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

Reviews are difficult to write or decipher the scoop from when hyperbole is so prevalent and the 5 star system has no room for error. If a rating is a 5 it's perfect and if it's below 5 it must be flawed...it sucks is what the mind immediately thinks, "3 stars?! This must be s***!!" There's no room for a product to have pros and cons in a lot of respects, it either is or isn't worth buying.The Joyo JF-02 Ultimate OverDrive pedal has had a big rep the last few years for being a top rate Fulltone OCD clone. I've never owned an OCD but have played them quite a bit in guitar stores that demo it...long enough to tell it was great and made the Squier Strat/Solid State amp demo rig sound totally happening.The JF-02 absolutely captures the sound of the OCD, the tubey character and very cool dynamics it allows the amps tone to display. I don't have an A-B test experience except on YouTube, not in person, but it sounds just as good as other overdrive pedals that are found in most boards (TubeScreamer, BOSS, etc).I love how this thing sounds through my Strat single coils, keeping a decent bedroom/apartment level is no problem with a nice amp on its nicest clean setting and the JF-02's level on no more than 3-ish. It's a full bodied, inspiring tone perfect for practice and with some level tweaks and mic placement it can be a great recording tone too.I'm still discovering the different tones and uses the pedal can provide, so I'll play it more and put some other comments up if any huge revelation takes place. But in the instance of this pedal, the hype and "worst kept secret" status is deserved... something this cool was bound to attract attention, "cheap perfect clone"or not. This thing, on first impressions, is a total bargain and a well deserved 5 star pedal. It is very much like the Pyle "SM-57" mic clone that is also on Amazon for an unbelievable price for the quality it possesses. The JF-02 is even better in quality ratio and sheer brilliance than the Pyle mic. If you need further clarification, these reviews on Amazon and the tons of YouTube videos and guitar forum threads all give this pedal unbelievable praise, and it's absolutely deserved. Excellent.

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.