Joyo R-05 Maximum Overdrive

I have had this pedal for a year now. It is a very versatile pedal, but I tend to keep it on one setting and leave it rather than switch between them.
There are 3 voicings each with two settings (Mosfet vs Standard) so chances are there is a tone in here for you!

There are two cons with this pedal:
1. It can be a bit dark so you might need the tone knob quite high.
2. the boost isn't particularly useful on most of the settings. It doesn't add a huge amount of difference if you already have the gain at around noon.

However, I do love the tone of this boosting a slightly overdriven amp (Orange Terror Stamp). Great for classic rock tones.

On paper, it seemed perfect: a versatile low-gain overdrive with a boost that sits perfectly atop my 5W Laney L5 Studio tube amp for practice. I mostly play cleans-EOB and wanted something to give the amp a clean-channel push, provide some pick emphasis and open-up some dirt when digging-in. I am not comparing it to the pedal it is supposedly based on.

Each to their own, but for my taste it not so transparent and is somewhat lacking in dynamics. There is always a trebly 'hair' that I cannot dial-out, even when using EQ before it and in the amp FX loop. I find that the tone knob has a very limited range, it only properly kicks-in at the highest settings - above 90% and seems to act in an exponential way. Across most of its range the sound is generally darker than the clean signal, even muddy, dulling note definition. I would definitely not call it 'creamy', it is somewhat harsh and slightly metallic in nature; it doesn't sweeten the tone. To me, it sounds somewhat better through a dirty amp channel, or even when put through another overdrive that can round-off the edges. But that kind of defeats the purpose of why I wanted this pedal in the first place.

The Hard Clipping setting sounds least 'hairy' but then it doesn't feel like an overdrive, more of a clean boost.

Although I knew beforehand that the boost cannot be used alone, it was still a disappointment. Boosting the OD only accentuates the qualities I mention above.

I'm not trying to come across all negative. I can see how it can suit some setups along with other pedals. At the price it's still probably worth a punt if you are considering it, but I wouldn't rely on it as my only overdrive. I think Joyo make some really good pedals, but this one didn't do it for me.

The pots and switch feel a bit cheaper than for example those on some other pedals. Another con is that the boost can't be used separately (but this is also true for the FD2 it's based on). It sounds almost identical to my FD2 (you need to put all controls a bit higher on the Maximum), and that's a good thing since that's a great pedal. It's very usable for blues or rock. Oh and the looks have to be your thing, but I dig the design and lighting on the front and a lot. You can also disable this light when the pedal is turned off or completely disable it if you don't like the leds.

I am happy with it and would recommend.

At first, I tried to use this thing as a low gain tube screamer replacement, but in that use case, it did not feel to be the best. But crank up the gain and holy lobster, that thing is killer. I use it at work with my "let some steam out" rig: hellokitty strat, this and harley benton GA-5 amp. In this combination, it is wonderful. I can get quite Tool like sounds with it. The distortion feels organic, able to go wild when dug in and yet, cleans up well if played softly.

Negative aspect: The footswitch layout is dumb and cramped. I keep hitting the volume knob with my feet. The switches should be laid out other way around.