Product: Boss OD-3
Price Paid: US $80
Submitted
11/12/1997
at
10:52am
by
Ravioli
Ease of Use
:
10
Gain, tone, and volume. It's pretty friggin' simple.
Sound Quality
:
10
I have always hated Boss overdrive/distortion pedals. They have all had a thin, buzzy overtone. The OD-3 is the new pedal from Boss although it looks like their old OD pedals (yellow). Well, they finally got it right. This thing kicks! At low gain settings, it's a Tube Screamer, but richer. Crank the gain and the tone and you'll get a fat, creamy AC/DC tone. The overdrive is not brutal, yet it has tons of sustain, and it's practically noiseless. I've never run it through a solid state amp (I use a Groove Tubes Soul-O 75), but it really makes tubes sing.
Reliability
:
10
I've had 20 or so Boss pedals over the years. The only one that ever went bad was a Digital Reverb pedal. Boss pedals generally do not go bad.
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
Never had to use them - my local shop always takes care of me.
Overall Rating
:
10
For rock and blues, this is it. I swear, it sounds as good (or better) than those boutique $200 pedals (Centaur, Fulldrive, etc.). This thing will NOT do Pantera or Manson sounds, but it can handle classic metal sounds (Priest, Maiden, etc.). I have a Tube Screamer, but this makes it obsolete. I also have a Tube King, which is a great pedal (and more versatile, actually) however the Boss sounds better with my current setup. This is a very musical pedal, and the fact that's it's a Boss and not some trendy overpriced pedal should not discourage you from checking it out.
