I play guitar in a country band. I'm the only guitar and have to cover rhythm and lead. Sometimes the songs call for a strong acoustic rhythm guitar...but also some electric leads. This is where the Boss AC-3 excels. I can make my electric guitar sound like an acoustic until it's time to do a solo....then switch back to acoustic, all on one guitar. It's really amazing how good this pedal sounds against the keyboard and steel guitar. For live gigs where you don't want to hassle bringing an acoustic and swapping guitars, it's a great little stomp box.

The pedal isn't perfect, however. It's got some very hiss when you pick the strings. The hiss decays quickly and gets lost in the live mix, but certainly would be unacceptable in a studio or a solo performance. In those cases, you'd use a real acoustic anyway, so the hiss isn't really an issue. The only other complaint is that the batteries drain when not in use. I have other gear that does this, and the solution is to remove the battery when you're done playing. The AC-3 seems identical to the AC-2 except for the addition of reverb...a nice touch. I highly recommend this pedal for live stage work.

i was at my local guitar center, and as you probably all know, they have a bunch of boss effects set up there. well i had played this pedal before on various guitars and didn't really like the sound. it was not very full like an acoustic should sound. then i found a music man john petrucci with a piezo bridge. i plugged it in, and through the piezo setting, it sounded amazing. i couldnt put it down. so if you have a guitar with a piezo bridge i would HIGHLY recommend this pedal. if you dont, get an actual acoustic.

This thing in my opinion does not sound like an acoustic guitar,but you can get some wild enhancements to your tone if you mess around with it. I've played my Tele,Gretsch,& Dano 63 thru it with everything from my Fender 15 Practice amp to my Blues Jr., my original 65 Deluxe reverb, my 100 watt Crate,even my SWR LA-10 Bass amp. I have even played Steel thru it. I like it ,but it doesn't sound like an acoustic to me. I saw it at the NAMM show & it sounded better there. I guess bottom line is ,if you want acoustic sound you need an acoustic guitar.

I bought this for my Wednesday night acoustic gigs thinking that I could play one of my beater Strats instead of taking my nice acoustic to the patio. The idea was to run my Strat through this pedal and into my 200W acoustic guitar amp, which I also use as the PA along with a matching extension cabinet. I was disappointed in the sound. It sounded thin and hollow and not much like a real acoustic guitar. I then took a chance on the Zoom A2 to see if its acoustic sims sound more realistic and was pleasantly surprised. The Martin D28 preset actually sounds something like my HD28. The other models are quite useful as well.

Bottom line: Skip this one and go for the Zoom A2. I'm sending the AC3 back to MF.

Okay, I read as many reviews and listened to every demo I could find before finally deciding to purchase this product. Having used it now, I feel qualified to offer my opinion on the subject.

If you are looking for something which can replace a real acoustic guitar in every single situation, this is not the product for you.

However, this pedal is fantastic at doing exactly what it was designed to do -- provide the ability to quickly toggle between an "acoustic sound" and an "electric sound."

The two outputs make it ideal for any live situation, and the pass-through when the petal is off is a great feature. As a live performer, I needed the ability to start off a song on my acoustic, and then punch in to a electric crunch or a great lead tone midway through the song. This pedal now gives me the ability to do just that. No, it won't make your Strat sound "exactly" like an acoustic guitar, but it's close enough for any live situation. One caveat: Humbuckers do not reproduce the acoustic sound very well. The single coil pickup close to the neck seems to work out the best, and strumming or picking with your fingers also helps produce a better sound.

I now am able to shave several minutes off my set up time, and I have much more flexibility during the show.

Additionally, it was a pain in the neck arranging the set list so that all of the "acoustic" guitar songs were lumped together during a live show. No more. Thanks to Boss, I have an additional option.