Boss MS-3 Multi Effects Switcher Reviews

I use the MS-3 utilizing the 4-cable method with loop 3 being my amplifier's preamp section. This means that for me loop 3 is always engaged so I only have two loops available for efx pedals. This hasn't been a problem for me because the onboard efx are pretty good to excellent and you can really cover a lot of ground with just the multi efx in the pedal. I typically swap several pedals into and out of the loops depending on the situation or sound I'm going for.

For me, one of the big advantages to this unit was it's midi capabilities which allowed me to ditch the huge six button foot switch that came with the amp. For my amplifier midi controls channel (three channels), reverb per channel, efx loop, and lead boost all at the touch of a single button. This alone makes this device worth it to me.

The edit software seems to work pretty well and I didn't have any issues figuring out how to use any of the controls or the layout.

Overall really happy with this purchase. I've been using it for a few months now and it seems well built with a metal frame and sturdy footswitch buttons. I power it with a truetone CS12 without any issues. It lets me cover a lot of sonic ground at the push of a single button.

Have three of these units on separate pedalboards, and I love all of them and they share most of the same presets.
I use the BOSS MS-3 in somewhat of an unconventional way because of the way that the reverb and delay trails are interrupted when you change patches. Rather than rely entirely on the internal reverb and delay, I have augmented the MS-3 with external reverb and delay pedals in the effects loop of my guitar amplifiers. I use the MS-3 primarily as a switcher for 3 external drive pedals with the addition of EQ, compression, and all manner of modulation effects to complete the sound. The MS-3 controls everything that goes in FRONT of the guitar amplifier without having to sacrifice one of the loops to support a 4-cable method connection to the guitar amplifier. If I have to use just a simple 2-cable connection, then I just jumper the output of the MS-3 into my delay pedal and take the output of the reverb into the front of an amp. I love the freedom to hear the more natural sound of the reverb and delay trails when I change patches. If you use pedals that accept MIDI controls the MS-3 can send MIDI CC or PC signals to those pedals to change patches in response to control inputs on the MS-3. The only wish that I would have for the designers, is that you would be able to change the positions of the LOOPS in the effects chains. I know that they do this with the ES-5 and ES-8, so it should be possible... but the relays that operate the loops in the MS-3 are physically connected one to another in a fixed order, it is not something that can be changed just in software alone. I won't end this review on a down note, however... the BOSS MS-3 is a fantastic product that has made my life easier and I wouldn't have three of them if it didn't. Why three? Because I'm lazy... I have one at home, one at the practice studio, and one on the truck with all of the equipment for the gigs. Oh yes, I have to say that I love the Roland librarian and patch editor software for this product. It is a testament to how to make software with a good human interface. Knobs look like knobs and you can edit by pointing with a mouse or put numbers into the little boxes that correspond to the variable levels. What a concept.

I can"t believe how much you can customize your rig with this piece! All the routing options and switching features you could want in a small package plus plenty of effects to cover anything you wanna play. Still impressed

If you had only one pedal to build your sound around, this is it!

The sound, the quality, the functionality, versatility, and 'value' of this thing is off the charts!

This was a great investment for me.. I'm gonna be able to seriously downsize my pedal board while simultaneously expanding what it can do tenfold...

it does it all.. It has great, highly customizeable sounds of it's own right out of the box, and then it not only manages those sounds in any way you want, but manages your entire effects rig the same way!

I'm now removing every distortion pedal, delay, reverb, chorsu, flanger, etc., Wah, and volume control from my pedal board! I'll be adding a GP-10 after this (just wish those had a regular MIDI), and expression pedal or two, and then I have tons of space for the 'specialty' pedals, while still keeping the size and weight of the pedal board completely manageable!

I'm in love!
I'm thankful this thing exists
(especially at the price point)

This thing is a 'game changer'

Let's cut to the chase here, the unit is very easy to use, good price $$, portable!!!, good quality effects, bright led display, no noticeable tone suck from what I can tell, you are able to use your favorite od/dist pedals or change amp channel, has a very decent acoustic sim, multiple connectivity options and of course the the noise gait!!!!. The list keeps going. You can adjust the master eq, add eq or adjust the volume for each patch.

I was fairly certain the MS-3 would work for my situation, but I didn't expect to be as impressed as I am. At first I was worried that I wouldn't have enough loops for my pedals because I run the unit using the 4-cable method. That means I only have two loops for my own pedals. As it turns out, that doesn't matter. After comparing my pedals to the sounds in the MS-3, I decided I don't need my Boss SD-1, Boss SD-1, Rocktron Chorus or Biyang compressor. None of these are super expensive pedals, but I like how they sound and the MS-3 gets so close that I don't think anyone can miss them. Lots of people like to run their dirt pedals with this unit, but the only pedal that I couldn't find a perfect replacement for is my Small Stone phaser. I keep it in one of the loops and I have an analog delay running after the MS-3. The latter is because the MS-3 doesn't allow spillover between patches, so having a delay after the unit smooths things out when I change from one sound to the next. The MS-3 works great with both of my tube amps, allowing me to switch channels while adding effects. So, I can use my amp distortion, with the MS-3's flanger, delay and EQ ... and I can switch all of these on and off with the push of one button. This makes it easier for me to focus on singing and playing. Great unit!

Yes, there are some things that can be improved, like making the output volumes of the patches you create simpler to equalize. I wasn't able to power this with a single output from my Voodoo Labs power supply - the unit would reboot when I switched patches. That issue was fixed with a current doubler cable.

Use a 4 Cable method and it's is a super flexible and very musical device.

Had about a week and it is sooo cool. The possibilities of different sounds is almost endless. Takes a little while to figure out the programming ( watch boss fast start videos) but it's really easy after the first patch. I love that you can incorporate your existing pedals. Also you can wire up using the 4 cable method. Very versatile. It says you can add up to 3 effects. Not true. You can add more!! You can daisy chain before the input things like wah, distortion etc. things that would be before effects like delay and reverb. The other way is to add two in the same loop ( 3 loops available). So many ways to get there. They hit a home run with this one. It's a boss and it's built to last. The best of both worlds. Stomp box, switcher, tuner, multi effects processor. It has a tuner but I used a separate boss tuner that is a little quicker because its first in the chain and I use like a mute. Also I added a boss FS7 powered foot switch ( the FS6 is battery only) and it makes switching banks up and down easier than hitting both switches on the MS3. Great Product!!

I bought this expecting to still want to use one or two of my favorite overdrive pedals in one of the 3 loops, but I found the built in overdrive/distortion to be adequate enough where the added bonus of programmability outweighed this notion. It's not hard to program, but it's also not easy at first, and the manual doesn't explain all the functions very well. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone who's not patient or lacks technical understanding. Once you learn how to program it, however, it's really not much of a hassle. Hooking it up to a computer and programming is via USB is much easier, logical, fun, and faster. My one recommendation is that even though it does come with some decent presets, it's not "gig ready", and that you really must spend several days getting it programmed for your needs. Being able to assign expression pedals or foot switches to any function makes customization possibilities endless. If I were to have any criticism at all, is that I would have liked an input control to be able to match different guitar levels to the presets. I've gotten over this by using a compressor pedal before the MS-3 to boost/attenuate for different guitars. Also something to be aware of, there is a limit to how many "FX" can be run at one time. For most people this is fine, but the way Boss categorizes things you might find it limits the versatility. However, if I were running 3 MIDI enabled pedals in the loops, I think this would be a limitless system. The memory/manual option is really great too!

The MS-3 is perfect for me. I love using effects, but I am not very good at effects pedal hopscotch. With this unit I can have great sounding effects all in one compact/central area on my pedal board. All of the effects I use sound great. So many of the presets are really well crafted. I have gotten really weird with my own creations. I don't really see any limitations with this unit except that I wish there was maybe 1 or 2 more inputs for either another expression pedal or another footswitch. Even there, I think I just need to learn how to use the inputs I do have more creatively.
Can't say enough good stuff about the MS-3. I love it.

there is a ton of options in the ms3. it sounds great and simplified my pedal. well worth the money. thanks boss

As a pedal junkie, I have never been a fan of multi-effect pedals or boards, They always seem to fall short in front of an amp, but the effects in the MS-3 sound amazing anywhere you put them! Setup is relatively simple and creating patches is a breeze with the editor librarian. With so many boutique sounding effects at my disposal the hardest thing was choosing which 3 of my pedals to put in the loops (most of my patches contain just the built in effects). Bottom line....... it's worth every penny............ you won't regret it

Wow-wow-wow. I was REALLY skeptical about using buffered pedals because I was obsessed with making everything true bypass, and short patch cables etc. This thing works great with my setup:
Loop 1
Cal76 Compressor
Wampler Tumnus

Loop 2
Fulltone OCD
Wampler Dracarys
Way Huge Swollen Pickle

Loop 3 empty.... for now

This thing lets me put all of the MS-3 pedals in the chain ANYWHERE, including my looped pedals. Now that the software is out I can setup at home and my receording setup is the same as my gigging setup. AMAZING.

The Boss MS 3 is a real powerhouse! There is nothing this thing can't do. The only thing you need to do it let your imagination run wild and start building rigs! It really doesn't matter what kind of player or band your in this will fit the bill! There is some learning to do but once you know the basics watch out this thing is addictive! I am so glad I bought the Boss ms 3 and you will be too!

I have a Katana 100w head that is set up with an SRV/Texas blues amp thang, on the panel.Like a single channel amp.(I use the 4 preset choices for hard rock/metal via the GF floor switcher).With the onboard effects via Tone Central you can hit just about sound you need for recording or live gigs. I added the MS-3 with my 3 most-fave pedals to my Katana amp rig and was thoroughly blown away. To do what I was doing, the deep layered sonics, use to cost a fortune...AND took up a half-acre of real estate to create. The Boss MS-3 Multi-Effects Switcher is the best multi-effects pedal, period. Used alongside Katana head,and at this price(?)...

Amazing piece of kit and Boss has really done an amazing job of blending form vs functionality! So small it's underwhelming until you start to dig in to it's huge list of features and fx, which could be overwhelming if it were not for a beautifully designed architecture and simple editing structure!! Super cool for fly dates/jams on it's own and/or simple to integrate on a small (or large) pedalboard.

I've been playing in bands and a studio engineer for over 40 years and have had a lot of toys in that time, but this thing will not be leaving my system, ever!! Add your own effects pedals through the loops and mix with the expansive internal array of great Boss FX for the price of a boutique stompbox or two. Hope to see the editor/librarian from Boss soon....

Blown away in Kansas! (and no tornadoes involved)

Also, thanks to Nate Burkhardt, my Sweetwater sales associate. As always, some of the best support staff in the business!!

The best little pedal looper that I've ever owned. How many effects do you really ever use? I use the drive from my amp (BluGuitar Amp1). I run the 4 cable method using the amps effects loop. Delay, reverb and boost. Some songs require solo harmonies it has it. Not required for every song. Chorus for 80s setlist. Wait I need a wah oh sh@t its in there build a new patch with a wah. It really sounds just as good. Im happy. My pedal board was once a pedal train pro now its 18" x 18". I was sceptical at first and a little nervous at 400 bucks who wouldn't be but it did everything I wanted. I wish other things were this intuitive. Inconclusion, if you want to simplify your life and guitar rig get this unit otherwise just complain everything sucks.

I had intentions of making my pedalboard bigger. I really did. I was going to buy a switcher and create this impressive effects behemoth. Then I had a realization- I'm gigging more so I really needed to make my rig easier to use and carry. Duh! I needed something smaller that does more.

I happened to stumble on the MS-3 in the new effects area on Sweetwater's site. I immediately ran down the YouTube rabbit hole and all the MS-3 reviews were glowing. So I ordered it the day it was available and had it in hand the next day! Thanks Matt!

This thing completely simplified my workflow. It allowed me to include my favorite pedals for any given gig and use the great-sounding effects already included with the MS-3. By the way, the effects really do sound terrific. The reverbs and delays are infinitely customizable. There's pitch shifting, slicers, organ simulators, stackable modulation effects, clean boost, acoustic simulators, distortions and classic over drives. You can assign any parameter to any internal or external switch or expression pedal.

I'm always in my studio playing with this thing! It's truly an inspiring piece of gear. I just used it at a festival over the weekend and it performed beautifully. It really instilled confidence during my performance with my band because it is so easy to use.

Thanks BOSS and Sweetwater for helping me love playing my electric even more! The MS-3 is a winner.

I preordered this from Sweetwater and have had the chance to tinker with it for over a week now.

I'd first like to say that as always, the service as Sweetwater is second to none. That's why I keep coming back here.

Now...onto the MS-3.

I may be writing this review a bit premature because I haven't gotten into a bunch of inner workings yet, for example the software to make patches won't be available until 7/2017, and I have yet to try it with the 4 cable method through my effects loop.

That said, I have been using it with a Strat through the front end of my Champ clone. Even running everything through the front end with a fairly clean signal still sounds great!

All your favorite drives are in this thing including the old orange and yellow boxes, the green one from that other company and that Russian style furry thing. Not sure if I'm allowed to mention their real names but I'm sure you folks know who I'm talking about. That said, I have many of those pedals and compared them side by side. The one that isn't as close is the furry Russian but with my SM57 in front you can definitely get a passable tone for live purposes. I'm very happy with the drive section within this unit. I don't play much metal but the DS1 and Metal zone are in there for sure if that's your thing.

Modulation stuff? Loads of it! The classic chorus and phase shifter is there. A bunch of ring modulators. The sweep of the flanger is ridiculous.

The delays are everything you'd expect them to be if you have played through Boss DD7's or that new big unit. And the reverbs can go from normal spring emulator to very "ambient" and spacey.

I personally have a compressor pedal that I love so I put that into one of the loops. It doesn't color it at all. I had some other drives and boutique kinds of things I was thinking of putting into another loop but the stuff that's built in is decent enough I don't see the point.

You can literally sit on the floor and just twist the adjustment knobs while creating your own patches and tone for hours but you'd just be getting started with all the stuff this thing can do.

The ability to create my own patches and assign them names or quick call switching is awesome. If you are a guy like me who basically has 4 tones (clean rhythm, pushed blues, dirty blues and delayed solo) then this thing is definitely for you.

I'm one of those people who used to get on Boss for being Digital or noisey or not true bypass or whatever excuse I made for myself to spend loads of money on other effects. While this may not be popular to say on the Boss review I'm writing, some of those things still hold true. But you know what else is true about Boss? They hold up and sound decent. I've got the boutique pedals and they sound amazing. The Boss ones aren't better but they are good. If you're a complete tone nut in search of the mystical dragon of tone, I doubt you will find it in this thing. But if you're a gigging musician who needs something easy that still sounds really good then this is for you.

The best part? The size!!! This whole unit is barely as long as my Dunlop volume pedal is tall. It is compact. It is lightweight. It is awesome. For all the times I tried to talk myself out of Boss and to stick with my handmade fuzzes or modded drives, simplicity wins the day. I had recently moved and had just been using my 20 year old SD1 with my newer RV5 and DD7 as a throw together rig so that kind of put the bug in my ear. All in all I am super happy with my purchase of this thing and as I've said before, if you're looking for some good tones to take gigging in a lightweight, small frame the I'd highly recommend this. I'm contemplating not having a pedalboard at all, just showing up with this, my Wah and a tap tempo switch. In reality, that's all I'll probably need anymore.

I have this control pedal unit for over 3 yrs now, and all I can say its that I am very pleased with it.
This thing has made a joy to play for me, no longer need to deal pressing more than one button at the time during a song, plus I can combine descent FXs simultaneously with amp channel change, what else can you asked? Just awesome !!!

Trust me, you can do lots more using all available features on this pedal; the more you dig, the more you will find. There are a bast variety of combinations you can apply for any situation that you will be surprised, I am.


Highly recommended.

Let me start by saying how this powerfully sufficient, little unit has made all my analog pedal/midi/preset switching a less laborious task! I perform with my own Band, as well as a Pink Floyd tribute Band in Houston, Texas and also tour regionally and across the country doing fly-dates with various artists. I have a homemade pedal board that measures roughly 18"x13.5", and this Multi Effects Switcher is compact enough to put on it along with my Strymon Timeline & Mobius, as well as 4 regular size and two compact pedals.

I was skeptical at first in purchasIng this unit, not sure if it could do everything I wanted it to. There are some great videos online that I ran across while I was doing my research. However, I didn"t really see any that pertained to exactly how I wanted to utilize it, but what came across almost every video was how programmable it is, making it even more expansive... and it completely is!

With that being said, there was a slight learning curve to getting the MS-3 to do exactly what I wanted it to do, and this move has proven to be completely worth it! Tons of PROS with this unit: Compact, Powerful, All In One Unit, Expansive, Programmable, Affordable, Sturdy/Road Ready, Global EQ, Noise Supression, Built-In Effects, Midi Control, 2 Outs (multiple amps), Control Out (amp channel switching), 2 Control Ins (expression control)... and More! One of my FAVORITE features is being able to swap presets around instead of overwriting one another. This makes life much easier for me when performing live with mine and other different projects along with constant set changes being made. With this incredible flexibility it takes me less than five minutes to move patches around in the order of that night"s set list right before sound check.

With all of these PROS, you"re probably wondering why I didn"t rate this amazing product a perfect 5.0. The reason being is, the only problem I have experienced with the MS-3 is sporadic, inconsistent midi misfirings. Example: Let"s say I have a patch set up for switches 3 & 4 of the MS-3 to control A & B on one of my Strymon pedals when switching from memory (blue) to manual (red) mode. The few patches I have set this way work perfectly around 99 percent of the time. The other 1 percent they start functioning differently than what I have programmed them to do.

Now, in that time I have spoke with the great folks at Boss, and they are just AWESOME!!! They completely stand behind their products and really take the time to make sure you have all your questions answered with a definite understanding of whatever your "problem/issue" was before you get off the phone with them. We confirmed that my programming was correct, and I am currently troubleshooting and working on implementing some of their alternative suggestions. All in all, great piece of gear that is both powerful and expansive from a company who won"t leave you in the dark. Great job Boss!

Not too hard to edit this if you have experience in using multi effects units. Watch all the you tube videos to help out. It took me about 3 hours to program a couple of patches I use for our shows. I use them in manual mode so I can turn different effects on and off without having multiple pedals. I use the 4 cable method so I can use the preamp section of my Marshall JVM for OD and heavy Crunch. Make sure and scroll all the way to the right to adjust the levels and the output to each patch. I had a hard time finding a sweet spot for volume/output until I realized the default setting is stereo which cranks the output to hot of using it in mono mode (one amp). Once I found that setting at the end of the patch I was able to get a better sound not so punchy and loud.

I spent a year debating on whether I wanted to get a Boss MS-3. I even read the manuals, and watched many youtube videos long before I purchased it. After using it for a while now, I am really happy that I bought it. I do find the default effect sounds are somewhat generic, but once spending some time with it and tweaking the values, I know exactly how to tune it to my liking. Creating a patch is simple. I really like that all the functionality of the MS-3 is available on the device, meaning you don't have to connect it to a computer to use it (although you can). I play in a cover band and this unit is allowing me to get the sounds that people want to hear. I have overdrives in loop 2, fuzz in loop 3, and a Fulltone Deja-Vibe in loop 1 (Deja-Vibe is too good not to use). All other modulations, delays, and reverbs I use built in MS-3 effects. Some of the built in overdirve/distorion sounds are really great. You could just use the MS-3 as like a fly-rig type device if you were wanted to. I even use the pitch shifter to detune my guitar to play some low tuned songs without having to bring other guitars. It does not have a simple detune effect, but the pitch shifter may work for you. ymmv.

Bought this for fly out gigs, needed something small to carry to Europe with my sounds..

Overall excellent sound, once connected to your desktop, easy to program...does everything I need with 3 outboard pedals added...

My only complaint, I would like to see a master volume knob to help with getting all the levels at the same volume..even if its just in the PC editing software.

I use this with a seamor.Duncan stage power block, and a mesa cabinet..very tight sound

Very affordable and very useful. It has a small footprint, easily fits in any small gig bag. Strong metal box, knobs are tight and smooth, foot switches do not click, a slight touch is all that it takes to change patches. Patches are editable on the fly as you are performing. Space for 3 other stomp effects of your choice (I recommend an OD, DLY, and REV). Plus, if your 3 stomp effects have MIDI access, the MS-3 will automatically pair your favorite settings in any Patch setting. With MIDI, all clocks, BPM, and DLY taps can be controlled by the MS-3. Why 4.5 stars? No one is perfect, there's always room for improvement!

Really good. I am a gigging musician and this is just what I was looking for.

Everything good about this pedal has already been said. My review will be more about what I hope can be added through software updates.

I find the expression and footswitch capabilities to be lacking. I want to see momentary control over things like wet signal controls for reverb saturation and hold functionality. I haven't found a use outside of tap tempo with the FS-6. The expression pedal is a simple whammy and wah, which is fine, but rate controls for delay time and modulation speeds are pretty standard in many modern effects with EXP capabilities. As a bassist, not having a dedicated synth patch seems like a major oversight, given how popular their SYB compacts are. Sure, I can build one by layering effects, but it's not the same for me. Some of the more "out there" effects feel a little cheap, so I'd gladly give up "Slicer lite" for an intuitive synth like the SYB-5.

Overall great pedal. Soft switches were a nice surprise.

I love the MS-3, But my only issue with it is.... You cant use it as an interface/ in other words, you can hook it directly up to a computer with DAWS. It will need an interface.... Other than that, it is awesome...

First off I never say WOW unless blown away by gear but I do like this compact box and the effects are great to work with. Great job Boss putting this all together so I can leave my big pedal board at home for the small gigs.

This is a perfectly well thought out effects multiple loop pedal with built-in effects. The main thing I have a complaint about is: There's no By-Pass switch for the built effects without having to make some "non-effect" patch. Waste of a good bank to create a Nothing scene for your set up. One by-pass switch would have made this perfect.

I found this unit to be pretty good. Most of whatever faults I could find with it were traceable to user error. I thought the effects sounded pretty good, but it did not compare well to me vs using my amp with pedals. I was willing to sacrifice some sound for the control ability that this unit offers. To me it was a poor man's FX8. In the end, I sold it and went back to pedals. I did get it to control my amp functions etc, but every gig there was always something that needed fixed or something that did not function properly. Also, it did not really stop the tap dance for me at shows either. Users that are very tech oriented will love this as it is a tweaker's dream. I am more of a simple player and in the end I sold it.

Everything about this unit is great except the way the external loops are handled. The 3 external loops are treated as a single block within the unit. Want to reorder the external effects?, NOPE. Want to add an internal effect between two external effects?, NOPE. I knocked off one star because this should be a feature. I knocked off another star because every video I watched, including the Sweetwater demo, made it seem as if this functionality exists. This isn't a deal breaker and for a small unit with a number of great sounding effects and the ability to add my favorite pedals it's still a part of my portable rig but I'm very disappointed in the way the external loops are routed. Crossing my fingers that this can be fixed with a firmware update...

The control that can be attained with this unit is awesome! I can control my JVM's and any MIDI device with absolutely no problems or issues, plus 3 loops and stereo to boot! But the effects? Almost all are subpar (I A-B'd against every pedal I had in my in my ES-8 big rig and even against my onboard JVM verbs. I tweaked and tweaked. The reverb is straight outta Toyz R Us, the univibe wasn't near what my Hardwire TR-7 could do and I felt no use in attempting to compare these delays to my Eventide. If I buy a unit such as this I'm seeking portability and a high level of control, which this has in spades. But the effects (which I'm trying to reduce on my big board due to size, weight, etc) must be useable. IMO these are not. Pair this unit with Strymon or Eventide FX and you'll have the greatest unit since the wheel. Do it and I won't even take the credit! Lol