I had one of these too, and also regret having let it go. It wasn’t right for my rig at the time, but these days it would probably be a really good fit for me. I might have to look into one again. If there’s one bit of advice I’d have given myself at 35, it would be to have greater awareness of the passage of time, and how it accelerates through one’s 30s. I’ve blinked my eyes and suddenly I’m mid-40s. Now that I’m here (and really, I don’t feel any different, thankfully)… every so often I try to give that some thought, and make a conscious effort to “slow things down”, if that makes any sense, and it actually seems to help. I wish I had started sooner! But getting older is nothing to fear. It’s actually… kinda great! Really.
I've long said that if the OD-3 was made by literally any other brand, it would be *at the very least* $250 US dollars and be on everyone's pedalboard. But because it's by Boss and not the SD-1, it goes ignored. As is the common case, I'm constantly obsessed with what combinations of drives produce the best result. Yesterday I was playing some guitar, and I just had my OD-3 going by itself, and I couldn't deny that it was better than any other combination I could come up with. The thing is straight up gold and undeniably my favorite drive of all time.
Along with my amp the OD-3 is the foundation of my tone. When my amp can’t quite get to the edge of breakup without getting too loud? The OD-3 gets me there.
I bought the OD3 as a result of one of your vid reviews a while back in which you were extolling its virtues and I absolutely love it. I’ve used it in a lot of my recorded tracks since then, and it’s good to know that you still rate it so highly, thanks
I run my guitar in an OD-3 with various gain amounts but with the tone rolled all the way down, and I run that into a TubeScreamer with zero gain and the tone cranked wherever it needs to be to restore some highs. I'm very easily annoyed by fizzy highs and this combination really delivers for smooth lead sounds. It has a nice subtle fuzz crackle thing happening too when you hit lower notes a certain way. It's a really complex and responsive sound. I love it.
Boss OD-3 is an amazing pedal (besides a klon clone on my pedalboard). I run a Xotic EP Boost before the OD-3. This adds body to the single coil configuration; but also works well with double-coil application. Again….a great, great pedal - wonderful for full-bodied lead solo work.
This sounds weird but the OD3 in my book was really the start of the boutique craze in the 00s’. It was the first kinda massed produced boutique drive in the same playing field as many other higher priced drives quoted as, “boutique drives”.
I tried out an OD-3 when I was young & compared it to a Boss Blues driver, I thought the OD-3 sounded better because it was smoother & less gritty sounding.
I have an SD-1 I bought in the early 80’s. I liked it, but vaguely remembered the OD-1 as being smoother, didn’t want to pay used prices tho. So stumbled upon the OD-3. It sounded like I recalled the OD-1 sounded, but maybe even better. OD-3 is a great drive! Like you say smooth, I’d add a little beefier, too.
For me, the one I regret is also a Boss. I'm having a Les Paul repaired and having upgraded electronics installed right now. When I pick it up, I plan on buying another Boss Metal Zone, but this time, I'm getting the Waza for the upgraded eq. The Metal Zone is the only trade that I regret.
My favorite drive. I prefer transparent drives and find it to be especially good with humbuckers due to the extra little bit of high end sparkle it has compared to the Nobles ODR-3. Excited to hear your thoughts on it.
I haven’t used an OD3, but I absolutely adore my Waza craft blues driver. For the low-medium gain blues and rock I play, it’s perfect. Boss overdrives are way too underrated imo
Sounds awesome. I compared vs a Origin Revival Drive and strongly preferred the OD3.. It just works, its easy, sounds great clean to crunch and its cheap.. Kinda a no brainer.
I’ve one, you pedal knob tweaker. It strikes me as more in the AC Boost, Zen Drive vein than the other Boss offerings in the range. Haven’t compared side by side so I guess you can call me a knob head if I’m way off. Suffice it to say I wish I’d discovered this one much earlier than I did. Cheers Cordy, cheers all. 🤙🏼
I got the OD3 after researching about it. According to some pedal historian I saw on UA-cam, it was like the culmination of all the research and testing of Boss back in the day. The OD3 is more balanced and doesn't give that mid hump like a tube screamer. It is great but depends on what amp and speakers you have.
I’d love to learn to play nice long lines like that over the changes. I’m studying the Charlie Parker Omnibook as practice etudes, but I’d love to learn how to get so much mileage out of one chord like you do. I feel like I’m stuck within the box of the major or minor 9th arpeggios. I have a jazz and classical piano background but having a tough time translating it to the fretboard. Piano is completely linear and there’s only one key for each note, so I can use my eye a little more, but the up and down as well as “across” factor off the fretboard is perplexing!
It’s a brilliant pedal - reminds me of a nobels odr but with a bit more sparkle. A bit woofy on a neck pickup at mid gain but brilliant at low gain. Great on a bridge pickup at any setting
Waiting on the keeley version tbh… hoping he combines it with the tonestack from a fisher price speak and spell. ABC- od3 he can call it - no worries, it’s on me mate.
I'm not sure there is such a thing as the best boss overdrive. They're all pretty different and all have their strengths and particular use cases - particular amps, guitars and styles they work best with. The good thing is they are all reasonably priced and you can have a bunch of them sat waiting for that particular need to come along
Hmm, I love the Nobels ODR-1 and the Greer Lightspeed. Seems like the OD-3 has a bit more presence than the ODR-1. How do you think the Boss OD-3 compares to the Lightspeed? Similar?
Still have em just bc it’s the easiest for me to stack with all my fuzz. I programmed the od200 natural drive to sound the closest to what I liked on the od3.
It sounds good with the Srat to me. On another tangent, it seems you had your baby at 34? I had my three, but starting with first at 44. Although these kinds of things may seem off the subject of overdrive pedals or guitars, I can see looking back that they had as much or more direct impact on my development as a guitar player as did learning songs, licks, and scales.
@@RobbenBanks153 Ha! For sure, but it does make you look at life and musical culture a little more deeply, and can give you new prospects of approach,( that's when you can!)☺️
I am and also never really loved it. It’s very good, just not what I was looking for. Replaced with BD2w which was instantly the sound. Would happily have kept the OD3 if I wasn’t trying to downsize the collection though.
I have one and don't use it much. Prefer the sound of the turbo overdrive to be honest. Though I would like a pedal that was somewhere between the two. (One has too much bass, the other could do with more)
Not sure he has. But I've loaned him the OD1-x a few times and he's never used it in a video. I have a DS1-x as well and offered to loan it to John but he didn't seem interested
Anyone tried od3 with fuzzface? ..i mean strat to fuzz, fuzz to od3.. In these videos the od3 appears having very amplike dynamic behavior.. I'm looking to get classic ff->tube marshall-ish dynamics and response to guitar volume and pick dynamics without cranking my amp and still get away in the low volume gigs.. I've used tube screamer like that..ok but not perfect..then ocd..better but still lacking dynamics..now i've used crunchbox for some years..different to ocd..some better, some worse qualities..i can live with it, but maybe this od3 was still one step closer to less flat dynamics? 😅
I think there's a sneeky marketing thing going on...only a year ago I never heard anyone talk up this pedal...Now it's all OD3 all the time.....Hmmmmmmm............EDIT: ua-cam.com/video/K5msbnUEJx8/v-deo.html so i was right! Boss has gone into BEAST MODE on these....sayin' Then he says "It's the best Boss Pedal ever" Can you say slut? Sure you can.
I had one, but it had far too much compression, so while it could go from clean to overdriven depending on how hard I picked, there was very little dynamic range or "feel" evident. I now use a Boss BD-2, which is a little harsher (the OD-3 is smoother), but much less compressed.
I had one of these too, and also regret having let it go. It wasn’t right for my rig at the time, but these days it would probably be a really good fit for me. I might have to look into one again.
If there’s one bit of advice I’d have given myself at 35, it would be to have greater awareness of the passage of time, and how it accelerates through one’s 30s. I’ve blinked my eyes and suddenly I’m mid-40s. Now that I’m here (and really, I don’t feel any different, thankfully)… every so often I try to give that some thought, and make a conscious effort to “slow things down”, if that makes any sense, and it actually seems to help. I wish I had started sooner! But getting older is nothing to fear. It’s actually… kinda great! Really.
I've long said that if the OD-3 was made by literally any other brand, it would be *at the very least* $250 US dollars and be on everyone's pedalboard. But because it's by Boss and not the SD-1, it goes ignored. As is the common case, I'm constantly obsessed with what combinations of drives produce the best result. Yesterday I was playing some guitar, and I just had my OD-3 going by itself, and I couldn't deny that it was better than any other combination I could come up with. The thing is straight up gold and undeniably my favorite drive of all time.
I just ordered one. Never heard so many people agree about a pedal
Along with my amp the OD-3 is the foundation of my tone.
When my amp can’t quite get to the edge of breakup without getting too loud? The OD-3 gets me there.
I bought the OD3 as a result of one of your vid reviews a while back in which you were extolling its virtues and I absolutely love it. I’ve used it in a lot of my recorded tracks since then, and it’s good to know that you still rate it so highly, thanks
Another fan here. The OD3 crops up here and there on UA-cam with lots of praise. It’s fairly open and amp like.
I run my guitar in an OD-3 with various gain amounts but with the tone rolled all the way down, and I run that into a TubeScreamer with zero gain and the tone cranked wherever it needs to be to restore some highs. I'm very easily annoyed by fizzy highs and this combination really delivers for smooth lead sounds. It has a nice subtle fuzz crackle thing happening too when you hit lower notes a certain way. It's a really complex and responsive sound. I love it.
Happy birthday fella!! And yeah - must look into the OD3
Happy birthday John.
Boss OD-3 is an amazing pedal (besides a klon clone on my pedalboard). I run a Xotic EP Boost before the OD-3. This adds body to the single coil configuration; but also works well with double-coil application. Again….a great, great pedal - wonderful for full-bodied lead solo work.
I love the OD-3 for low gain. I hit it with an SD-1 for more crunch/leads.
been one of my go to pedals since I started playing electric over 20 years ago. Still one of the best overdrives to my ears, and very affordable
This sounds weird but the OD3 in my book was really the start of the boutique craze in the 00s’.
It was the first kinda massed produced boutique drive in the same playing field as many other higher priced drives quoted as, “boutique drives”.
I tried out an OD-3 when I was young & compared it to a Boss Blues driver, I thought the OD-3 sounded better because it was smoother & less gritty sounding.
Funnily enough is this is exactly why I sold my OD3 to buy a BD2w.
I have an SD-1 I bought in the early 80’s. I liked it, but vaguely remembered the OD-1 as being smoother, didn’t want to pay used prices tho. So stumbled upon the OD-3. It sounded like I recalled the OD-1 sounded, but maybe even better. OD-3 is a great drive! Like you say smooth, I’d add a little beefier, too.
I bought the od-3 today, very excited to try it with a jazzmaster and an IR-200 ❤
Finally! I've been waiting for you to try one out forever!
For me, the one I regret is also a Boss. I'm having a Les Paul repaired and having upgraded electronics installed right now. When I pick it up, I plan on buying another Boss Metal Zone, but this time, I'm getting the Waza for the upgraded eq. The Metal Zone is the only trade that I regret.
My favorite drive. I prefer transparent drives and find it to be especially good with humbuckers due to the extra little bit of high end sparkle it has compared to the Nobles ODR-3. Excited to hear your thoughts on it.
Happy birthday!
I haven’t used an OD3, but I absolutely adore my Waza craft blues driver. For the low-medium gain blues and rock I play, it’s perfect. Boss overdrives are way too underrated imo
My very first pedal was the Boss SD1, in 1982 (I’m now 34). This one seems to share similar characteristics. Nice demo.
youre 34 now? how did you time travel to 1982?
@@ImmyT89 John knows me, it was just a stupid joke. I am 61.
Your playing is inspiring also. Nice job 👍
Sounds awesome. I compared vs a Origin Revival Drive and strongly preferred the OD3.. It just works, its easy, sounds great clean to crunch and its cheap.. Kinda a no brainer.
Happy belated 35th, John! 🎉
I’ve one, you pedal knob tweaker. It strikes me as more in the AC Boost, Zen Drive vein than the other Boss offerings in the range. Haven’t compared side by side so I guess you can call me a knob head if I’m way off. Suffice it to say I wish I’d discovered this one much earlier than I did. Cheers Cordy, cheers all. 🤙🏼
I got the OD3 after researching about it. According to some pedal historian I saw on UA-cam, it was like the culmination of all the research and testing of Boss back in the day. The OD3 is more balanced and doesn't give that mid hump like a tube screamer. It is great but depends on what amp and speakers you have.
I love mine! Great pedal for many things.
Man you play beautifully
The hx stomp is the best drive pedal. Bring back the factbot
I’d love to learn to play nice long lines like that over the changes. I’m studying the Charlie Parker Omnibook as practice etudes, but I’d love to learn how to get so much mileage out of one chord like you do. I feel like I’m stuck within the box of the major or minor 9th arpeggios.
I have a jazz and classical piano background but having a tough time translating it to the fretboard. Piano is completely linear and there’s only one key for each note, so I can use my eye a little more, but the up and down as well as “across” factor off the fretboard is perplexing!
Only pedal I've bought again after selling it.
It’s a brilliant pedal - reminds me of a nobels odr but with a bit more sparkle. A bit woofy on a neck pickup at mid gain but brilliant at low gain. Great on a bridge pickup at any setting
Every BOSS pedal is awesome. If you can use them, you don’t need boutique stuff.
This was actually the first OD pedal I ever bought. Still on my board.
Waiting on the keeley version tbh… hoping he combines it with the tonestack from a fisher price speak and spell.
ABC- od3 he can call it - no worries, it’s on me mate.
Sounds great… ‘appy belated, old chap 🎉
I'm not sure there is such a thing as the best boss overdrive. They're all pretty different and all have their strengths and particular use cases - particular amps, guitars and styles they work best with. The good thing is they are all reasonably priced and you can have a bunch of them sat waiting for that particular need to come along
Best drive on earth 🌎 absolutely
Hmm, I love the Nobels ODR-1 and the Greer Lightspeed. Seems like the OD-3 has a bit more presence than the ODR-1. How do you think the Boss OD-3 compares to the Lightspeed? Similar?
I use mine about 17 years
Still have em just bc it’s the easiest for me to stack with all my fuzz.
I programmed the od200 natural drive to sound the closest to what I liked on the od3.
It sounds good with the Srat to me. On another tangent, it seems you had your baby at 34? I had my three, but starting with first at 44. Although these kinds of things may seem off the subject of overdrive pedals or guitars, I can see looking back that they had as much or more direct impact on my development as a guitar player as did learning songs, licks, and scales.
Very interesting
Children and when you had them had an impact on your playing? Like having the time to play at all?
@@RobbenBanks153 Ha! For sure, but it does make you look at life and musical culture a little more deeply, and can give you new prospects of approach,( that's when you can!)☺️
I really like the bd2 would this pedal stack well with it or would a SD-1 be better?
My only issue with this pedal is that it’s noisy. The Blues Driver is quieter but maybe sounds slightly less good. Idk.
You need to check out the Helios Overdrive from VTR Effects
I will have to give this pedal another chance, I have one but I didn't really make friends with it. Perhaps because I'm not a strat player.
I am and also never really loved it. It’s very good, just not what I was looking for.
Replaced with BD2w which was instantly the sound.
Would happily have kept the OD3 if I wasn’t trying to downsize the collection though.
I have one and don't use it much. Prefer the sound of the turbo overdrive to be honest. Though I would like a pedal that was somewhere between the two. (One has too much bass, the other could do with more)
Have you ever tried the Boss DS-1X ? It would be interesting to hear your thoughts on it.
Not sure he has. But I've loaned him the OD1-x a few times and he's never used it in a video. I have a DS1-x as well and offered to loan it to John but he didn't seem interested
Anyone tried od3 with fuzzface? ..i mean strat to fuzz, fuzz to od3.. In these videos the od3 appears having very amplike dynamic behavior.. I'm looking to get classic ff->tube marshall-ish dynamics and response to guitar volume and pick dynamics without cranking my amp and still get away in the low volume gigs.. I've used tube screamer like that..ok but not perfect..then ocd..better but still lacking dynamics..now i've used crunchbox for some years..different to ocd..some better, some worse qualities..i can live with it, but maybe this od3 was still one step closer to less flat dynamics? 😅
Od3 plus zoom ms 50g please❤❤
I think there's a sneeky marketing thing going on...only a year ago I never heard anyone talk up this pedal...Now it's all OD3 all the time.....Hmmmmmmm............EDIT: ua-cam.com/video/K5msbnUEJx8/v-deo.html
so i was right! Boss has gone into BEAST MODE on these....sayin'
Then he says "It's the best Boss Pedal ever" Can you say slut? Sure you can.
flubby pedal I sold it
I had one, but it had far too much compression, so while it could go from clean to overdriven depending on how hard I picked, there was very little dynamic range or "feel" evident. I now use a Boss BD-2, which is a little harsher (the OD-3 is smoother), but much less compressed.
Sorry no, the best is the boss bd2 and i tried a lot.🤗