Joyo American Sound Review: a Fender Amp-in-a-box
Review of Joyo American Sound, a cheap Fender Amp-in-a-box, based in the Blonde of Tech 21, this preamp pedal has Tweed and Blackface audios.
Joyo American Sound: Tweed and Blackeface tones
In this review we analyze the Joyo American Sound, an inexpensive Fender type “Amp in a box”. An excellent choice for the bedroom player and the traveling musician who doesn’t want to move an amp.
Most of guitar players would like to have all the classic amps. But most of us have budgetary and volume constraints to get the amp to achieve its “sweet spot”, the point where the tubes begin to work fully, delivering the much sought-after harmonics.
I have a Fender ’65 Deluxe Reverb RI, my favorite Fender amp, however of course I would love to also have a Bassman, a Deluxe Tweed, and many more.
Joyo American Sound paired with Fender amps
The Deluxe is an amp that sounds good at low volume, a “heavenly clean”. But we guitarists like to be able to overdrive the tubes sometimes, which is difficult when you play at home. That’s where overdrives or preamps pedals start to play an interesting role.
For that reason I started researching pedals with Fender-like overdrive, be it Tweed or Bassman or Blackface-like overdrive. After a quick market research, I decided to give this affordable $ 40 / € 40 pedal a shot.
Joyo American Sound Features
In theory it is a clone of the Tech 21 Blonde pedal, that emulates a Deluxe Tweed ’57. However, it is not limited only to that, it has a “Voice” control that allows you to go from Tweed audios to Blackface tones. In this way it is a pedal that serves very well as the “OD” of any classic Fender type amp, which in general do not have a Master.
Joyo American Sound is a preamp that can be connected directly to the line (PA), console, computer, etc. For this reason, it is highly recommended for playing live and plugging in directly without the need for an amplifier. It has excellent audio quality, it performs the “Amp in a box” function very well. It also gets along very well with other pedals.
In fact, many musicians instead of moving their amps, they use these preamps and add some effect pedals like OD, Delays, Reverbs, etc.
The following YouTube video has a blind test and it compares a Fender 65 Deluxe Reverb Re Issue vs the American Sound pedal plugged to a PC / Mac in, you will be surprised how well the pedal achieves the amp audio.
What tones can you get with the Joyo American Sound?
As I already mentioned the pedal has the ability to deliver different Fender audios. The “Voice” control is a mid-booster, with which you can change the character of the audio. For example on 4/10, the Joyo pedal gives Blackface audios, which are scooped, with smooth mids, chime highs and consistent lows. In this mode it is excellent for emulating the audio from a Deluxe Reverb saturating but at a friendly volume.
On the other hand, in 6 or 7/10 level, the American Sounds enters in Tweed territory, more mids and hoarse, you can also achieve Stevie Ray Vaughan audios since it adds those mids that you achieve with the Tube Screamer. Joyo American Sound is a very balanced and friendly pedal, which is very easy to find good audio.
Some Setting used for testing the Joyo American Sound
a) Deluxe Reverb Blackface Overdrive / Deluxe Tweed Audio
- Bass: 7.5
- Medium: 6
- Treble: 7
- Voice: 4 for Blackface audio / 6 for Tweed Tone
- Gain: 5 for just “soft crunch” to 8 for “heavy distortion”.
b) Bluesy audio, Fender type with TS808 similar to SRV / Bassman audio
- Bass: 4.5
- Medium: 5
- Treble: 5
- Voice: 5 for Blues audio / 6 for ’59 Bassman Tone
- Gain: 6
These settings are those suggested in the Tech21 Blonde manual. Of course there are many more options, but these four settings are an excellent starting point.
Conclusion of Joyo American Sound Review
The final conclusion of the Joyo American Sound Review is that it is an excellent pedal with great value. Excellent both for the guitar players who wants to emulate crunchy audio at low volume, or for the musician who wants to move lightly without an amplifier without sacrificing audio quality. Thus, in our opinion the Joyo American Sound is a great Fender Amp-in-a-Box.
Related Articles to keeping in tune your guitar and bass: Best cheap guitar overdrive pedals for beginners.
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For more information, head over to Joyo.
