Boss AD-3 Acoustic Instrument Effects Processor Reviews

4.8/5.0 based on 4 customer reviews

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Customer Reviews

Paul B
from Columbus, MS
February 22, 2013Music Background:
Semi-Pro Musician

Boss AD-3: perfect fit in live sound application

Along with being a gigging weekend warrior, I play in our church's 35 piece orchestra. Decision was made to install Avion in-ear monitors for all of the rhythm section, so that amplifiers could be taken out of the pit (to help with house & TV audio issues). With my amp, went all of my effects. Didn't want to drag my gigging acoustic pedal-board set-up for every service, and started looking for an answer. This is it.

I play Godins (A5 Ultra & ACS SA). Put a TC tuner in front of the unit, and only a TRS to XLR adapter cable out the back going into the house system. The sound of my guitar in the house and monitor system truly amazed me. The tone shaping, reverb & chorus work great. The gain structure was near perfect going to the board. Even the engineers stated that of the 8 line-ins coming from our section, mine was the clearest & easiest to deal with.

The switchable output option is a big plus. It will work with either TRS or standard 1/4 outs. You can run stereo balanced, or in amp mode, sent a balanced out to the house and a separate line to an amp.

With the anti-feedback function, it will even allow me to bring a standard acoustic in without having to worry about it howling... could never do that before in close quarters with the amp.

The trend (that I am definitely going with) for many gigging acoustic players is simpler, lighter, quicker set-ups, but without compromising sound quality. This unit definitely fits that bill.

Absolutely no regrets to be had with this unit.

Don Munson
from Charlotte, NC
June 17, 2011Music Background:
50 years playing, active & hobbiest

Perfect Match

After receiving my Godin ACS from Sweetwater, I was having trouble getting a realistic acoustic sound through my guitar amps. My guitar tech, who led me to Godin in the first place, told me to give this pedal a chance. I did, and I have been very happy with the unit.
It sounded good even before I started to tinker with the settings, and it has just gotten better every since. Very direct simple operation, and the effects come on very subtly. It allows complete tonal control of the guitar and gave me the realistic "classical nylon" sound that I was looking for.

Jay Egeler
from Jackson, Michigan
March 28, 2009Music Background:
Bar Band Warrior and Overall Gear Idiot

Finally, My Search is Over

I've been looking for an affordable and easy to use acoustic processor and I believe I found it. I was looking for some good and solid basic processing, reverb and chorus. I don't need much, so I didn't want a lot of bells and whistles that I would not even use and have to pay for. This unit right out of the box delivered. I'm using a Martin D28 with a Woody Pickup and a Parker P8 with built in pickups. I'm plugging into a Bose PAS and using a Digitech VocalistLive2. Life doesn't get any better than this.
With a new set of strings, this setup really shimmers. I will be taking this out when I go to open mic sessions. Since this unit can run on batteries, I'll be able to plug in and have my sound wherever I go, even if I have to use the "house guitar". One thing I liked was, it had its own power switch. A lot of these type of units don't have a power switch and you had to physically unplug it. The sound is just amazing. I waited a long time to hear and feel it. You got to check this thing out if your in the market.

Also, while I'm at it, I can't say enough about Sweetwater and thier ability to continiously deliver excellent response and service. Keep it real guys.....

JIm Wood
from Kelowna, BC CANADA
February 15, 2013Music Background:
Pro Musician

It did just what I hoped it would do.

It did just what I hoped it would do. The chorus is subtle, the reverb quite nice. The feedback control feature works better that I thought it would. It should come with an adapter for the price. The batteries lasted one gig as I left the pedal switch on. Then I had to go buy an adapter. Glad I have it.