Boss OD-3 Surprise !!!

[sizzlingbadger]

I just sold some gear to a guy and to help him out financially I took a Boss OD-3 as part payment. I plugged it in this morning and I am really surprised at how good it sounds. Unlike most of the Boss pedals I've tried it doesn't suck out all the low tones. It has a pretty good break up at low drive levels too.

The plan was to sell it on but I may just keep it now

[JesterR]

od-3, bd-2 and dd pedals are really good modern boss pedals for me. And another funny thing, that I am not too crazy about their RE-20, which seems like has some positive reviews.
od-3 is realy good smooth and natural overdrive without extra $$$ for boutique status. And It's delivers some nice low gain sounds. Both od-3 and bd-3 has their best sounds with gain about 12:00.

[GraspnAtStrings]

I've owned a few boutique overdrives and the Boss OD-3 was as good as any of them. I really regret selling mine.

[JeffOlson]

A lot of gear-heads at another "gear page" rave about the Boss OD-3. I have one, too. It really is a good overdrive!

[bluesky636]

I have an OD-3 in which I installed Monte Allums Supra Plus mod. Sounds even better than stock. Agree that it sounds best with gain at about noon.

I also have a BD-2 with the Allums H2O Plus mod. Also very sweet sounding.

[E5RSY]

You have just stumbled upon the great overdrive secret. Congratulations.

The OD-3 is basically a BD-2 with its faults corrected.

[Chiogtr4x]

Originally Posted by E5RSY

You have just stumbled upon the great overdrive secret. Congratulations.

The OD-3 is basically a BD-2 with its faults corrected.

I have read this before and I have heard that one of the reasons that an OD-3 (which has more in common with the BD-2 than an OD-1) is not just painted blue and called a BD-3 is because the Blues Driver is such a great seller for Boss, they don't want to mess with it! I have a BD-2 and my buddy has both, we did a little taste test and IMO the BD-2 has more overall clarity at low Gain, and the OD-3 has a better, fuller high Gain tone, w/o the "BD-2 fizzies"- like both of them!

[schenkadere]

Originally Posted by E5RSY

You have just stumbled upon the great overdrive secret. Congratulations.

The OD-3 is basically a BD-2 with its faults corrected.

+1

It's the best stock Boss pedal IMO.

[FenderLover]

+1 here too - my current favorite, though I've read some enticing things about the H20 mod for my BD-2....I might jump in on that one

[x2plex]

There's a second element of surprise to the OD-3. It's not included in Boss's GT-10 super-duper board. Kind of disappointing because I expected the full suite of goodies. I often go back to my trusty OD-3/DD-7 setup and leave the Klingon warship unplugged.

[sizzlingbadger]

I had a OD-20 COSM modelling pedal and I never really liked it that much. I also had the ME-50 and that was very similar in overdrive / distortion sound. These analog pedals seem much nicer.

[JesterR]

Originally Posted by sizzlingbadger

I had a OD-20 COSM modelling pedal and I never really liked it that much. I also had the ME-50 and that was very similar in overdrive / distortion sound. These analog pedals seem much nicer.

For my ears even line6 M9 drives not too good to replace analog overdrive. So, no wonder, that old boss digital overdrives not sounds good.

[DoctorSkully]

It does sound very nice from the demos on the internet.

[chrisgblues]

+1 for the OD3

The thing I like MOST about this pedal is that they seemed to dial in the mids perfectly (for my needs anyway). Not too much, not too little, just right in the mids, and the correct frequency range for single coils.

Only down side for me is that the gain is a bit 'splatty' but I always have to find something wrong with a pedal no matter how insignificant so I can justify buying more...

I agree with whoever said this is the best stock Boss pedal (a bold statement) and it also beats a bunch of other more expensive pedals IMHO.

YMMV.

[schenkadere]

Boss=splatty and/or fizzy

but the OD-3 is overall a solid pedal.

[Flatfoot]

Originally Posted by FenderLover

+1 here too - my current favorite, though I've read some enticing things about the H20 mod for my BD-2....I might jump in on that one

As one who has performed that mod (H2O Plus) on my BD2, I can promise that you will like it!

[E5RSY]

Originally Posted by x2plex

There's a second element of surprise to the OD-3. It's not included in Boss's GT-10 super-duper board. Kind of disappointing because I expected the full suite of goodies.

Interesting.

Originally Posted by x2plex

I often go back to my trusty OD-3/DD-7 setup and leave the Klingon warship unplugged.

Funny.

[JoeNeri]

According to The Boss Book, the waveforms for the BD-2 and OD-3 are almost identical, with the BD-2 having slightly quicker clipping.

Also, the book's comparison chart (of all Boss dirt pedals) rates various features from one star to five stars. One star doesn't mean "bad" - it just means less; and, five stars doesn't mean "good" - it just means more. Here's the comparison of key features, shown BD-2/OD-3 stars:

Distortion depth: 2.5/2.0
Mid range fatness: 2.0/4.0
Bottom sound: 3.0/4.0
High range brightness: 4.0/3.5
Edge sharpness: 4.0/3.0
Overtone lushness: 3.0/4.0
Picking control fidelity: 5.0/4.0
Sustain: 3.5/4.0
Distortion variation: 3.5/1.5
Sound variation using tone knob: 3.0/2.5
Functionality: 1.5/1.0

FWIW. Interesting, but probably doesn't tell us anything our ears don't already know.

[JesterR]

Originally Posted by JoeNeri

According to The Boss Book, the waveforms for the BD-2 and OD-3 are almost identical, with the BD-2 having slightly quicker clipping.

Also, the book's comparison chart (of all Boss dirt pedals) rates various features from one star to five stars. One star doesn't mean "bad" - it just means less; and, five stars doesn't mean "good" - it just means more. Here's the comparison of key features, shown BD-2/OD-3 stars:

Distortion depth: 2.5/2.0
Mid range fatness: 2.0/4.0
Bottom sound: 3.0/4.0
High range brightness: 4.0/3.5
Edge sharpness: 4.0/3.0
Overtone lushness: 3.0/4.0
Picking control fidelity: 5.0/4.0
Sustain: 3.5/4.0
Distortion variation: 3.5/1.5
Sound variation using tone knob: 3.0/2.5
Functionality: 1.5/1.0

FWIW. Interesting, but probably doesn't tell us anything our ears don't already know.

Pretty interesting, but "Functionality" parameter... What pedal has more then 3 stars for functionality?

[JoeNeri]

Originally Posted by jesterr

pretty interesting, but "functionality" parameter... What pedal has more then 3 stars for functionality?

od-2
od-2r
os-2
sd-2
df-2
ds-2
mz-2
fz-2