BOSSOdb-3 Bass Overdrive Pedal ,Yellow

Boss pedals tend to be viewed with suspicion by many "boutique" pedal fans. However there is a reason why they are the most successful pedal company in history. The design is classic - it's strong, long lasting, and the controls won't ever be moved accidentally by feet.Compression on bass is a very useful tool. Bass guitar has a far greater dynamic range than guitar and swapping between playing styles (fingers, plectrum, slap) causes massive changes in volume. A good compressor can help reduce those volume changes while still allowing enough dynamics to come through.This is a multi-band compressor. That means different frequencies are compressed by a different amount. It allows more compression on the treble sounds while letting the heft of the bass sounds to still have their desired impact. The controls are simple and I suspect there is more going on under the bonnet. I suspect the attack time is being altered internally when the other parameters are being changed.5 and 6 knob compressors can be very fiddly to dial in perfectly. This is really a 3 knob + volume and it is very easy to dial in.I have maybe 15 different compressor pedals and this one is by far the easiest to set up. It's also the one with the lowest noise floor (hiss) - it's remarkably free of hiss / unwanted noise.There is no low end roll off / cut that many pedal compressors have so the low end (even on a 5 string) is strong and clear. It's an accurate sound and doesn't colour the tone in any way I can tell. It's just compresses.The only downside is battery life. If it's always on then the battery will be spent in a couple of hours. Definitely needs a proper power supply. This is not a surprise though for a multi-band compressor.It's reasonably priced, it's easy to use, it's well designed, and it sounds great. It's also a Boss so it will probably still be working in 30+ years (I have some Boss pedals from the mid 1980s that are still working just fine).Very impressive.

I liked the colour. End of! I dislike the rest of it and it's not worth the money as it's the worst bass compressor I've owned. I've previously owned EBS multicomp, Seymour Duncan studio bass comp, EHX bass preacher, and even a Behringer - All of which perform better than this effort from Boss. I like Boss, and their stuff is generally pretty good, even perfect, but this falls way short of the mark. By a long way. Compression on some other makes is very subtle, but this unit barely has an effect at all, even when the Ratio dial is fully on max. The threshold dial, when set anything above the minimum, is pointless. It also changes the tone of my bass, which the description and YouTube demo reviews claim it won't do. When the pedal is not on (bypass mode) my bass has my usual fat, deep, warm punch through my Peavey rig, but when switched on it cuts the bass and boosts the treble: not a sound I like for a bass playing rock, metal, and blues. I should point out that I also chose this pedal due to the claims that it can handle an active bass. Hmm! Yes it does, but not very well, would be my claim. For the record I play a Fender Jazz (MIM) which is my main gigging bass, and a Fender Precision (USA), both of which are passive, and also a Music Man Sterling 24 and an Ibanez GSR, both of which are active. None of these guitars produce a good tone or any kind of decent compression through this pedal. I used it for one gig, during which I left it off after the first couple of songs. I've added an EQ pedal after it to try and compensate and will test again at the next gig, but I'll probably revert to my Seymour Duncan. I Love Boss but this pedal is their worst yet. Where did all the good reviews come from? Sometimes I seriously wonder about the quality and truthfulness of Amazon reviews in general. Incase you're wondering: as a bass player I use very few pedals (tuner, compressor, eq is usually it) so there's not a lot else to affect the chain. Not a good purchase and I would recommend any of the above mentioned compressors before this one. In fact, I wouldn't recommend it at all.

What can I say?: It's a Boss pedal. What else do you need to know?: How about, it's a Boss pedal?: And if that makes no sense, might I suggest that you start with the original Boss DS-1, and take it from there... Oh, and expect to hear about cockroaches along the way...

One or two bass-playing chaps among my friends told me that this pedal makes their instrument sound better, so I thought, what the heck, I'll get one, to smooth out my playing.Wrong.There was no noticeable improvement to my Precision's tone through my Fender Rumble amp. It did tighten up the bottom end slightly, but that is not enough. The pedal certainly didn't do anything that warranted the £148 price tag. My advice to myself, in future, is Try It Before You Buy It.I like Boss pedals and I have several, but this one didn't cut the mustard, so, as I type, it is wending its way back to Amazon. Good riddance.

I was instantly able to dial in this effect. As much as you can have compression built into your amp, this is configurable and of course can be switched off instantly.

Very, very good. I had my doubts it would make my partners sound any better considering the tiny amp they have, but Daymn! Well worth it!It's even encouraged them to practice more, which is a bloody miracle... Also a great idea to buy a wire that you can plug in directly to a socket so you can save on it devouring batteries.

Delivered 10 am next mornin, came with battery which is always a nice suprise. If you want an effect that sounds like flea at the beginning of around the world or cliff burton at the beginning of for whom the bell tolls this is the pedal for you! 👍👍

Item was just what my son wanted but disappointed that an item costing £90 arrived in a jiffy bag, so the box it was in was a bit bashed about.