I was curious about the OD-3 and after being offered one for a knockdown price I added it to my bass rig. I don't see them mentioned very often - presumably because Boss dirt boxes are generally a bit 'meh'-sounding - but it's pretty nice.

I can't say how it compares with the SD-1 or the earlier OD-x versions but on a side-by-side test with a BD-2 it's similar, but darker, beefier and is less harsh. I don't get the BD's touch-sensitivity because I think it's voiced to offer more sustain, but this does mean that splatty crackle to the note decay is lessened. It's still there to a degree, but the overall 'feel' is subtler and smoother.

The BD-2 gives more grit and bite while the OD-3 is less intrusive. It won't replace the OCD on my guitar board though, because I've found it's ideal for bass. Seriously. The mild clipping, along with the way it doesn't lose the bottom-end, makes it the perfect bass OD for when I want a hint of dirt and bite. Cascading it into a RAT sends it mental too...not sure if I'd ever have a use for the combination of the two, but it was quite the bargain.

I'm guilty of being a bit of a cork-sniffing pedant when it comes to pedal distortion, but I was pleasantly surprised that the OD-3 isn't the piece of mass-produced mediocrity I expected it to be. Result!

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Guitar rig: CIJ Fender Jazzmaster/CIJ Fender Mustang -> TU-3 -> RV-5 -> OD-3 -> custom IC Muff -> PS-2 -> DD-3 -> RE-20 -> LS-2 -> Fender '65 DRRI & Mesa/Boogie F-50

Bass rig: Fender MIM Jazz Bass -> TU-2 -> RAT 2 -> Sansamp BDDI -> RV-3

"...So now you know the true secret to great tone: all the espresso you can handle."

Many years ago, I ran a FabTone into an OD-3, and the OD-3 seemed to mellow out the harshness of the FabTone. That pair was fed into a BOSS GE-7, which I used to filter out the less desirable frequencies.

That being said, the OD-3 is the only pedal that I regret selling. It sounded amazing.

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Stuff I use:
Standard Strat with Lace Hot Golds; Standard Ash Tele; Fulltone OCD, Line6 M9
My Music

The only? I always regret selling gear, even my old ZOOM 505. And definitely that Epi Genesis.

The OD-3 is, in my very humble opinion, the only currently-produced BOSS dirt pedal worth having.

Oh, God. Entered the BOSS US website to check if I was forgetting anyone (and yes, the SD-1 is a good bang for the buck as well) and saw that BC-2 thing. That lead tone is awful... Even awfuller if you think it was "inspired" by the AC30.

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crew

Selling BOSS FW-3. I live in Brazil, mind you, so prepare yourself for $30-ish for shipping and waiting. Local pickup available, along with beautiful beaches and cheap bitches.

Yeah, the only one. Everything else I've ever gotten rid of was so I could get something better or because I didn't like it.

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Stuff I use:
Standard Strat with Lace Hot Golds; Standard Ash Tele; Fulltone OCD, Line6 M9
My Music

My God...you're right. The Boss doesn't do much distorting (it doesn't need to, rather) when placed after the Dano, but it takes off the worst of the fizzy treble while leaving the midrange howl and bottom end intact. It feeds back like a good 'un when you're close up to the amp, but it acts like a low pass filter and smooths out the peaks. Clever!

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Guitar rig: CIJ Fender Jazzmaster/CIJ Fender Mustang -> TU-3 -> RV-5 -> OD-3 -> custom IC Muff -> PS-2 -> DD-3 -> RE-20 -> LS-2 -> Fender '65 DRRI & Mesa/Boogie F-50

Bass rig: Fender MIM Jazz Bass -> TU-2 -> RAT 2 -> Sansamp BDDI -> RV-3

"...So now you know the true secret to great tone: all the espresso you can handle."

I used it to increase the overall level, too. That way, if the Fabtone was on by itself, it had kind of a fizzy, low-fi kind of sound.

EDIT: Oh yeah, and like I said earlier, I had a GE-7 behind both of them to further sculpt the tone.

__________________
Stuff I use:
Standard Strat with Lace Hot Golds; Standard Ash Tele; Fulltone OCD, Line6 M9
My Music

And I'll always admire people who can just go on after making a decision.

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crew

Selling BOSS FW-3. I live in Brazil, mind you, so prepare yourself for $30-ish for shipping and waiting. Local pickup available, along with beautiful beaches and cheap bitches.

Well, it's easy to get rid of something that you don't like. My OD-3 just got dumped into a pile of dirt pedals I was selling at the time because I had too many. A metal zone, blues driver, turbo distortion, fab tone, a DOD graphic eq... I think that was all.

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Stuff I use:
Standard Strat with Lace Hot Golds; Standard Ash Tele; Fulltone OCD, Line6 M9
My Music