does boss rc 3 sucks tone?

[Mr. BassmanPT]

title says it all... does this pedal in any way changes the tone of the bass?

[Swift713]

From the looks of it it's just the standard Boss buffered bypass which shouldn't effect your tone significantly unless you've got more than a couple of them in a row.

[Jens Busck]

Yes, it does. At least if it (as I've been told) is the same buffer as the RC2. I have taken the RC2 in and out of the chain many times in order to examine this and have compared it to other buffers. I've found that it IS a tone killer. The problem is not so much that it cuts a bit of highs, but that it sucks life out of the overall tone. As an alternative, I have high hopes for the new TC Ditto, which is true bypass and analog dry through.

[Darknut]

Originally Posted by Jens Busck

Yes, it does. At least if it (as I've been told) is the same buffer as the RC2. I have taken the RC2 in and out of the chain many times in order to examine this and have compared it to other buffers. I've found that it IS a tone killer. The problem is not so much that it cuts a bit of highs, but that it sucks life out of the overall tone. As an alternative, I have high hopes for the new TC Ditto, which is true bypass and analog dry through.

I have a RC-2 & it does "NOT" tone suck at all .... I suggest yours is broken or there is some other factor.

Its been proven time & again modern boss pedals don't tone suck unless you have a whole lot of them chained together & even then it's a minute difference that you easily tweaked.

I get so tired of this moronic boss hate .... there is a reason more pros use Boss pedals than any other .... they sound fine, last practically forever & are easy to get .... gezz

[Jens Busck]

Don't know about "moronic boss hate", since I really can't make any sense of the notion of "hating" a stompbox. It's just music gear, so try and relax. I've had good experiences with other Boss pedals, which didn't have the same problem, and I believe there are great differences between the circuits - also the buffers - in pedals of that brand.

Another thing is that I'm wondering what it means to "prove" that a pedal doesn't suck tone - are you talking actual measurement of frequencies or just testing by ear? If you just mean the latter, I will prefer to rely on my own ears rather than random testimonies from the internet.

[Darknut]

Originally Posted by Jens Busck

Don't know about "moronic boss hate", since I really can't make any sense of the notion of "hating" a stompbox. It's just music gear, so try and relax. I've had good experiences with other Boss pedals, which didn't have the same problem, and I believe there are great differences between the circuits - also the buffers - in pedals of that brand.

Another thing is that I'm wondering what it means to "prove" that a pedal doesn't suck tone - are you talking actual measurement of frequencies or just testing by ear? If you just mean the latter, I will prefer to rely on my own ears rather than random testimonies from the internet.

By "hate" I mean all the disinformation that gets spread endlessly on this forum & others about "buffered" bypass vs mechanical bypass (True Bypass) with Boss being on the negative most of the time.

Obviously people are going to like & dislike pedals but I get tired of people posting stuff that's simply not true ... I'm sure they believe it but that doesn't mean its factual.

Do people honesty think all the famous players who use Boss pedals would use them if it made them sound bad?

As far as Boss RC-2 tonesuck: Tested by ear & measurement of frequencies .... no tone suck.

I'm sure if you measure at a high enough resolution you would find that "All" pedals technically tone suck ... we just can't hear it.

[keep it low]

My rc 300 doesn't seem to touch the tone, unless I use the on board effects

[bassgod0dmw]

I don't notice any tone suck going on with my RC-3.

[smcfarland1337]

My RC-3 doesn't suck in any way, shape, or form.

:P

[999Brent]

I have an RC3

And yes I am sure I notice a change in tone when using it.
I hear a difference, it is not anything major though,love this pedal use it for practice and recording ideas on the fly mainly
I so not use it live for bass, but I would bet the average punter would not notice at a live show.
I just started using live as I record our drummers electronic drum kit with it at practice, now we can play live without him if he cannot make it.
Very cool pedal

[eukatheude]

I have a RC2 and it sucks.
As for tone, mostly it sucks it when it loops a phrase, but when you play through it you shouldn't have problems as the Boss buffer is pretty good.

[DiabolusInMusic]

I cannot speak for the RC2/3, my 20XL doesn't tone suck (at least noticeably) but to those defending Boss pedals acting like they don't tone suck, especially with just one, go pick up an NS-2. Put it in your line. You will learn the definition of tone suck.

[bigsnaketex]

Originally Posted by DiabolusInMusic

I cannot speak for the RC2/3, my 20XL doesn't tone suck (at least noticeably) but to those defending Boss pedals acting like they don't tone suck, especially with just one, go pick up an NS-2. Put it in your line. You will learn the definition of tone suck.

I kick on my NS-2 from time to time. I do notice a little bit of peanut butter spread over the tone - but it does kills the hiss and that is it's purpose.

I can live with that because sometimes (quite often actually) the bar's electrical system is overloaded or simply very poor to begin with and I'd rather have a few db's knocked off the top end rather than listen to that $#%*# hum!

[DiabolusInMusic]

Originally Posted by bigsnaketex

I kick on my NS-2 from time to time. I do notice a little bit of peanut butter spread over the tone - but it does kills the hiss and that is it's purpose.

I can live with that because sometimes (quite often actually) the bar's electrical system is overloaded or simply very poor to begin with and I'd rather have a few db's knocked off the top end rather than listen to that $#%*# hum!

I will admit the NS-2 does a solid job, but the tone suck is so great I couldn't justify keeping it. The NS is a noise gate, not a power conditioner also, so it won't matter what kind of power the bar has. If your bass is picking up outside noise, give it a shielding job, it will go away and leave your tone intact. If your amp is getting THAT much line noise, get a power conditioner, but I have played some serious dives and never had an issue with power being so dirty I had to roll back my amp.

Also, if you really need a noise gate, get an ISP decimator. It only has one knob which makes it hard to dial in, but it is easily the best gate on the market. The rackmount is better, it has deeper controls. Most importantly, it doesn't suck the tone out.

[bigsnaketex]

Originally Posted by DiabolusInMusic

I will admit the NS-2 does a solid job, but the tone suck is so great I couldn't justify keeping it. The NS is a noise gate, not a power conditioner also, so it won't matter what kind of power the bar has. If your bass is picking up outside noise, give it a shielding job, it will go away and leave your tone intact. If your amp is getting THAT much line noise, get a power conditioner, but I have played some serious dives and never had an issue with power being so dirty I had to roll back my amp.

Also, if you really need a noise gate, get an ISP decimator. It only has one knob which makes it hard to dial in, but it is easily the best gate on the market. The rackmount is better, it has deeper controls. Most importantly, it doesn't suck the tone out.

The hum is not from the bass. I play several acoustic-type gigs without my pedalboard (just bass into tuner into Bassman 100T) and the bass is dead silent.

The hum comes from chaining together so many pedals - which in my experience is simply an inherant danger.

Again, I have to problem with that. Since that hum doesn't come all the time, I have to conclude that the power that I am supplying them at various times in 100 year old bars may not be the same as modern wiring in new places we play where I get no noise, no matter how many pedals I have daisy-chained together.

Ergo, sometimes I kick in the NS-2.

I live with it.

P.S. the noise (when it is present) is there whether I have my wireless on or am using a 1/4 cable, which also helps me to isolate the problem to the effects board.

[Mr. BassmanPT]

decided to get the tc electronic ditto. thanks for your opinions