GOKKO GK-34 American Box Guitar Effects Pedal, Acoustic Guitar Pedal, Analog Mesa Boogie Amplifier Tone

Volume and Drive controls seem to be the wrong taper of pot or something way out of spec. Gain only changes in the last 1/6th of the pot. Volume range is minimal and gain seems to interact with volume to cut volume to zero despite volume being maxed out. EQ controls work fine. Tested with high output humbuckers at that. It was worth a try for $30 given a few demo videos and realistic expectations given the price point. It is moot, but the pedal build appears sturdy. I have requested a replacement out of curiosity.

Probably one of the best Gokko Audio products I bought! I love the vintage-tube-like it produces, especially when playing blues! Brilliant! You can also get a bonus of a proper distortion by combining the voice and gain dial!

The media could not be loaded. ACBox Review ///TL;DR — Solid build; super sound; “Voice” knob is the secret sauce.Let’s get right down to the heat of the meat: “Does it sound like a Vox AC**?”Um, dunno? Probably not? Does it really matter?In a way, sure, it’s a germane question, since it’s called an ACBox. But for thirty bucks, what should we expect? Where do we draw the line between “amp sim” and “overdrive/distortion” pedal? I mean, how are you planning to use this pedal? If you’re using it in front of an amp, are you really going to sound like a Vox? If you’re going right into your DAW, OK. But then we have to consider A/D converters, etc., etc. Ugh, I'm bored already.Instead, let’s talk about how it sounds. We’ve probably seen some of the same YT videos of vintage AC30s, and I can attest that the ACBox has a lot of high end and all manner of dirt. But I found that dirt “amplified” (if you’ll pardon the pun), with a whole lot more distortion than what I hear in those videos. And then there’s the Voice knob.My best guess is that Voice acts as a filter resonance control. Couple that with the very wide tone stack (and Drive knob, of course), and you start to get a wide spectrum of tones to conjure.Check out the video to hear some samples. I looped a brief phrase and played with the settings to give a sense of what’s on tap here. Ultimately, I think it’s a lot of fun — even if I probably pushed the distortion a bit too much throughout most of the video ;) (Apologies for close-ups of my chapped hand — jeez, gotta remember to moisturize when the weather turns dry.)You might notice something in the video that I did wonder about: the volume decreases noticeably when the pedal is engaged. Even with the Volume knob at max, it felt a little light. The Drive pedal makes up the difference, and I didn’t notice any “tone suck” — it was just a little quiet. Not really a black mark, though, especially if you don't plan to engage the pedal mid-song.Some final thoughts: congrats Gokko on your better-than-average packaging. It appears that the build quality is also superior, and when you spend the resources to manufacture a well-built pedal, thanks for taking precautions to make sure it arrives safely.---Vintage Box Review ///TL;DR — Crunchy goodness; responsive; secret fuzz box.From the UK, we head back to the states for a take on the Fender 57 Deluxe sound. The enclosed one-sheet mentions “smooth overdrive,” and while that’s in here too, most of the sounds I’m hearing have a bit too much attitude to be described as “smooth.”Instead, there are several flavors of dirt, honk and grit. Country, rockabilly and indie performers will find a lot of usable tones in this box. I discovered a bunch of mid-60s psych sounds, and found myself playing a few early Black Angels bits.I liked the responsiveness: plucking and intensity matter greatly with this guy. Combine that with the mysterious Voice control, and you have a very useful box for those who aren’t looking for eye-bleeding distortion.Speaking of distortion, a _really_ nice fuzz tone is hiding in here, too. Check out the attached image of the Vintage Box with the blue LED engaged. If you have a humbucker that sounds anything like mine, dial in those settings to find a soft-n-cushy fuzz that’ll instantly have you handing your significant other a tambourine and forming a Nuggets-worthy acid rock act. Dig?---Plexibox Review ///TL;DR — A wonderfully chunky bag of grit to dig through; nice tone stack.Part of Gokko’s amp sim series, the Plexibox (or Plexobox, per the included one-sheet ;) ) is meant to mimic Tech 21’s British box, itself meant to emulate early Marshall amps. So..it’s an emulation of an emulation? Hmm.I’m actually on board with that. If you’re putting this pedal in front of _any_ amp, you’re not going to end up with any particular vintage Marshall, right? So let’s let it be its own thing. And even though the one-sheet states the box contains “a huge selection of overdrive styles,” I’d argue we’re firmly in downtown Distortionburg — just the way we like it.Like the only entries in this line, the Voice knob is the secret sauce. While on the ACBox, I posited it acted like a resonance filter control, the Plexibox control seems to be something more. Think resonance plus top boost. In fact, the one-sheet actually calls the Voice knob a Contour knob if that helps.Whatever it is, coupling the Voice knob with the Drive knob provides a wide range of dirt. Then add the tone stack, and yer cookin' with gas. Marshall is synonymous with midrange power and growl, that’s definitely on tap here (again, does it “match” a Marshall? Who knows. We’re past that :) )Check out the attached video to hear some of the sounds you can get out of the Plexibox. It’s a simple loop, played on a 70’s lawsuit Les Paul into a DAW. Nothing added. (You might hear a small pop in the middle of the sequence when I crank the Drive: this is _not_ coming from the Plexibox. It’s either a fault in my playing or an artifact from the looper. In fact, the Plexibox doesn’t pop, hiss or wheeze at all. Very solid build quality.)Who will have fun with this? Like, everybody. Low Drive/high Voice settings will make country/rockabilly guys smile, high Drive/low Voice will rock the rockers, and high Voice/high Drive will have the horns flyin’ high.If you’re a distortion spelunker like me, it’s worth every penny.

I have 5 actual Mesa amps (Single Rectifier head, Dual Rectifier Solo head, Dual Rec Roadster 2x12, Nomad 55 2x12, Titan V12 bass head) so I'm at least slightly aware of the "Mesa" sound.I bought this pedal (1) Because it was inexpensive and (2) Because I wanted to build a portable "jam" board that I could just plug into a PA.Don't.No amount of tweaking, EQing, boosting, compression or chain placement got this thing sounding anything like a Mesa. Maybe an old solid state Crate or Peavey sound but it's just too harsh, brittle and...well.... cheap sounding. Even at modest volume its prone to feedback (I used a Schecter E1 w/ Fishman Fluence Moderns, Gibson Explorer with 498/496 and PRS SE with stock TCI pickups)

I love this pedal. It genuinely does sound like a fender tweed amp. I like it that much I bought the Mesa boogie one as well