JA-03 "Tube Drive" Sound Effect Mini Guitar Pocket Amplifier with Headphone Output

I give it five stars. Granted, I've only used it about an hour, but already I'm wondering about the reviews that ding it; maybe they got a lemon. Volume is fine and not overly sensitive; none of the controls are wiggly or difficult to adjust. Plug it in, plug in the ear buds and voila. Works fine with my bass and that's all I wanted it for. Tone, gain are fine and even if they weren't I wouldn't care because I can play and enjoy playing without disturbing anyone else; I can hear what I'm playing without having to resort to my AE, which I don't always want to play due to getting used to the nut width AND the AE isn't quiet even when not plugged in. I'm just so damned happy to be in my own little world.The price is ludicrously right; I didn't want to pay $40 or $50. I don't care that it requires headphones/earbuds cause that's what I need it to be. If it craps out within a few months I won't be pleased and wouldn't buy another because eventually you're going to pay the higher price that maybe you should have started out paying. I'll upgrade when it dies unless it takes years to die. I plan on using this at least five days a week for an hour each time, so I'll comment back if it doesn't cut it.

For it's price, size, and simplicity, it's pretty hard to beat. It's sound quality is certainly debatable, and it's build quality is far from top of the line, so I wouldn't call the unit great by any means. I bought it to use at trade shows, to demonstrate cigar box guitars and kalimbas and such when carting amps and cords and power strips around just isn't practical. Throw some headphones over your customers ears and watch them smile. Everybody want's to buy the Joyo along with the instruments they hear. Incidentally, the tube drive model I bought makes slide guitar sound fantastic. Clean stuff, not so much, but workable. For the price, it's obviously not a high quality device so don't expect it to be.

The Joyo Tube Drive mini amp is a great practice tool! I often find myself in situations where it's not practical to turn up an amp to play and/or it's not convenient to fire up the computer and set up the interface. In those cases, this little Joyo works great! Plug in your guitar, plug in your headphones and you're good to go. There's also an aux input so you can connect your phone or mp3 player and play along with your music or backing tracks.The Joyo mini amp has volume, tone, and gain adjustments. With the gain all the way down, there's still a touch of dirt to it, which is where I play most of the time - it's reminiscent of a tubescreamer with the gain set at about 9-10 o'clock. I generally play strats through a fender or mesa boogie tube amp. Obviously, the Joyo mini amp isn't a replacement for my normal setup, but that's not it's purpose. If you purchase this looking for a useful practice tool or for something to play without bugging your neighbors or waking up kids, it's great! I highly recommend it.

The sounds quality is terrible; not just bad, bit worse than bad. I thought the issue may have been due to the cheap headphones I was using, but I borrowed my daughter's Apple headphones and got the same results. The batteries fit loosely in the battery compartment, and barely make contact with the metal components to get a power current. I am pretty sure it would cut in and out if you move around much at all due to the battery shifting and losing connectuon with the metal components. Very low quality product.

This little thing works great. I did upgrade the AAA battery with a Quantum AAA - seemed to play a wee bit louder - not to mention - most OEM batteries work for like 2 days & then self destruct via leakage ... thus the swap ... Love the sound - warm & mellow if you want - mess with the settings & match it to your guitar & this little thing rocks - has NO issue's driving a pair of AKG K-241's - love it.*** Update for 04-17-17 ***Just going through my old reviews waiting on technology todo it's thing - came across this one & need to comment - didn't last all that long ... used it very occasionally for about 6 months & it went poof - wouldn't turn on etc ... contacted JOYO & essentially was told the warranty was all of 90days ... so ... ya ... it's cheap ... but ... won't last all that long ...

I took a chance (an inexpensive one) on this for use with my Precision bass, which I can't play at even bedroom levels without annoying my neighbors. I know there's a Vox headphone amp voiced specifically for bass, but mine sounds outstanding through this one, with plenty of thump and even response. It also maintains that P-bass growl.Overdrive is decent on bass and guitar (Telecaster and a Sterling Silhouette, both single coils.) You wouldn't mistake it for real overdriven Fender tube combo, but it's a lot better than some nasty buzzy SS overdrives I've heard.I almost always play six-string with some reverb, so the amp does sound VERY dry. Reverb would make this perfect but at $15 I'm not complaining. It's much, much better than I expected.

This unit sounds great. I wished it had at least reverb but nonetheless it sounds great and does simulate a guitar amp decently. A great practice tool without having to plug into an amp.