Clean alternative to Joyo American?

somebody correct me if I'm wrong but fairly sure the Joyo American is a copy of this:



there is also the Throttle Box and the Dr. Boogie not to mention the Wampler Triple Wreck and the R3FX Dual Resistafier...but I have never tried any of them on bass

 

um that would be this one...



pretty sure the Us Steel with the tread plate is supposed to emulate a Rectifier type sound

if not the California is absolutely a Mesa emulator

 

I took apart my old American Sound a few years ago for an inspection and compared it to a circuit schematic to see what mods were possible. Yes, the Joyo American Sound is a clone. The last stage output buffer has a 1Khz bump of around 6db. This is what gives it that characterised mid push. None of the EQ controls are set to the same frequency, so you can't dial out this colouration on board. The bass control (from memory) is set to a quite high 120hz. This allows for a strong bass boost, but without the usual cone rattling thunder that happens with 50-100hz bass boost. I means you can boost your bass without killing your amp / speakers. this frequency can easily be changed by soldering a resistor of the correct value in parallel to an existing resistor to change it's value, thus shifting the frequency.
So after all that, here's the bad news. Most of the Joyo's circuitry is miniaturised SMD components. It's very unlikely that a domestic user can solder this finely or accurately. Unless you have a serious skills and equipment in this area...you are likely to make a big and unrecoverable mess of your pedal. Which is why my American Sound was left unmodified.

 

TC Mojomojo perhaps? It is also meant to be a 'Fender' style overdrive, clips seem to display it sounding pretty clean at minimum gain. I have one on the way to me so I'll be able to compare to my Joyo in a few days time.

 

I owned a Joyo American for a while. It has an always-on speaker sim circuit in place, and the circuit board itself was populated with SMT components. There is a mod for bypassing the speaker sim, but it involves soldering jumpers to SMT components, and won't tighten up the low end or shift the center frequency of it.

 

"I know you said you want to keep it fairly inexpensive and that that rules out DG pedals, but I think you should get the AO/U. It's the greatest!" - common TB response....

I think the mid control for the VT is 1000hz and the 500hz claim is a typo. Or is it the other way around? Now I don't remember.

 

Moen Buffalo Bass DI - very clean, semi par mid control - cheap, built well - has a headphone option...I like mine a lot

Here is a link to reverb - no affiliation with seller, and must be cheaper elsewhere Stateside...but it was the first that came up

MOEN BS-BA Buffalo BASS Guitar DI with Headphones Out + Parametric EQ NEW MODEL!! FREE SHIPPING

My Bongo 4H loves it...and very clean

 

If you like the American and sort of liked the British you might try the California. I have all 3 and use the American and California in two separate boards.

 

For my ears I think the California has a little tighter low end and overall punchier and more compressed.

 

johnk fetf2b - FETF2B

 

This chap modifies the Tech 21 originals, so I'm guessing it must be easier (or he has steady hands).

P u t n a m G u i t a r s - MODS

Edit... and this thread explains the Jimmy mod:

Tech 21 British "Jimmy" mod with audio

Maybe @JimmyM could help here?

 

I use the American and California sound constantly. I have to use them along with my SansAmp. It tightens up the bottom end significantly. I find the American warmer, but the California slightly punchier. I run the American clean to very mild grit and the California medium to heavy grit. Both are great at those settings.

The only way I found to keep up clean headroom is to keep the voice knob turned below noon. If you go noon or up, with most pickups, it's gonna get gritty.

 

If you're having output issues with the American I would think the Cali is going to be the same thing. All those pedals are exactly the same just with different flavors I imagine.