BOSS DC-3 Digital Dimension Chorus Pedal

[@JasonAyalaSpare]

The DC pedals are designed specifically for stereo. In mono they're ok, but in stereo they're amazing due to the dual clocks that run opposite phase.

[@rafaelyege2602]

This pedal is not intended to be used as a mono effect... if you connect it in stereo you will hear the "Dimension" effect as it was conceived by Boss. When you use it with a single output it sounds really diminished. It was also known as "Space echo" and that is the best description of the Chorus type effect you will get when connected in Stereo...

[@tokenofdevotion]

Sounds beautiful in mono, though. Excelent for clean tones

[@nikopappas8484]

Disagree strongly. As great as it is in stereo its incredible in mono as well, specifically after dirt as a sort of "thickener"...something that provides a little extra movement and width to your sound without affecting the tone too much.

[@Sciambolanja]

This pedal is perfect for early 90's clean tunes like Smashing Pumpkins (Rhinoceros) Cranberries (Zombie), some great 80' like The Cult (She Sells Sanctuary), and much more. I bought it second-hand almost 10 years ago, as far as I remember is a pedal from 1988 and to my surprise, it arrived in mint conditions! It is extremely rare and really expensive nowadays... I love it

[@whynottalklikeapirat]

It's funny because in a way this pedal was part of the reason I even got into playing electric guitar back in the late 80s. I had been chopping halfheartedly away at an A7, a D a G (the tough one) on my dads spanish guitar but not really warming to it. Then one day I found myself in some rehearsal room with an gibson style ibanez, some crappy amp and this pedal. The mere fact that it changed the sound was intriguing to me and it made the chords ring out in a much more interesting way to my ears. Then I found some early overdrive and added that and when I played the G (in the easy version) it just felt like instant rocknroll and I was sold on it. Half a year later a friend and I played some crappy tunes we wrote at a spring concert. A year later we had a band going and two years in we were doing queen, gary moore, toto, ac/dc, led zeppelin, dire straits and stuff like that. But it all started with a pedal which made something boring interesting to my ears at that point. Just goes to show one should not be too purist about kids learning to play. That shit, badly used, is half the fun. And then at some point what matters begins to take over. At least with people who care enough...

[@robertfrakes1746]

I have had this pedal for about six months. It is a great pedal for the person who does not want the in your face chorus pedal.

[@spirit.door.]

it sounds like a chorus with a less pronounced LFO sweep. I like it

[@1969atam]

I eventually pulled the plug on a DC-3 on eBay. I have the DC-2 since March 2015 and it's always on my board. Digital can be a turnoff for some in this analog vintage pedal age but the DC-2 and DC-3 unlike all the other Boss Chorus pedals are true stereo chorus units. That's modulation per channel, whereas all the other Boss chorus units are mod/dry out put. Maybe it's because the DC-3 is similar looking to 1989's CH-1 in control layout people think it's just another chorus unit, it's not it's a true stereo chorus that offers wide dimension. The DC-2 is in fact all analog and a masterpiece of simplicity with 4 very well tuned presets. Furthermore running these units in stereo is the way they were intended to be used. The mono is only serving to normalise it and doesn't do it justice.

[@baroidrig1435]

I have had this pedal for 29 years and it's still going strong. Sure the new DC2W might sound better to some, but when I tried them side by side in the shop I could hardly hear any difference, certainly not a few hundred dollars worth.

[@justin0185]

Just bought one... Gonna try this in line with a dc2w on your beginning setting

[@denniszaragoza1]

Why did you demo with reverb? It is hard to distinguish between the pedal and the reverb

[@analtarofnothing69]

These actually sound fantastic with an electro acoustic guitar. The inherent brightness in it (compared to an old analogue chorus) works really well to add sparkle to an acoustic. Subtle is the key though

[@SwAggCiTyent305]

Really good review. When you change the EQ setting at 1:50 if you'd done that at 4:53 (when you lowered the effect level control) you'd have noticed the difference in sound. The EQ level isn't 'just' a tone control, it also influences the amount of effect you can hear when the effect level is lower.

[@underpressureman]

Does anybody know how this differs from a Dimension C? Was this before the Dimension C came out? I know that the Dimension C splits the signal out and mixes in the wet signal with the dry signal and thats part of the sound. Is this somewhat like a Dimension C with more control or are they definately different circuits? I know theyre both chorus type pedals but just wondering how similar the style is or is meant to be?

[@hafstrat]

Great vid. I don't like the effect though. I love the mxr micro chorus. Analogue whipped cream compared with digital skimmed milk.

[@hafstrat]

+Mojo Stompboxes agreed. Digital isn't bad. But you can compare an analogue and digital chorus. And choose the one you prefer 👍🏼👍🏼

[@zacheryknowles6893]

It's sounds like the detune on the boss ps6 harmonist but only your able to control the detune

[@emmsquared]

Maybe its better you play it pure clean tone without your crunch, all sounds like the same except if you turn up the Rate.

[@gammalrd8444]

Not sure why you would use a vibrato channel to demo a chorus… love your reviews all The same though

[@intheblues]

You do realise that you can turn the vibrato off right?

[@HowardBaileyMusic]

If I want chorus I stick to an old rack multi-effects unit like a quadraverb or spx90. Better quality sound and diversity. Also cheaper.

[@jumpingman8160]

For the life of me I can't enjoy Boss chorus pedal. :p way too subtle for my meager tastes. IMHO Chorus is one of those fxs that needs to bring brightness and a little swoosh to the the sound [more depth, less rate] for emphasis and general mood. It's not an "always on" for me, but it's good to hear it's presence when it's there.

[@TheJofrica]

+David This is the "Digital Dimension" pedal, not really their main chorus pedal. This pedal seems to be more subtle by design, rather than the more thick swirly chorus pedals out there. This one almost seems like a tone doubler or something.

[@countrywerewolf]

+TheJofrica yup hence the name digital dimension. it's meant to be an always on for getting sounds similar to bands like cocteau twins. they used a dimension c which the same circuitry in this pedal. o lyrics difference is this one is tweak able and the dc2 had only 4 buttons which were presets

[@justintyler3620]

David Boss is the basic bitch of the pedal world

[@jumpingman8160]

Their Delays and Reverbs are neat [love the Boss RE-20. A beast of a pedal] but their modulation leaves a hell lot to be desired.

[@YogiSizzle2]

@@jumpingman8160 which is ironic that people think that since so many chorus pedals are based off of the CE1 or CE2 circuit

[@antonyfinch5922]

sounds awful I think. he keeps saying "warmer" but it's pure overdrive and muddy. Sounds like a £10 amp and an £30 out of tune guitar

[@larrymonteleone1789]

the "clean sound" is not clean and take the reverb off to properly demo this pedal

[@popcultureinelchuco]

Why does every pedal review have to have some lame sauce dad rock riffs.

[@2DclanSnipingTeam]

Statistically that is the demographic that spend the most $ on gear.

[@raybrown1725]

Bonus teaching, son.

[@tokenofdevotion]

Because a big majority of people that buy effects play lousy music

[@matuldamegasen8562]

He's missing the point, about this pedal. If you want chorus, get a choruspedal. Simple. The name should have given him a clue, about what it was designed to do.

[@juliolara601]

E muito caro

[@dimitriskingking3771]

Distorted the sound. I think it is not good pedal.

[@ЮрийКаспарян-ы6ш]

Stop playing only 2 chords!

[@Danthehorse]

Too dirty for a clean tone Shane old son.

[@thesaj1110]

Worthless pedal for sure!

[@kingstumble]

If there is one effect I loathe it's chorus. Nothing dates a record more.

[@raybrown1725]

I know right, those timeless records are so old.

[@Pheonix2022]

There has probably never been a 24 hour period since the CE-1 came out where a song was not being recorded somewhere using a chorus pedal.