Joyo Ironman Mini-Pedals (New for 2014)

[StormJH1]

Any updates on the Joyo Ironman Mini-Pedal lineup? I didn't find a thread for it here, but there was one on TheGearPage after they were unveiled at NAMM 2014 in January.

I've been away from this forum a bit, but am a bit of a Joyo fanatic for low-cost but surprisingly high quality sounding effects pedals. Much of the ones in this new line seem to be focused on an "amp in a box" effect, similar to Wampler.

Seems like the price point of these will be around $50. However, this is now the 3rd wave of Joyo stuff. The 2nd generation Joyos (which were a bit disappointing in build design/durability, but generally sounded good), started around $50 to $65, and now can be found all over Amazon for $28 to $35. That's an insane deal, in my opinion.

Also, for a company that some criticized as "ripping off" boutique pedal designs, it's worth pointing out that this "Ironman" looks both completely original and highly durable. Of course, until you can actually play one and stomp it to death over time, who knows.

If you want demos of these, the #1 resource has to be Henning over at his YouTube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/user/EytschPi42/videos

He's basically become a de facto salesman for him, so I'm sure his impressions are positive. But his testing and recording setup is extremely thorough and professional, so it gives a pretty good sense of what each pedal does.

Anyone have full list of the new pedals, or more information? Their website doesn't have the new stuff yet, as I don't believe they are available quite yet.

 

[Rhust]

looks like they covered the xotic BB,RC and AC boost... that's nice. esp if they get down to joyo price... the amp simulator pedals look ok too... the amp sims look "original" which is cool. or maybe they are just smaller versions of the tech 21 pedals they already cloned once?

 

[Kalz]

looks like they covered the xotic BB,RC and AC boost... that's nice. esp if they get down to joyo price... the amp simulator pedals look ok too... the amp sims look "original" which is cool. or maybe they are just smaller versions of the tech 21 pedals they already cloned once?

Im assuming it's the same with less tonal variance options

 

[Brocko]

Im assuming it's the same with less tonal variance options

Yeah looks like they have replaced the 3 band EQ with a single tone knob. I have 2 of their 6 knob amp sims (the fender and mesa boogie ones) and they are top notch sound. Personally I like having the 3 band EQ on them, particularly as they are also pre amps that can be used as DI boxes.

But these little pedals are definite challenge to Mooer I'd say.

 

[Tweaker]

I love those little control covers that flip up...pretty sweet solution to knob-bumping-via-toe!!

 

[Brocko]

I love those little control covers that flip up...pretty sweet solution to knob-bumping-via-toe!!

I agree but can see those flip covers breaking off quite easily - expect to see a fee on ebay in a year without the cover

 

[StormJH1]

I have mixed views on the covers, but it's a net positive. On the down side, I don't really want them hanging there when I'm using the pedal (particularly on a pedalboard!), and they may break off. But on the plus side, I tend to keep these things stored in a plastic box, and the easiest thing to damage on them are the knobs/shafts from impact or dropping.

What's more exciting to me, is that the think looks HEAVY. And the switch at least appears more durable than the 2nd gen switches. Won't know until I can hold one though.

 

[Victek]

Any updates on the Joyo Ironman Mini-Pedal lineup? I didn't find a thread for it here, but there was one on TheGearPage after they were unveiled at NAMM 2014 in January.

Their website doesn't have the new stuff yet, as I don't believe they are available quite yet.

On Amazon:

[ame]http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=joyo+ironman+mini+series&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Ajoyo+ironman+mini+series[/ame]

 

[Victek]

What's more exciting to me, is that the think looks HEAVY. And the switch at least appears more durable than the 2nd gen switches. Won't know until I can hold one though.

Agreed they look sturdy - it will be good to get some firsthand reports about that and the cover in particular. I would like to see some affordable pedals built like my Bad Monkey.

 

[StormJH1]

Ah, yes, I do see a few for sale through Red Line Music Gear.

I will probably wait for awhile to do research and perhaps even to see the price point back down from that $70 range. EHX also stepped in and offered a low-cost alternative to many of these imports, though that does nothing to impact the actual quality/value of the Joyo stuff. I just feel like this stuff will be $40 or less at some point.

 

[Brocko]

I think we all expect Joyo to charge budget prices for these, despite them being pretty original from a design point of view and sonically the joyo stuff is as good as much out there.

Its funny, but there are loads of companies charging big bucks for basically tweaked versions of existing stuff (including Ibanez, their tubescreamer is massively overpriced for what it is, their investment costs would have been recouped long ago so they are just charging because they can) and we happily pay it. but if Joyo were to charge $100 for these i think a lot of people would be put off, despite them probably being worth it.

We live in an odd world.

 

[Victek]

I will probably wait for awhile to do research and perhaps even to see the price point back down from that $70 range. EHX also stepped in and offered a low-cost alternative to many of these imports, though that does nothing to impact the actual quality/value of the Joyo stuff. I just feel like this stuff will be $40 or less at some point.

I listened to the AT Drive OD and the Blue Rain OD and I am underwhelmed. I hope we get better videos that show the range and the differences between the pedals. On the current videos they sound pretty generic, same old Is anyone hearing different?

 

[StormJH1]

I listened to the AT Drive OD and the Blue Rain OD and I am underwhelmed. I hope we get better videos that show the range and the differences between the pedals. On the current videos they sound pretty generic, same old Is anyone hearing different?

I have barely watched any of the videos I linked above, in part because of time, and in part because I largely kicked my pedal habit this year (well, now its like 3 all year instead of 2 or 3 per MONTH), in favor of a less expensive iOS music habit.

But yes, I did have an initial impression similar to yours. Not that the pedals were bad, but just that there were SO many options out there now, and even affordable options thanks to the imports and EHX. I pretty much bought out that EHX lineup (just got the East River Drive b/c it's just a sweet sounding TS), but it's tough to hear something in a video that will just blow you away. Even if you hear something that just rips in a video, the chances of that matching up in the same way with your equipment and playing style are actually pretty low.

But there's SO many new Joyo pedals here, and I had such overall positive results with the dozen or so I bought/tried over the past 2 years, that I have no doubt some of these will turn out to be good.

It's just that Joyo already has a Tubescreamer...and an OCD...and a Sweet Honey OD...and a Crunch Box (two actually)...and a bunch of metal pedals. It's hard to find a new foothold.

I need somebody to do the list of what these amp simulators are supposed to be. Haha. I think the Rushing Train is like a Vox Night Train. The Golden Face I assumed would be a Fender for some reason, but actually sounded more 60's Marshall (and sounded pretty good).

 

[StormJH1]

Posting that from the TGP thread about it awhile back. There are other pedals, too.

The "Clean Glass" video did not impress me much - this is the "Fender" pedal, I think, but it was a bit muffled and seemed to dirty up in a hurry. Contrast that to the Joyo American Sound, which is probably my favorite of those 4 "Sound" pedals, and has 3 EQ knobs, plus the voice knob. I like the mini pedal design here, but not having a dedicated Bass and Treble knob scares me a bit because you really do have to work to dial them in. If that "Tone" knob on the Ironman works as a simple high end roll-off but doesn't add or subtract bass, for example, you'd be S.O.L. if you didn't like some aspect of the sound.

An Orange and a Mesa pedal could be different - I don't have anything resembling either of those sounds. Well, apart from iOS modeling apps

 

[Brocko]

Posting that from the TGP thread about it awhile back. There are other pedals, too.

The "Clean Glass" video did not impress me much - this is the "Fender" pedal, I think, but it was a bit muffled and seemed to dirty up in a hurry. Contrast that to the Joyo American Sound, which is probably my favorite of those 4 "Sound" pedals, and has 3 EQ knobs, plus the voice knob. I like the mini pedal design here, but not having a dedicated Bass and Treble knob scares me a bit because you really do have to work to dial them in. If that "Tone" knob on the Ironman works as a simple high end roll-off but doesn't add or subtract bass, for example, you'd be S.O.L. if you didn't like some aspect of the sound.

An Orange and a Mesa pedal could be different - I don't have anything resembling either of those sounds. Well, apart from iOS modeling apps

I have the full size 6 knob California pedal (mesa sim) and it is pretty good - but i would definitely miss the 3 band eq. I think these pedals are a good idea but for amp sims and preamps, its not worth skimping on the options.

 

[kevinrealog]

how cool ive got a joyo vintage overdrive, i wish to see an ironman version of that