Boss OD-3

It's very easy use, no need for a manual, really. Perhaps beginners can have some help of the pictures in the manual saying: this is normal overdrive (50 volume/50 drive), this is how to use it as a booster (100 volume/0 drive), and this is how to use it as a dist-pedal (30 vol/90 drive).

I use it with my Fender HM Strat Ultra with Lace Hot Golds and Breed in bridge, and with my old Gibson SG, into a Music Man 112-50 equipped with Electro-harmonix two 6L6 and one 12AX7 tube. I use the Boss OD 3, into a Boss Digital Delay DD3, into a Boss Super Chorus CH1, into a MXR Phase 90 - and normally into the amp's clean channel. Sometimes I switch over to the gain channel, which I set on quite low gain and somewhat higher volume, compared to the clean channel. My Strat sounds beautiful on the clean channel with this pedal, it's soft, stratty, elegant, focused - think Carlos Santana with a brighter Strat - and it roars when switching over to the gain channel. My Gibson SG sounds soft, spacy and jazzy with these pedals on the clean channel, and goes Angus-over-the-top when I switch to the gain channel. The OD 3 pedal on the clean channel give the best Strat sound I ever heard. The sound from the gain channel is not exactly what I wanted with my Strat, but good enough. The gain channel in this amp is known to be tricky for Strats, but great with Les Pauls, and that is obviously the case also here. I also tested a RAT pedal to see if it had better high gain options, but I could'nt hear any significant difference. The OD 3 on max vol and drive gives a tone quite similar to the RAT on medium dist - at least in my ears.

I have used my Boss DD 3 almost every day since 1988 and never had any problem. Oh yes, the small plastic component at the AC-input was broken once, so I had it replaced. But no other problem, so I would not expect any from this new one either.

Boss have in my country quite long delivering times for replacing parts, so the customer support here can hardly be said to be at top level?

I bought this pedal mostly to get a elegant tube overdrive sound for my Strat when playing jazz and jazz fusion - and that is exactly what it delivers. Also use it for the same purpose with my Gibson SG and with the same result: it's exactly the sound I was looking for. I have been playing Strats since the beginning of the -70s, but I went over to Gibsons because they were softer and warmer to get a decent jazz sound from. Now I bought a Strat to get a more spacy sound for jazz fusion and the sound I now get from my gear is just perfect. There's only this somewhat broken sound, mentioned above, when using the OD 3 in the the gain channel that bothers me now, but it's still ok. It could have been, and has been, much worse, and as said: this pedal in the clean channel give the best Strat sound I ever heard. I would definitely replace it if it was stolen or destroyed.

Easy!! The controls are more user friendly than any other Boss pedal I own. Does excatly what it says on the tin.

If you are looking for a Lancaster bomber o/d sound, this is it. Man, this pedal sounds like someone dropping a bag of gravel. I tried this it a practice last night with my AC30 and telecaster, and it sang like tweety bird. The whole setup has never sounded so good. I've tried lots of o/d pedals, and this is the only one that gets near the sound I'm looking for (think the opening chord to Won't Get Fooled Again. With a set of humbuckers, this pedal will knock buildings down.

I bought it second hand, its mint and no boss pedal has ever completely failed me (save for loose connections here and there!)

Never had to use them

This is now going to be my main distortion box. I think it will be the dirtbox I've been looking for all the time I've been playing!! I thought it was the tubescreamer - I was wrong. If I see another one second hand I might get it, but I've never had backups and boss pedals can usually get sorted if they go wrong. It will do any sound your looking for (save metal). It shows non-believers who said that yellow boss pedals wer like wasps in a jam jar that boss have finally learned what overdrive means!!!! I hope they don't discontinue this pedal!!

only a few knobs, pretty easy. a lot of emphasis on high end but you can dial in some low if you want.

sounds like a full fledged british tube stack minus the annoying rip your head off stage. no screaming monkeys in this like the ads say. good! i use an SG and a clean orange head, vintage 30 speakers. gives you nice bite, not as warm and shitty as a tube screamer.

use a 9v power pack and a battery backup foo.

never had to call roland cuz their stuff is built to survive a HOLOCAUST.

these things are hard to find at dealers so it's pry worth the money. i use it to ramp up from clean before i kick in a boss mega distortion at the end. dual stage is nice, some said it hits the clean mesa sound but i think it depends more on the amp. i have an ampeg reverb rocket that sounds like a matchless, this pedal will play into the grind if you like. i think it is more shrill than deep, if you want low, fuzzy mud i would go with a tubescreamer. the od-3 has better sound quality in my opinion tho.

Couldn't really be that much simpler to use if they tried, really. No problems here.

This is a follow-up to one of my other reviews a few down. This is a pretty decent pedal, but I wouldn't give it a 10 like I did when I first used it. This is because I've been scrutinizing it and comparing it to my Dist+.

Used all the way down or to about 10'o clock it provides a very pleasant sounding soft-clip breakup, just enough to warm the signal of my amp. It was exactly what I wanted to use it for, and although it's a one-trick pony the way I have it in my rather modest rig (Gibson SG -> OD-3 -> MXR Dist+ -> Dano 7-Band EQ (Fish'n'Chips) -> Roland JC-50) it's a bloody good trick, thank you very much. Noisy? No more than normal.

It only gets an 8 because I can't use the drive past the 12 noon position, it does strange things to the bass/low-mids that I find very displeasing to my ears. Also, I find the tone control is centred around the wrong frequencies - at the lowest setting it's far too bassy, the highest in some situation doesn't give enough top end. These points are a matter of preference, and could be because I use a guitar with humbuckers.

It should be noted though, it has the best level boost of any pedal - BOSS or otherwise - that I've used, even with mellow settings, unlike the aforementioned Distortion+ which has to be cranked up to get even a moderate boost to signal - I don't need the level past 12 o'clock. It even beats what I considered to be the best level booster - EH Big Muff.

I'd had a handful of BOSS stomps, some pretty beaten up and gig worn but still working like new. I'm one of the most careless, clumsy idiots I know, I'm always accidentally knocking my SG against things and chipping the finish, landing on or knocking over amps, so I need something that can stand up to my stupidity.

Boss stuff does this better than anything else, because if it survives more than a few years with me it'll probably last for 20 years at least.

It's a well-worn cliche, but the best line of customer support is decent, easy-to-use, hardwearing gear. Thanks Boss.

I play rock, blues, pop-rock, punk, heavy metal (old school), Nu-Metal when I feel like giving my fingers a rest. Outside of that kind of stuff, I like folk and modern classical, film score style stuff. I've been playing for just over 5 years now, and I'm a real picky blighter when it comes to whats in my rig. I've owned loads of other pedals and multi-FX - Boss MT-2, Boss OD-2, Boos CH-1, Boss PH-2, DOD Grind, Boss OD-1, ProCo Rat2, Boss GT-3, Boss GT-6.

Having owned lots of Boss gear and never really being satisfied by it, I was surprised to find how well this fitted into my rig. To begin with, I thought there was something wrong with it - turns out my Dano pedal is screwed and was causing the high end to get all trebly and crackly, so I'm going to replace it with a GE-7 instead, or something with more than 7-bands on it.

I chose this one over a Big Muff because I'd only use the Muff for giving a punchy solo boost, while I'm likely to leave the OD-3 on whenever I play, and I can get a solo boost by setting the Rhythm Pickup to 7 and the Treble Pickup to 10. I'd still buy a Muff if I had the cash though.

Now I've worked out my rig a little more, I'd say this pedal might stay there for some time. Easily better than any Boss pedal I've owned.

See that picture? How simple is that. Getting at the battery is almost as simple as getting your tone out of it too, unlike some pedals I've had.

Pretty darn fantasic. Some pedals roll off lots of bass when you crank up the gain - not this one, at least not that I can hear. Typical BOSS - great sound, very little noise that ain't caused by the guitar (like a Strat) or standing too close to your amp.

Classic overdrive in a mini-dictionary sized box. Superb.

I've owned 5 of these beauties (all different pedals of course - I don't need 5 OD-3s - yet), and I'm something of a nutter on stage, and they do get stomped on pretty hard. No complaints, never had any problems AT ALL with Boss products, even when thrown out of a window...

This is a brilliant piece of engineering - like one of the other reviews here says, beats the other 2 OD units before it. It's odd to see that Boss have made their OD better over time, unlike say the new TubeScreamers which don't compare to the old ones.

Fabulous. I've been playing naerly 6 years and there are few finer boxes.

Well... three knobs, something to step on to turn on/off, input/output. Few pedals are simpler.

Oh yeah. And I mean - OH YEAH. This pedal is much like a beautiful women in many ways - it just leaves you stunned, awe-struck and excited, all in one. Smooth, sustain-driven OverDrive that is much better than either OD-1/OD-2 - I've had em both, there's nothing like this one. I use it with an MXR Dist+ - the sound is great. I run to a Roland JC-50 and use a Gibson SG Standard - I love it. Lots.

The OD-1 I had was 21-years old, stained and faded, still worked like it was fresh from the factory. Now THAT'S good design, so good in fact they haven't needed to change it. And why not.. it ain't broke...

AC/DC, Led Zep, Deep Purple. This pedal is almost custom built for classic rock and blues, just dial it in and there you go. It's not gritty or metallic. I like it smooth and dripping harmonics - and it does. Perhaps the finish BOSS non-modulation pedal ever.

Very easy. One tone one volume one overdrive knob.

I use it with my kustom 16r. It's a killer amp with an avg overdrive, but it's kind of muddy. The Od 3 is just unbelievable. It made it sound so much better without added noise like other overdrive pedals. It sound so much better that Dod pedals.

Don't know but hope it lasts. I've got a feeling I'm going to use it alot.

Never dealt with them.

I don't know what it is, but I think they have something here. The built in overdrive in most solid state amps just doesn't cut it. I don't understand why solid state amp manufacturers couldn't make the overdrive section sound like this. I got this because, I don't like to deal with tubes...you have to replace them every few months which could get very expensive if you overdrive your tubes and play alot. I guess this is a cheap way around it.

Easy,easy, easy.
Don't even need manual.(Unless you are a newbie).

I have a strat with Lace Sensor Hot Gold (very good pups)and a boogie mkIII. It sounds....great. Not only on boogie but in every amps that I tried. The best part is that it has sustainnnnnnn but keeps your dInAmiCs intact:) happy, happy, joy, joy! It doesn't cut your bass balls tone at all, It is all there. I can play almost any kind of music with it (not for death, speed, etc metal, it is an overdrive, not a distortion).

I'm a professional musician and never had any problems with boss pedals ( and never heard about it from friends too).

Never needed.

I've been playing for 20......wow.....years. I think this is one of the best overdrive out there. I've been (and still)using the RAT distortion and was looking for something different. OD-3 became my main overdrive.
If you usually don't like boss overdrive/distortion pedals, try this one. I think it has more "air" than others.

This, being my first pedal, took me a while to dial in a sound that I really liked. The most difficult part of setting up this pedal is dialing in the tone to match the EQ of your amp, but the rest is simple.

I run a Peavey Predator into Vox Pathfinder 15, which has a decent, but not great gain channel. Originally I used the pedal to boost the gain on the Vox, but the sound was really harsh. After fiddling around, I found that this pedal sounds best with the amp on clean. I run the Level to match the output of my amp, the Tone at 1 o' clock, and with the Drive set at 12 o' clock, it produces a really smooth and creamy overdrive. For a cleaner, but still dirty sound, I dial the Drive down to 9 o' clock. This pedal consistently sounds great for alternative rock, which I mostly play. The sound isn't grainy enough for punk though. I don't know how much it sounds like a tube amp, or how good it sounds with a tube amp, but it made my amp sound heaps better!

I haven't done any gigs with it yet, but I take pretty good care of it. I've seen some pretty beat up Boss pedals that still work, so I'm pretty sure mine will be around for many years to come.

I've been playing guitar for about 9 years now, consisting mostly of alternative rock (i.e Smashing Pumpkins, Bush). This pedal recreates the Pumpkins sound very nicely. I've never had a fancy setup, and am still using the guitar I learned how to play on, but I'll most likely still be using this pedal after I upgrade my other gear. I love how this pedal keeps the tone of my guitar and amp. The transition when the pedal is activated is super smooth. This pedal lives up to what Boss claims about maintaining the bass. Although I haven't compared this pedal to any other pedals, when I read about the OD-3 being better than the Tube Screamer, I was quite convinced about getting it. It seems that the TS9 has more to its name than its sound, especially since most people have it modded to get the sound they want. I haven't read about any mods for this pedal yet. I only wish that the pedal came with the AC adaptor so I wouldn't have to fork out more money. I'd be really pissed off if I had to replace this pedal since I got a great deal on a great pedal. I think that in 10 years, this yellow box will replace the green one in many guitarists' setup. I'm very happy with this investment.

Muito simples e pratico. Os controles tem bom alcance e a versatilidade e imensa.

Les Paul Custom / Fender American Standard>Wha Onner>TS-10 compressor
>Od-3>Danelectro Fab Tone>Danelectro Daddy-O>Danelectro Fish E Ships Equalizer>Chorus Oliver CE-30(Roland)>A/B Box>Korg GT-3 Tuner>Fender Twin Reverb. Soa muito bem em qualquer regulagem e combina com o Twin. Overdrive gordo e claro sem aquela ponta de agudo "fuzzy" irritante da maioria dos pedais de overdrive.

Boss e sinonimo de qualidade.

Nunca precisei.

Eu toco Rock'n Roll ha 20 anos e sempre procurei um bom som "crunch"
sem muito sucesso. Testei varios pedais e optei pelo Daddy-O pela versatilidade, mas n?o gosto muito de seu drive sujo, com aquela ponta de agudo irritante. o Tubescreamer e bom mas e muito medio.Ja tive o OS-2, mas era muito barulhento. Queria algo mais "gordo" e com mais definic?o. escutei a demo de todos os overdrives no site da Boss e me impressionei com o OD-3, que e mais potente e mais definido que os outros. ent?o fui a loja e encontrei um usado em estado de novo por 150,00 reais(+/- Us$ 50,00),
uma pechincha. Testei com outros pedais na loja e vi que era exatamente o que eu queria. N?o vai sair da minha pedaleira, e se estragar ou extraviar, eu compro outro. Agora ele ocupa o lugar do Daddy-O, que vai para o armario enfeitar a prateleira, pois o OD-3 e tudo o que eu preciso em materia de Overdrive. Para o som "podre", quando necessario, permanece o FabTone, que eu apelidei de "mosquito do inferno" pelo fuzz radical que proporciona (muito melhor que muitos "distortions" e "fuzzes" que andam por ai). Acho que, agora com o OD-3, esta resolvido meu problema de Overdrive. o Som e "quente", n?o embola, tem um belo agudo e n?o e muito medio, ent?o n?o parece que voce esta tocando atraves de um tubo de esgoto na privada da sua casa. Muito bom.

Very easy to use. I actually like using the controls on this pedal. I only want an overdrive pedal to add extra gain to my Marshall's lead channel. Just some extra oomph! Most pedals I've used - Reverend DriveTrain and Boss SD-1 - to name a couple were just not right. I couldn't really add much gain - maybe just some volume or the tone would just tank. So I basically had one setting - tiny bit of gain, a good bit of volume and tone set even as possible. Well with the OD-3 that is not a problem. I have varied the tone knob some depending on what I'm going for. I also can add alot more gain from the pedal. It works great and it just sounds like am just driving my amp harder. I didn't get a manual with it but it you can't figure it out well...you shouldn't be playing. Simple and perfect features for an overdrive pedal.

I use this with 3 Strats, 1 SG standard and a Marshall JCM800 halfstack plus a Dunlop 535Q, Boss CE-5 (and soon maybe a Boss TU-2 and DD-3). That will be all for my setup - pretty simple but lots of options for me. This pedal sounds great. It is just like kicking my amp into more overdrive. It has great sustain and nice gain. I actually prefer the Boss tone to that in the tubescreamers and tubescreamer clones I've tried or owned before. It just makes me happy to set on a pedal it to sound right. I use my guitar volume knob and this pedal along with just the usual Marshall grit from my amp to go for semi-clean (which is all I need) to heavy metal tones (not thrash or death metal). It is just what the doctor ordered tonally. I have also owned Boss' DS-1 and DS-2 and neither of those comes close to this - the only other pedal I've had that I liked was the Boss SD-1 but that lost too much bass and had too much gain. The OD-3 has slightly less gain - although I still never go past 12 o'clock - and the bass frequencies aren't lost when you kick it on. Excellent for Drop D heavy shit like Soundgarden. The whole thing boss says about dual stage overdrive...read the web site. Well whatever that says maybe true but when they say it keeps more frequencies intact and is the fullest sounding overdrive they've ever made - they ain't lying.

It is a Boss pedal. These things are basically indestructable - I had one once have a faulty switch. I called roland and got one shipped out for like $4 including shipping. Popped it in the pedal and no problems after that. That is my boss "horror story" - which isn't even the slightest bit scary. These are great pedals.

When I called to get the switch (it was a few years back for a different pedal than the OD-3) they were very nice and helpful. I got a prompt response and the replacement switch was sent quickly. Not a problem here.

I have tried quite a few distortion/overdrive pedals out to find the right one. I may not have tried the boutique ones from Fulltone or others but so far this is the best Overdrive pedal for me. It works with me and adds to my tone (not take away). I think my search for an overdrive pedal ends here. It works great for all kinds of music from bluesy rock and classic rock to old school heavy metal. Not a thrash toy - it doesn't make you tone sound like the middle is sucked out. It fits into my rig nicely and when I step on it - I get what I want from an overdrive. If it were stolen - I'd get another. It is an intregal part of my rig now. The prices for these used are great and value wise you can't go wrong. Ones thing I'd like to add - this isn't a TubeScreamer clone - it is similar in ways but it doesn't sound like a tubescreamer. That is good in my case because I like it to be different. But if you want the TubeScreamer sound look at the Ibanez reissues or even the modded ones from Analog Man and others. This pedal offer great gain from driving a tube amp that little extra.

1) remove from box
2) connect cables , axe and amp
3) twiddle knobs
4) done.

Setup: Fender Tele Plus w/ Lace sensors, MXR Commande overdrive ( not real common, pots and jacks replaced) Boss OD-3, Boss FZ-3, MXR flanger, Danelectro PB&J, ( all stompboxes are in a custom road case with dual power supplies) Roland JC-60.

It's a tank. I've been using my effects ( in a road case) without backup for years, though I do have an old Korg multi-effects the keyboard player's using that I'd grab from him if the rig died.

Never dealt with Boss.

I play, rock, blues, country, and whatever the crowd requests. It's easy to cover most styles with my rig. The JC-60's not quite loud enough for big rooms but that's what the P.A.'s for. Of course, the Roland's distortion's a joke, but that's why I got the OD-3. I mostly play rhythm at the moment, and this pedal covers that pretty well. I have the FZ-3 fuzz for 60's-style stuff and with the OD-3 feeding the fuzz pedal I can get some pretty good sustain going. I use the MXR overdrive by itself mostly because it's too noisy to drive the other pedals. It gets some nice SRV-Albert Collins sounds though. I need to add chorus pedal ( the JC-60 chorus is OK but adds a lot of hiss) and a noise gate soon. I tried out the Boss Blues Driver at the same time as this pedal and the OD-3 works much better with my Tele.
I don't use this setup for recording though - I have a V-Amp 2 for that.

Three knobs, very easy to use. There are some suggested settings in the manual, which are good, but it's not hard to find your own sound.

I'm using this overdrive togheter with my japanese fender strat and fender twin reverb amp. Great sound!!! From very little overdrive all the way too full overdrive. Sound is best described as warm, creamy round overdrive. The effect works good both for low frequncies as well as all the wa up the neck. There is not any noticable noise that I can hear. The music I play is mostly rock/blues and this pedal gives me a great sound!

It won't break. Very though pedal. It's a boss. You know.

Haven't dealt with them.

Great pedal! Should work for almost any kind of music. I thought it was a bit expensive, but it's worth the money, I promise! I would get a new one if I lost this one a.s.a.p.

Very good pedal!! The sound thats comes out of it is awesome.

Well, I'm using a Les Pauls, to the OD3, to a Boss DD-5 Delay, through foot board, to my Flextone II. Not noisy at all, now, after about 8 months actually, it's really starting to get on my nerves. I'm not sure, but either the Input or Output is not working. I haven't opened it up yet, I'm just going to bring it back, and get another one. The effects always sound great though. Artists you want to sound like, pick one, you can most likely tweak it out to sound like them, from Sum41 to Ozzy.

Could depend on it b4, but not now, it just doesn't want to put out the sound very well, it crackles a lot, so I'm getting it replaced as soon as possible.

Haven't dealt with them yet, we'll see in a couple of days if I need to.

I play anything and everything, and this pedal does the same. I've been playing for about 2 years now, and this is such a versatile pedal. If it were stolen or lost, I'd definately replace it. It's broken now and I'm going to get it replaced, so that tells you a lot. I love everything about this pedal, but I hate that it doesn't work now, I have to use the flextone's distortion now, and I agree it sounds good, but I love my OD3. I tried all of the distortion and overdrive pedals around the range or 75 to 130 canadian, and this came out the best.

the OD-3 is real easy to use and i love the sound of it ( my band on the other hand, well just my guitarist so far ) it gives great low end response and the drive sounds perfect to me

ive got a cort NB 5 through a yorkville 200t theres a bit of treb buzz that i dont like but hell nothing perfect

i havent had it long its my first pedle and i keep forgeting to take the input cable out so it drains my batterie but other than my own stupidity i find it reliabil

i myself play heavey and or death metaland its a great match.
ive been playing for 2 years and ive just got my bass, amp and bought pedel.if it were stolen id prob buy a new one or maybe try the digitech bassdriver.

Very easy to use

Very good - like it a lot, different from TS-9 and more flexible and transparent
The drummer said he likes it best, even if I play through an SS amp
My set up is simple Nashville tele (clapton strat) - od3 - delay - amp

Very good pedal -- I tried the Boss Blues driver too - od2 is what I chose.

Three knobs; very easy

I use an Ernie Ball Axis into a Bad Horsie 2 Wah, Boss OD-3, Boss TU-2, Line 6 MM4 to Boss NS-2 into a Marshall TSL60 head powering a Laney 4 X 12 with Celestion G12M70's. I also run a Boss GE-7 and Boss RV-3 into the Effects loop. I play in an original Hard Rock/Metal Band http://www.cree8music.com. I orignally used my TSL lead channel as my main channel and used the GE-7 EQ as limiter, disengaging the GE-7 for leads. I bought in an attempt to limit the amount of amp noise playing live by dialing down my preamp gain and adding overdrive before my noise suppression. But, I was completely blown away at what this pedal does to my sound. I set the Level to 7, Tone at 3.5 and Drive at .5-1 and it transforms my crunch channel into my ideal sound. It really fattens up the sounds and add tons of sustain with drives my preamp tubes to the perfect amount of distortion. I was going to purchase a Way Huge Green Rhino or a Fulltone Distortion Pro, but the Boss OD-3 surprised me and delivered everything I wanted.

I've never had any problems with anything from Boss, except their ME-5 until, which is built much different than their stomp box pedals.

Never dealt with the company, sold the ME-5 that was giving me trouble.

This is really a great "overdrive pedal," which is not designed to act as a distortion pedal. If you have a tube preamp and you're looking to add some depth and sustain. I highly recommend checking out the OD-3 before buying a boutique overdrive pedal. I would definitely replace it, it if were lost or stolen.

its a 10

holy shit this od pedal ever
ok i have gone through pedal hell inthe past three months just to name a few(marshall bb2 ok but kills picking dynamics to compresed but it was ok. dano daddyo man that thing sucked donkey balls it sounds like a shity SS amp a relly shity one BOSS DS1 coll byt to thin for a powerful rethem sound 1967 tone bender cool for fuzz but only fuzz but that is what it dose) but the worst thing is i sold my BD2 for the daddyo i saw tom petty with a daddyo so i thought it would sound good the bd2 was cool but this is much much better i was at a who concert a couple months ago best show of my life and eh had a od3 on stage this nals his powerful tone not one single unusible sound in this thing
my bands style is like weezer the cars the who the stones the jam oasis alittle beatlesish raw powerful rock
my amp VOX AC30 guitars epi casino and teles
dose not get much beter
god bless this pedal

i know i sound original ITS A BOSS

it kicks ass
raw powerful rock sound

Three knobs, level, tone and drive. Very easy to use and very easy to get a good sound out of. Manual is fairly short but it's not needed.

Epi SG400 with DiMarzio pickups through a Marshall MG30RCD. It actually gives quite a similar sound to the gain on the Marshall. I use it when i need a bit of extra gain or for solos. It really does give a really good sound for rock and the tone and drive knobs really give you a good variety of rock sounds. Wound not cut it for metal but there's other pedals for that.

Its a brick. I dont even know how you could break it.

Havent had to use them.

I play rock but i like to hear the chords ring out whilst still giving a good rock tone. This really does the job. ive been playing for over 2 years now and i've finally been able to get the great rock sound that you hear guitarists in bands playing. Bit expensive though.

Very simple to get pleasing tones... there are three knobs: level, drive and tone... the manual is very straightforward... easy to work with.

I am currently using a Twin Reverb Reissue (the reason I bought the pedal) with a JV Strat and an American Standard with a rosewood neck. I bought this because my other drive pedals were too tinny, transistorized, or frizzly sounding with my new Twin Reverb. I had similar problems with my Deluxe Reverb. I was using an Ibanez Tube Screamer and more often the Boss BD-2. The BD-2 was not compatible with the Twin Reverb and after reading several favorable reviews of the OD-3 I decided to try it. Man, does it do the job. Very fat, toneful, thick overdrive sounds. It just fattens up the Twin sound (when you need it). Sometimes it is best leavin' the Twin clean but if you need to dirty it up like ZZ Top or some Skynyrd or some Smokin' Joe Kubek, this is the pedal. This Boss OD-3 is much better sounding than the BD-2. The BD-2 was too trebly sounding and seemed to block out the lower frequencies. Not the OD-3 pedal. I won't go so far as to say that it is as fat and thick sounding as the overdrive channel on the Mesa Rectoberb 50 combo amp but it is close!!! I have retired the BD-2 (kind of) and only use it as a volume boost.

I think I can depend on it. I have only had it for a week. I don't have any reason to believe that it is cheaply made. Hold it, let me drop it out of my window. Still it works. It appears to be tank tough. Very durable casing, like my two other Boss pedals.

I never had any reason to deal with the company. Boss has a great web site and they all seem approachable.

I play blues and southern rock. This pedal is a great match. It is very compatible with my Twin Reverb Reissue and Strats. I have been playing electric music for about 10-12 years and to my ears this is a great stompbox. If it were stolen or lost I would definately get a new one. For $79.00 it is a great deal. I love the fact that it is durable, simple and FAT SOUNDING. When I mean FAT I mean that it is full and thick sounding. I compared it to the Ibanez Tube Screamer and Boss BD-2. I also read some very favorable reviews of it. This could be one of the few compatible pedals for use with a Twin Reverb Reissue. Many out there seem to think that most pedals sound too thin with the Twin Reverb Reissue. As much as I like the clean of the Twin Reverb, it offers a nice deviation to the clean. I am very simple and don't like a lot of gizmos and gadgets. Just something to overdrive the amp a bit when needed.

As easy as it gets.

I use big stacks (Marshall Vintage Top, HIWATT DR 103) and too many guitars.
The OD3 isn't noisy, only if you turn up the drive there is a slight hiss, nothing to worry about.

This little puppy is a very special overdrive box. As said before, it leaves all the low end intact (which was the reason for me to buy it, I can't stand that honky Tube-Screamer sound that cuts off the bass.). No mid hump here either. If you turn the Drive down low, the sound is almost indistinguishable from the bypassed clean sound! All settings are usable, the range of the knobs is great.

The gain is in the same ballpark as a Tube-Screamer, but the sound is very different: Natural, open, responsive and clear. Because there is no mid hump, it works great with Humbucker guitars also.

Best results should be achieved with big clean amps. The bass may be too much for some of the smaller or weaker amps.

This is an overdrive, not a distortion unit. If you want that palm muting thing, look elswhere.

BOSS is famous for its reliability. All I can say is, that BOSS pedals are definately the most reliable effects in the western world, much more so than any of the so called boutique stuff!

Don't know, never dealt with them , because I didn't need to. I like their web-site http://www.bossus.com . Nice interactive sound clips and such...

This is definately one of the best overdrive units on the market. I would buy it again. I compared it to my other overdrive pedals, which are a FD2, Marshall BB2, BOSS Blues Driver, Sobbat DB2. I like them all, each has its special value. If you like your bass to be left intact, the BOSS OD3, Marshall BB2 or the Sobbat DB2 all do the job. The Sobbat is a beefed up TubeScreamer (JRC 4558 inside), the Marshall has this wonderful agressive "brown" sound, whereas the OD3 is round and warm, no rough edges here.

Some players don't like a clean overdrive like this, so check it out before you buy it. A alternative might be the BluesDriver, which has more mids and less bass and is more aggressive, almost Fuzz-like when maxed.

Yeah, this thing is too easy to get a happening sound. Just plug your guitar into the input and output it to a clean amp. I've seen some kids plugging Boss pedals into already distorted amps. This is not the way to go, you just end up with mushy pussy sound this way. These pedals are designed to be put in front of good quality clean amps.

Well, the sound is very happening. I actually purchased this to upgrade from my Boss OD2R pedal. The OD2R was okay but it filtered out a lot of the bass frequencies from my sound. The OD-3 DOES NOT filter out your bottom end at all!
I am using this with (in order of placement) Ernie Ball Volume - Jim Dunlop Wah - Boss Blues Driver - Boss OD 3 - Boss Tremolo - Boss Tuner Pedal - Boss Reverb / Dealy - Boss Line Selector. This goes to either a Marshall JTM45 reissue combo or a Peavey Classic 50/410 combo.
Vey much a vintage overdrive sound, very natural and responsive. You dont have to "fight" with this to get it to sing.

Hey it's Boss!! My other pedals have lasted me 6 years without so much as a crackle or a hiss. I'm expecting the same from this pedal

Who knows? I have never had to deal with them

Overall fantastic pedal. Easily as natural and as responsive as an amp's overdrive. Like I said before, the fact that your sound stays in tact and no lower frequencies are cut out when the pedal is engaged is excellent. I can't see a style this would not suit except perhaps "Nu-Metal" and metallica stuff but I don't play that sort of thing anyway. Oh, I'm supposed to give you a big speel about how long I've been playing arn't I? Well, 9 years (and counting) Been playing professionally full time for 3 of those. Yes and if it were stolen I would perform an unaided colon cleansing on the thief using the heel of my foot.

Three knobs. It doesn't get any easier than this.

I'm using this pedal with an Aria Pro Excell guitar plugged into a Marshal VS15 practice amp. It only gets noisy when I put my Digitech RP6 in the signal chain and turn the RP6's distorion on, together with the OD3's own. I must say, though, that the tone is amazing! The RP6's distortion is too weak and thin on its own, but coupled with the OD3 it yelds a powerful and yet MUSICAL distortion. I think it's because the OD3 itself has a magnificent, musical overdrive, but it's not heavy enough for some styles (metal, maybe punk as well). The RP6's can get heavy, but tone-wise it sucks. So not only I bought an excellent overdrive, but it also breathed life into my otherwise useless RP6 (for distortion; for modulation fx it's quite good).

According to everyone's comments, a Boss pedal is undestructible. This is my first Boss pedal, so I can't comment.

Never dealt with them.

I can't think of anything that could be improved in this pedal. Sound quality is great, the price is right. Maybe some people would want more gain, but remember this is not a distortion pedal. Overdrive = light distortion, if that is what you're looking for, I would definately recommend the OD3.

Easy as hell to use, three knobs, gain, volume, and tone.

Okay, here goes, carvin dc150, digitech whammy2, vox wah, boss od3, line6 mm4, boss dd5, boomerang, into a boogie mark3 head, and homemade cab.

Boss, reliable? even need to ask?

Yah, okay,

i play a mixture of rock, jam music, and fussion, the latter being my favorite. I can get Trey anastasio tones out of this box, rich and creamy, for my cover stuff, but in my fussion stuff it really shines. The overdrive is nice, and thick, and my guitar's pickups really shine through. It's like a tube screamer, but with way more dynamics. I may get criticized, but I think tube screamers are one trick ponies. Give me the boss any day of the week, and I'll be happy. If you want to sound like yourself, buy this pedal, and enjoy. I've owned about every amp and fx pedal out there, and I like to think I have a good idea of good tone, and this is the first boss od pedal that I reccomend. Buy and enjoy!!

very easy to get a good sound

My main guitars are 1)les paul standard with rio grande pick-ups
2)semi-hollow ibanez am 200 with humbuckers.I play trough a George Dennis "the blue" 60w 4-channel combo or a Laney LC 50 combo.Both are
all tube amps.The OD-3 sounds UNBELIEVEBLY,especially with the semi-hollow guitar.I ve had almost every od-pedal(ts-9,fulltone,maxon),and this is the first that gives a fat, slight -compressed tone(Alvin Lee
solo in "i m going home" would be a good example)I keep the tone at 8,the gain about 14 hours,level as needed.

built like a Patton

I have been playing for 15 years and try to play jazzy-blues(Larry Carlton,Robben Ford,...)This is the first pedal that gives me a fatter,better sound then the od-channel on my amps,and waaaaayy easier to get.Great job boss!