MusicRadar Verdict
Three levels of dirt in a single pedal with excellent onstage switching options.
Pros
- +
Versatile switching. Two overdrives in one housing. Wide range of tones.
Cons
- -
The cut knob is a bit fiddly.
MusicRadar's got your back
Like its sister pedal, the Jetdrive, the GS3 has two channels that can be used independently or cascaded, with each one having a unique voice and gain structure.
More flexibility is provided by a third footswitch that operates an overall bypass regardless of the on/off status of the channels. Each channel is capable of producing usefully different sounds.
Both function nicely as clean boosts and, while channel one features the milder overdrive and a rear-panel 'cut' knob that controls presence, channel two is higher gain and is voiced not unlike a Marshall 'Plexi'.
With two channels cascaded there's a huge palette of full-bodied overdrive available.
Trevor Curwen has played guitar for several decades – he's also mimed it on the UK's Top of the Pops. Much of his working life, though, has been spent behind the mixing desk, during which time he has built up a solid collection of the guitars, amps and pedals needed to cover just about any studio session. He writes pedal reviews for Guitarist and has contributed to Total Guitar, MusicRadar and Future Music among others.
“You have ideas that you think wouldn't suit the band - like this song that sounded like U2!”: How a happy accident led to one of Iron Maiden's greatest songs
“If I wake up one day and I can hold a pair of drumsticks then I will have a crack at it”: Phil Collins opens up on his struggle to play drums in affecting trailer for new documentary
“4 in 5 UK musicians have lost work because of Brexit”: Unwrapping the legacy of Britain's EU exit on musicians