JOYO Dual-Channel Overdrive Guitar Pedal, Pure Analog Circuit with Independent Clipping (Hard/Soft) per Channel, Stackable A to B, True Bypass (King of Kings R-20)

Considering the AnalogMan King of Tone (KoT) pedal has a waiting list that spans a guitarist's entire career, I decided to give this Joyo King of Kings a shot while I wait. And honestly, I've A/B'd against the real deal in a friend's studio, and it's pretty darn close - almost indistinguishable. Now, one costs less than $60 and the other costs hundreds plus a wait. Yes, I'm on the KoT waiting list too and will continue to wait. However, this Joyo does do the job beautifully, looks great, feels great, and sounds fantastic in a mix. You really cannot go wrong with this pedal, especially for the money.And yes, I own hundreds of pedals from budget to boutique, possessing a deep passion for overdrives. Give this one a try. I don't think you'll be disappointed, if not just to have an affordable version of your prized possession at your disposal.

Quality and great sound!

Not a stage worthy unit but, it's great for the living room! I used a mild overdrive on one channel and nasty distortion on the other. Blended they sound pretty good!

For just over $60 you can't go wrong with this pedal!!! I've owned other Blues Breaker style pedals and even had the privilege of playing what this product is trying to emulate. The King of Tone. Personally, I like the way this looks more and the two channels are slightly different than the original. The build quality is like a tank aside from the knobs. The knobs on most JoYo pedals have very little resistance. I took the knobs off and placed rubber O' rings underneath them and it works great! It provides a very low gain clean overdrive that works perfectly if you're playing in worship bands. It's easy to use and understand it's definitely a must buy.

I think this is great. The pedal has two independent channels. You can turn both off, one on, or stack them both on. Each has volume, tone, gain, hard clipping, and soft clipping. I have it right before a cab sim that also has two channels. With different combos of the four channels, I can get every tone from soft rhythm to crunchy accents to bright leads to distorted chugs. I'm particularly a fan of the tone I can get by using an envelope filter right before this. Perfect funky wah wah sound.

The pedal sounds great, but only if it works right. Mine started experiencing significant volume swell (increase) two to five minutes after engaging. So now i have to either leave it on, or use for short solos. No real warranty after the Amazon return period expires. If you are into buying temporary solutions, check this one out!

It’s a soft spying pedal with great drive.

I'm in love with the right side of the King of Kings (Channel "A"). It sounds DELICIOUS across most of the gain range. The left side (Channel "B") is relatively lower-gain. IMO it is a serviceable clean boost or always-on overdrive. But you aren't buying this pedal for channel B. You're buying it for stacking A into B, and they do stack very well. (This pedal doesn't have a B to A option, FWIW.)I was also impressed by the quality of materials and fit and finish on this pedal. The enclosure is THICK metal with a nicely anodized finish. I found a "King of Kings Dismantled" video that reveals attractive through-hole audio components. I also was relieved to find out that the metallic finished knobs weren't an eyesore in person like they are in the product photos - unless you're playing in a lightbox, they won't stick out much.I'm returning it for one dealbreaker: there is an audible "POP!" into the amp each time I turn either channel on or off. The pedal soft-touch true bypass switching which some people covet for the soft, nearly silent footswitch action. Unfortunately, the implementation was botched on the King of Kings circuit, and there's no reason for it. There are some playing situations where this might be a minor annoyance, and others where it's unusable. The manufacturer acknowledges another customer's comment about this in the product Q&A by dismissing it as "the majority of the customers can accept it, just depend on individuals." What a disappointing approach to customer feedback compared to an overall fantastic pedal. I was rooting for you, Joyo!One smaller issue that would not have been a dealbreaker for me at this price: I also found both sides lacking in volume, regardless of the dip switch settings. I had to crank volume up pretty high (around 12 or 2:00 for unity), and got significantly more noise than my other overdrive pedals, even when using just one channel. (I use high quality isolated power and know how to clamp down on other noise sources. It's not a SUPER noisy pedal but it is noticeable.For context: I play rock-ish stuff on a Telecaster through a Vox amp, and most of the time I love playing with my Morning Glory.

Great tones for price point, transparent mid tone heaven.

This pedal provides beautiful, crystal clear low to mid gain tones from almost clean with a hint of breakup to light distortion. There are two entirely independent channels which can also be stacked. Each has it’s own pair of hard / soft clipping switches providing 4 clipping modes (overdrive, distortion, both off, both on). Even with both off there is a lovely transparent break up on a higher gain setting. With all of these options the sheer range of tones achievable from this high quality pedal is incredible. Another affordable high quality product from Joyo

The Joyo King of Kings (Dual Crunch) is a dual overdrive pedal, meant to give an analog sounding distortion. It can be set for very subtle overdrive (distorts only when playing more aggressively), or full overdrive, where the lead guitar has a very beautiful violin-like tone and sustain. I like all the adjustment options that come with this pedal, so you can customize the tone just to your liking. The construction, and even the packaging, are top-notch. Seems to be low noise also.

Though the foot switches are silent type and they don't make a click sound, they make an audible "pop" sound when engaged. The most noticeable situation is when a reverb effect is engaged. Besides that the tone is good, at least for me, but I couldn't bear the "pop" sound every time I engaged the foot switches. So I returned it.

t’s a great pedal for the price, and it really does improve your tone, it adds clarity, presence, and that extra 10% that makes everything feel more alive. But don’t expect a true King of Tone at this price point.One thing worth mentioning is the texture of the sound. When I switch from this pedal to my Tumnus or my OCD, the tone suddenly feels cleaner and more polished, almost like a sound engineer tightened everything up. With the King of Kings, there’s a slight “busy” character in the upper mids, not noise or hiss, but a subtle frequency layer that makes the tone feel a bit more crowded. It still sounds good, but it’s not as dry or refined as higher‑end drives.Overall, it’s a very solid pedal with great tone enhancement, just with a slightly less polished character compared to more expensive overdrives.