Boss AC-2 Acoustic Simulator

Tkes a little bit of tweaking to get a good sound out of it. I use mine with a Ibanez SZ320. The humbuckers sound good with this pedal and the set neck adds good resonance to the simulated acoustic guitar sound.

There are no patches. just turn the knobs until you like what you hear.

No manual with mine. I bought it used. No giggy. Pretty straight forward to use

Sounds good using a hi-Z input on a powered mixer. Also works well in the effects loop of my guitar amp. I haven't tried it with a DI into our Allen and Heath board but I am sure it would sound pretty good. The channel strip preamps in Allen and Heath mixers are very nice sounding.

This is a really good alternative to lugging around an acoustic guitar to shows. I've used mine in a few unplugged shows and it did the job just fine.

It's a Boss. Enough said.

N/A

I own several Boss pedals. I have been playing guitar for over 20 years and I keep going back to Boss pedals every time I rebuild my pedal board. The are predictable and sound pretty darn good. Roland is a reputable company in the music world and they've done a great job with the Boss line of pedals over the years.

I would definitely buy another if lost or stolen. I wouldn't get mad or kill anyone over it since Boss made thousands and thousands of these. Not a big deal to replace.

the knobs are simple... but gettin THE tone can be hard... and the changes in the knobs are that bog in your sound...

ive used it in different ways...
-into a PA
the best sound you can get... if you get a good eq in the mixer... its more than awesome to take it to a gig and not carrying your acoustics
-into a regular amp
ive got the worst sounds you can imagine... and the most awesome ones... i own an ibanez tb100... and you can get really clean tones with just the amp... but this pedal can give that little extra
-into the fx loop of my digitech 21 gsp legend (google it) its an old (1992 i guess).. i made a patch just for it... a good graphic eq... some little compression... very little reverb and there you go.. awesome
- into my amp before any other pedals
and here ive use it with the "a/b integreated system" thats my name for it... but i really think it does change your tone... and this way... guitar - ns2 - (loop - wah - ac2 - ds1 - zoom hl01 - cs3) - dd5 - amp... depending ont he settings it could sound awesome.. but with the sustainer thing it sounded way too muddy and i also used it as a thing to change my distortion.. and i got a rare sound cool for slow solos... but nothing too great...

i'm always changing the settings on the pedal... and i really dont use it that much... but you can get great tones.. but it does take time... and it wont work for all i guess... that why an 8... it works for me... but imo lots of you guys wont like it.. especially traditional electric guitarrists.. but give it a try!!

hey.. its a BOSS!!
but theres no real need for it.. so 9

a 7 because its good.. real good for me.. but not the best investment ive done in my life..
get first a bbe sonic stomp or a ns2... or why not... an acoustic guitar haha

It's pretty easy to dial in the correct settings if you have the manual or get it off the internet. I have some problems because I like to use m y neck pickup mostly which is a humbucker (1972 tele custom original) but the AC-2 works much better with my bridge single coil. If I want to switch between sounds in one song I need to make sure to flip my pickup switch too, unless that is. . . I'll get to that next.

Here's my setup:

72 Tele Custom -> tuner ->Volume pedal -> AC-2 -> BBE Sonic Stomp


I split my signal at the AC-2 and only ever send it directly into a sound board. I would put it into my amp but I don't have to regular inputs on my Bassman head.

When I first got the pedal I considered it okay, I paid about 30 dollars for it used. It was okay but not something I would make a habit of using. Then I tried throwing in a Sonic Stomp after it going into a sound board. It was incredible! No longer did it matter what pickup I used, the AC-2 was almost indistinguishable from a run of the mill acoustic going into a system. I didn't really use the Sonic Stomp anyways (got it for 10 bucks broken and fixed it) so no loss on the rest of my chain.

I love sending this to a separate output because a soundboard is much better for adjusting the acoustic sounds than my Bassman.

its boss

never dealt with them. Its pretty beat up so I don't know if they'd take it or not

I give it a six because I have to rate the pedal on its own. With the BBE sonic stomp after it I'd give it straight tens, but that isn't fair.

If you get this put some sort of tone shaping pedal after it. Otherwise it'll end up in the closet. I imagine even a cheap eq would do the trick.

pretty easy to use. i didn't have a manual but i've never really needed a manual for boss's compact pedal line. there are 4 knobs and all the controls are right there for you to tweak - no hidden programing or anything like that.

i guess this is the part of the review people's eyes go to first. i have to say that i'm very satisfied with the sounds coming out of this pedal. i wasn't really expecting too much at first because of the mixed reviews here. some people hate it - but i really like it.

let me first say that i think the sound you get out of this pedal has a lot to do with your set up.

i'm using a reverend flatroc...going through about a dozen pedals and into a peavey classic 30. the AC-2 is connected through an A/B/Y switch from my guitar and straight into an SWR strawberry blonde (excellent acoustic amp!). the sound i got out of this set up was a very convincing acoustic sound. as i was rehearsing with it today (first time w/AC-2) i kept thinking to myself "wow, this pedal is actually doing a pretty good job at sounding like an acoustic!" my bandmates thought so too, and we've all got pretty critical ears. i have the level turned up pretty much all the way. the "body" knob turned down almost all the way. the "top" knob is set at a little past the 1/2 way mark. and i have the mode knob set to "enhanced." this seems to work pretty well for me. there's still more experimentation to do, as i have one more other guitar to test it out with. it's a les paul and i've heard that this pedal doesn't really mix too well with the humbuckers that are on it. but i'm hopeful, so i guess i'll see very soon how it all works out.

i wasn't sure what to expect...but i guess what i was going for was something that would give me the flexibility of switching from an acoustic to an electric in live situations. this pedal could never totally replace my acoustic - it doesn't sound THAT good. but for what it claims to do, it does well, and the sound is very usable. so this pedal was a pleasant surprise and i'm satisfied.

great. what you'd expect from boss.

a little story. i had a candle lit and placed up on a shelf in my room. it started to melt and created a pretty steady stream of wax, dripping off my shelf. luck would have it that my AC-2 was DIRECTLY under that steady stream of wax. so i came back into my room a little while later and saw it. at first i was like "WTF?!" but the next second, i wasn't really worried at all that it wouldn't work...i was just sorta annoyed that i was going to have to clean off the huge cake of wax that was clumped up on top of my pedal.

have never dealt with them.

i like it a lot. i don't wanna type anymore.

Simple. Tweak knobs to suit your prefered sound. YOu can download the manual at Roland/Boss's website if you really need it.

I bought this pedal ahead of time knowing full well that it wouldn't make my Hamer Studio sound like a pre-war Martin. I was interested in the AC-2 becouse I didn't want to lug a seperate acoustic to a gig. It passes for an acoustic sound when you're playing at a club. It sounds alright through my Marshall VS-65R combo, but sound quality improves dramatically when you send it out through the p.a. (or my bass amp, which I used.)

As long as your battery is good, you are good to go.

Never had to deal with Boss. Bought it off ebay for about $40.

It does the job I bought it for. It's not perfect by any means, but it's more compact than my Takamine, it was cheaper than adding a piezo pickup to my Hamer (and I don't like putting 9v's in my guitar anyway.)

No problem to figure out how to operate it...

I use it with my 1W practice tube-amp, a Strat copy with EMGs: SA, SA, 81, and before BOSS CE-3 chorus. You know... active pickups give quite high output so while picking harder it may distort and then sounds badly... But if you can use your pick or fingers with feel or turn your volume a little down it is going to produce beautiful sounds. However, there is one problem... I mean noise... (Some people may say it is guitar's or amp's fault, but the noise disapears when I turn AC-2 off.) What is more, make no mistake - you are not going to sound as if you were playing acoustic guitar with AC-2. I knew it before I bought it. It is just a tool for making your sound more interesting and if you have a good noise gate it really does.

I think it is a solid device like other BOSS pedals ...but nothing is perfect so I give 9.

N/A

It is an interesting device and it can improve your sound but is not going to change your electric guitar into acoustic. Moreover I strongly recommend to use it with a good noise gate....

This is quite easy to use: a volume, two tone (body and top) controls and a mode switch which has subtle but useful differences.

I agree with a lot that's been written here: the mode controls are less critical than the kinds of pickups used. Humbuckers sound a little too muddy thru the AC-2 but P90s and Fender single coils, though sounding quite different from one another, can get good tones out of this pedal. The best tone, however is more of a archtop sound than a flat-top acoustic sound. I can get a real jazz-box sound out of a Tele: so that's pretty amazing in and of itself. The switch function can route the "acoustic" sound to a different amp or channel (say, a clean channel) of your amp if you want to route your "electric" sound to the lead or distortion channel. Kind of neat, I think. Am really enjoying this pedal.

Build quality good: typical Boss

Never dealt with them.

I play a lot of different kinds of music and find this a very useful tool. Would buy another one, sure...

Very easy to use

Sound is O.K. it does make my custom strat copy sound a bit like an acoustic but use an acoustic guitar instead if you can.

Yes Very Reliable. I play without a backup all the time

dunno - never needed it

Overall it is alright but it IS EXCELLENT FOR MAKING A LOWER QUALITY ACOUSTIC SOUND LIKE A HIGHER QUALITY ACOUSTIC!!!

I found the levels a bit touchy and the settings to be very much similar in nature.

It's like micro-managing your sound. Funny enough I use this pedal to take an already nice sounding acoustic/electric guitar and make it sound more live for recording.

As with all Boss pedals they are built like a tank.

Never dealt with them

Decent pedal if you would like to play around with a more acoustic sound...try hooking it up to an actual acoustic, you'll be surprised at what kind of sounds you can make it produce.

This pedal is like every other pedal. Stomp on it and adjust the settings to your liking. It's not rocket science!

I'm playing on an Epiphone Les Paul Custom with Gibson '57 pickups through a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe. Pedal chain is as follows: LP->Crybaby w/ feasel->AC-2->DOD Chorus->DOD Phaser->Digitech Synth Wha->Digitech Grunge->Dyna Comp.
This pedal does have a hiss when on and not touching the strings, but the volume level is light. If you're a tone freak, you may not like it, but if your playing, you will not hear it. Some of the settings are not as different from the next(I.E. Jumbo to Standard), but there are little differences.
Keep in mind this pedal will not make your electric guitar sound like a Taylor, Martin or Gibson acoustic, but it will give your tone that acoustic quality. I give it an 8 because there's really not that much difference in tone for the different settings.

Built like a tank

Haven't had to deal with them, but from what I've heard, it shouldn't be a big deal.

I've been a guitar player for 20 years. I play everything from Blues, Rock, Funk to Acoustic Folk. I like that I can get an acoustic sound from my electric without having to pack my acoustic guitar and amp around along with all my electric setup. I have a couple Alverez Yari acoustic guitars, one 6 string and one 12 string. This pedal helps simplify my setup. I like the acoustic tone this pedal gives my tone. Whereas it's not a dead-on acoustic Taylor, it does give you an acoustic quality to your tone. There is a volume difference when this pedal is on, but the level knob setting takes care of that problem. For the price, I think this is one of my better pedals. If I were to lose this pedal, or it got stolen, I would replace it in a heartbeat.

Very easy to use. No problems here, just see what happens and a few good things start falling out of it

I use an Sheraton with SD signature pickups or a custom start bodied piece with alnico iis in it. They go through a VOX AC30, with BOSS compressor, Enhancer and chorus on a Boss pedal board. Sounds are there to be found on this pedal but you need to be gentle with the settings, keep the top down sometimes to get rid of the noise, but you can compensate with the compressor and amp settings. When I had a less than perfect cable in first off I was going to bin this pedal, clean up your sound first
Not going to sound like an acoustic, not mine anyhow, but it is a good sound

I assume it will survive like the other BOSS pedals I have (outlive me that's for sure!)

N/A

Good pedal but subtle, I like general sound of guitars and it is the tiny changes that do it for me.

It is very easy to use and can get a variety of acoustic sounds

I found that that the acousric sound quality to vary greatly by gear and set up - from reall bad to incredibly good. Try this - use an A/B box with twa amps. Put the acoustic simulator on one side clean or with chorus. Use your regular set up with overdrive/ distortion on the other side. You can go back and forth in the same song or use both at the same time. A huge and authentic sound.

I have many boss pedal and never had a problem.

never needed support.

I don't know of another product like this but ot probably exists. I don't think it would be esay to use in line with other pedals unless you were going from acoustic to clean electric. Don't use humbickers and try the A/B two amp route.

4 knobs: Volume, Body, Top, Mode (standard, jumbo, enhance, piezo)
You can get some nice tones out of it, but you got to take some time to find a real nice tone. The knobs are pretty much self-explanating.

my setup: SG-Copy or Fender Strat -> CryBaby -> AC-2 -> SD-1 -> DOD Volume Pedal -> Marshall TSL 100 (Loop: CE-2 -> PS-3)
Positive: you can get some nice sounds out of it, depending on the pickups. If you use single-coils it's sounds really nice, humbuckers don't really make it in my opinion. It doesn't sound like a real acustic and never will! Remember it's a simulation, BUT it can come close and it can give you a lot of tonal variety!
Negative: this pedal is just too silent! I cranked the volume all the way up and I still have to turn the volume on my amp at at least another quarter up in order to have the same volume as I have when the pedal is off!!!
As I have read in other reviews, people are complaining about noise! Can't say that, ALTHOUGH I cranked it all the way up! (You guys must have shitty equipment!)
Would give it a 9, but the silence of this pedal is a big concern in my eys so I have to give it a 6, unfortunately! This pedal is really great and I love it, but this error makes me hate it. I always have to go to my amp and turn it up when I use the pedal!

Haven't had it for long! Have many other Boss pedals though and as you should all know, you'll never have much problems with Boss pedals. At least I had never problems with it, just minor things like losing a plastic knob and then Boss will replace it for a small change!

As I said before never had problems. Just lost a plastic knob of my PS-3. I wrote an email and they answered within a couple of days how much the cost of the knob would be. Very fast and easy!

I play in a cover band with music from german folk songs, oldies, rock classics to new stuff. You can guess I need a great tonal variety. We play like 20-30 gigs a year. Bought this pedal so I wouldn't need to bring an acustic and another amp with me for just a couple of songs! Used it this weekend for the first time live and was quite satisfied with it. As I said before the only negative thing about it is it's volume! It's just darn to silent!!!
Might buy it again if it were stolen.
Favorite feature is the piezo mode. Have never tried a similar product of another company but as much as I have heard it's supposed to better anyways than the others.
If anybody can tell me how to solve the volume problem please tell me! This would make me give the pedal a 10!!!

Well at first when I tried it, I didn't like it because I just wasn't impressed using this with normal guitar speakers. You have to spend sometime tweaking it. It sounds the best going to fullrange speakers but, I know how to make it sound like it is full range using my gear with 4 x 12 cabs.

I use rack gear ADA MP-1 Tubeworks Realtube II and Rocktron Replifex, Intellifex and a Boss SE-50. My secret is how I use the parametric eq and the full range simulation in the Replifex and my Mulitvalve in my other RIG. I have two clone set ups. My Rig is very clean. The ADA has a great solid state clean channel that has compression. It gets complex but the sound is excellent. I don't like this pedal with just plugging into a clean channel on an amp, because it greatly depends on how clean your amp gets. It gets a little noisey if you aren't careful. I notice the sound qualtiy varies alot from guitar to guitar. My seven strings sound the best with it so far. I have never tried to play my acoustic seven string through it.

I can't really say I have any worries about this pedal. I don't have a back up. This is a backup for my acoustic seven string. I don't have to bring it unless, I really want to.

Never had any issues. Once Roland/ Boss helped me locate a PN-2 after learning they were dropping it from their line. That was before the internet was common and EBAY was ingraved in our hearts.

I love this thing. I'm glad I ended up rediscovering it. I would hunt down the thief and beat them up with the BOSS pedal!
I hear Behringer makes a clone of this and I heard a little about the yamaha has a acoustic magic stomp now for acoustic. BOSS was first! NA NA NA NA NA NA! maybe they will have a talent simulator for pop stars. Called the BS-2

VERY EASY TO USE JUST NEED 30 MINUTES TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO GET THE TONE(S) YOU LIKE.

I AM USING A FENDER STRATOCASTER DELUXE ALL SINGLE COILS. I RUN THE AC2 THROUGH MY GT6 (NO PRE-AMP/EQ ADJUSTED/PATCH AT 100 AND OUTPUT AT 11:00. THE SELECTOR ON THE STRAT IS SET TO THE BRIDGE PICK-UP. AC VOLUME IS AT 4:00, BODY 12:00, Top @ 12:00, ENHANCE IS SET TO STANDARD. I RUN THIS SET-UP THROUGH A P.A. AND IT SOUNDS VERY GOOD FOR A ACOUSTIC SIMULATOR. MY PARKER WITH THE PIEZO IN IT WITH THE SAME AC2 & GT6 SETTNGS SOUNDS EVEN BETTER THAN THE STRAT ACOUSTICALLY. YOU WOULD SWEAR I WAS PLAYING A REAL ELECTRIC ACOUSTIC. THOSE OF YOU WHO SAY THE AC2 IS NOT A GOOD SIMULATOR NEED TO REVISE YOUR SET-UP THROUGH P.A. SYSTEM. YOU NEED THE HORN OR TWEETER TO GET THE REAL ACOUSTIC TONE. MOST PROFESSIONALS USE A ACOUSTIC GUITAR THROUGH A P.A. SYSTEM.

BOSS WHAT MORE CAN YOU SAY!

I HAVE USED BOSS FOR YEARS, GREAT SOUND AND VERY DEPENDABLE. NO SERVICE REQUIRED TO DATE.

I PLAY WEDDINGS AND THIS GIVES ME THE VERSATILITY FOR ACOUSTIC SONGS THAT I NEED. I WOULD DEFINITELY BUY ONE AGAIN IF LOST. GREAT VALUE FOR THE MONEY.

It has 4 settings on it and it's kind of hard to decide which one to use, since they all sound pretty much the same but slightly different. After that though the controls are pretty easy to figure out.

I play this through my home stereo which is pretty much the equivalent of a keyboard amp, and the acoustic sound is very believable. I record onto my computer and when I do acoustic I often like to use this pedal instead of my actual acoustic. It doesnt sound as good through the clean channel of an electric amp. It would sound great if you put it through an acoustic amp. A really nice feature is the E.G. out. You can connect it to an electric amp and connect the actual output to an acoustic amp and when you hit the pedal, it will only play through the acoustic amp for that nice, undistorted sound. (Basiclly, the E.G. out stops sending a signal once the pedal is activated)

Virtually unbreakable, decent battery life.

All boss products come with a 5 year factory warranty. I've never seen one break down after 5 years though.

If I lost this I would replace it right away. Its a valuble peice of my armada of effect pedals.

This Pedal is incrediable easy to use. You won't need the manual for this effect.

I am using a Mesa Boogie Caliber 50 head and Mesa Boogie 4x12 speaker cab loaded with Black Shadows. The guitar I was using is a 2004 Gibson SG Standard. The acoustic guitar sounds I am getting from this pedal are incredible. I have owned some really nice Acoustic guitars in the past my most recent was a Martin 000r, and I have to say I can get a pretty close acoustic sound from my SG using the AC-2

It ia a boss pedal, and they are very dependable

Never had to use them..

I play Alternative Rock. This pedal absolutely suits my style. I have been playing for 22yrs. If this pedal were stolen I would buy another one.

Ease of use. I agree with most posters, including simon. Frankly there is very little difference in the Standard, Jumbo settings. The enhance and piezo sounds are a bit different but not to my liking.

Manual is okay.

Out of the box I was not real impressed. Made my dual humbucker guitar sound like an ES-335. Not a bad thing, but not what I was looking for.

I found that the pedal sound quality greatly depends on the guitar you are using. I have discovered that it sounds best with my Tele in the bridge position.

I disagree with posters regarding DI usage. I ran it directly into my Behringer and Mackie boards and it sounds just fine.

Now for the best part. If you have an enhancer it will make all the difference in the world. I run the AC-2 through the mixer and setup the aux send/return to the Behringer DSP with the Enhancer effect. Dial in the EQ and you have a light string acoustic, nashville sound, or twelve string. Still have not acheived the Martin Jumbo sound, but it certainly makes the pedal worth having.

I get best results with the Jumbo setting, level set to "5", body set to "8".

I disagree with the posters regarding noise. Unless you crank the level past "6" there is no noise, no hiss.

It will last forever. I have a zillion year old Boss chorus, same design, same lifetime reliability.

Have not tried them

The first 30 minutes with the pedal I was looking for the box, instructions, etc. to pack it up and return it. Like Simon says, it made chords sound a little better, but was no where near an acoustic guitar sound.

I ran it through a PA, Crate combo, and was not very satisfied.

Then I tried it DI into the mixer and with a little help from the Behringer Enhancer effect, got some really great acoustic sounds, though on the trebly light string side.

I also found that strumming chords with a large light pic makes a difference.

This sound affected my clean sound in a good way immediately, it doesn't make my set up sound like an acoustic guitar, but it changes the characteristics of the sound in that kind of direction, it wasn't hard to quickly set it up exactly how I wanted.

I play a fender jag-stang through a carlsbro cobra, the noise of the amp on clean channel is not particularly bad, just a little plain. The pedal makes the notes sparkle a bit more, with enhancement of the noise of the strings being plucked / strummed. The four preset guitar sounds are all suspiciously similar, i use jumbo, mostly because i like the idea of a big bodied acoustic, not because I notice it sounding any better than the others. It certainly doesn't suddenly make me sound like Neil Young or someone, but I don't think that can realistically be expected.
I have tried running this pedal with distortion too, (sometimes accidentally), the results depend on the distortion but you can get some weird noises that way.
One other good thing is that if necessary it could easily be used just to quieten the guitar.

I have used it in live situations for over 6 months now, im not sure anyone will ever say "your lean guitar sound is amazing" but little things like this can add up to a band sounding good overall. I don't have a backup, if it broke i woul just use the unadulterated clean channel.

For the quiet bits in my alt rock band (c.f, smashing pumkins, the smiths, pavement) this pedal fits in nicely, it makes strumming chords sound a little prettier but would be no great loss if i didn't have one.

Learning or figuring out how to use a pedal (stomp box) is pointless to comment on. Just play with the thing untill you find a decent setting.

Technically speaking, it doesn't produce a quality acoustic sound.
However, you can play the knobs and come up with an average acoustic sound. You may even have to change the settings on your amp to get a desired sound.

All Boss pedals are built like a tank, so yes, you can depend on it.

Again, Boss pedals are built like a tank and because of this, I've never had to contact customer support. There are exceptions (Ibanez tube screamer and etc.), but I mainly use Boss pedals and never have had any problems.

This pedal produced effect is average at best.
Still with some tweaking you can get an acceptable sound from it.
For my setup, the pedal will get used. For one, I don't like lugging around any more gear/equipment than necessary. The pedal does help me in that area, the acoustic guitar can stay home now. With that in mind, to you acoustic players that already have a decent to a very nice acoustic guitar, stick with that you will be better off.

It's pretty easy to use if you read the manual. Otherwise, what the heck to top and body mean?

As has been pointed out many times below, the quality of this thing depends on your setup. I use a Gibson Les Paul through a Boss noise gate through a Boss compressor to the Accoustic simulator...then to a Behringer 2X12 combo amp I bought for practice. The Behringer amp is one of the best I've ever bought. The pedal sounds cruddy with it. I was so bummed. Then I hooked the pedal to my JCM 2000 through a 1960AV (greenback loaded) half-stack and WHAM I was blown away. The simulation just kicked the heck out of my Ovation and I was jammin' Leo Kottke and Michael Hedges sounding fingerstyle out of my Les Paul instantly!!! I was floored. So the combo fails, but the half-stack was AWESOME. I even played it in both configs for my wife and brother (both non-musicians) and they agreed with my assessment. Marshall half-stack was good, Behringer was yucky. So there you go. Better buy a half-stack with the pedal ;-)

Buy it if you have a PA or a good, loud, wide dynamic range amp such as a half stack. Notice all the guys below with half or full stacks love it, and all the POD fiends hate it. I doubt you can get a good accoustic sound from a Fender Champ using a Parker Fly, so why expect this pedal to be able to do it? P.S. I've seen a lot of accoustic sets where the guys use JCM 900s or other Marshall heads with 1960A type cabs with very nice results...with Martins mainly...

Not hard to get interesting sounds out of it. 4 modes: Standard (regular acoustic tones), Jumbo (deep acoustic tones), Enhance (adds overtones and presence), and Piezo (compressed acoustic). "Top" knob works like a treble knob, and body changes mids.

It doesn't get you all the way to "Martin/Taylor with a professional mic'ing it" from an electric, but it certainly does a good job of enriching the tone of an electric to give it a very decent hollowbody dimension, or to REALLY enhance an acoustic-electric. With heavy strings, my electric can sound like an Ovation, and my Ovation can sound like a Taylor. Heavy strings are a must on electric, and they help ont he acoustic.

I use a Gibson Blueshawk (semi-hollowbody) and get much richer tone with this on...a lot of overtones. On my Ovation, it helps me shape the sound so that I can pull a decent Martin/Taylor imitation.

I often have it on "Enhance" with my electrics, because the overtones are nice, and my amp can do nifty things with them.

At an outdoor gig, I can kick it on and get enough of an acoustic simulation that the audience will ehar it as an acoustic.

It's a BOSS pedal.

For $14, it works for me! I play various Hawk-series Gibsons into a BadCat combo amp, with an ART tube compressor and occasionally another effect or two: jazz-rock and roadhouse-style blues-rock mostly. Very nice for adding tonal coloring and variation.

It's a boss. 4 knobs and a switch. Level, Body, Top, and then the four different types of sound (Standard, Jumbo, Enhance, Piezo.) I agree that the Piezo is probably the least of my favorites, but it's still nice. To be brutally honest, I think all you'd need it the enhance. I can't tell much of a difference, but it's there.

Sounds just like a high quality acoustic guitar. I'm using it with a Gibson Les Paul Classic 1960 and a Carlsbro GLX-100 valvestate amplifier. It sounds just like an awesome acoustic. I simply fell in love with the tones. The only reason i'm not giving it a 10 is because most of the different settings sound very similar (but all very nice and satisfying.) For me, it buzzes a little bit if you let go of the strings, but it kinda makes the sound authentic.

It's a boss. Enough said.

Haven't delt with Boss.

I've been playing a lot of electric guitar for a few years and I wanted to get into the acoustic style without emptying my wallet. I luckily got this for free from a friend, but i'd gladly buy another if this broke. If you love the sound of a good acoustic guitar and all you have is an electric, you'll love this product. I play blues, jazz, and some rock. It suits acoustic blues and jazz great, along with classical when i'm in that sort of mood. It's one of the

Could not be easier. Choose a mode and set the level, bass response (body) and treble (top). With all the knobs pointing to '12-noon' the thing pretty much sounds great. This is by far the MAJOR advantage of this pedal - ease of use and CONVENIENCE.

Mainly Telecaster through Fender HRD or Traynor YCV20.

This device appears to knock out the mids and provides a reasonable simulated acoustic guitar sound. The 'standard' mode has less bass resonse than the 'jumbo' mode. The 'piezo' mode sounds the weakest to me. I mostly use the 'enhance' mode which has the most boost and articulation.

When I use the neck PU on my Tele and adjust for some dark bass response, I can actually get the approximate sound of a big box jazz guitar. The sound is somewhat thin but very articulate and useable.

When I use either the neck or both neck and bridge PUs with less treble rolloff, I can get a very good acoustic guitar sound for rhythm or finger-style guitar.

When I run my amp 'send' out to the PA, I have noticed some pronounced hiss through the PA. Not terribly annoying and it is not a problem when playing as it is hardly noticable. This might be a problem if you wish to record with it. But why would you use it for recording? I don't think this was the intended use anyway.

It is hard to rate the sound quality because it is relative to the user and purpose. I would say if you play live and you want the approximation of an acoustic guitar sound, this is the way to go. the typical 'excited' user would probably give it a '10'; a real audiophile might give it a '7' or worse. I will give it a '9' because it sounds enough like a real acoustic when I play live.

I have a Boss Phaser PH-1E that has been in use since 1985. They last forever.

Never contacted

I have been playing bass and then guitar since the mid-60s - first professionally and then semi. I play with several singers/groups on a regular basis and I do a wide variety of music - James Taylor finger-style covers, country balads, old standards (40s-50s), cajun, bluegrass, rockabilly, rock, blues - you name it. What makes this pedal great is you don't have to lug around an acoustic guitar.

If you are a true acoustic guitar player used to Martins, Gibsons, etc., this simulated sound may not thrill you all that much. Perhaps you can borrow one to try before you buy.

If you are recording, you will want a REAL acoustic guitar.

But if you are a working musician and convenience, simplicity and ease of use is a factor, you can't beat this pedal. If lost or stolen I would definately replace it.

It is very easy to get my Strat to sound like an accoustic. No patches just tweak the knobs, the manual gives some great tips on using it at certain settings.

I use a Fender Strat into the unit, then through a BBE Sonic Maximizer and the sound is like a good Martin !

I rely heavily on this - better than lugging an extra guitar to gigs. I would use this & abuse this without a backup because it's made by Boss - the BEST !!!

Never had to use.

I play accoustic rock and it is perfect for my needs. I have been playing for 40 years and this pedal is GREAT ! It saves me from lugging around another (accoustic) guitar.

I'm as technologically impaired as anyone but nothing about this pedal confused me. It's pretty easy to figure out what the knobs do and what the selector does.

I gave it a 7 regarding sound quality, and I have mixed feelings about it. To make a long story short, it made my cheap accoustic sound terrific. After fine tuning everything, my very crappy Montana sounded like a well mic'ed $800 guitar without the eq problems that come with micing. On the downside, it didn't give my Squire a very believeable accoustic sound, and it introduced a good bit of noise in both instances. I run my Montana to my POD set on Brit Classic to my AC sim then to a PA. I doesn't sound as good going direct into the PA without some kind of preamp in between, particularly with my electric guitar.

I wouldn't be afraid to use it without a backup. I've been playing out for 26 years and I'm sure this pedal will outlast what's left of my career.

I gave it an 8 overall because I have a use for it. I've been playing electric music all my life but am just starting to gig solo. I'm doing some accoustic stuff and some electric stuff with a loop station. In both cases, I will get plenty of use out of it. It warms up my accoustic guitar sound considerably, and it allows me to play songs like "Blue On Black" by KWSheppard on my electric guitar where I can loop the accoustic sounding rythmn and jump straight into the overdriven lead when the time comes because of the extra output on the pedal. As long as I'm gigging solo, I would probably replace it if something were to happen to it.

Feature- wise, let's just say that it's so easy to use, you don't need the manual at all. But again, it never hurts to read every now and then. Put them reading skills into good use you know? I especially like the feature where you can change sounds from piezo to enhanced, to jumbo, to standard because it gives you a lot of tonal varities. My only grudge with this pedal is that i wish it came with a chorus effect because i strongly believe that an acoustic sound is incomplete without a lil pinch of chorus.

After watching this amateur guitar show, i was totally blown away by this guy who made his electric guitar sound exactly like an acoustic. I didn't know about parker flys and piezos back then. I thought he was simply using an acoustic simulator pedal of some sort so I bought the ac- 2- hoping that it would make my guitar sound exactly acoustic. Boy how I was disaapointed! As good as the pedal is, it just didn't sound quite acoustic at all. It's no where near close to an acoustic. If you plug it in a PA system or an acoustic amp, the tone improves, but it's still not an acoustic. Infact, at best, it sounds more of an electric acoustic than a real acoustic guitar- more of like a nice jazz tone rather than a box tone- very warm and mellow. But when I learned about piezos- particularly, graphtech's GHOST system and had it installed in my guitar- I learned that this pedal is best used in combination with an electric guitar equipped with a piezo system of some sort. I don't know about the other pizeos out there but for me, the combination of my GHOST acoustaphonic (graphtech piezo) and the ac- 2 gives me that very convincing, very real and very accurate acoustic- box tone sound. All the better too if you change your strings to something thick like 11's. The graphtech is reputedly the best piezo system out there- better than the fishman and the l.r. baggs. it has this nice box tone-this nice bottom end that's missing from the other piezos i've tried.
it doesn't have the quack associated with other piezos out there either. by itself, the graptech piezo and the acoustaphonic preamp will make your guitar sound an acoustic. Add to that the ac- 2, which further improves the acoustic sound by trimming the highs (even with real acoustic guitars!) and you get an even more beautiful acoustic sound. I actually did an experiment where i recorded different guitar parts with my takamine acoustic and with my epiphone les paul es guitar equipped with a gibson classic 57,' a gibson classic' 57 plus and the ghost acoustaphonic system plugged straight into the ac 2, then to an amp and my les paul produced far more beautiful acoustic sounds than my takamine. My electric guitar totally blows a real acoustic guitar away!

BOSSes are built like a tank but it would never hurt to have a back up because you never know what will happen when you're in that stage. Lucky for me, i have the korg ax1500g.

Don't know- haven't dealt with them yet. the pedal is still working so i dont see why i need to call these guys as of yet.

I play anything. See my other reviews on the epi viola bass and hte les paul es under the name of florence. Right now, i'm in this mood/ stage where i like playing acoustic based music- particularly country stuff like england dan, john ford colley, stephen bishop, stephen speaks etc. and other nice acoustic based love songs, so I recently upgraded my guitar by adding the graphtech GHOST/ acoustaphonic system to make it sound acoustic. I must say that the ac 2 and the GHOST piezos are a perfect match! So with the piezo, I give the ac 2 a 10 over all.

I glanced at the booklet that came in the box and used the suggested settings as a starting point. The knobs are pretty straight forward, even I didn't have trouble tweaking a good sound out of it.

At first I set it up with a single amp and a Les Paul. The sound was okay. Then I set it up with two amps and the same Les Paul. Better sound. I get a lot of line noise if I try to use any effects while using this pedal. No biggie, unplug the boxes and set them in the FX loop on the amp. Problem solved.

Built like a tank. Stomp on it all night long with no worries.

Never had to contact Boss on any of my pedals.

I bought mine because it was cheaper than buying an acoustic with electronics, etc. It works great for what I ask of it. Getting an acoustic sound out of an electric guitar.

Just read the manual and if possible, snag the free sampler cd from boss (just call them). self explanatory knobs.

If you listen to the Boss effects sampler cd, the AC-2 samples sound great, and if you look at the booklet that comes with it you can imitate the settings to achieve similar sounds. It does acoustify a nice thick electric tone. However, if your guitar doesn't sound that great in the first place, i'd think again before getting it.
Your guitar better have a good eq to go with it. Then what you'll have will be incredibly useful. I've used it in the mix at both large and small venues. Now, I wouldn't solo acoustic with it, but it the mix it's amazing.

Furthermore, I use it to further acoustify my acoustic electric. The AC-2 seems to have the same acoustifying chip that is in the AD-3 and AD-5, Boss's acoustic instrument processors. As described of both the Ad-3 and ad-5, the ac-2 also gives an smooth airy warmth of a mic'ed guitar. no joke. it sounds great in pa and even through a un-eq'ed input of an electric amp. everyone has been amazed at the sounds i get for my acoustic electric through the ac-2.

go to the guitar store and try it.


bad stuff: turn the "top" notch too hot (past 10 o'clock) and it'll rattle. Have your highs boosted too high on the eq, and it'll rattle. spend some time to tweak and you'll be fine.

takes a licking and keeps on ticking

NA, though they did send me the boss effects guidebook and cd for free!

Usuable for both the electric and acoustic. With good equipment, you can use it in different ways forever. Some have even used it to acoustify other instruments in a PA situations like violin.

In general, this is a pretty easy box to use. Three of the four knobs work logically. Took some time to notice, though, that the "body" knob doesn't really add bass as I thought, but works as a sort of reverse "mid scoop" knob: fully clockwise you've removed most of the midrange from your signal. And fully counter-clockwise, your signal's much hotter and distorts much easier.

I have got pretty useful sounds from the pedal. Won't change a Strat to a Martin, but there are several pretty useful sounds that make a Strat sound like a jazz box, approximately. So a pretty good selection of semi-acoustic tones. At least, for rhythm parts.

Dobro with a piezo transducer lost most of its character, though, thru the AC-2.

As the others have noted, this unit works very nicely with a bass guitar, adding some nice oomph for recording.

.

No problems so far, the Boss effects have generally a pretty good rep.

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This is a nice addition to my home studio, where there are no great selection of different guitar and bass models and different sounds are needed.

This unit is not "plug and play". It's easy to got horrible sounds unless you use it with the right setup. They key is to use both outputs and send the acoustic simulation to a full-range rig, just as if you were plugging in an acoustic guitar. Have you ever plugged your favourite acoustic into a Marshall valve amp? It'll sound dire, and so will this if you stick it through your stack. But through an acoustic instrument combo or a PA it does a simulation that most listeners will think is a real acoustic guitar. It doesn't sound like my Taylor, but...

The AC-2 gives excellent sounds when used properly, although perhaps tending too much to the bottom end and needing additional eq. The setup I'm using is to have the AC-2 before my pedalboard and split the output so the "wet" acoustic simulation goes straight to the instrument input of my Torque acoustic full-range combo. The "dry" signal goes through the pedalboard then out to my Univalve, which in turn goes through a speaker simulator and into the other channel on the Torque. This covers all the sounds I need playing with the function bands I work with, through a single amp. I can use the AC-2 to toggle between acoustic rhythm and electric lead with a single push of the foot - perfect! I use it with a Gibson 335 and a Gibson Spirit II - it can be very boomy with the 335 hence the need for extra eq.

It's a Boss stomp box - I've never had one fail in 25+ years of using them.

Very helpful here in the UK. No idea on repairs as they're all still working!

This is a great bit of kit for a lot of the live work I do, and I'd buy another tomorrow if I lost this one.

This unit is very easy to use. You'll have it mastered in 5 min.

I use this unit as one of 2 stomp boxes I use ( The rest of my effects are controlled thru midi) with a Jackson KV-2 And ESP MH-301. I use it thru a rack system with a Mosvalve 1160 power amp and Rocktron Pirhana pre-amp. This unit sounds great for those acoustic into's and such that we play in our set. It does the job very well. Beats getting an acoustic guitar and stand that you have to kick out of the way (unless you can afford your roadies to do that for you). Sounds great for what we play...METAL.

I've found that I can always rely on Boss products. If it failed during a gig, I would just play thru the amp clean.

Never had to deal with them.

We play 80's metal, and this unit is just right for what we play. Been playing for just over 20 years and if it were lost I would get another one.

too easy. self explanatory

It depends on the stuff you use, but with the right combo, you can pass of some good simulated tone. I think it is best to use single coil neck pickups for this pedal as they are warmer and mellower.

Second, it appears that the cure to the "crackling" or "scratchy" noise when strumming, is two fold:

1. use a compressor before the pedal. that crackling is the ac-2 acoustifying the peaks in the signal paths, making it "clip" (though it's not a speaker)

2. if you don't have a compressor, don't turn the "top" knob up past 9 o'clock, and you should be fine.

the "top" knob is what can kill everything. keep it low, or use a compressor, and you shouldn't experience those strumming crackles.

also, the thing with using the ac-2 with an acoustic set up really works. i compared the sound of my acoustic-electric on an amp with the ac-2 versus a carvin acoustic amp, and switched off between the two with a footswitch. the ac-2 thing actually sounded better. really. that's why boss uses acoustic simulation in the ad-3,5, and 8.

tank solid.

boss is actually pretty cool to call. they'll help you out.

it's a great pedal, but it's no substitute for an acoustic by any means. it's a great sound novelty if you want to try some cool clean sounds. but for acoustic users, this thing might be a new gigging pedal.

This pedal is very easy to use out of the box. The manual is brief and offers some sample settings. You probably won't even need it.

I tried this box out in the store at low volume and it was very easy to get a good SIMULATED accoustic sound. I was careful to pick out my exact guitar and amp also. It was great. Then when I got it home and actually turned up the volume, I wasn't as happy with it. It produced a pretty noticeable hissing noise when I turned it on. Also as I have read in other reviews, this thing will really accentuate any fret buzz that you might have. I have a little bit of a buzz on my second fret and this amplified it about a hundred times. If I strummed hard at all, I got a loud crackling noise. If I strummed soft it cleaned up a bit. Also if I strummed a chord once very hard you can hear the effect trail off. It almost sounded like chorus pedal with every knob set to max. Here is the rig I use: Gibson Les Paul Studio- Boss Tuner - CryBaby Wah - Boss DS-1 - Ibanez SD-9 - DOD EQ - Boss CH-1 - MXR 90 - Boss DD-3 - Marshall 250 DFX Needless to say, I returned the pedal the day after I bought it. It seemed to be a little bit better on my Ibanez which has singe coil pickups but that is not my main guitar. I am basing this rating on what happened to me. I am sure with the right equipment and settings this thing can sound good.

I own many Boss pedals and they all seem to be reliable. I always gig without backups and haven't had a problem yet.

N/A

Overall I think this is a good pedal if you have equipment that works well with it. I suppose if I get my guitar setup and get rid of the buzz it might be a little better. I don't know if I could deal with the hiss though. I play in a top 40 cover band and am still looking for an alternative to carrying an accoustic guitar to all my shows as we do a limited amount of songs that could use an accoustic. I tried to get out of this dilemma cheap but that didn't seem to work. My one peice of advice is to bring your own guitar to the store when you try it and make sure to turn it up loud and give it a good strum to make sure it does what you want it to do. I did tend to favor the enhanced setting when I played it at low volumes. It sounded close to an electric accoustic.

"Plug and play" , switch between the 4 settings and dial in the other controls to taste, very simple.

if you use both outputs from this unit so that the EG output goes to your guitar amp and the other out goes to PA, then you will get a very effective acoustic sound. If you only use one output to your guitar amp then as other revues have suggested, you will get a very noisy un-acoustic din.In no way is it as nice sounding as an acoustic or quality guitar like the Parker fly, but it is very usable.

A 1000 years after the next nuclear holocaust, surviving musicians will dig through the rubble of music shops, wrestle with the only other living survivors(woodlice,scorpions and crocodiles)find a battered and bruised Boss stomp box and find it still works perfectly. BAck-up, yeah right, there goes a flying pig!

Although i've only had it a few weeks I can't imagine ever having to call on customer services regarding a Boss Stomp Box. I do however know that in the UK many Music stores are unhappy with BOss (Roland UK) who are quite unhelpfull, and Full of it!

I play in a rock pop and cheese cover band,(Sweet Child/Teen Spirit to Walking on Sunshine/BrownEyed Girl)and what i was looking for was a usable sound with easy switching. The AC2 gives me exactly that. This pedal allows me to use my weapon of choice (Les Paul) for the rock songs and still have a convincing acoustic sound on tap, whenever i need it. Before this, i used to use a parker fly deluxe which has the best acoustic sound you are ever gonna get from an electric guitar, and is an absolute joy to play. But the rock sounds are just too weak, and lets face it all guitarists wanna rock. Also switching was done by hand(very fiddly). The Ac2 gives you instant, silent foot control, especially good for a front-man.I have also recently bought the Line6 Variax, which also has fantastic sounds but again requires hand switching with simultaneous foot-switching, (even more fiddly) and i still prefer the compromise in sound that the AC2 gives me, because it is so easy to use.
As A front-man/rhythm guitarist I dont have time to check on what settings i have selected,and sometimes the monitoring is so bad that i can't even hear what settings i am on, so the simplicity of looking at the pedal to see wether i am electric or acoustic is just perfect for me.
Prior to buying the AC2 I did email Zoom to see if they had a simple pedal that could switch outputs between electric and acoustic simulator but they don't. If only Boss would give us a pedal that switched outputs and gave us all the effects that are handy for electric and acoustic sounds separateley, with on-board tuner(aaaahhhh shangri-La, for a front-man/Rhythm guitarist).
If my AC2 goes missing I will order another immediately.
I am still happy with my Line6 Variax purchase, a really nice gig guitar(it really rocks) and i Still love the weight/feel/playability and tuning dependability of my ParkerFlyDeluxe. The AC2 really has opened my options to which guitar set-up I take in the road. However the tuning stabilty of the ParkerFlyDeluxe was exeptional.so I have had to buy A stage tuner for use with my LesPaul,Variax and Ibanez Blazer.

Too easy. just tweak and turn.....

ok, now here's the kicker! unless you have good equipment (guitar and amp) already, the ac-2 won't be of much use, since it will just "acoustify" the input from your guitar. make sure you have good tone in your guitar in the first place and great tone from your amp with hopefully a 12" speaker. then you'll be pleased with the simulation.


I had been using this AC-2 with my Carvin dc127. It sounded great.


BUT HERE'S A COOL TIP!

I randomly put the AC-2 into my signal path from my ACOUSTIC (yamaha cpx7- nice guitar) to an elctric amp, and it sounded AWESOME! as you may know, piezo pick ups in acoustic eletric guitars are very brash sounded with the signature "quacking" feel of the sound. however, the ac-2 really tightens the sound and makes it sound as if it were a MIC'ed guitar! I'm serious, go to your local guitar store and try it!

after some research, I and others determined that the "ACOUSTIC" function on the AD-5, Boss's processor for acoustic guitars, may very well be the ac-2's effects chip in disguise. therefore, the idea of using an acoustic simulator is not new with boss. check it out. it makes a huge difference.


I brought this particular rig to some musicians and they were shocked an the results as well. If you go

guitar> compressor> ac-2> chorus> to amp, you'll find a nice surprise!

never broke

na.

it's a good pedal, unless your gear isn't that good.

Definitely easy to use. You can manipulate it even without a manual! As most of the users have commented, there're only four knobs on it, and you should find any difficulty in dealing with them.

This is really a tricky effect --- You need to have a nice amp in order to get the expected sound. I've got the nice acoustic sound in the music store when I was trying on it, but afterwards, when I was using it at home, it sounded terrible!

At first, I thought that it has some problem, but when I tried to used it in my friend's home with the same guitar (my friend has got a better amp), I found that the AC-2 is functioning properly!

Therefore, don't eapect too much from it if you don't have a good amp,but I'm sure that if you've got the right gears, you'll get the lovely acoustic sound.

You can always trust BOSS.

Never contacted them.

No doubt that AC-2 is a great acoustic simulator. If you have a nice amp, the AC-2 should offer you what you've expected; otherwise, better spend the money on a more powerful amp before investing on this effect.

Not too bad, I tend to fiddle quite a lot to get the sound I'm after - it's not a matter of plugging and playing for me.

It does exactly what it's meant to: it simulates an acoustic sound. Obviously it doesn't turn your guitar into an acoustic, but it does a fine job and it's so convenient.
I was initially interested because I saw Stone Gossard using something similar onstage. He'd just get this acoustic sound from no where, so i went looking for a pedal to do that, and this is what i chose.
I love the crisp sound it makes - not totally acoustic sounding but great none the less.
I have had minimal noise from this pedal - nothing to worry about at all.
My setup is Strat -> PSM-5 -> AC-2 -> DM-3 -> NF-1 -> Marshall VS65.

So far nothing to complain about. Although it's second hand, it's in top condition. I would gig with it without a backup, but it's not something I would be too concerned about if it failed. But I've never had a Boss break on me.

Never dealt with them

All round a good pedal, and worth the money. I play a wide range of music and it suits every situation I need it for. It's great for recording with my inexpensive setup - I can get a good recording with this pedal whereas I would not with my acoustic.
Having said all this, if the pedal were stolen, I might be more temped to upgrade my acoustic gear. Nice to have it around though and it's good what what it does.

Very easy to use. 4 knobs. One Level, one bass, one high and the style selector.

This pedal is brilliant. My band plays a style much like that of Hoobastank, hence remember the song Running away. Well use this pedal, in line with a BOSS Ge-7 EQ Pedal and you will get a brilliant Acoustic sound. I've noticed people have said, you get a replacement sound. When used with the correct combination (ie the GE-7) you get a perfect acoustic sound which you can mold. Im using it with a peavey Bandit amp along with a range of Ibanez pedals and the sound is brilliant. I truly recommend this pedal, as long as you buy it along with the GE -7 Eq.

This is a boss. i use all my boss pedals without backup on a gig. i have no hesitation.

Never Dealt.

I would buy this pedal again, if it broke if it got stolen etc. this pedal is brilliant. AS LONG AS IT IS USED WITH THE GE-7
otherwise, its not so good.

A fairly easy piece of gear to use, manual was relatively clear save for a few Japanese/English transliteration problems. The manual also gave some decent starting points in setting the controls.

OK - here we go...out of the 4 main settings, I found that "Enhanced" produced the most noticable effect; the others just seemed weak to me.

Other reviews on this product have noted that the realistic nature of the effect will vary from guitar-to-guitar, pickup-to-pickup. I whole heartedly agree with this assesment. A Duncan Duckbucker sounds pretty good but a Duncan JB sounds "eh". Single coils will vary in effect realism depending on the combination selected, as on a Strat.

Does the AC-2 allow an electric guitar to sound like an acoustic? Mmmmm, well, maybe...a little. There is definitely an affected sound and I found it useful in a limited way. An earlier reviewer remarked that for the amount of acoustic guitar required by his band (meaning little), the AC-2 met his need. I play in my church's worship band and there is the occasional need for acoustic guitar and that's what prompeted me to buy the AC-2. I believe it has a use. And, now...on to what's transpired...

I've sent the unit back. Why? Because, at least on this particular unit, the output volume of the AC-2 has to be set at +3 o'clock before the volume level of the effect matches the volume level of the bypassed guitar signal. Totally unacceptable due to the amount of noise that the AC-2 generates at this setting. It's too bad as I kinda liked the way the thing sounds. BUT, I can't justify $90+ for a noisy effect. This is why I've given it a "2". The sound of the effect is interesting, but too noisy.

My other Boss pedals have held up very well, but can't say how this one will.

Never dealt with Boss/Roland.

As mentioned above, I play in the church worship band and the style of music ranges from light rock to funk, to big band, to Motown, to contemplative. I've been playing for 30+ years and also build tube driven guitar amps.

Guitars: '64 Duo-Sonic, '72 SG Special, '95 Strat, '97 C.B. Perkins Custom Plus, '99 Godin SD, '00 Warmoth SG-O-Caster, '75 Takamine F385, '00 S&P Pro-Flame.

Effects: Dyna-Comp, Tri-AC, CE-5, DD-5, FX-65, Cab Tone (these are currently on the pedal board, there're others stuffed away in the closet...)

logical and simple

it is an excellent simulator, but do not use it if you have a lower end electric guitar costing less that $400. In my years of experience and study of guitars, the TONE on these guitars is generally SIGNIFICANTLY less in quality, as they are built assemly-line style with budget pickups and parts, causing imbalances and noise in the output tone. That's why some guitars are dirt cheap. I can get into the science of why cheap guitars won't have good tone, but not here. But, if you have bad electric tone to start off, you'll have bad acoustic simulation tone at the end. I've tried my AC-2 with other guitars to demonstrate this fact. My Carvin dc-400 plays it like a dream since it has awesome clean tone in the first place with active/passive electronics to really shape the output.

Also, you can't have a cheap amp either, or one with a speaker with less than a 12" speaker.


If you want good passable acoustic sound, it will do it, but you have to have decent gear first. You can't "cheat" in getting good sound. That's like trying to bake a gourmet cake with only saltine crackers and wheat and milk. Come on, you really can't expect good tone and good acoustic simulation from crappy gear. No offense, but that's the matter of it all.

There is a slight hiss and buzz that is from putting the high end tone TOO HIGH, so don't do that. temper your settings, and don't go extreme.

Super dependable. Never failed.

It's a SIMULATOR, not a replacement. A no, unlike other people, buying a junk acoustic will not sound better than this. Use good gear, and you'll get good sound. That should be, and is, the rule for ALL effects.

People have lost the ability to learn about how to eliminate tone and noise problems. You're dealing with an electronic item, so you have to think in those terms!

A no brainer really.... 4 knobs. The manual does a good job explaining what each one does.

A far cry from a real acoustic guitar. Remember, this ONLY a simulator. It pretty much adds color to straight, no effects guitar sound. The best way to see is, play your guitar with no effects, and step on the pedal. Gives the guitar more of the "jang jang" sound, but not as flat as the bypassed sound.
I use a Peavy Wofgang with a HH cinfiguration, and the Jumbo setting is a bit too boomy for my taste. So I usually stick with the Piezo, or the standard setting with the top around 1 o'clock setting.

My expectation of this pedal was pretty low, but I was pretty impressed with it. For guitar sonic critics, it won't pass your test.
But I think it will do pretty well. A good backup, but I would never do an unplugged set with this.

It's a Boss.

Never dealt with them.

For what it does, it's pretty good. Kinda pricey. I thought about the Rockman Acoustic pedal, but never tried it. I hear good reviews.
Now, for all those people who keep comparing it to the sound to Martin guitars, you should go and play other acoustics. Martin is not the end-all-be-all of acoustic guitars. Every guitar sounds different, and you're just misleading a lot of people with personal biases. Just because "popular" artists use Martins does not qualify it as the best guitar.

Very simple to use. Pulled it out of the box, dialed in the settings and away you go!

While not a 100% acoustic sound, it is very, very good. Running this through my effects loop on my VOX AD60VT amp - it's sounds great! Run it straight throught the guitar and it sounds the same as the acoustic pedal in the modeling section of my amp. I needed a deeper, richer acoustic tone. The "pedal" in my VOX amp did not have the sound I was looking for. I use the AC-2 through the loop, with a little compression (in place of the "acoustic" pedal on the amp), and a little chorus, it sounds great for my purposes. With my VOX amp, I can control the nasty bass or high treble by switching to another amp model (Black 2x12, AC15 and Boutique CL are the best). If I didn't have this VOX amp and its tonal flexibility, I see how you could get trapped into a very narrow tone range with this pedal. Without my amp, I'd give the sound a 6, but with my setup, it gets a 9.

First Boss pedal. Seems as solid as my Marshall Supervibe Chorus.

Try before you buy! This pedal works great for me.

It is very easy to use.

I took a chance and bought this thing without trying it first. I dont have that high of standards when it comes to gear. Im easily satisfied with most gear that i hear. I bought this because i figured it would allow me to switch to acoustic mid way through a song. Also the added convientcy of having an acoustic sound in a stomp box.

Ok on to the sound...This thing is absolutely terrible. I mean i knew all along before i bought it that it wouldnt sound 100% like a real acoustic but i was at least expecting 50% and this thing falls waaaaaaaayyyyyyyy short of even my low expections that i had set for it. It doesnt even come close to an acoustic. If it didnt say acoustic simulater on it, most people who heard it would not even guess that it is supposed to simulate an acoustic. I tried tweaking every which way and it still sounds like ass no matter what. Also when you turn it on there is a drop in the overall balance of tone. The best way to describe is like having someone throw a heavy cover over your amp. The sound is very muffled.

here is my advice. This thing cost $90. take that money and go to the guitar shop and buy some used low end acoustic for the same price. Even the cheapest, crapiest real acoustic will sound 1,000 better than this thing. I promise a used $100 acoustic will absolutely put this thing to shame. Lucky for me i took adavantage of guitar centers return policy and took it back and got a full refund.

come on now, its a boss. it worked for me and it will work for the poor guy who was unfortunate enough to buy it after me.

dont waste your time with this thing. take my advice above and buy a cheap acoustic for the same price and you will having something that will sound a million times better than this thing.

straight forward enough.

All those idiots out there just plugging it into your Marshall amps et all expecting it to sound just like an ovation, martin etc. are very dissulusioned beings. Have this pedal at the front end i.e your guitar THEN plug your amp, effects etc. into the e.g out and have the direct signal going to your desk and it sounds fantastic!! Darn useful when wanting to change from acoustic to full on overdriven filth. I use a Gibson Les Paul with the bridge pick up to get the best sound capable. Sounds better than my Yamaha electro acoustic!!! Can also be used to beef up the sound of your tinny acoustic to boot. When playing through a guitar amp, the unit may sound a little harsh and distort, but this is more due to the colour of your amp than the effect unit itself.

built like a brick outhouse

I dont know how i suvived without it before. Very useful if you need to change sounds quickly without the need for guitar changes.

There are only 4 knobs, it isn't that hard.

There is a fuzzy sound whenever the level is above the halfway point. It is hard to get a good sound. The bass is usually to high, even when the "Body" knob is near the bottom. I usually use it on the piezo mode or standard. Jumbo has too much bass. It doesn't sound like an actual acoustic guitar, but is the best simulator i have encountered. My setup is as follows: Epiphone G-400 guitar, Boss Ds-1 Distortion, Boss Super Chorus pedal, the Ac-2 and a Marshall 30dfx combo. It sounds cool to use the Chorus and Ac-2 together, on very quiet songs. I like to play punk, Hardcore and Rock in general. My Favorite bands are Blindside and Dogwood.

It is very good, like all boss pedals I have used.

Never encountered them.

It is durable and easy to operate, but the sound isn't that great. It's fuzzy and doesn't sound like an acoustic. But there aren't any other good simulators that I have seen before. When you find the perfect setting, it does sound great, but it isn't very cosistent.

I got the pedal used and with no manual, so I ended up needing to take a full day to play with it and find the settings that I liked. Once I got a few sounds and wrote them down, it became a very easy pedal to use.

I was really surpised when I plugged this pedal in. All that I could think was that this is the noisiest boss pedal that I have ever owned, as a loud hiss was audible. After a day of tweaking my pedal however, I was able to quiet the pedal down enough to record. As far as the acoustic simulation is concerned, I am able to get great dark and bright acoustic sounds. It sounds even better with a little reverb.
I use an epiphone dot with .11 strings and a fender twin. My only real beef with the pedal now is that it seems to drop the volume of my guitar significantly when I turn it on. I have to keep it cranked to max output to get it to equal regular guitar volume. I don't suggest using it with distortion, as I have never been able to get a good distorted sound out of the pedal. (Of course thats not why I bought this pedal.)

I have never had problems with boss pedals, and would gig without a backup.

never dealt with them

I play blues, rock, punk, alternative, whatever I happen to be interested in at the moment. This pedal is indespensible, and while it isn't the same as my dad's old acoustic, it makes my electric sound amazing. I only wish that it was a little quiter, but its excellent for live playing.

very easy to use. I find that the enhance mode works best for me.

I knew when i bought this that it was not going to sound 100% like a real acoustic. Id say it gets about a 50% acoustic sound. Really all it does is alter the clean sound rather than make it 'acousticish'. Its alright. I play a Jackson PS-4 guitar which has a H-S-H pickup style. I have a Duncan JB in the bridge and it sounds best there obviously since the JB has a great clean sound. THe middle single coil is too thin and the simulator just makes that more noticable. This pedal does make a little hissing when turned on. Nothing too bad though.

i doubt ill have a problem with it

never dealt with them

if it were stolen i doubt id replace it at its current price. Its a decent pedal but not at $90. Id probably try to pick up a used one on ebay if it were stolen for a lot cheaper. Id imagine a high end strat with a bridge single coil would work best with this thing. Id say only buy this thing if you have: A) a guitar w/ a bridge single coil. B) your desperate to improve your clean sound without buying a new amp.

Just a few dials.

Great with strat bridge. I can't get a good sound with my other guitars. I find that the most electric/artificial sounding input generates the sweetest acoustic output.
Might have to tweek the other guitars. You should try this on your guitar before buying.

Its a Boss. Nuff said. :) Only kidding. I have no idea. This is my first boss pedal. Looks as solid as all my other pedals.

Not used.

You can get it cheaper mail order. I use this all the time. I don't like my strat bridge pickup. I play mostly clean. This is great. Does chords too. It has a bit of reverb/delay so turn those effects off at the amp.

This pedal will take alot of tweaking to get a good sound. However, there are many authentic acoustic sounds to be had. Alot will depend on your guitar and amp. For instance, I could get no use out of this pedal whatsoever through the clean channel on my Marshall. The tubes distorted from the frequencies on just about every setting. However, going direct through my mixing board was magical. It also sounds great on my solid state Fender chorus amp. The manual is helpful, but due to the amount of intangibles, you will still need to tinker.

I play a custom 24 PRS into a Marshall JCM 800 head for dirty. I A/B the clean sounds via the acoustic simulator into the PA. I can get a beautiful sound using the ENHANCE setting with a little reverb. My guitar resonates like an acoustic would using this pedal. It is very genuine sounding to me. Your pickups will have alot to do with how to set this pedal. Using the neck humbucker with the volume rolled back a bit,the sound is warm. I get a great sound for the acoustic part on "The Trees" by RUSH. A little brittle on the bridge but like I said you need to tinker.

I use BOSS whenever I can because they are indestructible!! Most of them really do what they are supposed to do too.

Never needed them

This pedal saves me the hassle of lugging an acoustic around for the brief moments it is needed. If it were lost or stolen I would replace it. Nothing will beat the sound of a real acoustic, however this comes real close. It will take some time to tweak. (Believe me, I wanted to return it at first) Dont give up until you have tried each mode and setting. The A/B feature is great if you want to use a separate amp for acoustic.