Boss ODB-3 Bass Overdrive Visualized

[superblues]

Boss ODB-3 Bass Overdrive Visualized

I've followed the Guitar Pedals Visualized project for awhile, and it looks they recently tackled the Boss ODB-3 bass overdrive. I use the spectrum plots on this site as a reference to help me understand what I hear with different guitar pedals.

For those unfamiliar with Guitar Pedal Visualized, from their website:

This is an ongoing project of visualized tests and analysis performed on various guitar pedals. This is done with a pragmatic intent to better understand what makes different pedals sound the way they do and how to use them. It also should help quantify some terminologies that guitar players often use to describe certain tonal traits.

I owned an older ODB-3 for a long time but never really liked it. And while it certainly has its fans, the generally poor reputation of this pedal doesn't inspire a ton of confidence. Anyway, the plots of the ODB-3 show a baked in mid scoop that you can't knob twist away. I guess this was probably some of what I was hearing in the pedal that I didn't like.

 

[Nashrakh]

Very interesting. I never noticed a mid scoop or thought of it as much of a problem since it has a clean blend. I like the sound too, some of my favorite records use it, but every single ODB I've owned was way too noisy for my liking.

 

[andruca]

I'm mostly a user of SansAmp (or emulation of it, with ocasional Darkglass flavor, or emulation) so the scoop, probably more, is not something unfamiliar to me. I've always found the ODB-3 pretty decent, despite the frequent bitter reviews/impressions from others. Keeping the gain and balance knobs under control (highs probably too as your gain goes up) you can get perfectly workable crunchy rock tones. I think the scoop is a minor problem as long as you can use EQ in conjunction. The character of the OD itself doesn't sound bad when not pushed to the point where it gets all fuzzy. Same with the balance, just work below the point where you lose your punch.

EDIT: For context, I had to do away with an ODB3 at an improvised gig years ago, instead of my usual SansAmp. I had already played with it a few times and liked it. I was surprisingly comfortable with the tone I could get out of that ODB-3 (bass player friend's, also playing there) into a Peavey TNT amp. Lacked the compression of the SansAmp at such relatively low gain, but I was able to fake the overall character of my tone fine with proper additional EQing at the amp. Some extra bass at the pedal helped indeed make it sound more compressed somehow.

The scoop is real, but that's something very frequent in many bass overdrives, no matter cheap or boutique. It doesn't mean it's bad or "cheap" per se. The pedal is pretty flexible IME. I guess some "baked in" voicings are better appreciated at steeper prices. I certainly know more expensive bass OD pedals I don't like as much as the ODB-3. I also know a few cheaper ones I like more too (at least for my always on crunchy tone kinda' use).

 

[MYLOWFREQ]

Boss ODB-3 Bass Overdrive Visualized

I've followed the Guitar Pedals Visualized project for awhile, and it looks they recently tackled the Boss ODB-3 bass overdrive. I use the spectrum plots on this site as a reference to help me understand what I hear with different guitar pedals.

For those unfamiliar with Guitar Pedal Visualized, from their website:


I owned an older ODB-3 for a long time but never really liked it. And while it certainly has its fans, the generally poor reputation of this pedal doesn't inspire a ton of confidence. Anyway, the plots of the ODB-3 show a baked in mid scoop that you can't knob twist away. I guess this was probably some of what I was hearing in the pedal that I didn't like.

That's true IME. When the bass and treble knobs are at noon, there is indeed a mid scoop. When they are in between 9-10 o'clock, it's kinda flat.

 

[FirewalZ]

I have an old one, bought way back when they must have first came out. I never liked it because it was to dark, tone got lost on stage and I couldn’t get the mud out.

 

[Iristone]

The baked-in EQ curve is a bit odd. The waveform could explain why it sounds like a chainsaw: it certainly looks like one!

 

[bigtone23]

That's true IME. When the bass and treble knobs are at noon, there is indeed a mid scoop. When they are in between 9-10 o'clock, it's kinda flat.

Interesting.
The ODB3 was my go to during the late 90s to early 00s. When the BB1X came out, that became my #1 bass grit pedal as it does the lighter side of drive better.

I just looked at my current settings for the ODB3--Level is nearly all the way up, treble 9 o'clock (sometimes lower), bass 11:30, blend at noon, gain at 9 'o clock (also sometimes lower).

From the 'Visualized' page:
...the ODB-3’s flattest EQ settings are with the treble way at minimum and the bass around noon, resulting in a somewhat mild mid scoop of around 6db, with other frequencies being relatively equal.
...at minimum Gain settings, the ODB-3 shows a fairly light amount of overtones, but it is definitely not as clean an undistorted as something like the BD-2. Considering this pedal’s clean blend, Boss probably figured this pedal didn’t need a gain range that went quite that low.
...at minimum Gain settings, the waveform is fairly undistorted, with a bit of a deforming happening. There is a slight square and sawtooth shape staring to take place, with pretty symmetrical clipping. This isn’t surprising given the overtones observed in the last section.

Seems I was going for and achieved the most 'flat' and 'overdrive-y' sounds I could get from it.

 

[bearcore]

Mid scoop is inherent to a lot of overdrives, so that isn't my issue with the ODB-3. The pedal is seriously lacking in clean volume. With the level maxed, it forces me into much higher settings on the gain, blend, bass, and treble knobs than I would prefer.

 

[Wood and Wire]

That's true IME. When the bass and treble knobs are at noon, there is indeed a mid scoop. When they are in between 9-10 o'clock, it's kinda flat.

Huh?

Admittedly I'm just reacting to your post, without having read upstream for context ; but surely 9-10 would result in a deeper scoop than 12.

A linear extrapolation would suggest that 2-3 would equate to "flat".

 

[Wood and Wire]

Huh?

Admittedly I'm just reacting to your post, without having read upstream for context ; but surely 9-10 would result in a deeper scoop than 12.

A linear extrapolation would suggest that 2-3 would equate to "flat".

Jeeze I'm a dumb@55





Somehow I quoted, wrote, and apparently comprehended the word "scoop", but was visualising a boost...






That'll teach me to react first, think later.

 

[bigtone23]

Mid scoop is inherent to a lot of overdrives, so that isn't my issue with the ODB-3. The pedal is seriously lacking in clean volume. With the level maxed, it forces me into much higher settings on the gain, blend, bass, and treble knobs than I would prefer.

Same. For my gain/eq settings, the volume has to be at 9-10.
If I had a say in product development: would have an ODB3r. Just like the OD2 to OD2r, there would be a noticeable boost in volume, but same tonality. Plus, it would be cool to have footswitchable high (stock)/low gain modes.

 

[MYLOWFREQ]

Interesting.
The ODB3 was my go to during the late 90s to early 00s. When the BB1X came out, that became my #1 bass grit pedal as it does the lighter side of drive better.

I just looked at my current settings for the ODB3--Level is nearly all the way up, treble 9 o'clock (sometimes lower), bass 11:30, blend at noon, gain at 9 'o clock (also sometimes lower).

From the 'Visualized' page:
...the ODB-3’s flattest EQ settings are with the treble way at minimum and the bass around noon, resulting in a somewhat mild mid scoop of around 6db, with other frequencies being relatively equal.
...at minimum Gain settings, the ODB-3 shows a fairly light amount of overtones, but it is definitely not as clean an undistorted as something like the BD-2. Considering this pedal’s clean blend, Boss probably figured this pedal didn’t need a gain range that went quite that low.
...at minimum Gain settings, the waveform is fairly undistorted, with a bit of a deforming happening. There is a slight square and sawtooth shape staring to take place, with pretty symmetrical clipping. This isn’t surprising given the overtones observed in the last section.

Seems I was going for and achieved the most 'flat' and 'overdrive-y' sounds I could get from it.

100% clean blend with the EQ at noon is definitely mid scooped unless you back down the bass treble. I modified mine some and added a diode clipping as an option and it made the distortion side even more mid scooped. I decided I like the LED clipping more.

I like the pedal more especially after the modifications. It is a less harsh overdrive now.

 

[bigtone23]

I have a DS1 with LED clipping. It's certainly more robust, mid forward.