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jallen
Copper Member
USA
15 Posts |
 Posted - 10/30/2005 : 01:04:59
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| Hi- this is my first post here. I haven't seen much talk here about the OD-3. I am looking for one and was curious about others' opinions of them. I am running a SD-1 now for my overdrive sound, but heard that the OD-3 has a little more gain and a fuller tone (both of which would be great). Thoughts? |
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visserman
Platinum Member
1072 Posts |
Posted - 10/30/2005 : 13:40:02
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Jallen, all of this talk about what is good or not is very subjective. I am sure you do understand that, so please keep that in mind with what I am going to say now.
OD-3: Very open sounding overdrive, very smooth, can do the clean boost thing. I find it cleaner than the SD-1 or Ibanez TS-9. All of those pedals are in the same range, as they all have similar character and tonalities and therefore you can compare them.
Have not heard the OD-2 or OD-1 and you can imagin that I am curious about those......do they sound as warm as the OD-3?
I think one reason why you do have not heard much about this pedal is because it is new, there is the SD-1 which may be more popular and the BD-2 which is also part of the same familiy.
Really do some A/B tests for yourself with all of the recent Boss overdrive models and you will find out what you like best.
Cheers. |
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jallen
Copper Member
USA
15 Posts |
Posted - 10/30/2005 : 14:29:02
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Thanks for the opinion. Yes, I would love to A/B the two, but the problem is finding one in the area- the stores around me keep telling me that they can get it on special order only. I have only checked three places, though, so I'm sure I'll find one somewhere.
Or I may just have to buy one and see how it is when it gets here (which is why I'm looking for opinions from those who have played both). |
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visserman
Platinum Member
1072 Posts |
Posted - 10/30/2005 : 14:58:30
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Right I understand your scenario Jallen, I guess I am spoilt here, living in a city with more than 11 musicshops around me, varying from superstores to small one-man owned shops.
What kind of sound you are looking for?
What would you like the pedal to do what you cannot do at the moment?
Are there any bands who have a gtr. sound you like and wish to come close to that sound yourselve?
All I can say about the OD-3 is that it is an OLD school sound, it is an overdrive, and overdrives do not sound modern.
I teach guitar for a living and some of my pupils point out to me that this pedal has a retro kind of sound. Well I can see their point, and some of them like that sound, others like a more extreme sound [something which you can achieve with the Mega Distortion]
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makol
Copper Member
Japan
42 Posts |
Posted - 10/30/2005 : 15:50:57
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Hi there jallen. I've been using SD-2 (dual overdrive) for a while and just bought an OD-3 & TS-9 two weeks ago (out of curiosity and search for not-so-expensive overdrives, i got a 50% discount).
Here's my opinion:
All I can say is that the OD-3 smokes the TS-9. It has a much fuller sound and crunch. The TS-9 is thin compared to OD-3. (Btw, I use a solid-state amp so i don't know if there will be a change in my opinion if I use a tube amp). My order of preference will be OD-3, SD-2 then TS-9.
Anyway, goodluck finding an OD-3 (an underrated pedal imho).
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Dingus
Silver Member
USA
472 Posts |
Posted - 10/30/2005 : 20:25:17
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I own an OD-1, an OD-2 (MIJ) a OD-2r (MIT) and an OD-3.
And I tell you the OD-3 is my favorite for the classic rock/neo-classic rock ala the White Stripes kind of sound.
The OD-1 is a very good pedal and I enjoy it a lot, but honestly I think I like the OD-3 better, your best bet is finding somewhere that you can try one out, I'm not sure where you are located but guitar center's generally carry them. But as I realize many users on this forum are outside the US, your best bet might be going to the boss website and trying to locate dealers from their search engine. But anyway I think if you know what kind of sound you want like visserman said it would be easier to help you out. For what it is worth the Boss Japan website also has soundclips of all the current pedals including the OD-3 (http://www.bosscorp.co.jp/en/index.html)
All in all I don't think you'd be dissapointed by an OD-3. And if you can find one for a good price have at it. Hope that helps. |
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Goran
Double Platinum Member
Sweden
2203 Posts |
Posted - 10/31/2005 : 06:51:50
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The last days I have tested all of my Boss overdrives and distorsions. I have them all except MD-2 and DS-2.
My alltime favotite has always been BD-2 but to my suprice, when testing side by side, OD-3 sounds very good, near BD-2. A little more overdrive and volume at lower settings but with a bit of more bottomend. BD-2 is terrific for blues but if you�re going for rock/blues-rock I think OD-3 would be the thing.
The worst of all my Boss overdrives/distorsions (in MY ears) was without competition XT-2, for my style of music this one is pretty unusable. But I like the color of it.... |
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jallen
Copper Member
USA
15 Posts |
Posted - 11/01/2005 : 17:06:39
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Thanks so much for all the advice and opinions. I was able to track down a OD-3 and guess what? I like my SD-1 more. Maybe I'm just so used to it that everything else sounds weird to me. Oh well, to each his own!
Goran, I know what you mean about the XT-2. That thing never did it for me. Have you tried to MD-2 yet? If not, you might want to stay away- it has a similar overbuzz sound as the XT-2 on many settings. |
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bossarea
Forum Admin
United Kingdom
3652 Posts |
Posted - 11/01/2005 : 17:17:01
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It just proves how different taste can be 
I didn't like the OD-3 much but I like both the MD-2 and the XT-2. |
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jallen
Copper Member
USA
15 Posts |
Posted - 11/02/2005 : 05:21:44
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It must be weird to set up a site on a subject and have jokers show up and offer opinions different than yours  ! What a great site- truly a wealth of info! |
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bossarea
Forum Admin
United Kingdom
3652 Posts |
Posted - 11/02/2005 : 10:51:22
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Not at all. Since I set up the forum I've learned more about these pedals that I ever thought possible. In some cases it's technical and in some cases it's about their use. Brilliant!
On the downside, it's hard on my budget. I buy more pedals than ever before. |
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visserman
Platinum Member
1072 Posts |
Posted - 11/02/2005 : 14:36:54
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quote:
Originally posted by makol
Hi there jallen. I've been using SD-2 (dual overdrive) for a while and just bought an OD-3 & TS-9 two weeks ago (out of curiosity and search for not-so-expensive overdrives, i got a 50% discount).
Here's my opinion:
All I can say is that the OD-3 smokes the TS-9. It has a much fuller sound and crunch. The TS-9 is thin compared to OD-3. (Btw, I use a solid-state amp so i don't know if there will be a change in my opinion if I use a tube amp). My order of preference will be OD-3, SD-2 then TS-9.
Anyway, goodluck finding an OD-3 (an underrated pedal imho).
Makol, you may like the sound of your TS9 when you would put it in front of a pedal which emulates a tubesound. I use a Sansamp Bassdriver for this. In fact the Sans amp is nearly all the time at the end of my chain.
Bassdriver for Gtr.? Are you insane? Well it may seem like that with the Sansamp Bass being a DI-box for Bass, but I use it more as a valve EQ box. It works on anything, the whole signalpath is warmed up by the box, it makes all pedals sound a lot warmer.
You say you are using a transitor amp, so really using a valve-kind of box would turn your ampsound in a "valve-kind of amp"
I have real valve amps as well, so I can compare the sound of the Sans against valveamps, and really, this pedal comes very close to the real thing, the feel is there too, which is something which is usually lacking in valve modeling boxes.
All in all, when you are playing through moderate sized amps something like a valve box can improve your signal a lot.
The TS-9 was orginally designed to put some fire into valve amps, so really, put on of them infront of a valve box and you are getting closer to that scenario. Okay a valve box will work on anything, so is a great tool to warm up any distortion-or overdrive pedal.
Downer is: Sansamps [or any kind of valve box] are not cheap, you do see them on Ebay from time to time, but not that often
Bought mine from a shop which stopped selling electr. gtr. gear, and it made it worth to give them a try. Was my introduction to Sansamp, and I am really happy about it.
Using bassgear for Gtr. applications may not seem to be obvious but you can get some fine resuls. Like the LM-2 a lot, okay not specically designed for Bass, but I think most folks use this one more for bass than gtr. Thing with the LM-2 is that it can act as a more subtle compressor, bit like the CS-1 but not as active. Certainly has a different feel and more warmth compared to a CS-3.
Don't ask me how you find out about these things, I guess you just need to plug into a lot of boxes and press your ears against your speakers and play and just listen to the results. |
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makol
Copper Member
Japan
42 Posts |
Posted - 11/02/2005 : 19:51:01
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visserman, thx for the tip  . 'Gonna look for a cheap sansamp in the meantime. I'm planning to get a tube amp soon (well....after my small vacation ) |
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Topic |
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OD-3 opinions?
