Boss MS-3 Multi-Effects Loop Switcher just announced...

Wazmeister

The MS-3 has its uses, and future incarnations might be very good - but I'm with @impmann currently

Travisthedog

I'm with impmann and wazmeister

Jota

I'm very happy with mine.
The drives are way better than I anticipated.
Programing can take some time but you get used to the flow.

colourofsound

How's everyone getting on with their MS-3's? I'm considering flipping my Boss ES-5 and getting an MS-3 to make a small Live board and then use my analog pedals at home.

Feedback after a few months usage would be great, as well as comparisons with Line 6's M series.

Megii

colourofsound said:

How's everyone getting on with their MS-3's? I'm considering flipping my Boss ES-5 and getting an MS-3 to make a small Live board and then use my analog pedals at home.

Feedback after a few months usage would be great, as well as comparisons with Line 6's M series.

Can only give you my experience, but still using it, and I like the sounds, and have no intention of getting rid of it.

Although the on board tuner works OK, I do much prefer my Hardwire polyphonic tuner pedal, so I now have that on my board as well. I've got 3 external drive pedals, one in each loop, and now have my Zoom MS70-CDR immediately after the MS-3 in the chain - I only use this occasionally for the particle verb, and it's not really an inconvenience to have to switch this on separately. I've also bought an FS-7 footswitch which I'll be adding, and there's an FV500H volume on the board too, as an expression pedal, but usually controlling volume. Not to mention a Digitech looper pedal at the end of the chain, and a small buffer with tuner-out jack at the start. It all actually makes for a fairly sizeable effects board setup if I'm honest.

It's a good-sounding unit, well built, and will do for me fine, but I do think it's a bit pricey for what it is, when one considers the Line 6 LT - admittedly another £350 at least, but that does so much more, and with the vastly better display and extra footswitch controls, plus already has the expression pedal built in. But the Boss does have that very small footprint, so in that respect it's a unique product at the moment - if you have specific requirements that can make use of that aspect, then it could be worth the cost to you. Afraid I've never had or tried a Line 6 M series, so can't offer any comparison there.

BintyTwanger77

A wee bump for this thread...

So I have some store credit for GG and I'm not sure what to use it for. The board I already have is so good, I'm not sure what else I could add to it. One possibility is to add a pitch/octave pedal and maybe another delay, and have the MC6 running off the board running on phantom power.

The other possibility is, well, potentially another rabbit hole: get an MS3 and run a couple of drives and a delay in the loops for when I don't want to take a large, expensive board to rehearsal. I understand that I might not like the sounds as much as my Strymons, Particle, etc, but the MS-3 looks remarkable, if only for its size, flexibility and the convenience.

How are current MS-3 users getting on with theirs?

Wazmeister

impmann said:

Mine arrived Thursday.
Return request booked with Thomann yesterday.

Problem one: the loops are fixed together in the signal chain. Yes you can move the relative position of all the loops in that chain but if you want (as I do) to use Loop 1 (POG) at the beginning of a chain, with a gain stage, some modulation then Loop 2 (Ecoplex) at the end, you can't. That is a big oversight and is a deal breaker in itself.

Problem two: the user interface is appalling. The most illogical and uncomfortable way of programming I've seen for years. It's impossible to do in a rehearsal context (arguably where a lot of people generate ideas for patches) - just too long winded. I tried to set up the sounds to fit with the band, I got so frustrated, it got unplugged and I rebuilt my normal pedalboard - that took less time to rebuild than programming. Yes, I'm sure with time it would have got easier/quicker but it's just not good enough.

Shame, I liked the idea but the execution of the concept was bad.

Personally, these were sadly my exact findings.

Megii

I still like mine, admitted limitations notwithstanding. I guess I'm the kind of user the unit was aimed at, so maybe not surprising, the limitations don't really stop me doing what I want - I have a few drive pedals I like to use in the loops, and I've got a Zoom MS70CDR (used for the particle reverb) after the unit, then a Digitech looper. I've got my Boss FV500H as an expression pedal (mostly set to control volume, but also wah on some patches). Apart from the drives, particle verb and looper, the MS3 does everything, and also it has basically solved any issues I had with pedal dancing and changing from one sound to another.  The tuner works, but isn't brilliant, so I still use my Digitech Hardwire HT-6 for that, running from an initial Bright Onion buffer with tuner out. It sounds good to me anyhow, and some of the effects have exceeded expectations. I'd say probably best if you're looking for a small footprint thing that's going to be the core of a pedal board setup, and maybe not so great as just something to add to a board that's already pretty well realised, with quite a few pedals on there already.

cbellanga

I'm still using one as well as a quick and portable option (when needed to carry stuff around london underground before a practice). Can do a lot: clean / light OD / Crunch / Lead settings in preset mode + instant access to a few things in manual mode.

Just throwing that on my guitar soft case and it covers a lot of ground

jamiexsilver

Yeah still very happy with mine.
theres so much it can do when you scratch beneath the surface with the assigns and midi controls.  

I have one patch set up as a basic board with loop 1 (my H9) compression, drive (which are actually really good with some tweaking), delay, reverb and tap tempo that pretty much sets me up for practices then once we have songs written I work out patches with a few extra bells and whistles. 

Then I have a basic patch set up for the band I play bass in, same sort of thing compression, drive, octave etc.

My only complaint and it's a daft one is it's too small, it just doesn't sit right on a pedaltrain drives my ocd crazy.

for the price I think it's a great bit of kit.

Jota

Still very happy with mine.
Added a dual footswitch for extra control and an expression pedal for volume/wah since I'm on a Soul/R&B band now.
Don't see myself buying more pedals in the future.

PhilM

There's a really helpful user group on Facebook for the MS3 
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1432408843512662/

Megii

PhilM said:

There's a really helpful user group on Facebook for the MS3 
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1432408843512662/

Cheers @PhilM appreciate you passing that on  

PhilM

I posted the below on another thread in response to some questions about how I use my MS3 - thought it might be useful here also.

This is going to be a lengthy one, sorry in advance for that!

Background - I'm in a covers band that plays all sorts, but we sound like us playing covers, not in any way attempting to sound 100% like the original (I gave up chasing after someone else's tone 20-odd years ago). For this I mostly need a few simple base sounds in terms of OD/Distortion etc. I mostly play a HSS strat, although will sometimes drag out the LP or the PRS CU24 depending on the song/my mood/how my fingers feel. Like most, I've tried all sorts of stuff over the years but am quite happy with where I'm at currently. 

Current set up is GTR (cable or wireless) > Mooer Yellow Comp (Subtle, always on) > Boss MS3 > Vox AV60 into the input. I have the amp set up as a big, clean Fender twin and use one channel for the Strats and the other for the LP/PRS. Both set clean. I switch channels when I switch guitars.

In one loop of the MS3 I have my drive pedals. I have a few spares and can swap easily enough but I currently have a ToneCity Sweet Cream, a TC Dark Matter and a self-assembled TImmy clone. I can pretty much get 99% of what I need from these pedals. Putting them in one loop might seem strange but let me explain why...

I really don't get on with programmable drives and distortions, as I find myself tweaking them at different venues and volumes. I much prefer having analogue pedals with knobs that I can move quickly and easily. Knobs that will change the whole sound that night - not just that one patch. I can stack them at will, and I can change my mind about my sound in a particular song. If I feel Wicked Game would work better with a bit more crunch I can just activate that loop and step on the Sweet Cream. I can also quickly switch back to totally clean by turning that loop off - instead of reaching for the back of the board and turning 1/2/3 pedals off. I use one patch per song, and all I have to remember is which drive pedals need to be active. I can also use the built-in drives and boosts should I find myself needing a Fuzz or something for one song.

Back to your question about the footswitches - with the MS3 you can actually make each switch do up to 9 simultaneous things in manual mode. All of my patches have switch 4 assigned as Solo boost, which turns on FX2 (Graphic EQ) and a bit of delay, and sometimes extra post-drive compression if required. With some patches, the same switch turns OFF modulation and turns on the drive pedal loop, in addition to the FX2/Delay/Comp. All seamless, all with one switch.

The assigned functions don't have to be simply on or off either - you can actually vary the value of ANY parameter on any effect by assigning that to a switch. As another example, I have a patch where switch 1 will turn on parallel delays (Edge style), increase the reverb time and drop the level of the signal pre-drive pedals to make the guitar sit back in the mix a little. Pressing it again takes me back to where I was before. Switch 4 on that patch alters the delay mode to single, changes the time and repeats, turns off the level drop, turns the comp on, turns the Reverb time up, and activates FX2 as a solo boost.

I've yet to run out of switches despite some pretty complicated patches - although some patches literally have just Dirt Loop and Solo boost. I do have an external 2 button switch to do patch up/down and an external expression pedal, mostly for volume. That said, I could also control lots of parameters at once with that. Rocking it forward could increase drive and delay while decreasing chorus and reverb for example.

One important downside against other switchers like the G2 is that you can't split the loops, but you can put them anywhere in the internal signal chain. Boss did this to avoid too many D>A A>D trips I suspect. 

FWIW, If I was going to add an M5 I'd probably put it after the MS3 and control it with MIDI.

Hope that's more use than waffle 

PS - All fits comfortably on a PT Classic JR, with a CS7 underneath powering it all.

Megii

Interesting stuff @PhilM - I've not got as far into things with my own MS-3, but do find that I often need/want to change to totally different kinds of sound within one song/number, so I tend to stay in the patch-change memory mode and switch patches. That sometimes means having the same patch programmed into more than one bank, for convenience, but there's more than enough memory slots for me anyhow, so it's not a problem. I have 3 drive pedals (Turbo Rat clone, Zoo Drive, DopeFX Black Lotus) with one in each loop. Currently adding an FS-7 footswitch to change banks, and if it's possible, I will then disable the dual-press bank changing on the unit itself. Very tidy looking board anyhow!

sherpa_man

I have one of these for sale

£310 postedin the uk if anybody is after one.