Boss GT-3

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

never dealt with the company.

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

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

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

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

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

So here goes:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Do I ever use the preamp models? You

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

n/a

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

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

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

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

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

Never had to deal with the company>

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

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

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

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

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

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

Never dealt with the company, but never had to.

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

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

It has been a good processor for use in recording.

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

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

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

never had to deal with them

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

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

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

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

It seems solid enough.

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

I am amazed at the number of responses here.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

n/a

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

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

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

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

NA

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

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

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

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

after 5-6 years, no probs whatsoever.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

never delt with them

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

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

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

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

Never had to ask anyone about this.

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

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

Built like a TANK! Never had any technical problems.

Never had to use them.

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

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

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

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

don't know

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I must admit that this thing is very reliable.

never dealt.

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

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

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

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

Never needed to contact Boss.

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

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

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

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

Don't know.