JOYO JF-02 Ultimate Overdrive Pedal, Featuring True Bypass Wiring, Tone Switch and Quality Components

When it comes to my pedalboard, my overdrive is always on. Always. I love the tight rhythm sound an overdrive gives an already-distorted channel as the amp is pushed to it’s sweet spot. As far as overdrives go, I’ve always been a Tube Screamer guy and the Joyo JF-02 Ultimate Drive is a completely different beast.I’d heard a lot of good things about the Joyo and the Fulltone OCD it’s based on, but I’ve always been a Tube Screamer guy so when I wasn’t getting that signature mid-range hump it was a little disorienting. Now that I’ve been playing around with it for a while I can really see why people dig this kind of overdrive.There’s a lot of fullness and character to the JF-02 and a ton of gain on tap. There’s so much it can basically be used as a distortion pedal with the gain knob turned high enough. This makes it exceptionally good at pushing clean channel and with the tone cranked past 2 or 3 o’clock it adds a good deal of body to a dirty channel as well.On the downside, the Ultimate Drive gets real muddy, real fast. It’s not as easy to plug-and-play as the Joyo JF-01 Vintage Overdrive, for example. This pedal is almost completely unusable on a dirty channel if the tone knob isn’t past 2 o’clock, and the JF-02 cannot be used as a clean boost because even the level control adds to the break up. Fans of clean tones be warned. The switch meant to cut the mid-frequencies also really doesn’t change the tone all that much to my ears so I’m not really sure why it’s there besides to fully imitate the control layout of the OCD.The build quality on this thing is typical Joyo. Solid aluminum-alloy casing, and this one comes with a nice black powdered finish and a cool red tribal-ish design on the front. Compared to the other pedals in the Joyo line-up, this is certainly one of the more extravagantly-designed. The knobs have a nice turn resistance and while I have read horror stories about the Ultimate Drive and other Joyos, the one I personally received I would have no issues taking to a gig.The Joyo JF-02 Ultimate Drive is a great little pedal for the price; a bridge between overdrive and distortion pedal. For me, it was also a kind of gateway drug into overdrives outside of those based on the Tube Screamer. For only $30, it’s definitely worth your time to check out.Pros:- Sounds like a that should cost over twice as much as the $30 Joyo wants for it.- Great black-powdered finish and cool tribal graphic make it one of the more interesting-looking pedals in the Joyo lineup.- Adds fullness and character with a ton of gain on tap making it great for driving clean channels or beefing up a distorted channel.Cons:- Can get very muddy and isn't as easy to dial-in an amazing tone as other overdrives like the Joyo JF-01.- The pedal is almost completely unusable on a distorted channel with the tone below 2 o'clock.

It's a good OD pedal.I set it up with OD at zero and level at 9. The boost certainly did an excellent job of pushing my amp into some thick overdrive. It doesn't take much from the OD knob to get the breakup you want. Using it past 6 or 7 would suit some, but it gets a little fuzzy for anything I'll need.Pushing the level knob up to 9 did create some noise when the pedal was engaged, but it was less than I expected. Bringing it back down to 6 negated much of that anyway.Pulling back on the level to 6 and increasing the OD to 3 seems like the right spot...for me. It gives me just enough boost and added overdrive to get the hard rock that I like. Of course, we all want something different, and your settings will be different.But the pedal has a wide enough range in each knob that you should be able to get what you want. It's not a distortion pedal, but it does get pretty aggressive. Not sure how it will sound as a standalone gain tool for a solid state amp, but it certainly does an excellent job of driving tubes.The paint job...that's my one dislike. Not that it matters to me all that much, but I think it can affect expectations of people considering it. It LOOKS like a heavy distortion pedal. But it's not.As for hints...I've seen a review from three years ago where the switch wasn't activating, and the red light was staying on. I bought mine "used" through Amazon. When I got it, it was doing the same thing. Maybe it's the same pedal, but I doubt it. All that needed to be done was to tighten the nut on the switch. It was a little loose and was allowing the switch to sag into the pedal. Tightened it up and all was well.As for other complaints about definition and clarity in chords...I can't speak for them, and they may have different ears than mine. For me, everything sounded very clear and defined. It's always possible that tweaking settings between the guitar, amp and pedal can make some difference there. It's also possible that this pedal is being compared to a considerably higher end option. I don't know other than to say that all situations are different.Bottom line is that there seems to be widespread love for this pedal, and the price point is amazing. I'd take this easily over the Boss Super Overdrive, Bad Monkey, Screamin' Blues and many others in its price range. To be honest, for me personally and what I like to hear...ill take it over a TubeScreamer too.