Joyo AC Tone

[GuitarJonz]

Anyone using the Joyo AC Tone pedal, especially into clean Fender amp, what are your thoughts, and how do these compare to other common pedals like Fulldrive or Soulfood? Obviously, they'ge gonna sound more Vox-ish, but any other thoughts welcome.

 

[59 Restorer]

I am using the ACTone as my main drive pedal often into a Fender 70's Vibro-Champ. Around the house and mellower practices. The Champ has a large magnet Weber 8" in it to keep it cleaner.
I have come to rely on the AC Tone. Its almost always on. I dial back the drive (10:30ish) and keep the voice around 11:00 to 12:00 for a slightly broken sound I use most of the time. To fatten the sound I add some more voice and more hair start pushing the drive around noon.
You get some cool Voxy chime plus its just a nice medium drive too. It gets noisy with my Tele and Jazzmaster in the higher gain settings but I really dig the tone and for the price can't be beat.

I did give a V1 Liverpool a try but it really doesn't work well as a drive pedal. Its an amp simulator and I had to have the level around 7:00 or it was too loud and added a lot noise. Tonal wise they were very similar. The Liverpool was a bit more Voxy but I was only in need of a drive pedal not a substitute for my amp.

 

[richey88]

I use my AC Tone quite a bit, sometimes as an amp sim, sometimes as a foundation tone into a Pathfinder. Sounds terrific unless you peg the drive, noisy at higher settings. That's why I use another dirt pedal!

 

[Tele1966]

I did give a V1 Liverpool a try but it really doesn't work well as a drive pedal. Its an amp simulator and I had to have the level around 7:00 or it was too loud and added a lot noise. Tonal wise they were very similar. The Liverpool was a bit more Voxy but I was only in need of a drive pedal not a substitute for my amp.

I have a Vers 1 Tech 21 British on my pedalboard and it has the same issue as you describe with the Liverpool. I use the British as both an OD pedal and as a backup for my amp. As an OD pedal I need to run a boost pedal after the British with the volume on the boost turned way down to compensate for the fact the output of the British is too hot. I talked to Tech 21 about the issue because it seemed like the situation would be rectified with a different value of Level pot in the British, but Tech 21 said that's not the issue. Bottom line Tech 21 told me the version 2 pedals solved this issue.
'

 

[LordByron]

I really like the AC Tone as a clean-ish boost/ light OD/ tone sweetener. I tend to use most with my HB guitars (LP Studio and ES-339 CS mostly). It gives them a little sparkle and clarity. I run them into a Tweed Deluxe, AC15C1X, Goodsell Super17 Mk IV, and on Oldfield 100W Head and Cab (voices like a 65 Twin Reverb). It sounds great with all of above, both individually and run in tandem.

 

[tele-bastard]

I use my Joyo American and California this way

 

[GuitarJonz]

I've seen some posts saying that this pedal could be used directly to a PA, like a DI, especially as a backup, in case of amp failure. If there were other pedals being used with the failed amp, would you use the Joyo before, or after them?

 

[still_fiddlin]

I've seen some posts saying that this pedal could be used directly to a PA, like a DI, especially as a backup, in case of amp failure. If there were other pedals being used with the failed amp, would you use the Joyo before, or after them?

Smart alecky answer is "Yes."

Generally, your drive-y stuff goes in front, delay/reverb after, but try and you'll figure out what works best. If your pedal board is set up so everything goes in front, i.e., none on an effects loop, you would probably be just fine going into the Joyo and then direct to PA (maybe via a DI) from the Joyo.

 

[Boblets]

I use three Joyo pedals in this order: Tremolo; D Seed delay; American Sound (or AC Tone) direct to PA through my Allen & Heath Zed 10fx.

I get a good sound without buzz or static but I play at moderate volumes.

 

[DeVilleDude]

I use three Joyo pedals in this order: Tremolo; D Seed delay; American Sound (or AC Tone) direct to PA through my Allen & Heath Zed 10fx.

I get a good sound without buzz or static but I play at moderate volumes.

I've had the trem and all 4 amp sims for a couple years. AC and AM get the most play time. I've always run my trem late in the chain, but I've been hearing more about trem first, so it must work well. Gonna try it tonite.

 

[dqami]

I have the Ac, Am, and Brit pedals and they are great and help cure my gas attack. Especially good to drive low watt tube amps at lower volume as well as SS amps (I have a Frontman , Pathfinder 15 and 10)

 

[rambleon]

I really like the AC tone. I use it when I want a light overdriven Vox tone. There's no comparing it to the Soul Food or Fultone pedals (which one? there are many), because what it does is very different. It simulates a Vox AC 30 amp's overdriven sound and it's best to use a clean amp as a platform. I play through VHT Special 44s (a 1x12 combo at home and a head through a 2x12 cab with the band) which have a lot of clean headroom and work really well with pedals.

 

[Tele1966]

I've seen some posts saying that this pedal could be used directly to a PA, like a DI, especially as a backup, in case of amp failure. If there were other pedals being used with the failed amp, would you use the Joyo before, or after them?

The backup to my Twin Reverb is a Joyo American Sound. I keep the American Sound in a ziploc bag with a 9V battery in my equipment gig case. I've tested and dialed in the American Sound direct to the board. I have the proper settings marked on the pedal. I simply run out of my entire pedalboard into the American Sound, then directly to the mixer. It sounds good to great out front. Stage monitoring in that backup situation is slightly problematic as I'd be relying on the drummer's or front man's wedge.

 

[nicobe]

I've just posted this in another similar thread but considering that the OP is asking how the AC Tone sounds with a clean Fender amp I think it could be useful...

Consider liking and subscribing it would make my day!

 

[adeiderich]

Always on when I'm running clean.

 

[nicobe]

Hey guys!
This time I tried to go directly into the computer...well the dry sound is not that appealing to me...but with a cab impulse it's impressive what you can get out of this pedal!

 

[Hexabuzz]

Hey guys!
This time I tried to go directly into the computer...well the dry sound is not that appealing to me...but with a cab impulse it's impressive what you can get out of this pedal!

Aren't you essentially "doubling" the speaker simulation by adding an IR? The AC Tone, unlike the Tech 21 Liverpool (which can shut it off) always has the speaker simulation "on", as it's built into the pedal.

 

[nicobe]

Aren't you essentially "doubling" the speaker simulation by adding an IR? The AC Tone, unlike the Tech 21 Liverpool (which can shut it off) always has the speaker simulation "on", as it's built into the pedal.

Yes and no...I wouldn't really say that the ac tone has a speaker emulation circuit. It has some sort of voicing but the range of frequency that come out of the joyo is very dissimilar from the range that comes from a guitar speaker inside a cab.
Guitar speakers are not high fidelity speakers: they cut some freqs and enheance others. Listening to the dry ac tone sound I notice a resemblance with what you get connecting an hifi speaker to a guitar amp...you get a lot frequences that are not supposed to be there.

Using a cab impulse I can cut out those freqs and also add the ambience that the sound acquires when a speaker is located into a cab.
In the video I use a combination of 3 impulses of an AC30 cab. I also use a stereo widener which also gets closer to what would come out of a double speaker/open back amp like a AC30!

Hope it helps!

 

[nicobe]

that's also why these pedals sound better through an actual amp rather than straight into the mixer IMO

 

[wulfenganck]

I'm using the AC Tone for my back-up and session rig, it's a great tool, very versatile. I use it for crunch sounds with my solid-state Peavey Express. I Usually have the Voice-knob around 3.00 and the drive at 12.00: I feed an old Ibanez STL Super Tube Lead into it for leadsounds, works very nicely and doesn't sound like the often heard prejudice about "cold and sterile" solid-state amps.
It can be quite noisy, but it really depends on the drive-knob.
I tried it directly to PA, but wasn't too impressed - the EQ needed quite some tweaking....there seem to be better pedals for theat, for example the original Tech21 character-series.