Joyo JF-14 American Sound - Pedal Review

[Cooper Black]

So, I bought the Joyo JF-14 American Sound mostly out of curiosity. I have no first-hand knowledge of the Tech21/SansAmp pedal, and cannot comment with any real authority on if this a clone, or just a wannabe "like item". So take in what you can ... take a grain of salt too.

Specifically, I don't know of there is any speaker emulation going inside this box. It honestly does not sound very good as a direct box. Clearly it has built-in "Amp Simulation", but that seems to mean EQ and gain parameters that sound "Fender-ish". I honestly think this essentially a TS, plus EQ and a Mid-Sweep.

So, I put in front of my Super Champ XD. It's been there for a couple of weeks, with mixed feelings. Until yesterday, when I took possession of my new (to me) Robert Cray Strat and stayed up late playing licks, tweaking knobs. Good times!

VOLUME: Post-gain output volume. Works as expected.

LOW/MID/HIGH: Wide range, usefull EQ. Sounds to me like these are post-gain controls. My unit has scratchy HIGH pot, and an onery BASS pot (loud pop around 3:00). Annoying, but tolerable.

DRIVE: TS type clipping from clean to completely saturated. Very dynamic! Really cleans up well using the guitar's volume knob. Set in the sweet spot, I could pull out overdrive using pick dynamics alone.

VOICE: This is the crux, the make-it-or-break-it knob. It seems to be a pre-gain mid-sweep. 7:00 range is a mid-cut. 12:00 is mid-neutral. 5:00 is a huge mid-push that will drive the unit into a new range of OD tones.

I ended up with VOICE set around 4:00. Drive set around 9:00. EQ is dialed-in to match the SCXD's clean tone, with a slight mid-hump to compliment the OD tone.

SECRET INGREDIENT: I also bought a Joyo Tremolo pedal (mostly because I like the dog graphic. LOL!). Not worth a spearate review, but I'll say this ... this box adds tone! I get a small volume boost, and a nice treble push.

I have placed the Tremolo BEFORE the American Sound so the input signal is slightly "in motion", so the OD is ever changing and a little more "alive" sounding.

The Joyo Tremolo is now the first-up, and always-on pedal for my board.

* * *

CONCLUSION: I have listened to the sound samples at Tech21's website, and I do not think these Joyo boxes are literal clones of the Tech21 products. I think they are meant to steal some of that market niche, but this is not a direct box ... it is an OD box with some nice EQ features, at a low-end price point (and build quality).

I hope this helps someone interested in these Amp Simulators from Joyo.

- Coop

[lefty73]

Wicked! I think most "knock off" pedal builders' business strategy is to make clones of the first-run versions of products - that is, Joyo's not copying the latest iteration of the Tech 21 Blonde, for example. In this case, Joyo is going after the v1.0 that didn't have defeatable speaker simulation, and may have added a few tweaks on their own.

If the end result is a pedal that sounds good and is affordable - win win!

[TNO]

For me the Joyo AC Tone just blows away my Tech21 Blonde. I'd like to try the American Sound as well. The trem sounds great, it's not on my board because it won't go subtle enough for me... as the intensity is turned down the volume boost goes up. Too bad.

[czech-one-2]

Originally Posted by TNO

For me the Joyo AC Tone just blows away my Tech21 Blonde. I'd like to try the American Sound as well. The trem sounds great, it's not on my board because it won't go subtle enough for me... as the intensity is turned down the volume boost goes up. Too bad.

Theres a volume trim pot in that there bulldog tremolo!

[tochiro]

I have had the AC Tone for 3 months and it sounds really good, both in the PA direct and in my tube amp.

[effcee]

Thanks for these reviews, fellas. I've been eyeing a few of those Joyo/Tech21 clones, and it's great to find this info.

[Cooper Black]

Bump to add:

I've had an epiphany of sorts about this pedal, and what it wants to do for my signal. Above, I wondered if it really has much speaker simulation, but it most certainly adds some sort of overall coloring to the signal.

Here's the thing, I've been treating this box as if it were an OD pedal, putting it early (if not first up) in the chain. But that is not where an amplifier goes!

So, in the spirit of it being an Amp Simulator, I've moved it dead last in the chain, set for very little break up, and I'm much happier with the results. At least when going direct, or into a headphone mix. I no longer use it going into my amp, because - to my new way of thinking - that's redundant.

Best part is, the OD slot is now open for a new pedal!

[TNO]

I think the secret to these is to balance the voice (which boosts midrange gain) with the midrange control. I wish they were switchable between buffered and true bypass.

[mcknigs]

Originally Posted by Cooper Black

Bump to add:

I've had an epiphany of sorts about this pedal, and what it wants to do for my signal. Above, I wondered if it really has much speaker simulation, but it most certainly adds some sort of overall coloring to the signal.

Here's the thing, I've been treating this box as if it were an OD pedal, putting it early (if not first up) in the chain. But that is not where an amplifier goes!

So, in the spirit of it being an Amp Simulator, I've moved it dead last in the chain, set for very little break up, and I'm much happier with the results. At least when going direct, or into a headphone mix. I no longer use it going into my amp, because - to my new way of thinking - that's redundant.

Best part is, the OD slot is now open for a new pedal!

The (arguably) ideal place for it is after everything but the delay, or put another way, after everything that would go into an amp and before everything you would put in an efects loop. That's the way I've used my Blonde and it works for me.

[czech-one-2]

I've got an American sound on the way. Hoping to use it as a mild boost/overdrive after my DS-1 in the chain.The additional eq knobs on these seem like they would be a plus into a clean,bright amp.

Sold my US Dream and the Sweet Baby is probably gonna go too.Both were a bit too 'transparent' for lack of a better description through a JC120.

[tochiro]

The only trouble is noise when connected to a combo input.

[czech-one-2]

Originally Posted by tochiro

The only trouble is noise when connected to a combo input.

^ Thats not what I wanted to hear, especially since thats how I'll be using it!
Anyway, I wont have the gain up very high on mine so it might not be a problem,we will see.....

[Faraldi]

Figured I'd chime in on this as well.

I recently grabbed an AC Tone and its just a fantastic pedal. I've been using it both in front of a very clean SS amp and direct for recording with no amp or cabinet compensation on my DAW. In both scenarios it does amazing things. I'm basically building a direct to house board that I can use for church but I wanted to stay away from the digital modeling thing (been there too many times).

I recently did this recording using the AC Tone going direct to my Mac. I think the results are excellent. I'll be ordering the American today.

[lefty73]

Great demo Faraldi! Wow... put that in the PA mix at a club and I'd be hard-pressed to tell the difference between that and a SM57 on the cone of a real amp. And I'll bet it's a lot less weight to lug around too! ;)

[Faraldi]

Originally Posted by lefty73

Great demo Faraldi! Wow... put that in the PA mix at a club and I'd be hard-pressed to tell the difference between that and a SM57 on the cone of a real amp. And I'll bet it's a lot less weight to lug around too! ;)

Thanks! Yep it's a heck of a pedal. I'm planning on running it into a DI box with the XLR going to the board and the 1/4" out hitting my SS amp for monitoring purposes (when needed).

[czech-one-2]

Yeah, that sounds really nice, great demo!
Is your AC Tone noisey into a SS amp?
Hopefully I'll have my American Sound next week.

[Faraldi]

Originally Posted by czech-one-2

Yeah, that sounds really nice, great demo!
Is your AC Tone noisey into a SS amp?
Hopefully I'll have my American Sound next week.

Hey C1-2,

Not noisy at all. I should clarify that it doesn't add any additional noise over what I already get using a P90 equipped Jazzmaster clone.

I also started experimenting with an OD in front of the pedal and I'm very happy to say that the AC Tone reacts just like an amp. Here's the current setup:

GTR-->Boss SD-1-->AC Tone-->Marshall Echohead-->Amp

One of the reasons why I moved away from digital modeling is that when I used a drive in front of the modeler, I always ran into what I call a "DSP ceiling" where the modeler could only handle a certain level coming from the pedal. In all cases (and I've owned MANY modelers), there was a point where increasing the OD output level would simply flood the DSP input of the modeler. This created a very un-dynamic and messy tone.

With the AC Tone, there isn't any digital stuff going on so an increase in the output of an OD pedal results in a massive amount of feel and dynamics. Plus, when hitting the front of the Joyo with a hot signal, the character really opens up beautifully.

One word of advice on these pedals. After doing that video, I started messing with different EQ settings. Typically, I would hang around anywhere from 10:00 to 2:00 which sounded fine. However, if you EQ after the 12:00 position, it also brings up the overall level of the pedal and to my ears, makes it sound more alive. Not sure if these are active knobs but again, just like on a real amp, the EQ does a lot of good when used properly.

I have a few bucks to spend and I'm trying to decide between the American Sound and the British Sound. Tough decisions. :)

[czech-one-2]

Hi Faraldi,
I recieved my American sound pedal today, immediately put it on the board after an initial test and played a large outdoor gig tonight.
I must say, this is one sweet low gain overdrive into my clean jc120.All the eq options have a wide range of tweekability and it blows away the sweet baby that I just sold.It has alot of volume on tap and is perfect for that dirty clean tone. I put a large knob on the 'voice' pot for foot control,cause that alone can take the pedal from clean boost to a nice cranked tweed deluxe overdrive when the gain pot is set low at 9'oclock or so. Higher gain gets increasingly noisy, so if you buy this as a low/mid gain pedal you wont be dissapointed. It also doesnt seem to stack well into other dirt pedals,so be aware of that.Might be better after them, I'll try that next.
I'd love to try the California sound for higher gain solos in the Santana/ Mesa MKII gain range,but I'm afraid it might be too noisy. Any body try the California Sound?

Oh, by the way, I owned the tech 21 character blonde pedal that this is reportedly similar to, and was nowhere near as happy with that one. This might sound crazy, but I think I like it better than my Klon clone, or at least as much.Its in the same ballpark.
These are initial impressions, but it passed the live gig test with flying colours!At $40.00 shipped, this has got to be one of the all-time pedal bargains!
__________________

[czech-one-2]

Originally Posted by Cooper Black

CONCLUSION: I have listened to the sound samples at Tech21's website, and I do not think these Joyo boxes are literal clones of the Tech21 products. I think they are meant to steal some of that market niche, but this is not a direct box ... it is an OD box with some nice EQ features, at a low-end price point (and build quality).

I hope this helps someone interested in these Amp Simulators from Joyo.

- Coop

Yes, I'm not hearing any amp simulation or speaker simulation really, it just sounds like a great low-medium gain overdrive with tons of eq flexibility.
The 'Blonde' I owned however immediately felt like something wasnt quite natural to me.

Tonight I decided to beef up the footswitch ribbon cable wiring. Upon dis-assembly I noticed that ALL 9 nuts were loose,not even finger tight! So they definately arent spending more than 60 seconds on final assembly.
I can still overlook this though cause its easily resolved and the price is a bargain.

[Faraldi]

Thanks C12.

I think you sold me on the American sound.

I tried something last night with the Ac Tone. Coming out of my Hardwire chorus, I sent the left output through the AC Tone and the right output without any amp simulation, both feeding two channels into Logic. I then took the dry tone and built a virtual Twin amp in Logic and panned the two hard left and right. The mix between the two sounded great.

As for dirt up front, I find that the AC Tone does sound good with both OD and distortion but I prefer it through a FRFR system rather than an amp. Not sure why it sounds better that way but fortunately I'm mostly planning on using it that way at church.

I need to order the American sound this afternoon. Thanks for the review!