Harley Benton American TrueTone Reviews

Nice pedal

sound very good with tube amps, transistor amps and PA systems. takes time to get best sound out of it but the price is low and quality is high. Only one thing could go better was the bass side of the sound for some amps.

Great value pedal.

It can be used as an amp sim or just in your pedal chain before your your amp and it gives a great tone option, especially good for giving increased treble prescence and brightening a muddy humbucker. I have an old school bluesbreaker upstream and together they sound great. However, not true bypass and, when off, gives unwanted noise. You can leave it on all the time and quickly dial in fairly neutral settings. I also use it direct into my usb audio interface for my DAW and it works well. There are about 4 of these pedals simulating various well known amps. For the money it is unbelievable.

Strymon who?

It's sensitive in the EQ section. The power plug is a bit delicate, and at times require a bit of jiggling to make it work. The gain sounds aren't as natural as the Fender Deluxe Reverb it's moddled after.

You know what else? It's cleans are better than most solid-state guitar amps I've played under 600 euros, it takes pedals very well (even my temperamental ProCo Rat 2), and it's the easiest way to record electric guitars. Maybe if you're making a guitar-centric track that needs *that* unicorn tone, it's not gonna deliver. But if it's something simple you need, it can't be beat. The price is surreal (I honestly can't believe it's so cheap. I'd happily pay over 100 bucks for this sound), and it delivers well above it's weight class.

And if you're playing in a live band, honestly, most of the time the audience won't be able to tell if you're using this or a Dumble for clean sounds. So why not at least have it as a really amazing backup? People often go crazy on what's the better way to get magic guitar tone, but this is my go-to for straightfoward good tones.

An Excellent "Secret Weapon"!

Another classic JoYo re-brand.

I love this pedal because of the warm & "tubular" qualities it adds to just about any amp or recording gear. It's easy to dial in good juicy Fender amp type character from about any era. It also adds great flexibility to the amount of "punch" you can add to your signal.

Great asset in both live and recording situations and I highly recommend this deceptively simple tone shaping monster!

Simple and yet complex

I use this pedal in front of the amp. I don't use this pedal as a overdrive. In my case, it's used only to simulate the sound of the famous american amplifier, to obtain a kind of "warm" sound and (most importantly!) - to soften the sound from the distorting pedal.

For all its simplicity, this pedal can make you experiment with it for a long time. This is a rare occasion when you can fully use the level knob. Basically, it doesn't make sense to raise the drive button higher than noon. I didn't expect the voice button to work just like a gain. Some say the pedal also simulates the sound of a 12'' speaker. Not sure about that.

- pros

Can soften the rough sound of a distortion pedal.

Gives variety to clean sound.

- cons

It looks like the voice button just gives the gain.

Compresses the signal to some extent, softens the attack a little. But for someone it will be positive.

In my opinion, this pedal should be especially useful for those players who use inexpensive solid state amps to add variety to the sound and improve the clean sound for the better.

A bit noisy

I thought I would try this after reading so many good reviews. The sound is good and I particularly like when it is almost fully overdriven. I did record with it but it was just too noisy to use the takes, which is a pity. I know I would get away with it for live use although I haven't done so yet.

Fantastic!

Beautiful warm feel while being both easy to dial in and also having lots of room to tinker and adjust. The finish also looks much nicer in person.

Great portable amp-in-a-box

I own a large tube Fender 2x12 combo. It's a good combo. I play this pedal through a PA. For the clean tones that I use in 90% of my playing and for the volumes I perform and practice at, I prefer using the pedal. The differences may be more apparent once you turn up the overdrive on the amp and the pedal, but I don't really ever do that. However, plugging overdrive pedals into it works really well.

For home recording purposes, it would have been great if the built-in cab sim could be switched off, but apart from that, the features are exemplary. The EQ section is powerful, the voice changes the character of the tone significantly, and the drive and level knobs do what you need them to do.

This is one pedal I keep off the pedalboard. Its smaller cousin, the Clean Glass mini pedal, has a firm place there - this larger pedal is now used for just throwing it in a gig bag for jams or for when I'm not bringing a larger rig. I have not been treating it gently and it is no worse for the wear. The build quality seems as solid as any other pedal. It's a little bit ugly, but endearingly so.

It's the sort of pedal that has a lot of use cases and is handy to keep around just in case, and it does the job as good as you need it to. At this price, it's amazing.

Unbeatable for this price

Overall the pedal works as a fine equalizer coupled to a drive.

It allows a vast numer of tweek possibilities.

It is a brilliant pedal for the price.

Pros:

You can addapt your guitar sound to different genders

The drive knob is very good

Cons:

The pedal switch is very stiff and makes a very noisy click sound

Great Pedal with very realistic cabinet simulation

This is a amp in a box style pedal that can really help you out should your amp break down in the middle of a show. The cabinet simulation is very, very realistic through a good PA system and in cases where it is difficult to mic up an amp, this little box might surprise you for it's great Fender clean and Fender overdriven sounds without an amp in sight. It is very close to the real thing and can even be better than the original Fender Valve amp if the amp is not mic'ed up perfectly. It is certainly more versatile than just one Fender valve amp.

I have also tried it with my Nux Cerberus pedal (disabling the cabinet simulation on the Cerberus) with the 4 cable method using the American Sound pedal as an amp and cabinet in the effects loop of the Cerberus and it works beautifully together.

Using it as a stand alone pedal it also makes for a very versatile overdrive pedal complete with a 3 band equalizer to get you exactly the sound that you want.

I am very impressed with this pedal and would buy it again if anything were to happen to it.

The drive sound from this pedal for some light to reasonably heavy overdriven sound is great.

Very Impressive for a budget pedal

I've been building a "silent" pedalboard for home use and I run my effects into this and then into a Mooer Audiophile. It really does sound fantastic and is very flexible tonewise. No unwanted hiss and the high gain settings are impressive too. Building this set up I have tried a few higher priced alternatives, this pedal holds its own so why spend more? Like all "amps" this pedal is fussy as to what gain pedals run into it, but the Boss BD2 and Vick Audio Rams Head Muff both sound great, I have a big collection so tried a lot, be ready to replace some pedals. All the modulation effects sound great after this pedal, especially reverb, it's a pre amp so it will sit between your dirt and modulation pedals very nicely. I'm very happy with it and also looking at the AC Tone now too. At such a bargain price, buy it and enjoy it!

Simply incredible

I do not even know where to start. There is so much to say about this pedal. Forget about its low price, it tells nothing about its quality and usability.

I bought this pedal to give a final touch to my tone. I wanted to tweak and warm my tone a bit. However this pedal delivered much more than that. It definitely simulates that warm and crisp Fender sound but it does not stay there. Crank up the mids then you get a fuller, broader tone. There is endless versatility.

The voice control acts as a mid boost/scoop as well as distortion. But the distortion starts really kicking in only past 2 o'clock. This is the control that gives the most characteristics to your tone. With the combination of all the other knobs, there is almost no sound that you cannot produce.

Since it has its own cab sim, it can be dialed in directly to PA. However I prefer to used it as the last pedal in my signal chain in the effects loop. But it also works well in front of the amp. I keep the drive control pretty low as the gain on my amp is usually cranked up.

I really have nothing negative to say about this pedal. But if one could turn on/off the cab sim, that would have been awesome.

It has a metal housing, it feels strong and durable.

It quickly became my favorite pedal. If I want to vary my tone a bit, I do not bother to play around with all the other pedals on my board. My hand directly reaches to this pedal. Everything else on my setup stays constant including the settings on my amp. Every change I want to make, I do it with this pedal. It almost became a master control of my setup.

Sturdy and usable

Got this pedal as I want to use my Epi Casino more for solo stuff and plugged on the desk without having that typical electric sound going through the desk, very satisfied.

Officially, this is my favourite pedal! I said it!

I love this pedal. Honestly, it has become my most favourite pedal on my pedalboard. If i'd have to pick one for to-go, this would be it! It can give you an amazing live sound without an amp or other pedals. I use it in church for worship, and it sounds awesome! Construction is solid, knobs are tight which is GREAT when tweaking. If they were lose, it would have felt like a cheap pedal. Now about sound... I can't get enough of this. I also bought a Nux Solid Studio, and many times I feel like I want to remove Nux from the chain and just leave this pedal. Not that Nux is a bad pedal, but this one has that great sound! I use it straight into a mixer (Behringer x32 Producer) and sounds awesome. If you want to connect it to a pc, it sounds awesome if you plug it into an external soundcard like Focusrite Scarlet 2i2, but it doesn't sound great it you plug it straight into pc jack. Just... don't do that. Use a soundcard. I love this peal, and honestly, I want to buy a second one as a backup, before they're extinct! :))))

All "American" amps in a single pedal

This is one of the most universal pedals I own, need a specific f style amp? Turn the voice knob and get that sweet spot. This pedal is fully analog and can run of a 9v battery. I use is primarily for Dire Straits stuff, the clean tones are impressive regardless of the price! A metal chassis, full analog, decent and cheap pedal for a bargain.

It has a "clicky" switch for anyone who's wondering. I would definitely recommend this pedal.

Could be the amp sim pedal of the century

Lets start off with its price, You cannot beat this price, I have used this pedal direct for 5 years now. It is still working like fine wine.

Blindly compare this pedal with a 1k real fender amp and this , and you will not feel the 1000euro difference in price.

Its magic how they fitted a fender sounding circuit in this pedal.

Steal for the money

For it's price, it's definitely a steal. It mimics the Fender Deluxe / Tweed sounds very well. What really amazed me is the gain characteristics. It has the lucious vibe of an overdriven power amp tone. When blended with a Tubescreamer, it is really sweet. This pedal is actually designed as a preamp pedal which should be connected directly to a PA or power amp, but it is also in front of an amp, when you tweak with the dials. I can have -sort of- blackface sounds from my Tweed Blues Junior (only lacking a little bit of low end) and it saved me from buying a blackface, which i was craving for. For such a price, it is a definite purchase advise. Tip: with a plug converter, you can connect it directly to a AUX-in or headphones (mono). With a good speaker, you might not even need an amp!

Awesome for this price.

I like this small metal box. Very good build quality - for €25 I get a metal box instead of cheap plastic like behringer etc. Good authentic tone. Suitable for blues-like crunch as well as heavy metal overdrive. I use it as a heater to my Bugera G5 infinium head and it sounds great espesially on clean channel. Strongly recommended!

Harley Benton American TrueTone

One of my best effects for the lowest price. Sounds good both with Stratocaster (3 x single coil) and Gibson LP (2 x hambucker). Also great as an afterburner for an existing overdrive. You can buy blindly

Tweed in a box - and more

I already have the Actone version which I was so impressed with that I thought I would try this. I’m so glad I did: it’s a fantastic bit of kit. I really can’t say anything that hasn’t already been said about this pedal, it is every bit as good as they say. Fantastic clean sound, raunchy overdriven and plenty in between. Might have to get the British sound - for the price and, the quality that these are why the hell not!