Joyo Argos: Cheap Drive Pedal that Sounds Way Too Good!

#guitar #best #pedal #overdrive #joyo #joyopedals #amp #highgain #metal #mesa #boogie #cheap #inexpensive
I bought this pedal on a whim and I have to say, I am not disappointed! For $40 US, I don't think you can find a better deal, let alone a better boost for a high gain amp. The Meager price point shouldn't sway you from knowing this thing can keep up with some of the best OD's I have come across... it is worthy of grabbing for yourself.
Correction: the Precision Drive also features a 6-way attack knob.
Joyo Argos Pedal:
www.joyoaudio.com/product/245...
0:00 Intro
0:18 What is this pedal?
2:04 Full Mix Demo
3:35 In Depth Review
5:18 On the Clean Channel
7:55 High Gain Tone Tweaking
11:40 Final Thoughts

[@BaritoneGoatStudio]

Correction: the Precision Drive is also a 6- way attack knob. For links to all products featured, check out the video description! No paid promotion or sponsored products used in this demonstration. Thanks.

[@BrainDeadTX]

Thank you for reviewing this pedal, it really sounds good and useful, price is great too

[@omatheny]

This! I picked up this pedal a few months ago. From the naming of the knobs, I figured it was like a Precision Drive. I wasn't wrong. For the price, this pedal is awesome and sounds great! Great demo!

[@BaritoneGoatStudio]

It holds its own against pedals I paid 3 times as much for! I might have to shoot it out with some other high end pedals.

[@heyoh6482]

Setting 3 and 4 sounded glorious to me, great pedal and nice playing man.

[@scentia_est]

Great review! Thank you for all the details.

[@waynefaircloth3423]

SOLD. Gonna pick one of these up and see what I can wrangle out of it. Great review BTW. Have a great one 🙂

[@BaritoneGoatStudio]

It is definitely worth the $40, especially if you were looking for a more modern high gain attack style boost!

[@BruceBalensiefer]

Damn, dude. You're getting good tones outta this thing! I'm gonna have to try this. Can't lose at $40 with free returns.

[@BaritoneGoatStudio]

Definitely takes the loose low end on the Mesa and tightens it up. It seems to have a similar effect on any high gain circuit. For $40, throw it in front of any crunch channel and it will punch it up. I am considering getting an Orange amp just to use this pedal! 😂

[@billyturk8117]

Just ordered one, partially due to your demo. That thing tightened up your recto something fierce!

[@BaritoneGoatStudio]

Once I engaged it the first time I was like “how?” It is a much simpler and cleaner boost on the upper settings than some of the pedals I paid over twice as much for. The one limitation I found was that it doesn’t push into the amp quite as hard as some other boost/ODs… but it gets you that attack and almost twang like sustain with low tuned high gain!

[@billyturk8117]

@@BaritoneGoatStudio low tuned high gain is pretty much where I live lol. I've been using the horizon drive hx model so I figured I'd give a physical version a shot since I have a few preamps and a mesa type amp. Would love to see a demo of this with the long bois!

[@B4its2L8guy]

I picked one up. This thing is awesome.

[@polynomial9600]

Excellent review! Thank you

[@cj_phillips]

Did you find that cranking the knobs increased noise despite the gate being on? I just got one of these and love it, but find turning the tone and level past noon increases noise even with the gate fully engaged. I also noticed the first three attack positions are noisier than the others. Thanks for your help!

[@BaritoneGoatStudio]

The first three attack settings have some level of saturation or clipping going on. They tend to drive more noise since they add more gain. I found the gate isn’t as effective on these settings. I also found with the gate fully up it was pretty quiet in regard to feedback. The tone knob will increase the high end noise floor, (static hiss like noise) but the gate seemed to cut off the actual signal so I got no feedback. Since this video I have always ran an independent noise gate at the end of my pedal chain or in my loop depending on the amp. In the loop is the only way I have gotten a fully quiet amp.

[@cj_phillips]

Thanks that’s really good to know! I was wondering if I had a defective pedal, but it sounds pretty similar to what you’re describing. Thanks for your help!

[@tyrannosaurusriffs]

That thing does sound good. Dude, your mix section sounded insanely good. 🤘

[@BaritoneGoatStudio]

I also picked up some Waves audio plug-ins recently. They have most of their stuff for like $30 right now! Go pick up their C6 multi band compressor! So good!

[@Craig52-zq1bt]

How could you tell? Metal sucks.

[@Jared98695]

How well does this pedal handle lower tunings like B and even F?

[@BaritoneGoatStudio]

the demo track is in drop B. and given how tight it is, low tunings are really what it does best! It is based on a precision drive which was developed to help 7 and 8 string guitars.

[@RELENTLESS65]

Ordered the pedal because of this video. Definitely worth it for the price.

[@BaritoneGoatStudio]

Without a doubt! Cleans up the flub and and punches up the mid range! Construction is on point too! Can’t beat it!

[@nicholasrella6904]

The JOYO Ultimate Drive is one of the best OCD style pedals out there. Definitely a must have pedal considering the price.

[@Brusko661]

hi whch one do you prepare this joyo argos? or the precision drive made by demonfx. i have a tight budget and need to boost my sound, i like this two pedal because they are based on other pedal the ksr eros and precision drive horizon devices.

[@BaritoneGoatStudio]

The joyo stuff seems to be better made than the Demonfx on average, but they are really close. I would trust the joyo more.

[@Brusko661]

​@@BaritoneGoatStudiothanks man i appreciate your reply. i will take your advice. ill subscribe to your channel

[@Chugg.Norris]

Demonfx actually built better than joyo.... Have you actually opened the pedals side by side?

[@bradstagner4740]

Just ordered one myself. Got it secondhand on guitar center for $20!! I’ll be using it to boost my Revv G3 pedal that I’m running as my pre-amp in the effects loop. The high gain tone on my amp is ass!! Hopefully this will give the Revv G3 a lil bit more harmonic complexity and dynamics.

[@BaritoneGoatStudio]

It should give you better control over the low-end and mids and more push. I have used it in front of a Joyo preamp with good results. Are you running the G3 in front of your amp or into the power section through the effects return?

[@bradstagner4740]

@@BaritoneGoatStudio power section. It sounds terrible as a distortion pedal. Too much noise!! It’ll be nice to have the extra gate available on the Argos.

[@Paul_Lenard_Ewing]

Even the Precision Drive is a clone. It is a Pro Tone Attack Drive that came out years before it. It doesn't stop there either. Demon FX do a clone Of the Precision Drive called a Precision Drive, LOL. Even the casing is cloned. Where do I stop? All are a modded Tube Screamer. Different OpAmp, add a high pass filter and a gate. Done.

[@WilDBeestMF]

The DemonFX is more like a direct 1-1 rip off than inspired tbf 😅

[@WelderMetal]

good job, thank you /,,/

[@gazjo85]

Would be intersting to compare it with the demon fx precision deive clone

[@BaritoneGoatStudio]

I suspect they would be similar. It would be interesting to see how close they are though. It would go to show how easily circuits can be consistently cloned. The build quality on the Joyo is a little more substantial than the Demonfx TS808 clone I had a while back.

[@adamstein9333]

What’s the best rectifier in a pedal? Do You recommend?

[@BaritoneGoatStudio]

As far as what I have played, the TC Electronic Dual Wreck is up there. You can get pretty close with most high gain preamps. For full saturated tone with hearty lows, the Amptweaker tight metal pro II was a solid one I had for a while. Very versitle, but it can be dialed in like a recto. These pedals you run into your effects return. I don’t know if any reall good straight distortion pedals that will do it. Maybe the Soldano Overdrive pedal when used in front of an amp can get pretty close to a Mesa.

[@DylanHutto]

The mix you used for the demo was sick as FUCK dude! Sounds amazing! Could you shoot this out with the precision drive VST?

[@BaritoneGoatStudio]

That is an interesting concept. I have the Dr. Drive plug-in which is supposed to be as close as possible to the real deal… I have a clean DI of the track I used in the mix, so I should be able to that. I kinda want to start doing that with other software pedals now!

[@DylanHutto]

@@BaritoneGoatStudio Glad you think so! I figured it might be interesting to see what free VST vs Inexpensive hardware gets you and how similar they sound

[@drinix]

Would love to see more of that kind of thing. Keep up the great work!

[@AtTheSourceStudios]

Wjat drums did you use on this? Sound nice and metally 🙂

[@BaritoneGoatStudio]

This one was get good drums modern and massive sample pack. But I also added some multi-band compression on the kick and snare and a smashed room mic bus with some fairly wide stereo expansion. I would have to pull the mix up to see specifically what kind of processing was done.

[@Lordbaccus]

mine will be here this Sunday! $45.06 w/ Tax's & shipping to my door

[@ramsrosales2723]

What is your guitar tuning while making this video? 😊

[@BaritoneGoatStudio]

I have this guitar in Drob B tuning.

[@Brad143]

Hi buddy,do you recommend for this Pedal.

[@BaritoneGoatStudio]

Absolutely. For the price, it is pretty unbeatable for what it does.

[@Brad143]

​​@@BaritoneGoatStudioThanks for your advice buddy,i'm just order...

[@SlowDeath1993]

Try R15 preamp house Joyo

[@adamstein9333]

Amazing tone but We all know The Dual Rectifier is doing most of the work lol! Best Amp in the world! I said it! I had a Triple and the Second Channel Orange with or even without a boost is My holy Grail tone!

[@Durkhead]

Why do all these KZbin guitar channel mixes sound way better than the mainstream bands

[@BaritoneGoatStudio]

Ha ha! Idk if I would go that far! It definitely gets weird once you add vocals to a mix. But it has become much easier to get decent mixes in a home studio these days!

[@matttaylor1449]

Can’t really compare a full mix to a guitar focused only mix. To the guitar player’s ears the guitar mix will sound better.

[@Durkhead]

@@matttaylor1449 nope its cause mainstream artist over process everything till its a dried out crispy fried carcass

[@Chugg.Norris]

Completely different doing guitar tracks demos... and a whole band mix... it's not the same 😂😂

[@Durkhead]

@@Chugg.Norris how is it different?

[@warren4838]

is it versatile?

[@BaritoneGoatStudio]

Not super versatile. The first two modes have some clipping, so you could get some OD crunch tones on a clean channel. The main use for this is for tone shaping high gain amps with flubby low ends. It work really well to tighten up low end and give high end bite. You can however soften up the tone and saturate a crunch channel into a more aggressive attack too by pulling back the tone knob a little and giving it a bump in the gain.

[@DavidRavenMoon]

You’re over complicating what’s going on. The rotary switch is charging the value of the input cap. So it progressively rolls off low end. Thats all. That gives you less drive into the circuit. It’s not “desaturating” it’s just now your guitar single isn’t as loud. Increase the gain to compensate.

[@BaritoneGoatStudio]

Since this video I have started getting more into circuitry and this was one of the first pedals I opened up and pulled apart. Individual capacitors for each setting on the rotary makes a lot of sense and the drop off in gain makes sense as a result. The gain on this pedal isn’t my favorite and doesn’t sound anything like any of the TS pedals I have used even though it utilizes a symmetrical soft clipping diode circuit. I am sure if I compare them one to one I could find the difference between them that might be the difference in the feel of each gain circuit. 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@Chugg.Norris]

Added alot of clank and made it sound kind of weak. Id get tired this metal zone pedal tone after about 30minutes.

[@BaritoneGoatStudio]

Which amp are you using it in front of? I find the first two setting a more forgiving with the amount of top end it adds. Tends to keep the girth of the signal. The tone knob is pretty dynamic on 3 and 4, but setting 5 and 6 tend to be all about the top end. I like this mostly for an amp with a lot of low end like the Mesa.

[@FretFriendGWaL]

Sounds wikkid!

[@henriquecorreia9917]

all Joyo pedals are clones

[@BaritoneGoatStudio]

That is correct. This is a Precision Drive Clone.

[@Craig52-zq1bt]

Can not tell because metal sucks.

[@BaritoneGoatStudio]

@@Craig52-zq1bt correct! 🫡