Pedal Stacking Basics Using The Boss OD-3 

This channel was one of the reasons I picked up an OD3. Every time I take the OD3 off my board and put it back on, I realize what it brings--that smooth compressed distortion with truly amp-like harmonics, that stacks incredibly well with other pedals.

I already knew about this, but you explained here so good that I'll send this video over to friends who ask this stuff or need to know about it.

Great video. The OD-3, in my experience, stacks beautifully. I keep the drive set low (9 o’clock) on the OD-3, which is a killer crunch sound. Everything I stack into it, OD, fuzz, sounds great. Really rounds off the sharp edges without sounding muddy or dull, just as you’ve demonstrated. Well done!

Love your videos. Great explanations, nice pacing, great playing. Keep ‘em coming!

I appreciate the chord work you use with these pedals, it goes a long way to exhibiting the individual character of each one

Very useful tips! Great tones, great playing! Also love how you’re very straight to the point about these things.

precious info right there! as always! thanks again.😊

Really enjoyable...again that Boss OD 3 is an incredibly good sounding pedal. Better than a lot of boutique pedals out there.

another lovely video, I'm in love with my OD because of these videos

Another great video! My actual signal chain is Behringer SF300 (as Boost with EQ-option) -> OD-3 -> DS-1 -> ST-2 -> Modulation -> Amp. This gives me a huge variety of different dirt sounds from barely dirty at all (ST-2 only with Drive all the way down) to black metal style distortion (SF300+DS-1+ST-2). The OD-3 (finally got one after being brought upon by you) recently replaced the SD-1 and does a very good job pushing the ST-2 for a nice more oldschool crunch sound. I currently use a Fender FM100H (solid state) with a decent clean tone, but it needs to be set up right in the EQ to cope with all the Boss buffers, but to me this rig sounds great and I have a lot fun playing it. Thanks again for recommending the OD-3!

Wow! That's great. Nice video, bro. ✌🏻😎

Thanks for sharing your tone tips, DS-2 into OD-3 is just suprise me, almost shocked)) can't believe my ears that DS-2 can sound good like that, even got one true-germanium-transistor version for years.

Great video. SD-1 into BD-2 is how I stack mine. When I get my modded GE-7 back, I'll put that after the BD-2 for a boost option.

Ok this answers it all. Thankyou so much. Great vids 👍

Thanks a lot for the videos. Nice and clear explanation. You deserve more recognition! 😎 Have a nice day

I’m starting to think, after binging on your videos, I should just get a sd1, od3 and a ds1 and just call it a day on gain lol. With an eq pedal the 3 of those can probably take a clean amp and cover everything from John Mayer to slayer and everything in between. Great videos as always!

After buying way too many pedals, I am now excited that I can use them in combination like this! I have some experimenting to do :)

Always glad when you are back with another video! Great demonstration and playing as always! I use a TC MojoMojo as a my core drive. It's pretty natural and full frequency. Then I have EQD Special Cranker, EQD Plumes, and MXR Micro Amp I can kick on before it for a variety of flavors. The Special Cranker I use as a standalone drive as well as it too is natural and full frequency.

As usual, great explanation and playing :) I have always considered my amp lile THAT natural od at the end of my chain

I like the SD-1 after the OD-3, so you can get a volume bump as well as the sweet mid boost ☝🏻🍺

I always have my OD before my fuzz. My thinking is to have the pedal you wanna making the most contribution to the overall tone last.

Cool video! I love running my SD-1 into my OD-3, I have one guitar that gives me instant Johnny Thunders tone when doing that.

Genial gracias por sus videos

Great video as always! You should do an Amp comparison : Blackface vs Silverface VS tweed VS hot rod deluxe :)

I do sometimes play poonkgh! Great vids man ;)

My od3 is a yellow box also my favorite for low end fat bottom,kinda "cushioned"drive,not as tight but not sloppy either. Very interesting video. Saludos!

I've been putting my OD-3 before my distortion and fuzz, which seems to have the same effects that you describe here. Will have to try the reverse and see how it compares.

The best OD/Distortion combo I've used was my Maxon OD808 with a ProCo Rat. The Rat can do anything from boost,OD, dirt, then sludgy fuzz however thr higher the gain gets, the looser the bass gets. The TS really tightens a Rat up and makes it sing. It sounds like a boosted tube amp with a dirty channel. It was the best pedal i bought to add more dirt to my OR50 which did clean and crunch really well but never gave me the creamier Orange distortion unless i just used it as a dirty amp with no way to sound clean. I found the TS/Rat combo to sound very natural. I used my guitar volume at 7 for crunch and 3-4 for cleanish tones. The rat would be set for a mid gain crunch tone and the TS would have the level pegged and distortion below 11 o clock. Why would i use my guitar volume on 7? So when i bent a note and wanted to hold it, i could creep the guitar volume up to 10 and make the amp produce more natural harmonic feedback. Its a trick Santana used back in the day. Its used in Black Magic Woman (listen with headohones)

Coincidently i recently had some pleasant results by stacking a "Fender Blender" reissue (fuzz with octave up) with my Mosky "Silver Horse" Klon clone. Tone as nasty, but more solid! Btw. Hendrix had - apart from high volume levels and Wah as key ingredients - a sonic thing going on with Roger Mayer Octavia (fuzz with octave up) .. where he f.e. got those impressive "ringmodulate-ish" artefacts on higher notes from. Quotes from Roger Mayer: "14. It became obvious that a more rugged type of Octavia using silicon transistors and iron type audio transformer would be needed for rugged stage use. The use of low noise silicon transistors was an improvement in temperature stability over the germanium type. The iron laminations construction of the audio transformer did not have the high frequency detail of ferrite type but overall construction was more rugged and not subject to breakage from dropping. Ferrite core material can be damaged more easily than iron laminations. 15. At the end of 1968 I decided to build a limited run of 5 or so Octavias and 5 Distortion Pedals all housed in the wedge enclosure. 19. After Christmas 1969 I get a call from Jimi saying he needs an Octavia for his upcoming gig News Years eve at the Fillmore East as all his ones were gone missing.Luckily I had an Octavia and distortion left from the 10 I had made earlier that year and took these to rehearsal for the "Band of Gypsys" concert. The results can be heard on the album on tracks such as Machine Gun etc."

Great video with a lot of value info. What do you recommend to stack the od-3 with to get it to sound like the lead in Gary Moore - The Loner? (I use a fender HSS with a quilter superblock us)

So what's better TS into a Centauro, or Centauro into a TS? And my last question a fuzz like Russian Big Muff enters between the other two pedals I mention before? Thanks for this incredible information.

Hey Michael, since you are such a fan of the OD3 I'd be interested to see you compare it with the EQD Plumes. The Plumes is marketed as a Tube Screamer, but to me it seems much closer to an OD3 or maybe a Blues Driver. Put the switch in mode 3, start with the tone and gain at around 10:00... should sound pretty familiar.

But will it sounds like a hi-gain amp? Can we mimic the amp with say eq+dist+od?

Just wondering how much of a volume jump you are getting when you run the booster into that OD3. My main OD has a pretty uncompressed sound, and running a booster into it comes with a fairly noticable volume jump (but a killer tone). My higher gain pedal has more compression and the volume jump when boosting into it is negligable. Wondering if this is typical?

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