Boss ODB-3 Bass Overdrive

For the guy that has an issue with the thing making noise in front of a computer.
Computer Monitor = Very large magnetic field
When positioning a magnetic pickup in very large magnetic field you get major noise.
Here's a trick. Just before recording to your PC Multitrack, turn the monitor off.

Very easy to use, the controls are pretty obvious.

Level (volume), EQ (low + high), balance "dry/od" (blending original bass signal with the overdrive), gain. Cool!

The manual's good, and the sample settings they give you are really helpful. Also the diagrams of blank knobs on the pedal are great to have in case you want to write down your settings.

I use this with either my Warwick Corvette '98 Standard (passive MEC singlecoils) or Stienberger XT-2 Spirit (passive EMG humbuckers) into a Yorkville B100 solid-state combo amp.

I totally agree with the reviewers that have stated how noisy this thing can be...including that one guy that had this thing on while in front of a computer...noise city! lol so true!

Tone wise, this pedal's like night and day.

When I first opened the box, plugged this in and stomped on it for the first time (all the settings set at 12:00), and hit the low E, immediately the first tone I thought of was Flea's distorted bass solo in the beginning of "Around the World". And thats probably the best setting.

You can get a 'tubey overdrive' sound by setting the gain at about 9:00, and set the balance between 2:00 and 3:00. Obviously the warmth isn't there, after all the pedal is solid state, but you can approximate it pretty well if your using a decent Ampeg or SWR.

Don't expect bypassing...once you stomp on the pedal and that red LED goes on, even if the gain is set to minimum and you turn the blend knob to dry, your tone gets affected quite a bit. It's hard to tell exactly what you lose...the upper mids get dirtied up a bit and you lose some top end I think.

At the absolute maximum (balance on OD, gain maxed out) the tones here are very much reminiscent of Cliff Burton's "Pulling Teeth" bass solo (use the bridge pickup on your bass) or, to a lesser extent, Lemmy Kilmisters' bass sound (use the neck pickup on your bass, and use a pick).

The problems with that setting are, first of all, in the lows. The low-end is definately still there, but it gets very muddy in that range and definition is pretty much lost. It's not as bad as plugging your bass into a guitar-specific overdrive/dist. pedal, but when the gain is maxed something is lost.

The highs are also tinny and scratchy, a mid knob would have been a great feature but you can only deal with the muddy lows and ear-piercing highs.

To cover up that problem you could turn up the mid control on your amp, or on the other extreme you could cut it to get that true 'fuzz' tone.

This pedal isn't really subtle...if you try and blend a nice crunch sound with the dry sound, overall it sounds a bit too compressed to be subtle.

When I first owned this pedal I didn't want subtlety; I wanted insane, in your face distortion. And for that it's good for. Kind of. Use the blend knob at least sparingly...it's there, and it maintains clarity in my opinion. However I wouldnt really have the gain set to anything less than halfway, cause there's too much compression and loss of upper mid clarity to worry about subtlety.

One thing I must add; don't bother using both of your bass' pickups while playing through distortion...it sounds lousy. The one-pickup sound is better, so use just the neck or treble pickup.

it's been tossed around and overseallously stomped on, still good as new...Boss pedals are always good for that!

I've been playing bass for five years, and I primarily play rock, some punk, and a bit recently I've been trying to play slap stuff.

Anyway, one thing I like about this pedal is the fact that it's the only one for bass with this much gain. Despite the effect on tone when at a clean setting, and the scratchy highs, If Motorhead/Metallica's your style you'll like this pedal.

Just don't expect too much out of it, especially if your amp isn't too great (it works best on an amp with tube preamp, particularily SWR's stuff).

A dedicated mid knob on the pedal would have been great. I suppose if you have a mid control on your amp already, then you don't really need one on the pedal all that much. But for me anyway, I find that the perfect mid setting (on the amp) with the pedal on just doesn't work for when the pedal's off.

This pedal should have been a bit cheaper! $110 CDN is a bit much...

This pedal has helped me make some music, bass overdrive is an important part of my tone, but I dont think this pedal would work in a mix/live setting.

I can't really say what I would have done if it were stolen or not, only cause I didn't own this pedal for terribly long, I traded it in after about six months for a used Boss Metal Zone lol. At that time I was taking up guitar and didn't want to dish out another $100+ for another pedal.

I've compared this pedal to a few other BOSS pedals...previously I owned a GEB-7 EQ, and I used to get a bit of overdrive out of that thing to, by maxing out all the individual EQ faders and the volume fader.

The result here is speaker distortion, similar to the opening bass riffs of Isreal's Son by Silverchair, or "Blew" by Nirvana.

But when I heard of the ODB-3 pedal I couldn't resist, and got rid of the Bass EQ.

And after that, I've actually plugged in my bass into the Metal Zone just for fun, and it's remarkably similar to the ODB-3. Except of course on the MT-2 there's no true bottom end. On the other hand though, at least the MT-2 has mid-shaping!

Recently I've missed overdrive on bass...I don't think I'm gonna buy this one again if I decide on a bass OD pedal.

I've been hearing good hings about the EHX Black Finger Tube Compressor, the Gallien-Krueger Diesel Dawg, and the Tech 21 Bass Driver DI, but those are all at least $200 more.

Anybody got any suggestions as to what other good Bass OD pedals are out there?

This is extremely easy to use. There are no hidden sounds that come out if you turn a knob to far. If I'm on stage playing one of my band's harder songs, and then the next song isnt as hard, but still needs to be loud, I just leand down, turn the OD knob the the left, and thats that.

I use this with a Fender Precision Deluxe Series Bass and a Gallien-Kreuger Backline Series 112 100 watt amp. I also have a digitech Bass Synth Wah pedal. If I send it straight to the amp, or put it through the synth wah pedal, it sounds great either way. The big reason for me using this is pumping up my sound when the song gets louder. When it's set on "clean" it does exactly nothing to distort the sound. When I turn it over to overdrive, I get a nice distorted sound that is just what I like. The bass and treble knobs are wonderful. The EQ on my amp isn't the greatest, so it works out just fine.

I've had it for about a year now, and I haven't had any problems with it. It's still holding up. I don't use a battery with it because I can never trust batteries. The power supply that came with it works well. I don't see myself getting a new overdrive pedal for a long time. I take pride in this stompbox.

I have not dealt with the company, but the registration process was easy enough. Just send in the card. Enough said.

I've been playing electric bass for about 4 or 5 years now (I'm almost 16) and I don't think I've tried out a piece of equiptment like this pedal. Before I bought this, I thought about getting the digitech overdrive pedal, but then a couple months after I got the boss, i tried the digitech out, and it was clear i had made the right choice. For my rock band, there are places where a lot of bass is needed, especially in my riffs and my solos, and if i want to be heard, all i have to do is stomp once. I don't see myself playing any gig without it. Good job Boss!

Quiet easy to use.

I use the effect on an Ampeg amplifier and an unknown 2x15 Box. When I turn down the balance know, gain about a quarter and the high frequencies up the sound is not bad. But I have to turn off all the high frequencies at my bass. Otherwise, my bass sounds a bit like a guitar. And you cant get a good boost out of that effect. But its not bad.

Its massive. The effect needs alot of enery so you have to change the battery quite often.

I don't know.

I think it's a good effect to have as a bassist. You can really bring your sound to the next level by activating it. Check it out but dont forget to check out other Bass overdrive pedals too.

This pedal is pretty easy to use but ya cant get on it strait away and expect it 2 be perfect it takes time 2 get use 2 tha controls and tha manual that come with it gives ya same samples and they help out heaps when ya first get it and then ya start to realise how it works

I use a Fender jazz bass std and it makes tha nicest sound through my ampeg BA115 combo but with tha wrong settings ats noisy as hell i use a cry baby bass wah with it and a korg high performance bass pedal and i have seemed to balance them out well.
I can find most settings from my favorite artist but tim commerfords from Audioslave is hard 2 match he makes his own stuff so cant go that far

I would put my life on it
its allways goin never stops
ITS A BOSS!!!

no need 2 yet
hopefully wont have 2
i have got a 2 year warranty tho

My band plays lots or styles of music and it seems to e suited to all of it i have been playin for 5 yrs i have a Ampeg BA115 combo and a std Fender Jazz bass and a nathan east signature bass 5 string yamaha it doesnt realy like tha overdrive but it still sounds good
Overall Very nice pedal but it realy depends on what kind of bass player ya like i don use many FX but its good 2 have them when feel like touching up a song a bit it does tha job nicely

This is a tweaker's pedal for sure. If you want something that you get up and start rippin', this isn't for you. The controls are interactive, and it takes a good deal of fiddling around to get clear distinctive sounds. This pedal has been erroneously named "Overdrive", as it really is a fuzz pedal....read through the other reviews of anyone that's played more than a few years and owns real equipment.

PBC (Bunker) 4 string/Demeter tube pre VTBP-201/Ampeg SVT-410HLN. I read the Boss blurb, as well as some other reviews, and bought into thinking it was an overdrive/distortion pedal. Industrial/HM/HR kind of thing. That ain't the case, Bub. Fuzz is all you get...sure you can cut the balance back and have mostly direct bass tone with a little pedal mixed in...but the mix in is still fuzz. My bass/setup gives me great bottom end, but the only way I can get any thump while using this box is to crank the bass all the way, and I do mean all the way, up. Highs are scratchy and usuable, as other knowledgable folks have written...I use is to cut not boost! I bought over the Internet....I know I should know better, but I didn't want to shell the big bucks out, and figured I'd get some usable distortion.

It's a rock.

N/A

I've played Rock/Jazz-influenced Rock/Hard Pop/Punkish Rock/Blues for 10+ years, the better part of the last 7 on bass. I own top gear (Historic Model SG, Soldano amp, Bag End cab, Tama Starclassic drums, Lakwood acoustic) because it makes a difference....doesn't make me a better player, it makes a better sound. Period. Don't believe it, come back when you've been around the block a few times. If I was looking for an 80's, solid state (I know, I know...I asked for it!), harsh sounding fuzz tone, then I'd be very happy with this pedal. It does have a lot of variable controls (though they don't vary the fuzz content much), it's built solidly, and there are plenty of real world applications for this pedal. Unfortunately I won't be playing in any of those situations. And if you really want fuzz, real musical fuzz, check out the Z.Vex Woolly Mammoth. Gotta pay to play nice! I'll be saving my pennies for something that crosses more spectrums...that can be fuzzed out, but can also provide nice simple distortion. Of course, this time out I'll try in person or take home. I hear the Fulltone BassDrive's a nice box and I'd like to play around with the Z.Vex to see if it can be reeled in. I'm looking to get rid of this pedal, so I'd never think of replacing it. Oh, and the "if it's good enough for Flea" comment...well recorded or live, that fuzz goes through a lot more equipment than I'll ever own. Maybe it'd be good enough for me if I had $50K worth of rack stuff, but as it is I need a standalone that does what I need. This is a fuzz box.

It's a pedal. Just dial what you need and voila!!

It's the noisiest mofo I've ever tried in my life. Have you ever plugged your bass in and put it 2in from your computer screen???

It's a BOSS. 'Nough said.

Never had to deal with them.

Like every other BOSS pedals, it's built like a tank and it's easy to use. But talking about this particular effect, all I can say is that they missed something when they built that thing. Once you step on it to turn it on, even the slightest amount of overdrive will hiss and buzz in your amp like there's no tomorrow. And it's more like a distortion pedal with a bass knob. No growl, no nothing. I tried my friend's SansAmp GT2 (for guitar but has sample settings for bass) and I couldn't beleive that BOSS could make such a noisy effect and put it in stores. I'm even shy to sell it back to someone else. Sorry but I just hate it.

Very Easy just varies between bass and bass amps ect but i got used to it fast

i remember when i bought this i compared it to a dod bass overdrive (piece of shit) there was no heavy distortion, then plugged this and....WOW!!!, first thing i heard was a heavy rumbling distrotion, then i got that crappy slight overdrive that DOD gave me, it sounded great, just with my crappy bass and amp it gets feedback but i know thats not the pedals fault, ive tried it with other basses and amps

BOSS PEDAL!! what else can i say

none

Probably the bass overdrive you can get but now the have the digitech X-series which i havn't tried yet, i'm sure it's up there ith the boss or better though

Very easy. Level Controls volume. EQ controls a two band equalizer. Balance determines the distortion mix with the clean sound. Gain controls level of overdrive distortion.

I am using it on a Rickenbacker 4001 direct to a mixer. The noise level is about the same as a tube pre-amp. Gain will definitely affect the noise level. I have been doing a lots of compare and contrast with a tube pre-amp using a 5751 RCA Command (black plate)tube. I am amazed at how similar the sound is. This pedal can really simulate a tube overdrive. The only difference I found was that this pedal has a built in compressor. This compression is very nice however does affect playing dynamics but it's really not a problem. Tweaking this pedal takes some time and you really have to know the type of sound you are going for. The first thing to do is set the EQ. This is important because of the built in compression.
To simulate a tube overdrive sound Balance should be all the way up (5 o'clock) and the Gain should be set all the way to minimum (7 o'clock).
This sounds really cool. If you are going for a variable distortion turn the Balance and Gain all the way down and start bringing up the Balance up until the hardest note you hit triggers distortion. This will take some tweaking because of the compression. This is why I got this pedal. Then of course if you are going to and extreme you can crank the Gain up until you are happy or you get arrested. Cranking the gain does affect the noise level but then again we talking about massive distortion with some wild harmonics.

This will work until time stops.

They have a great web site.

Progressive Rock / Fusion
I bought this pedal and my first impression was that it was way too extreme and I had no idea how to control it.
It sat for about a year while I searched for my sound. After figuring out what real tube distortion was all about I got curious about it again and started tweaking. It seems like the engineers designed it really well and the sound ranges from very realistic overdriven tube sound to distortion that will melt the sky.

This pedal is very simple to operate. It features four very basic controls that do just what they say: Level, EQ, Balance, Gain.

However, getting a good sound is a different story. Although this pedal features an EQ for tone control this pedal is pretty limited when it comes to the Overdrive. The gain on this pedal is actually more of a fuzzy buzz than it is Overdrive and the only real control you have is the fuzz buzz thickness.

The sound quality itself was very good, just not flexible enough for my taste.

It's a Boss. 'Nuff said.

I play Industrial/Techno/Metal and this pedal is great for it however I prefer something with a little more Overdrive/Distortion versatility which this pedal just does not have. I have since sold mine and replaced it with an Ibanez PD7 Phat-Hed that I am very happy with.