Boss LMB3

[BassAdder60]

Just purchased the Boss LMB3 to see how it performs 

 

It’s pretty decent and I can compare it to my Keeley which is great.

 

A little EQ shift when using it but it’s very mild and even the dreaded Enhance knob isn’t as hissy as I’d read 

 

For the money it’s a very decent pedal and a keeper for my little Boss board 

Edited April 12, 2023 by BassAdder60

[ped]

It’s a great compressor. I used one for ages and found the enhance knob really useful in some venues and with some amps. It gets overlooked like a lot of Boss gear in favour of more ‘boutique’ gear but I found the LMB3 to work well as a comp and limiter. I was never sure about the colour though 😆

[ossyrocks]

Yep, great little pedal. Used mine all afternoon today at rehearsals. I’ve got a proper old school Boss board in a plastic Boss carry case. The LMB-3 is an “always on” pedal.

 

Rob

[BassAdder60]

1 minute ago, ossyrocks said:

Yep, great little pedal. Used mine all afternoon today at rehearsals. I’ve got a proper old school Boss board in a plastic Boss carry case. The LMB-3 is an “always on” pedal.

 

Rob

Yep I’ve got the Boss three pedal BCB30X box as well 👍

[ossyrocks]

7 minutes ago, BassAdder60 said:

Yep I’ve got the Boss three pedal BCB30X box as well 👍

What have you got on it? Mine is TU2, SYB-5, LMB-3. 

[DGBass]

Been using one of these for a good few years now and find it works with just about any amp I care to use. It works especially well where thers a tube in the amplifiers pre-amp. I initially bought it to use as a limiter but soon realised it can also do a very subtle compression that keeps the signal tight and under control without killing natural sustain. The enhance knob can also add a subtle crispness to the top end without it getting fizzy. Great all round pedal and I always have it last in the chain before the amp. 

[BassAdder60]

1 hour ago, ossyrocks said:

What have you got on it? Mine is TU2, SYB-5, LMB-3. 

At the moment the LMB3 followed by my TC Spark Booster !  
I know it’s not Boss but hey ho !

[VTypeV4]

I've had mine for at least 20 years and it's still a great tool that gets plenty of use. The compressor does a great job from subtle to crushed - personally, I use it with a low-ish ratio and a low threshold so it's doing something most of the time. It plays very nicely in conjunction with the Yamaha NE-1 and the Trace V4. I like the enhancer too - with a bit of upper-mid attenuation, it adds a lovely degree of 'ping' and really gets the HF components in the SWR cabs singing..  

[Osiris]

The LMB-3 is a great pedal and often overlooked but it's quite possibly my favourite compressor pedal I've ever used. I'm a bit of a compressor nerd and have been all around the houses with compressors having tried many pedals, analogue and digital, single and multi-band, cheap and cheerful to some boutique stuff. But I started with one of these years ago and realised around 3 years ago that I was trying to get everything else to recreate the punch that only the LMB-3 delivers, so when I had the opportunity to pick up a new one for a bargain price I grabbed it and have never looked back!

 

There's a sweet spot on the threshold where it keeps everything in check but when you dig in it adds a grin inducing punch that I could never get from any of the other units I tried, the Bus setting on the Darkglass Hype Luminal was the closest, but there's just something about the humble Boss that has seen off all the competition. 

 

I usually keep the Enhance control right down and only dial it in to around 8 o'clock for my darkest sounding bass. 

[BassAdder60]

I was expecting a very average quality compressor but comparing to my Keeley I was staggered how good it sounds 

[AndyTravis]

I’ve always rated these - sold loads when I worked in a shop…but never owned one.

 

No idea why.

[Supernaut]

So you have two compressors on your board? 

[ped]

13 hours ago, Osiris said:

The LMB-3 is a great pedal and often overlooked but it's quite possibly my favourite compressor pedal I've ever used. I'm a bit of a compressor nerd and have been all around the houses with compressors having tried many pedals, analogue and digital, single and multi-band, cheap and cheerful to some boutique stuff. But I started with one of these years ago and realised around 3 years ago that I was trying to get everything else to recreate the punch that only the LMB-3 delivers, so when I had the opportunity to pick up a new one for a bargain price I grabbed it and have never looked back!

 

There's a sweet spot on the threshold where it keeps everything in check but when you dig in it adds a grin inducing punch that I could never get from any of the other units I tried, the Bus setting on the Darkglass Hype Luminal was the closest, but there's just something about the humble Boss that has seen off all the competition. 

 

I usually keep the Enhance control right down and only dial it in to around 8 o'clock for my darkest sounding bass. 

 

That punch you mention was what I think I heard when I first started using one without knowing much about compression. Unbeknownst to me I had set a high ratio and high threshold setting which game a great fundamental enabling my sound to fit perfectly into a mix whilst preserving dynamics underneath and up to that point. Since then I have always set my compression more like a limiter because i love playing up against that brick wall that gives so much definition to the sound. I also always have it at the end of my chain as a kind of gatekeeper. I have tried lts of other comp/limiters but finding something that responds so quickly and evenly has been really tricky, and the final winner is actually a Roland designed model of what I assume is the LMB3 which does the same thing but is almost totally quiet.

[uk_lefty]

I had one for ages and used the recommended settings in the manual: enhance for fretless and limiter for fretted. I recently had issues with big changes in volume when running our own PA and switching from fingers to pick. I don't get on with a lot of compressors, they can often make your bass sound like you're hitting a mattress with a mallet, but for me the LMB-3 just adds that little bit of control. I bought the Behringer clone to have at the front of my pedal board and used the Boss recommended settings, it worked really well last night for evening out the dynamics.

 

 

[A.G.E.N.T.E.]

Great compressor, I find it very versatile. I guess the name is the major reason for it being overlooked. It was the firs pedal I brought and still have it. I admit I tried to sell it a couple of times but gave up the next day. 

Having owned and mooved  several better ranked compressors, the LMB-3 is still here. 

The only downside I find is the (subtle) eq it adds. 

[Rich]

On 13/04/2023 at 11:50, Supernaut said:

So you have two compressors on your board? 

Any particular reason why they shouldn't?

[fretmeister]

I've had 2.

 

I really like what they did, but both of them had a tiny high pitched whine in the signal that annoyed me.

 

I don't know if I was unlucky in having 2 with the same issue, but it has put me off trying a third.

[uk_lefty]

On 12/04/2023 at 21:39, Osiris said:

The LMB-3 is a great pedal and often overlooked but it's quite possibly my favourite compressor pedal I've ever used. I'm a bit of a compressor nerd and have been all around the houses with compressors having tried many pedals, analogue and digital, single and multi-band, cheap and cheerful to some boutique stuff. But I started with one of these years ago and realised around 3 years ago that I was trying to get everything else to recreate the punch that only the LMB-3 delivers, so when I had the opportunity to pick up a new one for a bargain price I grabbed it and have never looked back!

 

There's a sweet spot on the threshold where it keeps everything in check but when you dig in it adds a grin inducing punch that I could never get from any of the other units I tried, the Bus setting on the Darkglass Hype Luminal was the closest, but there's just something about the humble Boss that has seen off all the competition. 

 

I usually keep the Enhance control right down and only dial it in to around 8 o'clock for my darkest sounding bass. 

I'd be interested in seeing your settings for each parameter. At the moment I'm using not far off the manual setting as a limiter which sounds great with my jazz bass but takes a lot of the best bits out the sound of my Stingray. I think I need to increase the room a bit to allow more of the natural bass sound and dynamics through so that the Stingray can still kick and punch but without overpowering everything else...

[BassAdder60]

I like mine but stopped using a compressor at all, in fact no effects hence why it’s for sale !

[Osiris]

1 hour ago, uk_lefty said:

I'd be interested in seeing your settings for each parameter. At the moment I'm using not far off the manual setting as a limiter which sounds great with my jazz bass but takes a lot of the best bits out the sound of my Stingray. I think I need to increase the room a bit to allow more of the natural bass sound and dynamics through so that the Stingray can still kick and punch but without overpowering everything else...

 

The trouble with sharing settings for compressors is that what works for me will almost certainly not work for you, moreso with compression than for any other pedal, unfortunately. There's too many variables to give a one size fits all answer even for a pedal as simple as the LMB-3. I can, however, give you some pointers but after that you'll have to figure out what works for you. For example, you mention a Stingray, which as far as I'm aware, is a pretty high output active bass whereas I prefer passive basses, which usually are lower output. This has a huge affect on the optimum threshold setting. 

 

First of all, make sure you understand what each control does. That's not meant to sound patronising or condescending in any way, but to get the best out of compression you really need to understand what each parameter does and how it impacts the signal and interacts with the other controls. Much of the misunderstanding that often gets said about compression is usually down to people not really understanding how to set them up properly. The most important control is the threshold, setting it too low and everything gets squashed leading to the compressors kill your dynamics argument. Too high a threshold and the signal gets through unchecked. I set my threshold so that the peaks are capped but the rest of the signal is untouched, that keeps things even but retains playing dynamics. Depending on the bass this can be anywhere between around 3-4 o'clock at the highest down to around 1 o'clock for my lowest output bass. The threshold control works backwards to what you might expect, when the control is fully clockwise you're adding the least amount of squash, and with the control fully anticlockwise you're crushing everything. 

 

The ratio controls how much squash is applied. The LMB-3 goes from 1:1 (no squash) to infinity:1 (where nothing gets past the threshold). I set mine around 10-11 o'clock~ish which feels like it's around 3:1 to 4:1~ish. For me this adds a pleasing punchy edge to the tone. 

 

The enhance control I tend to not bother with, or just add a touch for my darkest sounding bass. 

 

Volume to unity so as not to overload anything further downstream. 

 

Hope this helps, but as I mentioned earlier, you really need to understand what each parameter is doing to find your optimum setting.   

[fretmeister]

11 hours ago, BassAdder60 said:

I like mine but stopped using a compressor at all, in fact no effects hence why it’s for sale !

 

Unless you are spending the incoming money on more basses or amps I'm pretty sure you are in breach of the forum GAS rules!  

[BassAdder60]

1 hour ago, fretmeister said:

 

Unless you are spending the incoming money on more basses or amps I'm pretty sure you are in breach of the forum GAS rules!  

Always on the look to spend more 😂

 

Next purchase is most likely a new PBass !

[Baloney Balderdash]

On 15/05/2023 at 12:52, fretmeister said:

I've had 2.

 

I really like what they did, but both of them had a tiny high pitched whine in the signal that annoyed me.

 

I don't know if I was unlucky in having 2 with the same issue, but it has put me off trying a third.

Now I don't actually own a Boss LMB-3 in specific, but a couple of my pedals got a similar issue, however only if not powered by a properly individually isolated and filtered power supply outlet.

 

In the latter case they are in fact dead quiet. 

 

Edited May 18, 2023 by Baloney Balderdash

[fretmeister]

I tried it on 2 boards. One with the good old PP+ and on the other a very silly money Gigrig Power Generator set up, with dedicated isolators.

Both the same.

[Osiris]

4 hours ago, fretmeister said:

I tried it on 2 boards. One with the good old PP+ and on the other a very silly money Gigrig Power Generator set up, with dedicated isolators.

Both the same.

 

It sounds like you were just unlucky, I'm currently on my third or fourth one - over the years I just keep coming back to it after assuming that something more expensive and exotic must be better, and ending up disappointed and invariably missing what the LMB does - and I've never had any noise issues like you described. That's running them on batteries, daisy chains and from a Truetone CS6. I've even got a cheap and cheerful GLX branded clone that I picked up on ebay for about a fiver, boxed and immaculate, that runs on a daisy chain at home and it also noise free.