns'n roses and some of my own creations that comes from metal, rock, blues and some jazz.

I have been playing for 6 years, I had a Rat distortion pedal but i sold it when i bouth teh GT-3, also i had a Metal Zone that gives you a very good distortion, sometimes better than the Gt-3, but you can have an approach by modifying some settings, a good approach its the 5150 Trash.

I feel very comfortable with my Gt-3, a good bought

Not the easiest to use. I used a digitech RP200 for quite some time because i didnt want to figure out the GT-3. My own laziness though. If youre not a total luddite, and you spend about 10 minutes with it, you can figure out how it works. press buttons, press more buttons, press more buttons, etc. The preset sounds are alright, sound have are cranked up with a lot of gain, so i turn down the output on my guitar to get a better tone.

I use this thing as my outboard compressor for my home studio because im too poor to buy a real one. BUT, this works fine, i keep it on an FX insert in between my preamp and AD converters and it compresses everything fine.
I think most of the sound effects tends to be pretty digital sounding, especially the high gain ones, but that only matters for tone-freaks. If your playing with a band no one will notice or care. I use it for recording, through tube amp, thru practice amps, through a half stack, all color it obviously, but it sounds fine for anything you would want. The Wahs are kind of boring even though it has five of them.
For me, the compressors, EQ, gate (called something else in here), limiter are pretty useful and make this MORE than a guitar FX pedal, its just an audio processing board really.

Seems good. I havent broken anything on it yet. Its heavy if that counts. Nice pedals. They havent changed the pedal design and now theyre on GT-8, so there must not have been too many complaints...
The power cord is sweet because it is NOT a wall wart. I would depend on this sucker playing live.

Never

I play a wide variety, jazz, blues, rock, space rock, metal, electronica. I can generally get sounds of of this that i want for the guitar parts, AND bass, AND vocals. I use more audio plugins than anything though.
If it were stolen or lost i would buy the new version, not this. But if you find one used, for a good deal, snatch it up.

I've had this box of tricks for about five years now and still manage to find something new every time I go a-tweakin'. It's easy to get a sound from the presets and fairly easy to write your own programmes using the manual for guidance but trial and error is your best option The trick is in knowing how each effect works and how it affects the overall tone and this takes time friend. But that said it's best to start off by tweaking and saving one of the presets until you've become familiarised with the workings.
The only problem I get is in a live situation when I need to tweak "on the fly", the layout means that I have to open up the programme to adjust and then save.

I've tried this with various set ups but find the best way to get the full stereo effect out of it is directly into a power amp and a pair of (currently Marshall) cabs with a bit of ditance between them. The pre amps can be a bit harsh on times and the distortions a bit fizzy so I found that you need to work out which OD/Distortion type suits which Preamp type. That said it would probably take a valve officionado to know that it is SS in a live situation.
The reverbs, delays and modulation fx are superb but it's best to get a good basic sound first and then add these for "colour".
The band cut a demo recently and I went straight into the desk via the GT3 in stereo - the engineer was amazed at the sounds coming through the monitors and we were more than happy with the results.

I bought this as "used" about five years ago. It was in pretty good condition then and still is. I've had absolutely no problems with it whatsoever apart from one of the rubber feet coming away but that can be easily remedied. It's been stomped on at least three nights a week and still does the job with no signs of packing up. And no, I don't carry a back up.

I haven't had cause to contact them in the five years that I've owned the unit but having contacted them about a different matter sometime ago I found the CS dept very helpful.

I've been playing for about 30 years (it's about time I stopped for tea) and play various styles from roots to rock both in a band and solo. I use a Lonestar Strat, Eggle Berlin and Takamine electro through it. it compliments them all.
If it were lost or stolen I'd either try to replace it or money permitting upgrade to the gt6 or 8 purely for the ability to adjust on stage.
I don't think there's much to dislike about it apart from the weird Synth and modulator FX. The harmoniser is great fun for the Queen and Lizzy fans.

for the experienced (me and other good players)this is a piece of cake...we gain structure our equipment so it sounds as intended, and we know our way around the parameters. When I read some of these reveiws I laugh..I first owned one of these in 1999 when it came out and I too at the time was a bit frustrated because I was an intermediate guitar effects wizard..I always ran my effects to this day thru the same peavey half stack but I went thru a rack journeey and this how the story goes:
After my gt-3 I sold it in 2001 and bought a rocktron voodoo valve and it was pretty good but not an elite like a gt. So I sold that and bought a mesa :tri-axis and it was quite good but way too expensive and over priced and didnt quite hit the mark, so I sold it in 2003 , with it came alot of money and in 2004 bought a peavey tube-fex.which I liked better than the over priced tri-axis, but I sold it cuz it too was missing some thing..so In 2005 I needed the gt-3 back because one of my friends showed up to rehearsal and my jaw dropped!..the piece of gear I so longed to have back was there but it was his!..kinda like a girlfriend that was yours and he didnt know and introduces you to her to find out she was an -ex..same thing..My point? this IS the real deal...take some time my friend and learn this hard to master unit..for the effects are accurate ,deep and when set up PROPERLY and dead accurate

my story will answer alot of this...tweak it over time and you will find your tone..Im buying another one..Ive learned a painful lesson.I was a jerk and want her back.I play a custom Jackson soloist (my signature model s-1 )with duncan jb in the bridge.the metal zone pedal my cousin todd and I used in our A-B comparison proved the accuracy of this same settings and the same cabinet = same sound. every effect on this unit is crystal clear and when set up at unity gain (the same level in as it goes out)you will experience heaven..this has an input meter..use it! run it at 3/4 the way up and listen for analog distortion...My 5150 distortion in this unit was great and will use it again...for you metal heads try the sldn lead (soldano) and it is very scorpions "crazy world) tone...very 2khz punchy...speaker simulator is great exept hard to get the deep cabinet sound but I really dont like that anyway...I get a great sound direct in (mixer meter at 0!)dont have to push the levels and use all headroom saveit! use it with my peavey half stack...noise suppressor I took for granted...never thought about it until I pushed it and heard all this nasty noise...It is awesome.all effects are pristine quality...and the metal distortion 2 sounds as we proved EXACTLY like the metal zone

reliable? like a hunting dog! or a tv...everytime your fired up-its ready to go and expect no problems

no comment (LOL) I am loyal once again to boss/roland so I wont go there... dont like to depened on them...nice but clueless

I bought my first one new, and my second one used... play metal and this thing delivers in spades..been playing since the 70's and this is still the best preamp I have ever used...if it were stolen and I caught the dude? I would go medeival and take my sword and ...well..(deep breath, going to my happy place)good for him I guess...karma's a bitch. I sold this once and want it back!I need this unit,love everything about her, better than my ex's: rocktron, mesa,peavey,(love peavey's though)engl,and hughes and kettner.It has all I need and love her for it...I hope you experience the awesome playing time I had with it...and thank my band mate for bringing us back together...

With a little tinkering around without the manual you can basically figure out how to get a pretty good sound, once you have this undercontrol the manual makes a pretty good reference for getting what you are looking for. The presets are however a joke and I would recommend starting from scratch and basically just set it all up the way you would your normal pedal board or what you would need from particular songs.

I'm using this piece of equipment with a 1986 Japanese Strat hotrodded with a Dimarzio Evolution at the bridge and an Ibanez 320 DX running directly into the effects loop of a Randall Classic 150 2x12 combo which also runs to an additional Jackson 2x12 speaker cab. The effects sound awesome, kicks the shit out of everything I've ever used, excluding the Digitech GSP-21 rack unit I used a few years back, the GT-3 is much faster at switching between effects, the old digitech wouldn't switch without a black out time between channels. Great for capturing high gain tones similar to Zakk Wylde Dimebag Darrell, as well as really smooth and spaced out tones similar to Vai and Satriani. Old school metal zone era sounds are no prob either, anything from Mercyful Fate to Judas Priest and Maiden are easily captured as well.

Very reliable and tough, I use it all the time with absolutely no backup on stage as well as the studio.

Never had to deal with it.

I play a lot of different styles of music, whether it is a form of Rock or Metal, or Jazz this unit is perfect. I chose it because of the high recommendations of other musicians I've known for years who have used one. Before this I had used a Zoom Player 2100 for a few years and this unit ate that one alive, shit it back out, then ate it again.

It's pretty easy to use and figure out. I figured it out in a few minutes without the manual. All the buttons make sense. It's reall easy to edit patches too.

I play through a SG with seymour duncans, (59 in the the neck and Custom in the bridge) An Epiphone sheraton and a mexican fender strat into a crybaby, original small stone phasor, Digitech whammy, TS-9 Tubescreamer boss ds-1, big muff, boss bf-2, small clone chorus then into a mesa boogie single rectifier with a boss dd-3 and Holy Grail reverb in the effects loop. My cabinet is a Avatar 4x12. This unit is very quite. The noise gate works well. I honestly didn't care for any of the effects and I have boss stomp boxes. This doesn't sound anywhere near as good as them. I excited about trying this out and really disappointed after having it in my home and playing on it for awhile. The synth sounds got me excited but the processor is just too slow to keep up with how fast I'm playing lead stuff. Maybe the new GT-8 can. The pitch shifter seemed to have tracking problems too. With my digitech whammy pedal I can play a chord and get a hairy but still cool sounding chord but this thing just starts jumping all over the place. I thought all of the distortions sounded really weak and fizzy and the amp models sounded the same exact for the fender twin clean sound. It was nice. The vintage phaser actually did sound pretty close to my small stone though. Honestly I think the whole processor is just too slow. I play a lot of shredding stuff and it just seemed to slow everything down and then when I plugged straight into my amp it was smooth sailing again. It is old technology though compared to all the new stuff out now. I personally was disgusted with it as a pedal sound-wise.

This is always a great thing about Boss. They build stuff tough!

It wasn't good for me at all as a guitarist. I play everything but country. I've been playing for 8 years and went to college as a music major with guitar as my instrument, specifically classical. It's durability and ease of use are the only good things I have to say about it.

This is one of the easiest multi effects pedals ever. If you ever see one on ebay, you should buy it!

2xMusicman Axis sport + Marshall TSL60, OC3 & 535Q Crybaby. I don't use the amp modelling so noise is not an issue. All effects are great depending on what your expectations are. I drive it straight into the front of my JCM2000. I have always worked at getting my own sound. I use the blues driver in the overdrive/distortion section to really drive the clean channel of the Marshall. Delays are clean and the Synth if tweaked just right, can replace that whiney keyboard player.

I have had it for about 8 years of so and it has never failed.

Roland are always good, but i've never needed them with this.

I play rock/pop/funk and blues and have been doing so for 15 years. I am finally at a point where I am completely happy with my gear. This is a rare thing. If it was lost or stolen I would probably look at upgrading to a GT8 or PODXT Live. I love the versatilty of this unit. I midi switch my head with it, do whammy fx etc. But most of all it always does the job I ask of it.

once you get the hang of the user interface it is easy to use,the manual is not that great but not totaley bad,overall i like the gt-3 ease of use.

in my opinion as so many said the cosm distortion models are not that good,thay are hard edged fuzzy and cold,forget about using these for direct recording,i have many different effects and processors i ran this unit through for studio and direct recording and cannot get a good tone,you can get a fairly good distortion through the right guitar amp using one of the pedal distortions and the clean fender twin cosm amp model.,i do like the clean cosm jc-120 and twin models for both direct recording and through power and or guitar amp,if you want the gt-3 to really sound great use the external effects loop and patch in your favorite amp modeler,i use a zoom gm-200 and the new behringer gdi21 and can get some great distortion sounds out of this unit,i built a switch box so i can switch between gm-200 and gdi21,i also use a crybaby wah with these units,the gm-200 is discontinuid but still can be found on ebay,the gdi21 is a no brainer it is 30.00 new!,as others said before you must experment with your effects chain,try different combinations of effects ect. i could go on and on about this unit.

i had it for about 6 years and is holding up great,all metal construction seems solid to me,i do baby this unit it never left my studio so i don't know how it would hold up on a gig but would say it should be fine.

never dealt with the company.

i am a hobbyest musician playing guitar over 20 years,i use the gt-3 into a laney gh100 solid state amp and marshall 1960a 4x12 cab.,i play blues to metal and the gt-3 sounds great with the amp modelers in the effects loop,i would give the gt-3 a 10 in this setup and a 6 with out the amp modelers patched in.

Steep learning curve if one desires to truly master the possibilities here. Simple to learn if one merely desires to plug & play, and end up less than pleased.

I'm writing this review, not to praise or condemn the GT-3, but to get some facts straight:
1) things are not what they seem
2) the writers of the manual did not completely understand their own device
3) knobs are not inherently good
3a) buttons are not inherently evil
4) amp modelling may be a bad joke, but it can have a good punchline
5) the deeper I go, the deeper it gets

I'm tempted to stop here, hesitant to share what I've discovered, seeing as how eBay pricing is plummeting on the GT-3 recently (see? HC reviews DO have an effect), which will help me pick up a couple backups for about the price of 1 decent stompbox...

Oh well, I still have my GT-6 that I can use as a backup!

So here goes:

1) The GT-3 (as well, the -6 & -8) has an embarrassment of options, configurablility, and controls; some of which operate exactly as expected, but most of which should be approached from a contrarian/creative vector. It's a bit like it's own MATRIX: nothing is as it seems.

2) Following the manual will lead you comfortably into the MATRIX, where you'll feel you've done all you can, but still faintly uneasy. The techs who wrote the manual just wanted to make sure you didn't break the thing first try. If you've learned the conventions of the GT-3 menu, and you're reasonably familiar with the devices represented by all the modules, you should now lay the manual carefully away & begin to challenge it's premises.

3) Many are anxious over the lack of knobs, broken-hearted really. I'm sure if you go over and look at the GT-6 reviews, someone must have spilled the beans that it's "knobs" are little more than digital adjusters, unlike the knobs on your SD-1 (which you turn to adjust & then use a sharpie to mark your favorite spot), the -6 knobs are only relative, and immediately reset your setting if you touch them (give me buttons that at least start from where you were). Contrary to most of the reviews below, the GT-3 does have knobs! Three physical ones & innumerable electronic ones. Knob #1 is the overall output knob; #2 is the Data Entry knob; #3 is the Expression Pedal. Yup! the expression pedal can be used to adjust any parameter, tone, etc. Hopefully I'll have time to explain further down.

3a) Although I've inadvertently goofed up my prize settings on my knob based stomps and multis many times, I've never caused an accidental adjustment by a little bump to my GT-3. Just as I can type faster than I write, I can page to menus & adjust (using the data wheel) much more quickly than I could if all parameters were represented by a knob (ever done any live mixing on a stadium sized board in a festival type event? you know what I mean).

4) Most everyone seems to agree, unless you're seeking walls of noise/shred/monstrosities, or, want 1 decent clean sound, the amp/preamp models are Hoovers. I suspect that this COSM thing is where an R&D department can dump serious cash & run afoul of the bean counters wringing their hands over the fact that, "it sounds good enough already... why make it perfect when no one will be able to tell the difference?" Good enough isn't good enough. HOWEVER... the models can be used in a completely different fashion. Again, I hope I'll be able to elaborate in a bit.

5) Through trial & (mostly) error, I've happened upon some methods that have just opened my eyes to how to approach a device like this. I'm finally beginning to create with it, not just trudge along behind the sheep in front of me. I've undone many of the concepts presented in the manual & found that there is power in this toy from other directions.

Like a rock. Bought it in '99. Stepped on it thousands of times since then, and button-pushed possibly 100s of thousands of times! I experienced a problem saving patches a couple years ago (and, in frustration, went out & bought the GT-6: fine unit, just too big - letting another musician use it for now), but it was because the little watch battery was low. Replaced it & all's been great ever since.

I've had no occasion (Thank You, Lord!) to need support. CS in everything these days seems to be little more than an advertising slogan.

OK. Here's my take on how to really use the GT-6 & enjoy it as what it really is: a collection of tones, effects, controls, switches, etc for enhancing my guitar experience, all in a very portable fraction of the space required for the actual items represented. I view it now as interactive pieces that I can plug & unplug at will, twisting their order, function, and concept to my purpose & sometimes my pleasant surprise.

First & most importantly, shut everything off: all preamps, models, speaker models, effects modules, EQs, everything (you can use the tuner/bypass (if you have it non-muted) to compare & make sure that nothing is left on. All you want is the tone your guitar was born with. I've found that everyone I know who uses any kind of multi, always takes a patch that they at least enjoy somewhat, and tries to tweak it into something good. Not a bad approach, just not the best.

Then, and this is important, play your axe for a bit (I actually play GT-3 directly into the input of my amp, sounds good with the GT-3 output knob at about 50%), while using a true bypass external switch pedal to go back and forth between your guitar's natural signal and the signal through the GT-3. You should notice a change in tone, especially if you have passive pickups (the GT-3 buffers your pickups & gives more punch to the high & low). Now, balance the levels so that the GT-3 signal & the bypassed signal are at the same level. You've probably done this at bedroom level so far. Take a few moments & turn up to gig levels (or as close as you can get) & repeat the process (things sound quite different turned up). Make note of what you like or dislike about the GT-3's sound.

At this point, you can use the sort-of macro/global EQing features of the GT-3 to make as close a match to your native guitar sound as possible: The UTILITY button takes you to two features: 1) output type simulation ("headphones/line out", "combo amp", etc) and 2) hi & lo EQ. I use both of these interactively to achieve a reasonable match. Don't be too discouraged if you can't get it exactly; plug into any buffered (non-true bypass) stompbox (all the Boss pedals, & most other mfg pedals, but not Barbers, Fulltones, etc), & you will find the same change in tone, even when they are "bypassed". You may even LIKE the tone the uneffected GT-3 offers!

Now that you've set a baseline, save this patch to a location of your choice (I save it to several places with a name containing a single character that, when I've begun to add effects, will show from where the patch originated (I put a # as the name of this blank patch). Upon this representation of your bare axe, you can begin to experiment with modules & EQs & such, but you'll know that you have started with the real thing.

I'm not sure how much more HC will let me type, so I'll just get you started the way I do into adding modules.

First, I don't use any of the preamps (models) for basic tone. I use the blank set-up & begin by adding EQ for clean tones, or one of the OD modules for anything from a bit of grit up through rocking drive. If you get your favorite amp or stomp overdrive and dial it to a setting you like, use your external bypass or looper (you won't want to use the effects loop because it disables the internal OD unless you want to spend endless hours scrolling back and forth between the loop and your OD choice) to switch back and forth with the GT-3, choosing an OD (Natural, Vintage, Blues, etc) that seems closest to your stomp in character and then tweaking it until you have a good match. Once you've gotten as close as you can, engage the EQ to finish any discrepancies in tone, hiss, mid boost or cut... I've done this many times to set up a variety of patches from just barely driven all the way through heavy crunch rhythm. Remember, this is all before adding any other effects.

Do I ever use the preamp models? You

DEFINITELY not a piece of cake gear to use. BOSS really listened to users after the GT-3; the GT-6 and 8 are MUCH easier to use. That said, once you get the hang of using the GT-3, you will be zipping through the menus. Add the flexibility of editing patches on your computer and saving multiple banks, and it gets easier. It just has a pretty steep learning curve.

Recording quality - 9. I use this 90% of the time when I record. Visit www.brotherlush.com or www.myspace.com/brotherlush to hear the GT-3 in action. The unit is so versatile that it's usually easy to simply tweak a favorite setting to get what you're looking for. Unfortunately, this versatility sometimes leaves one having to choose from MANY great tones instead of searching for the right one. The wah isn't the best in the world but, coupled with the right amp model and it's good. You can't do the overbearing Kirk Hammet or Godsmack wahs but I hate that crap anyway. The fuzz setting is pretty weak as well. Harmonist is fun and I really like the tweak-ability of the ring modulator.

Live sound - 3. This is my personal opinion. I'm not a fan of their preamp to poweramp models. The direct sound is good but running the GT-3 through an amp like I would (if I used it live) leaves much to be desired. This is mostly because it's hard to tune the thing to the room. The GT-6 and 8 is easier in this respect with all their KNOBS!!

So, since I use this just for recording, I'll weight my rating on the optimistic side and give it a 7.5 (rounds to 8).

Also, my friend Eric in the band No Lily (www.nolily.com)uses a GT-3 live. It sounds great and, when he switches guitars, you can definitely tell a sonic difference. So, the GT-3 doesn't color your sound as much as one might think. To add to the confusion, Eric HATES the sound of the GT-3 for direct recording. Different folks, different strokes, I guess.

Mine broke once. Had it in my luggage and the luggage monkeys must have kicked it and impacted the little output knob. This broke the pot internally. I ordered a new one from BOSS (like $4 or so), soldered it on, and it works great! I think this is a fairly random occurence and I like the fact that it's semi user-servicable so I'd use it without a backup.

See above:
Boss customer support was rapid, great, and cheap for the part!

I'll say that I play progressive pop. Not quite punk, but good songs that push the envelope. This is great for recording and making cool noises. I'm still thinking of ways to incorporate it into my live rig (mostly as a noisemaker). I still use it daily for reording. I'd LOVE to save-up for a GT-8 but, if you don't have $500 for a GT-8, go to Ebay and you can score a GT-3 for under $150! Hell, if you want, you can buy mine so that I can get get my GT-8! 3 years ago, I'd give this puppy a perfect 10 but, now seeing that Boss is 2 generations past it, it still gets a strong 8 overall. It was one of my best buys ever!

I don't think this unit is that difficult to use. Is it complex? Yes. This is a powerful unit, it has to incorporate some level of complexity. I found the key functions to be very logical.

I play a les paul > fulltone wah > GT3 with TS9 in the dist loop > '68 bassman50 > marshall 1960a. Sound quality of this unit is okay. Newer versions will have better sounds with higher bit rates and whatnot. Proababy my biggest disappointment is the reaction time on the harmonizer and pitch bend settings. Sometimes, it really searches for the 2nd note. I'm eager to see how the GT8 performs here.

My GT3 is a drunk magnet. I've had at least 10 different drunks fall on it, more than several drinks spilled on it and recently, someone knocked over a server's tray full of dinner plates onto it. I never thought I'd say that. It still works perfectly.

I play rock covers. This unit lets me do everything I need to do. I looked at the GT6 but, this may sound weird, it was just too big. The GT3 sounds good enough and takes up much less space. I use TS9 in the external distortion loop and a separate Wah before the unit. Another good investment is a separate Boss on/off switch. Hook that to the ext jack and set it to engage the tuner on all the patches. That way, you don't waste the Ctr pedal for a tuner or have to bend down to press the small button. A wise $30 investment. I'd probably prefer the sound quality of stomp boxes but you'd end up with way too many if you want all the flexibility of a unit like this.

Read the manual, and as long as you don't have a learning disability you should pick it up in no time, editing is pretty easy. For people complaing about the little volume knob, on the back of the unit, come on now, you see that big pedal thing on the right side of the unit, thats what its used for!!! volume, wah, among other things. And for those complaing about have to bend over to touch the little tuner button, read the manual guys, and you find that one can easily set the control pedal to the tuner so you can activate it just like you're changing a patch setting.

First off, HALF THE PEOPLE REVIEWING THIS THING DON'T KNOW JACK SHIT ABOUT COMING UP WITH A GOOD TONE. Try using EQ, effects chains etc... Everyone complaing about the distortions presets need to learn how to come up with their own tone, which is what this thing is perfect for. I'm not all that crazy about the distortions presets either, but that doesn't make this thing any less capable of producing ripping tone. My band plays anything from punk, metal, ska/ reggae and this thing handles it all with flying colors. Out of all the presets, I use maybe 2 or 3, the mellow wah is perfect for reggae stuff, and the LP-ST setting is a wicked clean tone that I use a lot with my neck pickups. All the other stuff I made myself, and the distortions I came up with are wicked, and most gigs I play I have guys coming up to me and asking me about me how I get such a beefy, chunky distortion. I tell them its a 3 part equation, first off, my sovtek tube half stack is a russian beast that handles low end like nobodies business, 2nd, my guitars, I play an Ibanez rg-550 with a seymour duncan and just got an esp ltd h-1000 deluxe with emgs, both sound awesome, are perfecty capable of ripping distortion, and have thier distinct tones. The 3rd part of the equation, is the Gt-3. The flexibility of the paramaters on this thing are extremely versatile and I would use it over a rack full of pedals anyday of the week. When I use it on other amps it stills sounds great, when I plugged it straight into pro tools it was not quite as good, but not bad, I'd rather mike an amp anyway, but thats just me. I like the character that an amp adds to the sound. Just make sure if you do plug it direct to change the utilites settings to lineout/headphones, otherwise it will sound like shit, and vice versa, don't have on the lineout setting when you're playing through and amp. I use it for recording and gigs.

to steal what seems to be the phrase of the day, this thing really is built like a tank and have yet to have any problems with it. I use it for recording and gigs, don't leave home without it. I've had mine for about 3 years now with no problems.

n/a

I've been playing for over 10 years, punk, metal, rock, reggae, acoustic stuff, this things awesome. It got stolen at a party and I bought another one. I could have upgraded to a GT-6, but I couldn't really find a good enough reason to upgrade when I was perfectly satisfied with what I had, the only thing I could think of that I would have liked better are the knobs instead of the buttons, but big fuckin' deal, I'm not about to pay a couple hundred bucks more for knobs. I don't need anymore presets when I use very few of them anyway, and although the newer ones have a lot more user patches, the gt-3 has 35 banks each with 4 programable user patches(means you get 35x4 personal patches), I can assign a bank to each song and have 4 different presets for each song, not to mention the control setting which can modify each patch for a solo/volume/delay boost or whatever else. The only situation I would need more user patches is if I was playing a gig where we play 35 songs and I use 4 completely different patches in each song, not likely. In reality, my first 2 banks each have 2 of my signatures distortions, and 2 clean tones that I use for most of our songs. And a few of our songs require their own bank for wah and other stuff, but I have yet to come close needing anymore space for user presets.

Not too sound like some pompous asshole who thinks he has the best rig, but seriously, my 3 part equation described above in the sound quality section, gives me better overall sound than pretty much any other guitar players I have seen in person, and the gt-3 is a very big part of that. ok, i saw megadeth play and their sound is impeccable, but I'm not comparing myself to Dave Mustaine or anyone else of that caliber. But even if I was I think I could hold my own sound quality wise. There is nothing better than playing a gig, having guys in other bands who play 3 thousand dollar les pauls, through a ridiculously overpriced marshall or boogie halfstalks, and have them come up to me asking about how I get my tone. Anyone with a knowledge of how to come up with good sounds can get damn near any sort of sound they want from this thing, its got plenty of shit on their that I'll never consider using, but as far as I'm concerned, thats one more reason not to pony up for a GT-6 or GT-8.

This pedal is not the easiest to find a good sound. But if you tinker around with it for a while you will find a good sound. It is extremly difficult to figure out though. And reading the manual is like trying to read chinese! There are some good sides to this though. If you havent ever had experience with and digital effects like delay time, chorus level, wah level ect. It will help you learn the steps to creating a good tone. But other wise i will have to say that you will have to take time out with the GT-3.

The sound on the presets in just plain horrible. Some aren't to bad, but alot of them just dont make anysense. I started out with presets and none of them were worth a crap. I gradually got better with making my own sound really began to create some not half bad tones. I mainly listen to bands like the 80's metal bands. And I think that they key to getting a good distortion is to be picky with what you want. Dont say oh thats good enough. Have other people listen to your sounds ask them if it sounds good, ask them what they think. I got a pretty good GNR tone just by having a metal distortion and on the preamp setting using a clean tone. This way i achive that clean but heavy sound. And I recive no annoying buzzing when I set it down. My friends cant even tell its on!

I've used this slightly with other people. I would eaisly take this unit to a gig. There might be some problems with that seeing that I would have to throw in another extension cord. Mainly because the outlet cord is short. I might have sub-pedals though, just to have like a solo tone or a wah tone.

Never had to deal with the company>

One thing I notice about alot of the reviews is that they all comment on the bad distortion. The unit however shouldnt make any noises. Most of the reviews that say that are all used so they might consider repair.

I bought this unit about six years ago. After noodling around for awhile it becomes fairly easy to negotiate the different effects. Manual was ok, but most manuals are not that user friendly, in my experience.

I run the GT-3 through my Portastudio and use it exclusively for recording since I'm not playing guitar in a band at this time. Some of the presets are good and a lot of them I never even use. I have about 40 different effects that I have programmed. I use those about 90% of the time.

The distortion is not very good, the wah effects are not the best, although I haven't spent a lot of time tweaking the old wah-wah. I do like the different amp sounds, limiter, tremelo, chorus, delay and reverb. I also like the acoustic settings. One thing that I do is to find a program that I like and then use the same parameters, but switch the amp settings. This gives me a range of different sounds, but also themes that relate to one another.

I can get a fairly good "Yer Blues" and other Beatle guitar sounds, especially using my Epiphone Casino. There are some good crunch sounds and a pretty good Pete Townsend "Live at Leeds" sound that I can get, especially with my SG and Blues Bird.

I have never had a problem with the unit, but then it has never left the house. It has a metal housing which seems very sturdy.

Never dealt with the company, but never had to.

If you like straight ahead old school rock and roll and British rock and roll, you can get good sounds. Some of the metal sounds are also pretty good if you don't use the distortion, but stick with the power amps.

I've been playing for 36 years and I like the fact that this is one unit instead of seven or eight pedals strung together. If it was lost or stolen, I would seriously look at the Vox tube processor as a replacement.

It has been a good processor for use in recording.

well i have to admit, at first i was overwhelmed with the process of programing the GT-3. I just read the programing section of the manual just to learn how to edit and save, and the rest just pretty much fool with it til Ifound a good sound. it really is pretty easy to use once you learn the basics. i like how there is a CRL (control) foot switch to turn on and off certain effects, and also the expression pedal that can control volume, the wah, the amount of effect, the rate of effects, or all at the same time. the CRL button can turn on and off the tuner also. the CRL can pretty much turn on and off everything on the GT3, even the expression pedal.

my setup is pretty simple: ltd eclipse, ibanez artist-> shure wireless or planet wave cords -> Boss GT3 -> korg rack tuner -> rocktron husch super C -> rocktron velocity 120 stereo power amp -> marshall 1960a lead slanted cab set to stereo.
my set up may sound like its complicated but its just guitar to rack gear - to speakers. i have only this one amp but because of the GT-3 i can mimmic or create endless sounds. from hardcore crunch or death metal chug to acoustic clean. the possiblities are enormous.
most people here bag on the sound quality of the distorion, but they just dont know shit about digital equipments. the trick to getting good distorion is all in the EQing. first set the utility based on the correct power source you are using (ie..combo, stack, power amp, etc..)then choose the amp you want in the preamp section and set all the EQ evenly flat to all 50. then select the equalization set it to the sound you want. go back to the preamp EQ and tweak it even more to your desired tone. a little compression helps a lot also. i really think that a tube power amp should improve my set up because i've played my Gt3 with a mesa boogie dual rectifier just using the power slave and it sounded more alive than ever. so for the distorion sound, i mainly use the preamp. i only use the overdrive/ dist button for noisy effects...or, just pick a pretty good sounding preset, tweak it then hit the write button, then viola.
the utility button also has the master Eq. so rather than painstakingly EQing each setting to match each concert venues or room, you can simply eq just one for the entire processor to your desired tone.
Remember that all guitars only sounds good out of a good amp or vice versa. same thing goes for a good processor like the GT3.

i've been gigging to many bars, clubs, coffee houses, skate parks, college events, and house parties for five years with the GT3 and the rest of my set up, and it hasnt failed me yet. it pretty much gets used approximately 10 hours a week for at least 2 hours continuously each session.

never had to deal with them

i play in three bands. Floating Holiday (very structured rock), the wrong Fiasco (heavy alternative), and Sfumato (jam rock). those bands demand different sounds from my playing, but my set up handles them all. the GT3 is trully flexible.
ive been playing guitar since i started playing in bands and that was 8 years ago. i use to play with a bunch of boss pedals but they were a hasle because i like using more than at least three pedals at a time plus the amp footswitch. so i bought a processor.
the one thing that i think can improve this particular instrument is for it have a bigger, brighter, colored LCD screen. i've gigged with the GT3 on outdoor occasions probably 5 times and remembering that i bobbled stepping on the right button mainly because i couldnt read which bank i was on. also the power cord is way too short and the adapter box of the cord shouldnt be in the middle but right on the plug but with the space saver design so it doesnt hog the outlet space on my power conditioner.
i think a great tube power amp and maybe a new guitar should improve my sound tremendously. wishful thinking. i wish i were filthy rich so i can buy prostitutes, and guitars.
if somebody steals my GT3 i would definite kill that person andbuy another one , or better yet get the GT5 which is almost identical but has more programable banks and one extra footswitch. however i believe that boss may have discontinued producing these models due to the release of the GT-6. so if one day my Gt3 breaks down on me (godforbid) i will send it to BOSS and have their technicians repair it back to new. the programs may get lost but i can always reprogram it.

Once you get the hang of it, it's relatively easy to program. The built-in tuner is hard to see.

I tried the GP3 with a EMG-equipped Strat through a Carvin 212 tube amp. Normally, I go for a very compressed clean sound, a chorus-y sound, a good OD (like Pete Townshend's in most of the mid-70s Who recordings), and a lead channel with a little more OD and some delay to fatten it up.

The compressor is typical BOSS -- fairly quiet, and "ring-y." I would imagine it records fairly well direct. The distortion stinks, period. The chorus/flanging is OK, but nothing spectacular. The delays are limited and hard to program. The reverb is thin and unnatural sounding. Some of the other gimmcky effects are fun for about 10 minutes.

It seems solid enough.

I bought this for live use only. I was sorely disappointed. I found that if I supplemented it with my old Morley chorus/flanger, a RAT overdrive and a tuner, I could tolerate it for at least a gig. The only remotely useful thing about it is the built-in expression pedal, which despite its sticky, cheap feeling response acts pretty well as a "volume knob" for your feet.

I am amazed at the number of responses here.

This unit works very well in a studio. I use it as a direct injection unit straight into my mixer (ie no amp) and it gives me everything I need and sounds great. (I haven't managed to get a good funk type sound but I haven't put the time into getting one yet).

My one critcism is the tune function is a small button, that really should be a large pedal so as not to require bending down.

If you want a unit to use with an amp and in a live venue do what Boss themselves say, use the ME-50.

I tried this unit for the first time at a gig and on the first break went scambling to set up my old pedals. I have to agree, the distortion sucks and nothing matches the clean tube sound of my amp. I tried to manually program the sound I liked, but as we all know, what it sounds like in your living room and what it sounds like at the gig are two different things. I kind of liked the accoustic guitar sound and some of the delays were nice, but not any better than my regular pedals. I play a Stratocaster with noisless pickups. My needs are just a good clean tube sound, A good distortion, and Delay and reverbs. For me 2 pedals with my amp do this fine, I saw this unit used for $150 and said, what the hell, I will give it a try, But it does not work gor me on stage. Guess Iif something isn't broke, why fix it? but I may keep the unit just to annoy my wife when she is watching TV. :)

I got the opportunity to try out a GT-3 with my amp. I was planing to get one, I needed a few effects, mosty Delay, Reverb, Chourus. But I first wanted to try it out. Luckally I did!
It's always important for me how effects change the original amp-sound. Well, the GT-3 really damped and muffled my amps tone! I have a Engl Tube Amp, the Thunder 50. Maybe not the best amp, but still tube.
I also tried to mix the original amp sound with the GT-3's sound (The Thunder has a blend-over knob, from only dry to only wet), it didn't work either. (the original amp signal is digitalized as well, so there is a small time diffrence between the original signal and the one from the GT-3)
I'm going to get a simple Multi-Effect Unit, WITHOUT preamp section, maybe a G-Major. That's probally the right thing for me!!!
Good advice: Try out the GT-3 before you buy it, it could be fine with your amp, but I have the feeling that it isn't too good in conjunction with a tube amp!

You get the best results using the manual mode.
The preset are horrible. Take the time to build your sound.
The display can be hard to read.
The pedals are too small.
I wish it had knobs like the gt6.

As everyone else says the distortions are pointless. I use an od3 and a ds1 to take care of this.
But the trem is excellent (better than the tr2), the delays and reverbs pretty nice...there is alot you can do with board, but you need to learn to assemble your sounds. It's got a world of wacky misc. sounds that make people look up, too. There is alot you can do with this.

Never let me down at any gig any time (In 3 years).

n/a

I'm the only guitarist in my country ska punk band The Drug Squad (thedrugsquad.net), this unit gives me a great variety of options and sounds. It add alot of colour to the set. But, use it as a link in your chain, not exclusively.

Takes alot of fiddling with it to get good sounds but once you figure out how to work everything it's pretty easy. I lost my manual a long time ago.

For what I use it for, (time-based effects mainly), the sound quality is excellent, but the amp models, distortion and wah are pretty weak in my opinion. I play an Ibanez Jem into a Crate Blue Voodoo tube head, and in a pinch I can get by just fine with just my guitar, amp, and a delay (Boss DD-5) pedal. My full rig is an Ibanez Jem into a Dunlop crybaby wah, Zakk Wylde overdrive pedal, the GT-3, and the BV head into a Marshall 1960 cab with vintage celestion 30's. I get plenty of distortion from my amp, the OD pedal just fattens things up nicely. The GT-3's distortion doesn't hold a candle to a tube head's so I use it for the delay, chorus, flanger, EQ, noise-gate and, once in awhile, the slicer effect. The great thing about the GT-3 is the patches. You can have up to four distinct sounds at any given time with just the stomp of a pedal. My main patches consist of a rhythm sound using the EQ, noise gate and a little chorus, and a lead sound that is similar, but boosts the volume, low end and adds some delay. I love being able to hit one pedal and have my solo just scream out loud and clear. I use the other aforementioned effects for texture once in awhile but my rhythm and lead patches are what carry me through 90 percent of a gig. If you like to use a wah, keep it in front of the GT-3 in your signal chain and don't even bother with the built-in one. I send my GT-3 through my amp's effects loop and it's perfectly quiet, adding no noise.

Had it for 5 years, 50+ gigs, hundreds of rehearsals, spilled beer on it, knocked it around, it's built like a tank. I always bring a backup delay just in case but have never needed it.

NA

Like I said, I don't care for the amp models, distortion or the wah but I don't need it for that. Having the GT-3 is like having all the time-based Boss pedals under one hood, being able to mix-and-match them as you like, plus control of volume, EQ and a noise gate. The other guitar player in my band likes to have all his pedals, (like 12 of them!), spread out around him in a semi-circle but he has to do a pedal dance every time he changes his sound. Plus, our singer is a lunatic and he ends up kicking or accidentally engaging one of those pedals at least once every show. With the GT-3 and some time spent programming patches to your taste, (the pre-programmed patches suck), you can dramatically change your sound with just one stomp.

Try all the factory presets to see what you like, but I HIGHLY RECOMEND plainly using the manual mode so you can create your own pedal chain, allowing you to turn on diff effects at your leisure. This makes it a heck of a lot easier to use and allows you recreate a pedalboard feel.

GT3 v GT6 ? Obviously bigger and better is the 6 and Im jealous of the actual KNOBS, the flat buttons are not prefered.

After 5-6 years I just fell in love with it again. Why? Because I put the distortion in front of the preamp. I use the turbo OD, and MS1959I+II. I also use the compressor at the start of the chain. Solid thick tone, without being to razorlike, and not to dull, yet sustainy. Move over Trey!

after 5-6 years, no probs whatsoever.

boss = tanks. I called them once for a simple q, they answered it right away.

Again, try the manual edit mode and experiment with different signal flows and effects.

has nice workable parameters...altough you cannot use the factory settings, wich are terrible. Make a fresh start and add effects as you need them...dont overuse effects, or you will have more engeneer working than playing

I use only the reverbs, delay, chorus and modulation, the distortions are terrible, except the vintage that can be worked a little to an acceptable level, cosm amp simulator is pretty lame, and the direct sound is terrible...So I use it as a modulation, and spacial effects processor, and volume control mostelly, and it does work pretty good at those levels. Not a complete unit, you will certainlly need external distortion, wah, and maybe some other...

Never failed me...and is sturdy built...no backup needed.

The features I use, are workable at any musical style, but if you dont use much diferent effects, you better buy separate pedals instead of this unit, because some features are not good at all, and some are unusable...

There are so many parameters to adjust that it can be very difficult for someone impatient or without tech skills. I went through all the patches when I got it and was not too impressed. But after I learned how to tweak it I fell in love with it. Basically I set up my own patches by turning every effect off and made different patches with one effect at a time. exactly as you would do it with pedals. THIS IS CRITICAL! You will never get your sounds right trying to adjust 10 effects at the same time. As said before, the effect chain is also very important.

The GT-3 sounds different with every amp but you can get great sounds out of ANY amp, even my 9V battery powered mini Marshall stack that I bought for $20. I have to adjust my patches to my amps though. Funny thing is I can get my favorite sound out of the headphone jack plugged into my computer speakers (with a sub) on a patch that sounds absolutely awful on any of my guitar amps (Comp Turbo). I mostly play a Schecter guitar using a Carvin amp. This setup gives me the most versatility.
The sounds are awesome. I usually only use about 2-3 effects at a time though, I hardly ever use the factory patches. I don?t like a lot of effects at one time and I fine tune my favorite ones to my preferences.
It is easy to make the GT-3 sound bad. This is not a bad thing, it just means it is versatile. What is bad on one amp could sound like gold on another

Built like a tank. Ive never had a problem. I would gig w/o backup. Who could afford backup? There are too many other things Id rather have than 2 of something I already have.

never delt with them

I use the GT-3 with a Schecter C+ with a SD 59 pickup in the bridge. Also a stock Yamaha Pacifica. I have a 100W Tube Marshall JCM 900 stack and a Solid state 100W Carvin SX-200 combo 2X12 combo I use for a cab and amp. I also have a cheap Matrix 2X8 practice amp. Other effects pedals I have are an Ibanez TS-9DX and Dunlop Wah. These are both high quality effects that I never touch anymore since I got the GT-3. I can almost duplicate their sounds.
I can get pretty close to just about any sound I want. I play Metallica, SRV, 3 doors down, Eagles, Led Zeplin etc...
I?ve played for about 11 years now, I can hold my own with other guitarists. I have a pretty respectable rig for being a poor college student for the last 8 years (med student) I was a purest with no pedals till about 2 years ago when I got ?the bug? to find better sounds. The bug was squashed by buying the GT-3. I would buy this anytime over the newer versions because of the cost vs. return. I remember drooling over this thing when it was $400 new. I don?t think the newer ones are much better, just cost more.

First of all. I read through these submissions and it looks like some people are technically expierenced and others are not. You can get whatever sound you want with this. You just have to know how to set up good effects from the ground up. Pay attention to the effects chain as you would if you had several stomp boxes in a row, this is critical in getting the right sound. This is a PRE amp, meaning don't use it in a effects loop, that would be using it as a In between amp. How do think that is going to work right?

Sound quality can be achieved if you have any expierience using processors. Using it with a Tubeworks stereo power amp. Can get the Preamp tones to work just fine.

Very sturdy. Have owned this since they first came out 4 yrs ago. All the new effects have all this useless space cadet sounds that I would never need, unless you were on acid all the time.

Never had to ask anyone about this.

Editing each patch is incredibly user friendly and easy. I often throw my shoes off and edit the patches with my toes.IN THEORY one should be able to get any sound out of the GT-3. There is the COSM, an EQ, a SUB EQ, amp simulators, multiple distortions, utility settings, etc. not to mention their online advice and tutorials. But if you're like me you don't want to spend hours and hours perfecting one patch much less multiple patches. I have spent many evenings sitting down with my Marshall VS100 and headphones and (four years later) finally created a patch I like. So if you don't mind the headaches of fine tuning and tweaking numerous variable of each of your patches then it may not be as much of an annoyance as it has been to me. I find stomp boxes easier to edit; I find it confusing to not have knobs but just numbers on a screen. The manual is very large at about 80 pages, but I would have liked for it to go more in depth with the effects and uses.

I play a Gibson Les Paul Standard and a Fender Strat to the GT-3 and through a Marshall VS100 valvestate (big mistake) combo. I am a fan of BOSS sounds. Always have been, since I started playing 11 years ago, and always will be. I like many bands from Smashing Pumpkins to PropellerHeads to U2, but I'd say the sounds I most like to replicate would be bands like Delirious or Tom Petty or any good crunchy rhythm sound. The only way I've found to get this is with the MS1956I amp simulator and I just adjust the VOLUME and GAIN settings. While I love the SD-1, BD-2 or even the Metal Zone pedals for some nice rich warm distortions I DO NOT like the distortions of the GT-3. They are all too shreddy and high pitched; I won't use the distortions even when I'm just having fun in a jam, they're terrible. I always use the LINE OUT setting otherwise I feel that I will kill my ears. As with BOSS single stomp boxes, the modulations, delays and other effects are beautiful.

Built like a TANK! Never had any technical problems.

Never had to use them.

I've been playing for 11 years and have managed to use the GT-3 for 4 of those years, but now I'm looking to get rid of it. The GT-3 just helped to solidify my belief that no digital module can fully replicate any good analog sound (the only thing to change my views has been the Fender Cyber Twin) Possibly if I had a tube amp I may find that the sounds of the GT-3 may be de-shredded. Very nice if you want it just for the delay and modulation effects. In fact, its great if you don't ever want to use the amp simulators or the distortions. The amp simulators sound nothing like they are named and the distortions all sound like death metal shred. Now if you want to spend hours and hours and hours studying and modifying each parameter then this is a great project for you, but if you want to "set it and forget it" Invest in some single pedals. If it were stolen I'd collect the money and put it towards a Mesa Boogie. Happy shoppin!

easy if you just go with the preset settings, and fairly easy if you want to tweek the parameters of each effect. on some effects there seems to be an excess of parameters to tweek, e.g there only needs to be 2 or 3 parameters (i.e. 'depth','rate'&'level' virtual knobs) for chorus but there's about 6! i can't get the external overdrive pedal socket thing to work either - i've tried various ways at plugging in my route 66 pedal to no avail.

average. i originally bought it to use as a fancy headphone practice amp but have even given up on that idea. even after months of tweeking i couldn't get any sounds i really liked. 98% of the factory presets are awful - no subtlety whatsoever, a real mess of too much fx piled on each cliched preset. i ended up spending so much time tweeking that i didn't have time left for much actual playing practice - so WARNING! This unit will cause your playing chops to go downhill! i feel that they should've left out the silly fx that no one uses ('slicer' anyone?) and concentrated on better quality 'bread and butter' fx. btw, the delay on it is better sounding than a dd2 but there's no 'hold' function.

well built. hasn't broken. but then i hardly ever use it.

don't know

had for 4 years and only get it out the cupboard every few months or so. not bad value if you want all the fx without the price tag of buying individual pedals or racks...but at what price if you you don't like the end result? you'll find yourself buying those good quality individual pedals eventually anyway when you start to become more savvy about 'tone'. multi fx is not the all in one solution the manufacturers would like you to believe.

It get easier to use with time. When I first got it I was just excited to fiddle with the effects, so it was a little confusing, but after about a month or two I had it down to a science.

Over the years I've gone through a few different rigs, but now that I've found my dream rig I can say this thing is a monster. I've got two Kustom Quad 100 Heads with two Kustom 4x12 cabs, and you really couldn't tell the difference between this and a Marshall. I grew up on analog and tube amplifiars, so I'm a huge fan of vintage sounds (such as old Fenders and Marshalls from the 60's and 70's.) I play mostly metal but I love havin a vintage hard rock sound. After some work, this thing gets me a great vintage sound with new componants. I will admit though, as much as I love this unit it's really hard to get an internal distortion sound that sounds really good. So I added a Metal Zone and a lot of EQ and got my dream sound. Virtually anything is possibly with this unit if you apply yourself. The really cool thing: switches sounds almost instantaniously. I've heard so many pedals take a long time (upwards of half a second) to switch to another sound even within it's own bank. This thing switches sounds fast. Also, worth noting: the acoustic simulator is pretty damn good, and the delays are amazing. Great phaser/flanger sounds too, and the EQ is one of the best. Only thing I'd like to see more flexability in is the Wah sounds.

This thing is a freakin beast. Hands-down the most dependable effects box on the market. Been using it almost every day for the past three years, no problems. Has never died on me and works perfect every single time I tuen it on.

Haven't had to talk to support. This thing rocks.

This is hands down the best pedal on the market. Most guitarists preffer to use individual pedals, and yes in most cases that's the best way to go. But this thing does a great job of creating a beautiful and natural sound for any style of music. But, here's the thing: you have to make it sound good. If you know how you want to sound, then you will sound that way, garaunteed. If you just mess with it and try to find something cool you may be disapointed.

Its quite easy to use after you are familiar with it.

I play this unit on my CS Strat and Les Paul,I find this processor sound too digital & crispy to my ears.Modulations are good,reverb & delays are not so bad,Distortions are not impressive.Amp simulations are bad except for the clean tones,they're ok.acoustic sim,wahs,comps,limiters are average,lots of sfxs(not useful though).

I must admit that this thing is very reliable.

never dealt.

I mostly play rock and blues & been doin that for almost 15 yrs.I think this gear is for beginner/intermediate guitarists who seeks for a wide varieties of effects/sound for his/her live showsThis unit is user friendly and you can create a lots of sounds with it,has a large memory capacity(banks) and there are many useful functions such as the assianable pedal,control switch,manual function,eff.chain set etc.this thing would be great if the amp sims and the distortions sounded better.The worst thing about this gear is it reacts totally different to a headphone and to an amp.this thing is great for headphone practicing at the middle of the night.I wonder if this gear sounds great for a versatile player.Anyway a good player always rely on separate pedals than these all in one type multi effects processors.

Very easy to use, although narrowing down to an exact tone can take hours. There is a very useful GT-3 yahoo group though which can help those who are stuck.

I have a mid-high range Ibanez and a Marshall AVT100. I put the FX unit infront of the amp and use the clean channel. Doing this takes alot of my amp's sound away but when I have a good effect I don't want the amp messing it up :). This thing has so many FX and parameters that you could spend a lifetime tweaking. The distortion is a little poor on it's own but if you have it low with the amp simulator it can sound very good. I've nailed an 80's Metallica sound on it so it can't be bad. The time effects (Delay, Reverb, chorus etc.) are excellant. I now wouldn't get rid of this for the world (maybe for a newer version).

I haven't gigged it just yet but soon will. I've had it for 5 years and it's still in good as new condition. I've never had any problem whatsover with it.

Never needed to contact Boss.

I've been playing on and off for 5 years and I mostly play metal but I also play some other stuff. This machine can get some excellant blues tones too as well as heavy thrash and the like. If it were stolen I'd probably go buy a newer version (GT-6 I think we're on now). What I love about this pedal is the amount of FX you can have going at the same time and the fact you can use the cntrl pedal to change parameters/fx within each patch, it's like you have 4 patches in each patch. The only thing I hate is that it has so many things that it takes along time of tweaking to get what you want. Anybody that has the opportunity to get one of these cheap should get it. It owns any other multi-FX machines I tried in the price range (when I bought it that is in 99).

Easy to get great sounds from the presets. Editing is fairly simple for basic parameters if you have exp. with multi FX. The manual is confusing and incomplete, even though it is huge. It took me years to figure some things out. Didn't know about upgrades.

Mostly I use my fernandes dragonfly pro(awesome gtr!) into gt-3, into fender hot rod deville for gigs and it sounds great and has every effect. Only pedal I use is a crybaby. This unit sounds great with every amp I have, peavey classic 30, fender princeton, carvin x60 tube head, epiphone galaxy 10( really cool tube amp for practice and recording) and my peavey rages. The fx all sound good except for wah but thats with all multis and I wouldnt want to wear out the exp. pedal anyway. You can get close to almost any sound and if you cant practice more. It has a global(effects all patches) eq and reverb levels for quick changes to work with different gtrs, rooms. Nice feature!

TANK. PERIOD. Never a problem in 7 years and never a backup.

Don't know.

I play all kinds of rock and blues. Been playing 13 years. I own a few other multi fx, zoom, korg and boss that don't compare to the gt-3. also boss pedals metal zone,comp.,delay, eq, ds-1, and ibanez tubescreamer, fuzz, chorus. this pedal would be good for any style, level player. Just take some time to set up some patches and build from them. this is also the best way to set cuz' the factory settings vary in volume. Manual mode is handy for stomp box style stomping. Now, WHY such a small volume knob and WHY on the back!? Hate that! I might buy the gt-6 if lost just cuz its got knobs instead of buttons. I play in bar bands doing covers and originals and it helps me simplify my set up and make quick and extreme sound changes required when covering a lot of styles. If you stick with one style just get a couple stompboxes cuz you don't need all this and I think individual fx generally sound a little better. It does have extension dist jacks that allow you to put your fav. boxes through the gt-3! You can also use this for tube pre-amps! My deville's pre-amp can be patched thru the gt-3 then the unit's out put goes to the power amp/fx return in!!! this requires 5 cables but is great if you want to use your amps distortion or the gt-3's dist. or amp modeling. I wish it had true bypass function, and a master volume KNOB on front for quick adjustments cuz the patch volumes are hard to even out. A great unit, especially for less than 200 ebay price.

Slightly low score on this 'cos it takes a year or two to get good at setting & editing patches. Also don't expect to get killer valve-type tones when you up the gain. The COSM amp modelling is quite good for clean but doesn't cut the mustard for producing that clipped tone that you get from those dodgy old glass tubes. I've found a tone that sounds a bit like plugging straight in to an Orange and turning the volume up to ten - a typical British Noel Gallagher style overdrive, but that's about it. Something else I've noticed - the crappiest amp model of the lot is "MS1959" - which we all know is supposed to be a Marshall stack. It's just about unusable, & given that Marshall is the sound most guitarists aspire to, why feck it up so royally? Sour grapes from the boys at Roland? That might explain why "JC120" is one of the best! The manual is pants (long johns, with one of those cat-flaps & porcelaine buttons). Your best bet is get on the internet & google it for loads of info from other users. I'm not sure what version of software mine has but I reckon it's about 4 years old now - I bought it used.

I'm using a Telecaster & an Epi Les Paul. If you thought the difference in tone between guitars was subtle, try using a patch for a Les Paul & playing a Tele through it, or vice-versa. Any high gain stuff set for the LP will buzz like a bastard with the Tele's single coils, and anything else sounds thin & reedy. The other way round everything just disappears in mush. I don't often amp the GT-3, & this raises another point. If, like me, you normally use headphones for practice & set the patches that way, as soon as you put it through an amp - any amp - as Boss recommend, your patches will sound bloody awful. I've heard the best set up is straight into the power amp of a Peavey Bandit using the line out (headphones) setting & this will allow you to keep the settings you've got & sound pretty true to what you were trying to achieve. Never been able to try it, though. If I amp it at all I use the guitar amp (combo) setting through my crappy Kramer 15W solid state doo-dah. It sounds OK-ish. Apart from the poor distortions (which I've already mentioned) the wah is pretty awful, too. It sounds better on clean patches, but who ever wants to wah-wah without plenty of sustain? I set a patch recommended by some website or other to supposedly improve the pre-set wah, but it's still too sudden & shallow. The delay is quite good - I've got a killer patch for playing Waterfall by the Stone Roses - sounds like you're on the opposite side of the grand canyon. Reverb is quite nice for a digi-box too. Oh, & the acoustic simulator. I've got an acoustic guitar & I'd like to know how this sounds different to an electric guitar played clean with the EQ tweaked for bass & treble - the only realistic simulation is when you put some chorus on to sound like an electro-acoustic. Oh yes - there's some effects here which I'll probably never use, but there's a pitch shifter which I've used to play the intro to Radiohead's My Iron Lung & it sounds exactly right. Dunno what Johnnie's using but my bet is it's more expensive than 2% of a GT-3's capability.

This is built like a brick shit-house.

Never dealt with.

As I'm a relative novice playing indie-rock style stuff for my own entertainment through headphones, the GT-3 is ideal for giving me all the sounds I want without the expense & complication of seperate stomp boxes. On the odd occasions I've been jamming/rehearsing I spent as long trying to get a good sound as actually playing the damn guitar, much to everybody elses frustration. In the end it was easier to plug straight into the amp. I briefly owned a Laney VC50 valve amp & it was a total waste of the GT-3's abilities & the amp's natural tone to try to pair them up. If you're gigging, either set it up through a solid state power amp and get all those lovely sounds cheaply, or go for the real thing & use a valve amp with stomp boxes. I doubt wether your audience will notice the difference or give a toss, but I'm inclined to think the GT-3 is more of a toy for the bedroom guitarist than a serious pice of kit.

For as much as you can do with this unit, it's actually really easy to use (with help from the manuel of corse) everythings laid out in a very user friendly fassion

the versitility

The versitility of this unit is Amazing. Surpassed only by the GT-6.
There is so much you can do. You can efect parameters of effects that you didn't know were there. The internal pedle controls make for even more versitility. I seriouse. Ive had this thinf for about 4 years now and it still amazes me how crazy of sound you can make.

The tone

The tone is another matter. All though all the effects are pretty cool sounding, this thing does Tone suck. It's not the worst in the world but if you have a good amp you'll notice (i run it through a Rivera M120, killer amp) In my opinion, the versitility far makes up for the lack in tone. And In a live situation you'll never notice.

I wouldn't suggest using this for extensive studio use though. It's good for making wierd sounds and unique effects, but not for it's tone

One thing, the noise gate is pretty good and, if using the built-in pre amp models it's almost silent

This thing flew out of the back of my friends truck and smashed into a curb 3-1/2 years ago and put a big dent in it but the thing never stoped. It's built like a freaking tank man!!! Not a single glitch. The pedals still work and everything.

Rad unit, but not exactly pro quality. It's close though. I use it for strange sounds and radicall effects but not much else. It's a killer unit for pre or post effects. the effects sound really good. But the thing sucks just enough tone to start to be anoying.

it's practically IMPOSSIBLE to get a decent sound out of this piece of shit on it's own;
if ya use the knobs on the guitar, ya can hear the terrible noise gate working...high frequency artifacts that sound fuckin' HORRIBLE, and if ya turn it off, the thing has all the background noise of a waterfall!
Editing patches is a pain, and the manual is THE WORST PIECE OF SHIT I HAVE EVER SEEN!!!
it has every bauble and bead you'll prolly never need, and most of the "analog (not) " stuff sounds horrid.
the delays are ok, i like the tap function, tho i rarely use it...
some of the reverbs are ok, the harmonizer is adequate but difficult to program realistically, and EVERYTHING sounds digital, in a BAD way.
the "cosm" sims of various preamps totally suck..i do amp tech work , and most of the models just don't cut it unless you run the shit around half way up...then they SOUND KINDA like what they represent, but in a very harsh and sterile way.
the comp is noisy, the gate sucks, the preamp models suck, the overdrives/distortions suck, but i DO use it live...

live, i use what seems an insanely complex rig with this thing;
i DON'T use any of the cosm or distortions at all, they fucking SUCK.
anyone with ears will notice that, unless they've been raised on "digital models" and have never had the chance to play thru any of the amps this thing lamely attempts to model.
i run it like this, i've seen it since called the four cable method, but mine is a little more complex...
the signal path goes like this:gtr> hot rodded crybaby wah (thanks to Geofex' R.G. Keene for the jelp, BTW!)> dano french fries auto wah > dano chicken salad vibe > Boss Super Overdrive > Big Muff Pi > GT-3 input >GT-3 send > Roland GP-8 in >gp-8 send >line input, Marshall 9001 tube preamp >marshall send >gp8 return >gp-8 outs to Marshall stereo returns > marshall output (mono) >GT-3 return > gt stereo outs > left goes to market electronics echoplex >input marshall valvestate 8008 power amp, right to other input on the power amp.
By turning off the cosm preamps, and setting the distortion to external and having the marshall in it's place, i don't need that lame ass digital distortion/preamp modeling, i can use actual TUBES to get my tone, and use the good sounding digital stuff after the tubes like they belong.
i like being able to put the "loop" of the GT anywhere i want,
and expressive control on the thing can be the bomb, if ya can figure out the exceedingly cryptic manual.
heavily processed, the accoustic sim is good, i use it live a couple times a night.
mostly i only need like three patches live.
versatility wise, there is an awesome amount of stuff ya can do with this pedal...but there's a lotta bullshit in it, too....
arranging effects however you like is handy tho, gotta admit...
you can do things "wrong" to great effect!
tho by itself, i can't stand this blue piece of crap, it's been a great addition to my live rig...once i turned off all the bullshit!!
seems to run best on the "line/headphones" setting.
but honestly, if ya want TONE, yer better off with an old ME-5, unless you're bonged outta yer mind or play with so much distortion ya wouldn't know a decent tone if it bit you in yo ass.
if yer not very discriminating, this thing could be your wet dream.
some of the shit in there, like the humanizer and auto riff function, just sound...well, DUMB!!!!!!!

it fucks up frequently on gigs, and pisses me off!!
prone to oscillation, doesn't like sitting in the truck.
very susceptable to atmospheric moisture and to a lesser degree temperature.
every couple gigs, i need to completely unplug it and repatch it to get it to work, seems prone to oxidation.
it lives in a pedal board, so it's not being unpatched unless it fucks up...
which again, it does every couple gigs.
but it IS a boss, and can take some physical abuse.

never dealt with boss on this one other than to ask why the manual sucked so very, very hard!
they couldn't tell me why, and were reasonably clueless when i asked about specific functions.
again, they dropped the ball on this thing IMnot-particularlyHO

i play classic rock and blues.
it's adequate for my uses with an assload of outboard gear.
been playing since'69, own a buncha gtrs, mostly strats and gibsons.
use fender and marshall amps most of the time, depending on my mood and the gig.
if it were stolen, i doubt i'd buy another, honestly.
just not worth it; every sound but the RIGHT one, tho you can tweak it eventually to be usefull.
i don't love anything about it; but it DOES have enough options to keep ya busy for a while before you realize just how badly BOSS dropped the ball in so many ways.
i just wish it could sound good on it's own' cuz MAN, would it be useful!!
i wish Boss would go back to using an ANALOG front end, and the noise gate they had in the ME-5..then it would be useful.
by itself, without serious tweaking, it's difficult to really get a useful sound out of this thing, but it shines for the most part in my setup; but mostly i use it as a hub to control my rig, and use the verb and ddl.
using the exp pedal as the master volume for a cranked up marshall is a gas...
but them digital high frequency aliasising artifacts ruin the things tone, they are incredibley noticeable and annoying if ya use the volume knobs on your gtr.
for what it is, it's ok, but by no means is it a holy grail of gtr tone like some may lead you to believe.
ya gotta jump thru hoops to use it , and the manual just plain sux pud.
BUT.....it DOES have some useful, meat and potatoes effects, and a buncha shit most will probably never need, like the arpeggiator auto riff thing, the slicer, stuff like that.
basically, what SHOULD be digital sounds pretty good, but what SHOULD be analog sounds like doo doo.
and don't make the mistake of trying to use the cosm preamp models as an overdrive into a distorted amp.
FUCKIN' 'ORRIBLE!!!
yech.
might as well be a zoom pedal.
yes, that bad.
but creatively programmed, and with a decent preamp, it can sound really good if your gain structures are right.
but getting any tone you can imagine?
hardly..
keep looking!
need i say more?

It is a little bit hard to use this petal in the begging but as soon as you experiment some days you can make everything.

the sound is fake. very bad sonic character. the simulations of the preamps are not very close to the real ones. the fx s have a good quality but nothing is close to pro gears.

it is a boss that means that you can jump on it and it does not brake.
very good support of the manual and the internet.
it is really the hardest petal in the market.

i was playing with boss 1 year ago but now i have rack gear. i loved this petal. now it is not something special for me. for the amature players it is a magic unit.

Its a Sweet Processor! I had one oce before and sold it while in a fit of buying and sell rage(STUPIDITY).......
Some may say its dificult to edit the patches but I say its a breaze!
Roland manuals are known for being bad.
Not shure of the firmware, never try to find out...............

I love the sound quality its very clean. I never had to add any further noise supression.

I like the effects thay are usable for me and my music(Electronic ambiant crazy).

No amps just direct into the mixer.
I never try to emulate artists thats left up to the cover bands in my opinion.

Delays are awsome and modulation effects are very usefull.

I have gigged with one in the past as did my friend in our band we both used them without a hitch.

No need for a backup.

Roland is alright when it comes to support.
Never delt with them any more than to ask a dumb question.

I play very odd and effected stuff with under layers of regular sounding guitars. This effects box works well for me.
I would hunt down another if mine was stolen, or get the GT-6 to replace it.
A digital out would be nice, but the GT-6 has added that so........

THIS UNIT IS NOT FOR KIDS OR IMPATIENT WANKERS, IT CAN BE MADE TO SOUND ANYWAY YOU WANT IT, SOME OF THE FOLKS WHO HAVE HAD PROBLEMS WITH GETTING A WARM TONE OUT OF THIS UNIT WOULD BE BETTER SUITED TO HAVE METAL BOX WITH A BIG RED BUTTON THAT SAYS GO! ON IT AND NO OTHER FEATURES,

THERE HAS BEEN NO TONE i HAVE HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO RECREATE,

GREAT DO IT ALL UBIT, I CANT HELP BUT LAUGH AT THE PEOPLE WHO COULDNT GET GREAT TONE OUT OF IT, YOU CAN ONLY IMAGINE THEIR PATIENCE TO LEARN ANYTHING NEW,

IF IT WERE SUPER INCREADIBLY EASY TO USE IT WOULD HAVE NO OPTIONS

AND IF IT HAD BAD TONE BOSS WOULDNT HAVE PUT THEIR NAME ON IT,

IF YOU DIDNT LIKE THIS PEDDLE OR FOUND IT TOO HARD TO USE, KEEP WAITING FOR FISHER PRICE TO PUT OUT THEIR UBIT! :)

Somewhat involved to use...you definitely have to ead the manual to get to some of the more subtle tweaks. Once you get the hang of it, its quick to change fo your needs. Editing patches is easy.

A quick use guide to this unit: (1) AVOID THE PATCHES - build the effects yourself so you can appreciate each effect's capabilities; (2) Don't use the COSM preamps - they are pretty sterile - certainly don't use the COSM peamp in place of your own amp's pre-amp as the manual suggests. (3) Set up your distortion patches - the Distortions/Overdrives on thie unit are not COSM, but actual analog circuits and they sound really nice. These alone are worth the proce of the unit. Chorus, Dely and other modulations are OK - not awesome, not bad either. The Wah capability is nice. The compressor is only OK at verry low levels...too high and it begins to sound plastic.

I've had this for five years - its a tank.

Though I love separate effects boxes, they are a pain. You can't go wrong on this box.

this box sucks! ive had it for 3 years and can hardly get a good solid tone out of it, this thing is all about tone! pipsqueaky shit tone in fact! its good for intermediate players who havent experimented yet or if you cant play and want to hide that fact behind a wall of distortion.

not very good sound quality wise.

it is very reliable though

dont know

if you want to experiment with all sorts of sounds and modulations then sure! go ahead but for the serious player this unit will not 100 percent satisfy you, i,ve tried alot of different single effects lately and theres a couple i love! they are the dod juice box and the 308 box, now the juice box is not manufactured anymore so i got 2 of them! you may be saying to yourself at this particular moment.... dod is shit! but as a matter of fact i believe they kick boss, ass! i used to own a few individuals of those pedals and was never satisfied, try logging onto the dod effects database in harmony and just see for yourselves how the overall ratings are so much higher than boss gear plus has anyone ever heard of a pro player using the gt3 before? i,ll leave with that, bye all, p.s dont take this inscription to heart if you alredy have a gt3 im only speaking my mind and trying to help.

Well, it's not so easy to program this thing. I really had a problem with the reverb and spent two days finding what the problem is. Even a person from I bought this didn't know the answer... the problem was that in Global options reverb was set to 0. Who did this difficulty in the factory, I don't know, but this is quite stupid for me.
Anyway in general it's not so easy to edit this gt3 machine, mainly becouse it has a lot of options. It's good from one hand, and bad from the other. Basically it takes time to do sth with it that makes sense.
The manual is usefull to some degree, but mostly you will have to use your brain...

Generally speaking you can do a lot from gt3. It just take some time to combine it with your particular amp.
Basically it lacks mid frequencies and that can be a problem if you wanna get the sound of VH for example, but in my opinion anything can be done with gt3, it just can take a lot of experimenting. I got this thing about a week or so and I think that it may take me a year or so to really get the balls out of this, and undestand everything that's there inside.
It's not noisy unless you use some compressor over distortion etc. That's normall. Actually I don't use any distorted thing out of this, mostly it sucks for me. But the amp simulations works fine and you can get a lot of it combining with the amp, but as I said before it takes time to find 'the sound', a lot of experimenting with the amp and gt3 together...
The effects are good, although I lack for the knobs in delay etc. Forget about the synthesizer thing, it sucks, too much delay in what you're doing and what you get, and also you will have some strange sounds comming out of this, without the reason :-) But this is not the guitar synthesizer... 2'nd BUT I don't have a clue why they put this inside the gt3 knowing it doesn't work...
The main guitar effects like chorus, flanger, reverb, etc. even the wah are good, so for me it's better to have one machine doing this, than jump over thousands single effects with your foot.
Good thing is - you have a lot of space to do your own combinations, so you can create a separate banks for each piece of music you play, having it under your foot just changing the banks. For example one bank for heavy distorted sound, combined with the wah sound on the next peadal and flanger and chorus. The other bank may be for jazz kind of stuff etc.. Plus you can program the CTL pedal for certain thing (delay, flanger over basic sound etc).
Basically it's a good machine to explore, but you have to spend some time to understand how it works, and how to get the most of it.
I use jcm 900 combo with it but mostly connecting it directly to the PC through music card to be able to practice at night. I don't know right now how it sounds in gig situation...

have no idea

never used customer support

I play different styles for 14 years mainly using distorted sounds, but also some more simple jazz kind of stuff. Gt3 is usefull, but don't expect miracles from it, it's just some machine, quite usefull, nothing more.

I got mine used w/o the manuel. I figured it inside and out in a matter of a day. With the green screan and red lights it is simple to see what you have on and what dose what. The wheel is a good feture to scan.

Now given the fact that the patches when you first get it sound very very high and tigy. If you have any creativity in you at all. You can make anything sound awesome. I play alot of rage against the machine, tool, and othres so I need to have a wide range of sounds. I can go so far to even make synthesizer come from it (witch can sound like crap or like an actual keyboard granted you play one note at a time). Some of effects can be chopy or sound funky ie: pitch shift, but can be fixed with some pushes of the right buttons to set a tone you want. It dosen't hurt to have a good amp either. You name it. The gt-3 can make it posible if you are willing to sit down with it.

I have had few problems with it. Two time I turned it on to find that ether it didn't save what I worte on to the patches. Metal casing though. Could more or less suvive a atomic bomb.

I never had to get it fixed. Looked on line thoguh for a manuel. You need to pay $10 for it. Ha. Who needds it any way.

Nothing is perfect. But for studio, and yes even... live. The gt-3 will make you sound like the guitarist you want to be. I like to play Rage Against The Machine, 311, Tool, Led Zepllin, Fugazi, Dream Theater and many more. I have been playing for 4 years now. And play a Schecter 006 Elite with Di Marzio DP-100 brdige and a kramer dual rail neck out of *sight* a crate gfx-212t (a am on a budget. Will next TRY to buy a mesa boogie). I was debating between this and the korg ax-1500. Even thoguh it can do almost anything it is hard to make a guitar sound different than a guitar is suposed to sound. But all my friend were impresed with its effects and flasy looks (purple and yellow). I don't think I will ever sell it. It make a world of differance. If it was stolen I think I would have to get the same one back no matter what the cost b/c of all the time it took me to set up all the patches (witch was well work the one day it took).

This unit is very easy to use if you just wish to try the different presets, and tweak them with the EZ functions to control parameters. However, I did not really appreciate the versatility of the GT-3 until I began to delve into different types of guitar effects. (This was my first guitar effect, as I had never used stomp boxes before, and indeed bought this so I wouldn't have to.) The manual can be deciphered with continual reading, but the supplements to the manual available on the web were a real eye opener. If you have one of these or plan to buy one you can save yourself a lot of time by doing a bit of research. Once I understood more about how different effects worked, effect order, assign functions, etc. I found the GT-3 very easy to use to set up custom patches. I tend to set it to a few patches, and leave it for months, then try something new every once in a while. The possibilities are endless!

I currently use the GT-3 in the effects loop of my amp as follows. Les Paul Standard - Boss CS-3 -Boss P10 V-Wah - Boss GT-3 (into parallel effects loop) - Marshall JCM 601 combo.
After much research and effort trying to use the 4-cable hookup method which allows you to separate out your amp's preamp and take advantage of the GT-3's preamps, I had to admit defeat. I and others have found that this method works great with some amps, but does not seem to fit the Marshall tube amps in general. It just sucked too much tone no matter how I tweaked settings! As I prefer to use my Marshall amp's sound anyway for distortion this was not a great loss, but I would encourage all users to try the 4-cable method as it definitely allows the most versatility and access to the widest scope of sounds from the GT-3. Because the GT-3 runs after the preamp stage in my amp I purchased a separate compressor to keep at the front of the effects chain. Proper level matching in patches is essential to keeping volume consistent between patches, and also makes this unit very very quiet in use.

The following effects I use all the time: Reverb, Delay, Chorus, EQ, Com/Lim, Harmonist. I find the sound quality good to excellent.

I do not use some of the other effects such as the synth sounds, special FX, and modes as they don't sound too good through the effects loop. Also, the tracking on certain effects is poor - I think I need the software upgrade which is available. The pickup simulation offers a few possibilites, but I haven't found a great acoustic sound in the GT-3.

The wah function does not have adequate range or depth, in my opinion. The auto-wah can be used with some success. The tremolo effect is weak.

The available distortions and preamps are difficult for me to judge, as I haven't tried a lot of other amps. The clean sounds such as the JC 120, and Fender Twin are excellent, but most of the distorted or hi-gain preamp models sound just okay. I think a high quality power amp would open up a lot of possibilities, judging by what I hear playing only through my own power amp stage. I do like the MT-2 emulation using my amp on the clean channel.

I don't really try to copy other people's sounds, although I am a big Tom Scholz fan, and have tried to replicate the "Boston" patch with my amp. Still working on this one!

Overall the sound quality is very good, and I often play with the guitar and GT-3 into earphones just to play with different sounds.

This unit really shines in two areas: 1) giving you access to many of Boss's best stompboxes/sounds in one compact pedal board. 2) being able to push one footswitch and having subtle changes made to a number of effects.

My unit is set up for playing at home as follows

Main bank: all patches set up to switch into manual for 7 seconds when footswitch is pushed, allowing you to turn effects on or off individually. Expression pedal through assigns controls rates and levels of delay, reverb and chorus (heel down is everything off or very low, toe down increases levels, rates, etc). Effects used are Delay, Chorus, Harmonist, EQ, Com/Lim, Reverb. Most rates set to Master BPM and controlled through CTRL switch
Patch 1: clean patch except for Master volume and Noise suppressor (essentially bypasses GT-3)
Patch 2: chorus and reverb for rythym parts (usually on clean channel)
Patch 3: delay and reverb for distortion parts- delay time controlled by tap tempo at CTRL footswitch
Patch 4: delay, reverb, limiter, Eq with boost for leads

Other banks set up to different parameters of the same effects

I've used it live many times with no problems. I buy good stuff and take care of it, so I don't generally have backups for any of my gear. (I don't play for crowds of thousands, either :))

Boss reliability is a cliche. Great reputation for tough stuff.

Dealt with Boss a couple of times. No problems. The Toronto repair center is only 1/2 an hour away, so I am going to try and get the software upgrade to fix the Harmonist tracking problem. Had other stuff fixed quickly under warranty.

I stick to basic rock and bluesy type music, and have been playing on and off for 25 years. I don't play out that much anymore, except at church. I would definitely consider another GT-3, or a GT-6 if this one were stolen. As it is with the wah and compressor, and amp footswitch I have enough to fiddle with. I can't imagine adding several more pedals to my rig. I looked at several other products available when the GT-3 came out such as the Digitech line(originally I was going to get a GT-5), but the Boss product seemed sturdier and had a better array of features. (Remember I didn't know much about effects when I bought this) User reviews were also very positive.

My biggest complaint with this Boss product is that the manual itself is not sufficient to give you a complete understanding of the unit's capabilities. I spent a lot of time reading about effects in general before I really knew how to take advantage of the good things in this pedal and work around the less useful stuff. I think many of the reviews which rate this product poorly are due to this lack of background in the manual (ie needs more why as well as how-to.)
Also, I wish you could have 6 different effects available for control through manual mode for each patch, instead of the global setting which only allows the same 6 effects for each patch.

The pedal's best feature for my money is the ability to control so many effects' parameters with one push of a footswitch. Once you realize the GT-3 is really just a bunch of stompboxes in one unit with widely variable parameters, it is easier to understand. Instead of having to bend over and tweak 4 pedals, just push a switch and you are off! At first I was trying to set up patches according to specific songs, but now I set the patches up as "flavours", and use the manual mode to further tweak sounds during a song or set. This saves having to switch between banks too much.
Also, if the 4-cable method works with your amp, you can place effects in any order in the effects chain, use the amps' or the GT-3's preamps, and take advantage of the complete range of effects.
Overall I have been very happy with this effects processor, and recommend it both for new players trying to get a sense of what effects they would like, and experienced players who want to simplify their rigs. No product is perfect, but the GT-3 can be made to perform very well.

OK heres the deal. This is a great sounding pedalboard but you have to work at it. The menus and patches are not hard to edit but there is so much stuff in this pedal if you dont know what you are doing you can get lost. I had it for about 2 days and got it to sound great.

I use a Jackson with a EMG 81 bridge pickup,Ampeg vh140c halfstack, BBE sonic maximizer and a Rocktron hush/limiter/compressor. Like I said it takes time to get it to sound good and if you plan on using it for stage, test it at quite and loud settings. The effects are great with some signature mods like Rhaods pan. The wah is decent and the foot volume is as smooth as can be. Amp models are very almost to exact sounding and this thing is very accurate and the ODs and Distortions by BOSS. Plus the ability to mix 2 Marshalls with a distortion box is just insane. Couldnt be any better for a Metal player.

Dude if this thing was ran over by a semi it would still probably work. Ive seen on all jacked up and twisted dented you name it and it still worked.

boss gives you a free issue of guitar world if you regester your product. Boss has always been generious.

Been playing metal for 10 going on 11 years. Everything form Metallica,Slayer,Megadeth,Overkill,Testament and Ozzy. Im really happy that I got this pedal . It is like having every single boss pedal and then some to your disposal. I have heard some reviews saying its tinny,sucks and it dosent make my $20 dollar amp sound good(dosent that tell you somethin'). You need more than a great processor to get a great sound dont you think! Trust me ,you can do anything you want with this pedal. Marty Freidman(Megadeth Lead guitarist) uses the GT-6 witch has the same COSM processing engine as this pedal. I like the GT-3 over the GT-6(wich I also think its great)because its more compact and not so overwelming. Other than that there the same trust me. Boss GT-3 kills everything without mercy and makes Zooms pedals,Digitechs RPs and GenX series sound like crap.

I've own my Boss GT-3 for over 6 years now and it has gone in and out of my rig. In the late 90's I played Limp Bizkit, Korn, No Doubt, and Greenday covers. Now I play various Christian praise bands, AC/DC, Radiohead, and U2 covers. This item is pretty easy to get use to. First play around with the presets, who knows, you might like them. After that I recommend you sit down with the manual and run through the manual. Understanding the theory behind the different aspects of each effect is essential and will make you a better musician. Once you get use to making your own sounds programming is easy. One downfall is that it's hard to change settings QUICKLY, LIKE ON THE SPORT in a live environment because you have to use the big jog wheel, at first it didn't bother me but now it annoys me, I wish there was a faster way to dial in sounds. I believe the new Boss GT comes with a bunch of knobs instead of a big jog wheel which is what I wish this thing had.

I play a Squier Pro-Tone Strat w/ a Seymour Duncan JB pickup in the bridge through a Fender Blues Deluxe.

The sound quality for this thing is very good, but not great. I recommend the Boss GT-3 for people who are new to using effects or to people who need to cover a wide range of sounds. Like I said earlier I use to play Limp Bizkit and Korn which required good distortion as well as a lot of mods and effects. Now I play more U2 which requires a lot of mods and effects.

Preamps (clean and dirty preamps), OverDrives, Distortions: Generally they sounded okay. I personally love the clean sounds especially the TWIN preamp sound. As for the overdrives and distortions my favorite tones where the Marshall SLP sounds. I love British overdrive and the Boss GT-3 did a really impressive job at replicating those tones. Honestly because of the Boss GT-3's ability to replicate great Plexi tones, I now am a fan of AC/DC. The GT-3 does a decent job at replicating American distortions (Mesa, Soldano, etc.). I give the cleans an 8 out of 10, the British overdrives & distortion a 9 out of 10, and the American overdrives and distortion a 6 out of 10.

Flanger, Phaser, Chorus: Again the GT-3 does an impressive job of making good sounding mods. I give it 8 out of 10.

Tremelo: sounds okay but kinda weak. I give it a 5 out of 10.

Delay: Sounds okay but also kinda weak. I give it a 5 out of 10. I had a hard time making U2 delay sounds with the Boss GT-3. The delays even when set at its max volume could not cut through the rest of my band's mix. The only way for the delay to cut through the rest of the band was if I increased my amp's volume, which will not make the rest of the band or the sound engineer happy.

As for the rest of the effects that the Boss GT-3 offers, I really have nothing to say for them because I do not use them too much nor do I have much experience with other pedals or processor that do the same job.

This thing is very Reliable. Mine has not blackouted or erased my presets or anything like that in my 6 years of owning it. I consider this product to be physically and electronically very consistent and reliable.

Never had to deal with them, I have no say.

If you need to cover a wide range of tones and effects and do not have a huge budget then I recommend the Boss GT-3, you may want to use something else for your delays/echo sounds.

Again I love the Marshall Plexi tones and the Fender Twin tones on this thing. I think the Boss GT-3 does an impressive job at replicating these tones.

Also, this thing has helped me make music. It's got so many effects and sounds that it definitly will inspire you.

Also, this thing will cut the tone in your signal. I recommend that if you wanted to use your amp's clean tone and the Boss GT-3's distortion, you'll recognize that your clean does not sound as good if the Boss Gt-3 is in the signal path, that is why I recommend the Fender Twin sounds.

Editing patches is a hell!The manual is clear enough, but a lot of of functions makes everything so damn complicated, I don't need to spend 25 minutes to search a suitable sound, my inspiration dies.

I use Ibanez Musician '79, ESP eclipse, Yamaha AES 620, Fender Squier (for nasty sounds)and what I care more is distorted tones and this unit doesn't satisfy me at all. Crappy digital compressed distortions, almost all of them are worthless. Crappy, thinny delay, you can't use it to create atmosphere. Useless amp modeling section, neither good to play with an amp nor for recording direct. ZOOM processors take care of that! I don't comment on Wha, Whammy, Pitch-Shifter, Tremolo. Compressor, pick-up simulator,detune, chorus and reverbs are ok.

Very sturdy but heavy... also the adaptor is heavy as a rock

I play alternatve metal with melodic and atmospheric parts were delay and warm distortions are mandatory to be good. Been playing for ten years, know something 'bout tone. Good for pop rock, though, but wha is a big disappointment so you are very limited anyway. For the price I paid it 2 years ago I expected the ultimate processor, but now I will trade this 80% piece of shit for a ZOOM product, easier to edit, better distortions (I heard the gfx-4 has analog ones.

The unit is EASY to use. It's sure not comfortable and the wheel is a bit sensitive; but there are no mysteries, everything is clear as water, so I'd say it is easy to use.
If you're familiar with the concepts and the effects and parameters and what do each of them do, there'll be no problem with editing patches.

The sound quality is very good.
I'm using a very crapy amp. It's a EP10, which is very small, but the thing is that the speaker looks like a Pac-Man (the body of it being what is gone!!!) and with the GT-3, I set the output level at half (6:00 PM) and the amp's Master loud and sounds just terrific -if you like the sound you're playing, that is-. Of course the sound I get is not out of this world considering that there's no much speaker left. I set the amp's Treb=0, Mid=10, Bass=0 as it's recomended in the manual and I handle the tone easily in the GT3
Now about the specific sounds:
- The O/D sound good in the upper frets. As for downfret playing, it's very noisy.
- Reberb: does its job very well
- Delay: Not so good, a bit clumsy.
- Chorus: Great, my fav. I use to play songs of The Stone Roses -the early era- and you can get that fantastic clean, crunchy sound, and with the GT3 chorus you can get almost the exact sound.
- Modulator: Is complete, you can do about everything you need. e.g.: 3-part harmonies to play many Queen songs. I also use the Slicer instead of Tremolo when I play "How Soon Is Now?" by The Smiths.
These are the effects I use the most.
The CONTROL switch is incredibly useful and easy to program and so is the EXP PEDAL. I only hope I could change the attack of it instead of linear, maybe exp.

Very reliable.

Concerning the complexity of the gear it is very easy to use. The concept is very clear.

The effects are good. I bought it because I like the boss effects. The amp simulations are not imprtant for me. Almost in all Presets I use a Fender Twin or an Soldano simulation. My prefered effect is the ring modulator. I have a Digitech WH-1 for pitch shifting, it sounds more natural than the pitch shifter in the GT-3. But I like also the synthetic pitch shifter (Harmonist) of the GT-3 and it offers you more possibilities.

For the price I payed I got a good effect processor. For the above mentioned Digitech WH-1 I had to pay almost the same amount of money as for one GT-3. I use it with my mac, my gamboy, my drumcomputers and also with my guitar. Sometimes I use it as a midi controller. For me it is a very use- and helpful gear in a compact size! At least I also like the blue color and the yellow inscription.

I am adding here to add to my previous review, because i got some of the facts wrong.

the reason being, i didn't have the manual for this product.

first off, you CAN set your own user prests for each effect (up to four) this may not be enough for some effects in my opinion, such as pre amp and od/ds, but it is better than none.

secondly, after doing some research on the web i found some saying that the gt 6 does not have this function. also it seems the gt6 does not have some of the assigning capabilities of the gt 3. like assigning effect parameter changes to the expression pedal.

i personally can not confirm any of the info on the gt 6 because i have never used one, but if you want these functions, i strongly suggest you look into it. the gt 3 may be a better unit for you.

i also wanted to post a link here that was extremely helpful to me for anyone who may own a gt 3 and thinks it sucks to check out before they wright it off;

(copy and paste!)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GT-3/files/

here you will find downlaodable patches, the owners manual, and some tips on getting a usable sound.

i like my gt 3 even more after i learned more about it!
it's still not the "perfect" tool, but all things considered i.e. price, versatility, sound quality, volume control, it's a great unit.

if you just want to plug in and rock, this may be a very frustrating product for you though (see below). you MUST tweak to find your sound, patience is the key.

this is the most ridiculous thing I have ever owned. I bought because it has everything, literally just about every effect you can think of. BUT, to get a good sound involves lots of reading and head scratching. There are so many parameters to adjust in order to get each patch usable. You need a degree in something very complicated to operate this thing

modulation effect are great, the slow gear effects is great, as is the feedback. The delay are not good, they sound very artificial and its difficult to create atmospheric stuff with it. The expression pedal is amazing, whammy effect, ring modulation, all sorts of clever stuff. But the overdrive and distortions effect are rubbish. I know this for definate because I got rid of mine and now have stompboxes and the sound is 4000% better than when I was using the GT3. It makes you tone sound really rubbish, and in order to try and get a good tone you have to faff on with parameters and setting and buttons and all sorts of crap. with stompboxes you plug in, turn a knob, of you go

built like a tank, would never break

Boss are always good

to complicated, rubbish overdrive. makes playing the guitar an unhappy nightmare nuff said

Preset are terrible, manuals are quite superficial. Still the interface is good! When u know what to do u can do it fast also on stage!!

Preamp are quite good but i still prefer a valve than a microchip!
standard effects are quite good!
harmonizer&co sounds like a toilet even after hours of configurations!

it's very HARD!!!!!!!!!!!!

The worst on the world i think!
I once broke a switch and i waite 3 month to have it back with the wrong repair then one month more to the right repair and payed a LOT of money!!!

It's a good cheap compromise if u want to rock without taking a container of Pedals! and moreover it's versatile but i still think that POD's better

If you've never used a processor before they can be tricky so I think in this category they could never exceed 9.

this gets a 7 because you have to scroll through many screens to program each parameter, that being said, the screen is easy to read, and intuitively set out. they could have made it possible to set your own presets for each effect, maybe the gt 6 does this, i don't know, but the gt 6 has knobs on it for commonly accessed parameters, so it at least would get an 8 from me for that.

In the SFX and mod screens there are many effects to scroll through and that is sometimes a pain, do your programing in practice and make do while your playing with others, especially if for instance you are trying to fine tune your harmonist settings and switching patches a lot.

It is easier to synch time based effects with on of these than with many separate effects units though.

First of all, I have to say it is worth the money to have your guitar set up by a professional, this digital processor sounded way better after I did that. I did the set ups myself with regular amps myself and never noticed the difference I think this thing "assumes" that your guitar is set up to an "industry standard"to work properly tone wise.


I haven't owned any of the amps this unit is purported to model. I have played through some of them in stores and at the homes of friends.

They sound pretty darn nice to me though. I do about half and half, composition and jamming rock and modern psychedelia, and this thing can keep me entertained for hours, as well as productive. very useful tool for creating many different feels and sounds.

It sounds great through a nice set of headphones, and with some tweaking even shitty little guitar amps can sound nice with one of these, in my experience any how.
It has preset global output settings under utilities, really helps.
I also recommend not using the speaker simulations when running into a guitar combo amp.

For the most part this isn't an instant tone machine, adjusting the mic setting in the speaker sim can be dramatic.

because of the work that it can take to program and my own doubts that it sounds "exactly" like the amps that it is supposed to model it gets an 8, very strong modeling, very close to the real thing in my opinion, not exact. strong and very useable digital effects, not the best that's possible, but the best at the price i bought it for and considering how fast the models improve in the market, a 4 year old unit that still competes strongly is impressive.

Some people have said that the wah is weak, I disagree, but it isn't extreme, it does a very strong but generic wah effect.

I find the gain to be useful and pleasing but I also don't use extreme gain settings. I use high gain but I don't play nu-metal or punk or heavy metal, I play psychedelic rock, ranging fro the 60's to the present, and blues based mid to fast tempo songs. if you play a lot of power ballads you can program some very big sounds here as well as spares understated settings.

Better reverb and quieter compressor would have earnd it a 9. i don't have the money to buy a 10 product. if this review was placed in a 3 to 500 dollar products only database it would get a nine and 10 with better reverb.

Same old story here. It's 4 years old, I think it was a floor model at the store I bought it at. working great so far. I've heard there is a bug in either this unit or the gt 5, but I haven't noticed it yet.

Owned for about 3 or 4 months now, used and programed most every day.

I once owned a VF 1, I didn't like it at the time, but I never had my guitar set up by a professional.
To my great shock, it died on me! It froze in the "boot" menu and never reached the user mode on start up.

Luckily, I bought it new under warranty, I took it back to the store I bought it, they sent it to Roland, a few weeks later I got it back "like new."

They held up their warranty agreement in a generally timely manner.
Nothing special about the experience though.

no problems with the gt 3.

This is my first product review ever, I have searched the reviews in this site for many things, it has always been helpful, so I figure it's time to give back some.

first of all i have to say that i am very inspired by this product. i bought it used for $200, i am on a very tight budget, living in an apartment and without a band. i sold my nice tube amp, because i couldn't play it most of the time in my apartment. i picked this up to replace my amp and effects pedals on the basis that some of my favorite guitarists are said to find the gt 5 useful.

I've been playing about 12 years, but mostly because of money and life just happening to me constantly I would say I only have about 4 or 5 real years of playing, and most of that is on acoustic guitar. I would say that a beginner to intermediate guitar player could instantly put this to great use, and experience the tip of the iceberg of "professional" studio equipment. A more advanced or working guitarist might only find it useful as a practice or righting tool.

also if you want an amp but have no idea what kind, a unit like this can give you a real idea of what some of these amps sound like.

when this unit stops workin(if i get a year i'l be happy) i plan to get a gt 6.

In my case, I could control most of the functions at once with manual book.
somebody says it is hard to control this gear. but I recommend them to read manual book first
only one thing is fastidious. EQ control! this gear doesn't provide graphic eq...
you just have to depend on your ears.

I like reverb, delay, chorus sound from the gear.
It sounds a bit cold but clean and clear.
but overdrive-distortion sound don't do their jobs.
Its sound is very weak, I want to call this 'empty-centered sound'.
At live situation, gt-3 sound is overwhelmed by other analog gears if you don't really concern about your setting.

it is strong...
I dropped it by mistake 2 or 3 times very strongly.
but its function is alright until now.
but its painting is a bit weak.

I have not contact with Boss yet.

if you can control this one correctly, it gives you cool sounds
but it is something hard to make especially at live situation.
I recommend this to beginners who have to understand functions of a lot of effectors.

I have the GT-3 pedal now for two weeks, I 've bought it second hand. I've read the user manual. Editing the parameters is very easy.

The first time I switched used the Gt-3. I was not really impressed about the sound, there are many factory presets in the pedal, but the most of this preset are not very usefull, or sound thin. But if you tweak the sounds by changing the equalizer and filters, the sounds will sound very-very good. The most impressive sound is the acoustic simulation, very usefull for clean sound. Also the Twang preset. I heard people decline about the wah of this pedal. At first I was also not impressed about the wah. But when you are using wah, there are still 8 freely defined parameters that can be coupled to the expression(exp) pedal. What I've done was coupled all frequency parameters of the equalizer to this exp-pedal. e.g. Parameter 1: Source EXP, target EQ Mid freq. Set all mid/hi/lo gains of equalizer to its max dB. Using the exp-pedal will create the Wah effect, and at same time the equalizer frequency will be changed from low to high, or if you like from high to low. This will create a GREAT Wah, even the best I've ever heard from a digital device, It sounds like nearly the same as the Jimmy Dunlop wah. If it is not deep enough, you can also do the same trick on the Sub-Equ for more depth. For the best wah effect the chain must be OD-Wah-EQ, but you can change it they way you like it sounds best. The expression pedal is very flexible, and there are many parameters that can be changed at once.
I've always programmed the CTL pedal to manual. So it is possible to switch on/off the effects independently using the foot switches.

It looks very dependable, and it is heavy. Very good.

Never dealt with the company. But on the site of boss they should be place information, and patches of the GT-3.

my previous pedal was an Korg AX100, also a great pedal. I've bought the Gt-3 pedal second hand. Maybe I better did buy the new Gt-6. The possibilities of the Gt-3 are really great and really flexible.

To get a good sound out of it take a little while
Editing the patches was a little tricky at first but got the hang of
it after a few trials
The manual is a must have otherwise you'll be pulling your hair out trying to work it out

The setup ive got is a fender strat MIM with a fender 100w combo silver face 70's
At first i found it very noisy on all distortions and they sound like shit and some chorus aswell
and found that they are weak but over time with tweaking it
Ive got some awesome sound
hendrix . srv . jeff healy .the cars. george thorogood. stray cats.
joe walsh. cream. rolling stones. radiohead . chuck berry . dire straits . tom petty and shitloads of blues sounds

Im about to find out as im using it live tomorrow night

Hope i never need them

As you can see i play all styles and the gt-3 make it so easy to get the wright sound for all types of music , just be patient and tweak away and you will find what you want
Ive been playing for 27 years and this thing rocks
why did i get the gt-3 because its easy to setup at gigs less hassel with leads and you dont have 5 or 6 pedals to re-adjust if you bump it....WHAT A GREAT TOOL....the only thing i dont like about it was the wah pedal ' sounds like crap , give me a dunlop any day
If it was lost or stolen , yes i would buy one again
The gt-3 is built like a tank

Ease of Use - Very Easy to use, I've tried several other pedals before this one and this one is the easiest to use. Editing patches I don't use that much but that's not difficult either, the pre-sets on this thing is dope and you realy don't need to adjust a lot of the sounds.

The manual SUCKS - IT IS HORRIBLE. It does not explain a thing, I figured out how to use this pedal without the manual, it is so incredibaly difficult to understand.

Sound quality, I use a Peavy Pro112 through a custom Ibanez RG, and I get very good tonage through it. Affects are great, the chorous sucks through, (i never use chorous anway), the auto-wah is garbage. The dely, distortioin/overdrive, flange, phaser, slicer, ring echo, and the brass sounds are awesome.

Honestly this is the way it is - put every single pedal that boss has put out for example how much would that cost? $1,500 - 2,000 maybe? Well this is all inside the GT-3. I don't understand why more people don't get this pedal.

I use a BOss looper with my GT-3 Ring Echo effect and I can get the Bommerang sound that Trey Anastasio from Phish uses, its pretty dope.

Hard as stone, it is made of metal and it seems copmletely undbrekable.

NO need for it will never break down.

Overall: I play a lot of jazz, blues, rock, music that feels good, no metal crap. A lot of free-flow jams that make your entire tingle and this pedal has allowed me to get sounds that can make you feel as if your walking through a mountain pass then sudenly you are flying through space.

I've been playing for about 12 years now and this has started the effects process for me, I just recently got this pedal it rocks. If this item was stolen I would totaly be bummed and i would replace this def.

I've used other multi-effects by Korg and Digitech but still found the number of buttons and footswitches daunting. The unit ships with a 100-page manual, as well as a 'quick start guide' that I flipped through prior to turning the thing on. Out of the box there are a couple hundred presets to toy with with vastly diverse sounds, but few that I would consider recording with. The menus are intuitive given the complexity of the device, and within a couple weeks of purchase I was up and running confidently.

There seems to be a lot of discussion about the sound quality of this device. I bought this unit specifically after seeing one on stage when a favorite band of mine was playing. In short, I think it's possible to get *very* nice sounds from this unit but you need to give yourself time to work with it. For everything it does not do, there's sure to be two or three things that it does quite nicely.

Placement in your effects chain is crucial, and there is a significant amount of space dedicated in the manual to this topic. I am playing a Gibson 335 through a Vox 2-12 reverb and wasn't initially happy with the sound I was getting-- running Guitar to GT-3 to AMP. Switching the signal from Guitar to AMP to GT-3 to AMP however made a significant change to tone. I would tend to agree with others that have opted not to use the COSM modeling effects when playing into boutique amplifiers, but they are very useful in direct recording applications.
Of specific effects, I'll do a quick run through. Note you can assign the order of the effect from the Master panel, and control some features with the expression pedal.

SFX: The Acoustic guitar simulator, Anti-feedbacker, and Feedbacker, and Pickup simulators are not effective to my ear. The Slow Gear, resurrected from the defunct SG-1 pedal has some worthwhile applications. The tremolo is much stronger than the tremolo unit on my Vox and I use them alternately depending on the situation. The panning tremolo feature is particularly good, especially since it can be set at a measured BPM.
Compressors, Limiters: Reasonable. My brother complained they sucked the tone right out of his Carvin head into a 4 x 12 stack.
Wah: Forget about it. The auto wah is halfway decent, but lacks depth.
OD, DS: I use the Vintage OD, Turbo OD and Fuzz exclusively. The majority of overdrives are top heavy, and most of the distortions are bottom heavy. It's work getting your mids to come through.
COSM: Good running straight into my digital 10-track. There is a function to simulate the distance of the microphone to the speaker cab. Very thorough.
Modulation: Auto-riff, Guitar synth, Ring modulator and Slicer are gimmicky. The Slicer *may* have some merit, and I'm pretty sure I've heard it recently on a few recordings. The Flange and Phasers are pretty good. The Harmonist is growing on me, because you can set it like an additional delay to mirror the sound, and detune in 1/12 steps. The Vibrato is actually very good when setting the depth high and the rate low.
Delay: You cannot create a 20 second loop with this device, but there's a lot of functionality with this effect. Tap function is great, and can be set to BPM.
Chorus: Settings for digital or 'analog.' Very usable.
Reverb: A bit thin on my ear, and I go between it and the reverb on the amp. Not bad for direct recording, and it's been working well in the experiments I've done with vocals.

It's made of metal, and weighs at least ten pounds. It feels extremely stable on the floor. They're certainly cheap enough to keep a backup (if you felt like programming two units...) but I trust it not to fail on me.

I play rock inspired by the early 90s inspired by rock of the 60s and early 70s. This unit has been nearly indispensible in getting real depth of sound. I've only been playing guitar for a couple years but have played keyboards for over ten. I would replace this unit if lost unless the GT-6 has depreciated fantastically. The value of the GT-3 is that individual pedals this machine replaces would cost several times more than the $180 I dropped on this. You can consistently find these on Ebay for under $200-- this one came with a padded gig bag. It has enough good sounds to make music and enough bad ones to waste plenty of time. Everyone looking for a multi effects unit should at least consider this one.

It's not too difficult to work out if you have owned similar multi fx before although in saying that, It became a lot easier after I aquired the user manual.

I mainly use a PRS custom through a Laney combo and the band I am in play a lot of " Aussie Pub Rock" covers (eg: Cold chisel, Angels, Midnight oil, Hoodoo Gurus etc.)as well as some of the more modern songs by bands like Greenday, Calling, 3 doors down etc.
I found that nearly all the factory "Dirty" settings had a lot of background hiss and were too overdriven to suit my preferred sound. They took a lot of tweaking to get the sound I wanted. The ways you can set the CTL pedal is great.
I noticed that in some of the other reviews that a lot of people complained about the sound quality. I believe that sound quality is an individual taste and if you have the time and patience to play around with the GT3 you should be able to get at least the majority of the sounds close to how you want them. My previous pedal was a Zoom 4040 and it has better distortions than the GT3 and was also easier to set up to suit my sound but after changing a lot of the presets I have managed to get a sound i'm happy with out of the GT3.(I have had to set up a different bank of fx for my Fender Tele) The wah on the GT3 is better than other multi-fx pedals I have used (Zoom 3030, Zoom4040, Digitec RP3, Digitec RP6,Zoom GFX707)

It's tough

The Roland web site only has info about their latest Fx pedals and does not provide any online user manuals or support which sort of pisses me off a bit. They should visit the Alesis webpage.

I have always liked the individual Boss pedals and while you can't just bend down and add more gain or delay time etc. like you can with the individual Boss pedals, you can easily program the expression pedal and control it from the pedal. If I was to lose the pedal I would go back to my Zoom 4040 (and buy a decent wah pedal to go with it)or perhaps try the GT6.

It's too hard to get BASIC sound :(
Editing at all is rather convinient, especially using MIDI.
Too easy to understand how to control, so I read manual very seldom.
My firmware was new (1.2, AFAIR. Harmonist bug was fixed) and never upgraded.

I've been using BOSS GT-3 with the folloing:
Slim copy of Ibanez RG, Ibanez RG-570 (V7/s1/ToneZone), (Linear) Power amp, Sovtek MIG-100 (all-tube guitar amp), Randall RG-75r (ss combo), H&K ss combo, SMB tube drive, copy of Marshall Guv'nor drive.

It's not too noisy but on "gig" volume it's drives give terrible feedback.

I dislike harmonist, guitar synth., tremolo, wah and many others.
It has realy nice crunch and overdrive effects. Others drives and overdriven preamps can give you ~Satch sound. 2 years I've being trying to get metal sound.

It's a very dependable processor. Metal case seems to be unbreakable.
But it's too heavy.

Finally I've sold it. And I'm too glad. It gave me one good lesson -
processors only show you what effects you need. Then sold it and buy
2-3 pedals.
What bad in gt-3? It "killes" guitar sound, it always sounds as if you
had played properly. That's good for record or a gig, but you can't
learn to play with it.
Yes, it is easy in use. But if U can't make it sound as U need, that's no sence in it.
Don't use it's drives and preamps. Except vintage overdrives they suck. The digital effect are so-so. When I've been playing cheap guitar I didn't care about the sound, but after I baught Ibanez and a tube-amp I realised what suxx I used :(

Now I use only guitar and a tube-amp. Also I want to buy chorus pedal and, probably, wah.

Very easy to use and edit,just a lot sub menu's cause the display isn't that big but it works.

I had all kinds of FX and this is so far the best (better then Zoom,Korg,ME-8/30/33,Ibanez).

I got mine 2nd hand,first built in '99 or '00 so there is nothing to be questioned I think.

Boss products are so reliable that shops give warranty on 2nd hand gear, NICE!

I got no idea.

Nice "oneboxdoesitall".

If you're on a budget or don't want to have boxes all over the place (and wires, adapters etc.) this is a great MultiFX.

Way better then ME30/33 little less then a GT6,of course there are alternatives like Korg AX1500G and Digitech RP300 (i think).

Wether people talk about other brands they like better it comes down to taste i'd say.

I never regretted buying the GT-3.

If you want this thing to sound good, you will need to know what sounds good and then program the unit. I spent at least 40hours but when I finished I had 9 different sounds that I use all the time. No matter what amp I play through I allways get good sound. You must have patience, the supplied patches sound like crap. Spend time with the manual first then plan your sounds. I use a 9 button midi controller so I can access 9 different patches at the touch of 1 button. No time for scrolling when playing live.

Sound quality is good only if you adjust the parameters to suit your personal taste. Factory presets stink. My suggestion: Start with a basic clean sound and then build all your other sounds from the original patch. That way the guitar sounds natural switching between different effects.

Very dependable.

Never needed to call.

I play everything from counrty to distorted rock. I need be heard of a full band on clean and distorted patched. We play outdoors and in small rooms. I use a 2 amp Set-Up. Marshall 4x12 Cab with Musicman head and a MusicMan Combo Amp with EV 12" Speaker. I get the best of both worlds; The bump of the Marshall and the clarity of the EV's. I love this setup. I do not play in stereo.

The pedal is pretty simple to use. It lacks a bypass pedal I think (It only has a button). It has a quick start manual that helps a lot.

I have a Jackson DKMG and a Fender Chorus Ultimate. I have to say that after one hour of playing this thing I came back to using just the pre-amp on the fender. The distortions are muddy, the delay is VERY basic and the chorus is weak. The wah sounds horrible and the Octaver sounds "plastic".

I am not happy with this thing and I am selling it...

The unit is very dependable actually. The construction is outstanding!.

Never dealt with them. They have a nice website though.

I will not keep the unit. The clean sounds are pretty good I have to say but I think there is no way in hell you can get a nice sounding metal sound from this things. Ahh... the equalizer sucks by the way.

Pretty easy to figure out considering that i bought it used with no manual/literature/etc. editing effects is pretty quick also as long as youre not a tweaky freak like me...just dial in the numerical value that you want and save . .easy as that

Ive run this thing line in and thru the effects loop of my mesa/marshall stack and in both cases the distortion and preampmodels are unsatisfactory [sound cheap inaccurate and noisy]. The guitarsynth and harmonist/pitchshifter are kida slow at tracking even when at the front of the effects chain. . .other than those 2 deficiencies, i tihnk the rest of the effects are good especially if you play nu-metal...

ive had it for more than a year and havent had any technical difficulties with it . . seems like a really solidly built piece of hardware . . .

havent had to contact custsupport yet . . .

I think this is a pretty solid multi-effects pedalboard - despite a few deficiencies its still overall a good one and i would recommend it for people who play nu-metal/contemporarry rock styles . . .has lots of features like tuner and different output settings and MIDI . .

NOT BAD AFTER YOUVE HAD IT AFTER A WHILE.

OK SOUND AT BEST. WHAT IT IS IT WITH THESE MULTI EFFECTS UNITS, PEOPLE JUST DONT SEEM TO REALIZE THAT THEY ARE JUST A BUNCH OF EFFECTS CRAMED INTO ONE UNIT WITH ONE UNIT WHITH NO ATTENTION PAID TO THE QUALITY OF THE INDIVIDUAL EFFECTS. THERES ONE THING IN THE MANUFACTURES MIND, PROFIT. THEY ARE GOOD FOR BEGINNERS OR KIDS WHO WANT TO LERN WHAT ALL THE DIFFERENT EFFECTS DO, BUT FOR GIGING WITH (PPLLLEEEASSEEE!!) THE AMP SIMULATION IS PARTICUALY CRUDE SOUNDING AND THE NOISE REDUCTION CURCUITS TAKE A LOT OUT OF YOUR SUSTAIN AND TONE. ITS JUST A TOY THAT PRODUCES INFINATE ARRAY OF DIFFERNT ANNOYING! SOUNDS.
THE SOUND QUALITY CAN BE CAMPERED TO SAY A SEGA MASTER SYSTEM. IN FACT I WOULD BE SUPRISED IF IT CONTAINED THE SAME CIURCUIT BOARDS.

HAD NO PROBS WITH IT BUT MY MATE HAD ONE AND HE BROKE HIS ADAPTER. SO BE CAEFULL WITH PULLING THE ADAPTERWIRE AS ITS FLIMSY AND BOSS WOULD LIKE YOU TO PAY FOR ANOTHER ONE OF THEIR CUSTOM ADAPTERS

NEVER dealt

JUST REALIZE ITS NOT FOR GIGING WITH UNLESS YOU DONT KNOW WHAT A GUITAR SHOULD SOUND LIKE. YOU WOULD BE MAKING A FOOL OUT OF YOURSELF TO GIG TRU THIS THING.

If you want to have good results you have to go quite in deeep with the settings and features, but the product is quite powerful and complete.

I use it with an American Standard Strat guitar and a Fender Blues De Ville 212 AMP.
The sound shaping is very good; the preamp simulation section is outstanding.
I use, bsically, preamp, overdrive & distorsion, compression and limiter features since they are my favourite ones for the music I play. Basically I find them quite good expecially the pream simulation. I don't use it very much, by I think also chorus is good.
Whawha effect, instead is not too good.

Absolutely, reliable (maybe a little heavy).

Basically gives everything you need.
The market may offer something better, but it depends on your taste and the money you are willing to spend.

Well I suppose comparing something that has this many effects and parameters to something as simple (but effective) as an MXR Pedal or one of Boss's analogue boxes, so I'm comparing it fairly by using other multi-effects Pedals as comparison points. So far it beats the Zoom 505 I had years ago and also the Digitech range - in my opinion, it's easier than all of those to get a good basic tone quickly.

It's all very logically laid out and for me all the parameters are easy to find and where I would expect them to be. Editing patches is simple. The manual skims over the more in-depth details which might mean less technology-inclined users might not be able to take full advantage of what the GT-3 has to offer.

Just for the record, the firmware revision number of my unit is 1.02. The most recent is 1.03, which fixes some of the bugs I have discovered on my unit. However these bugs are on areas of the unit I don't really use.

Generally I'm using this with my stock Gibson SG Standard or any Teles/Strats I can get my hands on, and also an Epi SG as a backup, mostly through one of two amps - Sessionette:75 (solid state) 1x12 85w combo and Marshall Valvestate 8200 head with standard Marshall 4x12 cab. I run through the effects return on both and set the output to "Power Amp (stack)" or "Power Amp (combo) respectively. I'm quite impressed with the tones, in some instances closeness to valve sounds are possible.

I'd say that the distortions tend to get noisy - there's a lot of digital hiss and hum with high gain setting which is not the hum of a well-driven tube stack, but personally I expected this much. This applies to both the Preamps when driven and the OD/DS - also with a Clean preamp and heavy OD/DS.

I'd like to discuss some of the effects at this point. The Clean preamps I'm very impressed with - Clean TWIN and JC-120 are great, not that close to the originals, granted, but the manual states "amp simulation" - not recreation. The effects in the Mod group are generally good - Phaser, Flanger (not as powerful as I'd like but usuable), Delay (although max. time is a little short), Ring Mod (not overly useful but great for the "Paranoid" solo), Vibrato gives a nice edge to softer songs. Harmonist is fair - not bad but obviously not up to Digitech Whammy standard for say Rage Against the Machine. The auto riff is good for a laugh, the guitar synth is alright as long as you stick to single notes. The rest of the effects are not ones I use so I can't comment.

The Slow Gear, Tremolo and Pickup Sim are surprisingly useful for certain applications. The wah is passable - not a patch on my personal favourite, Vox wah. Best to buy a seperate wah if you don't already have one. I personally like the Chorus - very good when run in stereo. The Parabolic EQ is a masterstroke - especially with the adjustable Q point, it's a shame there are only 2 parabolic ones on the main EQ and another 2 on the Sub EQ. Noise Gate + Compressor both very useable if not that outstanding.

The distortion is very much down to taste. What one guy might love (the Metal distortions for example) I might hate. Personally I think the distortions are the weakest part of the unit only because valve power-tube drive sounds awesome. It beats most stompboxes and cheap amps. However, although in some circumstances the unit sounds great with the right Preamp and OD/DS, others it sounds truly digital - the way the notes breakup when using a JC-120 with Blues drive with Drive=5 it sounds too obvious - especially when recording direct with speaker sim on. I'm not sure if this is just the GT-3 or because I got mine secondhand and it wasn't in great shape.

Overall though, this was well worth trading in my old Boss stompboxes for. Just needs to sound more natural, if thats possible with digital gear.

Well I did get a little bored of reading "Boss = Tank" and that when checking out these reviews, but in a sense it's true. Here's my story of why Boss can build things to last, unlike todays motor vehicles and computer systems.

After a particularly bad gig and being blind drunk, I woke up the next morning to find that my GT-3 was all dented and a little out of shape (not much tho...). I asked my band mates and apparently after our set I chucked my GT-3 out of the window, from about 20 feet up... then I went outside picked the thing up and started laughing, as it hadnt broke.

The thing had been rained upon so I let it dry out at room temperature for a couple of days, then plugged it in... still worked. Damn thing didn't even reset itself.

There is no other piece of musical equipment I can think of that you can drop out of a window without seriously messing it up. This works almost like it never happened. Score another one for Boss.

Someone said in these reviews that the manual is the first line of customer support and thats true. The manual isn't very good, so I think it's fair to say the guys on the phone might have similar problems - can answer basic questions but don't stand a chance if you have serious trouble. We'll see.

First of all I have to give it a 10 because of how cheaply I picked this up - #129 is a steal. That represents fantastic value for what I've got, considering how much my old analogue ones cost new. Instant top mark. If I'd have paid more than #170, it would have been 8.

Other than this I owned some real McCoy analogue pedals - all Boss. CH-1 Super Chorus , PH-2 Super Phaser, MT-2 Metal Zone and best of all, OD-2 Turbo Overdrive. This pedal compares well to all these - Phaser, slightly more warm with the stompbox but I prefer the cleaner sound of the GT-3, CH-1 Chorus, again the GT-3 is clearer. I hate the MT-2 I had, but the GT-3 has that sound on it, not that I ever use it. The Turbo OD on the GT-3 still doesnt quite compare to it's stompbox counterpart, however it's more sensitive EQ gives it an edge.

Overall, for what this is and how much it cost me, it's a great piece of kit. I would point out that I do not have extensive experience with pro-quality equipment or rackmounts, but even if I did I still think I'd come to the same conclusion - it's great for what it is.

After reading a little in the booklet and a little experamentation you will have it down.

I said 5 because the effects arent that bad for being digital. Yes the wah could have used more tweaking knobs. But the DISTORTION IS AWEFUL. After about a year of labor intencive experaments i have only come up with a few good patches. I am going out too look for a distortion pedal tomarrow to run through the send&return.

I like it but the distortion sounds to muddy and low ended with no sharpness and shred.

very good

I find it really easy to use, but im having a bit of trouble finding a distortion that i like. I have a 2 speaker peavey amp and i had to make a "Y" connector for the back of the amp because it was only playing out of one speaker.

Im using a Charvel guitar with a Peavy classic chourse 130. I get a bit of noise but thats because of my patch chord. the effects are great but i need help from anyone, i need better sounding distortion. I like some that the newer bands are using like Creed and Good Charlotte. If you can plz email me some of your settings that you like and i will give it a shot that would be great. prettyboy_107@hotmail.com

So far i can depend on it. I have never had any problems. I would use it on a gig without backup.

I like to paly punk/rock but i need a better distortion. I dont mind the sound of the waw but i will buy a cry baby later on.I compaired it to the GT-6 and liked it more but jsut couldnt afford it.

I've owned many different multi-effects units, several from Roland/Boss. The old GP-8, the orange Boss GX700, and now the GT-3. Let's face it...ease of use with anything in this category comes with understanding the logic of the unit, but Roland/Boss has really worked hard to make sure us guitarists don't have to work so hard to have fun with our toys. Some other guys may not know how to get happy sounds out of this thing, but it's really about as easy as it can be and still have so much depth.

Here's where I've struggled. I'll give it a "9" because the effects are really smooth-sounding and versatile for the way I use it, but the overdrive and distortion sounds are pretty worthless. Ditto for the COSM models. The GT-3 is awesome for applying effects to the setup of a player who already has a great-sounding axe & amp, but don't count on this unit to give you "tone". I've found near-bliss using the GT-3 with a TubeScreamer and other overdrive pedals in the "Ext OD/DS" loop, and plugging the GT-3 output into a good Fender amp set clean. The GT-3 is transparent, and it's effects are pro-quality (so long as we don't discuss the OD/DS/COSM crap).

Built tough as nails...though I'm really tired of units like this with outboard power supplies and cheap zip-cable power connections. Mine hasn't given me a single problem over the 5 years that I've been beating the crap out of it, but it'll happen...probably some night at a gig. How about an outboard PS with a detachable cable that's easily replaceable on the road, like a MIDI or 1/4" cable?

No problems yet...

I play Strats in just about any style of music except hard-ass metal and the like. The GT-3 allows me to get pretty much any effect sound I need easily, sounds great and allows a lot of expressive control. Two thumbs up for the effects, but two thumbs down for the OD/DS/COSM stuff. This is typical Roland though...all the way back to the original JC-120 amp; great clean, great chorus...just stay away from the dirty channel! I highly recommend this unit for players who need effects, not tone. You can find them CHEAP at pawn shops now...

One advantage is that this pedal is relatively easy to use and set though an amp, or headphones or mixer or P.A. The only real concern is using the unit in an effect loop that has a gain send and return knob which the gt-3 seem to overload with harsh feedback. One huge advantage of the gt-3 is that its patches are really easy to use and program and offer quick and easy sound changes while playing live.

What can you say digital guitar effects just can't even come close to the tone of analog. I used this effect through warm, fat, fender tube amps (vibrolux etc.); yet the gt-3 still sounded thin and small in comparision. The pedal is digital and as such produced an anemic and simple sound lacking in the harmionic richness that a good guitar sound should have. The gt-3 also tracks slowly, causing a small but noticeable delay between what you play and what comes out of the amp. The distortions are poor. The wah is poor. The reverb is poor. The preset patches are cheesy and completely useless. All in all the gt-3 is more of a toy and does not deliever true guitar sounds. Even with these negative points the gt-3 does have one spectacular sounding effect. Check out the step phaser it is absolutely phenomenal. This is a first rate effect and is the only reason why I am holding on to the pedal.

I have beaten the daylights out of the Gt-3 withiout remorse and it plays just like new. It is absolutely in-destructable.

If you are serious about quality tone and can afford analog and tube equipment dont waste your time on the gt-3. If you are a beginer and need a lot of effects and have no cash then the gt-3 is probasbly the best bang for your buck. Other units by digitech, zoom and the like are even more pathetic sounding than the gt-3. If you like phaser sounds check out the step phaser. the way it jumps is phenomenal it sounds like the heavens are opening up. For this effect alone the pedal is worth checking out.

Es una unidad algo complicada de utilizar si pretendes tocar via MIDI.
En cuanto a la edicion de patches, es sencilla, aunque el sistema EZ Edit es de gran ayuda.

Utilizo una guitarra Washburn Maverick, con un kit de pastillas EMG, la conecto a un Cry Baby y despues a un Peavey Envoy o a un ampli a valvulas cableado a mano hace como veinte a?os. Me encanta el sonido de valvulas, y cuando compre esta unidad, no crei que me daria un sonido tan calido.
Las saturaciones que se pueden lograr son muy variadas, desde el sonido VOX de Graham Coxon, hasta la saturacion Marshall de Stevie Ray Vaughan; claro, toda proporcion guardada; y por lo regular, en este tipo de unidades no son tan faciles de conseguir. (Antes utilce DIGITECH, y la verdad me quede muy decepcionado de las unidades multiefectos). En general es muy versatil, Decepciona un poco el phaser, que es demasiado frio, pero se puede aderezar con un poco de reverb para darle un poco mas de cuerpo.
De las distorsiones no hay nada que decir, la casa Boss las respalda, aunque a veces prefiero usar un Big Muff como External OD.
Por lo regular, no utilizo los preamps, sino el sonido directo de mi guitarra con un poco de Blues Dist con una ganancia de 7 u 11, y eso es todo, y sinceramente, satura muy bien mi ampli de valvulas.

NUNCA LO HE NECESITADO!!

Por lo regular la utilizo para tocar blues, o cuando tenemos algun trabajo, que por lo regular esta en tocar a grupos como Doors, Blur, Nirvana, Manson, Alice, Sound Garden, etc.
Y me ha convencido tanto, que de hecho planeo comprar otra para tenerla como backup, ademas de que gracias al MIDI no necesito editar nuevamente mis patches personales.

Not a simple unit to use by any means, unless you are one of those that enjoy jogging through 100 parameters for each patch. The manual was brief but to the point and easy to understand, but it lacked explaination of various setup configurations to use with or without your amp, with or without an effects loop, but overall, it did explain the basics. I didn't get to the point where I used it fluently for about a year, but it was from being lazy & having a stage rig I was accustom to anyway. I finally used it at band practice and a couple of gigs, but I was never happy with it. But you're listening to a guy that is use to playing through a Fender "Evil" Twin and uses Boss Pedals. So I'm picky!

I used a Fender Deluxe Reverb RI and a Roland JC-77 with this unit and even though the Fender gave it more of a tube warmth like I'm use to, it still didn't satisfy my ears. It was good enough for rehersal but not at gigs.
The multitude of effects were everything but the kitchen sink. The olny effects that were displeasing were the distortion effects and the wah~wah pedal. The wah~wah was the worst, nearly the worst I've ever heard. It just had no bite and no tone. But, I'm use to my Dunlop 535Q, so once again, I'm picky.
The acoustic simulation was great, one of the best features of the unit, but hardly worth lugging around just for that.
The amp models were fairly nice, and since I own or have owned every amp in the selection, I can tell you they are fairly accurate. The only one lacking was the Mesa/Boogie. The Twin and The Soldano were my personal favorites. The chorus was OK but not as good as a T.C Electronics, (but we're talking about a $300 chorus pedal vs. a $300 multi-effect box, so you do the math) The delay was good and the other effects were useable but not the best I've ever heard.
My Boss effects pedals beat all the effects on this unit, but once again, you get what you pay for. The variables on the boards effects is it's only saving grace, you have more programability than any single pedal I've ever seen. One user review I read on here said that the distortions on this unit sucked, and he prefered a Digitech unit. I can't imagine a Digitech unit being better than this GT-3, but to each his own. I haven't used a distortion box in 12 years. I rely on the preamp in my amp for distortion. Concidering this, the preamp modeling was more than enough to suit me. Adding the distortion effects to the preamp effect gave so much gain and noise that I can't see why anyone would use both at once, but again, I'm picky. The preamp distortion variables were enough distortion for nearly any sound you'd need (except a grungy fuzz). I get that if I don't shave for a few days anyway. One preprogramed bank had a Boston tone. This is nearly all the effects at full tilt. Don't do this with this unit unless you are recording. At high volumes, the gain level is just to much for most situations and it will make you amp squeel like a banchee. Fun for practice or recording though.

Falls apart at the lightest touch! No, really Boss has some of the most rugged roadworthy effects on the market. This one is built like a tank! The only unit that is not by Boss is the ME-30 (the cheapest in their line of multi-effects boxes) One user comented that he wished the pedal buttons were made of steel not plastic, but believe me, this type of plastic is hard as steel and very durable. Unless you plan on switching channels with a sledgehammer, these will last a lifetime.

Good company, though I've never had to repair anything I've bought by them. I own 15 different products by Roland/Boss. All have stood the test of time and I'm sure this unit is no exception. However I believe this unit is out of production now. The GT-6 is now the top line and the GT-5 and GT-3 are gone from prodution.

Flexable enough to use for any style/genre of music/venue. Programable to a fault. Slack Wah~Wah but everything else is good enough for most things. Great tool for modeling sounds with, esspecialy in the studio. Harder to tweek for giging but not impossible.
I have been playing for 23 years. I bought this unit to replace my gig rig of pedals to simplify my setup. My gig rig is still in place!
Lost or stolen, I'd get a Line 6 POD, just because I know now this unit will never replace my gig rig. But for $150 bucks, a used one would be hard to pass up!

The Boss GT3 is daunting at first. But after you go through the various controls, it comes to you. A lot of guys just won't take the time to tweak and therefore get frustrated and chuck the thing. Admittedly, the manual is horrible. I mean, it really sucks. It only superficially grazes over each subject; very vague. The best teacher is experience. Get in there and start twiddling and before long, you'll grasp the inner workings. Editing patches is fairly straightforword, punch up the parameter and adjust it with the parameter wheel. Simple, huh? If you can't wait to start playing, some of the pre-set sounds are pretty cool. Some are pretty cheesy too. I gave a rating of 7 because the learning curve is somewhat steep.

I use two guitars with the GT3; a Gibson SG Custom with stock humbuckers and a Hamer Diablo with Seymour Duncan humbuckers. I'm running the unit through a Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier amp. I have it wired to the amp using the Ext/OD/DS loop. That way I can bypass the amp's preamp section for clean sounds. The compressor is a bit noisy at higher settings, but if kept below 50, it's not too bad. The Dual Recto needs very little, if any, compression anyway. My main drive sound comes from the amp, so I set the OD/DS parameter to EXT/OD to use the amp's preamp. I do use some of the built-in distortion patches for different sounds. Only a couple of them sound descent, the rest are pretty crappy. The chorus is a little disappointing. It sounds boxy and flat. A better sound is the harmonizer set at about +4. Speaking of the harmonizer, if set to harmony, the tracking is horrible. If all you want to play is riffs to sleep by, the thing works pretty good, but anything faster than moderate, and it has a lot of trouble finding the right note. And the 2 voice mode is even worse. The sound quality of the clean patches is excellent though. You don't even need an amp; just plug it straight into the mixing console. Some of the stereo effects are really sweet. Mostly, I use the GT3 to categorize my sounds so I can change them with the push of one pedal. Like I mentioned earlier, the way I have the unit wired to my amp, I can go from, say, clean with chorus to crunch with delay without changing channels on my amp, just by pressing one button. The built-in preamp models are all pretty dismal with the exception of the Roland JC 120 and the Fender Twin. I don't see how they can think the BG Lead patch sounds like a Mesa, it's not even close. The Fender Twin, they've nailed on the head though. Sounds just like it. My sound quality rating is a 5 because 80% of the distortion/drive sounds are subpar, but 80% of the clean sounds are superb.

I've had my unit for over a year and have had no problems. 10, so far

Never dealt with them.

Overall, you can't beat this unit for the money. It has tons of different sounds, albeit some not too good. What I love about it is it's rock solid construction (all metal) and it's versitility. What I hate about it, (not really hate, but dislike) is the pedal. When used as a volume pedal, it's extremely touchy; especially at higher amp volumes. It seems like it goes from 0 to 20 all at once, then on up to 100 smoothly. Also, when changing patches, the sound is cut off while the subsequent pedal is in the down position. The only way around this is to push the pedal really fast to minimize the delay. My favorite feature is the delay. Very smooth and even. I wish it kept the original patch name when writing from another patch. For instance, if you decide you like another patch better than the one you have in a certain position, writing another location to that patch transfers the name of the new patch also, so you have to rename it back to what you had in the original patch. A hassle. The unit does help me make music because I don't have worry about changing a bunch of stomp boxes to change sounds. It all happens with the touch of one button. If you don't want to take the time to learn your way around it or take the time to tweak it, don't buy the GT3 and stick to stomp boxes. The overall sound quality you'll get with this thing greatly depends on what kind of amp you're running it through. Sounds that are horrid through my Fender Pro Reverb don't sound too bad through my Mesa. But for the money, you can't go wrong. Have Fun

I've owned the GT-3 now for a bit over 2 years and I only now feel that I can make an accurate review. It's taken me a long time to figure this thing out. I'm typically the kind of guy that likes to turn knobs instead of editing patches with buttons, as if it were a computer, so it's taken me a while to get this where I can get a good live sound. It really isn't that hard anymore but for someone who just bought it, it could prove to be difficult at first. The manual that was included is horribly written. However, there are user-friendly, downloadable manuals that can be found on the internet.

My current set up is one of 3 guitars; a Les Paul, a Hamer Sunburst and an Ibanez Talman, into a Dunlop Crybaby, a Tubescreamer, a Marshall Guv'nor, the GT-3 and then into the power amp section of a Marshall Valvestate head and 4x12 Crate Blue Voodoo speaker cabinet. After using the GT-3 through various configurations over the last couple years, I'm convinced that the best way to use this is through the power amp section of an amplifier, bypassing the pre-amp altogether. For some reason, when the GT-3 interacts with another pre-amp, it just doesn't sound right. Setting up the global settings properly is also of the utmost importance. It can honestly take you from sounding underwater to sounding great.

I like to use the GT-3 sparingly. Mainly I use a pre-amp, throw in some reverb or delay depending on the situation, and every now and again using the effects for whatever is necessary for the tune I'm playing. To me, the pre-amps make this unit. The heavier pre-amps like the 5150, Soldano, Metal Drive and Mesa Rectifier do a good job for hard rock/heavy metal, but the in between sounds are amazing. The Clean Twin, Matchless, Vox, Crunch and Marshall Plexi models are excellent. The amazing part is the dynamics that are present. Turn your guitar volume down and it cleans up better than a lot of amplifiers I've played through. You can get Who-ish crunch out of this thing, an excellent clean sound, mild breakup. It's not very noisy. The noise gate is serviceable. Not the best in the world but works fine.

The effects for the most part are good. The reverb and delay are excellent, the chorus, flanger, phaser, tremolo, vibrato, the time based effects in general are good. I'm bummed out about the harmonizer though. It works fine if you set it up to be used in the style of the Whammy pedal. However, when you use it to do harmony parts (like when I play Detroit Rock City), the tracking on the harmony part is a little slow so it just doesn't sound right. I don't think I'm ever going to use auto riff or the guitar synth. The synth is not good for faster runs. You have to play slow otherwise it won't track the notes. The EQ is okay but I wish it had a few more frequencies available to adjust. I don't really use it much. The distortions are actually cool. I've used them to boost the preamp and it does a good job, but I need a couple stompboxes just to keep me happy, plus I love the sound I can get with the Guv'nor. It can take the Plexi model, which has a great AC/DC like crunch to it, and just push it over the top. I kick on the Guv'nor for solos on a lot of spots.

I'm giving this an 8 as a whole. There are some really great sounds out of this thing, and there are some that I don't think are that hot.

The chassis is solid metal which is very reliable. I wish the pedals weren't plastic though. I hope they survive the bars and nightclubs.

I actually had a great dealing with Roland's customer support. I inadvertently plugged it into a 240 volt input and fried the transformer in the AC plug. Ended up calling Roland US and they sent me a plug in about a week. They sold it to me for less that what Musicians Friend quoted and they got it to me quicker than Musicians Friend could.

I think this processor is great for the gigging cover band musician who has to cover many different musical styles. When I'm out playing, we do everything from Tom Petty to Judas Priest to Neil Young to Jimi Hendrix to Metallica. The GT-3 can cover all those bases. Ideally, I'd love to have a setup with a great amplifier that could cover broad styles (something like the Fender Twin) but since I'm the head of my household with only one income and a shitload of debt, I can't have everything I want. The GT-3 is a good alternative for the budget minded musician (most of us I would assume). If the 8 seems a little low of a rating, it's just because I'm taking into account everything about it. The amp models are worth the price, but some of the stuff is unusable live.

it's easy to use. I didn't have a manual but figured out how to work it pretty quickly. there's options everywhere for getting a sound quickly as well. although it's easy to figure out how to tweak anything as much as you want.

i'll have to admit i havent really run this through a proper amp yet, just through a tiny portable stereo and into my 4-track at low volumes. to me it sounds great though, i prefer clean tones. i've never been too picky about tones though.

overall this thing sounds good. it sounds like boss pedals, which of course sound good. some of the distortions are crappy. everything overall sounds good.

it's boss, so probably reliable.

na

Overall, this is a pretty good effects pedal. I've had a lot of individual pedals, and a zoom 505, alesis effects unit, digitech reverb, and i've played a lot through the effects on a roland vg whatever digital 8-track.

compared to all that, this thing is definitely worth it. nothing really beats having a bunch of individual pedals to play with and mix and match, but this thing has pretty much every stock type of pedal made, with a few thrown in besides. where this thing really comes in handy is how versatile it is. anything you can come up with in your head to do with effects, you can do with this (the only limiting thing is that you can only use one modulation effect at a time).

a cool feature is that you can hook the expression and the control pedal to control any parameter in the whole effects chain. you can control phaser depth, pitch shift amount, compressor level, type of distortion, anything you want... there are also a lot of cool nonstandard effects on here, including feedbacker, synth,slow gear, ring modulator, humanizer, some other stuff.

the sound in this is solidly good, not spectacular, but for what it is, an all around effects pedal to get any sound you might need, it's great for that,

Well, it's very easy to use.. the first thing i did was to buy a midi cable to get it on with my computer...Once I did (it was very easy), i just erased all the "Garbage" patches I easely worked with the others. after that you only have to know where are the patches and have fun on stage with them...

well, I use a VOX AC30 and a ESP EC300... I like to be wild on stage and it's true that the distorcion is not great but I use a powerlead from ibanez to do that...it's really better to use an externall pedal to do that.even if the gt3 distorcion was perfect I would use a Ext pedal. The only thing I dislike it's the Wha Wha... well, a cry baby is the perfect choice, but I must say that the AutoWha it's just excelent! Dispite all this, the other effects often show a very little hum but it's not perceptible on stage.

I can depend on it...I always use it on stage and never failed...ofcourse I have a rack always there for the bumps!

I never contacte the customer support

I play pop/rock , like pearl jam and u2 and i've chosen the GT3 because a friend talked me about it. Because it's not expensive I decided do give it a try!
I do not Love it...but I like it a lot!

Well...it surely takes a little long to learn how to use this unit...but in the end...it`s all about the usual settings and knobs that all pedals have...I mean, you have to know what depth does to yuor chorus if you turn in loud...so don`t worry...you`ll learn after a pair of hours..!

I use this unit with a custom made strat and a peavey bandit 112...the unit it`s not so silent as expected...and I`ve heard that some people have ahd problems with Marshalls JCM-900...I think I could get some very interesting famous sounds but I`m not able to do it so I like to edit my own sounds that is really better!
I really love the delay and the wha wha (works fine),and some pre amp are rellay good (the twin is perfect and has got better my amp`s clean sounds)...synth is great and chorus too...the EQ is really full of options so you can get what you want from the machine...Distorsion are great...and you can always use an external distorsion (I have a Marshall Guv`nor) if you get bored with it...so I really it`s an amazing machine!

I use it more often than I should...!Sometimes I plug it off just for not forget how I love to play with my amp but...I can assure you taht you would bring your sounds everywhere on every different amps you`ll be using...that means a lot....I Use my amp for back up but i know I`ll never have to do it...

never dealed with boss...I hope they have nice girls working in their calling centers...

I play lot of styles, most rock but rock for me means a lot of things...well, anyway....THE DISTORSION IS LOUD!!! I LOVE IT!i have been playing from 10 years now and I`ve been dealing with lots of pedalboards and this rules...I think you should not mind about the gt-6 because both sound really similar so...BUY THE GT-3!
Anything else you'd like to share?Yes....I love it more than my mother!!!!