Boss GT-3

I've had this thing for about 5 monthes now and I have to say that getting rid of my Boss ME-30 was well worth it...The maual is kinda dry and very...should I say scientific. The maunal mode is very usefull...The way I doit...I create a patch for an entire song then go to maual mode to use it. Farely easy to use.

For my setup I'm running this pedal through my effects loop on my Peavy Bandit 1x12 and my Ibanez S1520BP Prestige through the high gain. Most of the Modulation effects like flange, phaser, and chorus are very noisy but if you mess with the long enough you can get a good sound out of them...as for the distortion...they suck bad...I use a MT-2 Pedal from boss for my distortion. But for the most part the sound is better than some other effect units I have used...You just have to sit down and tweak with it...The only thing I have to say about this that I hate is the fact that it does not have a middle sweep function...But Like I said over all...I've been able to get Tool, Staind, Creed, Alice in Chains, Metallica....even the pefect Sound for Pantera...So I have to say that this thing is really good....

I've never had a problem with is...what can I say...It's heavy...solid and It's a Boss!

The people at boss are freindly but never had to deal with them.

I mainly play heavy metal and Rock and this thing suits me pretty well...thats all I have to say on that.

Well of course it takes a few hours to get used to, but for the amount of features it has it is VERY easy. Although it is easy to use it is also vey hard to master, but it just takes getting used too. Anyways the presets are excellent, plentiful and they cover a wide variety of styles for beginners.

The pedal sounds great! Every effect is flawless except for the distortion. The overdrive, grunge and such are okay but when you want to play metal, the distortion lacks punch, but for that, just purchase the Boss MT-2 Metalzone and plug it in as an external distortion and you have the perfect setup.

It's Boss

Never had to deal with them.

Okay so it might not look very professional, but when you see someone with rack effects that he paid over $3000 for and you have this small pedal with as much or even more features that sound almost as good it's worth buying. Excellent quality/price ratio.

The gt-3 is a little bit complicated to program. It just takes alot of tweeks, and alot of time to get an effect sounding exceptional. It's a simple floor setup, you just step on the effect pedal. Getting to the bank controls is a little bit hard, but i make a bank for every song so i don't have to change banks in the middle of a song.

I use a Fender Roadhouse Stratocaster guitar, with a few modifications such as Locking tuners, and a Hipshot Trems-setter, so the modifictions don't effect the pickups. My amp is a Fender Stage 100 with the Celeston speaker in it.
The Gt-3 can go from clean chourse with acoutic sound to heavy, high gain distortion. The distortions are a lil' noisy, and not what i expected from boss, but they still ROCK! if anybody is reading this that has one, i like to mix a Jc 120 preamp, with Distortion 1...it sounds really good after you do alot of tweeking. I"m sure you'll like it.
The effects always sounds great as long as you don't but a chores rate on 100 or flanger depth on 100 or whatever.
I can get the sounds of all my favorite artist. I mainly play Nirvana, Bush, Foo Fighters, and stuff like that. The Gt- 3 is perfect for those bands when i use a Boss Mt-2 Metal Zone Stompbox before my processor. Then here is where the versitility of this pedal comes in (sorry for the spelling), I can take a few banks for bands like Nirvana and stuff, then i can have banks for bands such as Lynyrd Skynyrd, and other classical rockers. It certianly is a great processor.

It is boss, or course it's reliable
I would use this a 10 year world tour, riding in the back of a Volkswagon Super Beetle, WITHOUT a back up!!

I've never really delt with the boss corporation, but i've been to a few conventions that they have sponsored, and they spare no expense. Everybody i talk to tells me Boss is the best guitar effects company.

If you don't have a Gt-3, then get a job, save up, and GET ONE!! it's jsut that simple. The Lcd display is awsome and its just a really really great processor. I can't say enough about it. I've compared ti to 3 different processors, and it rules over all of them. I compared it to: Digitech Rp-7 (great processor, great distortions), Dod tech8-G (piece of CRAP), Yamaha Gw-50 (most ppl don't remember this one).

Bottom line..GET ONE! well worth the money

I have had for about a week and I am now just feeling like I understand it. It is quite easy to get a good sound out of it,I just took a while. I am constantly updating my patches.

I am playing a gibson SG through a Marshall JCM 900 w/ a marshall cab. I am running it through the effects loop. Some of the presets get a little digital feedback. But backing off the output of the unit usually takes care of that. I think everything sounds fantastic, however the acoustic sim. is a little funny. But if you're thinking of buying a chorus, flange, phaser, delay, noise suppressor, compressor, tuner, limiter, eq, auto wah or volume pedal...BUY THIS THING!!! By the time you bought 4 of these things you could've paid for this. The distortions and preamps are ok. Finding a good distortion for hardcore/metal (hatebreed,buried alive,madball)took a while but I finally nailed it. This thing is the sh*t.

Since a play mostly hardcore w/ a jcm 900, the amp is my back up. But, it is a boss. So I'm not worried

Never dealt with them

I've been playing for more than 10yrs. and finally have equipment I am proud of, the gt3 was just the icing on the cake. I've ditched a case full of pedals, and am very happy. I compared this with the newest digitech rp2000 and it smoked it. I'd say the delays are sweet. the noise suppressor a huge benefit, and options a huge bonus. Since I've bought this I actually get up early to play.It has definitely inspired me. And as far as disliking anything on it, I'm a retard without a graphic eq.(no offense to any retards)(oh and definitely check out the site listed in another review a few posts down)

I have had for about a week and I am now just feeling like I understand it. It is quite easy to get a good sound out of it,I just took a while. I am constantly updating my patches.

I am playing a gibson SG through a Marshall JCM 900 w/ a marshall cab. I am running it through the effects loop. Some of the presets get a little digital feedback. But backing off the output of the unit usually takes care of that. I think everything sounds fantastic, however the acoustic sim. is a little funny. But if you're thinking of buying a chorus, flange, phaser, delay, noise suppressor, compressor, tuner, limiter, eq, auto wah or volume pedal...BUY THIS THING!!! By the time you bought 4 of these things you could've paid for this. The distortions and preamps are ok. Finding a good distortion for hardcore/metal (hatebreed,buried alive,madball)took a while but I finally nailed it. This thing is the sh*t.

Since a play mostly hardcore w/ a jcm 900, the amp is my back up. But, it is a boss. So I'm not worried

Never dealt with them

I've been playing for more than 10yrs. and finally have equipment I am proud of, the gt3 was just the icing on the cake. I've ditched a case full of pedals, and am very happy. I compared this with the newest digitech rp2000 and it smoked it. I'd say the delays are sweet. the noise suppressor a huge benefit, and options a huge bonus. Since I've bought this I actually get up early to play.It has definitely inspired me. And as far as disliking anything on it, I'm a retard without a graphic eq.(no offense to any retards)(oh and definitely check out the site listed in another review a few posts down)

Right out of the box, you can gig with it. Its very simple to setup your own patches as well. It might take a couple of hours to get the hang of it, but after you do...you will be editing like crazy. I dont use the EZ edit, and dont recomend using it. Its not that hard to edit or create patches without it. You get alot more control of the sound if you bypass the EZ edit. But if you are someone that wants a digital preamp processor, and dont like tweaking...the EZ edit may be just for you. Anyways...very simple to use.

I play a standard Fender Strat, and an Epiphone Les Paul through a Peavey Bandit 1x12 100 watt (with 1x12 speaker extension cab.)...80 watts without. Its definately not the best amp...but at the time i bought it...it was very decent for the money. I run the signal from the guitar to the GT-3, then into the Return input for my amp's effects loop. I found i get a cleaner sound that way. I have read posts on the unit's clean sounds, saying they are too noisy. I dont agree at all. SOme of the preset patches are a little noisy, however, those use modeled pre-amps which may be a characteristic of the noisiness. I have created patches with a super clean sound. No noise at all. I find that all the effects sound very well. I mean...come on...the unit costs 400 dollars...not 4,000. What are you expecting. If you want top of the line effects....buy top of the line studio equipment. But you get alot for that 400 dollars. I have found its fairly easy to re-create many sounds of your favorite bands. It does have some weak effects. Like the auto-riff (pointless...will NEVER use), and I dont think I will ever use the ring modulator, or synth sounds. But thats my opinion, and my style of play. The point is try it out for yourself first. You may love it....you may hate it. Great sound. Period. I love this thing.

Built like a tank. Boss pedals have never failed me before. Previous to playing through the GT-3, I used a string of Boss pedals for my effects. Very reliable. I gig without a backup right now mainly because I dont have the extra 400 dollars to buy another one. But I feel very safe.

Havent had to use it...but their website could definately use a facelift.

I have been playing for about 5 years now, and play a wide variety. Blues, alternative, classic rock, metal. I have found you can get great sounds to match any style you might play with this unit. I compared it to the Digitech RP-7, and then to RP2000 when it was released. In my opinion, this unit sounds cleaner, and is easier to edit. And just when you think you know everything it can do....you learn something new. If it was stolen, I would definately buy another one. There is not one single thing I do not like, except for it doesnt have a Jam-along-jack. It would be cool to play along with a CD through the headphones like on the Digitech units...but then again, this unit seems a little more professional than those. I can look past that without a problem. If you dont have one......GET ONE!!!

for my 2 and a half hours of fidling around and jamming on it at a music store i couldn't keep my eyes off the prested banks they have (200 Manufactured presets 140 user patches). It wasn't that hard to make your own patch, simply by deleting a preset and making your effect. but to do it properly you would have to sit down with a jug of coffee and take the amazing edtitng ride.

From bluesy distortion to an amazingly heavy pantera distorion, it's all there.

Such a stupid question. It's BOSS what do you expect.

I play all sorts of alternative rock/punk. Anything from the Tea Party to frenzal rohmb.
I don't actually own one but i am looking for a job to get the money to buy one.
As i have said on previous reviews, If any on stole it i would find them and rip their fuck'n heads off.

I found it is hard to remember where what is where... but other wise the setup is perfect.

There isn't more than 4 effects I don't like the sound of. I have an american kramer vangard and a fender princeton chorus amp it sounds great and i love it

It is very realiable

.....

good for all music
tone of distortion and overdrive
amazing

I personally found this unit very easy in use for it's complexity. It's also rather flexible and can be used in most possible setups.
The one great thing for me was full Midi-support which allows you to store patches on an external sequencer or PC or to use GT-3 as a
MIDI-Controller for other units. But on the other hand you have to tweak a lot to get a good sound out of this machine. And the manual sucks because it gives you only few usefull infos on how to get started or how to work with Midi-features but doesn't really help you in creating your own patches. So I had to spend some hours to get familiar with all the effect-settings.

I use very cheap guitar with single-coil pick-ups with my GT-3 and go into PWR AMP IN of my PEAVEY Keyboard Combo or into PA-Mixer. I also use fo direct recording on my PC... Well, let's talk about all these effects and presets. Most of the effects like MOD-section, delays, reverb, preamp & speaker are realistic enough and new features like Acoustic Sim. and electric-acoustic effects are usefull. But some of the effects are totally unusefull: Auto-Riff or GUIT-SYNTH, that tracks to slow for example. The Harmonizer should track played tones faster too. I found only one good patch for the Ring Modulator on the WEB - "Sitar"... Clean sounds are awesome especially sounding in stereo. Crunch sounds with light overdrive are O.K too ! But high gain lead sounds are too noisy for my ear and noise suppressor doesn`t help here much. It just kills the sound. Maybe this level of noise is O.K. for live-gigs but for Recording it's too high. I'm still
trying to avoid this problem but it seems not to become better in the nearest future... I'm still looking for patches which implementate typical sounds of several artists (Brian May, Satriani, Vai etc.).
Feel free to contact me if you want to exchange any infos on GT-3 or patches or so !
And here are some interesting web-ressources on GT-3:
User's sites:
http://bossgt3.tripod.com
http://members.xoom.com.bossgt3

Software:
www.kagi.com/amcsoftware/gt3.html
http://members.tripod.com/Gt3Banker

It's very solid metall construction, built like a rock. I didn't think about buying any backup for gigging ! I trust boss to built dependable gear. You must try very very hard to break it.

I haven't to deal with them and I hope I will not too ! But their web-site doesn't offer any support for the unit. It should be better !

I play already for a couple of years in a school-band all styles from blues to metal and GT-3 does it's work when I play live but for Home recording it is a bit too noisy on some patches. But I compared it to other FX-units (ZOOM, DigiTech, KORG...) and for the money it's still a best buy I think. I plan to buy ROCKTRON Prophesy and better guitar to use my GT-3 as MIDI-Footswitch for it. But GT-3 will remain a good tool for clean patches. I really don't know whether I would buy it again if it were stolen.

I picked my GT2 up at 11:00 in the morning and used at a gig that night at6:00 PM.
so many parameters so many tweaks that can be applied it is almost overwhelming most of the editing is easy for those who have worked with digital gear before but there is still more I don't know then I do.The whole thing about the internal pedal system is beyond my grasp.
I use the unit for both my acoustic and electric setups and it is obvious that much tweaking of volume needs to be done to make the GT3 more usable on stage.
The EZ edit is fun when I am just goofing off it is so easy to change parameters on the fly!My favorite is to sit with GT3 in front of me is to build a patch from the ground up find a Pre Amp and go from there sometimes I end up somewhere I never imagined.
When gigging I leave the unit in manual mode I like being able to have control over the individual effects.
Like most manuals it sucks .They give you enough information to get started and there is a nice description of all they effects and there parameters but really I have read parts of it well every time I go to the bathroom!:)and parts are still not clear.

believe it or not I bought this unit as a Pre Amp for my acoustic guitar.I have a Martin2 W/ a Fishmen Goldline+ pickup that I was running direct into a Mackie 1402 mixer a crest audio 900 watt amplifier and either my JBL TR225 Cabs loaded with 2 15s in each cab or EV SX100 for smaller gigs.I was looking at different Pre Amps on the market(and there are a lot).In my acoustic setup I have not had one problem with the sound Quality they the factory Pre sets worked for me that first night I used it and since I have done some tweaking and came up with some great patches(except for some minor feedback problems.....how does that anti feedbacker work anyway?)My electric setup is a Charvell Strat copy with a H-S-S pickup arrangement plugged into old reliable Marshall JCM800 50 watt combo.I don't play much electric anymore but sine I got the GT3 I find myself spending more time ( remember a good effect box can make a crappy guitar player sound good and a good guitar player like shit......JUST PLUG IN AND PLAY FOR GODS SAKE!!!!)I have no use for the special effects included with the GT3 and can see no place I would ever use the ring modulator but I really have not got into the electric end of the GT3 to give a good opinion of it
For the acoustic the 2by2 chorus is great I also use the limiter/compressor,reverb,DDL and have got some really interesting pad effects I use on some instrumental numbers. Sometimes I get weird requests for old rock songs(can you play smoke on the water?)and it cracks me up to switch on some distortion and play that crap on my martin.....heheheheheh....I had to do some tweaking to find a good distortion but it works.Again overall I find for my purposes I find this unit to be very quiet for what I use it for and I have a number of compliments on the way my acoustic sounds on stage.

built like a tank 6 months later I still carry around in the original box and I have only dropped it once!!!!!I average about 15 to 20 gigs a month and since my purchase 6 months ago I have had no problems with it.
I gig all the time with out a backup.

I have not had the need to deal with the company as of yet.There is a lack of info at the Rolandus site about the unit.

acoustic folk rock and I think the GT3 is a perfect match for what I do.I have been playing guitar for 26 years.I have a home recording studio with a track cassette and the computer W/Cakewalk and Sound Forge and the various outboard gear that goes with that.
Yes I would definitely buy another.
I love the basic sound and ease of use with a guitar and the GT3 I can gig anywhere and get my sound.
I hate that I did not have one of these when I was 15 years old(I was gonna be the next guitar god)imagine getting all those great guitar sounds in your headphones and not a peep from the neighbors.
The one that surprised me and got my attention was using the GT3 in the manual mode I like being able to turn the effect blocks on and off it is like having 6 pedals on the floor.it would be nice to have a dedicated switch for the tuner/bypass mode.
I compared to every acoustic Pre Amp product on the market and feature for feature it just gave me more bang for my buck.
The only thing I knew is that I did not want an on board Pre Amp in my martin.I did look into L.R. Baggs,Fishman,BBE and a lot of the tube style pre amps on the market.
I think it very much helped me with my music I love the way my Martin sounds through my system I would gladly compare it with anyone's.
I would very much like to hear from anybody anywhere who is using the GT3 for there main acoustic Pre Amp(or am I the only one?)
For me the GT3 is all I wanted and more thanks for you time

I would not recommened it as your first,but if you had a pedal or two
and been playin awhile GET ONE NOW!!!!!!!!!!!.

the parameters for the e.q,and compressor are alittle weak.the distortion can get alittle metalic sounding,but give it time.between
the pre-amp,e.q.,and different types of distortion you will find the sound your looking for.It has the best chorus,and reverb I've ever come across,the delays are sooooooo sweet.

its never let me down.I use it for home recording.

never needed it.....

I play mostly static x,pantera kinda stuff.playin bass and guitar for about 10years.I think if it was stolen or something i might consider
looking into the new zoom gfx-8(it looks like the gt-3s evil twin)remember pedals are like relationships,it takes a few to get it right.put some time into the gt-3 and it will kick ass!!!!It took me two months to get it just right,(I RECORD WITH IT SO I HAVE TO BE ON THE FUSSY SIDE)dont be fooled by these people who say
they got this pedal nailed in a day or two without reading the instructions,BULLSHIT!!!!!!!!!!

Simple to use - I was using it right out of the box without ever playing with one before. Editing came simple enough, and I didn;t have to read on it much. Manual was not as in depth as I would have thought, but I really didn't need it anyways.

Using this with both electric and acoustic/electric guitars.
* Ernie Ball MusicMan "Luke" electric
* Takamine Eg-34 acoustic electric
* Fender acoustic bass
I normally input this into my PC for home recording.
Can get awesome Radiohead effects with this, beautiful leads, and the patches are great for vocals as well

Hasn't been that long since I bought it yet.
I would probably not think about a backup on a gig though. This thing is constructed to withstand a tornado!

I play everything from ambient to punk to metal. Sounds great either way. I have a wide range of other pedals but rarely use them anymore - I use my delay still, as the delay effects on the GT-3 are not as simple as the rest of the board. I would never go back to stomp boxes anymore - I'll tell you that.

I've had this for about six months now, and it has served me well so far. I'm 18 years old and I've been playing for about six years, and I play at about 2-3 gigs a week. I use it live, and there are things I love about it but hate about it also. I play mostly modern rock/pop, some indie. In terms of the ease of use, I gave it a six for numerous reasons. If you want to get a good sound out of it, you're going to have to work your butt off. When I first got it, I spent countless hours modifying patches and getting the sounds how I wanted them, where I wanted them, etc. Editiing patches are pretty self explanitory. The E-Z edit function doesn't give you much to work with, and the sound is pretty mushy and dull. You are always going to have to work with all of the parameters to get the sound you want. The manual can be pretty helpful if you don't know what you're doing. This was the first floor effects processor I've owned, so I had to look in the manual every so often to figure out how to tweak a sound or feature. But for guys who know effect processors and for guys who know what all the different things are, this machine is a breeze. But you still have to put time into it to get the sound you want at first. In terms of performing live, this thing can be a pain. When I'm singing and trying to change a patch (go between banks or step on the or CTL for a delay, phaser, OD, tremolo, etc.), trying to sing into the microphone and look down at your unit can sometimes be a pain.

I run the GT-3 through a line selector (A/B box) directly in to a Fender Deluxe tube amp and a Crate 125-D acoustic amp. I use a Rickenbacker 360 Vintage '64 electric guitar and an acoustic Ovation Legend. I love these guitars! They both sound beautiful. Anyway, the GT-3 sounds terrible in the effects loop or a preamp in to my amps, and that's why I run directly into the amps. The GT-3 is limiting in terms of the "quality" of sound that you want. You can get pretty much ANY sound you want but the QUALITY won't be extrememly good. I've got a lot to work with, and that's good, but to get professional quality sound, this thing doesn't cut it. During gigs, when we want to start to turn up the volume and drive it, the distortion fades out and is really weak sounding! I have reverted to my amps distortion, and that gives me a lot more punch. The GT-3 can give awesome clean sounds to light overdrive sounds (but not any more gain than that) though! I'm really impressed with the JC-120 , VOX, and MATCHLESS preamp processors(the CRUNCH and CLEAN TWIN aren't that bad either). They aren't exact replications, but what do you expect? I have a lot of banks solely devoted to the Matchless. I've found a great sound out of that, and I've built my primary sound out off that preamp. I really had to work at it though. The other amp simulations are pretty weak, in terms of distortion and replicating the sounds they are suppossed to model. I use the EQ on virtually every patch to get rid of the muddy sounds, and it does that for the most part. The OD/Distortion is very weak. The only distortion that can be of any help to me is the vintage and sometimes turbo OD. But again, at very high gains the distortion doesn't give that clear cut "punch" that you need. The auto wah and pedal wah can give me some pretty cool sounds, but I have to tweak it a lot. The compression and limiter are very helpful in tweaking your sound to the way you like it. The acoustic simulator is junk. The slow gear is useful, but very limited in its capabilities. I never use the pickup selectors. I don't think they help as much as hinder. The trememlo and pan are useful and good sounds can come out of them. Phaser is good but I'd much rather get the MXR Phase 90. The flange isn't what I expected it to be, but I still use it sometimes. The sub-eq is really nice for clearing up you sound. I use that on my main clean sounds without other modulation. Oh, one thing that isn't nice is that you can't use more than one type of modulation. Auto-riff is worthless. Reverb is not very useful. I'd much rather have some Lexicon reverbs, but this will have to do for now. The delay is really "digital." Hence, the name digital delay. The delay seems weak and I would much rather have analog delay. But that is my tastes. I still use it though. I can replicate any of the sounds that my favorite aritsts are doing, but only to a certain point. Obviously they don't have a GT-3, so the sound isn't that identical, but the "idea" of the sound is there. Oh, never use the acoustic stuff! I don't have any preamp or acoustic simulators when I play acoustic. I just have the effects. That's why I have the Crate. You get a much more rich sound without those things.

I've never used any back up during a gig! Built like a rock!

I've never dealt with BOSS or Roland. I might have to to get the upgrade for the midi capabilities of the GT-3.

For me right now, this is a good setup. This was my first time with any real effects and I've gotten my feet wet, and I'm ready to get to some better stuff. I want to make my own sound. I'm not into getting the sounds of other artists. I want to go with what I think is good. The GT-3 does that, but only up to a certain extent. I'm probably going to revert to pedals for live stuff, but I'm going to keep this thing for the studio. I love the clean and mild OD stuff, but other than that, I don't use. I've tried out a lot of other floor processors, and I'm almost positive this gives you the best deal for the price. I compared it to Digitech, ZOOM, and others, and this was the sounding one. There are more options on others but sound is what led me to this one. I do really like it though. I just have a good ear for what I what to hear, and I think I know what I need to do to get that sound (good qualtity stompboxes). I always use it live and its served me well. I can make good music with it though! It is not a bad machine. For rhythm guitar its great, for lead it's not so good. But I do love it and I it sees me about three times a day! If you're getting your feet wet, this is a good buy, but if you want professional stuff, don't get this.

Lets just say I didnt even have to the read the manual. I messed with it for a few minutes and i sounded like a pro. Editing the patches was simple, and they sounded great. Real simple, a child could use this.

I use a 60's ReIssue Strat through my boss pedals (MT-2, Ge-7, CE-3) and into my Peavey special 212 (W/ sheffield gold speakers) And now everything sounds better then ever. There isnt any feed back or buzz, even from my strat SC pups. The effects needed some tweaking, however they sound great once you mess with them. I can recreate the sounds of Pantera, Metallica, Megadeth, Death, Coal Chamber, Nirvana and Korn. The auto riff sucks my left and right nut. it sounds like someone took and shit on my guitar and then licked strings. But everything else, with a little werk sounds good.

I havent yet had it more then a day or so. However when i get all my patches in that sun - a - bitch, id say its pretty dependeable. Id never gig without a backup, if i can afford a back up. And thats that

Ive never had a problem with BOSS, even with previous boss pedals, i didnt have any trouble. There built like tanks

I play like s**t. But this "s**t" i do play is good. Metallica, Pantera, Nirvana, Megadeth etc. I can play like all these people with the gt-3. Ive been playing for 1 year, and im not bad. I have 3 boss pedals (see above) and an ovation acoustic. If it were lost or stolen, id kick the s**t outa the guy who f**ked with me. But id steal myself another one since im so po'. I love all the simulations, pickup and amps. I only hate how its, so, so, so, BLUE. (jk) I love it so much im thinking of making love to it right now. It has the sounds quality of a rack mount with the price of just a cheap whore. I wish it had a second expressions pedal, so you can have a wah and a volume simultaneosly. I have never actually "made" music, its more like i crap it out, however it sounds great crapping out of the gt-3. Id like to share my self with cheap whores, like it asks above

I had the Digitech RP-7 before I purchased the GT-3 and I'd have to say the GT-3 took a little longer to master. I don't think I've really mastered it yet still though. I can't seem to figure out how to make the autoriff stay in loop while I chord over a riff. If anybody knows how, please let me know.

I play through a Fender Prosonic and I've been very pleased with the sounds I get. I don't go with what the manual suggested as far as where I plug in at and all that stuff.

I can rely on my GT-3.

I had a question about the GT-3 and the people I talked to were friendly enough.

I play in a modernish rockish type band and the options that I have with GT-3 make things more interesting to me. I like having so many choices. And it sounds good too.

It's actually easier to figure the unit out by rote than it is to consult the manual, although I read it through before firing the unit up for the first time.

I generally like to tweak a few specific parameters in an effects patch, so I really don't use the EZ Edit function. The manual function is very ergonomic, though.

I did take a few points off, however, because I had to spend some time figuring out how to get the compressor to drive the signal strongly enough that the synth will track well.

You simply can't argue with a unit that is basically every Boss pedal ever made, fully programmable. With or without the preamp, the unit is worth the money. At times, I do wish there were a few models of other manufacturers' effects (a Q-Tron, Univibe, TS-808, Mu-Tron III, Rat, etc.) but I can come awfully close to those sounds with some finesse. Besides, Boss pedals are my favorite in general, so I'm pretty happy.

PREAMP: First, make ABSOLUTE SURE that the global settings match your amp setup. Otherwise, the amp simulations might sound metallic. However, with everything set correctly, you should be fine. The gain settings on the amps are only "low," "middle", or "high" which is less flexible than I would like, but the amp sims respond well to volume knob changes, so that isn't a big issue for me. Try playing with the compression and "distortion boxes" (particularly the overdrives and fuzz) to goose some nice rich tones out of this unit.

EFFECTS: They sound much like the pedals. One reviewer complained that there isn't an effects mix setting for some of the effects, but I found that it isn't necessary because this can be adjusted between the depth and resonance parameters.

The unit feels solid. Mine is new, so I haven't run into trouble with bad grounds, etc. but if it works like any Boss pedals that I have used, which I ran from a power supply instead of batteries, I should have no trouble (knock on wood).

I play a very eclectic sort of indie rock, and I like to have a large sound selection. As I said before, the GT-3 is almost every Boss pedal ever made in one box, which nobody can sneeze at. It's versatile enough to hang with any punk, jazz, or blues gigs that I might do as well.

As for a rig, my main guitar is a Telecaster and my main amp is an ancient ca. '70 Sunn Model-T, the version with no hot channel (just normal and bright) along with the Sunn 4x12 with Celestion 75s.

I have used Zoom and ART multi-effects units before this, and definitely recommend this. It sounds like a bunch of Boss stompboxes!

This unit has a lot of functionality and manages it well. Each effect has its own button which can select and then vary its settings. I found that even in the store with no manual, figuring out how to change effect settings and setup presets was easy.

The EQ is a little confusing.

Good quality - chorus, delay, acoustic simulator
OK quality - pickup simulator, wah, compression
Bad quality - distortion/overdrive and preamp simulation

Looks very sturdy, much nicer than the Digitech crap, but didn't own it long enough to really know.

Found the number on one of the spec sheets I got from the store and talked to a tech right away.

The 2 big problems I have with the GT-3 are:

1) some of the effects (flange, tremolo, etc.) don't have an "effect level", but a "level" setting that's just an overall volume setting! What the hell's the point of that? I found this to be totally limited (BTW, the GT-5 didn't even have any level on the flange).

2) I also didn't like any of the distortion or preamp sounds. They were all too weak or too strong no matter how I tweeked the settings. And on the preamp sounds, the "gain" control is just "low, medium, high"! Again, not enough control over the sound for me.

If BOSS could just fix those 2 problems, it would be perfect. I think the coolest thing about the unit are the "control" and "expression" pedal b/c you can program it to do almost anything. It's only $400 which is a good price for an all-around effects processor.

1) Sounds are excellent. 2) IMHO Guitar/amp tones are better defined in terms of timbre and overall character with single coil guitars versus HB. Editing patches is a breeze. I initially read the manual rapidly to ensure that I was getting the best sound setup with my current rig before starting. 3) While at the music store here in Honolulu, Hawaii, I tested the unit through the back stereo input of a JC60. This could have been done through a JC120, which are both excellent sources for testing any floor pedals. Roland's JC series are pretty near to flat EQ when coming in the rear, so you actually get to hear the character of the unit being tested pretty accurately. (Incidentally, I once owned a JC120 and have played live gigs this way runing a Digitech GSP 2101 in the back end and it even fooled the vintage hearted out there!) 4) The maual suggests numeorous configurations, such as front end into head or combo, straight into power amp etc. You set the global paramter (stack versus combo, Bal vs Unbal output, etc.) appropriately. 5) The manual suggests that if running front end into a guitar amp, to turn Treble and Bass to zero, and Midrange to 10 and to run in the LOW chanel on clean NOT Distorted/OD mode. I am currently using dual 5150 heads into dual mesa 4x12 G12-30V Cabs. The manual does not discuss what to do with the Reasonance or Presence, so I experimented and set the Reasonance to zero (it was too woofy otherwise), and the Presence to 6.5->7 and Bright Switch off. The manual also suggests the "Eazy Edit" for the faint hearted, but I opted for the regular edit mode throughout. Patches are a breeze to modify and transfer to the banks of your choice. So once I got the set up where I liked the throughput, I went through all the patches first to become familiar with TONES before I did any patch modifications or assignments. No firmware upgrades -- this is 1st Generation and it is killer!!! very easy to use. I empahise again and recommend you lisetn carefully to ALL the pathces to become familiar with everything this unit has to offer. Find patches you like and modify these first and as you go along you will become proficient rapidly. The Boss programmers set amp EQs pretty well, but I changed most of these except for the Twin patches. The good news is that if you totally screw up a patch, go to the rear of the manual and grab the Factory Patch again and start over. You CANNOT overrwrite these -- Banks 36 on up if I remember correctly -- sorry I am at my office now and not studio -- so I'm working from memory.

To be perfectly honest, this unit is a wet dream come true. I almost sold my entire rig for an Egnater IE4/VHT2150 combination, but you know what? -- I just saved myself $5 grand. This puppy is marvelous and built like a tank. It is so cool that I can take it in a briefcase with a fave guitar or two and plug stereo direct into the PA system. Anyway, I'm pretty much a tube snob and I'm sticking with this setup front ended into my 5150s or Ampeg EL84 combos. The 6L6s have awesome overhead, and now I have the best of all worlds. I programmed this thing in three sweeps. 1) Sweep one (with a Nashville Tele/Maple neck) set patches as follows:

Bank 1 (Blackface Fenders with and w/o analog delay and analog stereo choruses for Tele and Strat EQs); Bank 2 (JC120s), Bank 3 (Vox), Bank 4 (Matchless), Bank 5 (British 1959 SLP), Bank 6 (British BG), Bank 7 (British (1959SLP CH I+II), Bank 7 (Pop Metal), Bank 8 (Soldano), Bank 9 (5150) (Be advised that this tone replicates my 5150 EVH tone exactly -- but is now managing the two monsters without shaking the building foundations wherever I'm playing, Bank 10 (JC120 w pedals front end grunge/fuzz/metal), Bank 11 (Twin with Pedals front end grunge/fuzz/metal), Banks 11-12 (Acoustic Guitars with DeArmond Pickups NOT Electric Guitars), Banks 13-31 (Mixes of the above for Strat EQ with Crunch, Natural OD, Vintage, Turbo OD, and Blues Settings), Banks 32-35 (SFX).

What does this mean? It means that I have the best of both worlds -- live tube natural compression and tone, with amp modeling that blows both Line6 and Digitech out of the water. I'm keeping my GSP 2101 in the SND/RTN loop, so all I have to do is step on the 5150 loop button and voila, I have the high gain channel of the 5150s with my HB equipped LPs/SGs etc., then switch back to Ingle coil giotar(s) by stepping the 5150 loop off, and the GT3 runs direct into the 5150 low gain channels. Pretty clever, huh, fellow arsholes?

BE ADVISED that the Boss programmers who programmed the effects are probably not musicians. The stock EFX in the GT3 are extremely wet an not musical until you turn the rates and depths down on almost every patch, then these are to die for once set to your liking. I read a preview weeks back that the acoustic patches suck. Yes they do -- unless you run an acoustic guitar in the front end. Try that gang. I'm one happy sumbich right now as you can tell, so Kudos Boss/Roland for a job well done otherwise. Every effect is awesome once tweaked properly, but you have to spend the time to tweak to your liking. It took me all weekend. I recommend you get up and take an hour break or two between each sweep so that your ears will come back in fresh. In my case I just left the house, came back and started clean with another guitar. I now have 35 usable Banks of 4 pathces each that I can use live or in the studio wordlwide.

Be advised that I did four sweeps to refine the job with different guitars. Once I placed the pathces where I wanted them in the banks that I had previously I planned out on paper. I repeat -- you lose tone charatcer by using HB guitars up front into the GT3 -- use single coils, and vary these as well to get a good cross section. I used my Tele Nashville for sweep 1, then a Tele with Alnico IIs for sweep 2, then a Tele with Alnico Vs for sweep 3, then Strat with TX Specials (too hot -- lost the "Texas HOT" charatcer), then Strat with Van Zandt Blues (these are better IMHO than Lindy Fralins -- real good!!!) for sweep 4.

I'm keeping my HB equippped guitars for straight into the amp high gain channel with my GSP 2101 Artist Send/RTN in the 5150 EFX loops. Rating 7 because I worked my ars off, but you know what? -- it was the best weekend I've invested into my tone and rig in the past 10 years.

Absolument!, but I'm buying a backup anyway. What the heck, two can fit into a lawyer's briefcase, and they barely weigh nothing. I've never had a Boss pedal fail in 15 years so I think with some degree of certainty that this will be ok too. Disclaimer, I read in the manual that this is computer chip/battery--clock dependent like a regular computer. That means 1) Back up your work via data dump into a seqencer or something, and 2) Find out what type of battery it uses and keep one on standby. THIS IS WHY I'm buying the backup primarily -- for touring.

Never had too. The previous pedals I used were dependable.

This things cranks out all styles -- Great match for my concert rigs and combos -- been playing for > 25 years -- own 12 guitars -- yes I would replace in a NY minute -- it is moron proof, has REAL character, endless possibiliites for quality tone creation, and looks pretty sexy in front of you for your next gig on MTV or Rock Cafe Live -- yes compared it to a myraid of rig/effects combinations -- wish it had dual input for external cc controller like dual FV 50 ( hey, Version II maybe?), and don't like that if running Delay and Chorus simultaneously, cannot turn both on/off simultaneously with the internal togle switch. I actually prefer the external AC "in line" wall wart because such reduces line noise. I think this is what plagued ElectroHarmonix' Analog Delay (internal power supply) -- This is an EXTRAORDINARY piece of musical technology for the proce paid. the best news is that I get to keep my 5150s, and now can produce all the other tones that Eddie left out, and still have the monster to unleash when I'm in Metal mode. Good luck to all.

Easy to use, unless you're dumn or illiterate. Works pretty much like all the other processors. Editing patches is a snap, saving user settings let's you apply the same effects to multiple patches. Very helpful for applying a uniform volume setting for the expression pedal, for instance. I must say that having an additional expression pedal (Boss FV-300L for instance) is almost necessary for on-stage use, unless you like one sound and no wah to go with your volume boost. Manual is easy, but leaves a good deal out about complex edits and specifically how to edit the effects chain. No good support on the web yet. If I'm an expert, something's wrong.

Synopsis from a guitarist with 20 years of studio and stage work: Live it's a nice little unit that's easy to setup, and has only minor limitations. In a studio, through it in the trash, spend another $200 and get a Digitech RP-20 or 21.
Sound quality, at first seems very good, but going to a high-gain distortion reveals a terrible amount of post note-noise. Terrible specs by studio standards. The clean sounds are quiet, but what processor can't say that? The noise reduction works...although a better solution would have been a cleaner pre-amp. (duh!). Compare the specs to the old Digitech RP-1 and you'll cry your way back to the store...receipt in hand. The presets suck of course, and are way over the top. Editing the sounds to dial in subtle sounds can be daunting for a newbie, but if you're patient this thing can get you really close to a good tube amp. The amp simulations (supposedly COSM based), are good, but certainly not a great rendition of the specified amp. I have a Matchless head with an ADA 212, and the lead on the GT-3 through a reference amp and the same speakers is NOWHERE close. Much too brittle and un-responsive, but that doesn't mean it isn't useful sound...just not exactly a reproduction of a Matchless. The acoustic simulator is pretty good, good enough for a live gig. The pickup simulator is so-so, doesn't blow you away. As for chaining effects, you can get somewhat limited here...but for 99% of the guitarists, this won't slow you down too much. The real hindrance on this thing is that certain effects can't be assigned to either the onboard or outboard expression pedals to be of any use. For instance, if you want to turn the wah on by stepping on the pedal and subsequently use it as a wah...no dice. Want to make the pedal go from totally no Overdrive or distortion to full blown as you push the expression pedal? Nope. You must first turn it on with the control pedal, then use the expression pedal to increase the "drive". If you use the expression pedal to control the "level" of the distortion, it will take the overall volume of the patch along with it. If there's a way to get around this, God only knows what it might be.
As for construction, it's put together well enough. Easy to read, you can stomp on it. Pretty too, but who cares.
I'm using mine with a Carver PM.05 Amp, and a ADA 212 cabinets loaded with Eminence drivers. I play it using Strats, Tele's, V's and an Explorer...and guess what? They all sound pretty much the same.
As for getting sounds of my favorite artists...that would be me, and I don't want to sound like anyone. To this end, it's fine...cause it won't get you in the ballpark of David Gillmour, but that's fine. You need your own sound, and you may find it in the GT-3. Remember, for $349, you're not going to get a great processor, so don't believe the hype. Buy it, use the hell out of it, and if it breaks, at least it didn't cost as much as a T.C., so don't sweat it. Overall I've used much worse and been happy with it.

Haven't used it enough to challenge it, but it's built well, with solid connectors and switches. It doesn't get hot, and can be opened up relatively easily. I'd trust it on a stage for my only gear (like that'll ever happen!)

Boss's web site better not be an indicator of their support...cause if so you're buying a 1988 Yugo with this thing. They've already shown a staggering stupidity of their own product in the manual, presets and literature, so let's hope when you send it back, it doesn't return to you missing some parts.

I play alternative, rock, instrumental, etc. For this, it's a fine match for my playing. I've played for 20 years. Other gear is too much to mention. If it goes to 11, it's in my basement somewhere. What do I love about it? It matches my shoes. Hate? It's noisy. Compared to Zoom, it's god's hand at work. Compared to Digitech or Art's products, it's a turd. I chose it cause it was cheap. Period. I wish they had incorporated more control for the parameters. Much too much has to applied to each setting and lived with...with no "morphing" between patches using an expression pedal, which would be the obvious and best use of any floor-based processor.

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

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

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

Haven't req'd any support

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

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

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

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

never tried

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

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

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

I haven't had the need for it yet.

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

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

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

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

Never had to deal with the company.