BOSS is pleased to offer another "Authentic BOSS" Compact Pedal; the AC-3. How many times have you been onstage or in the studio with your electric guitar, and wished that you'd brought an acoustic along? For musicians who travel light, hauling an extra guitar isn't practical. The AC-3 gives electric guitarists an acoustic effect with a tap of the pedal.
BOSS's COSM Acoustic-Modeling technology is beautifully showcased in this small but powerful pedal, which simulates an acoustic guitar much more precisely and realistically than previous technology has allowed. Derived from BOSS top-of-the-line AD-8, the AC-3 pedal simulates the sound of an acoustic guitar with incredible precision.
Four simulation modes are provided: Standard, Jumbo, Enhanced, and Piezo-equipped; the latter supplies that famous "cut through the mix" direct piezo sound. Previous compact acoustic-guitar modeling-pedals were promising, but now the bar has been raised with Boss AC-3.
True acoustic sound in a pedal from the masters at Boss! You'll be glad you put it in the cart!
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If must have an acoustic sound from an electric guitar, and your in a band on stage where the hiss isn't as noticable, I guess it would work ok. I returned mine.
Features are OK, but it has a very "Processed" Sound. Lots of "Hiss" in the background
No pedal is made better than a Boss.
If it didn't have so much background hiss, I would have rated it a 10
Boss AC-3 Acoustic Simulator
.Really, I'll say it again. Look at the other ratings, and please look for this issue online. I
I'm very disappointed in this unit. I just sent it back for a full refund today. There is an incredibly loud "hiss" that is always present. You can reduce the "hiss" if you turn the volume on your guitar down to about 5, and dial back the "TOP" knob on the AC-3 to almost zero. However, when you do this, you loose any resemblence of a true acoustic guitar sound.
I have a Standard American Strat, a Delux American Strat, and a Delux American Tele. They all had the same result. I only play through monster cables (no shortage of quality there), and through the required Boss 9v adaptor. I tried all my guitars, different cables, and differnt adaptors. Same result.
Do you homework on this before buying it. You'll see comments like mine all over the internet.
Honestly, I wouldn't use this in a live, studio, or practice scenario even if it were give to me for free.
Boss AC-3 Acoustic Simulator
.I play in multiple cover bands. I'm the only guitarist in most of them. In those situations, this pedal works great. Make no mistake, we're not talking about replacing anyone's precious acoustic. But for that quick change from acoustic to lead tones (e.g. Marshall Tucker's "Can't You See") it's great, and I get lots of compliments.
The key is you must use both outputs and the Line Out must go to a PA channel, powered monitor or acoustic amp. It's the only way the COSM emulator will sound anywhere near an acoustic. If you can't do this, don't bother, it will sound horrible through a guitar amp. Simple as that. But what's cool is when you use both outputs, it acts like an "AB box" in that your signal will go to the PA/monitor when engaged, and to your amp when disengaged. This allows you to pre-set your amp to a solo channel right after accompanying a verse on "acoustic" (think "Can't You See" again - I also do this for "Wonderwall").
I've had this pedal over 2 years now and I gig regularly. It's stood up to constant stomping (like a Boss does) and its tone is convincing enough for audiences, and does have an "acoustic feel" when you strum. Other guitar players that have heard me play have bought one after hearing it. Like I said - both outputs with Line Out to PA… or don't bother.
I did have trouble on some house PA systems with the pedal sending a noisy and/or ground loop signal to the house. I bought Radial's JDI passive DI box to correct this and it worked beautifully. So now, I'm sure to send a clean, balanced signal and doing that made the pedal sound even better (more definition).
Hope this review helps…. and no, I don't work for Boss although it would be cool if they comp'd me a pedal for this review!! : )
Peace.
Boss AC-3 Acoustic Simulator
.I bought this to stop switching guitars mid set. It has helped me a lot! I find it works best with single coil guitars or humbuckers w/ coil splitting to get more of a "authentic" acoustic sound. The direct output works great with the PA system or with a acoustic amp. If you are using the PA you better have good monitors. I recommend using a separate amp. Overall it sound ok but the Piezo mode is no to impressive. For me the best modes are the standard and jumbo settings.
I also recommend putting it first or second in the signal chain so that once activated it mutes everything else in the chain and you just get clean acoustic sound. This helps a lot when going from clean acoustic to lead guitar since you can have both pedals on simultaneously. All you have to do is disengage the AC-3 and you have your drive already present no need to stomp around.
I use this a lot and I recommend it if you don't want to bring so much gear to gigs.
Boss AC-3 Acoustic Simulator
.This would be a 10 if I didn't have to experiment to find the sound. You need a boost pedal or similiar to bring it forward in the mix. I used a Boss GE-7 eq pedal to boost and tweak the eq. This makes it work with any guitar. I know more people know this as you can look at the prices on Ebay that these pedals are being scarfed up. I used my USA Strat w/lace sensors, a 72 Thinline tele RI with humbucking pup's, and my Gibson Humminbird. Into a Deluxe Reverb RI, and a Behringer 450 acoustic amp. I made all the electrics sound good and then used this pedal to enhance my Hummingbird. Lastly, I use my Feluxe Deluxe Teleacoustic guitar into the Deluxe Reverb with this pedal and eq and nailed the acoustic guitar sound. Don't give up. Try this.
Boss AC-3 Acoustic Simulator
.This is a great pedal but please, please don't use your guitar amp to run an acoustic simulator. Would you run your acoustic through a standard guitar amp? I run this through a couple of effect pedals with a tube pre-amp (Must have an XLR out) and then straight to the PA. The tube pre-amp really thickens the tone. Your able to reduce the level on the simulator, thereby reducing the noise and with the tube pre-amp bring back the volume and thickness. You can get amazingly close to the sound of real acoustic using this set up.
Boss AC-3 Acoustic Simulator
.I was unlucky enough to have a factory defect that stopped working after a few months but I'm going in to get it replaced today. However I have some things to say about the pedal from when it did work. I have an HH Ibanez AX S42 (Two Humbuckers) and I just placed the pedal directly after the wah in my chain, so that I could easily switch between clean, distorted, and acoustic. Initially I didn't notice much of a difference, but when I plugged it into a PA System it really did sound almost perfect! The AC-3 is as close as you can get to an acoustic sound as you can get with a standard solid electric guitar. So when I play a gig I just put it in my chain and use the line out function to bypass my halfstack directly into the house speaker system and it sounds great. However, it sounds muuuuch better out of a single coiled guitar, like my friend's strat. It's BOSS, so its indestructibly built like a tank, it sounds great, its very simple (C'Mon, 5 knobs) One selects the body type, one (Top) let's you dial in the high end presence, another (Body) dials in the bottom end of the sound that would exit the sound hole of an acoustic guitar, and the last is a stacked knob that controls the effect level, skirted by a reverb knob. Overall its a great purchase. 4.5
Boss AC-3 Acoustic Simulator
.So you have a really good acoustic guitar (or several acoustics if you are a gear junkie) and you are a musician who gigs regularly, why would you want to expose your good acoustic to the random elements of gigging? If you are a touring musician with your own crew, bring whatever you want, but if you are playing club dates, this pedal is a really good option instead of trashing your acoustic guitars. Bad enough your good electrics take a beating, but hey, a solid slab guitar is just more durable. Plus, if you are carrying a ton of gear, why carry another guitar?? The Boss AC3 is no replacement for a real acoustic, but a practical pedal for those who want or need an acoustic sound that is better than decent quality. What I like about the pedal is that it has a wide range of acoustic guitar types and tones and I can quick change sounds live. I also like that I can use my other pedal effects with my AC3 and get unique sounds that I couldn't get with my acoustic guitar with an electric (Piezo) pick-up as acoustic pick-ups aren't set to push the same type of sounds as electric pickups. The downside of using an AC3 is if you finger pick and like the feel of finger picking an acoustic, you lose that on your electric, but if you don't care or don't play a style that requires extensive finger picking then this pedal is a good option. The pedal is typical solid Boss quality and the price isn't a killer for a new pedal and I've seen these pedals used on a pretty regular basis. Everyone once in awhile I take an acoustic out, but I find more often than not I just use my AC3.
Boss AC-3 Acoustic Simulator
.I wanted to love this pedal, but the noise was just unacceptable. The hiss swelled every time I picked or strummed. It might work if the guitar is buried in the mix of a four- or five-piece band, but the other musicians better be playing noisy tube amps. I brought it back for a refund. Twice.
Boss AC-3 Acoustic Simulator
.I received this pedal as a birthday present a few months ago and I must say I love this pedal. I play this pedal with my Sammy Hagar Yamaha guitar and my Fender 100 watt amp. I know you get a lot of complaints from people not able to get a realistic acoustic sound from this little guy, but let me assure you that you can. I throw my guitar onto the neck pick-up and as for the actual pedal I play on standard mode with the reverb at about 1 o'clock, the body at 11 o'clock and the top at 12 o'clock. The trick to this pedal is that you have to give it enough volume. If you don't you can't actually hear what the pedal is doing, so it sounds bad.As far as adding versatility to my rig is concerned, this pedal is unbeatable. I play mostly Christian music, which is almost always acoustic guitar driven, but also has an electric solo pretty often. This pedal has allowed me a new range of songs in my set list now that I can lead off with acoustic, but switch to electric when it's time to rip up a solo. For examples of the kinds of songs I can now play as the only guitar player listen to Hillsong United's stuff. Great versatility. Get this pedal. It's way worth it.
Boss AC-3 Acoustic Simulator
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