I ordered this unit in a panic when I found myself on the road, just after the pandemic, without my normal guitar unit. Called Sweetwater and said "Matt, I need a guitar unit for a gig tomorrow. What do ya got?" He didn't hesitate. Got it out overnight and it's been my go to now for 5 years. Great no nonsense sound for my Martin or Larrivee. Gives me enough range and signal whether I'm playing a school, a festival or a theater. Trouble free and solid on the effects. And it's not loaded with things my guitars don't need...a lot of wacky noise. I bought good guitars and it lets them be heard. Sweetheart of a unit.
Reggie Harris

I was about ready to give up my Godin A6 Ultra - beautifully built and a wonderful setup - but just couldn't wrangle in the sound i was looking for. Same with my Yamaha Silent Guitar model.

The multiple combinations of pickup type, source selection and target outputs open up sonic solutions that really work for these instruments in particular.

The Effects bank is epic and easy to use. The signal to noise ratio is impressively clean. The stereo imaging is beautiful. The balanced outputs worked great into my recording interface.

The only thing holding back on 5 stars is the relatively short battery life, and not having the chorus as an independent output separate from the effects bank.

All in all another great value from Zoom.

This is a must for musicians who perform out or play in church through the house board. I have a Taylor and it doesn't have a tuner and the ability to add reverb and delay makes this pedal an amazing piece of equipment

I've had much more expensive pedals for my acoustic/electric and this Zoom is easier to use, and sounds great. No regrets purchasing this one!

My first impression of the unit was the cheap feel to the knobs and switches. I have concerns about the build quality lasting gigging with the unit. More importantly, was the "tone suck" with the unit. Best way I can describe it is like someone put a heavy wool blanket over your amp/PA. I was running this unit straight into my EV 30M column monitor. I could not get a good sounding acoustic tone no matter what adjustments I made to the AC-3 or my PA.

To be fair the unit is compact and offers effects, tuner, compression and IRs. So a lot of stuff in a small box, hence the appeal to why I bought it. Just with all that circuitry the tone is horrible and build quality is feels cheap.

I was able to return the product and I am not building a gigging acoustic board around a Grace BiX preamp and a PlethoraX5 for effects.

Great little modeling pedal. I've been using it with my J-45 and the modeling setting that are a preset on the pedal, and it just brings my guitar alive with presents and clarity when playing through a sound system. It gives it the sound through the system that I hear when I play my guitar naturally. Couldn't be more happier with this pedal.

I used the "Zoom A3 Acoustic Guitar Pre" for many years. Loved it even if a bit complicated to use.
I picked up the "Zoom AC-3" and haven't looked back. You can't save and recall saved settings as you could with the past unit. I haven't found the need. After dialing in the settings, I can (lean forward) and switch from chorus to delay in order to easily access the two effects that I need. Compressor, boost and reverb are all independently available and work well, sound great. The tuner is a big step up from most built in tuners I've used.
You need a momentary footswitch to easily access the feedback suppressor...minus half a star for that.
Neat design...looks like spruce topped rosewood...hehhehhehheh!
Highly recommended.

Used this for the first time on a gig last night, really enjoyed the experience. I was using separate pedals for delay, boost and, compressor. All of this and, more in one easy to use pedal. There is so much in this it's hard to single everything out. My acoustic electric grand auditorium never sounded better! I see nothing but better and better as I use this. I have the ac2 for my fiddle and mandolin and it performs excellent also. Made very well, solid heavy duty construction does not move around on the stage. I searched a lot of units like this and Zoom got my choice over all the others.
It's reasonably priced and, looks Great! I got mine used but, in mint condition, comes with the power supply or you can use batteries too. I have used batteries with other FX pedals but, definately don't want to have to change batteries in the middle of a set. I guess just put fresh one's in before a performance if you can't use the power supply. Highly recommend this unit if you're looking for a preamp with many extras. Also very quiet and, clean. This is a must on stage!!!!!

Easy to use and dial in. Has presets to match my J45 and D28 to get them sounding good right away through their K&K Pure Minis. I even found a great combination of pre and post body and model types to play my Godin Baritone guitar through it. Very versatile, and the on board effects and tuner are perfect for playing out live.

First of all, thank you Sweetwater for going above and beyond with your advices, help, and service everytime I purchase a product from your store. I'm very happy and satisfied with my new Zoom AC-3 acoustic creator. It truly does make a big difference in retaining the tone and warmth when I play my acoustic guitar. In a small or big venue the Zoom AC-3 comes thru with excellent and high quality sound that exceeds all expectations. Thank you and God bless!

This acoustic pedal is just as good as advertised and reviewed by other owners. I've owned many multi-effects acoustic pedals and all were complicated; this is very easy to use. I had it up and running in minutes after it arrived and used on stage the next day.

I can set up the reverb I always use and the additional effects are on a separate control, so I can bring them in or out as needed. Boost is also separately controlled. The source and target guitar feature, makes even my kick around camp guitar sound fantastic when plugged in and my high end guitars even better.

For use on stage, if you use many of the secondary effects you'll have to raise the pedal up within reach since the selector is a dial. For me I usually use the same secondary effect along with reverb (to keep things simple), so it has not been an issue and I can leave it on the floor, using the foot buttons.

The only thing I would add is a volume control for the secondary effects besides the level control.

Overall I am very pleased with my purchase.

Realistically, you can put together a pedal board to accomplish many of the effects in this pedal. I did not find a lot of differences in the different acoustic settings on both the target and source guitar that I could not get with a handful of different pedals and a good quality pre amp. But, that's what I was trying to avoid. I need to have all my cables and gear in one bag and a guitar in the other to facilitate outdoor gigs and for this the Zoom AC 3 did serve a purpose. I set it up with a couple of presets, tweaked it just a little bit and gigged with it a few times. It does help get rid of the quack in an acoustic and ads a few nice effects. I'm not overly impressed with the target and source guitar settings but it does save some time albeit the differences are so subtle they are almost negligible. So I am basing this pedal of the perfect image of what I thought the AC 3 should be. It fulfilled a purpose but not overly impressive with lots of potential.

I originally ordered a Trace Acoustic Transit A, but it had some issues when I initially tried it out. Turned out those issues were the result of it being daisy chained with another pedal, and disappeared when plugged it in directly (though that's still an unnecessary pain), but I'd already arranged with Matt to return it and had the Zoom on the way.

I figured I'd hang onto the Trace until the Zoom arrived, and keep the one I liked best. Suffice to say the Trace was repackaged for shipping within minutes of trying the Zoom. The sounds were markedly better on the Zoom. The size of the Zoom works better for me as well, as sometimes I play with my TC Play Acoustic on a mixer stand, and this fits nicely right beside it. The Trace is longer and suitable only as a floor unit. The only thing the Trace had on it was you could use chorus and delay at same time, but I don't use chorus much so no biggie. Actually, the chorus on the Zoom is so nice that that's the only reason I wish I could use both. The sounds on this unit are lush, but the sweep of the controls allow for a lot of subtlety if that's what you're going for. Truly, a near perfect unit.

Thanks Matt! The Trace is on it's way!

I recently bought a Zoom AC3 because I am doing a lot of busking and I use passive LR BAGGS magnetic pickup's in both of my guitars, and I use a Roland AC33 battery powered amp (which although a great amp, isn't designed to use with passive pickup's, and also doesn't have a separate reverb knob for both the mic and guitar channels). I do have a pedal board that consists of a LRBaggs Venue DI, lexicon reverb, Ibenez digital delay, and a looper. However running all this on batteries, as well as having to cart it around busking seemed near impossible.. So I did some research and the ZOOM AC3 seemed to do everything my whole pedal board does except that it doesn't have a looper, but that didn't matter as the amp has its own built-in looper. Anyways it has definitely solved the main issues of being able to get more volume, as well as having a tuner, a boost pedal, reverb and whole lot more effects. However I can't say that it is as good as my whole pedal board. I guess it is much like the multi effects pedals that electric guitarists use (they are good, but not as good as a pedal board custom made of individual pedals). Anyway it is a great lightweight, portable, preamp/effects pedal, and I think it is great value, and would definitely recommend them, and would definitely buy another one if anything happened to this one. I didn't think much of the guitar modelling, but I have never been much of a fan of all that digital modelling stuff, and I actually use magnetic pickup's because I like that sound, and don't particularly want to change it in anyway.

I've always tried to get the best tone I could with my acoustic instruments whether playing at home or at a gig. I'm a multi instrumentalist who plays guitar, mandolin and acoustic lapstyle gtrs.
I looked at many similar acoustic multi-effects DI pedals from different companies and finally settled on the Zoom AC-3. I'm not a complainer by nature,so to to write this review is difficult for me, however the truth needs to be told.
I was excited to receive it in mail. I ran through the numerous options on the pedal at home using the power supply provided. Lots of bells and whistles that promise a lot variety in tones. Dialed around on everyone repeatedly to test. Basically this pedal and the promises are a bust and doesn't deliver the options sonically to the discernable ear. I was very puzzled. I spent a good deal of time on it too.
If this weren't enough, another big issue is when I giggled it out. This pedal is worthless on battery power. The 2 AA batteries only powered the pedal for one gig. I replaced batteries again for second gig and they crapped out after a one hour set.. So I replaced the batteries with new ones again and they only lasted 1/2 way through set without a warning light. When it goes, it's just gone and leaves you puzzled as you trouble shoot the issue. Battery power is totally unreliable and I replugged in direct to PA.
So all in all this pedal doesn't deliver on said options and eats batteries like it's candy. I called Sweetwater and traded out to another brand that a couple of other musicians recommended.
I cannot recommend AC-3. Stay away!

I recently purchased the AC-3 in the hopes of ending the equalization nightmare of having my acoustic guitar sound consistently good in all the different venues I perform at. I also own the older A3 as well and while the the A3 is a good unit as well, I find it rather tedious to scroll through all those tiny blue screens to access settings and programs. The newer AC-3 eliminates that hassle...the simple straight forward adjustments are super quick to make my guitar sound amazing wherever I play. I think the program/patch features on the old A3 are pretty useless and more of a gimmick. I can add reverb, chorus, compression as needed at the turn of a dial now.

I use this with a Taylor 914ce with a Fishman Neo humbucking pickup (sorry Taylor - your electronics are all just plain BAD and probably why a Taylor setting is not even on this unit) with input set to magnetic. source and target both off. With reverb and compression at mid way point I simply turn the dial to add chorus or delay if needed. I've seen all the video demonstrations of the many different pre amps available in today's market and I have tried many of the popular ones.....but I don't play in acoustically controlled environments with video processing. I have run the AC-3 at all of my gigs this summer indoor and outdoor. I will say with 100% confidence that the AC-3 is absolutely the best acoustic pre for the REAL working musician !!

I've been playing my Taylor Doyle Dykes Signature Model (DDSM) through a Fender Acoustasonic 150 for about two years. I love the sound and the added effects and the ability to run directly from the amp to the sound system. But this little gem does everything the Acoustasonic does with no added ambient sound. It is clean and crisp has excellent tonal quality. It is compact and easy to learn. Even the sound guy at church remarked about the distinct clarity and pleasantness of the sound. It is a great product.

I wasn't sure if the price was worth playing in public only a few times a year but the first time I hooked this up to the PA system at church I knew it was $$$ well spent. I use it with a Takamine G Series acoustic-electric and a Codoba C5-CE. The Zoom AC-3 almost makes me sound like a pro and I have received numerous compliments on the tone of my guitars with the equalizer and added effects. I also hook it up through my home stereo - a 25 yr old Onkyo system with Cerwin-Vega AT-15 speakers and play away until I see the neighbors down the road come out on their porch and shake their fist in my direction. Hopefully this unit will last a long time.

The zoom AC-3 is an outstanding acoustic guitar processor. I have purchased several acoustic guitar processors over the years and the AC-3 is perhaps the first unit I would actually consider recording with because it"s dsp and effects section is that good. So far i have recorded Its stereo output to dedicated tracks while also capturing the performance with two small condenser mics in a XY configuration and the results far exceed what I was expecting. It appears that Zoom has really stepped up the dsp and effects section quality with the introduction of this unit. Compared to the zoom A3 it"s a much less complex unit to navigate. No multiple buried menus to access effects and parameters. This does come at the expense of less granular control of several parameters that the now discontinued zoom A3 units offers you. If you plan on performing live with the AC3 and being able to store setups to memory is not critical i would say the availability of adjusting parameters instantly without navigating menus, the dedicated knobs to adjust each parameter is a much welcomed feature on this type of unit. In testing the unit for live sound i would say it does pretty much what it says it does. Like its predecessor the A3 is an effective device for restoring some of the lost sound characteristics of an acoustic guitar when plugging in to a pa system. The AC3 direct access eq section makes dialing in the results you want a lot easier than some other units that burry eq adjustments behind menus. The guitar image matching of the devise seems to be more pronounced than earlier models. The source guitar section offers several guitar models to choose from and while i have not tested them all on comparable acoustic guitar bodies the ones i have tried have provided what I would consider very accurate results in restoration of the guitars image. The target guitar option seems to be sort of the icing on the cake, further defining the image with greater detail. If you own or have ever spent time using a A3 unit then you probably already understand how including the target model image helps further define the instruments sound restoration. The effects unit on this model is probably where i have been most impressed. This units effects section really feels and sounds like it was developed specifically for an acoustic guitar not just ported over from some effects algorithms that are used for several other devices the company sells. I have no way of knowing if that is true but what my ears tell me is the AC-3 effects section just sounds outstanding and was likely implemented by a team who actually plays and performs with acoustic guitars. It just sounds and feels like they get it and they knew how to implement those elusive nuances that are important when using various effects on an acoustic guitar. The ability to layer reverbs, the detail in the delays the balance in the chorus algorithms all seem to really shine. The feature that should really grab your attention is the smooth and well designed sound management when engaging and disengaging the effects on the unit. Add a delay or reverb and notice how tastefully it trails off when disengaging the effect. No sudden abrupt departure with a pronounced transition from your wet signal back to your dry signal. The tails on the reverbs and delays are really smooth. The chorus effects are robust and wide. One of the better tremolo effects i have heard in an acoustic processor and while i don"t often utilize pads in the accompaniment of my guitar playing the pad effect on the AC3 in subtle amounts adds a bit of sound design flavor which may inspire you to further explore how layering the chord structure of a particular piece you are performing would benefit the composition. Overall i think Zoom has a home run on their hands with this unit. From the demos on their website i was a bit underwhelmed as to what i should expect once I got my hands on the unit and got to try it for myself. The demo videos don"t do an adequate job in my opinion of conveying the understated features of the unit. The outstanding transition in and out of effects that I discussed above, the accuracy of the model images, the simple elegance of parameter control void of scrolling through LCD screens and most of all the overall sound which might be the best i have ever herd from a acoustic processor box. If you own a A3 like i do you might wonder if this unit is also worth having. I was asking that same question before purchasing the AC3. For me the answer is Im glad i did for all the reasons i discussed above. Now will i sell the A3 and consider this unit its replacement? Perhaps, but as I mentioned the A3 does have some useful granular control of parameters that i like having access to for the occasion when i really am being particular about a specific outcome in sound design. As far as performing goes the AC3 would be the unit that I would take out for gigs. It is just a superior design, an outstanding example of user friendly implemented features at the first level of access. Bottom line, it just sounds better and is easier to use than any other acoustic processor i have tried.

I have been in search of an acoustic pedal for 5 years. I've tried a bunch of them but none of them had everything I needed/wanted. This one has reverb, separate effects, a (legitimate) tuner/mute, boost, and more!
I had the L.R. Baggs for a while but wasn't satisfied because it didn't have a legitimate tuner or effects, although it sounded great.

From the early videos and presentation by Zoom, I get the impression they coined this AC3 after the "other guys". Where Zoom led the pack with the earlier Acoustic Processors, particularly with the benefit of modeling factory patches and saving personal patches.

If you are on the stage, I would be reluctant to call this a "foot pedal". I would mount it on a table next to me to tweak it. On the A2 (my 3rd one, this one finally giving up the ghost), I can use 3 or 4 patches during a song, hands free. Not so with this new model. Zoom also is one of the few who give a stereo out patch, and on this one 2!

I dare say, Zoom does not know their buyers who perform with acoustics. They have made what should be the best for the dollar, yet stymie the "live environment" to mirror what Baggs, Fishman and whoever does it.

I am ordering the old A3, just because of the above, stage friendly, quick patches! Though it's heck for tweaking and they cut off using all the multi-effects as the predecessor model did.

I really dislike giving these guys a low rating. Didn't have to years ago.