CS-3 Compression Sustainer

“Great pedal - somehow less noisy than pricier compressors but not as squishy, although it does the clanky compression very well. Also great as a boost on lower compression levels.”

“Excellent for squishy country picking and funk workouts, but always too willing to go overboard as others have said. Sold it eventually as I didn't have much use for it after I got into fuzzes and stacking ODs.”

“I used a Cs3 on my board for like 6 months and really wanted to like it but to me it's a piece of junk for the same reasons you said. Noise everywhere if you surpass the middle of the knobs.”

“The CS-3 is what I want my compressor pedal to sound like. You can get that real squashy sound it's what you're looking for. Mine did eventually fail though, that bummed me out.”

“I use the pedal a lot and it's as if I feel it more than I hear it, versus using a pulp'n'peel where the compression really jumps out from the sound.”

“The Boss Compressor Sustainer has always been kind of mid at best. I'll take it over most optical compressors, but I've always thought it was a bit of a tone sucker.”

“I got rid of it as soon as I could. Massive tone suck and if I remember right, kind of noisy. Of the current crop of Boss pedals I think this is near the bottom.”

“It's a really good, basic, simple compressor. A few very easy mods can make it great - namely upping c5 and the input cap so it doesn't cut off as much bass when it's on.”

“I used it for a while. Cut some low end (easy enough to mix back). I just found it a little noisy if you use any drive/fuzz/distortion pedals.”

“So the cs-3 is a classic and for good reason, however I feel these days there must be a blend control on a compressor for it to be a viable option so I sold mine”

“I have never taken it off my board since i bought it about 9 years ago. I love how intense it makes every single pluck of the pick and amplifies every part of your sound. Such a great pedal!”

“i never disliked my CS-3. i eventually sold it cuz i needed the money and got an MXR bass compressor when i felt i needed a compressor again. i don’t really prefer one over the other although the MXR is definitely more tweakable.”

“But one thing for sure is you can’t turn that sustain knob up much higher than you have it without it getting noisey as fuck.”

“It’s a bit noisy sometimes, but all that sustain is great on lead lines. It’s built like a tank too. I’ve been using one for years. It can suck the life out of your tone if you let it though.”

“I got my buddy this Boss Compressor as a gift. God we both hated that pedal so much… just couldn’t get it to do “the thing” that I liked about my compressors.”

“Plus the CS3 has a quality that I actually don't love in a compressor all that much, but when I want it, I really like it.”

“Its great but its not an always-on pedal for me. I mostly use it to tighten up cleanish rhythm sections, really makes the band sound better in the mix.”

“I used to have a Boss CS-3 and did not like it much because it made my playing feel sterilized, while killing my tone at the same time.”

“I’ve battled with this compressor. I have gone through stints of liking it. I think where I am at is I know how to dial it in for 1-2 use cases, which it is really good for, but it’s not something I find intuitive or inspiring to play around with.”

“Fantastic pedal - it's just right if you want something kinda like a dynacomp but not as much squish or noise and also don't want something too clean or not squishy - like the Keeley comp plus. Goldilocks comp”

“Yeah, it took me quite a while to figure out that the CS3 simply kills a whole lot of low end signal. For some time I thought something was broken or I was going insane. Immediately replaced the CS3 with the Boss Limiter Enhancer LMB3.”

“They make excellent pedals but the CS-3 is definitely not one of them. Very noisy compared to similarly priced rivals”

“This is the only pedal that there were 2 of (one new, one beat), and the only pedal of the lot that I kept for myself rather than reselling. I use it to tighten up palm mutes for death/thrash/power metal stuff.”

“It's pretty good. It was my first pedal I bought 25 years ago for my bass. There are better bass options now.”