JOYOModulation Multi Effects Pedal R Series Dual Channel Stereo Input and Output 9 Effects for Electric Guitar (Vision R-09)

I'll be honest, until it was suggested this pedal wasn't even on my radar of overdrives. I was looking for overdrives and this one was suggested. I like what I've heard about the JOYO R-Series, so I decided to take a gamble on it.With a name like "Maximum" you'd think this was thick, chunky, bordering on distortion overdrive. But, you'd be wrong. In actuality, this based on the Fulldrive 2 MOSFET which is based on the original 808 Tube Screamer. It's so close to the Fulldrive that the enclosure is even the same color. But, that's fine because that's a great pedal and this one is too.You have 6 controls; 4 knobs and 2 switches. The knobs are mostly your standard fare settings: Tone, Gain, and Volume, with an inclusion of Boost for the Boost switch. Think of the Boost switch as a second stage overdrive (because it is) and the Boost knob is the Gain for the Boost stage. The Boost knob does nothing if the Boost switch is not engaged.But, the real meat is in the two switches. The left switch toggles between a hard clip, flat response, and what it calls "Smooth." The original Tube Screamer had a bit of a mid range bump, and that's basically what the Smooth setting is. Flat, as you might infer, is a flat EQ response. Hard Clip gives you increased headroom. I initially thought it really boosted the gain, but it doesn't. It's really not a more overdriven sound, but there is a very noticeable output increase.The second switch goes from your rudimentary standard transistors to the MOSFET transistors. The takeaway here is that the MOSFET transistors behave very much like the Hard Clip on the other switch.Now, that the introductions are made, here's my takeaways from it. If you set up the Maximum on the Smooth and Standard settings, you get a very good Tube Screamer tone. The knobs all work along all levels from low to high. Sometimes you'll see pedals where gain at 10 o' clock is not any different than 1 o'clock. But in this pedal, it's pretty smooth across the board on all knobs. It's true for all settings as well. The flat mode will take out that midrange hump. The interesting thing being in standard mode is that if your gain and boost are in the same territory, let's say they're both around 1 o'clock, the boost switch will make little if no impact. No volume difference or increased gain. It's like they're not stacking, but rather a different stage all together. So, I learned that I can turn the Gain knob down to like 9 - 11 o'clock and the Boost to 3 or 5 o'clock and you'll hear a definite switch.Hard Clip on the other hand is a different animal. The volume on stage 1 is greatly amplified over the other two options. Similarly valued Gain and Boost now show increased gain when enabling the Boost stage. It feels like it's stacking now. If you like it loud, this is where you want to be. Maybe.The very odd thing is that the MOSFET mode feels exactly like the Hard Clip. Except, that you can EQ it in the Flat and Smooth settings. It's so close, in fact, that if you are in Hard Clip, you can switch between MOSFET and Standard and hear no difference at all. It's basically the same setting. Meaning, you can't hard clip the MOSFET to get distortion tones. The Boost seems to stack in all MOSFET configurations.That being said there is a lot of tone in this inexpensive box. Kudos to JOYO for bringing tone within reach of everyone.Outside of tonal range, the Maximum is in a metal enclosure and feels pretty sturdy. Not like a tank like a BOSS pedal, but it doesn't feel flimsy like a cheap knockoff pedal or a Danelectro. The R-Series have these cool indicator lights on the front and back that illuminate across the entire pedal instead of just a little LED. Even the Drive and Boost indicator lights are rectangular instead of round. Gives it a bit of a futuristic "TRON" like feel. If that's something you hate, there is a toggle on the bottom of the pedal to turn off the front and back lights (also if you love it, you can also always have them on).I seriously love this pedal. When matched with my Big Muff clone in "Smooth" mode, the mid bump of the Maximum compensates for the mid scoop of the Muff and makes a really killer tone. Alone, it can tackle most overdriven rock, blues, and country tones from the 70's to current day.

I'm a big fan of Joyo pedals and this one does not disappoint, I got it on sale and I'm delighted about the price.What is Preamp House? It's a two channel programmable preamp with one channel voiced clean and one voiced dirty. The instructions are not good but after reading them and a bit of experimenting the Preamp House delivered the goods for me.You use the controls to set up and create your clean sound, then press and hold the clean channel selector footswitch to store the sound in the clean channel position. Then repeat the process for the distortion channel, press and hold to store the sound. You're now ready to play.A three position toggle switch controls where the single cab IR is implemented, it can be off or on and the switch allows you to put it on the 1/4" output, the XLR output or both outputs. The single IR is a 4x12 loaded with Celestion speakers, fortunately for me that is my favorite cab configuration. The IR adds a lot of low-end fullness and reduces high frequency fizz on distorted tones.A single mono effect send and return loop is located prior to the main output. I'm currently running a Joyo "Atmosphere" reverb effects pedal in the loop and it sounds great.The "Clean" channel sounds really great, the Fender models are my favorite but there are many great tones available. The "Dirty" channel can really crunch and sing, the EVH voice is outstanding, I like all the dirty sounds and have had a lot of fun experimenting with them. A favorite feature is how the Dirty channel gets cleaner as you turn down the guitar driving the Preamp House.I've done most of my playing and testing of the Preamp House pedal using a Gibson SG and a Line6 Variax Standard guitar. Clean acoustic guitar sounds are full and rich, crunchy sounds easily go from Clapton to AC-DC to Stones and even Black Sabbath.One caution, the Joyo Preamp House requires more current than a 9-volt battery can provide. I tried a brand new Duracell 9-volt and it would make the lights light up but the pedal produced no audio. When I powered the pedal with a 500ma power supply output I was rewarded with big rich sound. (Hint: the Joyo Atmosphere pedal also likes more current than a 9-volt battery can deliver).I personally like this Joyo Preamp House pedal much better than the more expensive SansAmp or Strymon Iridium. While the Iridium allows more IR capability it does not have an effects loop nor channel switching nor the ability to store your settings.The overall build quality on the Joyo Preamp House is excellent. The metal work is heavy duty and all the controls feel good and solid, the pots are smooth without any scratchiness. The paintwork, nomenclature and silk screening are all very high quality as well.The Joyo Preamp House turns my little battery powered Bose S1 FRFR speaker into a fire breathing Marshall or a Fender Deluxe Reverb or something in-between, I could easily gig with this combination and be happy with the dynamics and tone.The Joyo Preamp House WAY exceeded my expectations and fulfills a need. It allows me to play rock guitar without dragging along a dedicated guitar amp. The XLR output can drive a PA system direct while the 1/4" output can drive a stage monitor amp like my Bose S1 or I can turn off the IR on the 1/4" output and plug into one of my Marshall combo amps.Preamp House is a great pedal, great tones, great features and a great price.Good luck and good music to all!