Boss OD-20 Drive Zone

The manual is actually good! Editing patches is simple, as is saving them. The patches are also fairly easily accessed.

Setup: Cort G290 (EMG SAs and 85)>TU-2>Digitech Whammy>Cry Baby 535Q>NS-2>OD-20>Zoom Power Drive>CH-1>PH-3>BF-3>DD-6>Marshall MG100DFX
On the whole, the models are pretty accurate, often improving on the originals, due to enhanced tonal control. For example, I use the DS-1 setting for my alternative rock distortion, my Satch-style solo distortion and my metal setting, just all with different EQ. The supplied metal settings lack mids in my opinion, but then again I don't love metal tone. To be honest this pedal will work a lot better if you just look at each of the settings not as models but just different, distinct distortions. Everything on this pedal is definately usable, even the heavy octave, if only for fun. I don't quite understand what the problem with noise is, it's definately not much noisier than any other distortion pedals I've used and if it bothers you that much get a noise suppressor.
I will only give the pedal a high rating in this category because I use it in conjunction with my Zoom Power Drive. I use it to boost the highs and lows and this REALLY makes the pedal shine. It sounds a bit "flat" without it. So I definately reccommend getting an EQ with this pedal to hear it's full potential.

Very dependable, mine actually got beer on it, I opened it up and gave it a quick wipe, still works perfectly. I've had mine for nearly a year now.

N/A

I play alternative rock, along with a bit of classic stuff and metal. This pedal fits my need perfectly, the convinience of having a solo setting on the manual patch and any other distortion on 1, 2, 3 or 4 is fantastic, I don'tneed to press this pedal on or this other pedal off, just one click and it's done. The sounds are great, I just feel that a lot of people are missing out on so much with this pedal if they aren't using an EQ. With, it surpasses almost every other distortion pedal out there. Without, it's still a hell of a lot better than Digitech, Zoom and Line 6's digital stompbox efforts. Only Boss seems to have actually captured some kind of analog warmth and feel, and it's all the better for it.

In terms of plug and play (manual mode), this pedal is a 10. Very straightforward and easy to figure out what all the knobs do.

In terms of memory saving, it's a 9. You can save memories the same way you save them on most twin pedals.

In terms of getting a GOOD sound out of it, it's a 7. This is a real knob-tweaker. You've really gotta know your gear and EQ-ing to work with it.

I use a humbuckered Les Paul into this into a Marshall AVT275 on the clean setting. I have a rather large pedalboard, and bought this hoping it can serve me as a backup rig (Od-20 into a Catalinbread Super Chile Picoso Boost) for rehearsals and practise. I got it about a month ago, btw.

I do not find this pedal noisy at all. I generally don't have the gain knob turned past 1:00 except on the Klon model, and I don't find it noisy there either.

As mentioned, you've gotta tweak and tweak and tweak some more to find your optimal sound. Then take a break for a few hours, come back, and keep on tweaking! If you're like me, you find this a lot of fun, the constant discovery.

Now, not every setting on the pedal is good. I found the dist+ and marshall guvnor settings completely unuseable. The proco RAT setting is borderline useable. I'm also not too confident using the metal setting in a band mix. But the vast majority of the different distortion types leave me with a bucketful of goodies to choose from.

The trick is to not turn to the Tubescreamer model and go "WTF THIS DOES NOT SOUND LIKE A TS WHAT A RIPOFF MOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM". It is to take the names with a grain of salt, and compare all of them to each other. For my purposes, I found the Klon model to have an excellent OD sound, the HM-2 for a best all around distortion, the Muff for a great fuzz sound (with the octave knob at 9:00), and the Lead setting for a sweet distorted lead sound.

And I'm still tweaking!

What I got was a versatile pedal that sounds great and I can play in a wealth of styles. All jammed into one pedal! The term "Jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none" applies extremely well to this pedal. I can take it to rehearsals and smaller gigs and know I can rely on it to serve me well. I love this thing!

It's a boss. C'mon

blah blah

I play a variety of styles, from rock to pop to blues. I have been playing for 10 years and own about 15 other pedals, most of which make up my main board. My main distortion and OD come from a Tonebone Hot British and a TC Jauernig DGTM pedal. I bought this to use as a backup.

This pedal kicked a number of other pedals out the door, including 2 modded DS-1s and a modded MT-2, all of which I really liked and were my previous backup rig.

I am a tone freak. I know I own a solid state amp, but it would knock you out of your shoes if you could hear the tone I get. I've had guitarists of all stripes, including professionals, compliment me on my tone. I do not throw my weight behind any ol' pedal.

What I love about this pedal is the absolute variety of great tones I can get out of this. Switching from a distortion to a fuzz is simple!
What I dislike about this pedal is the fact that you can't see your settings! Being that you have to tweak to get optimal tones, it can become very confusing if you want to recreate a tone you once had. The user diagrams in the back of the manual go someways towards rectifying this, but it's still very frustrating. I wish it had a little digital display like the EQ-20 has to tell you what your settings are.

I chose this pedal because I was watching a professional guitarist play, and was surprised he was using a Boss ME-50. He said it was a great unit, and a lot of the sounds in the OD-20 are in the ME-50. I also spoke to a number of people who own the OD-20 that I respect, and most were very satisfied with it.

I highly recommend this to anyone who loves their guitar pedals! Make sure you've got a good amp as well, or else don't come crying when you sound like crap ;)

I use this for a Bass. Few pedals have the ability to give low end distortion that I seek. Having had a truck load of Boss gear in the late 80's I considered Boss again when picking up again in 2005.

I looked at all of the multi effect processors, and was not interested in becoming a nuclear physicist in order to learn how to get some tone. Had hoped to find rack mounted analogs that I could string together, kind of like what Adrian Belew and Robert Fripp were doing in King Crimson in the 80's.

Alas, they did not exist, in all of my searching, at least the things I saw did not give me any comfort in their ideas.

So it was back to stomp boxes! Very happy with ths choice for it is easy to use and easy to program!

I do not ahve to switch parameters in order to adjust my sound to find what I want and then get lost wondering where I was a moment before.

Turn this knob turn that knob, oh no a little less of the one before.... It is what effect creation was in the begining but now with multiple memory settings and a manual setting.

Again, I am a Bassist. Jackson Concert, Ibanez BTB405, 405, 455, 456, 10006 Fretless, and a Warrior Studio 5.

I use a Genz Benz NeoX400 Combo and extension 1x12 NeoX Cabinet.

The amp does exceptionally well at reproducing anything given to it. Thus clarity of sound is important to me...no bagage noise. Did I mention it is small and light?

My fear of noisy boxes has not panned out with this pedal and its 7 other syblings that I have accompanying it.

When with a rehersal band last year the guys were stunned at what I did with it.

Sure it makes the gain on the signal so strong that you can hear your breath on the strings, but that is the nature of the beast.

The Octaver built in is an EXCELLENT idea even for the Bassist. It kept me from getting yet another pedal. I use the Octaver with distortion when I played "Locomotive Breath" with a rehersal band.

I did it once, with the Pitch Shifter on the front end doing the upper Octive.

After the song was over the guys just looked at me as I apologized and told them that I was bored and it will never happen again. They screamed to do it again. Sounded like a NASCAR engine being throttled in the rehersal hall.

Have never doubted Boss Products.
Just shocked that they do not make them in rack mountable units with a patch bay and switch pedal system.
I have never seen a Boss Pedal fail. Period.
Must be because they are of such good quality that nobody I have ever seen fails to appreciate them and care for them.

Not needed

I Play everything. Played off an on for 31 years.
I needed a pedal that could do everything.
I knew that the prior Boss OD's I had were not good enough for the bass in the 80's (HM-1, OD-1, OD for Bass, DS-1) but looking at this the controls gave me the feeling that we were together on this distored bass thing.
I was not disappointed, nor were the guys I played with.
This is massively powerful stuff here. If you want to redefine a peice and give yourself freedom with your palate of sounds, you will not be uninpired.
Just try the locomotive breath idea.

Very easy to get many good sounds.

G&L ASAT -> OD-20 -> Reverend Kingsnake

The key here is to plug into a good tube amp. Don't waste your time reviewing with a solid state or mini practice amp.

There are many very useful excellent sounds. It isn't packed with those weird useless sounds. Of course, having a string of every single box the OD-20 emulates would be impractical and would not sound as good because of the signal loss.

Boss is a high quality product.

Don't need it.

This can match any style of music and was voiced for plugging into a good tube amp - not a PA. This is by far the best box with multi OD I have used in 20 years of playing. Since this is OD only, Boss has concentrated on specifically getting all the OD sounds right. Many multifx boxes cover modulation, delay, etc also and the manufacturer doesn't spend the time dialing in the ODs correctly. This is an awesome value and gets a 10.

Just like the old distortion box you bought when you first got into electric guitar, not any more complicated, unless you think an extra 'mode change' knob is alien, well then....you are the alien.

It's definitely nice sounding, and does a lot of gain/distortion range that goes from the classical OD-1 growl to the MT-2 scream. You can't really say that it sounds limited because of the lack of a tube sound, since it's just a basic overdrive distortion box. But it'll sound marvelous if you patch it into a tube amp (like duh). Authenticity wise, it sounds good enough, and won't sound bad, provided that your playing is good and you're not a tone deaf idiot.

Please pay attention that the Drive knob adds A LOT of gain to the sound, and surprisingly, turing it to one o'clock will already sound distorted enough for most usage purposes.

I prefer to play it into a clean, nice souding tube amp with very sensitive EQ controls, since if you use a distortion pedal, you would'nt need amp gain anymore, right?

Tank like and indestructable, yawn....typical Boss....

Never dealt with them with this pedal....

I noticed that ALL guitarist are in a way divided and separated from each other regarding their responses to sound modelling from different effects brands. Thus, you'll definitely see a lot of lets say Digitech worshippers (more like mindless pawns, really) critisising about the OD-20 and insisting that the Digitech's DF-2 sounds better than the OD-20.

What I have to say is, if you don't like Roland's COSM, then don't post a nonsense review full of personal negative criticism here (you all who do this are beginning to sound like idiots who can't appreciate something and thus can only think of ways to criticise it).

So, if you don't like Boss products, then why buy them and complain about them being well, Boss? Also, why buy the OD-20 if you prefer a Digitech DF-2? BE SENSIBLE!!!! AND STOP OVERCROWDING THE SPACES HERE WITH PERSONAL VENDETTA!!!!

Damn! I got this box for Xmas from my brother-in-law. I gave him a list of 5 pedals I thought might be cool to have but I couldn't necessarily afford (he picked my name in the gift exchange). The OD-20 happened to be at the bottom of the list but somehow was the only one available from the quaint but surprisingly interesting guitar shop in North Bend, WA (where my in-laws live). I was pretty stoked come Xmas morning when I opened this baby up! I've been using an Original EH Deluxe Big Muff (the one with a compressor) as my only distortion/fuzz box for 9 years. So the sheer variety of distortion flavors was very exciting from a tonal standpoint. I mean the OD-20 is seriously the stompbox equivalent of Baskin Robbins 31 flavors! It'll not only model Boss' flagship fuzz boxes (DS/OD/Blues Driver/and those strange black "Metal" boxes) but you can essentially tour the abridged history of cool-ass fuzz boxes of the last 40 years! To get to the point of this category, the OD-20 couldn't be any easier to use. The six knobs across the top are pretty self-explanatory: Drive/Bottom/Tone/Level/Attack Shape/Heavy Octave. In addition to the above, there is a knob (Type) that selects the desired stompbox patch. And this is where the OD-20 shines. Like I mentioned above, you have access to all the good signature BOSS sounds plus you'll have emulations of EH Big Muff, MXR Distortion+, Tubescreamer, RAT, Centaur overdrive, Marshall Guv'ner, and other kick-ass sounds. You'll have a hard time running out of options.

Everyone has their opinions about digital modeling. But I think most discerning listeners could agree that Roland's COSM technology is definitely the front-runner. Prefering analog stompboxes to their digital counterparts, I have to admit I was rather skeptical about the OD-20 (considering the first time I ever plugged one in was on Xmas day)... Man! This box is fantastic! How the hell those crazy engineers at Roland made this thing so convincing I'll never know. Just the other afternoon I A/B tested against my Deluxe Muff and came away feeling they were equivalent in terms of creating the signature Big Muff sound. I really want to test it next to an original Tubescreamer to see how it holds up (I use the Tubescreamer sound more than anything else). One thing worth mentioning is you can save 4 patches to the OD-20's internal memory. There is also a manual mode so you can experiment before you feel you need to save anything. I pretty much have this thing on all the time, switching between very subtle overdrive tones and slightly more overdriven tones. Don't get me wrong this box runs the gamut of distortion and fuzz tones. You won't be disappointed if you love to experiment. Plus you won't have to deal with the sometimes annoying aural baggage associated with vintage fuzz boxes.

Hey man it's a BOSS. Made to be abused. If the nuclear fall-out ever happens, there will be two things left: Twinkies and Boss pedals.

I repair my own stuff. And read the manual.

Fuzz box experimentalists rejoice! The motherload of distortion tones has landed. So many applications for the OD-20 both live and in the studio and not necessarily just for guitar. I've always tended to play with a number of pedals in my signal chain. Lately I've been plugging my Tele into the OD-20 then straight into my '75 Vibro Champ. No reverb or delay (which would shock my friends). It just sounds good to me! The OD-20 will not disappoint.

I`m a professional player with many years experience,& I bought this to possibly replace my Line 6 distortion modeler-it has footswitch issues(also bought the Boss DD-20 gigadelay before almost getting the Line 6 Delay.Whew!....averted THAT nightmare!....) I needed a similar box for sessions & live gigs that I could use on my small pedalboard rig that will give me all the sounds I would need. Well,this box does it & then some.
Here`s what I auditioned it with: Fender strat with PAF-type humbucker in the bridge(not overwound or HOT,just 'traditional'sounding) and Peavey 1x10 solid-state combo,`71 Fender Deluxe Reverb,& Line 6 flextone 2x12 combo.I also ran it thru a lot of the usual effects I would be using it with,TC SCF,Tremolo,delay,etc...
It`s very easy to use;writing sounds to memory is fast.I didn`t notice any other reviewers mention about the pedal MODES,so I thought I`d mention it: The left pedal is effect on/off & the right pedal lets you select your sounds,but you can program HOW you want to select the sounds.PEDAL MODE 1 means each tap of the footswitch will scroll thru MANUAL,MEM 1,MEM 2,....MEM 4,MANUAL,...etc & PEDAL MODEs 2 & 3 let you switch between MANUAL and a select MEMORY patch.(MANUAL just means whatever settings the knobs are currently set at).This is a great idea because you can set the MANUAL mode for your basic crunch/rhythm overdrive sound,and have different lead sounds in the memory locations.The manual is also very easy to understand.

I`ve had this unit for at least 6 months now putting it thru it`s paces,& I have to say that I`m very happy with it.I can dial in everything from a gentle clean boost for a solo to heavy thrash metal tones.I have to agree with one reviewer that said "Take time to dial it in!!".The Eq controls on this unit are powerful;the Bottom control doesn`t just control Bass,it controls 'Resonance'-it made my little Peavey 1x10 sound like a bigger cabinet.The Attack Shape control is subtle yet very effective.The Tone control seems to mimic the knob of the original pedal it models: on the Rat,it acts like the Filter control.On the Fulldrive model,turning it up not only increases highs but also Mids.The Amp Ctrl is a very smart feature-you can program a patch to switch your amp to it`s lead channel while simultaneously adding a bit of Tube Screamer overdrive,or Boost,or whatever.As far as authenticity of the models is concerned,I have to agree with Guitar Player magazine,they are very authentic.I have either owned and/or played thru most of the pedals it models.Also,these sounds really are DYNAMICALLY RESPONSIVE! You can roll back the guitar`s volume to clean it up a bit,..play lightly & it`s clean,dig in more & it starts to break up...fantastic.The only reason I didn`t give it a 10 was because of the Rockman model;it`s been a million years since I played thru a real one,but I don`t remember it sounding like that 'cocked wah' kind of sound...maybe it was the particular EQ setting they had it on when they modeled it,I don`t know...but even still,this is a MINOR complaint.And about the noise...It seems just as quiet as any other high quality distortion I`ve used.If you balance your Drive,Tone,& Level controls with your amp`s volume,you shouldn`t have any problems.My amps were set at 'medium', small-club levels,and it was very quiet.

Built like all the other Boss pedals-indestructable.I`ve never ever had a problem with a Boss pedal,& I don`t expect to.

These people must be lonelier than the Maytag repairman....who would ever need to contact them? There was a brochure in the box with the support phone # and 24 hour Faxback #,so it`s good to know it`s there if I need it.

I put a lot of thought into this rating...I really would`ve given it a 10,but I`m being super critical.The only things I didn`t like about it are the Rockman model(still useable though in a recording situation if you need a 'different' kind of part to sit in the mix)& the Line Out cabinet sim was only satisfactory.But having said that,even THAT is a useful function;I once did a gig where the sound guy actually said to me that he didn`t have any more microphones,so he couldn`t mic-up my amp! He had to D.I. it from my pedalboard with no amp or speaker sim at all! Wish I had this pedal THEN....If this pedal were lost or stolen,I would definitely get another one.

Distortion,like other effects,is a very subjective thing.My advice is to buy it & try it on your regular rig; most major music retailers give you some time to return things for a full refund,so I would take advantage of that.If you do,really spend as much time as you can dialing in the different sounds,& see if it works for you with your particular combination of guitar & amp.
In my humble opinion, if you`re a working player like me who needs to cover a whole spectrum of overdrive tones,this pedal is a no-brainer.Thumbs Up!

I recently bought one and it is working great for me.
It is very easy to make great tones.
It is really cool to have footswitch access to 5 different patches.
I wish there was a way to see the parameters on stored patches.

I'm using it with a PRS and strat into 2 tube amps.
People have commented about the pedal being noisy.
In extreme settings, it is noisy, but no more than the pedals it is modeling if they were set to same amount of gain.
I am loving the tones and possibilities.
I've got 4 great tones stored and use the manual settings for on the gig adjustment.
It takes some experimentation and tweaking, but if you are patient, I believe you will find gold.

Boss stuff doesn't break.
It's built like a tank

Never a problem with Boss, I don't know.

I'm freelancing and having to do all styles.
This pedal is a great solution for covering all the overdrive tones.
I've been playing for 40 years (Yikes!)
Yes, I would buy it again if it were to vanish.
I love the tremendous variety of sounds and the very musical parameters that can be adjusted.
I wish it had a way to see the numbers on the parameters.
It beats a closetfull of distortion stompboxes from Mesa V-twin to MXR.
It definitely makes playing music more fun for me.

Read previous reviews or go to www.rolandus.com for full details.

This pedal is 50% useless. The reason is that it is so noisy that you cannot take full advantage of it. I have a DS-1 (not great either, but better), a Digitech Tone Zone (very good overdrive overall), Zoom 510 dual driver (this is by far better and even with its almost digital distortion sounds), a RP2000 (better distortions, but also digital), Behringer VAMP2 (better distortions than all the previous pedals and also warm and non-expensive $99) and a Digitech Distortion Factory DF-7 (this one is really good to keep things simple, flexible and clear. also it is $99).
The only thing that the OD-20 has that is good in terms of it sounds is the octaver and you can purchase a similar one from Arion or any other non-expensive brand with the same performance.
Bottom line, this pedal sucks, it is too noisy (I also have noise suppresors and still with good settings noise is there), I can recommend that you give a try to the VAMP2, DF-1, Uber Metal (I do not have it, but it is good) or any other pedals.

They have a considerable amount of time of warranty, these electronics (stompboxes) are quite robust and simple, then I can say this criterion is not very important, unless you are purchasing something expensive.

Boss even does not have the manuals for easy download, their website is very difficult to locate things (www.rolandus.com) and this is a reflection of their company.

This pedal sucks. I was always wondering why people say "Boss Sucks", after purchasing several Boss pedals (Chorus, DS-1, PW-10 and OD-20) I can now also say "Boss really sucks".
The only Boss pedal that I can recommend so far is the PW-10 which is excellent. All the other Boss pedals could be remmoved from space and time without major consecuences to our current music.

Real easy, if you can work a regular stompbox it's a piece of..

So far I have only used this with my Fender Sidekick a 15w practice amp, but through the years I come to know how diffent boxes
will sound in my other amps jut by listening this little crappy one.
The eq. filters respons very well and the models are all good as far as I can hear, the tubescreamer was very through to the original, the fulltone is smoother, when I use my old one on stage I often have problems with some sharp freq. which I can't kill.
The new models sounded very fat.
The Octawider was a lot of fun and usefull for acoustic guitar playin.
Over all an very versatile pedal.

Yepp it's a BOSS

Never got in contact with them.

I play mostly rock and blues and this is a good solution for me.
My opinion bout what a good overdrive sound is changes all the time and with this little box seems I don't have to worry about that.