Boss SYB-3 Bass Synthesizer

Well if you know something about synthesis, and hw a synth works this pedal is quite easy to use. For people who are new to this, it kan be a little difficult.

The sounds are good, I think this pedal can be compared best to a JUNO-106 synthesizer from Roland.

Typical Boss/Roland case, so it's almost impossible to destroy it.

Never used it

Yes this pedal is a nice add-on to your excisting bassrig, it pulls you out of the blue when your stuck in your daily bass riffing. Give's you a positive boost, and new ways to explore.

Everybody says pretty much the same thing; this pedal is difficult to use. It's true. Not only is it hard to dial in a sound, the range of the knobs is so great that finding your sound again can be almost impossible. You'll probably find half a dozen interesting sounds by accident, while trying to recreate that great sound you found last week.

There's no editing, as such; it's a pedal, with stacked, concentric knobs. The manual isn't bad, but anyone who expects something like a simple envelope filter will get lost right away.

I could see Devo or the Residents using this; not so sure about Robert Fripp or Bill Frisell. It doesn't really matter, I'm not using the SYB-3 to sound like anyone else.

Lots of people have raved about getting Moog-like tones out of this box. I find it kind of buzzy, compared to say, Jan Hammer's Moog sounds, but maybe I'm not trying hard enough to get those sounds. (I use a Roland guitar synth for serious synth sounds.) I use the SYB-3 wrong anyhow. When I'm not using it with a guitar, I use it for TB-303-style sounds. (BTW, the SYB-3 DOES work with an ordinary 6-string electric guitar, in standard tuning, at least one w/HB's; haven't tried it with single-coils.) Here's the TB-303 trick:

I run one output from my DR-660 drum machine into the SYB-3's input, and start a beat. Then I tweak my sound. I use the SYB-3's dual outputs to send the DR-660's signal straight through to my recorder, and I give the bass synth output its own channel. Live, I run the outputs to a PA; no point killing a guitar amp. The SYB-3 responds well to the input levels from the DR-660, and I get a 303-style bass line that's locked to the beat. If you've managed to find that elusive Moog Taurus sound, imagine driving that sound with a beatbox! Try this at home, it should work with any drum machine.

For guitar sounds, the SYB-3 probably rates around a 6, but with the DR-660, it rates a 10; I'll split the difference, and give it an 8.

I've had it for a few years; it hasn't gotten any easier to use, but it always works.

Roland's support people try hard to be helpful, but some players know more about Roland/Boss gear than some of their support staff. The website could be more helpful.

As I've written many times, I play experimental guitar, which leaves room for all kinds of sounds, and noises. I have an assortment of loopers, delays, synths, and weird filter boxes, including a Line6 Filter Modeler, and a Digitech Synth-Wah pedal. The SYB-3 isn't one of my favorite boxes, but it has its place. I've been playing since before psychedelic music.

If something happened to my SYB-3, I might get an SYB-5, but I wouldn't hurry. Most of my music is not beat-driven, so the TB-303 sound isn't critical to my music. I love the range of sounds in this box: I hate turning the knobs millimeter by millimeter so I don't overshoot the sound I'm trying to get. I'm not sure what my favorite feature is.

I have other synth/filter boxes, and no two sound alike, which is why I have more than one. I chose the SYB-3 because it had huge range of sounds, with a small footprint; those Line6 Modelers take the space of three or four other pedals.

I wish it had memory, even if you could only save one sound at a time.

I've never liked the question "Does it help you make music?", at least when applied to effects. Effects make sounds, and we use those sounds to make music; it seems like a small point, but it's an important one. Most electronic musicians do play real instruments, not just noisemakers. Having said that, the SYB-3 is a great noisemaker.

A word to the wise; don't buy this pedal for the T-Wah modes. A usable envelope filter costs a third what the SYB-3, or the SYB-5 costs. If you really want to spend $250-300 for an envelope filter, get the Mutron re-issue.

The tough thing about this pedal is getting the same sound repeatedly. It is takes tweaking and is a little unpredictable. Great for studio work. Tough for live gigs.

This is one of the neatest sounding pedals ever created. It really does turn your bass into an analog synthesizer. A great studio pedal. Gets smooth synth hums with a neat deacay and great sounding fuzz. It can also make splatty moogy electric light parade squonks.

Don't even try to get these sounds out of the Electro Harmonix Bass Microsynth. This is the only pedal that claims to be a guitar synth that actaully does it.

Only works with bass! Needs low tones. Ineffective with six strings.

Tough to get settings on by rock solid.

Boss is great.

I like pedals that have distinctive character. There is no pedal on the planet like this one. It is unique. We used it on our first album for it's long spacey hum and loved it. It's a lot of fun and very weird.

Lots of knobs: Bypass Vol / Effect Vol / Resonance / Frequency / Decay (Sensitivity in modes 8-11) / Mode (1-11)

My relationship with the SYB-3 has been over two years of hate/love/hate... I play with software synths at home, and love vintage Taurus sounds and the like. Plug a cheap keyboard into the SYB-3 and it'll run like a charm (try it, it's fun!). Do the same with bass however, and it's a different story. It just will not track cleanly unless certain conditions are met:

1) Run a strong, clean signal into the SYB-3.
2) Mute all unused strings as you play.
3) Try and play on one string only.
4) Fret buzz _will_ affect the signal, so adjust your setup.
5) Noise will also trigger the SYB-3 - use a gate if you have one.

Doing the above will help, but you'll still get glitches from time to time. NB: when learning to use the pedal, turn down the bypass signal so you can hear what's going on more clearly.

Next bitch: the 'Hold' mode can be very tricky to get used to. You need to ensure that the note triggers before you engage Hold mode, or you'll get silence punctuated by an annoying flashing light ;) What this means is that you will have to play a solid note at the start of the phrase you want the held signal to go under. Having your playing style dictated to you by one of your fx pedals may irritate you!

Last bitch: the (perceived?) output volume changes with the degree of Resonance applied to the synthesizer modes. Low values are quiet, anywhere past half-way and it can be obnoxious.

I am currently using a Stuart Spector Design NS-4 > Sansamp RBI > Carver PM 1.5 > Trace Elliot 1248H. All my effects are parked in the RBI's FX loop (set to 50/50 Mix mode).

Modes 1 - 7 take the input sound and generate analogue monophonic synthesizer tones:

Mode 1 - Sawtooth wave: fairly cold sounding synth.

Mode 2 - Square wave: warmer than mode 1. I've got some very Depeche Mode sounds out of this setting.

Mode 3 - Square wave + pulse width modulation: Mode 2 with a chorus-like texture.

Mode 4 - Sawtooth -1 octave: now we're talking! This is phat, make no mistake. Set the Res/Freq all the way down and it's almost like a normal octaver. I've used this to play "Great Big Lie" by the Tea Party.

Modes 5-7 are versions of Modes 1,3 & 4 with added noise.

Modes 8/9 - Wave shape: a kind of distortion which is input sensitive like an envelope filter. I've gotten a sound very similar to Aphex Twin's "Come to daddy" out of these modes. Sick, sick distortion. Depending on the settings it can fart out at the end of it's decay cycle in a very un-appealing fashion.

Modes 10/11 - very weak touch-wah, but it opens up some with distortion in front. This is the least convincing aspect of this pedal, which is a shame as it would be the most usable otherwise. The pedal loses 2 points because of this.

It's a Boss. I bought it second hand, it works flawlessly. I regularly use it with no backup.

Eats batteries like there's no tomorrow - it has an 80 mA current draw. Loses a point because of this. Use an adaptor!

n/a

'idoru' http://www.idoru.com.au

We play alt-rock with a nod to metal and prog rock/psychedelia. If I lost my SYB-3, I _may_ possibly buy the SYB-5 to replace it, but I'd _much_ rather get a Moog MuRF.

I don't like the last 4 modes much, they just don't seem to react to variations in input except in very particular settings. The hold mode in modes 1-7 is a major redeeming feature of this pedal.

I do like this pedal, but at it's heart it is just a monophonic synth and isn't terribly interesting. However, if you strap other effects after it, you can make some seriously nasty or trippy sounds depending on what you use. Distortion + slow, deep phase is great for spicing up the hold mode. Delays work nicely with a slow Decay on the SYB-3. Use your imagination!

I can find in SYB-3 the most untouchable pedal for a bass, i find it really hard to make it play in a show, but i think at home is some kind of a toy!

I complain the fact that I cannot make the sounds change during playing, I mean, in a song you can use only one set up from 11, I wish I could change the setup with simple footsteps or whatever...

the sounds on the amp are real and freaky, but also I disagree with the fact that the sound will end with a cut instead of fadeing out, i wish it had a knob to make it last longer...

i like it, and I'm learning how to use it, for now i'm going to keep it, but i think at the moment, is not the best sound i want.

the pedal has changed, and i need the exp pedal, I am left with one choice, change the SYB-3 for an SYB-5

DAMN!

YEAH dude! it's a great toy, if you play new music is good, but if you like the roots is not your best move, I would have prefered an equalaizer instead, but, things went this way..

i shall play till i get another toy!

I just picked up my SYB-3 today, but I've had the chance to use in a live situation (even recorded with it!) back a few years ago when it first came out (it was new in 1996, right around the time my band Stratos recorded CD of live improvised music).

Since this unit is pretty much an ANALOG based pedal, you get that warm, synthy, gritty tone. It works (read sounds) great.

Because there are so many settings (for a stomp box) you should really be sure of how you want it to behave BEFORE setting it down on the floor at a gig!

What can be said? realistically, it has its own tone and sound. As with all Boss pedals, when the effect is off, its pretty much out of the path and doesn't have a tone or sound of its own. So its not true bypass (just like ALL of Boss' other pedals), which is all the rage today, but then again, if you need that, go by an effects router rack or something like that!

I love the sound this thing makes- deep and funky. Or trancy and hypnotic. If you like Bootsy, then you can get to within spitting distance of the fried chicken stand with this pedal. Its no mu-tron, but damn it sounds pretty close!!!

Conversly, if you like your tone more like the Moog bass sounds, or just a plain old "touch wah" sound, it'll get you there too!!!

The hold function (something I forgot COMPLETELY about!) makes simulating a Taurus basspedal synth a breeze (remember Yes and Rush???). You can even play over top of things with an unaffected sound while using the hold function to keep the original note droning on and on. That is a very natural thing for me to do, as I'm used to hitting triggers and the like with my feet (plus, I do have 5 other pedals plus two volume controls on the pedal board- just for the bass. Don't even get me started on sequencers, keyboards and triggers! Yikes!!!).

One thing that has bugged a lot of people about this box is the tracking (or claimed lack of). I haven't had a single problem with mine following my notes. The octave DOES have a glitchy quality to it at times, so if thats what is bugging people- learn to articulate your phrasing better! I've found that the cleaner the player, the less this is a problem. The synth sounds never seem to waver or misbehave like people claim they do! I play with a pick most of the time, and run compression (and if used, my octave pedal is before the syb-3) before the unit, but I can't say that I have any serious tracking issues. Hmm...

Pretty much everything that Boss makes in a stompbox rocks! Like I've said, I own five other pedals- DS-2 Turbo-Distortion, TR-2 Tremolo (with effect volume modification), DC-2 Dimension (back from 1985- very rare!), OC-2 Octave, and the BF-2 Flanger, and all are built like tanks. I think they even have had beer and crap spilt on them! They just keep going!

Hey its Boss!!! I've NEVER had a Boss pedal die on me (unless I DID something to 'F' it up!!! And because I've never had a problem, I've never had to use customer support!

That rules in my book...

As mentioned, I play in a 3 member (currently- still looking for a singer) improvising project that does a lot of work with everything from industrial noise, dance rave/electronica to hard core bebop/acid jazz to King Crimson-like experimentation. the SYB-3 simply allows me a little more of a creative palette to choose from now. Mind you, I have a monster rig and split the signals up into two different areas (low with the SYB-3 in there with the BF-2 and OC-2, and a higher guitar like tone up top, courtesy of a Sans Amp GT-2, the DS-2, TR-2 and DC-2, followed by an Alesis Microverb II). Again with the hold feature- its great to have a low end bass pedal-like drone while playing something else over top that bears little resemblance to standard bass guitar "sounds".

I love this thing, and used with taste, its incredible!!!

For the price I paid, if the unit was stolen, I'd probably chase the person out to their car, grab the thing and proceed to beat the snot out of them!!!

with a bit of patience and experimentation... you can surely find at least a few sounds that you will dig. You don't have a patching option... which is a MAJOR drawback! but, it's only 200 bucks new.

I'm using G&L basses and a full Ampeg stack (SVT 3 PRO head with an SVT810E 8x10 cab) It sounds SWEET even through a rig... that is the TRUE test of a stompbox. The only issue is the often lacking tracking of the box... it isn't good if you wanna play fast... but with patience and the right tweaking you can get some settings to move quicker... bottom line *TAKE YOUR TIME WITH THIS PEDAL BEFORE YOU TRASH IT* you still might decide it sucks, but at least sit and really tweak those knobs and literally try everything

well I don't know yet... I guess I have to see... it does eat batteries pretty fast. and you do have to have a good setting to make sure it tracks properly... the pedal seems to be very sensitive.

I'm a fockin metal/rock head... but the pedal is still fun to mess with. I don't really know what else to say for this pedal... Give it a shot and maybe you'll like it... everyone has different tastes

I gave this unit a glowing review a year or two ago. Since I started going further into electronic music (electro, psy-trance, house, etc), this unit became of less and less use. The synth sounds are OKAY if you have no access to a rackmount/keyed synth, but honestly, the simple square and saw tooth waves grew tired for me. I ended up using this unit more for its t-wah, and the FM distortion effects before I finally sold it and bought a Yamaha CS1X synth. Now, I use my bass as a bass, my synth as a synth. For the price of this unit in most places, you'd be better off saving up for something like a Digitech BP80/200. It'll give you wierd sounds, but it just isn't for most people.

The tracking is horrible. I don't care if it's "good" for 1/8 notes, as, like most bassists, I don't only play 1/8 notes. It'd be worthwhile to find out what Les Claypool uses (check Oysterhead's "Mr. Oysterhead" for a really nice synth bass sound, doesn't sound to me like there's any tracking involved at all, no oscillators being triggered, and it still sounds better than the syb-3). Sell it on ebay, people wanna pay through the roof for this unit.

Good to experiment with, but too expensive for an entry level synth for the sounds it's capable of. If you never touch a Moog synth, you might stay happy with the SYB. Buy it used, 'cause if you don't like it, you can easily make a full return on the investment if you resell it on ebay. A 3, as I just got sick of it.

In theory, this should be an easy unit to use. When you've got the right signal going in to it it sounds good, and it's fsairly elementary dialing up a good sound. In practice however it's a nightmare to actually know what the pedal will react to, it seems to cange every time I use it, making it a nightmare live.

Because of it's unpredictable nature, this has sat on my shelf for years with me thinking it's useless. Recently I've been using it for a bit of home recording. It's hard to get a good sound on this, it's 90% of the time too murky, or way WAY too piercing. The pedal has a set range of sounds, rather than the parameters for creating your own, I find this a bit limiting. The actual sounds don't have much variety, there are three different sounds, synth sounds, noise sounds and wah/envelope filter sounds. All of these sounds sound good with one thing, and with others don't react at all. Most of the sounds are pretty samey - there just aren't enough parameters to get the sound I want. The wah sounds in particular almost never seem to work, and are practicall un-noticeable when they do. Just when you're feeling fed up with it though, a brilliant sound comes through - then disapears forever when you turn it off and back on again. The tracking is just unbelievable, it takes so much to get it to react, half the time it's unusable.

As far as the construction goes, 10/10. This thing will never break, but who cares? because it eats batterys like nothing I've ever seen in my life, the adaptor plug doesn't work (please, does anyone know whats going on here? - theres either no life or it just makes one infinite rumble when I plug a 9v adaptor into it - email me if you have any suggestions).

I would not trust this pedal with a bee in a jar. You can be sure, that it will not do what you want it to, even with a drum loop playing through it, it responds slightly different every time. Which can be fun, or it can be a gargantuan pain in the arse. This, in my books, makes it very unreliable.

Never had to ring. Probably wouldn't bother if the pedal broke either.

Quite frankly, this is a bad pedal. Plain and simple, the occasional nice noise really doesn't make up for it's shortcomings. It's layout is limiting, it hardly works, too power hungry, not a particularly nice sound...

it does have a stereo out put however, which is nice but not too useful when you can't get it to work in the first place.

By stompbox standards, it's a pain. By synth standards, it's cake. What patches? In synth modes 1-7, it's an extremely basic subtractive synth: the mode knob selects your waveform; frequency and resonance controls alter those characteristics of the filter, and delay/sensitivity adjust the speed of the filter sweep (no sweep to fast). That's all, folks.

Non-synth modes 8 and 9 introduce trashy types of digital noise into your signal. Non-synth modes 10 and 11 function as up and down envelope filters, respectively. Separate level controls for effected and uneffected signal, ditto outputs - goody. Pedal lets you hold a synth note while you play over it too - very useful.

Good assortment of early '80s monophonic cheesy analog synth sounds. If you want Rush's "Tom Sawyer" or Dazz Band's "Let it Whip," this box can do that. There's all sorts of extreme freakishness to experiment with here. Contrary to what others on this site say, I find the envelope filters to useful and their effects quite audible. Quack quack. Works okay as an octave pedal too. Not noisy in a live setting; dunno about studio. Lots of people address tracking issues here - I think that belongs in "reliability."

Okay, the tracking is a little fickle and it won't take to multiple notes or sloppy muting. Monophonic 1/4" input into a tiny little 9V stompbox, go figure. What has technology come to these days? Play one note at a time, mute unused strings, make sure your instrument volume is high (or low) enough to trigger properly, and don't feed it after midnight. No, it won't follow you around on "What is Hip", but it works well enough. It's also more bombproof than other synthy devices I've seen. It's gigworthy, so long as you are.

Dunno.

Make sure you have an application before you buy, as it's a pretty "extreme" effect - I do some live electronica, which doesn't always require Jacoesque notey-ness but frequently requires noises of sonic interest. This is good to great for what it was designed to do and can be a cheap thrill for an audience. Don't overuse it though and watch that resonance knob at high volumes.

I bought this pedal used and without the manual. Get harder! I has a lot of trouble finding what I wanted but if you muck around with it long enough you can find some pretty sweet sounds.

I use an Ibanez 5 string through a Gallien Kruegar 1001RB head and Ampeg SVT 410 HLF cab. The sounds that come out of this pedal are really cool but if you are playing a fast bass line you havent got a hope in hell. Maybe every fifth or so note will be picked up and synthesized. It's like every note you play had to be slow and emphasised in order for the efffect to work. I liked the pedal and the idea behind it, but if it cant pick up all the notes your playing, whats it good for?

Very Reliable

Havent needed it

Like I said, great sounds but if the effect cant keep up with my playing, its no good to me. Good pedal but no good for me.

You can get some wild sounds out of this box. I still find new things to do with it even after a couple of months, the smallest turn of a dial can do strange things.

I run an old wiurlitzer keyboard through mine for cheap but fat synth sounds. hitting two notes at once on the internal settings does cool, sometimes painful things. run a drum machine through it to get drums and a pedal generated bassline at once. there's so many other things to do with this. sound is clean and precise. t-wah settings are only subtle.

eats batteries up fast. have to use a power pack. but otherwise it's solid

n/a

great for far out low-fi noise stuff. two outputs, one for clean, one for effect is useful. i took the paedal part off so i could use the hold function with my finger. i used it with ny bass but got more excited about what else i could do with it. love the lower octave settings as well. brilliant little noise machine.

Very easy : 4 knobs... but no memory, so write all programs in a paper !

3 monophonic wave forms from internal VCO (saw, square, PWM) and 4 filters for external sound.

Can run it with a bass, a keyboard, a drum machine, a voice...

excellent for deep bass, cold lead, noises, industrial trip, soft waves, distorted filter, auto-wah, blips, gwwwooonnnggghhh, skkkkkkrrrr, etc...

I made all my music (electro) with it and a BOSS DR-110 drum machine. The DR -110 is connected right in the SYB. http://go.to/kulten

BOSS : this unit will live longer than you...

you want simple mono analog synth ?

Knob tweakers, beware! You'll want this thing just to tweak the filter; then you'll spend days trying to get it to behave. Unlike most Boss pedals, the SYB-3 is NOT a plug-in-and-play device. It's crazier than a Ring Modulator, but you can get it to work. Write down your favorite settings, once you find some, whether you use the blank sheets in the manual, or the time-honored "clock" method. The manual is a very limited guide, at best.

I expected weird noises, I got weird noises; I'm happy. I use the SYB with guitar, and it tracks better than I expected, but the real fun is using it with a drum machine. Plug the Mono Out from your favorite beatbox into the SYB-3, and tweak the sounds. Instant groovebox! If you already have a groovebox, well . . .

Of course it's dependable, it's just really hard to control. I have used it live, but I wouldn't want to waste an audience's time trying to dial up a new sound on the SYB-3.

Haven't had the "support staff from hell" experience that many people describe, but I'm very glad their stuff doesn't break down.

I play strange music, with lots of weird sounds to fill in, so even anarchy boxes work for me. I've been doing this for too long, and have piles of noise toys. I love the flexibility of this box, but I wish it was easier to dial in a stable sound. I understand that there's a lot of processing going on in a pedal-sized housing; if the SYB-3 were beatbox-sized, with a dozen knobs and sliders, it would be much easier to use, and twice as expensive. If my SYB-3 suffered some misfortune, I'd probably wait a while before I bought another; I might even get full-function groovebox instead. There are easier boxes to use, that don't cost as much.

For anyone wanting a simpler path to Synth tones, for under $100, check out the Digitech X-series Synth Wah pedals; they make guitar and bass models.

Perhaps I'm extremely lucky, but I found this pedal pretty easy to figure out. I'm still having a bit of trouble get usable t-wah sounds, but from what I've read in other reviews, that's more of a function of the abilities of the pedal. There was no manual included when I got this, but given that I got it for $99 canadian I wasn't complaining.

I think this thing sounds incredible. Yes, it's monophonic and yes, it will only consistently track eighth notes or slower. However, given thoses limitations it can still produce some incredible sounds using your bass that you would have to spend some serious cash to produce otherwise. So far, I've only used this pedal by itself or followed by an EBS unichorus. I've found the t-wah sounds to be kinda crappy in comparison with other dedicated pedals - this doesn't really upset me too much as I think the synth sounds are good enough in themselves.

Not enough experience as I haven't gigged with it yet.

Never dealt with Roland, although I think it's pretty crappy that they won't post instructions on their website.

I play a variety of styles and I think there's a few groups I play with that i could use this pedal with. I really bought it as toy since it was so cheap, but I think I may have to start bringing it on stage with me. I can already think of a few songs where I wish I had this pedal to record with. I've been playing for almost 20 years and I can honestly say that this is the first pedal that I think I'll really use even though it's about the 6th that I've bought. Although I may have had a different opinion if I had bought the pedal new for close to the full retail price, I'm blown away with it for what I spent.

This is the hardest thing to figure out--ever. Editing patches is done in real time, which is a good thing, but there is no way of saving your settings (at least I couldn't find a way). The manual is the only way to save your sounds- it gives you some blank pages to draw in your settings.

I used this with a USA P-Bass running into a Hartke 3500 into a Vox 15". It was terribly noisy and errant--almost impossible to use in a band/live application. The effects are weak, and (keep in mind I understand synthesis) the sustain of the synthesizer breaks sporadically; that is, if it even picks up on the note you are striking. The High-EQ Output can't penetrate a loud drum kit, and when it does, it oversaturates the bass. It sounds more like Backstreet Boys than it does 70's funk. I do recall my favorite effect being the early square waves.

One good thing I can say about the pedal is the build. Like all Boss products, this mofo is built like a tank. Never gave me a problem, except how fast it drains batteries.

Boss is a bitch. I sent them a DD-3 that was broken, under warranty, and they sent it back to me unfixed. Bastards.

Terrible. buyer beware. I wanted this thing so bad, but it really didn't deliver. I invested hundreds in it, and ended up trading it for a Bass Chorus that I never use. This pedal is almost as stupid as I am for investing so much in it. Get a mooger fooger, bass balls, any other synth (EHX) before you jump into this money pit. Cmon, BOSS, you're better than that!

I used this for bass, and had a heck of a time with it. I attempted to use it on the 10-12 settings (??), for the Auto Wah modes, but never got anything that was really special. I'd much rather have a Boss Auto-Wah or E/H Q-Tron. Somewhat difficult to just plug in and play, like a pedal should be. Regardless of how smart/stupid you are, anyone should be able to figure out a pedal w/in minutes to their liking, and within a week and/or a few gigs to get THAT sound from it, which end up as your permanent settings. This pedal offers NONE of that. Disliked it so much, I sold it.

Using it w/ my '88 Charvel and '68 Ampeg V4-B, and Ampeg 4x10 classic cab, w/ various other Boss pedals, the actual SOUND of it wasn't all that bad. I use a Comp/Sus in front of EVERYTHING (bread of life!), and it really does make a difference. I got some compliments when I turned it on for my slapping solo, and in all actuality it did work out Ok, but again, it took me over a year of messing w/ it occasionally to just get the Auto-Wah right, much less all the other junk on it. Boss just tried to put too much into one pedal.

It's a Boss, so ya, it worked. :) Will until the end of time.

N/A

Again, I just didn't like it. Too much junk for one pedal. Maybe it works for some people, but I'd much rather have the Auto Wah, and then the OTHER modes in a separate pedal. Just didn't like it... try a Q-Tron or Boss Auto-Wah, if you want that type of sound.

The SYB-3 might seem little intimidating at first to those who are unfamiliar with the particulars of analog synthesizers, so I'm deducting one point from the rating; however, a few minutes spent tweaking the SYB-3 should help anyone get the hang of it. Also, it wouldn't hurt to skim through the SYB-3's manual, if you have it.

There are 11 modes to the SYB-3: Modes 1-7 are true synthesizer modes, meaning that your instrument's sound isn't processed--instead, your instrument serves only as the trigger for the synth, which means the pedal becomes the main instrument/sound generator if you have the mixer knob on the pedal turned all the way up for synth and all the way down for instrument (yes, you are actually "playing" the pedal!) ; modes 8 and 9 are processed types of fuzz distortion, sounding somewhat like distortion achieved by using a hex-pickup; and modes 10 and 11 are types of envelope filters, or auto wahs.

One of the coolest thing about the SYB-3 in modes 1-7 is that you can hit a note, press the pedal, and the note will hold indefinitely--a pretty cool thing to play a riff or two on top of.

My setup is as follows: 1977 Fender Stratocaster or 1995 Fender Jazz Bass > Ernie Ball Volume pedal > Electar PBX-1000 Pedalboard (which contains the following Boss pedals: Boss CS-2 Compressor/Sustainer > Boss SYB-3 Bass Synthesizer > PH-3 Phase Shifter > Boss OD-3 Overdrive > another Boss OD-3 Overdrive > Boss PS-5 Super Shifter > Boss DD-5 Digital Delay > Boss DD-3 Digital Delay > Boss PN-2 Tremolo/Pan > Boss BF-3 Flanger > Boss CE-3 Chorus) > Korg G4 Rotating Speaker Simulator > Alesis Microverb > stereo into two silverface Fender Twin Reverbs.

This can be a fickle pedal, as far as tracking is concerned. If your input volume is a little too low or a little too high, the SYB-3 in modes 1 through 7 gets "confused" and makes weird, warbly noises. But before you get frustrated with the SYB-3 and think about flinging it out into a large lake or shooting it with a high-caliber firearm, make sure you play around with your instrument's volume level, as well as any other source affecting your volume level BEFORE the SYB-3 (compressor, EQ, etc.). Find just the right volume level and the SYB-3 will be much less temperamental.

A lot of reviewers here have stated that the notes from the SYB-3 in modes 1-7 sometimes won't sustain--the synth just cuts out right in the middle of the note's decay/fade. To remedy this, put a compressor/sustainer in front of the SYB-3 and increase the compressor's sustain. This should fix the problem.

I use the SYB-3 for guitar and bass, and I have no problems with the tracking--even when I play relatively fast passages. When triggering the SYB-3 with a bass, the key to getting good, solid tracking out of it is to play with a pick, not your fingers. Also, try to keep fret/finger noise to a minimum, because the SYB-3 senses most any noise as a trigger. And when triggering the SYB-3 with a guitar, make sure that you don't go above the 12th fret of the high/thin E string--this, too, confuses the pedal, triggering it to make all sorts of weird "bleeps" and "bloops."

These tough little candy-colored monsters will be running the planet long after all of us--AND all of the cockroaches--have been killed off.

I've been a Boss pedal freak for almost twenty years--yes, some of my Boss pedals are older than some of you reading this ;^)--but I have never had a need to contact Roland's/Boss' customer service/support, so I really have no opinion to offer.

I play kind of an eclectic blend of jazz, blues, and rock--kind of a "Bill Frisell-meets SRV-meets Alex Lifeson" style. I have been playing for 26 years, and I love to write and record my own tunes, as well as play live.

The SYB-3 is a great little pedal that offers a lot of potential. Yes, some of the modes are better than others, but overall, there's a lot packed into that little silver-and-red monster, and anyone could find a thing or two to love about it. It's a pretty cool pedal to have in your effects arsenal, regardless of your musical tastes, and is a MUST if you're into industrial, techno, rap, and/or funk.

This was a TRIP to try to figure out how to use. I would dial up some cool sounds every now and then, but usually had no idea what I did to get it there. If you buy this pedal, make sure you have a few hours to sit down with it and really mess with it.

The blending abilities of the pedal are phenomenal...the sound remains strong throughout! There are plenty of cool sounds on this pedal, it's just kinda tricky to find. Just remember to write them down or something, but there's a lot of good stuff about it!

It's a Boss pedal.

Haven't had to deal with Boss yet.

This is a great pedal if you're into some funky heavier stuff. I use it in a alt. rock band. Pretty useful for enhancing your original stuff! Just wish it was easier. If I had the money, I'd go out and buy the Ibanez synth pedal, which is fairly new, and use them both. It's sooo much easier to use, but doesn't have nearly as many options. www.thedownwardfacingdog.com

Easy enough to use. Just experiment to find what you're looking for.

This is my major problem with this pedal. The tracking sucks! Trying to play any music that has a quick bass line is going to end in frustraion. The pedal only detects notes at a very slow pace with precise and deliberate playing. I'm using Carvin and Washburn basses run through an SWR Goliath cabinet with a Gallien-Krueger 800RB head. With that being said, I definitely do not believe it was my equipment failing.

The actual pedal itself is built like a tank like all Boss products. I won't have this pedal long enough to find out how long I can depend upon it.

Unknown

I play in a cover band that was beginning to do some 80's material and a Synth bass effect would make quite an addition to the sound. However, try playing some old Anthony Jackson lines from his work with Chaka Khan and this pedal functions like a dizzy and confused bird. Save your money! The Korg bass synth is way better with footswitchable presets and a unit that actually tracks what you're playing. The bad news is that they have not been manufactured for about five years now. Akai has a bass synth pedal that's probably worth checking out. It's your hard earned money so choose wisely because none of the synth bass units out there are cheap, but the other ones will actually track your playing.

Kind of complicated to use at first but the instruction manual explains everything.

I have heard alot of bad reviews on the sound quality of this pedal but i think mine sounds amazing. It is a little noisy but you can adjust that with the pedal. In my opinion the effects always sound great although some are a little weird. Im using it with a gallien krueger 700rb/112 combo. I don't think I know of any artists who use this pedal maybe thats why its so great it has a very unique sound to it. overall the sound quality is great.

I can always depend on it. I have had it for about 3 or 4 months now and had no problems.

N/A

overall great pedal.

hmmm theres more to this pedal than meets the eye!! can get some strange great sounds right off the bat, but to really get some usefull onstage sounds.. well dig my man dig deeper.. get to know it.. manual is a good starting point!!!

ok i run this thru my fender jazz bass!!into my eden rig.. ok ok ok for my playing..(and i do love rush an all that prog stuff) i think it will fill in nicely..be prepared to use this for slower soundscapes(in the 1-7 synth mode).. it doesnt trak too fast so sloww it up and use it tastefully..yes you can get that moogy taurus sound out of it!! but it takes some digging.. now what i absolutely love about this unit in synth mode is the "hold" feature.. say you want to have a synth note to carry for a few bars.. and play the bass at the same time w/o the effect..(note carrying over your playing) this does that!!!its simply too cool! i can trigger a low moog sound root note.. and play over it as long as i hold the pedal down
then off to the next note to hold!! this really sounds cool with a phaser for a swooshy sounding synth.. the envelope filters on this thing are usefull too for funking it up!! and the sub octave traks better than my ebs octa bass thats supposed to be the cream of the crop.. so go get one an experiment!! be geddy lee for a day.. oh yea the sounds are cold.. not warm... for that i give it a 9(but cold is good for some moods)

cmon.. laffs.. its a boss! and like most boss pedals.. its a 9v monster!!! get a wall wart!

im into rock an old skool rock, play in "fish out of water" (no not Chris Squires band) well i cant wait till our next show to let this baby shine!!! id probably get another if stolen.. its really worth the money.. hmmm yes experiment with it!!

easy of use is a lil tricky but after a few min you'll get the hang of it. their are some fun presets in the manual to help you get started

what a wacky pedal. i use it for both guitar and bass. i feel its great only for effects and not a to enhance your main sound. a good function is the effect and bass sound at the same time. also you can seperate them to different amps.

what a silly question to ask about a boss pedal.

roland has one of the best customer support teams on the planet. i've done my time working at a music store and to work with them was painless.

i play all kinds of music so im always experimenting and i have already found tons of space to put effects like this into music. and if it was stolen i'm sure i would have to buy another one. a great effect for some but not for all.

No question, this thing is touchy. You have to alter your playing style to get it to track, and it's not really quick on its feet when moving from string to string. but since it's a single-voice device, and a string can only play one note at a time, as long as you stay on one string it'll follow you.

To get a decent sound, I find it's easiest to start with FREQ and RES all the way down, and DECAY all the way up. And you do have to get used to the waveforms. The unit is by no means intuitive -- you really have to learn it.

And going from sound to sound -- fuggeddaboudit. The knobs are very sensitive, especially FREQ at the lower end. And there are 5 knobs to tweak and one to select, so that's a lot of messing around on stage. You really have to decide what you're going to use at the beginning of each set, and stick with it.

I use two Conklin 7-strings into a Carvin 500 watt stereo head with a 1-15 Carvin cab.

Noise is not a problem as far as I can tell.

Once you get a sound tweaked in, it's a GREAT effect. I mostly use the octave sub at #4 and #7 -- #4 is nicer because there's no added synth noise. The sub-octave patches work all the way down to my open low B string, which is where this pedal shines, because even the EBS Octabass (generally regarded as the best of its class) peters out somewhere around the open A.

The only niggle is that in modes 1-7, the pedal is generating all of the sound, and even with the EFFECT on MAX, it is not as loud as the bypass signal of my active Conks. So I have to be sure that the instrument's volume setting balances the pedal, frequently requiring me to fool with the amp volume.

Like everybody says: it's a Boss -- you could make a flak jacket outa these things.

Gotta get an AC adapter, though -- this thing will eat a 9v every gig and could easily strand you.

The Roland website sucks, they have virtually no user info available anywhere (like favorite settings) and they charged me $5 for a manual which is also not posted on line.

In short: tricky but satisfying once you figure it out. I'd buy another, but not at the $210 new street price. I'd have to find another used one (but I found this one here!).

Wouldn't say it "helps make music". It doesn't inspire me to do anything new and different, like, say, a harmonizer would. It's more a tool to get a job done.

This pedal's not exactly difficult to use, you turn knobs, it makes sounds, but, if you're like me, it's always good to understand WHY it's making a sound. With 7 striaght synth fx, a lot of people will say they're all the same. They have subtle differences, and when you understand wave patterns, you can understand the pedal.

I run a fender jazz through a solid state Yorkville bassmasterss 100w, twith my bass tuned BEAD. Theres 11 fx on this pedal, 7 synth, to wave synths(very distortion like, and very unlike any normal distortion), and 2 t-wah fx. I have no qulams whatsoever with the sound of this pedal. The fx are each damn near infinitely variable. You can get literally proabably at least 40-50 different sounds (to your ears at least). Some guy said it emulated wish perfectly. Sounds even better if you use a BF-s Flanger for wish, tee hee. 10/10

If you don't use a baatery(use the ac adapter), don't expect too many problems. I'd go to the gig with out a backup with full confidence.

never needed a repair so far, and I got mine second hand.

I play a wide array of music. From funk to industrial. Main influences on those 2 styles are primus and NIN. The t-wah is great for funk stuff, and the rest of the pedal I'd recommend for most any style. I run it with my flanger(BF-2, another 10/10 from boss), and it sounds great together. I don't know anything else to compare this to excepta rackmount synth, and anything rackmounted usually sounds better than a stompbox. For the price this goes at, it well worth the cash. You have to try it though, cause it definitely isnt for everyone. One thign though, if you get it, you can automatically do a cheap rip off of the entire Downward SPiral album, which is pretty decent, considering reznor has literally WALLS filled with rackmounts. People are bumming it off me all the time. If it ever got stolen, it'd be a dent in the wallet, but yeah, I'd try to get another one.

this pedal is really straight forward and easy to . Plusi never got a manual and still can use it fine.

right nnow i have it hooked up to a alesis sr-16 and it works well just some times pretty upredicable. mode 9 can get a distorsion sound that i have never heard in a normal distorsion pedal I've never heard anything like it. Combined with a few more fx i was able to get the exact guitar sound from wish by nin on my bass. It's great for older analog sounds.

i have had only one problem and it was the battery it kills off 9v batties rather quick. to solve it i got the adapter and havn't had a problem since.

I mainly do industrial and digital hardcore music. this pedal is perfect for what i do. It saved me lots of money now i don't need to buy an old analog keyboard i just use the pedal. i love this pedal and will never sell it off!!!!!!!!!

It takes a lot of messing around to figure out this pedal, but once you have it's pretty easy.

I've tried the pedal with my ibanez sdgr and my ovation acoustic through a massive peavey amp, and they both sound great. One of the auto wah effects gives my acoustic a great warm tone. Some of the effects are a little fuzzy, but a little tweakin of the settings can always fix that.

100% you could run over this with a truck. but bring spare batteries

When I bought this pedal I wasn't actually planning on using it very much, since i play more laidback jazz and rock, but it turns out that with the wide range of effects you can get from this pedal, you can use it for absolutely anything.

knob tweaking. knob tweaking. knob tweaking.

good if it respond to attacks better.

na

listen i thought this thing would be cool. as far as playing it with a guitar or bass it doesnt respond well to attacks. at all. it sounds great through a cheeesy 30 dollar keyboard. but if you want to play it with a stringed instrument dont buy it. get an eh bass microsynth.

It is easy to find an interesting sound from this unit, but difficult to find exactly the sound you're looking for. The manual does a fair job of explaining what the knobs do.

I used this pedal with my 5-string Fender American Standard bass through a Carvin RL6815 Cyclops bass amp (a premium full-range bass amp). The effects sounded very impressive, and the hold mode provides a neat effect, allowing you to sustain a synthed note forever. My major complaint here is that when you strike a note and let it fade, after it fades to a certain point the effect gives out and you're left with a dry signal, which sounds very unprofessional. Also, faster notes don't get picked up by the pedal- it only seems able to keep up with quarter notes or maybe slow eighths. The only way to combat this is to swap some of your synthed tone for a dry tone, and I didn't pay $189 for a dry tone!

It's a Boss.

Never needed their help.

Overall, it produces some very interesting sounds, but they're not the kind of sounds that you can use to carry a melody or use throughout a song. It can be good for a special effect here or there, but what I expected (and didn't get) was a sound I could use to add to the basis of my style.

Pretty easy to use, I thought, but I was just dickin around with the store's demo. If you get the manul, probably even easier. Just four knobs, 2 with an alternate knob thing on it's base, so one knob has 2 functions, you know..

The sounds you get are really cool. I had some weird noises coming out of the amp at the store, and folks were giving me the eye. My only gripe is that the sound isn't reproduced for every chord you hit. If you play really slowly, or simply, then it's pretty cool, but anything fast, forget about it. It just doesn't keep up.

Are you shittin' me??!! You'd think the army would contract Boss to make tanks!!

I don't know anyone who's ever called these guys. I wonder if they even have a customer service center there? They don't break, and I mean, ever!!

If you are into weird effects, and think you would use it exclusivly or even on a regular basis, by all means go get one. They are a blast, and make all sorts of cool noises. But if you play quick, aggressive bass, forget it, cause it like only sounds every other note. And It would be easy to overkill on this thing in the studio.

The manual gets you on your way. The real test is going through and twisting the knobs 'til something you like comes up. The res knob is the big factor for all the settings. Sens/Decay seems important for the TWah. Settings 8 and 9 are for chords.

I use an Artinger bass with a Kent Armstrong humbucker into the Boss into a Music Man 115B One Twenty and a Traynor Bass Mate II. I use the dual outputs on the pedal.
It's bound to make noise, especially with the res knob cranked. The sub sounds are too cool. At points you get plunky or QBert sounds that sound initially then go away and let the sub sound take hold.
Settings 8 and 9 are fuzzy and work with chords where the other settings can't handle more than one string.
My chops aren't the best, but you learn how to make the effect trigger as you hit different notes. You also learn to hold a note instead of play it so the full sound can come out.

It's a Boss. I got the PSA adapter, so batteries aren't a problem. I don't think I'd ever find one for $90 again, so no backup.

Don't know.

I use the synth playing bass in a new rock band. The main members got worried when I pulled it out and started in on some wild sounds. I told them I'd use it tastefully. They've come to understand and appreciate the way it can add to songs when tossed in at appropriate times.
The singer grimaces when it's used. She is not into things from the '80's.
I got this for its $90 price. It's kind of a novelty, but I can see my using this in almost any band I play in. The sub sounds can be spooky, the hold function makes for great between-song noise, and why not have an altered bass sound at times?

This pedal won't give good sounds unless you earn them. 4 of its 6 (6!!!) knobs are self-explanatory, but you will never fully understand what the concentric Freq/Res knobs do to yr sound because there are too many possibilities. The manual gets you going in the right direction, but it's impossible to explain such a freak of nature and I think Boss knows this better than any of us.

The sound is amazing. I can always dial in something that's gonna turn heads with it. The secret is to use it sparingly. Throw it on for a few chords in the chorus, or at the tail end of a bridge, and you can get swooshing electronic sounds, Tron-like pinging, laser noises, or huge featureless chunks of sub-frequency darkness.
When you try to play faster than quarter notes, though, you can have problems with the tracking. Not to worry, though--the key to solving the tracking issue is just to mix in yr dry sound to around 50/50. That way, even if the pedal "hangs" on the note you just played, your dry sound will be moving on & will provide a good rhythmic attack instead of dropping out altogether. Try to be as subtle as possible with the wet sound, and you will make the fewest mistakes. You can also try going to modes 8 & 9 instead, as they can handle chords and follow your right hand more closely.
But here's a tip: If you buy this, do yourself a favor and get a real good enveloper filter (Q-Tron, Meatball, Moogerfooger) to go with it. I recommend an octave pedal as well. The tracking synth tones have pretty clunky attacks and releases, and subtle envelope filtering takes the edges off and makes it sound more synth-y. It also enables you to sound like Bootsy Collins and Bernie Worrell at the same time. The octave pedal will compensate for the fact that the synth tones often don't fill out the overall sound of your band as well as straight bass. Put all three on and play "Flash Light" or some robot-style James Brown, and watch the ladies flock to the floor.
So yes, there is nothing else that will give you this sound as cheaply or in such a compact package, and it will reward you for all the time you put into it. If you dig Beck, Bernie Worrell, Zapp & Roger, Nu Shooz, Kraftwerk, "Low"-era Bowie, Sugar Hill, Giorgio Moroder, Meco, Moog, even the cursed Prog, this thing rocks.
I used to loathe Boss, and in spite of that this is still my favorite pedal of all time.

If you always use an A/C adapter, this thing will probably never fail. But if you think about "reliability" in terms of producing a reliable sound for every gig, there's some real studying required. Buy a pad to keep near your pedalboard.

Can't really say, I've never needed it.

All in all, this (together with maybe the Boomerang) is the number one requirement for any bassist that thinks of him/herself as "experimental" in the slightest sense of the word. Onstage laser fights, dying digital lamb sounds, techno heartbeat noises, it never ends. If you put it with a good envelope filter, you can get something that's close to nearly any electronic synth/rhythm section sound you can dream up.

Things that would've improved it:
1) An arpeggiator. I want those ELP/Floyd/Zeppelin soundscapes.
2) An effects loop for the dry sound. The dry sound, regardless of how awesome, always sounds wimpy alongside the flaming-rocket-debris sounds the synth makes. You could rig one with the stereo outs, but that's too much trouble.
How about a sequel, Boss?

I give 5 because it's hard to use it. It took nearly 1 week to get a good tone out of it but the the tone was amazing when I found it. There is a small manual READ IT because it helps a lot.

My setup is a Washburn XB-200<--->SYB-3<--->DRIVE (CD-300B).
I have a Korg AX-1B but I did not use Korg with it. Anyway it sounds bad at first but after some experiments it sounds great. No noise or something like that and it has good sounds in it, but first you have to find them.

IT IS BOSS. IT IS LIKE A TANK.

NO IDEA.

I PLAY ROCK IN A BAND AND I LIKE THE SOUND OF IT AND MY BAND LIKES IT TOO BUT YOU HAVE TO BE CAREFULL BECAUSE IT HAS A PROBLEM. YOU CAN'T PLAY CHORDS AND YOU CAN'T SLAP<-- THATS NOT MY PROBLEM ANYWAY I TOOK THIS PEDAL EVERYWHERE I GO IT'S THE BEST PEDAL I HAVE EVER HAD.

When I first bought this pedal I thought I'd thrown my money away. The manual explains what the controls do, but not how to use them. No reference was made in the manual to the importance of input levels to tracking, and so my active Bass just made horrible noises. It was some months before I began to get any useable sounds, so be prepared to experiment.

With this pedal it's important to use the correct Bass (or guitar) setup. As I've said, to high or low an imput, and the tracking is so poor the pedal becomes unusable. I mainly use either a Fender Precision or a Danelectro Longhorn, and both are capable of giving exellent doubled bass lines with this pedal, as though you had a stalking keyboardist. Especially usefull (to me) were the T-synth setting, which were far easier to control, and gave a more natural (for a synth) sound. Once again, it's worth the time to experiment.

It's been dropped, kicked, and generally abused, but with no damage other than some missing paint. Drinks batteries though, so use a power supply

N/A

I've been playing for about four years, and bought this pedal despite it's main uses falling outside the typical rock or metal I usaully play, yet it's versatility has increased the spectrum of available sounds and style alot. If this Bass synth had anyway of storing sounds, it would be usefull, but not if it cost more, bearing in mind how often I'm likely to ever use it live.

Easy to use if you read the manual and it gets easier with pratice

It has good sound quality if you work it right.Two amps both in puts.

NOt realiable at all the first one i got was bad from the first day i got it and then once i got a new one the problems went away. And with an adapter it is now reliable.

boss was a bitch to work with when repairing the first unit. My music store guy was great and after four repair attempts boss sent me a new pedal and if you have a broken pedal beware.

Over all it is a good pedal but i would like to be able to mix the effects instead of only being able to use one at a time. i would like to get a micro haramonizer bass synth. I like the -1 oct effect and the T-wah they are my fav with the right adjusting the t-wah can sound like a envelope filter. i play funk and heavy metal and it is great. and the pedal is good if you don't get the bad one like i did.

It's an analog bass synth, into a compact effect by BOSS. Plug your instrument into a Jack input and play.
It's monophonic, and has four knobs : mode select (choose between 7 wave forms), frequency, resonnance, decay.
The output signal for instrument and synth are separated. The output can be mono or stereo.

THIS MACHINE IS ONE OF THE BEST ANALOG SYNTHS I EVER HEARD !!!!!!!!

7 wave forms : sawtooth, square, double square, sawtooth-1 octave, sawtooth + noise, double square + noise, sawtooth + noise-1 octave.

You can have all the analog sound you want. EVERYTHING.

The distorted waves are terrific. The autowah is clear.

The knobs are very very sensitive, so you got many sounds to program. Programming is simple. This machine has no memory (bad news) and demands a hight input level (other bad news). No poliphony. But you can play with bass, keyboard, guitar, sequencer, sampler,...

The SYB-3 also has 4 effects : 2 distorted and polyphonic waves, and two autowah (normal and reversed).

I made all my music with it.

Boss, by Roland. No problem.

My favorite synth. Won't buy another one.

The SYB-3 is a monophinic bass synthesizer. Plug your bass in it, and play analog sounds !

3 knobs (frequency, resonnance, decay), 7 wave form from an oscillator, simple isnt'it ? Welll... it's very sensitive. There are many, many, many sounds, no memory, it's not polyphonic, you must take your time to learn how to use it.

THE SOUND IS TERRIFIC !!!!!!

This machine got old sounds from analog machines.
You can have all analog sounds you ever wanted.

No MIDI, no memory, but 4 effects : 2 wha and 2 distorted waves (and polyphonic !).

The plug in (input) is a Jack. Two output : mono or stereo (dry signal and synth signal).

ALL MY MUSIC IS MADE WITH THE SYB-3.

I also use a DD-3 Digital Delay and a DR-110 drum machine.

You can hear it :

http://site.voila.fr/NECROPOLIS

Boss by Roland ? NO PROBLEMS !

I bought it in 1996. Never buy another synth before, never gonna buy another one. I'm a bass player, yhis machine is mine.

It's easy to get good sounds out of this without any instructions in the store. As far as playing., it's like an octaver. That means you better off not slapping, chording or playing at 190 bpm. These aren't the only problems, kids. You see, when I first tried this out over a year ago, I had serious trouble with the tracking and decided that I couldn't use the damn thing. Well, yesterday I saw a used one in mint condition. I decided to try it again. This time it wasn't much different from playing an octaver. When I took it home, I figured out why. Your input volume affects the tracking. Too low...only half the notes you play come out. Too high...every little finger noise tries to become a note. At the right volume, it's not that hard to use...as long as you don't slap, chord, etc etc. One more thing. No preset memory man! That's allright if you're farting around at home but I don't like changing settings at gigs. I've read that guy from Korn (Fiedly or something?) said he wanted to buy three or four more just so he doesn't have to change settings! I also know Bootsy Collins (not surprising) and Larry Graham has one. (You can hear Graham use his on his new album produced by "The Guy Formerly known as Prince who I call Prince anyway" or "Symbol Dude" as my brother sometimes him.

It's hard to rate the sound quality of this effect because most of the sounds (modes 1-7) are really synth wave forms. I have a Yamaha EOS synth(same as the QS300) and I think overall these synth sounds sound more analog (though they are certainly not!) The T-Wah is not that great (at least compared to my Mutron III) but it is similar to the Dynamic Filter and you can adjust your direct sound and effect sound volume separately. (I think any wah for bass should have this option) Also it's really handy just to have in the same pedal with the synth modes. I put this is my pedal board with my Korg AX30B, so I can use the envelope filter because I don't like the one in my Korg. Anyway, my rating of 9 is strictly for the synth modes. I won't rate the wah. (This doesn't mean it sucks. I just wouldn't have bought it if the wah was sold separately).

NO comment. Though I have never broken a Boss pedal. I did have problems with the output jack on the FT-2 Dynamic Filter though. (I explain this in my review of the FT-2)

I would say this is of good value. (For me, I would rate it as 9 because of the condition and price I got mine for) You get a real synthesizer (it is!...as I have said these are actually sythesizer wave forms) in a regular stomp box, don't have to do anything weird to your bass and also have the bonus of the T-Wah. Of course, this is not an important effect for most people. I use distortion (never played a gig without it!) and wahs on bass all the time. I hardly chorus, flanger and delay etc on bass. (Very rarely in recording and never on a gig). Anyway, all I can is try it our first and if you have trouble tracking...you may not suck...maybe your bass's pickups are just wimpy...

The unit is fairly easy to setup with the only real problem being the number of different sounds that the unit is capable of producing. The manual is acceptable at explaining the unit's functions; however, my pedal didn't come the with side sticker that showed which waveforms went with what setting.

The overall sound of the unit is pretty good for a vintage synth-like tone (mini-moog comes to mind). The hold function on the pedal is the feature that sold me on it. That said, this pedal has several very major caveats. 1. If you want to play either chords or fast runs - forget it. The pedal is monophonic and does not track quickly at all. Eigth notes at approximately 120 bpm is about maxed out. 2. The pedal has a slight but noticeable "pop" when the synth tone engages no matter what speed you play at - basically the beginning of the synth tone is abrupt and somewhat unmusical. No amount of setting changes will eliminate this. 3. You must play very cleanly and feed the input of the pedal with the correct volume. The pedal has a very tight range of input volume that will allow the unit to track the best and to not get minor finger nose. Once the signal into the pedal is the correct volume - tracking is acceptable. Active basses will have way too much input volume for this pedal unless they are really turned down. 4. The pedal must come first in your signal chain and typically requires compression on the synth notes to avoid getting a wicked amount of output signal with some pedal settings. 5. The T-wah setting are terrible if you really like a generous amount of wah. My bass is a japanese Fender fretless Jazz bass that has been heavily modified into a Raven Lab's PHA-1 outboard preamp and into a Mesa Boogie Buster combo amp. My effects are run inbetween the preamp and the amp input.

Extremely well built as is typical for Boss. This pedal sucks batteries bigtime and will not last through a three set gig without replacement. I highly recommed the wall wart for this thing.

Never have dealt with them.

After owning this pedal for almost two years, I would still buy it again. It has a great sound for filling in the low end using the hold function. However, the pedal is definately not used every song. I play eclectic music (everything from jazz, progressive rock, funk, etc).

it is easy to get a sound out of it. it is differcult to get more than 5 different sounds out of it. It is also differcult to get a GOOD sound out of it. But mess with it. Who knows what you could find

HORRIBLE, if you play at a tempo of more than 15 beats per minute then youll be in for a suprise when your amp only plays back every fith note you play. You will be pissed when you go home with it and find out that the effect cuts out after a a certain low volume is attained.

its not gonna break

havent dealt with them

this thing sucks. I sometimes wonder if i got a defect but i tried others and got the same crap.

It is not useful unless you play a simple beat and play slow. Good for hip hop and phat rythems, i just dont like it.

takes some getting used to. if you find a cool setting that you like you may want to write down exactley how you had the dials, because sometimes if you find a good setting, you will lose it the next time you try to find it. but for the most part its pretty simple and fun to mess around with.

the sounds are what you would expect from a synth. There is a little noise that the pedal causes but nothin big. The only problem is when you play two or more strings at once the sound gets blurred.

its a boss. if you dont already know what that means, it means unbreakable, the boss tech support people must have a boring job.

depending on what you play this can be a useful pedal or not. if you make up innovative digital sounds then this pedal will give you a nice edge, if your not into psycedelic effects and just like clean or plain distorted bass then this is no more than an expencive coaster/paperweight. If this unit were stolen or lost i would be pissed, i wouldnt buy a new one though, because 200 dollars is more money then what comes into my hands in months, and i cant save for crap. The great thing about this pedal is that it helps you to make music that really stands out, the bad thig about it is the cost.
I've tried the electroharmonix bass microsynth but its not quite as good as the syb-3 but it costs more. so your best bet is the syb-3.

This is an amazing pedal, however, it takes a skilled hand, and steady practice to figure out exactly what you want to do with it. I definitely suggest making sure you get the manual with this one if you buy it used. The manual and unit are both easy to understand, and fun to use, but actually getting exactly what you want takes about a week or more of steady practicing with the pedal

After using it with a Crate KX-160 i've found this pedal to cause some (i beleive) non intended distortion on some of the patch sounds -- only when treble is turned way high... Not surprising. This pedal features several of the sounds in the Cantina Band scenes of Star Wars, a gig band and I emulated this quite well, and i think the sounds on this sucker were what made the party (and our paycheck). The sounds this sucker comes with are amazing... The auto wah is hella impressive, I have a mount on the side of my bass for when i use the auto wah excessivlly

This sucker has never failed me, When i first started pounding bass and bought this pedal on my first gig I became real nervous and started messing up with its trackcing, the sounds i made sounded odd, but finally I got into it beter and had some *phat* beats goin' on. The crowd went wild after that. This is a BOSS pedal... i think its impossible for such things to break. Too bad BOSS doesnt make condoms.

This sucker is impossible to break, impossible not to work, i don't think anyone has ever called Boss tech/Customer support. Poor guy, he's prolly sitting in his office, never having taken a phone call and in absolute depression... -- This pedal is amazing, and the BOSS website adds additional settings for the pedal, so ... Customer support must equal a ten.

I play absolutely everything, from classical to Latin Rock. There are some types of music this does not go with. But if you're getting paid for agig band, many of the requests you'll get asked for will be majorly enhanced with this pedal. Not many bassists on the scene have this pedal and instead use a multi effects processor or actual synth - For quick thinking, and light packing this makes perhaps the greatest alternative out there. I own two of these suckers, just because i like to always have one at home to practice with, and one with my bass.

I'm a French bass palyer looking for analogic bass synthesizer, and this one is what I was looking for. Using SYB-3 demands to be carefull, the knobs are very very very sensitive. I said "8" to "ease of use" because you can plug a keyboard into and have a reissue of old analog synth playing, by turning the frequency knob live but it could be "5" when begining and sure "2" if you don't like analog synth with no memory... By the way : ther is a "hold" mode, wich can be used for playing bass with synthetic sound stand behind.

MAHAGOONNAH ! WOOOOWIIINGGG ! SCCHHHWWWEEEZZZ ! BOING ! WAONG ! and more, cause turning the knobs one milimeter on the left or on the right change quickly the sound. I sometimes fix my synth on the wood of my fretless bass, for a better mode and sound changing.

Guitar (with chords and Mode 4 it will play random bassline), bass, keyboard, and... drum machine ! Coool ! And with a Boss PH-2 Super Phaser or a Boss DD-3 Digital Delay, the sounds are incredible.

It's a Boss product, so there are no problems.

I played punk rock and progressive rock with bands, and electro in solo. Everywhere, anytime, I use the SYB-3.

There are six knobs on this thing, you have to fiddle for a while to get what you want. In different modes, some of the knobs do different things. Basically you just fiddle with it till you get the sound you want. If you find a good setting and then lose it you can have a devil of a time getting it back with all the variables each knob represents.

I use this effect with a downsized Fender P-bass (a precursor of the current Lyte model I think) that has active P/J pickups and a 200 watt combo amp. I have found a variety of great sounds with this pedal, from analog 70's sounds (think Moog) to a crazy sort of bass fuzz that's far better than any actual fuzz pedal I've tried. Any sort of weird synthy low end I've wanted, I've been able to get from Air's Moogs on "Kelly Watch The Stars" to NIN's auto-wah on "Closer" to just crazy fun stuff and even something like the guitar part for "Celebrity Skin" by Hole.

Duh, it's a Boss

I think their repair guy is as bored as the Maytag guy

If you take the time to figure this puppy out it's great. Is isn't that easy to use and you have to work at it to get it right, but the payoff is some really cool sounds. If you want to add something different to your sound there is little else that can do this much. I asked the store people what else they had that did the same things for a similar price, and they had was a DOD Envelope Filter. It had a cool sound too, but it was only one cool sound, the Boss has many cool sounds, if you can find them that is. I'd have to say I'm very satisfied with this pedal, it isn't easy to use at first, but the same is true of an F1 racecar, an F-14 jet, computers, VCR's, and slew of other cool things. Figure the Bass Synth pedal out and it will reward you with cool sounds. PS: If anyone who has this wants to trade cool settings, drop me an email, I got some cool ones myself

Lots of functions/alternatives for a foot-pedal. But you'll have to put your bi-focals on in order to read the tiny script that tells you what each knob does. (There are six knobs in all!)

The wave effect has some digital noise, but the internal sounds are fantastic.
I use this pedal on a guitar. And although the manual states not to use all six strings (or chords, for that matter) I have found certain settings to provide very usuable, synthy sounds for chords and even the high E-string! Mind you, you have to be careful how you play. Sloppiness is rewarded with lots of psychotic glitches...

It's a Boss.
But remember: This pedal is power-hungry. Be sure to use an AC adapter.

Too soon to tell.

I play mostly experimental, ?effected? music. Like My Bloody Valentine, Spiritualized, etc. The SYB-3 is obviously not for every song. But it comes in handy when you're looking for something new.
Ironically, I've never used on it on a bass. So I can't vouch for its efficacy there. But it works wonders with my Les Paul.
I highly recommend it, especially if you already have effects and are looking for a new sound. Good job, Roland.

I got this pedal as a novelty sound effect device and thats what I got for sure. But there is much more to this pedal. Though the manual is good reading, I would say that good old fashioned tweaking and experimentation is the best thing to figure this pedal out. There are three different types of settings: 7 triggered synth patches, 2 wave shape patches (up and down sweep), and two envelope filters (up and down sweep). There are 5 controls for these effects: a mix control stack pot for the synth sound and the dry sound, very cool that they are separated into two volume controls, a frequency/resonance stack pot for the starting frequency of the sound and the resonance controls the shape of the sound from just a synthy plunk kind of sound to a heavily enveloped sound, and a sensitivity/duration knob, this controls the duration of the triggered synth patch or the sensitivity of the enveloped sounds depending on what mode you are in. The envelopes are interesting, I find for myself they give a watery effect very different from a Mu-tron in that aspect. I find that a low frequency, high resonance, high senitivity setting is best for bass, then you can mix the dry and effected sounds together. Though I don't use this as my primary envelope filter, it is handy now and then to have one envelope filter set for a down sweep and one for an up sweep. The wave shape sound is my favorite right now. I use the same settings as I would for the envelope filter. I use it mostly for really trippy ambient effects, it sounds like a distorted envelope filter but different. Actually I think it is a sampled square wave. This thing is cool for soloing with distortion on top of the effect as well. Sure to make you friends deaf. I occasionally use it with an E-Bow and a bit of delay for really synthetic sounds. NOTE: THIS EFFECT IS NOT FOR EVERYONE!!! The triggered bass sounds I am only getting the hang of now about 6 months after I bought the thing. True they do not track perfectly all the time unless you are very clean with your attacks and mutes. I wish you could play more than one note at a time with this thing. I like to use it as a strange kind of doubling device. Sort of like a keyboard player that is doubling all the lines that I play. The octave down synth patch is good for this and adds a lot of beef to your sound if you use it right. And although it doesn't track perfectly, occasionally that is a good thing. The reason I give this pedal a lower rating in this catagory is because most of the things I have listed I found out on my own the hard way. The manual explains the controls fine enough but not too much into how to use the sounds themselves. If you happened to buy this pedal, and are having a hard time getting the triggered sounds to track. Try turning the blend of the dry sound all the way off. Then PRACTISE trying to play lines until you can get them to track properly. Go figure practising to get an effect to work. There is another thing that is neat about the triggered sounds. If you hit a note and stomp on the pedal and hold it there the note sustains forever. I haven't found a use for this yet.

I think that the sounds that Boss is going for in this unit are of a more analog nature so it is a matter of personal taste whether you like them or not. the pedal is quiet, though there is a little sound at the end of the wave shape sound kind of like a patchcord being pulled out of a guitar. the effects are consistantly good. for the price and the size of the unit you couldn't ask for more.

Boss pedals are legendary for being indes"TRUCK"table, this pedal is no different. Though it is, as somone else said, purely a plug in device. I tried it once with a battery only. The word vampire comes to mind. But when plugged in with a boss D.C. adapter I would use this thing in a hurricane.

never dealt with them, probably never will.

I would rate this unit highly. Except for a few things. Obviouly this until is not for everyone. If you have no patience for a pedal that needs a lot of work to get going. Don't buy it. And this is the harsh one, if you are a player with anything less than immaculate technique, don't buy it unless you are willing to put in the time to get your chops up to using this pedal. It is not very forgiving in the sense of tracking the triggered synth patches. For an envelope filter. Get a mu-tron. The wave shape sound is the big reason to buy this until for sure. But like I have said it isn't for everyone. I use it but I play a type of music that is in the more experimental form. I would buy it again if it was stolen. There aren't many products like this on the market. I hear that Korg puts out something like this. But I have never seen one. If you have an open mind (and occaisionally open minded band mates as well) I would reccomend trying this thing out. happy funking.

Very fiddly, six knobs (two stacked) but the manual warns what you're getting in to. Although the manual is worth a very careful study, you really need to spend some time 'playing with it' to find out what effect (no pun intended) each tweak has.

Auto-Wah is reasonably OK, but a little tame - doesn't cut the bottom off your sound, but isn't really strong enough an effect. There are two types of Bass Synth sound, a sort of cross between Wah & distortion which is horrible and a genuinely synthesized bass tone. This latter offers several variations on a theme, with or without modulation, noise and down one octave - cool if you like the basic sound, dull if not. Tracking on this depends on your playing style - in my experience - slap doesn't work, a pick is OK if the treble isn't too strong, finger style is best. Tight technique is crucial - dampen unused strings, play one note at a time and make sure that each note has been dampened before you hit the next note. A cool effect, but one that I use as a special, not a standard

It's a Boss - no sweat innit! Only issue - forget batteries - this stands firmly in wall wart territory

Customer support seems OK - never had to get a Boss FX (and I've got loads) repaired

Probably would buy again, expensive for a 'special effect only' item and the Auto-Wah is disappointing.

I got this pedal in Japan, and since I can't read japanese, I couldn't read the manual, so I don't know how good the instructions are. Everything on the pedal is in English so it isn't too hard to figure out. There are three general types of modes, 11 specific types. The first 7 are called "internal sound," 8 and 9 are called "W-Shape," and 10 and 11 are called "T-Wah"

The "internal sound" is a sort of a rap-like sound. The major problem that I had with this was the fact that it could only read one signal at a time (if you played two strings at the same time, it would go bonkers). On top of that it couldn't process that signal very quickly. I tried playing a simple rap bass line, and it only synthesized about half of my notes. The W-shape, was an interesting sort of distortion, which was alright, but I really don't like distortion in my Bass. I really couldn't figure out what the T-Wah did, but I might need a better amp to find out what does.

I can't speak Japanese well enough to ask them about this, and I'm not about to make a long distance phone call to the states just to find out if there is anything wrong.

If Boss could fix up that internal sound then I would rate this very highly. It's really more of a gimmick than a serious sounding pedal. If you want a real synthesized bass, then you're probably better off looking at synthesizers or very good keyboards.