Joyo JF-13 AC Tone Guitar Effects Pedal

Eugene Rodriguez

March 13, 2023

Not what I was looking for

Got this to add tones like a Vox for my pedalboard. It was a bit oversized. Sound was ok compared to other pedals, but for the price it was a winner.

The Dietsch

August 30, 2019

Great analog front end for a budget DI fly rig!

Looking to get fly rig together on a shoestring budget? Run one of these analog Joyo amp modelers into a cab sim for a tone that easily holds it's own against a Kemper, Helix or Axe FX .

I'm overdue in reviewing this pedal but I've taken the time to really get to know it and take it out into the real giggin world and I'm tickled silly that I'm getting a better tone than most of my pals with waaay more expensive DI rigs! The photo and clip here show my board and my Tele Jr running into an EX Soul Food into the Joyo AC Tone through a Digitech CabDryVR DI on a 2x12 Brit (AC) setting into the board with no amp (the Soul Food has the treble set a little higher than I usually run it bc the tone knob is easily bumped on my pedal and not that this tone isn't awesomely gnarly as is but typically the tone has the well-balanced top end of an AC15/30 ish overdrive.)

I use the Joyo AC Tone for country gigs and the Joyo British Sound for rock shows and honestly think that they give a more tube-like tone than any of the above-mentioned modelers for a fraction of the cost. I think this may have to do with the analog circuit and both pedals have a range of tones available depending on how the mids and drive in particular are set and they respond well to most of my pedals as well as the guitar volume (though much better to those that have treble bleed cap on the volume control.)

It's important to note that if you're getting this for a DI rig a cab sim of some sort is essential to get that real tube tone so don't forget that part, but they also sound great on their own as a front end into a real tube amp to get an overdrive at a lower stage volume. I will say that Digitech Cab DryVR offers more "air" to simulate a real cab in a room but my cheap Behringer and no name 30 dollar cab sim both sound just fine with a touch of delay to open up the tone.

If you're thinking of a DI rig and don't want to break the bank, as a regularly gigging player I can tell you honestly that a Joyo amp modeler with a cab sim following your own pedalboard is hands down the way to go!

1:33

My First "amp-in-a-box" from Joyo, and I am very impressed

I got this pedal on the promise that it will give me some Vox AC tones, and I am happy to report that it does. By playing around with the interaction of the Voice, Drive, and EQ knobs, I can dial in AC30 tones from the Beatles to Brian May, to The Edge, and everything in between.

The pedal construction is rock solid; very heavy pedal, super thick metal enclosure, smooth control pots, good foot switch and jacks, nice non-slip rubber pad, decent paint job, but super lame lettering on the labels.

I tested this pedal directly in front of the amp with the bare minimum in my signal chain. First it was connected directly to the amp and guitar, then on the effects loop, then with a compressor, delay and reverb. I tried this pedal with two tube amps (5 Watt, and 15 Watt), using the clean channel without distortion (only distortion from the pedal).

I was so impressed with the "AC Tone", that I ordered the "British Sound" and "American Sound" versions. However I was disappointed by those two, in that I was not able to dial the distinctive sounds they are advertising.

One setup I was not able to try was using the pedal with a direct connection to a DAW via a analog-to-digital interface. Apparently this is one common setup used with this type of "Amp-in-a-box" pedals. That is not my intended application, but someone else may buy this with that use in mind.

Finally, I cannot speak about durability or reliability for this pedal, but the initial impression based on the sound and the build is very favorable.

Wallet and beginner friendly pedal

I am not a gigging artist but I have fallen in love with the clean tone of a Vox amplifier. At the moment I live in an apartment and cannot justify paying almost $700 for an amp that I would never get the most use out of. I’ve only had this pedal for a couple of hours and haven’t used it with all my guitars yet but based on the sound I was able to get with my main guitar I can tell this will be a pedal I use religiously. If anyone is like me and wants to try a different sounds without spending a lot of money I definitely recommend this pedal I will be trying out the other pedals in joyo product line. the pedal is well built and feels just as sturdy as the $150 Empress fuzz pedal I own. Great pedal for budget and beginner guitarists

Amazing Pedal!

Ever since I bought this pedal I've used it everyday. At home play or even playing at gigs it sounds amazing. I highly recommend buying this pedal if your considering it.

Hakon

January 22, 2016

Versatile and subtle pedal with a nice vintage sound as well as interesting overdrive fuzz

I was kindly provided a free sample of this little effect pedal to try out.

The pedal comes in a nice box, inside of which is the pedal, simply tucked into bubble wrap, and with the included 9V battery hidden in the easily accessible battery compartment at the back. The pedal can also be powered by a standard external 9V DC power source.

The pedal has a good non-slip rubber base and what feels like a solid and durable shell and good quality push button and knobs on top. The styling isn't really to my taste, but it has a nice feel to it and in the end, it's the sound that really matters.

The pedal boasts a quality-component signal path as well as a true analogue bypass, and from the sounds I got out of it, I found no reason to doubt the truth of this. It also claims to emulate the sound of the Vox AC-30, which I admittedly don't know, so I can't say much about that.

The pedal has six knobs, the top three basically a kind of analogue equaliser and the bottom three controlling level, effect and overdrive, the latter having to be balanced a bit with level as it also amplifies the volume significantly.

I think it offers a versatile range of sounds from a subtly vintage cabinet feel to an amp-based fuzz that I found very pleasing, and which I think I also prefer to the dedicated fuzz pedal by Joyo. I found the effect possibilities both subtle, pleasing and varied, and of far better quality than I admittedly would have expected at this price point, and I don't think this is at all a bad pedal for anyone on a budget.

I tested the sound with a Yamaha nylon silent guitar, directly plugged into my recording interface, which probably isn't what most people would use, but I hope that the effect is nevertheless easy to gauge by ear as I go through different settings in my video.

I, for one, really like this one, and would be happy to use it for both recording and playing live.

7:28

This would be a must-have at twice the price.

The video that accompanies this review was recorded direct to my PC with a little VST reverb added later.

I play in a Christian band and for whatever reason, the Vox AC30 is the tone that everybody in that genre tends to gravitate toward. Most of those guys (the professionals, that is) are playing through AC30s, Matchless amps, or other high dollar stuff that I can only dream to own. I've owned Tech-21 pedals before and they're actually intended to be used as direct boxes, straight into a PA for for recording. Same with this, but they work great as stomp boxes into the front end of an amp as well which is how I'm using mine.

This pedal is ridiculous. Period. The three tone controls are the most effective I've ever seen in a pedal of any type, and the "voice" control is where the magic is. It's difficult to describe exactly what this control does, but it does a great job of whatever that is. Make sense? Ok, let me try again: it seems to dramatically alter the character of the tone - not an EQ, but it's like slowly going from one type of amp to another. Fully counterclockwise and a few degrees clockwise from that point, it sounds like an AC30. You can adjust the gain control to give it some dirt and it really sounds killer. As you move the voice knob further clockwise, it seems to alter the tone to make it sound less like a Vox and more like one of those $3,000 boutique amps that you see on YouTube and know you'll never touch in your life. It also seems to increase the gain as you move it clockwise so you'll need to back off on the gain knob otherwise you'll end up with a serious metal tone.... Hmmmmm.... not such a bad thing I suppose, but that's not why I bought this. Wherever you move that voice knob, the sound is dripping with tube-like tone and I honestly don't think I've ever played through a pedal that sounded this good. It's extremely versatile. Almost TOO versatile. I like too many of the sounds it produces and I'm having a difficult time deciding which one to use as my base sound.

Oh, and for the record, it takes pedals nicely just like a Vox amp. I'm using a Boss SD-1 (Monte Allum modified) into it as a lead boost, and it works quite well. By itself, the Joyo AC Tone has more overdrive than you'll ever need. Ever. It's like they started with designing a Vox simulator and couldn't control themselves. The one drawback is the switch - it works fine, but mechanically it's the loudest switch I've ever stepped on. Feels kind of rough too, but none of this adds any noise to the signal when turning it on and off so it's no big deal.

Get this pedal. I don't care if you're not sure if you need another pedal - buy it.

2:11

No power = No Sound, But It Sounds GREAT!

For the benefit of everybody who insists on arguing definitions and completely ignoring the fact that we're supposed to be talking about the Joyo JF-13, I have revised the title and content of this review.

This pedal does not work unless there is power supplied to it (power supply or battery). MANY people define this as being not true bypass. Some evidently disagree. Whatever. Get over yourselves.

Back to our actual programming.

I LOVE this pedal! It's definitely got that Vox sound, plus it's smaller and WAY cheaper than an amp!

The tone controls are very useful, particularly Mid and Voice. I reckon there's more than enough gain to satisfy most players.

I made a little video so you can hear the lack of true bypass, plus how great it sounds! At the beginning I have both the mic'd audio and the camera's audio, so you can hear me strumming but the sound dying away after I remove the power. After I reinsert the power I switch to just the mic'd audio for better quality for you guys. Later on there's a little delay, that came from a TC FlashBack.

I played my G&L tele through a VHT special 6 combo (one of the earlier ones).

The Fender modeller is also excellent, but it's not as "hey! I sound like a Fender!" as this pedal is "Hey! I sound like a Vox!".

Hope this is of some use to you guys!

9:29