Humble Joyo American Sound

[soulman]

I've had this pedal for quite awhile and until very recently had it stowed away in my gear parts closet. When went back to playing my original Roland Blues Cube 60 again I decided to bring it out to use with it not as an overdrive pedal but with a narrower very specific purpose.

Tonally the BC60 is patterned after a late '50s Tweed amp and it does that well despite it's analog SS design. But there are times I prefer the tonality of the '60s Blackface amps from my era. Set correctly to embellish the Blackface voicing of the pedal it gives me the equivalent of a dual channel amp with one Tweed voiced and the other Blackface voiced. I have to admit that for the price these are very handy little tone boxes.

I also have a Quilter US SuperBlock which can do much the same and throws in the Blonde era tonality as well but it's not able to be footswitched in and out so it's less practical for a live gig than using the American Sound in the signal chain. Anyone else using this one and if so how are you using it? Just looking for even more ideas for it.

 

[BGood]

Yes, a good multi Fender tone pedal. I think I'm getting close to a tweed tone with these settings. Good thing I have that photo as I'm looking at the pedal now, settings have moved since ... hmmm. I'll wait for the wife to wake up before testing that

BTW, it's my second one, the first just died.



I've been looking at the Caline CP-55, which seem to sound a bit different/better if I rely on what I've heard.

 

[Chloedogsdad]

I've had an american sound for quite a while, and for a while, I was using it as a pre-amp and sending it straight to the mixer, no regular amp needed. still pull it out from time to time to play around with.

 

[soulman]

I've had an american sound for quite a while, and for a while, I was using it as a pre-amp and sending it straight to the mixer, no regular amp needed. still pull it out from time to time to play around with.

That it can also be used that way as well is a nice feature especially in an emergency when an amp goes TU.

Yes, a good multi Fender tone pedal. I think I'm getting close to a tweed tone with these settings. Good thing I have that photo as I'm looking at the pedal now, settings have moved since ... hmmm. I'll wait for the wife to wake up before testing that

BTW, it's my second one, the first just died.

View attachment 1596

I've been looking at the Caline CP-55, which seem to sound a bit different/better if I rely on what I've heard.

View attachment 1597

Point of interest for you to explore my friend. Supposedly the JOYO AS is a clone of a Tech21 Blonde. Using the info on setting provided by Tech21 for their pedal and applying them to the American Sound "Voice" should yield the following.

Settings below noon; These tend to be in the Black Face and Silver Face family. You should hear softer reduced mids with some top end chime and sparkle.

Settings at noon; This is early '60s Blonde territory. More of everything tonally. (FWIW not my favorite era)

Settings above noon; This should bring bring overall tonality into Tweed Era range. It's throatier, more mid range forward, and more full sounding especially when overdriven or using pedals.

This is only what I've found but in my case it also helps to have my old Blues Cube 60 as a foundation since it's Tube Logic design and architecture came straight from late '50s Fender Tweed Amps. It's most like an overpowered Deluxe with a single 12" speaker which unfortunately is not an old Jensen Alnico. They couldn't handle as much "juice" as BC 60 produces.

Anyway, see what you get because when I set my voicing like yours and kick the pedal on I go from the Tweed voicing of the BC 60 straight to Black Face territory like a Deluxe Reverb. If I messed around more with the EQ for that voice I believe I could nail it even better.

 

[BGood]

That it can also be used that way as well is a nice feature especially in an emergency when an amp goes TU.

Point of interest for you to explore my friend. Supposedly the JOYO AS is a clone of a Tech21 Blonde. Using the info on setting provided by Tech21 for their pedal and applying them to the American Sound "Voice" should yield the following.

Settings below noon; These tend to be in the Black Face and Silver Face family. You should hear softer reduced mids with some top end chime and sparkle.

Settings at noon; This is early '60s Blonde territory. More of everything tonally. (FWIW not my favorite era)

Settings above noon; This should bring bring overall tonality into Tweed Era range. It's throatier, more mid range forward, and more full sounding especially when overdriven or using pedals.

This is only what I've found but in my case it also helps to have my old Blues Cube 60 as a foundation since it's Tube Logic design and architecture came straight from late '50s Fender Tweed Amps. It's most like an overpowered Deluxe with a single 12" speaker which unfortunately is not an old Jensen Alnico. They couldn't handle as much "juice" as BC 60 produces.

Anyway, see what you get because when I set my voicing like yours and kick the pedal on I go from the Tweed voicing of the BC 60 straight to Black Face territory like a Deluxe Reverb. If I messed around more with the EQ for that voice I believe I could nail it even better.

AH ! Maybe after all, I don't know what a Tweed setting is What would be your settings for it ?

 

[soulman]

AH ! Maybe after all, I don't know what a Tweed setting is What would be your settings for it ?

According to my knowledge of it based off what the AS is a clone of (Tech 21 Blonde) settings below noon are Blackface and Silverface territory. At and around noon it becomes more like early '60s Blonde or Brown tolex models. Running upwards from noon gets one into late '50s Tweed territory. Since my BC 60 is a Tweed voiced amp I run the AS voicing around 9 o'clock for a Blackface voicing.

The most noticeable difference played clean is reduction in the mids vs how a Tweed amp is voiced. But the voicing control also interacts with the EQ and Gain structure for each voicing so to maximize it's effect some tweaking of the pedal EQ and Gain may be needed or some change in amp settings. I've found pretty neutral settings that seem to work well for both when played clean.

Since I don't use it as a dirt pedal any adjustments I need to make for that are gonna be all about which guitar I'm playing and what dirt pedal as well but I really don't play at home with a ton of gain. Gotta keep the neighbors in my good graces. I usually use a low to very moderate amount of gain and use the guitar volume and pickup selection more than amp or pedal knobs.

 

[stormsedge]

I have all of them. Fun and handy pedals.