Hello there, and welcome back to yet another guitar pedal review! As you may have noticed, I have been publishing several guitar pedal articles and demos as I started purchasing guitar pedals, mostly overdrives, distortions, and boosts, to test with tube amps and reactive loads in a direct recording setup.
Table of Contents
I wanted to try as many pedals as possible and document my experience here for you guys. As I had a growing interest in Klon-style pedals, I wanted to give it a go and try a budget-friendly clone of the Klon! 🙂 As you can see, this time we will look at the Joyo Tauren overdrive pedal!
Like I always do, I will do my best to provide as many details as possible about the Joyo company and the Tauren pedal and a brief demo video in this Joyo Tauren review.
TL;DR
There are some guitar pedals that have become a mystery and a myth due to the lack of their availability. Klon Centaur is possibly the most hyped and one of he rarest transparent overdrive pedals out there in guitar history. Since it is not easy to find these brand new, used Klons are extremely pricey (don’t believe me? check it out here!)
I think it should be beyond anyone’s comprehension to pay 4-5K for an overdrive pedal. But I get that. Since these were not actively produced, Klon became a mysterious, collectable guitar pedal that only boutique-minded guitar players could ever obtain! 🙂
Luckily, these days, most of the myths and mysteries about guitar pedals are long gone and demystified and deciphered. You can actually buy clone Klons starting from a very affordable price tag to relatively affordable ones.
Joyo Tauren is probably the most affordable, yet one of the sweetest sounding Klon clones, which is often slipped through most guitar players’ shopping carts. The overall build quality, packaging and cool little features that they added to the product is too good for the price tag!
Soundwise, Tauren has become one of my favourite pedals despite being one of the cheapest. There are no bad sounds coming out of this pedal. Any combination of the basic volume, gain and tone controls yield great musical tones. It also features a really cool LED stripe which you can set it to always on, sync with the pedal’s status or disable.
As, we, guitar players are bit of a snob and tend to look down on affordable gear, you may find yourself thinking why this cheap, Klon clone sounds so good? Maybe, it’s because it’s just another Chinese company copying others’ designs. But is it not what almost all guitar pedal and amp manufacturers do? Once you start realising this, you will reconcile with the idea and become a lot happier, I promise! 🙂
cigilovic.com totally approves Joyo Tauren and recommends anyone who is curious about the legendary, mythical and mysterious Klon sounds but doesn’t have 4-5K to spare! Get yourself one and ready to be blown away!
About Joyo Technology
JOYO Technology Co., Ltd. was established in 2006 in Changzhou, China. Initially, the company focused on producing guitar accessories such as tuners, mechanical metronomes, electronic metronomes, and EQs.
As the electroacoustic market expanded, JOYO diversified its product line to include effects pedals and guitar amplifiers. The company’s commitment to innovation led to the development of proprietary acoustic technologies and the acquisition of several utility patents. Best Tools For Guitars at Stewmac.com
Their product lineup is extensive and includes electroacoustic traditional Chinese instruments, amplifiers for both traditional and modern instruments (including acoustic, electric guitar, bass, electronic drum, and keyboard amps), smart live-streaming amps, portable busking amps, cabinets, effects pedals, power supplies, audio interfaces, wireless audio systems, tuners, metronomes, acoustic guitar pickups, capos, electronic drum practice pads, instrument cables, and more.
What sets JOYO apart is their proprietary acoustic technology, supported by several utility patents. They have built strong partnerships with well-known musical instrument manufacturers both in China and internationally, and their products are widely appreciated by musicians around the world.
Over the years, JOYO has collaborated with renowned musical instrument manufacturers both domestically and internationally. While working in the musical instrument industry, I had the chance to meet people from the Joyo company during the Frankfurt Musikmesse Exhibition (R.I.P.). Lovely company and lovely people!
Joyo Tauren
Joyo Tauren is a pedal that I was really looking forward to testing one day. It was available on my local e-commerce shop, Alza.sk for many years. However, whenever I was ready to purchase one, it would go out of stock! Eventually, I got myself one and immediately started testing.
I had no idea what Tauren meant, nor was I interested. But somehow Joyo Tauren made me think that it was a clone of a Klon pedal. I think the overall naming, colour scheme they used got me into thinking this was true.
And I think it is! After a quick research, I validated my thinking and got even more excited while waiting for the delivery. As you may know, Klon Centaur is possibly the most hyped and one of he rarest transparent overdrive pedals out there in guitar history. Since it is not easy to find these brand new, used Klons are extremely pricey.
I think it should be beyond anyone’s comprehension to pay 4-5K for an overdrive pedal. But I get that. Since these were not actively produced, Klon became a mysterious, collectable guitar pedal that only boutique-minded guitar players could ever obtain! 🙂 Check out the best guitar pickup company, Seymour Duncan here!
Luckily, these days, most of the myths and mysteries about guitar pedals are long gone and demystified and deciphered. You can actually buy clone Klons starting from a very affordable price tag to relatively affordable ones.
Joyo Tauren is probably the most affordable, yet one of the sweetest sounding Klon clones, which is often slipped through most guitar players’ shopping carts.
It’s extremely easy to use and features a basic “Volume“, “Gain” and “Tone” controls. The colour scheme, as well as the optional matching LED stripes around the pedal, is one of the coolest things I have ever seen on a pedal for a long time!
Before we jump to the review section, let’s briefly look at the tech specs here.
Joyo Tauren Tech Specs
| Joyo Tauren | Tech Specs |
|---|---|
| Type | Overdrive |
| Controls | Vol, Tone, Gain |
| Footswitchs | 1 |
| I/O | 6.35mm |
| Input Impedance | 1MΩ |
| Output Impedance | 560Ω |
| Power Consumption | 25mA |
| Working Voltage | DC 9V (centre negative) |
| Signal Bypass Type | Bypass |
| LED Mod | Sync, Always, Off |
| Battery powered | No |
| Dimensions | 109X67X48mm |
| Weight | 248g |
| Made in | China |
As you can see from the tech specs table, it’s pretty much featuring a standard, traditional overdrive/distortion pedal template.
Joyo Tauren Review & Sound Demo (no talking)
As I always do, I prepared a brief sound demo for Joyo Tauren. For the demo, I used my Fender American Standard Stratocaster and my Epiphone SG Custom Ebony and my usual setup featuring my Marshall JVM410HJS, Two Notes Torpedo Captor X SE, RME Babyface PRO FS and Genelec DP8020 DPM.
As you will hear and see, I also used my EHX 720 Looper to jam with the pedal. For the effects, I also applied the Lexicon PCM Native Bundle reverb plugin in the post.
I know it’s a long video, but I tried to show all the gain range on the clean channel of my amp. Ending up with long videos in which I actually play guitar is a good sign for a guitar pedal (just saying!). Hope you will enjoy!
Joyo Tauren Review
As mentioned in the previous sections, Joyo Tauren is yet another Klon clone by Joyo Technology Co., LTD. The overall package, attention to detail, and overall value are top notch from the very first moments!
FYI, Joyo Tauren belongs to the “R Series Pedals“, and this R series features tons of different Joyo pedals; you may want to check them out. Ads - Check out these ads to support this web page
It comes in a simple yet nice-looking box with clear labelling as shown below. As far as I remember, there was nothing in the box except the pedal. I think no one would ever need a manual with this pedal. In case you are interested in the Joyo Tauren manual, you should visit the website.
Joyo Tauren features simple “Volume“, “Gain” and “Tone” controls as with any distortion/overdrive pedals on the market. It’s not clearly stated whether this pedal features a “True Bypass” switch. It just says “Bypass“.
As I mentioned, the colours used on this pedal make it really look like a more expensive pedal. Although, cosmetically appealing at first glance, the shiny knobs on the pedal are made of plastic. There’s nothing wrong with them. But it feels a little weird to have a solid chassis, switches, and plastic knobs.
This is not a complaint but rather an observation. I know it would have increased the costs if Joyo used solid metal knobs. But I think it would add a little bit of the “cool vibes!” to this wonderful pedal.
Joyo Tauren features standard input and output jacks on each side and both sides feature a pair of screws to keep the bottom part of the chassis in place.
You may ask “Are these the screws we need to loosen to access battery compartment?“. Good question! As far as I know, there’s no battery compartment in this pedal. So it can only work with a standard 9V DC power supply (centre negative).
Personally, I don’t mind not having a battery compartment in my pedals. It’s sometimes good to have the option, but I always use my pedals on my pedalboard powered by Cioks DC7 power supply. So can’t complain about this.
While talking about the lacking battery compartment, I would like to also share this image that belongs to the bottom part of the pedal. As you can see, there’s clearly no compartment available here. But we have the coolest feature!
There’s a 3-way switch for the LED stripe that covers the upper and lower part of the pedal! I mean, the first time I saw that switch, I was a bit sceptical and thought it was just a mode for the gain structure. When I noticed the LED stripe, it started making more sense! 🙂 Music Plugin Deals at Pluginboutique.com
You can set the LED stripe in synch with the pedal’s status (ON/OFF), you can disable it, or you can set it to always-on mode. Really cool!
As you can see from the image below, the LED stripe on the bottom edge is clearly visible here. This is just visuals, but I find it a very cool feature! I think Joyo implements this feature on most of the pedals they manufacture (as far as I know).
Last but not least, here’s an image from the upper part of the pedal that has the 9V DC power in. As you can see, the LED stripe also covers the edges on this side of the pedal.
Verdict
Let’s talk about the sounds and the tone. As I mentioned, Joyo Tauren is possibly one of the most affordable Klon clones on the market and somehow not so popular among the other options that dominate this niche segment of Klon pedals.
Joyo’s built quality is pretty good, but it kind of gives a “cheap” impression. I think it’s due to Joyo being yet another Chinese brand which manufactures all the guitar pedal circuits just like any other Chinese company.
I think this is nothing negative, as all the other non-Chinese companies pretty much are doing the same thing all day long! But we, guitar players, are a bit of snobs and usually look down on affordable options like Joyo’s take on this legendary circuit. Ads - Check out these ads to support this web page
Joyo Tauren has a very musical gain range, fully usable at all settings. There was not even a single combination of settings that pierced my ears. Everything sounded so musical and sweet at all times.
You can actually see from the video that I just kept playing without any signs of boredom. And this section of the video that I uploaded to YouTube is just a portion of my hours of playing. I couldn’t stop playing this lovely pedal!
Note that this is my first ever Klon clone experience, so I am not the most experienced player in this field. However, I can confidently say that Joyo Tauren has one of the sweetest drive characteristics I have ever played!
The overdrive is so transparent that it just adds that sweet compression while remaining very open and dynamic at the same time. As a matter of fact, my experience with Joyo Tauren got me triggered so badly that I started looking for “more proper” Klon clones!
Because I started thinking if this affordable Klon sounds and feels like this, I can’t imagine how a proper one would sound! After battling with the G.A.S., I got myself a Crazy Tube Circuits Unobtanium RAW, which features a Klon and Dumble-style circuits in one pedal! I will be publishing the sound demo and review article soon, so stick around!
At the same time, my experience with Joyo Tauren got me questioning how much we, as guitar players, are being ripped off by guitar pedal companies! If this texture and gain characteristics can be manufactured and listed at these price tags that Joyo offers, I think most pedal manufacturers rip us off pretty severely!
You may not like my opinions here because Tauren is just another clone of Klon, it’s a Chinese company that copies others’ designs…etc But as I said, this is how it goes. Do you guys know any pedals or any new sounds that a guitar pedal manufacturer proposed to the guitar community, which changed how we play and produce guitar sounds recently?
No! All the guitar amp and pedal manufacturers start with reverse engineering of the available circuits, and if they want to take it to the next step, they modify these and come up with their “own” thing. Sometimes they simply have to clone a circuit because that’s the demand! IK Multimedia Tonex - Cutting Edge Guitar Tones!
As much as it sounds weird to most of my readers, I must say I’m extremely impressed by Joyo Tauren, and I can confidently recommend it to anyone who is looking for an affordable Klon clone.
I’m pretty sure that you will be blown away and your guitar mind will play tricks on you, doing its best to make you think that it’s a bad pedal because it’s made by Joyo!
But eventually, your guitarist mind will surrender, and you will be a happy guitarist with an extremely affordable Klon copy!
Where to Buy Joyo Tauren?
Joyo Tauren is giving me the vibes of a discontinued pedal when I look at my favourite online music stores. Even though Thomann lists dozens of Joyo pedals, mainly from the R series of pedals, Tauren hasn’t been listed there for a long time.
Joyo’s official website still lists Tauren as one of the pedals that is actively manufactured under the R series.
Maybe it’s a good idea for you to check out Thomann from time to time. Also, feel free to contact them. Maybe they can relist this pedal.
Check out Joyo Tauren on Thomann here
I got mine from my favourite online local shop, Alza.sk and for quite a long time, Tauren has been available there (sometimes goes out of stock!). Alza is not a global store that ships anywhere in the world. So, if you are in their service zone, you may want to consider this option too.
Check out Joyo Tauren on Alza here
Luckily, Joyo Tauren is widely available on Amazon stores. You may want to check it out there as well.
Check out Joyo Tauren on Amazon here
I hope you have enjoyed this Joyo Tauren review article and found it helpful! Thanks for visiting my blog and supporting me so far! I will hopefully see you in the next review here!
Osman Cenan Çiğil – cigilovic.com
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