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.

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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.