Joyo King Of Kings | A King Of Tone for 20% of the price?! How good can it be? | Review & Demo

This is the Joyo King of Kings dual overdrive pedal - an extremely affordable take on the iconic King Of Tone/Bluesbreaker transparent overdrive circuit!
Get the King Of Kings here: thmn.to/thoprod/532057?offid=...
You’ll all know the Analogman King Of Tone (or KoT, as you’ll often see it written): it’s the USA-built dual overdrive that began the craze for boutique stompboxes. Made in small numbers by Mike Piera - Mr Analog Man - and his team, the $325 KoT currently has a waiting list of over five years, and used prices on the internet are beyond silly.
The King Of Kings - or the Joyo R-20 King of Kings, to give it its full name - is an unashamed homage to the King Of Tone, and costs a mere €65/$70. So, while we can’t expect it to deliver 100% of what its inspiration can, it definitely has promise.
The King Of Kings has two channels that you can run independently or stacked together. Each channel has its own Volume, Gain and Tone controls, along with two switches that alter the clipping diodes and feedback - just like you’ll find on the KoT, in fact. The King Of Kings also boasts some cool lighting on the sides of the case.
Like the KoT, the King Of Kings should deliver everything from totally transparent clean boosts to edge of breakup overdrive sounds, rich rock tones, and some dirtier drive sounds with the knobs wound up. But, how good is it? That’s what we’re going to find out today! In the video, I put the pedal through its paces in as many different musical genres as I can, from pop and blues to indie, classic rock, punk, alternative rock, metal, and more.
Using my Fender Telecaster for single coil tones, and my humbucker-equipped Epiphone Les Paul, I also try the pedal into a dirty amp, and at the end I do a couple of loops to test the extremes with the settings.
Here are some links to the various playing samples and info bits:
00:00 Hello!
00:19 Introduction to the King Of Kings
01:37 Pedal controls and features
02:42 Today’s rig and plan
Single coil tones - Telecaster
04:09 Clean reference tones and turning on the King Of Kings
04:32 Funky rhythm chords
04:46 Country ballad arpeggios
04:58 Choppy barre chords
05:07 Country lead sound
05:14 Folk pop chords
05:31 Garage rock riff
05:47 Indie octaves
06:15 Ascending droning indie chords
06:28 Fat indie rhythm chords
06:44 Airbourne inspired rock riff
06:56 Hendrix inspired classic rock riff
07:12 Driving rock riff
07:27 AC/DC inspired classic rock riff
07:44 Classic hard rock riff
08:01 Glam rock riff
08:16 Alternative rock riff
08:31 Chunky alt rock chords
08:44 Pop punk riff
08:57 Melodic pop punk lead
09:13 Punk rock power chords
09:26 Modern rock palm-muted power chords (Drop D tuning)
09:50 Rage Against The Machine inspired groovy riff (Drop D)
10:07 Metal chugging riff (Drop D)
10:24 Mastodon inspired metal riff with country twang (Drop D)
10:36 Hardcore punk riff (Drop D)
Humbucker tones - Les Paul
10:52 Clean reference tones and turning on the King Of Kings
11:15 Ringing open indie pop chords
11:29 60s rock rhythm tone
11:41 Indie art pop chords
11:56 Downbeat indie arpeggios
12:15 Kings Of Leon inspired riff
12:22 Indie rock octaves
12:48 The Hives inspired garage rock riff
13:04 Edgy indie barre chords
13:19 Epic indie rock riff
13:33 Classic rock riff
13:51 Hendrix inspired classic rock riff
14:00 AC/DC inspired classic rock riff
14:18 Airbourne inspired rock riffs
14:42 80s rock riff
15:02 Hard rock riff
15:19 Glam rock riff
15:34 Green Day inspired punk riff
15:47 Punk rock power chords
16:01 Less Than Jake inspired punk riff
16:13 Progressive rock riff (Drop D tuning)
16:29 Heavy metal lead sound (Drop D)
16:45 Metal chugging riff (Drop D)
17:01 Rammstein inspired industrial metal riff (Drop D)
17:15 King Of Kings as boost into an overdriven amp
A/B single coil/humbucker tests
18:01 Poppy barre chords
18:29 Indie rock barre chords
18:53 Groovy classic rock riff
19:19 Hard rock melodic lead
19:41 Glam rock riff
20:03 Fender Telecaster indie rock loop
23:52 Epiphone Les Paul classic rock loop
28:10 My thoughts
28:56 Sounds and versatility discussion
30:39 Build quality
31:12 What I don’t like
32:45 Are clones a problem?
33:16 What other cheap King Of Tone-esque options are out there?
34:45 My conclusions on the King Of Kings and why you should buy it
35:41 Thanks and goodbye
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Backing music from the KZbin Audio Library: Duck In The Alley - Track Tribe.
#Joyo #JoyoPedal #OverdrivePedals #KingOfTone #AnalogMan #TransparentOverdrive #Bluesbreaker
Note: certain links in the description are affiliate links. If you click said links and purchase anything as a result, I will receive a small commission. This doesn’t cost you anything extra, but it does help to support the channel. So, if you do that, thank you very much!
‪@JoyoPedals1‬

[@RichWordsMusic]

So many timestamps for you this week: 00:00 Hello! 00:19 Introduction to the King Of Kings 01:37 Pedal controls and features 02:42 Today’s rig and plan Single coil tones - Telecaster 04:09 Clean reference tones and turning on the King Of Kings 04:32 Funky rhythm chords 04:46 Country ballad arpeggios 04:58 Choppy barre chords 05:07 Country lead sound 05:14 Folk pop chords 05:31 Garage rock riff 05:47 Indie octaves 06:15 Ascending droning indie chords 06:28 Fat indie rhythm chords 06:44 Airbourne inspired rock riff 06:56 Hendrix inspired classic rock riff 07:12 Driving rock riff 07:27 AC/DC inspired classic rock riff 07:44 Classic hard rock riff 08:01 Glam rock riff 08:16 Alternative rock riff 08:31 Chunky alt rock chords 08:44 Pop punk riff 08:57 Melodic pop punk lead 09:13 Punk rock power chords 09:26 Modern rock palm-muted power chords (Drop D tuning) 09:50 Rage Against The Machine inspired groovy riff (Drop D) 10:07 Metal chugging riff (Drop D) 10:24 Mastodon inspired metal riff with country twang (Drop D) 10:36 Hardcore punk riff (Drop D) Humbucker tones - Les Paul 10:52 Clean reference tones and turning on the King Of Kings 11:15 Ringing open indie pop chords 11:29 60s rock rhythm tone 11:41 Indie art pop chords 11:56 Downbeat indie arpeggios 12:15 Kings Of Leon inspired riff 12:22 Indie rock octaves 12:48 The Hives inspired garage rock riff 13:04 Edgy indie barre chords 13:19 Epic indie rock riff 13:33 Classic rock riff 13:51 Hendrix inspired classic rock riff 14:00 AC/DC inspired classic rock riff 14:18 Airbourne inspired rock riffs 14:42 80s rock riff 15:02 Hard rock riff 15:19 Glam rock riff 15:34 Green Day inspired punk riff 15:47 Punk rock power chords 16:01 Less Than Jake inspired punk riff 16:13 Progressive rock riff (Drop D tuning) 16:29 Heavy metal lead sound (Drop D) 16:45 Metal chugging riff (Drop D) 17:01 Rammstein inspired industrial metal riff (Drop D) 17:15 King Of Kings as boost into an overdriven amp A/B single coil/humbucker tests 18:01 Poppy barre chords 18:29 Indie rock barre chords 18:53 Groovy classic rock riff 19:19 Hard rock melodic lead 19:41 Glam rock riff 20:03 Fender Telecaster indie rock loop 23:52 Epiphone Les Paul classic rock loop 28:10 My thoughts 28:56 Sounds and versatility discussion 30:39 Build quality 31:12 What I don’t like 32:45 Are clones a problem? 33:16 What other cheap King Of Tone-esque options are out there? 34:45 My conclusions on the King Of Kings and why you should buy it 35:41 Thanks and goodbye

[@Funkfreed]

you just gained a subscriber, this is awesome you demoed it in a lot of scenarios for us thanks

[@RichWordsMusic]

Thanks so much, I’m really happy you discovered my little channel and that you like the videos :) And cheers for subscribing too - welcome along, and enjoy the ride :) There are many more similar videos to come :)

[@DodgeDartSongs]

I love my King of Kings! Your video reinforces just why. You are also a fountain of amazing riffs.

[@RichWordsMusic]

Yeah, it's a wonderful pedal... one of those ones where it's often quite subtle, then you turn it off and realize just how much better it makes you sound! Thanks so much about the riffs too... glad you enjoyed :) Rock on!

[@nicolasmaurin182]

Extraordinary review. 🎉. Congrats

[@RichWordsMusic]

Thanks a lot, and thank you for watching and enjoying!

[@eryckcrypton6412]

Fantastic review! This and the @superdangerstudios review really show off this pedal's tone and versatility perfectly! ❤

[@RichWordsMusic]

Thanks a lot! I gotta go check out Super Danger Studios now, so thanks for the tip there :)

[@rnegtr]

Rich: Great reviews - they are some of the best on KZbin - and most honest. I had the privilege of meeting you at NAMM back before Covid when you were with H&K and after seeing you demo the Black Spirit 200, I bought one on the spot. I’d love to see what your settings are for each of the 4 channels. Maybe do a YT video showing those settings one day. Thanks.

[@RichWordsMusic]

Thanks so much Robert! Oh wow, the H&K days… those were heady times indeed. I’m glad to hear I sold you on the Black Spirit 200 - it’s genuinely an excellent amp, and still the one I play every day, two years after leaving the company! Definitely no bad blood there. (H&K and me are still good friends, of course!) I was at NAMM this year too, would’ve been great to see you there - if you’re back in January 2024, let me know! And yes, that is a fantastic idea for a video - I’ll try and get that done in the not-too-distant future 👍 Cheers and all the best!

[@mrthunder8190]

Excellent demo! Especially useful, showing the switches, knobs and sweeps in real time with your loop going. Well done. You probably just sold a lot of these pedals for Joyo!

[@RichWordsMusic]

Thanks a lot, glad you enjoyed it! I do love doing those loops with the tweaking, because it also helps me learn a lot about the pedals at the same time and that's always good for when they< might end up on my board later. Cheers, and I hope Joyo reads this too ;)

[@jmv4717]

@joyo pedal

[@darryldoesit966]

Wow, I just got my king of kings today and tried it out. I seriously thought there was something "wrong" with mine because I was under the assumption that both channels are indentical sounding...I was gonna return mine but I guess I will keep it and give it more time to hear the tonal possibilities this pedal has. And, by the way - I recently have also purchased almost ALL the other Joyo "R" series drive/od pedals to try out (i have 15 including the preamp house, the cab box and the reverb and delay and the chorus and even the vision multi mod pedal...Im loving them ALL. My studio desk is 43 inches wide and it's end to end with Joyos...lol. GREAT review !!!

[@CatGPT_]

u sir, are hands down the best guitar gear reviewer on youtube.

[@RichWordsMusic]

Thanks so much! It genuinely makes my day to get comments like this, cheers!

[@CatGPT_]

@@RichWordsMusic i especially appreciate the multi genre riffs, played with commonly used guitars. The structure of your videos remind me a lot of Podcastage, and it's great. Keep it up man

[@Lamz..]

I found the transparency pretty good on low volumes coming from from my guitar, it cleans up pretty nicely. It does color the tone when I go into the higher volumes, though, it boosts the middle tones a bit too much for my liking, and suppresses the highs. But your conclusion is absolutely spot on, a decent pedal for the price point, and probably very effective if you're playing in a band where you need less highs and lows. (A bit of a TS kind of vibe.) Great review, as always!

[@RichWordsMusic]

Thanks, good to see you back here in the comments! Yes, I have to agree with you… the more you push it, the more it colors the sound. And the effect, as you say, could indeed be good for live/mix usage… I will need to test this! It’s certainly a great value for money stompbox. How much better will the real King Of Tone be, though, that’s what I’m wondering 😉 Hopefully not too long to wait on that one!

[@peter333]

What a breath of fresh air, this demo video. You cover every style of playing, with different guitars/pickups as well, and actually just play guitar, instead of showing off how fast your lead licks and pick sweeping arpeggios are, while nodding your head in self-praise and making faces as if you need to take a dump, like most wannabe 'influencers' do these days. I own a bulkload of gain/overdrive and other pedals, but it's never enough (let's face it, they're addictive 😂). Since I have 2 Joyo high gain pedals already, Uzi and Dark Flame, I felt it was time for something more versatile. The King Of Kings seems like the perfect pedal for that. This video might just have pushed me over the edge to go and buy it (instead of yet another 2 really low budget pedals that I'll never use lol). Thanks for the extensive demo!!!

[@mikepretorius6350]

Good Demo thanx ☺️

[@kloudtunes]

Thanks for the super comprehensive review and demo. I agree: This pedal and all other Joyos I own are excellent takes on whatever😊. I do not buy the super expensive „authentic“ pedals anymore. Honestly I had bad experience with built quality of boutique pedals, while the Boss and Joyos and even plastic Behringers are all still up and running. I find it much more satisfying to shape my tone with the average mass production pedals. Simply because I‘m just an average player. BTW I also think the mini switches are a bit gimmicky. At least they have a noticeable impact on the sound in your set-up and signal chain. I can hardly hear a difference switching them in my ampless environment. But they look cute😊.

[@RichWordsMusic]

Thanks, glad you enjoyed the video! All the Joyos I have are excellent too. I really love the Dark Flame (the Revv clone 😉). And that's actually a really interesting point about feeling like an average player, and so being happy with mass production pedals... I totally sympathize as a bang average player too! But you will also notice that loads of top players use the average pedals, too - Boss pedals are everywhere, as are Tube Screamers and the like. Those mini switches do something, but they don't help - at least, they don't help me. I'm really looking forward to hear what the ones inside the KoT do! They are cute, though, I agree :)

[@ramencurry6672]

It should be good because the circuit design of the King of Tone pedal is actually simple with no expensive rare parts. So making a knock off version that’s equally good should be extremely easy

[@DizzyKrissi]

I need to check out mine again since yours seems to sound way better. I did not even know that both sides are different - I had in mind that both are identical. I will give it another try after being a little disappointed with the first 2 attempts to make it sound decent.

[@RichWordsMusic]

Yes, give yours another spin! I think it's worth the perseverance. I've actually only tried the pedal with the one amp so far, and I guess it's very dependent on that, so maybe you could tweak your clean a bit before plugging the KoK in. Funnily enough, I remember seeing other videos where they say both sides of the pedal are the same... but they're clearly not! At least, not on mine ;) My advice is to start with the volume up and the gain down, then tweak to taste! The KoK can sound very brittle if you push the drive too far, so be prepared to wind the tone down a bit too. Oh, and keep those pesky mini switches down/Off for starters too ;) Good luck with it - hope it works for you this time!

[@myfriendharrison4348]

@@RichWordsMusic There are dip switches inside the real ones and most clones to fiddle with the two sides.

[@RichWordsMusic]

@@myfriendharrison4348 I assumed that the mini switches on this one would be doing what the internal dipswitches on the King Of Tone would be doing... will find out fairly soon I hope as I'm nearly at the top of the KoT list!

[@capitanvonchickenpants8492]

Well analogue man pinched the blues breaker circuit, i bought this pedal because i love double drive pedals, my favourite at the moment being the black star LT dual if you're clever you can make a channel change effects loop switch and turn a twin channel amp into a four channel amp , a good video thanks, the instructions for this pedal are pants, the doy tell you what the switches actually do

[@bjdenil]

If you have been on the wait list that long, might I suggest the MXR Duke of Tone as well. Mike Piera helped design it in collaboration with MXR/ Dunlap to sound almost identical to their Prince of Tone (half of the king of Tone). I actually love this Joyo pedal and think it sounds great - but if you truly want as close to the original as possible without paying those hiked up aftermarket prices, it is a good deal. Also, Mike gets royalties for it, and it benefits him and Analogueman.

[@RichWordsMusic]

Guess what… I just got to the top of the KoT list yesterday! I couldn’t believe it when the email came through 😅 Only five and a quarter years later. So, I’m going to order one for sure, but the Duke Of Tone is a great tip as well, and I will be checking one of those out as soon as I can. I think it’s great that MXR have worked with Mike Analogman on a version that almost everyone can afford, and he gets royalties too! Cheers for the tip!

[@lukasbubnik4160]

Channel B felt not only clearer but also a lot louder than channel A on mine. I was running it through Peavey Bandit 112 which has high gain and low gain (recommended for active pickups only) inputs. Pluging King of Kings into low gain input made both channels of the stomp box sound ABSOUTELY the SAME!!! Low gain channel on Bandit simply puts more load on signal source. Assuming KoK is based on OpAmps it has extremely low output impedance so it needs to be loaded a little at the output to sound correctly.

[@hariandjadelapan9]

This pedal have a trimpot on back casing??

[@Bsoftproductions]

One of my favorite pedals. Absolutely insane how good it sounds for the price.

[@RichWordsMusic]

Yeah, it’s rapidly becoming one of mine too. It sounds amazing and it’s so versatile as well… I’m wondering how much better the King Of Tone can actually be…

[@ramencurry6672]

One of the reasons why it’s a low price is because the circuit design is actually simple and does not require any expensive rare parts.

[@marksargent2908]

What does this do that other pedals dont? What style of music does it mostly suit etc? What are others using it for?

[@RichWordsMusic]

Hmm, interesting questions actually. What does it do that others don't? Nothing! There is nothing unique or original about this one. Although it's probably the cheapest way to get a King Of Tone-type overdrive pedal. What style of music does it suit? I'd say almost everything, apart from really heavy genres like metal. I think the different playing samples in the video prove that the King Of Kings is extremely versatile. I prefer it for lower gain drives for indie rock, but also for rock and punk stuff with both sides on together. And, what are others using it for? Well, I think most people love to use these types of pedals to boost their clean amp into edge of breakup, and then kick in the second side for thicker drive sounds. That's my take anyway, cheers for watching :)

[@_PatDog]

(I'm 4years on the waiting list) As for the Joyo, if you want to run the boost into the drive buy another and use 2. You can get them used for £50. Taking up too much means it is not option for some but at home my pedalbard is more of a pedal floor, dodging pedals, leads and power supplies I look like I'm doing a dance when I need to duck out my guitar room for a pee. 😃

[@user-yf9rv3xu5p]

这个周边单块我也买了，性价比很高，不知道这个单块在国外卖多少钱？

[@RichWordsMusic]

Where I live (Europe) the King Of Kings is currently about €65...

[@user-yf9rv3xu5p]

@@RichWordsMusic 跟在中国一个价格

[@650thunderbird5]

👍🏻👍🏻

[@RichWordsMusic]

My thanks as ever!

[@thedeadxtras9927]

On the issue of clones, well if you’re still on the waiting list 5yrs later then suppose a cheaper clone like this Joyo king of kings for about £60 is a quicker and cheaper alternative, I wouldn’t expect it to sound exactly the same as a KOT and wouldn’t want it to be. I’m sure it gives a pretty decent drive tone so for me that’s all what matters, I’m not someone who gets hung up if it doesn’t sound exactly the same as something else, as long as I can achieve a decent drive tone no one else will care in the audience at a gig if it’s an OG KOT or a clone and if you’ve paid £60, £400 or £4K What matters is: Do the songs you’re playing sound any good and do you have a good overall sound as a band.

[@PooNinja]

Order of operations!!! I agree clean to dirty. Clones ok blatant low quality copy ain’t IMHO

[@RichWordsMusic]

Yes, and I thought that was kind of the received wisdom 99% of people go with too. Just seems to make sense! Agree with your clone chat too. The Firehorse will be unique, trust me.

[@PooNinja]

@@RichWordsMusic 🔥🐎🤘🏽

[@Paul_Lenard_Ewing]

The Analog Man King of Tone is two modded Bluesbreaker pedals that makes it a clone. Clone arguments are over comparing others to it. For the last 2 years this KOT you got has different parts as the real parts that made the original pedal are too few to keep up with the demand. 68 Pedals still use those those parts. So if you want the 'famous' version buy 68 Pedals not Analog Man. I had the opportunity an old original KOT. Compared to some of the new popular dual transparent pedal the KOT sounds seriously muddy with a high end that lacks detail in the overtones. The KOT in my mind is a bookcase pedal. Something to display to visitors and boast about. I do use a Bluesbreaker clone, the Browne Amplification Carbon. Very, very transparent with lots a headroom and as glassy as the pre in an original Klon.

[@RichWordsMusic]

Great points! Yep, it might actually be fun to try and trace back to the very first circuit of each type. In fact, I'm sure someone else will have already done that, and videoed it. I really do need to try the 68 Pedals version too, then... lots of people seem to favor it. But I didn't know the KoT is now made with different bits compared with a few years ago. It's almost like the pre-CBS Fender thing! The Carbon has been on my list to try for a long time... hopefully soon :)

[@Paul_Lenard_Ewing]

@@RichWordsMusic Years ago I traced down the basic typography's to use as the staring point to make ones's own OD. In the end I believe there were 7 and 2 are really not very pleasing so no one makes even a clone that soon gets discontinues for a few years and a new group of players discovers them. The most used topography is the Tube Screamer. It is very clever design that is simple and one can use it for a $20 pedal to a $400 pedal just by choosing a different OpAmp or different clipping diodes, add the same clipping diodes but by a different manufacturer and you get a different sound again. The best OD's use a tube pre schematic and replace the tubes with FET transistors. Much more work and hard to be able to sell below about $150.00 USD. Things like Boss, MXR, and Ibanez are ALL OpAmp OD's. Parts for an Ibanez ts9 are so cheap and easy to get that companies like Caline simply use them for their own clones. In short a Caline ts IS an Ibanez ts.

[@RichWordsMusic]

@@Paul_Lenard_Ewing This is really interesting. I knew that many are basically identical... makes sense if the parts are so cheap and freely available, plus there's no intellectual property issues involved. Would love to know what those not very pleasing designs are... anything out there that would fall into that category?

[@DenariusHaveNarius]

Now a day's there's no reason for clones to be inferior. However, one possible reason may be noise. Any synth player will tell you noise has its uses. Not just for creating hi hat or wind sounds but it also colors the sound when added subtly to sawtooth, square waves etc. While a noise gate may quiet a pedal when you're not playing, while you are playing any noise present will also pass through. It may not be noticeable but it may be enough to color the sound a bit. So that may be a contributor into why originals and clones sound different. Also, there are component tolerances and our perception is affected by our eyes and wallets (our egos: I paid $200 for this pedal, of course it's better than that pos $50 ripoff). In the end who cares? If a $200 pedal inspires you then go for it. If a $30 pedal works for you great. Beethoven on a toy piano is still Beethoven. Shit created with $10,000 worth of gear is still shit.