Boss GT-3

I'm sure I could put my mind to it, but I only want about three very high-quality sounds. The amp does two, and from my limited toying about, this one probably does the third, but is just way too much trouble for what it's worth.

I run a '74 hardtail strat through a Mesa/Boogie DC-5. The gain channel is great and I don't see myself adding / subtracting. So I don't like the fact that the GT-3 doesn't truly bypass. It's probably great for a cheaper amp, though.

In my experience it was quite noisy on any setting that required a preamp gain, but my experience isn't extensive.

The effects are fine but since I only want a couple I think I'll go find myself some stomp boxes instead.

I think my favourite artists use insanely more expensive version of these so I won't even grace that question!

I wouldn't use it at a gig at all really

NFI

If you live in Australia (particularly Sydney) and you're after one of these, it's in pristine conditions since I've only taken it out of the box once or twice. It has its manual and power supply etc. Make me an offer in an email. Sorry to the HC staff if this ad is a bad thing!

At first I found the GT-3 very difficult to work with-"Too many buttons"-but after spending some time with the unit and skimming the manual (typically diificult to get through--there are "unofficial" manuals printed by user groups that are very easy to navigate)-After I got a little more familiar with it I found it easy to edit--presets are hit-and-miss, but are good jumping-off points-I used to have an ME-5 so I was familiar with how the pedal operated. There are still lots of tricks and shortcuts I don't understand, but it is a very deep unit.

I'm partial to stompboxes and am somewhat purist as to gear...I use a Deluxe American Standard Strat w/Lace Sensors (OK, I'm not THAT purist) a Les Paul Studio and an old Jazzmaster (the most underrated guitar ever) through a Fender Blues DeVille...I tried the recommended setting of using the loop chain and the midrange control but reverted to the standard setup--setting the global to "line/headphones" really DOES make a difference. I also play solo acoustic, and this unit REALLY shines for that--It's clean sounds are tremendous, as are the phasing, delay, and chorus (which I almost never use) the wah is ok, but tremolo is actually great!, especially the ability to change speeds via the pedal. Using the pedal to change rate, depth, sounds, etc. is a great feature-Plate reverb is nice-I think the preamps are generally ok and the distortions, when tweaked, can do some nice things--the unit does change dramatically according to the huitat and it is hard to get consistent levels and I still have not exploited the pedal enough to do it justice. I miss the ability to go "on/off" like a stompbokx but don't miss all the cords! Harmonizer/Synth sounds are too pristine and "cheesy" and track poorly, but there are enough bells and whistles to make it fun and, in a studio setting, useful--the GT also can be a bit raspy for recording, but the overall sound quality is so much better than earlier multi-boxes

It's built like (fill in cliche that means indestructible) It needs tweaking according to equipment and room and sometimes the levels really seem off. It is better for subtle goosing of sounds rather than the guitarist becoming too dependent on it--I'm still riding the fence on it for live performance, but again it depends on how dependent you are on it and how much of a tweaker you are--I'm not one.

I called BOSS to get a manual and asked a couple of questions about the unit and they were very helpful and prompt.

I play a variety of styles and focus on original material ranging from retro-ish rock, pop, twang and R&B to jazz and acoustic. The GT-3 is very versatile and useful, but isn't for everyone. I'm finding that the less reliant I am on the unit, the more I like it-It does offer many sounds and options and after awhile is easy to use, but I still miss my boxes and find it hard to place the sounds in a useful order. It's been good for recording and ok for live-I do recommend using additional boxes for overdrive and wah, and a bypass pedal for straight amp sounds. The GT does clean very well and offers lots of flexibility, and it helps if you have a background in computers or video/audio editing, since it is a different way of thinking.

It's so easy that even a 7-year-old could figure it out! VERY EASY!!!

1. CRAP!!!! Unless you play METAL with awful fuzz-sounds that screams and makes a lot of noise, this unit ain't for you... I play for the most rock'n roll and funk.... Truly, this is the worst multieffect I've ever tried... The older GX-700 was much better.... And still is... I used GT-3 through a Roland Jazz Chorus 120, and the GT-3 stole the punch and the brightness.... I hated it!

Though it crap, its a BOSS!!! You can always trust BOSS! I have a DS-2, BF-2, DD-3 and others, and I've never had problems!!!! Trust BOSS!!

Never had to contact them!

I basicly play funk and rock'n roll and play a Fender Squier Strat with delta-tone pickups, a Ibanez Talman with lipstick and the GT-3 steels the wellknown stratsound. TERRIBLE!!! It can be stolen, because I sold it after a month!

This thing is extremely easy to use. Just press the setting you want to modify and spin the knob thing till you find the setting you want. However, getting a good distortion sound out of it is VERY difficult at first. If you don't know how to edit compression and eq's then it is very hard to get a decent distorted sound.

I play metal, prog rock, punk, and hardcore stuff. I use a BC Rich Warlock Neck-Thru with an EMG-81 in the bridge, and a stock Epi Les Paul Special, ->GT-3, -> '78 Fender Twin Reverb. To start out, the clean sounds are quite good and are fairly easy to get a good sound out of compared to the distortions. The acoustic simulator is excellent. I don't know how to describe the clean sound it makes, but all I know is that it kicks a whole lot of ass. The effects are all very good (chorus, flanger, delay, etc.) except for the wah which is merely average until you figure out how to make the wah sound good. The reverb and noise gate are great. The reverb sounds excellent and is better than a lot of amps out there (still doesn't touch the twin's reverb though). The noise supressor takes out a lot of the uneccesary noise and helps out quite a bit when u r playin heavy music. The eq is excellent. It helps out quite a bit when trying to dial in a good sound when using any type of effect, especially wah sounds. The distortions r the only thing that really makes this thing a pain in the ass. Not only do they not sound good compared to a Boogie or Marshall at first, but they lack warmth and are very processed sounding. Until discovering the pre-eq (which is great, by the way) there was no way to get any warmth out of this unit. Once I discovered that second eq and had the distortion compressed, then it came alive. It sounds great for dropped tunings as well as standard tunings.

Made out of steel.

It is a very good unit once you figure out how to use it and use it well.

Everyone says it's tough to learn this beast...I disagree. The first day I had it, I was building patches. There are 3 editing modes: EZ Edit, which lets you adjust only a few different parameters, Quick Settings, in which you choose from factory settings for individual effects, and the full edit mode in which you do everything. I used EZ Edit once and Quick Presets very sparingly...not hard to learn at all.
Getting a decent sound is easy if you spend 30 minutes or so tweaking...but that's nothing when you consider all the effects and parameters on this thing.

I use this with Gibson and Epiphone SGs into the front end on a Crate GFX-212 with a Marshall 1960B (GT-3 on Guitar Amp: Stack setting). The only noise comes from the high-gain effects, especially the amp models. (my main model is Metal Drive which is a Recto).
If you tweak it enough, you can make almost anything sound good.
I got Metallica (old and new), Sabbath, Alice in Chains, AC/DC and Godsmack sounds no problem...
Overall, the chorus stands out as best. My only complaint is with the harmonizer...doesn't always track well.

This thing looks rugged enough...feels rugged enough...I hear the only weak spot is the output knob-if you kick it just right, say bye-bye.

I play metal (Metallica/Godsmack/Megadeth/etc.) and it works fine for me. If someone stole this, I would steal it back and bash the guy's head in with it. (metal cases do come in handy) I compared this to the RP2000 and there was no comparison...all I wish it had was a better-tracking harmonizer...

I am Lurid on the HC forums.

It took me a while to get good sounds out of it, but then again, I had only started playing when I got the thing. But it is extremely easy to edit patches. All you have to do is click the effect you want, and then use the arrow keys to move from one setting to the next.

This is the only effect pedal that I use. I use basically two guitars with this thing. They are some kind of Washburn hollow-body and a Fender reissue 1968 Stratocaster. The acoustic simulator sounds great, but I don't use it because I have an acoustic. The wah is okay...not amazing or anything, but I think a lot of people are trying to have the wah do all of the work for them, without actually being good musicians. Most of the distortion sounds are pretty good. Some of them really aren't very useful though...like the fuzz, which sounds like a cheap guitar running through an overdriven 5-watt amp. I haven't much used the harmonizer with the guitar, but it rocks when you talk through it and just have a pitch-shifted sound!!! The slicer is a very useful effect too. Great delay and reverb both...of course, if anybody can make a bad reverb sound, that would shock me. Basically the thing rocks.

I have never had any problems with it. I have done a few gigs with it, never with a backup, and it has always worked fine.

I've never had the pleasure of dealing with them.

I play blues, hardcore modern rock, and a few other variations of those. This seems to suit those styles very well. When I play live, I just run it through a 15-watt Crate with a mic on it. I also record with it directly plugged into my computer's sound card. I intend to keep recording with it for a long while, but I may switch my live setup to some kind of distortion/wah combo pedal, as those are my main effects. One effect that has no use at all is the auto-riff.

The manual sucks bigtime, just the VERY basics.The usual fx are pretty good and u can tweak them to your own needs as there are so many parameters, but I think that even Kirk or James(the 2 dumbasses from metallica)could do this without a manual.The real problem is that there ain't shit about the complicated stuff like for instance how to assign a wah to a patch or call for example both "chorus and delay" with the press of ONE(=1) footswitch, those who have (had) it 'll probably know what the fuck I'm talkin' about.
So it pretty much sucks anyway as most people could handle chorus and the likes anyway, manual or No manual but the manual doesn't really provide CLEAR information about it's advanced features so.......

First of all this thing is a REAL TONESUCKER, because of the GT-3 I will probably never use digital stuff again.
The basic effect are good and (the wah is decent, no more, no less)so are the SFX but nothing really to write home about, but ok for the price I guess, a good point is u can use up to 13 at once and they're highly tweakable.
The amp modeller is very "so-so" and the distortion, while nice and smooth they TOTALLY FUCKIN' LACK warmth, T O N E and PP UU NN CC HH.
The noise gate is pretty good and helps the distortions clean up a bit but even then... Harmonizer, Reverb and Slow Gear are pretty cool although there's still something missing.
My advice : buy a strat plus while u still can and a DECENT AMP and THEN add QUALITY stompboxes as Fulltone, roger mayer ,H&K, electro-harmonix, etc NO BOSS, ZOOM, DIGITECH as they thin out the sound considerably and are meant for people still beginning or people who have shitty amps.(buy a better amp then I'd say then for the money but it's free world, whatever those fuckin' fundamentalist try anyway AMERICA, GOD BLESS YOU ALL).
The real problem with such mediocre FX's are the PUNCH that u can only get from QUALITY FX's or a good guitar and an even better amp(such as the new avt series by Marshall, Bandit from Peavey,....).
It just kill your tone.

The almigthy cliche; IT'S A BOSS !!!!!!!
I have owned it for a year and No problems, gig dependable, very well built

Never dealt with'em(I don't many people do as it's Boss), read the other reviews.

Play Blues and Metal(real metal such as maiden, nightwish, Pantera and so on) NO nu-metal bullshit or Metallica, and as far as blues is concerned I adore Albert King(the iceman),ZZtop...
I would never buy it again if it were to be stolen, but it can't 'cause i already sold the bastard for a Marshall AVT 100(=brilliant, the onboard Fx's here sound way better than that other motherfucker Gt-3 as they are only meant to color your sound a bit and let the REAL FUCKIN' warmth, tone and PP UU NN CC HH come trough, absolutely fuckin' brilliant)
I choose this one in the first place 'cause at the time I was a sucker for advertising haha but after 3 months or so i didn't use it anymore on a regular basis, AND I PLAYED A PEAVEY EXPRESS 112 at that time, WHAT THE FUCK DO U THINK THIS MEANS HEuh ?, I mean the amp sucked bigtime but still nailed the Gt-3 in terms of Inspiration,warmth, PP UU NN CC HH, BUT NOT TONE, that however doesn't mean that the Gt-3 has good tone(it sucks bigtime but the tone of my express 112 sucked even harder so...) and that 3 vs 1 so u understand.
Actually coming to think of it it the only reason while I still used it was because of the EQ, good job Boss!!!!
I'd like to share that if there's anyone out there who plans on buyin' this "junk" anywhere soon, wheter used or new, TEST IT thoroughly, go back home and play your guitar and amp totally free from other effects and then go back to test the Gt-3 and then see what u think as we musicians lose lots a money on bullshitgear and other....
Euhhhh Just don't buy it!!!!!!

Easy editing and if you cannot figure it out the manual has all you need it in.

Here's my set up:
Ibanez S1520BP with dual EMG-81's---->Shure UHF---->Vox 847 Wah
---->BOSS MT-2 Metal Zone---->BOSS EQ-20---->GT-3---->Digitech Whammy
---->Crate GFX 212 Plus. Not noisy at all....Gonna throw a noise suppression to kill the hum fom the Metall zone....but the unit is really quiet, The distotion on board sucks total ass for metal, but the reverb is good and so is the chorus, flanger, phaser, eq, preamps and all the other stuff.....The AUTO RIFF is usesless and so is the arpegiator.

No problems yet...been using it ever sence it came out.

N/A

I love this pedal. Is got so many different tones. It even have a microphone modeler that you can actually set how far you want the mic to be away from the cabinet. It has this thing called Auto-Riff that is absolutly USELESS!!!!

I use a gutted out Fender Strat Deluxe with a Seymore Duncan Single Coil Humbucker in the bridge and I just run the GT-3 through the effects return on the back of my Peavey Half Stack Classic 100 and I can get some cool lows, mids, and Highs!! The Flange on it its pretty noisy but its controlable with the volume pedal.

Its a little dificult to make your own stuff, but as for saving and maving effects around, its very simple.

Never had t deal with customer support

Ive been playing since 9th grade and I am now 22 and this is one of the coolest multi-effects processer out. Its KILLS the Digi-tech RP-7 (Which I hat anyways!!). The only other thing that I think compairs is the POD or POD PRO. The GT-3 is quite simpiler to operate though.

It is reasonably easy to get decent sounds out of this unit, especially if you are willing to tweek a little. I've notice a big difference in output levels when it comes to different pick-up configurations and/or guitars. I realize that there are obvious differences, but I have never seen them quite this pronounced in any one unit that I have used multiple guitars with. Odd. The manual is a typical Boss/Roland work of genius. I skimmed it once and it had all of the syntax clarity of a pre-school class with a collective case of Tourette's syndrome, just add naughty words. You eventually understand what the manual is referring to if you guess really well. If you have problems with this, get the video.

My set up is as follows: A Godin LGXT/Gibson Explorer w/GK-2 pickup/Rickenbacker 230 w/ GK-2 pickup into an Ernie Ball Volume pedal, a Danelectro Dan-O-Wah, A Danelectro Daddy-O Distortion into a Yamamha T-100 1x12 Tube Combo. I run the GT-3 in the effects loop with a Line 6 Delay modeler just after it. I also drive a Roland GR-33 Guitar synth throught the same amp. I route it a with a 6 channel Behringer micro mixing desk.The chorus/flange effects can be noisy even when the noise reduction is on. The effects are strong and clear. I primarily use the unit for time based effects like chorus/flange/reverb/delay. Some of the things like Auto-Wah and Slicer may make an appearance later.They are currently only good for making cheeky, random noises.

It is certainly built in a Brinks-Truck fashion. Most Boss/Roland stuff that I have owned has lasted forever with very few difficulties. I use at least once a week on a gig withouth a back-up. I make assumptions of reliability.

Website for Customer Support loads like molasses. Hope that the phone system works with greater vigor. Never had to upgrade and/or have repair.

It allows me to write comprehensive packages of patches for very specific applications. It is rock-solid and I would buy it again should it disappear. Maybe the GT-5 or GT-6. I play a weekly church gig, in one Celtic/Pop hybrid band, minor session work and some soundtrack recording.

This unit is pretty simple to use. All the effects have a corresponding button, and you can scroll through them very easily. Editing is simple, just use that circular scrolling device and you're set. Manual can guide you through with fairly no problems

I first used this thing into the back of my Fender Twin Reverb II's Return jack. I play a stock '78 Les Paul Custom Black beauty. I found the distortions to be extremely noisy. I get feedback most of the time. I tried using the distortions only, and then the preamp modelers alone, and then combinations of the two, but I still couldn't get a very good distortion tone. It sounded really tinny and thin, no beef or balls to it. I then plugged it into the front of my twin and it sounded a little better, but not much. I screwed with the eq for days, but couldn't find a satisfying setting. The other effects are allright. The chorus is good, the phaser is decent. Flanger works pretty well. I never use the harmonizer. The reverb sucks though, maybe cuz I only dig spring coil reverbs. This is a good effects unit for your delays, choruses, flanges, etc. Vibrato is kinda weak though, I hardly notice it's even on!!!! I tried this unit through a VHT power amp into a Marshall slant cab and it sounded alot better. But, still I thought the distortions were too processed sounding, not warm and natural at all.

I can definitely rely on this piece of gear. It's built very solidly and it hasn't let me down yet. I don't think I need a back up with this.

Never dealt with them before.

I play Hard rock and blues mostly. I've been playin' for 12 years. I don't use alot of effects. All I need is distortion, overdrive, Wah, and Chorus. If this were lost or stolen, I would probably not get another one. I just got a SIB Varidrive pedal and that thing smokes!!! Also, the wah on this is not too responsive...I went back to my old Vox Wah. I would recommend this to players who need an arsenal of effects, but Don't use the distortion on it.

THIS UNIT IS FOR SALE....It is also not to bad...just read the instructions manual and it will take you right through it. I recommend going through it without the guitar on or plugged in first. Just sit down with the manual, the GT-3 and a cold beer and get to know the unit and how to move around, then plug in. Easy to edit patches. The manual does the job but it's not any great piece of work. Don't know firmware number but the unit is only 3 months old.

I used the GT-3 with a Marshall VS-102 100w 2-12 Combo, sitting on a Marshall 4-12 1/2 Stack. It was a little noisy on some of the heavy distortion settings. Effects are mostly strong enough to do the job but when you change from heavy distortion to say the acustic guiitar setting there is a big volume drop. This caused a problem for me. I would have to gain down the distortions patches to about 75% to have the volumes match when I changed to the acustic guitar simulator. Don't copy any artists guitar really, just work on my own sound. The distortion does not work well with my Marshall set-up. I can't explain it but it just does not do the job for me. This is a big problem to me. Other people told me it sounded great but I did not like it, therefore I am going to sell the unit. I'm going to post it on the for sale area so if your are interested drop me a line $275.00. Dallas/Fort Worth Area

Boss...bulletproof!

N/A

I play rock from the 50's to the 2000's Just about anything that use to be popular that doesn't suck today. I have been playing 16 years. I think the unit is a great unit it just did not do what I needed it to do. I did work with this unit for quite some time and it was just not working with my style of playing. That is not to say that it would not make someone very happy with their sound it just did not work for me.

It's not hard to figure out the basics of how to use it and program it. It's tedious though. It takes a little work to figure out how to edit things, but once you get it down it's pretty quick. Figuring out what all the settings do...well that's another story. I'm still 'discovering' things that I haven't ued yet.

IMO it depends on your need. The GT-3 has a lot to it. I think this is too complicated for live use - but I like simplicity. For home use it's the most outstanding practice/headphone "amp" I've used (although expensive for just that).

As with most multieffects units it's all over the map - some real nice, some not so nice, and some utterly useless. The effects side of things does a good job at all the basics - probably similar to the standard Boss pedals (although I've never owned any). Delay, Reverb, Chorus, Flange etc. are functional and work well. Some nice stereo effects too.

I've read some say the wah is weak. I find that there are so many settings that I can almost always find the sound that I need. Is it the "one" wah, well...no. But close enough for my purposes.

The synth type settings are pretty feeble IMO. tracking is ok at best, and the sounds aren't that strong. The slicer and auto apeggiator are next to useless from what I can tell.

I am not at all a fan of the overdrive/distortion and dirty preamp sounds. I've been through them all and tweaked and tweaked and tweaked and it just doesn't do much for me. Mostly pretty buzzy and raspy sounding without the real gut punch that you want from a high gain amp. Some of the clean preamp sounds are pretty nice. The Twin and the JC-120 preamps work well, although I still find that they need some 'help' from effects, which is not true of the real amps.

I like the GT-3 sounds best through headphones, but I do use the unit live with my cover band through either a Mesa Blue Angle or a Peavey Triumph PAG 60 (both 1x12s). I have tried the unit through the effects loops, having the amps preamp in the GT-3 ext loop, and directly in front of the amp and for me it works best going guitar->Gt-3->amp. Less monkeying around, and less cables. I just keep the overdrives and preamps off completely and use it for straight effects. It lets me mimick the sounds of just about anything I could want. With a little work I was even able to get a credible talk box sound by setting the Human Wah up properly.

One draw back is that it is very sensitive to different guitars, so the output volume can vary quite a bit. That's normally not a problem, but if I swap guitars at a gig some of the more complex effects setting simply won't work properly with one guitar or the other. Strange, but I've consistently found that to be a problem. Especially with the slow gear or swell type effects.

Seems solid, never had a problem.

never had a need for it.

Overall this unit is a lot of fun and has some very usable sounds in it. Buy a used one and I think you really get a lot for the money - even new it's worth it I think. For me it was a choice between a handful of boss-type effects and the GT-3. The GT-3 quickly becomes worth the price of admission.

If you're looking for that one or two killer effects I'd say look elsewhere. But if you're looking to get in the neighborhood of a bunch of effect (as those of us in cover bands so often need) than this may be your ticket.

Also look at the Digitech RP-2000 and korg (I forget the exact model). Zoom has a similar one too now. The RP-2000 is very similar with some effects better and some worse. I think they're out of production now so they may be cheaper.

JUST TO LET YOU GUYS KNOW THERE IS A PATCH ROM VERSION 1.03 OUT TO FIX A SLOW GEAR PROBLEM IN VERSION 1.02.
Ease of use is almost excellent. I wish they had a Win2k/Linux midi interface program for patches, but that's it.

Great sound quality. Some people knock the preamp but I wouldn't rule out their own equipment causing problems. I notice no buzzing worse then other effects nboards/processors. Come on guys for the money you could do a lot worse!

I haven't had problems with it in any manner....then again I don't have idiots slam dancing on it. Talking to the Roland techs, they said it's weak spot is the volume knob on the back. If it gets kicked in the knob it could be a gone'r. Other then that it has a fabulous warranty.

Just to say again, THERE IS A PATCH ROM VERSION 1.03 OUT TO FIX A SLOW GEAR PROBLEM IN VERSION 1.02. It's a screw up on Roland's part so they'll eat any cost. It took two weeks to get it back from the local Roland Tech...I was lonely and alone without this unit, I felt like I lost a friend. So when I got it back I celebrated by buying the Jem7VWH! GOOD GOD can I say what a freaking beautiful combo! I may never sleep again!

My style is 80's metal and anything Vai. I've been playing for 10+ years and this is the best board I've seen for the money. It can't be beat (literally this thing is tough). I've pulled every sound I can think of from Vaughn to Vai from this lovely creature and it was a hell of a lot cheaper then buying the individual effects or rack systems.

The thing's so easy to use I almost never had to refer to the manual. It's easy enough to browse through the presets, but it's when you get to edit your own sounds that you get the best surprise. Just a few clicks and a few turns of the knob and there you are, with killer, dreamlike, perfect sounds. The only reason I give it a 9 is because I had to check the manual a few times to be able to set the ctl and expression pedals properly, but, other than that, it's a child's game.

I use a crappy Peavy Rage 158 amp (15 watts, very very ugly sound), but I still get a very good sound out of this unit. If I plug in the phones, I instantly fall in a dream of sounds and melodies. All the effects sound good (albeit with a bit of tweaking), and even the distorsions / overdrives. Like someone said earlier, you just have to set the 'Your Setting' option to 'Line(Headphones)', even if you're plugged directly to an amp. If you don't do that, I admit the distorsions do sound crappy.

Anyhow, most of the presets suck and I probably never will use them in a gig or even just on rehersal, but you can make any sound you want out of it. I messed around with the od/ds and reverb, coupled with the expression and control pedals, and I can get killer sounds in a few simple clicks. Now, be sure you use those two pedals, else get a few cheaper stompboxes. The ctl pedal allows you to go from a clean to distorted sound (and back), without loosing the reverb or delay loop. If you just jump from an effect to another, the delay stops. But using this method, you can keep it ringing for hours and hours, which is what I like.

Also, the wah range might be a bit poor, but there's so many other things you can do with the expression pedal that you might as well forget about the wah. You can set it to trigger on/off effects, to raise the volume of any effect, from distorsions to chorus and delays, and it can work as the ctl pedal also. With a very high and tweaked-up reverb, you can get a kind of wind-blowing effect and you can make it come in just when you want it with the expression pedal. Pretty nice.

I've only had it for a couple of weeks, but had no problem with it so far. The thing seems built to last, unless maybe the expression pedal, which seems a litlle less tough than the rest.

Didn't have to deal with them yet, but such a big company as Roland should have steady custommer support.

I can get any sound I want from it and wouldn't want to change it for anything else, unless maybe the new GT-6 (not out yet, it was announced on July 21st), which has knobs for easier and quicker setting up.

It's quite easy to use and you can narrow the tone down to a pinpoint. Manual is great. All the info you need. Hard to get good sound out of the pre-amp. PRE-AMP SUCKS!

I use an Ibanez Jem 77FP w/ a Roland BC-60/310 Blues amp and it has hardly ever steered me wrong w/ clean sounds. Pre-amp is horrible. Too much buzz and tone makes me put down my guitar for weeks at a time. I now use the distortion on my amp and add in Overdrive. Much better. So much for ANTI-FEEDBACKER w/ this pre-amp. NOISIEST PREAMP EVER. The pre-amps distortion waves are being sliced at the top ends and it gives it a horrible skratchy sound.

I used to love my GT-3. It had incrediable tone all the way round but then one day pre-sets that I used to love were now my worst enimies. It totally 1-80'd on me and jacked itself to hell. Tone was lost and still is. I think some GT-3's are sold in medium condition and a few of us "buyer critics" get a good one but eventually (in my case 2 years) they shut down to crap medium. If it's in top of the line either you have no idea about tone or sound or you need to cherish it while it lasts. If yours is in medium crap condition then I'm sorry you didn't get to experience great tone at a low price.

Very nice and helpful. Still am not sure if their is a problem or not.

I like jazz, classic rock, blues, crazy Steve Vai/EVH rock and this unit doesn't quite provide enough. I've been playing for about 4 years now. I would sell it but I need something simple to play at everyday gigs and also Neal Schon uses one so we'll see. It has gotten in my way of making music. I'm going to go DigiTech 2120 or 2101 and switch signals between a power amp and an amp head. Can't wait. Good for beginners and it really depends if your're above beginner. Eventually I'll probably sell.

easier than any other multi-fx i have owned.
(zoom 505, korg, zoom 9130 valve dsp, korg px-II, rp-100{yuk})
and a zoom ps02 on its way. the manual is as good as you
will get. the users web sites have a lot of pre-sets that
help you get started. just tweak those a little. its great!!!
in manual mode you use it just like single stomp box's.

using many diff amps, a crate gx-120 stereo 120 watt solid state
with 2 12" spkrs, going in to the power amp line in works the
best. also a vt-120 peavey tube amp (deuce) straight in. and
a laney 15 watt 1X10 class a tube amp, straight in, and a crate
vintage club 30 watt class a tube amp straight in (haven't tried the
effects loop yet, need a special "y" adaptor for that) I get a great
sound from "all" of the above, although each amp has it's own characteristics. you do have to modify the patches slightly for
the "best" sound from each. but with "140" user patches, that's not
a problem. I get a diff sound when I change the global setting of the output, and you can tweak the output e.q. as well. that is versatilety. i do back off the amp models now, in favor of a little
distortion and compressor, and i like the hybrid sound better. by
mixing a little gain from all your sources (including your amp), it gets even more usable sounds. there is so much we have not explored in this little box yet, its amazing. by learning the best way to use it in "your" present setup, you can get great sound with it. but get creative, dont just hammer the amp model overdrive and give up. keep on listening, reading and get on line with user groups. this thing
will do much more than even its creators thought it would. with a little yankee ingenuity you can make this thing give out. and i expect
that it will be several more years before we really know all of the real possibilities it has. the noise is relative, you can reduce it by noise reduction internally, or just tweek the thing a little less on some of the settings untill you get that perfect balance. by changing the level of your amp and the output of the boss gt-3 you can do a lot also. i like the modulation effects a lot, with the right tweek they can sound analog or didital, either way you wish. i dont actually like the external loop, i cant get anything to sound good through it though. maybe something will, i dont know yet.

no problems yet. have had it a couple years.

dont know. read other opinions

i play all kinds of music ( no rap, that is not music ) sorry. but i
can get lots of great sounds from the gt-3. i have been playing for 40 years. on and off. and i use an epi-sII w/carvin pups, a jackson w/evolution pups, a peavey predator plus, and ovation ac-elect. i do need to adjust for the guitar i'm using. but i can get the clean sounds i love out of it. you can get diff clean by using a diff amp model, one not thought of as clean, and turn doen the gain. this makes
for dozens of diff clean stuff. i also have started using an ibanez tube screamer (ts5) in "front" of the gt-3. this gives me another choice. i use the manual mode a lot, turning on the mod, dist, echo, chorus, tremolo, and tuner, whenever i want, as well as use the ts-5 for a diff dist sound without changing patches. i think i will get a "true" bypass pedal, and hook up a mt-2, ts-5 and my big-muff (original 70's) fuzz so i can enjoy all at any time i want. it is so
usefull as a vol pedal with the manual mode, i use this configuration most of the time now. i would have to buy another if it was stolen. i do wish it had amp models that did not have that "yuk" noise when you crank them. and that the exp-pedal worked all the way down, as well as a digital input/output. but they will come down the road when the new model comes out. ( i dont know when ) otherwise, it is the best i have ever used. (the rp-100 i had for 3 weeks "sucked" bigtime) i would like to try the roland vg-88 with the upgraded amp models, but it is still too much money and it is not as easy to use i think. i do own a roland gr-1 synth though, so i already have the gk-2a pup. this helps me keep it simple, one ac connection, two cables and i'm going.

it isn't to hard to get a good sound out of it depending on what kind of guitar u're using and what kind of pickups. It is really easy to edit patches. theres not to much to it. THe manual for the gt-3 is awesome and it explains everything feature about the gt-3.

With the gt-3 i'm using a yamaha etera with a marshal valvastate amp. The good thing about this is that if you don't have that powerful of an amp you can make your amp louder then usual with the volume nob on the gt-3. Some effects are great and useful while some of them are very useless but still its good to have them just incase. Yes its vedryh easy to get the sound of my favourite artists such as rage against the machine and metallica. Other then the fact that it dosn't have a whammy effect and a very good wah every other effect is really good.

You can depend on it. Its made out of steel! its not like its going 2 break on you any time soon. I havn't had any troubl;e with it since i've got it about 8 months ago. I would definitly use this without a backup because for the money i piad for it, it better not let me down at a gig!

I like to play alot of metallica, rage, and anything else that is rock or metal. It is a very good match for this type of music. it has the perfect distortion. it has the boss metal zone built into it so its not like u have to buy another pedal. If this was every stolen i would buy another one unless i found another one with a better wah.

WHen i went to buy this i compared it with the digetech boards. THe reason i picked this was because it is better quality's, its easier to use and it has more features.

I wish it had a whammy and a better wah cause its really hard to get the wah sound i want with the wah i';m using now. its really dull.

ITS DEFINETLY WORTH THE MONEY!!

Wow, that's the first thing I have to say about this processor. This thing gets the sound I want anytime, and everytime. Editing patches is a breeze. I don't know why everyone cries about this processor being difficult to use, it's simple. It's time for all of you that complained to make the jump to digital, I don't see what the problem is. The manual has been very helpful for everything I'd needed it for, though I haven't needed it for much, as I've figured out most of the pedal myself.

I play a B.C. Rich Warlock and an Epiphone Les Paul through this unit, into a Fender M-80 head with a quantam 4x10 cab and a Marshall 4x12 cab. Using the compression feature can cause a lot of noise, even when you're only tapping your fingers against the strings. Some of the higher gain settings cause a load of feedback, but there is a feedback limiting option built into the pedal. I haven't tried, but I'm almost sure I can nail any sound with my setup. The GT-3 is insanely versatile and the M-80 pumps out great tone. I can easilly obtain Godsmack's distortion, and MetallicA's clean sounds. I have found all of the effects on this pedal to be high quality, and unmatched by other brands.

The thing is built like a tank. There is no other unit that I would use as a backup, save maybe an identical unit. And I don't really think you'll need any kind of backup at all. This unit is amazing.

Never heard of any.

I play heavy metal, and this unit gives me what I want. It has 11 distortions and overdrives that make it very easy to use. Not to mention a preamp that is loaded with great distortions and overdrives. I've been playing for 3 years, and I've been in two bands. If this unit were ever stolen, I would buy another in an instant. I would also cry. I love this unit's versatility. It is unmatched by any other unit I've ever used or even heard of. I am in love with the slicer feature, not to mention the fantastic distortions. I compared this to the digitech RP-12, and other various multi-fx units, this blows them all away. I wouldn't even consider buying it's bigger brother, the GT-5, because you get everything you need in a great unit for a lesser price. I wish it had a sitair feature. Then I could cover MetallicA more accurately and write some wicked, evil riffs. When I stumble onto new effects on this unit I start playing riffs that I've never played before, and I like them. This unit definitely inspires me and helps me write. BUY THIS BOARD!! IT IS THE BEST I'VE EVER SEEN!!

The unit is one of the easiest I've used, adjustments can be made in an instant,it's very easy to get a good sound out of

I use mine with a Jackson Kelly USA and a Mesa tube stack, the effects sound great, better than any I've ever used, the LA Distortion is particularly good as is the metal distortion. I also love the solo acoustic guitar setting and the clean JC-120 setting. The delay is very good and so are the reverb and delay

I would definitely take it without a backup, it's very sturdy, so it is therefore very reliable.

I've played for three years, and I play glam metal. The pedal works very well with that style. There are too many mindblowing features to pick a favorite, it really helps me make music. I like this unit a lot because it's very ideal and effective for live application. I own a Mark II Mesa Boogie from 1980 that's still in mint condition. It's a hundred watt all tube head and it cranks.

How easy is it to get a good sound out of it?

I found some of the presets to be ok, if used for the musical aplications they were designed for. Creating your own patches is easy to acomplish, but hard to master. There are endless possibilities.

How about Editing patches?

Editing can get tedious, I like to use the GT-3 edit software that I downloaded, I already had teh midi cable so I lucked out. The paramaters are simple to understand if you understand effects theory.

How is the manual for it (if there is one)?

The manual is great, I don't know what people expect. It tells you how to do anything you want.

Do you know the firmware revision number? Has your unit been upgraded?
1.02 I think so I don't use the harmoniser that often.

What setup (i.e. what guitars and amps) are you using this with?

I play a Stienberger Spirit GT-Pro to the GT-3 and then to a Power 60 by Tech 21
Is it noisy?

Not really, you need to use the global setting line/headphones to cut off any intermodulation distortion. I like the noise gate, it doesn't interfere with the decay of the note like some of the digitech stuff.

On what settings?
Some amp models make more noise than others, nothing that can't be fixed if you use the line/headphones setting and the noise gate.

Are the effects weak or do they always sound great?

The delay, chorus, reverb, preamps, tremelo, vibrato, compressor/limiter, and the modulations are all cool, very nice. The distortions are ok, they only sound good through the preamps at drive levels below 60. The harmonistand synth don't track especialy well and sound computerized, again good for some applications. The Ring mod, Acoustic sim and Picup sim are ok and Feed backer can be cool in a studio setting. THe wah is not great, but if you know anything about effect theory, you can design custom wah because the thing has two friggin parametric EQ's. Only an idiot couldn't assign the exp pedal to shift the High mid freqency between 400 and 2k to get a wah sound, you can even use both at slightly different frequencies to get a more vowel like sound and then you have the ariginal wah which can be fixed and used after th variable wah to getr an even more human like sound. or you can set it up so if one wah goes up another goes down, SRV did this with separate pedals stuck together.

What amp are you using it with?

I run it into a clean power amp.

Are certain effects (distortion, chorus, ...) very good? Very bad?

already covered

It is strong and durable, but it is like a computer so....

I play a very unique blend of mellow rock and blues with a 70's reflective singer songwriter tint to it, but the chorus might come roaring in with a heavy sound and a catchy riff before I go back to comping to the verse.

THe GT-3 gives me the versatility needed to pursue my creative vision, it has any sound I need.

The only time it would get in the way of creativity is if I wake up with an idea and I wanted to get it down quickly and I didn't want to deal with setting up the patch, I would worry about that later.


The GT-3 appears to be infinitely expandable with MIDI implementation and an effects loop, two would breed some interesting combinations of mod and SFX. The MIDI also allows you to store patches on the computer and retrieve them later, I don't know if I could even use more than 140 patches at a time before I needed to go to my computer and swap them.

I give it a 9 because there is always room for improvement and I don't want BOSS to get too safe in their skin and think they can slack off, I want SHARC chips in future models, those will allow the floats which enable more acurate models and infinite possibilities.

It is very easy to get a good sound out of this thing. In a matter of a day I had my own custom clean, dirty and heavy patches programmed as well as some imitations of sounds from my favorite songs. The manual isnt the greatest thing in the world but because the the pedal is easy to use it wont be hard to figure out. The only ting I suggest is that you get the GT-3 Owners Supplement Manual off of the internet. It will help because it is written by real people who have used the GT-3.

This thing sounds great with the setup i have. My setup is a cheap Washburn into the GT-3 and then into the effects return of a Marshall vs65r. This has prooved to be the best setup ever, it gives me great tone. At first i thought this unit had a very lite hiss in the backround when I would stop playing on my own very heavy channel, but with a little messing around with the noise reduction the problem was instantly solved. The effects in this unit are awsome, tehy sound great and i can achieve any sound i imagine. All the effects sound great. And this unit has so many sounds that you can have any clean or distorted sound from any amp ever made. Every style of music can be covered with this great pedal.
The best thing i like about this pedal is that i have been able to replicate the exacts sound of some very good songs. Some songs that i have been able to imitate are Pardon Me by INCUBUS, Rock the Party by POD, and Broken Home by papa roach.

I think this pedal is very dependable and can give very good sound all the time, I would definetly gig with it without a backup.

Never dealt with them but they feel kind of far.

this thing is great and suits my style of music perfectly. i dont understand how anyone could complain about anything on this pedal. ive been playing for about three years and ive never heard anything like this pedal. If it were stolen i would definetly have to track down the person who stole it. I was confused when looking for a good pedal but then i saw this one and i knew it was the best of the rest. i compared this pedal to the Zoom GFX8, Zoom GFX4, Korg AX1000, Digitech Rp2000, and Digitech RP300. But this thing is definetly the best value because it has so much more verasility. Sucha s being able to place effects in any order i wish. This thing is great and i love it and its from a very dependable brand, BOSS....................

for clean sounds, its really easy to get good tones if you have an ear. however, the distortion and overdrive is really tricky to get good sound. manual is fine.

Ibanez Destroyer II guitar (a good gibson explorer knock off) and a Peavy Studio Pro amp. I'm a punk rocker so i'm a fan of distortion. the distortion is quite shitty. The stomp boxes aren't any good, unless used with a pre amp, but still they suck. Once i get the perfect distortion sound, i stop playing and it will have a terrible hum. Once i get rid of the hum, i try palm muting and it sounds like shit again. Tip: for good distortion tone, use the phaser or the flange and only use the 'manual' and 'depth' and turn off resonance and rate. Also some good EQ comes from the chorus, you just have to turn off the 'rate' and 'depth'. So in order for me to get good plain distortion settings i have to use up every single effect group. No i can't get the sound of my favorite artist. Everything is great but the wah wah and distortion.

its reliable. 'nuff said.

I play punk mostly. some alternative and rock. I've been playing 11 years.

PRO: I have owned this unit for 2 years now. It's easy to use. It took 2 days to know what I have know for 2 years. Really, very simple.
CON: There is a little weird thing. You can't have two of the same effects in the same patch with different settings. Also, if memory serves me correctly, even the same bank messes up progaming "same" effects. Oh well. Still flexible for the price.
I would like a bigger display and better Expression pedal.

I use this in front of my Marshall TSL Combo with extension cab and TSL Half-Stack. I tried the effects loop, but all in all, it is easier and just more realistic to put it in front. If you want a good delay using your own amp's distortion, use a seperate one for in your effects loop. I use my clean channel and use the Preamp with effects on the GT-3. If I use the dirty channels, I don't use the effects on the GT-3.
PRO: Good selection of Preamp sounds
CON: Some sound a little digital and not very warm. Most sound like a fuzz box, but some (few) sound very nice. I tend to like the lesser distortion models.

Very good. No problems after 2 years.

Never called em.

I play mostly Classic Rock. Great for live playing.
I have been playing guitar for 23 years. Own 2 TSL Marshalls. V-Drums, Mackie stuff, Fender Big Apple Strat, Les Paul Standard, 52' Re-Issue Tele, 12-String Tak, Roland 1680, POD, GT-3, Ernie Ball Vol Pedal, tc elec M-1, other shit.

At first, it may be confusing.
But once you've understood the system to which the device works, you shall see how potential the GT-3 is.
the "EZ EDIT" function is quite smart and they have a "MANUAL" function which i find quite useful. however, like i said, it may be abit frustrating at first, but with abit of paitience and enthusiasm, you'll find it so easy to use.

excellent.
i thought this COSM thing was a load of bullshit, but it really seems to work. most of the circuit system is taken from BOSS's normal stomp boxes. sounds great and goes with anything from Jazz to progressive rock, Britney Spears to Pantera, Nirvana to Dream Theater, Hanson to Steve Vai.
but to get a good sound you really have to know EXACTLY what sound you want. don't expect it to do all the work for you. and if you can't find the sound you want, blame it on your incompetence.
a good paint brush doesn't make a bad artist any better.

i've dropped it a few hundred times, spilt beer over the LCD display, played it in the rain, and used it to hammer in a nail. this thing can last and WILL last.
if your model doesn't take good beating, you've got a fake one.
if i had a back-up, it'd be another GT-3

comes with a thoroughly detailed manual and Japanese peopl eseem helpful enough.

This effect is like a sports car: somebody who can't drive will like it but have no use for it, someone who drives an automatic will not be able to use it, and to fully benefit from it, one must be a GOOD driver. in that sense, the GT-3 isn't really made for a beginner. you really need a well trained ear and know how things work. fiddling around with the presets can be amusing to a certain point...there's is so much more in this pedal! however, it is also true that there is alot of stuff that you will never end up using.
i've been playing guitar for 5 years and know that i still have quite a road ahead of me. and as i get better, i feel my GT-3 will seem to become better as well.