Boss ODB-3 Bass Overdrive

This pedal is one of the most harder to use I have in my pedalboard. Don't give it too much gain, or it will be a fuzz, don't give too much high, or it will be a fuzz... Remember that if you're searching for an overdrive thi isn't a real overdrive, maybe a fuzz-distortion. I'll give a 6 to it, only because I finally reached my sound

It's so hard searching a good settings. I finally set my pedal with high on flat, a lot of bass and with low gain. It's (like every distortion pedal) a little noisy, but when you raise the high it become really noisy. I use a Laney Hardcore with it and it sounds good, the balance knob is really a beautiful settings. When in bypass the tone is good enough for me. You can get Flea sound very easily, but if you're searching for Lemmy distortion or Tim Commerford distortion you can get only a lot of noise from this.

I use this live without backup cause is very hard to damage

Never have a deal with they.

I play funk and rock music. This is very good on funk, but on rock he can't sound good, so I probably buy another REAL overdrive and put this before the wah, because i love that quacky tone that I can get with this and Dunlop Crybaby 105Q. I wish it had lot of mid frequency in his sound, but is also good in this way.
A final 7 is its rating.

well if you have used distortion/ overdrive pedals before like me, it shouldn't be hard to get the hang of it.

but if you haven't used any OD/ dist pedals before, it can be pretty confusing to start.

for me, it's quite easy to use. I can get the sound i like from it. The controls are kind of straight forward, and it give a lot of ranges that you can dial.

I have used some bass-distortion/ fuzz pedals like Attack Goat and MXR. I like this one the best. A bit noisy though. But i can still get a rich and smooth overdrive to hard punchy distortion sound from it.

I give it a 7 because it's sound kinda depends on the bass i use.

I use vitage P-bass ibanez Blazer and Squier classic vibe j bass. for me i think it sounds better when using with the Jazz bass. It souns clearer. but it can get a bit muddy, but not bad though, when i use my blazer bass. i have to crank the level up a bit to make it clearer.

It's a preety damn good clean booster/ eq too.

PS. you should try it with a guitar too, sounds great.

sure, i've been using it for quite a while. I use it from small club gigs to big stage concert.

dunno, haven't deal with them before.

i play mostly rocks and it suits me quite well.

as i said, i've been using a lot of dist pedals before. Most of them give you too much low end and sounds muddy. i like this one because you can balance the amount between high freq and low freq.

I used to be a guitarist as well, so ihave my experiences in dist pedals, and ODB-3 ranks up on my top 10 dist pedals ever.

This overdrive is very easy to use. You have a Level knob to adjust the volume of the pedal. There are two knobs stacked one on top of the other for the 2-band EQ (highs and lows). A balance knob for adjusting how much overdrive you want to add to your clean signal. And finally a gain knob to adjust the overdrive/distortion. It did come with a nice detailed manual.

This pedal has pretty good overdrive/distortion. My only gripe with it is that it does have a little bit fuzz to it which I dont really care for. But the overall overdrive can get some decent grit to it. One thing I dont understand is that some of the reviews here say that they loose low end with it. I dont have this problem at all just boost the lows on the eq (mine is set at 3 o'clock)and I play with a ton of lows in my sound. The level is the same as the clean level with my setup. Just spend a little time with it and you'll get it.

I have a 4 different basses and several 6 string guitars, but the bass I have been using lately is an Ibanez SR400. Yeah I know its a cheap bass but I like the way it plays. I did change the pickups and all electronics. I put in EMG P-J active pickups and EMG BQC System (active volume/EQ system) with an 18 volt setup. So I kind of ugraded the hell out of my SR400. I play through an SWR SM-500 head into a 6x10 SWR Goliath Senior cab. So I have good equipment to test this pedal out.

The pedal is a little noisy when on but for a pedal that is about a 100 bucks I cant really complain. I currently am only using to give me a little bit of overdrive in my sound. I have the level set to about 10 o'clock, highs at around 2 o'clock, lows at 3 o'clock, and both balance and gain around 8-9 o'clock(sorry dont have the pedal with me to give you my exact settings). I directly run my bass to the pedal and from the pedal to the SWR head. Its currently the only effect I use.

Artist using this pedal, Traa Daniels from P.O.D., Nate Mendel from Foo Fighters, and also Flea from RHCP.

Very reliable. "Its a Boss" like every says. I purchased this pedal an 2000. There not even a scratch on it still looks new and I have dropped a few times. Again deffinetly built like a tank.

Never dealt with them.

I play hardcore/metal type of music for the most part thats why I bought the pedal. I didnt really compare it to any other pedals at the time because I didnt really know of any good overdrive/distortion that came in stomp box. I have a DOD Bass Grunge which I purchased a couple of years before this and the Boss beats it hands down in all categories. The DOD deffinetly looses low end when turned on. It doesnt matter what setting you try to setup. But if the Boss ODB-3 were lost or stolen I would probably look around and check out Electro-Harmonix Big Muff, Tech 21 sansamp driver, Fulltone bass-drive, and MXR Blow Torch etc before I purchase this pedal again. I would also check rack mounted distortion effects.

I love that its compact and that it is very basic and reliable. My favorite feature is that it is specifically an overdrive pedal. Again I wish the overdrive had less fuzz to it but its not bad. It still fits in my style of music. You can easily get the Flea overdrive sound with this pedal.

I have been playing for 13 years now and I feel like I have the sound I want from my setup. This pedal helps when I want to add some grit to my sound. So I say deffinetly check this pedal out if you are looking for a stomp box distortion, but try others also cause there are many out there. I gave it generous 9 because of the fuzz.

It's easy there's a low a high a clean drive and a dirty. don't take allot to figure out. you can either make it crunch or make it be a loud boosting mf

for years I used this out my svt head and 8 10 combo(I???ve sense retired now I use a GK 800 with two 15). I used it as my distortion for a time and then I???d used it as a volume boost. Then finally used it as both. i have to tell you, it's was time for it go. I???ve replace it with a petal that based on a rams head fuzz that has a blend option. the thing is this petal is a boss and that???s what it sounds like. It???s hard to explain, just kind of a replicated generic tone.

it???s a boss petal. They???ll be around longer then cockroaches

there a big company, they act like one, just ask (the death to original gear)guitar center

It depends how much your sound matters to you

The ease of use is great! Like many pedals, it takes a bit of time to find its sweet spot for your preferred sound, but there IS a wide range of distorions in this box.

I was running this chain - Ernie ball MM4 stingray>sonic max>alesis compressor>EH octave multiplexer>Boss ODB3>Russian Big Muff>Boss CH3>Tuner>hartke 2500. last weekend at a show, the soundguy and I spent some downtime before the show tweaking knobs and putting both the muff and the odb3 to the test. The muff didnt bring anything useable to the table, so I'm selling it and that review is for another day. The boss had a tasty variety of distortions that could be dialed it with little unwanted buzz. the MAJOR drawback, which is prompting me to sell this one too, is that it cuts the overall level. We tested many different settings, but everytime the unit was switched on, the overall dB dropped slightly, but enough to discourage me from using it live. I may keep it for the studio, but it just didnt have that extra 10% of volume for those timed I needed distortion. Great sound, too quiet (hence the 5)

rock solid. if it didnt have the volume problem, it would be my go-to pedal. its a boss

Bottom line, its great for beginners, for fooling around, perhaps even for the studio, but not for live shows.

You need pacience... this pedal is a b*tch, but believe me its worth the time

Schecter stiletto extreme 5 diamond series, to odb 3, to ce-5 to laney RB 3

If you experiment enough with it u can go from a little boost to crazy distortion but DO bother to tweak it you will get the sound u want also doesnt effs up the lows play with the EQ.

It can do a slight growl, the flea thing, cliff burton thing, the muse thing... really REALLY versatile but the gain knob is noisy

BTW in all honesty it seems they get like retarded monkeys to do the settings in the booklet, what u should do is put it to a setting and then tweak it from that

Totally dependable, im afraid the cliche is true

Never dealt with em...

I play all kinds of music... ive been playing for 7 months or so the i would buy it again if it got stolen, i love the really subtle grrr u can get with the gain at 0 the balance at 9 o clock maximum low boost, highs like at ten o clock and the level at maximum i use that with my chorus just sound really sweet

Its very easy to use. only plug it in and rock out!

im using it with my bass and SWR amp and it sounds fantastic. Effect sounds awesome if you put the right settings. you can get same kind of sound what flea does and thatis the thing why i bought it.

Its very solid. you could try to break it but i think it wouldnt. I could use it on a gig without backup

It sounds very good and its easy to use and i just love everything of it.

EQ a bit fiddly. Otherwise O.K.

Different pitches of buzz, but no growl or roar.

Nobs and peddle lock seem a bit flimsy, but no breakages yet.

Not needed up to now.

I play very heavy lazy lines - Rock, Metal, Jazz... even some Reggae or Dance inspired stuff... Tangerine Dream EXPERMENTAL. Just about anything - but not Funk.

I've been playing for 30 years.

If buzz is all you're after then this unit is an affordable option. But if - like me - you're looking for roar or growl... FORGET IT.

I considered taking the thing back to the shop, but I was afraid to look the assistant in the eye and admit I'd been stupid enought to buy the thing in the first place... Even at it's reduced price...

Come to think of it... The price was probably reduced because it is crap...

This is a review of my positive experiences with the ODB-3.

I'm using the ODB-3 for blues and rock. I'm using it for volume boost, distortion to help cut through the mix and to fatten up some parts. Playing through a PBass with flatwounds, Trace Elliot RAH250SMX 2X10 1X15 cabs. I set it, Level 12 o'clock, High 10 o'clock, Low 1 o'clock, Balance 12 o'clock and Gain zero. I found a nice light OD from this pedal with these settings. I've owned a sansamp Bass Di driver and though it's a great pedal it coloured my tone somewhat.

I can depend on this pedal!

Alot of people dislike this pedal. I like it. For the price you pay you can't go wrong. The ODB-3 sounds really fat with my setup, sounds great in live playing situations, playing the ODB-3 solo in the shop or bedroom may sound harsh but that all goes away when the band kicks in!

Okay, as you will read in this section, many folks have probs getting the sound they want from this pedal. Here's why:

1) This is 10% of an overdrive pedal & 90% a distortion/noise overload pedal. So folks wanting overdrive and clean bass low-end push can essentially forget it. Folks wanting huge angry distortion & not needing tonal purity will find this pedal ok.

2) This pedal design is poor in the pot range of sensitivity for wet/dry, level & gain, etc as it is TOO limited due to ultra-sensitivity. You get BLAM!! when you turn knobs a wee bit from "zero" and/or "dry". This won't bother folks who play everything at 10 and could care less about tonal palette and less in-your-face sonic oblivion.

3) This pedal is most important VERY sensitive in how it performs depending on volume and/or any EQ-ing done on your instrument before signal path hits pedal. If you have a very simple low-end bass, you can forget trying to easily tweaking this pedal. It needs external EQ and volume tweaking to expand its possibilities!

As stated above if you want distortion or huge noise that sorta sounds like the bass section gone metal mayhem, then this pedal is fine. If however you want that 70s funked up overdriven fuzz bass like many fusion bassists achieved, you will be hard-pressed to find THAT groove any maintain a PHAT bass low-end too. I was able to get such after 15 minutes of diddling and twiddling not only the pedal but I also have onboard EQing on my basses and nice active pups to mix. Low-end bass users w/o EQ before this pedal be forewarned.

It's a BOSS mother of metal case.

NA

If you any sense of adjusting volume on bass pups and turning gain / levels / wet/dry knobs from 0.5 to 3.7 you will be okay. EQ before pedal is highly recommended. THEN also remember you can further tweak it all at your bass amp as well. I'd set EQ on bass to "0" or normal first, then tweak axe and pedal before you fine-tune your amp, then you will get some decent overdriven bass phat punch and even though that warm bass will be lost, you will have some balls on your bass. Though I am a guitarist, this pedal will help bassists not get ignored in the mix when the rest of the band is fuzzed out & you are too clean. Need some muscle? Then this pedal (IF used right) will have folks take notice of that badass bass growl.