A Marshall Amp In A Pedal? Harley Benton British Sound

Today we look at the #HarleyBenton #BritishSound pedal... Does it REALLY capture the #Marshall tone?
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[@JohnMcCormack]

Excellent no-nonsense review. Thanks for that. I think you have me sold on getting one of these. Cheers!

[@dimitris470]

I've had this on my shopping cart for a few weeks, trying to balance my guitar budget. I guess your video was the push I needed

[@simoncoulston7223]

Hi John, hope all is well with yourself and your family. I just wanted to say that I love your channel and find it refreshingly honest. I’ve made many purchases of HB gear from Thomann and have only had the one issue that was put right immediately and with zero fuss. I myself originally hail from a more Northern area of the country and therefore I’m not shy to say I’m a big fan of VMF as it seems you are. Just spotted the Behringer interface in the background. Another company who manufacture equipment I hold in high regard. Thanks taking the time to pass on your knowledge. Cheers, Si.

[@davidcudlip6587]

I have the Joyo AC tone and love it. Will always have a spot for it on my pedal board.

[@colinmorgan6733]

They are excellent. I have the Joyo version of the British Sound and the ACTone. I recorded a short video with one and people commented how good the tone was. You do get a bit more harmonics from a tube but that can be easily rectified by buying something like an ART Tube MP Studio v3 and adding that to the chain. Even better play that through a Two Notes Torpedo C.A.B IR loader.

[@duesenberger]

Thx for this video! Like the sound of ths pedal. Have already the ACTone pedal and will add this to my list, too.

[@gaznmaggie]

Had the joyo version for a couple of years and love it

[@gillesgenete9598]

Hi John, thanks for demo. I do have that HB British Sound pedal, and pleased with it. I used to have and sold a good Marshall Jubilee 2525, and kept that pedal. I also have the ACTone pedal but I prefer my Vox AC15HW1. I play the British Sound pedal through an Ibanez TSA15, which is an affordable very neutral tone tube amp which takes very well pedals, while the Vox AC is better without pedals. The voice knob of thzt Btitish Sound pedal is very efficientt, as you said from JTM to JCM. For that low cost everybody should have one. Very good advice. Thanks.

[@mrbelcherful]

Mine came today and I love it. Got the American tru tone too which is superb.

[@charlesharper7292]

As allways, thanks John. Allways informative and entertaining.🎸🥨🍺🎖️

[@billdup]

Everything I've bought with the Harley Benton name on it has been amazing and worth twice what I paid for it. I have to resist buying a guitar a month from them!

[@tramlad2]

I have bought two guitars and two pedals in a month, always been happy with all items bought, guitars are outrageous value for money, bought an amp pedal and a Prophet Pedal, brilliant.

[@simoncoulston7223]

Hi William, hope all is well with you. I really must agree with you here. I have bought a few guitars from HB (my female supervisor here at home will say too many) and been blown away by the VFM. Had an issue with only the one and I’m pleased to add it was sorted out immediately by Thomann and done so with zero fuss. I really have to hold myself back from making further purchases and videos such as John’s here are not helping me or my relationship one bit. Thomman aren’t too much help either. My last but one purchase was made over the Wi-Fi on the plane while travelling back from Australia. Unfortunately the instrument was delivered so quickly it arrived before I’d had the opportunity to mention my little gift to myself to the other half. A very quiet week was had at home. Cheers, Si.

[@tonakkie635]

Thanks John, definitely going to try it👍🏻

[@jeffrogers5929]

Oooh that lovely Gordon Smith again! Back in the late 80's I tried a Gordon Smith Gemini at a music shop in Birmingham (UK). It was awesome, but when I went back to buy it the blighters had sold it. Apart from a 1964 Gibson ES335 TDC that I never bought (and should have!), that is my biggest regret. Such is life.

[@fabby8000]

Hi John. Thanks again for another great, honest review. Would you ever use this with an amp (either front end or effects loop) or is it really a portable substitute?

[@arvongaunt1575]

Got one of these , it is good - the ACTone and American Sound from the same series are pretty good too - great review John , cheers!

[@Jonathan-L]

I'd love to know what's the difference between the Bri'ish Sound, the American Sound, the AC Tone, the Californication Sound pedals besides the colour & model description? I wish they'd make one pedal that cover the 4 models and just have an extra rotary switch to cover all of them.

[@paulcoleman3081]

@@Jonathan-L It would have to be the size of a Ford Cortina.

[@bb_lz9790]

@@Jonathan-L British is more crunchy, like a Marshall. American sound is smoother, less biting, like a range of Fender amps. AC Tone is, to my ears, more harsh and honking, I need to work with that one more. California is Fendery at lower voice, drive settings. Bass is really boomy and I'm finding that it works best with single coil guitars. I'm not a fan of high-gain Mesa tones so I don't run the Cali up there, but at lower gain, somewhat scooped mid settings with single coil pickups, it's pretty yummy.

[@Jonathan-L]

@@bb_lz9790 Many thanks for the detailed reply, particularly as you've been able to compare the various models against each other. Now you've tempted me to get the Californian Sound pedal. Cheers :)

[@bb_lz9790]

@@Jonathan-L The California was the real surprise for me. I bought it through Amazon which has free shipping and free returns so there was no reason not to just buy one to try out. I ended up really liking it for P90s and even Seymour Duncan Little '59s. Too bassy, in my opinion, for full-size humbuckers. I'm using these through the clean channel of a combo amp (with a pretty sterile EQ setting). I haven't tried them direct though a PA or anything like that. The British Sound is great too, a full palate of Marshall flavors, which is hard not to love (and for my use, perfect across the whole clean to crunch spectrum)!

[@JMal883]

I agree with all the other comments, simply amazing for the money. I know they come with cab sim built in but with an IR loader they really come alive, especially with the AiR from Audio Assualt. And yes I do remember PP3 John! I forgot to say the California is perfect for Bass.

[@trefwoordpunk2225]

I didn’t realise these did an amp sim aswell (I’ve been using ir aswell) but did notice it didn’t sound too bad without the IR, so I actually blend the original sound with an IR and that seems to best of both worlds for me. I have the behinger gdi21 which is also good and it’s a bit more obvious about being an amp sim but this one has taken its place now, the mid and voice controls really give this an extra edge. Shame it didn’t have presence also

[@jumpingman8160]

British Sound, AC Tone and the American Sound are awesome. The Dynamic Compressor also does the job quite alright, although it does color the sound a bit, but in a "warm" way. Both the Classic Overdrive [TS] and he Ultimate [OCD] are stellar too.

[@enricofiori7641]

Thank you very much, very interesting video and beautiful guitar solo! It would be very useful if you could make a tutorial about that solo!

[@davelanciani-dimaensionx]

I have all four of the JOYO versions (British, American, Californian, and ACTone). Great pedals. All analog circuits, based on the Tech21 Character pedals.

[@Smudger654]

Thanks John, very useful review, as ever. Will you use it instead of the Blue Cat amp sim, or what is its intended use? Any plans to review any of the other 4 pedals in the HB TrueTone series (AC, American, California or Extreme Metal)?

[@AtkinsSam]

Awesome vid, I owned three of these pedals when they were still branded as joyo and remember how great they sounded and also remember some of the images that they used to use on the pedals, I think on their compresser pedal they had an image of a scorpion on it

[@shaunw9270]

Yeah that's right ! I own the Tremolo ( yellow with dog graphic) Classic Flanger (white with Harrier jump jet !)

[@jumpingman8160]

just sold my dynamic Compressor. Cool pedal.

[@malcolmhardwick4258]

Sounds bloody marvelous !

[@malcolmwindust3888]

Hi John, like many people who have commented I have the ACTone which is great. The original designs were made by SansAmp (the ACTone was called the Liverpool for example) then JoJo copied them and now they are branded as HBs! Ridiculous prices for great sounds. Buy them all!! 😁

[@leightnite3056]

Awesome tone & playin John! I've got the Joyo American sound which is the Fender style version, just a knockout. And like 35 bucks! A really good option for y'all goin 2 the board w pedals. Changed the game for me!

[@famtoonen18]

Great video, as always. How does it sound in a pedal situation, e.g. tubescreamer before and echo and delay pedals behind it?

[@hawedehre]

I have the American and the British. I like both, the American more with single coils as expected. I put them in front of my amp for home use. I play Keyboards in a cover band. I should try playing some songs directly into the desk with reverb from the mixer. I used a Kemper in the past but it is not worth bringing it for three songs, I was always afraid to damage it.

[@barryarcher6158]

Great review John many thank's I have tha American one but wish I hoad gone for one of these.

[@lapinmaki]

Thank you for this! I think I'm gonna buy that.

[@billdup]

I've got one, I love it! Have a Fuzz Fake-Crybaby-British sound going into a 50w Marshall. With a Strat you get the perfect Hendrix setup.

[@leslawrenson9305]

You could buy two of those and run them with an A/B box, and you'd have yourself a two channel Marshall for the cost of a few sets of strings.

[@iannicholls7476]

Wow, that sounded good, John, and I’m not even much of a fan of the Marshall sound. Like you I used to have one that was “temperamental “. Luckily I lived not too far from the factory in Bletchley and when I took it in to get it fixed they’d do it for free!

[@StephenGallacher]

I had the Anniversary combo as well, I ran it with a 1x12 extension cabinet and it was great, maybe not my dream tone but it did what it said on the tin and did it well... until it didn't. I ended up getting it sorted and trading it in against a Mesa Nomad - but that's a longer story.

[@stevea9766]

Your definately right with the touch thing, you can tell there's no digital stuff going on. I've tried to emulate it's sound with my Boss gt100, no chance!

[@triplesevensix291]

Cheers big ears. Nice one John. Stay safe lad.

[@shaunw9270]

I don't use computers , so how does it sound into the front of a small valve combo ? Version 2 of the original Tech 21 pedal this is based on , had a "defeat" button to take the speaker emulation out of the equation when using in the front of an amp. I really wanted Tech 21's Leeds pedal (Hi-Watt sounds) ,but there aren't affordable copies of it .

[@edwardpalazzotto1129]

Nice playing

[@steveduggan599]

Very interesting, John. There's a range of these available. I picked up the Ammoon American Sound (Fender amps) on Amazon for same price, simply rebadged. Harley Benton also do a Vox & Mesa Boogie variant. As you say for about £35 delivered, you cant go wrong. It takes pedals in & out so I'm going to try putting my entire pedalboard through it. Also great for home recording. Check out Shane's review at Intheblues on KZbin too. Take care, mate.

[@shaunw9270]

They're all pretty good imo . Presumably all these HB & Ammoon pedals are made by Joyo anyway 👍

[@Emma-kz3zr]

Thanks for sharing!

[@ThatGuyThanus]

I have the Joyo American Sound, which I’ve had for a while.. I’ve always liked the sounds I’ve had from it.. I think it’s a good bit of kit for not much money.. Tempted to get a couple more, different models..

[@joesycamore2899]

Amazing sound

[@RandyFricke]

These budget effects manufacturers have really decoded these units. This is a $30 pedal! I bought from Thomann so shipping was another $25 but I'm not losing any sleep over it. This is an awesome pedal. Several years back I had a Marshall 1987X Plexi that I slammed a DOD 250 into the front end with so it was all juicy EL34 power tube distortion. A "one trick pony" to be sure, but to this day I compare all of these "Marshall In a Box" pedals against that tone. I would be willing to bet that a blindfolded "Pepsi Challenge" would reveal that you would not be able to tell the difference. This little jewel is that good. Solid build. True bypass. Nice, dead quiet foot switch. Very tweakable. Get one before Harley Benton realizes what they have and doubles their price!

[@HatchA_Makes...]

PP3... That's a blast from the past!

[@jaguar616]

I don't believe it John, I have a delivery from HB today including this pedal, the ultimate drive and digital delay. I already have the American Truetone which is a great pedal. I may try the HB looper next. Stay safe mate and love the vids

[@nigelpickett2471]

You're gonna love the ultimate drive, it's basically an OCD, I use it as my boost last in line.

[@si-borg_guitars]

Don't know if you have tried the MOSKY brand, mostly mini pedals the plexi m and crazy tone are ones you might want to check out and are £20-£22 on Amazon 👍

[@VincentBakker1964]

Also try the other pedals in the range! Got the Actone(Vox) and the California (Mesa Boogie) clones as well, and really like them. The whole series seem cloned from Tech21 amps in a box...

[@stevesmith3990]

I have an Ammoon American Sound, great pedal.

[@mb13972]

Sounds great and at a great price. Now all I have to do is decide which Harley Benton guitar I want to add to my collection so I can justify the shipping cost to the US.

[@Axess-sv8nq]

Hah! You use the same USB interface as I do: Behringer UMC22 U-Phoria! Excellent! For me, it does everything the Focusrite does. So, it works out.

[@davidmurphy4844]

Sounds really good. Its a clone of the Tech 21 original. The character control is a pre preamp mid control. Reminds me of my Award Session JD10 pedal that got me through a few gigs twenty years ago when my Marshall packed up.

[@JRobsonGuitar]

Ha! I used to have that JD pedal too 😄

[@paulcoleman3081]

It's a really good pedal which, alongside the American Sound pedal, enables you to reproduce most of the tones you need if you're in a covers band (for instance).

[@northernthrifter8817]

I have the American sound pedal bought it act as a pre-amp/attenuater for my Harley Benton tube 5 combo, I'm delighted with it, with a different brand name on it this pedal would probably be £150.

[@paulcoleman3081]

@@northernthrifter8817 Yeah exactly. Such a range of tones.

[@iainlove2343]

Hi John, thanks for the review. Is that brass nut on the Gordon Smith adjustable? IAIN

[@Steve-nq8jc]

Yep all GS's come with a brass nut

[@damien6685]

Now there's a gaping hole in my box of tricks that can be filled for the price of a trip to the corner shop

[@frankcarter6427]

I've got the HB HB digital delay , it's good for the stupid low price - also got the JoYo molo trem, like a tiny matchbox car with the flip top lid. costs next to nowt and nails the 60s trem sound, (complete with ace sine through sawtooth to square wave knob that is just ace) - very highly recommend if you're a cheap ass like me

[@mauriziocampese8577]

I already have one, together with aan American :) for home use unbeatable

[@paulorobertosoaresjr.6436]

The AC tone is very good too...

[@jvin248]

Of people who played the Joyo range, the American Sound (Fender style) is often ranked at the top. I can't find it at the moment, but there was a video of a guitarist playing a live concert event of thousands using the JAS direct to a PA without an amp.

[@fernandes5986]

That I would like to see. : )

[@ianburnett]

I've been thinking about this pedal for a few weeks now for the reason you mentioned at the end, if worst comes to worst and my amp breaks down at least I could still play the gig.

[@Jonathan-L]

And the chicks on the dance floor wouldn't know the difference when you switched to the pedal when your amp fails :)

[@blunzenstricker1]

the cheapest distortions/overdrives sounds better than the expensive. i use the xvive golden brownie and a outlaw overdrive, very cheap. they are great

[@davidbarlow431]

I've just shelled out for an Ac15 because I couldn't find anything that would produce a decent Vox sound for less than 3 times the price of the vox. Apparently HB do a vox version of this pedal. If anyone has one I'd love to know if they are any good?

[@sneadmc]

David Barlow joyo ACtone. Tons of videos on KZbin

[@bruceh9105]

How does this pedal compare the Marshall Gov'nor 2 ?

[@JRobsonGuitar]

Never tried one. Had the original Guvnor many years ago but I never recorded DI with that so I can't really say how they compare.

I still often refer to them as PP3s. So is it a clone of the old Marshall Guvnor pedal? The controls are very similar, with the addition of the 'voice' control for everything from Beano to Behemoth, I suppose. Shame it's pink, mind.

[@alanwilson1724]

Hi John! I had a Tech 21 British pedal. The HB/Joyo is almost identical for a fraction of the price. I moved away from the Marshall sound so I now use a Joyo American Sound or Rushing Train. The Rushing Train is a tiny version of the AC Tone and is the best Voxy pedal I've tried, I prefer it to the Wampler Thirty Something or Boss Combo Drive (and it was much cheaper).

@@alanwilson1724 The Rushing Train is the AC30-alike, isn't it?

[@alanwilson1724]

@ that's the one, it's a small version of the AC Tone.

[@camillomorlotti5388]

Cheers got one awesome for price yip nice tone .

[@edwardpalazzotto1129]

Nice box

[@robfriedrich2822]

That is interesting, that Joyo produces Harley Benton stuff....

[@robfriedrich2822]

The subtitles makes Marshall amplifier to "Martial" amplifier.

[@leonthompson8988]

They are copies of the Tech 21 pedals who also make the Sansamp.

[@randyupchurch1899]

...Sir,...I have a NU X Drive Core,into a Joyo American Sound(Fender Clone,same pedal series...),into a Line 6 M9...A "Great" travel board!!!...

[@northernthrifter8817]

I have the American sound I run the mosky silver horse (klon clone) Infront of it, gives it a bit more spank and sparkle, mosky spring reverb after the American sound and that goes into the HB tube 5 combo all played with the HB TE62 DB telecaster 62 custom, all in for £350, can't even get a squier classic vibe for that price, I've been playing nearly 20 years and we've never had it so good 😊

[@PeteAxeShields]

Reet canny pedal that John :-) £27 ?? 'tis a no brainer !

[@4stevio]

If it Quo’s I’m in ❤

[@joshuabrande2417]

I can see that being one handy piece of kit. I'm wondering how it would sound played through an acoustic amp. Roland AC-60 to be precise.

[@GlennMarshallRocks]

Demo starts at 3:47

[@keithsmith9889]

Pp3.... In the states we just call them 9 volt batteries.

[@mickdebergerac1143]

Here's an idea.. 2 of those babies with an A/B footswitch into one of these www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_custom_line_thunder_99.htm Into a L/R 2 X 12, have the left speaker for the cleaner sound and the right speaker for the crank, Bingo... What a cheap portable rig!!

[@clayton56tube]

those are Joyo pedals. I have the American.

[@Tomtoms-tomtoms]

At this point I need to block thomann from my wifi 😂😂..... ive an addiction to lying in bed ordering gear that I don’t NEED 😄

[@Jonathan-L]

To avoid all those lies in bed, just plug in your pedal and crank up your amp instead!

[@dahmed8993]

So... it sounds like your plugging into a Marshall What if you are plugging into a Marshall will the Marshall sound even better?

[@trefwoordpunk2225]

Yes!! I have a valvestate 230 which really has no sound of its own…one of these into the clean channel and it sounds amazing. I was toying with getting a jmp1 preamp but they cost about 15x this…I don’t think you’d gain much playing it into a jcm800 but if you have a solid state lacklustre Marshall amp this pedal really makes it sing!

[@OzzyMandias]

Again and again and again and again...\m/

[@mickdebergerac1143]

Buy one now and they're £22.30!! plus £8 postage. The exchange rate at the moment means, GET TO THOMANN!!!

[@MisterBrain]

Lordy, I don't know why I don't just have my wages paid straight to Thomann … My fourteen-year-old self would be dead jealous of what I have these days.

[@admiralkrankandhismightyba158]

"Status quo riffs" 😂

[@SidBonkers51]

I have this pedal and the American sound/Fender but they both have the Joyo name on them, had them about 3 years and they are both great bang for your buck, as they say. Edit: Someone told me the Joyo/Harley Benton/Ammoon British Sound is a clone of the Tech 21 Sans Amp British V2 , no idea if thats true as Ive never played with one. Edited again: here you are just found this comparison video, they sound pretty close to me especially on the higher gain settings. kzbin.info/www/bejne/bJbadmefm5Kfec0

[@gsusheist]

100

[@theonenonly51]

Harvey Benton could do worse than hiring you as a reviewer. The first I ever heard of them was from your channel.

[@bobdillon1138]

Does anyone really believe it will sound like a Marshall.

[@paulcoleman3081]

I've owned one of these and gigged with it alongside the American Sound pedal. I play in covers bands and these two pedals helped me to reproduce both Marshall and Fender amp sounds decently enough for bar-band work.

[@malcolmhardwick4258]

for 30 euro it costs more money wasting time thinking about buying it !

[@333daveh5]

That orange shirt makes you look like you just escaped from an American prison!

[@TheBod76]

How dare you using equipment that is reasonable priced? Go and buy some overpriced boutique stuff! :P