Morley JD-10

Too easy. It's almost plug and play. I owned a couple of these units for several months before I ever saw a manual. I didn't find the manual particularly useful. I wouldn't take any stock in it's suggested settings. Find your own settings.

This is yet another raving review from me - 5 years after my first purchase of the JD10 unit.

I'm from the old school of plugging straight into a Fender amp, and cranking - no effects. It's not always possible to crank an amp on 10 everywhere you play. That's where the JD10 comes in handy. Just set your amp clean and let the JD10 provide the drive. If you're using guitar speakers, leave the speaker simulation off.

There's also been more than a few times in the last 5 years that an amp has died on a gig, and I had to use the JD10 straight into the PA (I usually combined it with a Dan-Echo set for a very slight slapback). From the FOH mix, it sounds exactly like a miked up amp. This is where the speaker simulation comes into play, and it really does a great job. Much better than the various POD's, V-Amp's, etc. etc... There were indeed occasions where I actually preferred the sound of the JD10 through the PA over the sound of the amp that I had been using before it died.

Well... the pots seem cheap, and collect dirt quite fast. They get scratchy, and occasionally seem to be failing completely. A quick blast of the tuning gear cleaner into the pots openings, and it's as good as new. I was experiencing many of the problems that others have noted below, and cleaning the pots was the cure-all. I really wish that they would make a more rugged version, but then the price would go up dramatically.

I now own 3 of them, so I have plenty of backup. I did have 4 of them, but I gave one away.

Don't expect anything from Morley. Award still makes these in the U.K. and, judging from some of the comments made by designer Stewart Ward, I would assume that he and his company would stand behind their product. He really seems to believe in what he's doing. Since I've never tried to get service from them, I can't comment.

For regular MOR rock, blues, country - anything except death metal, it's unbeatable. I've used them in every conceivable circumstance - into the PA, into a keyboard amp, into a bass amp, not to mention a guitar amp, and the only time it ever sounds bad is if the amp that it's going into is distorted itself. It needs a clean amp tone, and let the JD10 provided all of the crunch.

I just recently met Jerry Donhue. He's now using a Peavey Delta Blues amp with 1-15" speaker. I asked him if he uses any amp distortion, or if he sets his amp clean and gets all of his crunch from the JD10. His answer was the latter. He also uses a Nobel OD-1 in front of the JD10 as an overdrive/boost. I use a very old Rat pedal from the 80's in front of mine if I need more gain. It seems to respond to overdrive pedals just like an amplifier. Reverbs and delay pedals work best AFTER the JD10, and BEFORE going into the amp/PA.

I have a nice amp collection - old Fenders, a Sovtek Mig 50, a Lab Series L11, a wonderful B1uesboy 5F1 combo. The JD10 is the ONLY device that I would consider using in place of an amp. I've tried all of the POD's, SansAmps, and the like and hated all of them. NOTHING comes close to the JD10.

I'm subtracting one point for the reliability issues.

Considering the capabilities of this box , it has a very simple design. The layout is similar to a single channel master-volume amp ( Drive, Treble, Middle, Bass, and Output Level).Two red push-buttons are nestled between the drive and treble knobs. One of these buttons activate the speaker simulator while the other button chooses between Classic or Rock drive settings. Anyone who has had a guitar in their hands for more than a day can figure this thing out. However, the easy to understand manual helps you dial in your favorite tones without the experimental knob tweedling.
Morley was the distributer of this pedal in the US. The JD10, however, was made by a UK company called Award-Session. Morley discontinued the pedal several years ago but recently Award-Session has revised the pedal and released it under their own name. Many think that Jerry Donahue invented this pedal but it existed as the MB10 Matchbox before Donahue struck a deal with the folks at Award-Session. In fact, I just got my hands on one of the original MB10's (comes with XLR connections). I cant wait to compare the two. Look for an upcoming review.

I use this pedal primarily for recording. After becoming dissilusioned ( and ultimately unsatisfied)with the digital modeling game, I began searching for an alternative. I read several articles in which this pedal was mentioned as an extremely affective recording tool; checked out HC and the reviewers raved. I headed for ebay on a clear a mission. After searching for about a month, I located a NOS JD10 and purchased it from some outfit out of Maryland. The thing arrived in plastic, warranty card and manual included. The first thing I did was to plug it straight into my trusty Fostex X-55. I started off with the manual setting for Twin. I was knocked out; I really believed I was hearing a miked amp. As I tweedled through the suggested settings-- making small eq and drive adjustments along the way-- my impression of this little magic box swelled. The Stack settings (think Marshall Plexi)are unreal-- the pedal excells at medium gain. It is extremelly tactile so be aware of your picking attack. I can play Zep's Heartbreaker and it gives me chills. The AC setting is also dead on. However, I prefer it with the drive around 9'oclock for the vox stuff. My only complaint with the pedal is that all of the settings seem muffled in the slightest way; not like the blanket over the amp sound that most digital modelers offer, but just a little muddled. I rectified this problem by digging out my old Boss Driver DB-5 (circa late 60's). This dinosaur has got a wonderfully shelved five band eq with a massive amount of db boost. I hooked this between the JD10 and my recorder and my fidelity problems are solved. I mainly use the Classic setting on the pedal, but I don't agree with some reviewers who say the Rock setting is unusable. We should remember that the JD10 was introduced at the height of the grunge era-- and let's face it, you gotta appeal to the kids. Selecting the Rock setting with the drive at about 3'oclock you start to feel the sweat dripping down the collar of your favorite flannel.
The JD10 loves to be driven by other pedals, too. With a nice selection of quality distortion, fuzz,and boost pedals, I can't think of a tone that this pedal cannot obtain.

I have owned the JD10 for over two years and have had no problems out of it. Granted, I sit in my basement and play it while my wife and kids are asleep, so its not being schleeped across a beer soaked stage. But it looks fairly sturdy for road use ( I would probably rackmount it if I played out).I have never experienced any noisy pots like some other reviewers.

I have had no servicing issues.

I guess I'll just say I play guitar and all that that entails. I play through tube amplifiers and analog pedals. The JD10 is one of my favorite musical possessions. I would certainly hunt down another if anything happened to this one.

Very easy to use, although the tone controls interact with each other as it is a Fender type tone stack. In other words the EQ reacts like a vintage stack not the sort of tone stack you see in a modern solid state amp.

On my early production unit battery replacement is a pain in the backside. I recently got a later version with a separate battery compartment.

It's at its best in the clean, crossover to overdriven, or more mildly overdriven sounds. It can produce a lot of distortion but it begins to sound a little thinner up there and adding in bass to compensate makes it sound 'distant'. In the less overdriven regions, though, it sounds fantastic. I actually use it for bass (I bought it from the bassist of a world famous heavy metal band) and it can produce Jack Bruce tones admirably, or just fatten up basses without robbing any low frequencies. For higher gain sounds for bass or guitar I'd recommend pairing with a Marshall Guv'nor.

The volume knob on my first unit snapped. I managed to glue it back on, and I use it only in the studio and control the output from a mixer anyway, so it's not a problem, but for live use the pot spindles are not strong enough. So if you intend to use it live, buy a back up for when the pots break. The pots are pretty standard items from electronics suppliers, though, so it would be possible to get a tech to put a new one on.

My pot problem was fixed with superglue for the one I use in the studio. The second unit is undamaged, so I've not needed customer support.

I have played bass and some guitar in styles ranging from psychedelic rock to folk rock.

Almost impossible to get a bad sound out of this unit as long as its functiioning proporly... The manual has a nice collection of recomended settings for both direct and into an amp. If you can use an amp you can use this unit.

I usually use this pedal direct into a PA using a Ibanez AXS32 and a Kingston. The clean sounds are brilliant, the overdrive is beefy but the high gain sounds are a little thin. although with this unit is very quiet. although with humbuckers i can get a pretty good slash (guns n roses)tone.

I bought it off of ebay so im not sure how dependable it was when the previous owner bought it but i get horrible "clipping" as described in an earlier review and recently i have had a problem with the bypassed signal sounding through the processed. you can tell this by turning down the volume and drive. if you hear a signal you have the same problem.

This is a great pedal/preamp if you want a basic classic rock to hard rock tone.

i have a .pdf copy of the manual email me at clarke_dylan@hotmail.com if you would like a copy.

controls are like an amp with gain and master volume, treble, mid, bass. Speaker emulator on/off two modes classic and heavy. This review will refer to the classic mode only. I just pretend the other mode isn't there 'cause it sucks.

I've tried a lot of tube pedals and i've had a psa-1 and other sans amp stuff. This may not look cool or cost $300 but this is the best. The reason you can't get sweet tube distortion with one or two preamp tubes is 'cause power tube distortion is what you crave not thin buzzy preamp tube distortion.

The speaker simulation on this is also the best i've heard, and unlike sans amps products it can be turned off. The end result is your direct injected tracks sound like a real amp, and in front of your amp you've got a great overdrive pedal.

The sans amp stuff is crackly and fizzy. You can't get the fat warm clean tones or the in between crunch tones. Nothing i've tried that has an actual tube even comes close and those type of pedals seem to only sound good when your amp is already slightly crunching.

It's worth mentioning that this pedal has a strange effect on high frequencies. It helps retian the chord definition at higher gains which is good but i whish it's response was more flat.

easy to break the knobs because of how they are situated. cheap pots. otherwise would have been a tank.

I think award may be no more.

This is the best i've tried. if you want a sansamp try this first if you can find one it eats $500 psa-1 for a afternoon snack. award also makes a great accoustic guitar preamp that makes your crappy piezo sound like a martin recorded with two neuman's. I use them both together on a dobro with a p-90 and a piezo. Unreal! way to cheesey and easy to sound this good, but it does believe it.

Easy to use, limited to one sound at a time or bypassed.

Use with a Brian Moore MC/1 alongside my Roland V-Guitar system (VG-8). I wanted something to provide a tube amp boost sound to my magnetic pickups to use alongside the V-Guitar system, i.e. to mix in with it. Sound quality is very good and a number of good tube amp sounds can be dialed in. I created an MP3 of some of my test sounds, note there is reverb and echo added--

http://www.thinclient.net/sgg/JD10.mp3

I think the speaker simulator is very good for direct-in recording, especially with some tasty effects added

seems to be very reliable and, as many others have pointed out, it works with any power adapter

I emailed the original creator since they are no longer available and he indicated that the unit has been updated and is available in the US at Atomic Guitars. It has a couple of new features worth looking into such as a tuner out and a balanced XLR output

Overall, it has a very good sound and it quite a remarkable device considering it really is just a fairly simple solid state circuit inside. The speaker emulation is very good, the rock and classic modes are not well matched in volume and gain settings and therefore I think it is best to use in the studio, or, live for just one good sound.

Very easy to get great sounds!

I mostly use this box for direct recording or in the PA when I don't want to lug all my tube gear to a rehersal or small gig.The direct sound is incredibly convincing. I use a Tokai strat into a Ball volume then into a Boss noise supressor.The loop of the supressor has an Ibanez WH10 wha into a 74 Big muff.Then the output of the supressor goes to the JD 10.I set the classic mode rather clean & the tone I set according to room accoustics & engage the speaker sim.I then route that to an Alesis Nanoverb set for a little delay into an Art tube mic pre into the house PA. It's great to get a great direct signal to the board for a great mix & Ive tried other so called direct didgital boxes that don't sound near as good as the JD10

Have yet to have a problem with thi box.

hav'nt tried.

Its pretty easy to use. The G-12 button and the Rock/classic buttons are not accessible during playing, would be nice to have them mounted on top for leads, etc, but i knew that when i bought it. Not a complicated piece of equipment.

2 Strats. 1 with 50's/60's pups and 1 with texas specials.---> Voodoo Labs Sparkle Drive ---> Boss SD1 ---> The JD10 ---> Boss GE7 Equalizer to a late 70's Fender twin reverb with 12" Mojotones (big bottom end on these) Both Gtrs. sound great, especially with the classic setting (using full gain, dial back the treble and dial up the mid) Incredible vintage sound. I was using a Vodoo labs Sparkle drive, but would rather use this because of its versatility. So, I use the sparkle drive to boost the sound for hotter leads. somtimes i'll use a boss SD1 in place of the sparkle drive...depending on how obnoxious i feel that given evening. Somtimes I'll use them all! Unit is not noisey. In fact, i use it as a direct box for PC recording and I get a surprisingly clean sound for the $60 i spent on the unit. That is what i originally bought it for, but was so impressed, it's become a staple part of my setup. The G-12 (greenback) setting does a few things...1)makes it sound like Hendrix, and depending on the way I have my controls set, i can make my strats sound as fat as a Les paul with classic 57's. really wild. the only think I don't like is the Rock button. The rock setting is way noisy and far too extreme. Too much distortion there, so i just stick with the classic setting. I get the hendrix sound and can get really close to the srv sound....VERY VERSATILE UNIT. controls are sensitive, offering a wide range of both original and unoriginal sounds...if you get my meaning. i mean that in a positive way. GET ONE OF THESE THINGS.

heavy duty. Solid metal housing. knowbs and buttons are protected yet accesible. footswitch is very sturdy. I use it WHENEVER I PLAY. Gigging, recording, practicing. I dream of it while i sleep.

never needed to use it, but i know that Morley has been around for years, and that wouldn't happen unless they were responive customer oriented people.

I play blues. Old blues, contemporary blues, etc. This thing does it all so it is a good match for this and many other styles of music.
Ive been playing for 17 years and have a good grasp of what effects do and how they work. If this thing were stolen or lost I would buy 2 more in case 1 got lost or stolen again. I love the sound of this thing and hate nothing about it, but I would like to see the g12 and rock/classic buttons on top...maybe i'll buy a backup and modify it to do that. Compared to other overdrive units it is, like i said more versatile.

very simple. two buttons and 5 knobs. three of the knobs control EQ (Low, Mid, High), one controls the input gain stage, and the final knob controls the output gain stage. The Buttons control Rock/Classic setting and the "cab simulator" respectively.

I play a fernandes telecaster through a vintage ampeg amp. This pedal helped me NAIL that classic telecaster country tone. If you listen to anything by Acetone, you'll know what I'm talking about. I usually keep it on very low input gain on the "ROCK" setting...this gives the perfect right-before-distortion tone that I'm looking for...as for distortion, this thing screams when cranked...excellent just as a distortion pedal alone. It even warmed up my great sounding tube-amp!

so far it's been great...i think my favorite part is that you can use virtually any AC adapter with this unit....it automatically senses it. how cool is that?

If you want a nice preamp to use for your guitar, get one of these..it's worth every penny. I wish the knobs were easier access, but with so many, i guess it's only practical for them to be mounted where they are...I've never tried it for direct recording, but everyone else seems to think it works great for that...

I just want to tell to all of you:

JD-20 is even MUCH better and is made just like JD-10
by Award Session in Britain - try them at radius International
or read british GUITARIST magazine and trace them there.

Wow