Boss GT-3

this is a review for my new(well,to me)boss GT-3.
when i got it,i didn't even know if it still worked,it was sitting in a friend of mine's basement for about 4 years(!)...and was covered in dust.cleaned it up,found a power supply for it...and did some research on it.there's a LOT of "unofficial"manuals out there for it,which correct the rather largely unreadable official one.
without the better manuals for it,i imagine it would be daunting to try and make sense of just how DEEP this sucker really is,as far as finding your sound.once you figure out how to edit/tweak patches...it's a snap.

you HAVE to level match everything on this,same as you would a chain of stompboxes..which essentialy is all this is,really.

but what you can DO with those effects is nothing short of astounding....
as far as i know it's never been updated/upgraded.

it get's used with a few different guitars...my broadcaster clone,my very modified 1990 black strat,and my newest...a 1989 squier II(which kicks a LOT of ass,BTW).it makes them all sound amazing.
it goes into either a peavey special 130,or a peavey classic VTX.i find that i have to turn the output of the unit down slightly with the VTX...but that's okay.
as far as noise is concerned,it has an adjustable noise supressor in it,and depending on how much grind you're shoving thru it..you HAVE to adjust the NS,or...it's noisy!

ALL of the effects(except for the truly wacky ones,like auto riff,and that silly arpeggiator)are nice...again,you have to level match your effects so they work with,not against each other.

yes,it can take a LOT of work...but the rewards are nothing short of astonishing...
for instance...i wrote up a patch on it that sounded like my friend's favourite mesa(a dual rec,i think)...and had him play thru an A/B switch between the 2..and HE COULDN'T TELL THE DIFFERENCE.he's been playing that mesa for nearly 6 years...and he just looked at me and said"that's just impossible...tom...."...well,no,it's not impossible,it just takes a bit of work...lol.

when i got it(for free...WOOT)it had no power supply,and the battery inside needed to be replaced.i also had it cleaned inside and out,and off i went...flawless for nearly a month now.i imagine it will still be so after many years...

boss makes great stuff..but they really need someone better to write the manuals.
just my opinion...o' course!

when i called them to inquire about the battery/power supply they were friendly,and offered to send a manual in pdf for free...i already had it,so i said no thanks...

professional,and friendly!

been playing for well over 20 years(i'm 40)..and pro for 15 of those.
it can do anything you ask it to do....and probably more.the unit had a depth of sound to it i haven't seen elsewhere.
i own a 1961 es-335,a 1990 black fender strat with gfs neovin overwound pickups in it,a homemade broadcaster clone,a very well appointed(if i may say so)pedal board with some goodies in it...and my newest guitar,a 1989 squier II which is stock except for the tuners,and straplocks.

i'd get this again,for sure...they're inexpensive now.
i think if more people looked at what this can do,you'd see a lot more of them on stages,studios.

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.

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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.