Boss OD-3--wow

[maxvintage]

I picked up one of these sort of on a whim at a local shop. Wow, where have you been all my life? What a great drive pedal. Simple, effective. The EQ is great for me--It doesn't cut much bass: it has a slight mid hump at noon and gets useably brighter as you turn the tone up, without losing either mids or bass. At near zero on the drive knob it's till got very noticeable breakup, but it's manageable by the volume knob on the guitar. The overdrive on low setting is smooth and natural sounding, no fizz or excessive harmonics, but when you crank the drive it sounds great as well.

Like most people I spent lot of money/time on drive pedals. The humble OD-3 is the Boss!

 

[Tele-friend]

I picked up one of these sort of on a whim at a local shop. Wow, where have you been all my life? What a great drive pedal. Simple, effective. The EQ is great for me--It doesn't cut much bass: it has a slight mid hump at noon and get useably brighter as you turn the tone it up without losing either mids of bass. At near zero on the drive knob it's till got very noticeable breakup, but it's manageable by the volume knob on the guitar. The overdrive on low setting is smooth and natural sounding, no fizz or excessive harmonics, but when you crank the drive it sounds great as well.

Like most people I spent lot of money/time on drive pedals. The humble OD-3 is the Boss!

Do you maybe have or have you tried Boss BD2 to compare it to?

 

[RetroTeleRod]

Congrats! The OD-3 is a great pedal.

 

[maxvintage]

Do you maybe have or have you tried Boss BD2 to compare it to?

never tried the BD-2

 

[Guitarteach]

Ssshhhh…. Don’t tell everyone!

I like the smug feeling I get when I read NPD posts about someone’s latest expensive boutique dirt pedal.

 

[codamedia]

Congrats...
It's my favorite BOSS for low gain dirt... absolutely fabulous!

I've been in the Helix universe for 5 years now so I've been using their model of the Timmy for those sounds... but if I went back to pedals, I'd by buying another OD-3.

 

[JustABluesGuy]

I picked up one of these sort of on a whim at a local shop. Wow, where have you been all my life? What a great drive pedal. Simple, effective. The EQ is great for me--It doesn't cut much bass: it has a slight mid hump at noon and gets useably brighter as you turn the tone up, without losing either mids or bass. At near zero on the drive knob it's till got very noticeable breakup, but it's manageable by the volume knob on the guitar. The overdrive on low setting is smooth and natural sounding, no fizz or excessive harmonics, but when you crank the drive it sounds great as well.

Like most people I spent lot of money/time on drive pedals. The humble OD-3 is the Boss!

Welcome to the club. It’s been my goto drive for few years now.

 

[gitold]

I realized I had 99 pedals and no Boss product a few years ago. To rectify that I bought a OD 3. It’s become a favorite!

 

[Peteurre]

The OD-3 is just amazing!

 

[Brent Hutto]

I picked up one of these sort of on a whim at a local shop. Wow, where have you been all my life? What a great drive pedal. Simple, effective. The EQ is great for me--It doesn't cut much bass: it has a slight mid hump at noon and gets useably brighter as you turn the tone up, without losing either mids or bass. At near zero on the drive knob it's till got very noticeable breakup, but it's manageable by the volume knob on the guitar. The overdrive on low setting is smooth and natural sounding, no fizz or excessive harmonics, but when you crank the drive it sounds great as well.

Like most people I spent lot of money/time on drive pedals. The humble OD-3 is the Boss!

Good point about the TONE knob. For a single-knob tone control, Boss absolutely nailed it. Slightly above Noon gives a wonderfully open sound without being shrill. Noon or just below warms it up without getting muddy. Or you can go dark by taking it down farther.

And like you I find it has a very nice response to the guitar volume knob, at least at the 10:30-ish DRIVE settings I use (with single coils).

To me it's like a $100 amp-in-a-box, serving as a de facto crunch channel for my clean amps.

 

[uriah1]

They have a OD1-X out too.
Not sure..too early to tell.

 

[Brent Hutto]

They have a OD1-X out too.
Not sure..too early to tell.

I love me some Boss pedals, but not even they can tempt me into digital dirt.

 

[maxvintage]

I'm not sure what else I would want from an OD. The thing is on very low gain setting, which is typically what I like, it's much more what I want from a very lightly pushed tube amp. Somebody did an analysis online that shows this--it generates more and different harmonics as it's pushed, whereas I think a lot of drives have the same basic distortion profile, just quieter or less of it. I'm not expressing this very well, but I hear it: it's "smother" at lower gain settings than other pedals

I like it at higher gain settings too, and yes the EQ knob is just great. I've had multiple pedals with bass and trebl eor bass mid and treble knobs and this is just simpler and better

 

[Chiogtr4x]

Do you maybe have or have you tried Boss BD2 to compare it to?

I know I have! ( a few times over the years)

( my guitar/collector buddy owns both, and he has a house full of gear to choose, for jams... and I'm an admitted Blues Driver nut- 25 years)

I feel they are similar, but just find the BD-2 to have more presence ( or something?) and more range/ dynamics in those 3-knobs.
It's remarkable, to me.

 

[Festofish]

I never see love for the OS-2 but it is also great.

 

[Holy smokes]

I’ve been using 5150 with a slide rig. You have got me interested in a od3.

 

[Neptical]

Boss OD-3 is FANTASTIC.

One of my favorites right there next to the SD-1.

With that said , a Boss SD-1 ( clean boosting) an OD-3 is one of the best combos for a clean pedal platform. They can replicate the Boogie and Marshall thing superb. ( speaking as an owner of Boogie Marks and JCMs ).

 

[D_Malone]

They have a OD1-X out too.
Not sure..too early to tell.

I love me some Boss pedals, but not even they can tempt me into digital dirt.

The OD-1X is a fantastic medium/high gain drive in my experience. The MDP technology really works. It doesn’t sound digital at all.

However, for low gain sounds, or as a boost, the OD-3 is much better IMO.

Two different tools for different jobs IMO.

 

[JustABluesGuy]

I never see love for the OS-2 but it is also great.

I recently inherited one. I haven’t played with it enough to decide if I like it or not.

 

[Tele-friend]

I know I have! ( a few times over the years)

( my guitar/collector buddy owns both, and he has a house full of gear to choose, for jams... and I'm an admitted Blues Driver nut- 25 years)

I feel they are similar, but just find the BD-2 to have more presence ( or something?) and more range/ dynamics in those 3-knobs.
It's remarkable, to me.

Great to hear that. I love my BD2 and it never leaves my board!