Here's the timestamps: 00:00 Introduction and what we’re doing today 00:51 Joyo King Of Kings info 01:35 Caline Pure Sky info 02:08 Nobels ODR-Mini info 02:54 Joyo Sweet baby info 03:25 Danelectro Cool Cat info 03:57 Today’s rig and plan 04:34 The loop 16:29 ALL FIVE PEDALS AT THE SAME TIME 16:56 My thoughts 17:14 Why don’t all transparent drives sound exactly the same? 17:47 Why the King Of Kings? 18:34 Why the Pure Sky? 19:11 Why the ODR-Mini? 20:14 Why the Sweet Baby? 20:54 Why the Cool Cat? 21:40 My conclusions and which pedal is best 22:21 The clones thing 23:14 Which one(s) should you buy? 23:44 Which one I would buy 24:25 Thanks and goodbye
Oh, I love a good fiddle with my pedals! And I also spend way too much time watching other channels who do it... wish The Pedal Bored still made vids :( It's actually really useful too because you learn so much about how pedals work and where the sweet spots are by doing it!
great idea for a compare Rich - I have the Pure Sky and the Sweet Baby both are great pedals Ive had them years ago and sold and re bought them - although I never put them on my main gig board as if the cheapness may fail but I bet they would not - I have also been yearning for a Greer Lightspeed after watching your videos on them but the price puts me right off when you could buy all 5 of these for that price - they are all great but the Pure Sky has the edge for me with the treble and bass controls - great demo as well thanks
Thanks, I thought so too! It's always a good sign when you buy a pedal twice as well, I think. Proves that it should never have left you in the first place, so it must be good. I totally agree with you about being a little more scared to put these ones on my board as well (apart from the Nobels, which is rock solid)... but again, you're also probably right in that these fears would be unfounded. They're pretty robust, all of them. The Greer is so good, I have to say, but you can make most of these sound very similar in some scenarios. That said, none of these have the thing that the Greer has where every setting feels great and makes me sound better. It could all be in my head of course! And it is a sobering fact that the Lightspeed alone costs about the same as all of these together... it's truly amazing what you can get for your money these days! The Pure Sky and the Sweet Baby for €50/60 together is an amazing pairing. Cheers for watching and the great comment, and rock on :)
Thanks! Yes, it's such a great pedal for that "always on" use... someone once told me to get it rehoused for easier operation. I'm seriously thinking about it, just in case!
Yep, it's a great pedal indeed! Really gives a different flavor to the others as well. I just got the bigger Bass Cut one and that's maybe even better than the Mini, and does more too.
Wampler Belle is everything an ODR 1 is, only MO BETTER. You can tighten the bass to remarkably snug, precise levels. There's an additional switch that can add a slight amount of post circuit compression. Mine is the first pedal on my board post tuner and I use it more for color/tone shaping and boost than drive and it's almost always on. I never thought caline would be a mainstay either, but the pure sky is a fantastic Timmy circuit at any price and for $30 wow. Often the only two drives/dirt pedals on my board. My pure sky has been remarkably reliable and so far has lasted over 3yrs. Ty caline and Amazon lol.
Sweet comparison 🤘🏽 I’m really looking to try one of those nobles with all the bass. My sweet baby really hits that just past the edge of breakup fendery sound.
Yes, your baby is in this one! The Nobels is so chunky it could've inspired that one Spinal Tap song. It's great though, and stacks with the Sweet Baby beautifully! Try one soon with those .08 gauge strings 😎
@@PooNinja That would actually be amazing! Funnily enough, I had a dream last night where I'd got myself a guitar/bass mix - one neck with 12-string-esque pairs of strings for the E, A, D and G (a bass and a guitar string for each), and then the high B and E guitar strings. For some reason my sleeping self thought this would be the ultimate instrument for White Stripes-esque garage rock... but it has potential as a lead bass too ;) Who needs octave pedals, eh?!
5 pedals lol: I've tried closer to 50. Joyo "Sweet Baby" for the win when playing blues on a Strat or Tele. (Tip: Turn the "Focus" down for bridge pups & up for neck) (Edit 2: "KoK" is rubbish)
Yep, I also confess to having too many OD pedals! It’s a nice addiction to have. The Sweet Baby is a great choice for sure, and so versatile. Any other drive pedal tips I don’t have in this video? I’m always looking to add more to my collection. P.S. I really like the KoK now, but it took me a while to warm to it.
That orange joyo pedal... that focus knob has a big effect on your pick attack. Like how much signal goes into your pickups will really make that knob stand out. Also... as good as that blue one sounds (and it sounds great) they should have added the clip options. Last edit... Concentric Pots!!! Everyone should do them!! Especially with pedals with "Alt" controls. It's very irritating. I just got a Meris Hedra. If it had Concentric pots it would totally get rid of that Alt button.
Those three are great, but don't forget the Nobels! Such a great pedal. (I also reckon way more people would love the Dano if it had a more easy to use enclosure!)
Thanks for the review Rich. I would recommend going for the larger Nobels ODR-1 with the bass cut switch compared to the Nobels mini pedal as it is a lot more versatile (for my rig anyway). I was wondering how the JOYO King of Kings compares to the NUX Queen of Tone pedal you reviewed recently? Any thoughts at all? Cheers
If I may answer, the Queen of Tone is a basically a Klon+Bluesbreaker pedal in 1, as opposed to the King of Kings being TWO Blues Breakers in one enclousure. The Klon does have a bit of a different EQ curve so you really can't compare them directly
Cheers Keith, thank you for watching! Yes, I've had others tell me about the ODR-1 with the bass cut - I really hope I get to try one of those soon, as it could be just what I need. It's definitely a more versatile option, even if it is just another switch. Hmm, on the other question, I think it'll all be about personal taste. The King Of Kings is effectively two Bluesbreaker circuits, while the Queen Of Tone is one Bluesbreaker and one Klon. The NUX has a lot more gain in it overall as well, and you also have that extra mid-pushed sound from the Klon side. They're both really good pedals. I still haven't seen the NUX in any shops but I believe it'll be around €100/120 or so, so considerably more money than the Joyo. It does feel more solid than the Joyo overall, I'll give it that, but on tones alone, quality-wise they're very similar. In the end, it'll be about whether you want that Klon Centaur sound or not :) Hope that helps a bit!
@@quiksilver78 Said what I couldn't in half the time, cheers ;) I still don't know which I prefer, circuit-wise... maybe a 3-drive beast is the ultimate option! Although I am sure I would take double Bluesbreakers over double Klons... I think! Decisions, decisions ;)
I have a Sweet Baby. It’s very transparent. My only complaint with it is with single coils it loses some bottom end. If you like a little bottom😂 it falls a bit short.
Sweet Baby, Pure Sky, and the Caline Orange Burst is a good trio for stacking. All you need is something to boost the mids - a TS808 mini or Klone - and you're good. Unless you're like me and need every kind of Fuzz pedal variety in existence as well as ODs . distortion...then there's the wet FX...20 pedals isn't too much is it?...😂
There is a shop in Hamburg, that offers Caline pedal. So it is possible, that those are offered in real shops instead of online retail. I wonder, where the B-Breaker-Circuit in the Joyo King of tones comes from? I own a Joyo Blue Rain, but the control knobs are different (the Blue Rain has got a 2-Band EQ). Any suggestions?
That's really interesting. I think Caline are maybe trying to go more mainstream and get into stores - their newer pedals have much cooler visual designs as well, so that will appeal to people more too. I need to try some of them for sure! Hmm, not sure about what exactly these pedals are based on. The King Of Kings is surely a King Of Tone clone, and the circuit will be based on that... but I think you're right and the Blue Rain will be a clone of something else. Maybe it's actually more of a Timmy style, and similar to the Pure Sky?! Perhaps I need to track one down and find out for myself ;) What does the Blue Rain sound like to you?
On the joyo i found that the tone on 1 is off and keeps the sound unmodified. I keep it that way mostly on my super twin amp. The mobels i do change settings (not a one trick pony, i like it)
That's a good tip on the Joyo - I need to try that out! I agree about the Nobels too... it might only have the three knobs but you can do so much with them. A super versatile pedal...
@@RichWordsMusic I recently bought a secondhand twin reverb RI with issues(swapped v3- v5 and added mod reverb tank) The Nobels is superb, the joyo is not. The tone gives more input than on my super but it's still a weak signal. It might do better on a Marshall I guess.
I don't know why I could never really get a good sound out of the King of Kings. The pure sky is a winner, though. I am on a current kick of the Tone City Blues Man (also bluesbreaker) I suppose I should try their Nobels model as well (tone city, that is)
The first couple of times I played the King of Kings, I didn't gel with it at all, but it's really grown on me. It doesn't quite have the same instant gratification factor as the Pure Sky (or something like the Lightspeed, for that matter!). I really need to try out more of the Tone City drives but they're not at any dealers anywhere near me... I suppose I could just buy a bunch ;)
@@RichWordsMusic Thomann carries Tone City and Muziker (Out of Slovakia) does also but I guess you mean actual physical stores where you can just walk in and plug in?
@@quiksilver78 Yes, exactly - would love it if there was a store within driving distance where I could rock up and try some stuff without having to buy it first. (Although I'm sure I'd end up buying things anyway!) Thomann's four and a bit hours from me... so that's a long day trip ;) Musik Produktiv in Germany also does them but they're nowhere near me either :(
Ha ha, you’ve got to give these things a try 😉 It does make a little more difference through the cab in the room, if you know what I mean. Definitely one of the more subtle effects, though!
One of the things I like to do is a blind test. Every time a sound really grabs me, I was checking to see which pedal it was. So it turns out the Nobels with the single best sound for me. The Timmy clones (Caline and Danelectro) had more settings I liked, but the Nobels had a sound I loved. The video reminded me I have 2 of the V1 version of the Danelectro and need to pull one back out (one of them is still new in the box as a backup).
For versatility obiously Joyo big one. I have Caline Pure Sky but even better on budget is the Dod Looking Glass (around 80€), compared to Pure Sky is even more transparent (PSky is a little more mid focused). Danelectro as you said ergonomics are so bad to tweak!!
You're totally right - if they were 100% transparent you wouldn't hear any change when you had them on or off! I do cover this in the video though, mainly at 17:14. To me, transparent overdrives are the ones that don't radically alter the character of your rig and tone when you engage them - they give you more of what you've already got, so you can preserve your base tone.
Here's the timestamps:
00:00 Introduction and what we’re doing today
00:51 Joyo King Of Kings info
01:35 Caline Pure Sky info
02:08 Nobels ODR-Mini info
02:54 Joyo Sweet baby info
03:25 Danelectro Cool Cat info
03:57 Today’s rig and plan
04:34 The loop
16:29 ALL FIVE PEDALS AT THE SAME TIME
16:56 My thoughts
17:14 Why don’t all transparent drives sound exactly the same?
17:47 Why the King Of Kings?
18:34 Why the Pure Sky?
19:11 Why the ODR-Mini?
20:14 Why the Sweet Baby?
20:54 Why the Cool Cat?
21:40 My conclusions and which pedal is best
22:21 The clones thing
23:14 Which one(s) should you buy?
23:44 Which one I would buy
24:25 Thanks and goodbye
In my opinion, this is by far the best and most thorough pedal review that I have ever seen on TH-cam 👍🏻👍🏻
Thanks so much, really glad you enjoyed it!
love a channel that loops and fiddles with the pedal
Oh, I love a good fiddle with my pedals! And I also spend way too much time watching other channels who do it... wish The Pedal Bored still made vids :( It's actually really useful too because you learn so much about how pedals work and where the sweet spots are by doing it!
I miss that one too. Found Pedal Experiments recently, another one.@@RichWordsMusic
I put a Sweet Baby on my board close to a decade ago and it just kinda never got bumped by anything... Incredible for a DEEP discount pedal...
Yes, it's just such a great understated drive... and when you factor in the price, it's really hard to beat. I love mine too!
Joyo sweet baby i love, Great review!
great idea for a compare Rich - I have the Pure Sky and the Sweet Baby both are great pedals Ive had them years ago and sold and re bought them - although I never put them on my main gig board as if the cheapness may fail but I bet they would not - I have also been yearning for a Greer Lightspeed after watching your videos on them but the price puts me right off when you could buy all 5 of these for that price - they are all great but the Pure Sky has the edge for me with the treble and bass controls - great demo as well thanks
Thanks, I thought so too! It's always a good sign when you buy a pedal twice as well, I think. Proves that it should never have left you in the first place, so it must be good. I totally agree with you about being a little more scared to put these ones on my board as well (apart from the Nobels, which is rock solid)... but again, you're also probably right in that these fears would be unfounded. They're pretty robust, all of them.
The Greer is so good, I have to say, but you can make most of these sound very similar in some scenarios. That said, none of these have the thing that the Greer has where every setting feels great and makes me sound better. It could all be in my head of course! And it is a sobering fact that the Lightspeed alone costs about the same as all of these together... it's truly amazing what you can get for your money these days! The Pure Sky and the Sweet Baby for €50/60 together is an amazing pairing. Cheers for watching and the great comment, and rock on :)
I have the Sweet Baby and Pure Sky as well. They never fail. I’ve replace an Archer and TS9 will them and will never switch them back.
Great shootout - I used the Danelectro Cool Cat V2 with the dip switches set to clean boost for years - as you say, set and forget and great sound.
Thanks! Yes, it's such a great pedal for that "always on" use... someone once told me to get it rehoused for easier operation. I'm seriously thinking about it, just in case!
Another great review Rich. Well done.
Thanks Trevor, glad you enjoyed this one!
I use the PureSky as an always on drive. Really nice
Yes, it's great for that! Just adds a bit 'more' to your base tone without altering the character.
La pure sky est une merveille ❤
Odr 1 is one trick pony, but no one can do that one better than it can. I love the sound of it.
Yep, it's a great pedal indeed! Really gives a different flavor to the others as well. I just got the bigger Bass Cut one and that's maybe even better than the Mini, and does more too.
Wampler Belle is everything an ODR 1 is, only MO BETTER. You can tighten the bass to remarkably snug, precise levels. There's an additional switch that can add a slight amount of post circuit compression. Mine is the first pedal on my board post tuner and I use it more for color/tone shaping and boost than drive and it's almost always on. I never thought caline would be a mainstay either, but the pure sky is a fantastic Timmy circuit at any price and for $30 wow. Often the only two drives/dirt pedals on my board. My pure sky has been remarkably reliable and so far has lasted over 3yrs. Ty caline and Amazon lol.
Just bought a pure sky and love it.
Happy new pedal day! The Pure Sky is fantastic. Enjoy yours!
Thank you, this is just what I was looking for
Cheers, glad you enjoyed it and found it useful!
Sweet comparison 🤘🏽 I’m really looking to try one of those nobles with all the bass. My sweet baby really hits that just past the edge of breakup fendery sound.
Yes, your baby is in this one! The Nobels is so chunky it could've inspired that one Spinal Tap song. It's great though, and stacks with the Sweet Baby beautifully! Try one soon with those .08 gauge strings 😎
@@RichWordsMusic on lead bass 😂
@@PooNinja That would actually be amazing! Funnily enough, I had a dream last night where I'd got myself a guitar/bass mix - one neck with 12-string-esque pairs of strings for the E, A, D and G (a bass and a guitar string for each), and then the high B and E guitar strings. For some reason my sleeping self thought this would be the ultimate instrument for White Stripes-esque garage rock... but it has potential as a lead bass too ;) Who needs octave pedals, eh?!
5 pedals lol: I've tried closer to 50.
Joyo "Sweet Baby" for the win when playing blues on a Strat or Tele.
(Tip: Turn the "Focus" down for bridge pups & up for neck)
(Edit 2: "KoK" is rubbish)
Yep, I also confess to having too many OD pedals! It’s a nice addiction to have. The Sweet Baby is a great choice for sure, and so versatile. Any other drive pedal tips I don’t have in this video? I’m always looking to add more to my collection. P.S. I really like the KoK now, but it took me a while to warm to it.
@Rich. Words. Music. I do like the Nux "Steel Singer" for leads. QC is a bit iffy though (Nux, amirite?)
The Sweet Baby is great for that mild OD stuff.
That orange joyo pedal... that focus knob has a big effect on your pick attack. Like how much signal goes into your pickups will really make that knob stand out.
Also... as good as that blue one sounds (and it sounds great) they should have added the clip options.
Last edit...
Concentric Pots!!! Everyone should do them!! Especially with pedals with "Alt" controls. It's very irritating. I just got a Meris Hedra. If it had Concentric pots it would totally get rid of that Alt button.
sweet baby - joyo , nux horseman and 6ixty 5ive , are my 3 favs
Those three are great, but don't forget the Nobels! Such a great pedal. (I also reckon way more people would love the Dano if it had a more easy to use enclosure!)
@@RichWordsMusic i bought a dano pride of glory it is good, no nobels pedals in Argentina :(
Thanks for the review Rich. I would recommend going for the larger Nobels ODR-1 with the bass cut switch compared to the Nobels mini pedal as it is a lot more versatile (for my rig anyway). I was wondering how the JOYO King of Kings compares to the NUX Queen of Tone pedal you reviewed recently? Any thoughts at all? Cheers
If I may answer, the Queen of Tone is a basically a Klon+Bluesbreaker pedal in 1, as opposed to the King of Kings being TWO Blues Breakers in one enclousure. The Klon does have a bit of a different EQ curve so you really can't compare them directly
Cheers Keith, thank you for watching! Yes, I've had others tell me about the ODR-1 with the bass cut - I really hope I get to try one of those soon, as it could be just what I need. It's definitely a more versatile option, even if it is just another switch.
Hmm, on the other question, I think it'll all be about personal taste. The King Of Kings is effectively two Bluesbreaker circuits, while the Queen Of Tone is one Bluesbreaker and one Klon. The NUX has a lot more gain in it overall as well, and you also have that extra mid-pushed sound from the Klon side. They're both really good pedals. I still haven't seen the NUX in any shops but I believe it'll be around €100/120 or so, so considerably more money than the Joyo. It does feel more solid than the Joyo overall, I'll give it that, but on tones alone, quality-wise they're very similar. In the end, it'll be about whether you want that Klon Centaur sound or not :) Hope that helps a bit!
@@quiksilver78 Thanks. I am aware of the pedals in question.
@@RichWordsMusic Thanks Rich. Much appreciated.
@@quiksilver78 Said what I couldn't in half the time, cheers ;) I still don't know which I prefer, circuit-wise... maybe a 3-drive beast is the ultimate option! Although I am sure I would take double Bluesbreakers over double Klons... I think! Decisions, decisions ;)
Great video.....really helpful!
Thanks, I'm glad you found it useful! I also find this knob tweaking very helpful for me in understanding my own pedals :)
I have a Sweet Baby. It’s very transparent. My only complaint with it is with single coils it loses some bottom end.
If you like a little bottom😂 it falls a bit short.
Ha ha, I know what you mean! It's a great pedal nonetheless.
Sweet Baby, Pure Sky, and the Caline Orange Burst is a good trio for stacking. All you need is something to boost the mids - a TS808 mini or Klone - and you're good.
Unless you're like me and need every kind of Fuzz pedal variety in existence as well as ODs . distortion...then there's the wet FX...20 pedals isn't too much is it?...😂
There is a shop in Hamburg, that offers Caline pedal. So it is possible, that those are offered in real shops instead of online retail.
I wonder, where the B-Breaker-Circuit in the Joyo King of tones comes from?
I own a Joyo Blue Rain, but the control knobs are different (the Blue Rain has got a 2-Band EQ).
Any suggestions?
That's really interesting. I think Caline are maybe trying to go more mainstream and get into stores - their newer pedals have much cooler visual designs as well, so that will appeal to people more too. I need to try some of them for sure!
Hmm, not sure about what exactly these pedals are based on. The King Of Kings is surely a King Of Tone clone, and the circuit will be based on that... but I think you're right and the Blue Rain will be a clone of something else. Maybe it's actually more of a Timmy style, and similar to the Pure Sky?! Perhaps I need to track one down and find out for myself ;) What does the Blue Rain sound like to you?
Great video! How are the dip switches set in the Cool Cat?
Thanks, glad you enjoyed it! They're all set down...
On the joyo i found that the tone on 1 is off and keeps the sound unmodified. I keep it that way mostly on my super twin amp.
The mobels i do change settings (not a one trick pony, i like it)
That's a good tip on the Joyo - I need to try that out! I agree about the Nobels too... it might only have the three knobs but you can do so much with them. A super versatile pedal...
@@RichWordsMusic I recently bought a secondhand twin reverb RI with issues(swapped v3- v5 and added mod reverb tank)
The Nobels is superb, the joyo is not. The tone gives more input than on my super but it's still a weak signal. It might do better on a Marshall I guess.
I don't know why I could never really get a good sound out of the King of Kings. The pure sky is a winner, though. I am on a current kick of the Tone City Blues Man (also bluesbreaker) I suppose I should try their Nobels model as well (tone city, that is)
The first couple of times I played the King of Kings, I didn't gel with it at all, but it's really grown on me. It doesn't quite have the same instant gratification factor as the Pure Sky (or something like the Lightspeed, for that matter!). I really need to try out more of the Tone City drives but they're not at any dealers anywhere near me... I suppose I could just buy a bunch ;)
@@RichWordsMusic Thomann carries Tone City and Muziker (Out of Slovakia) does also but I guess you mean actual physical stores where you can just walk in and plug in?
@@quiksilver78 Yes, exactly - would love it if there was a store within driving distance where I could rock up and try some stuff without having to buy it first. (Although I'm sure I'd end up buying things anyway!) Thomann's four and a bit hours from me... so that's a long day trip ;) Musik Produktiv in Germany also does them but they're nowhere near me either :(
what's your favorite?
If I'm picking one of these, the King Of Kings for its amazing tones and versatility over the others. But they're all great choices!
Pure sky!!!
Such a great pedal 😎
Nobels odr is the only one with "body". Other pedals are harsh to my ears
I know what you mean - there's something special about the ODR-1!
Twisting the tone knob on the sweet baby as if it’s doing anything at all lol
Ha ha, you’ve got to give these things a try 😉 It does make a little more difference through the cab in the room, if you know what I mean. Definitely one of the more subtle effects, though!
the pure sky is great, owned 2 *****
There's not many pedals good enough that you need to buy them twice, so that's always a good sign!
One of the things I like to do is a blind test. Every time a sound really grabs me, I was checking to see which pedal it was. So it turns out the Nobels with the single best sound for me. The Timmy clones (Caline and Danelectro) had more settings I liked, but the Nobels had a sound I loved. The video reminded me I have 2 of the V1 version of the Danelectro and need to pull one back out (one of them is still new in the box as a backup).
For versatility obiously Joyo big one.
I have Caline Pure Sky but even better on budget is the Dod Looking Glass (around 80€), compared to Pure Sky is even more transparent (PSky is a little more mid focused).
Danelectro as you said ergonomics are so bad to tweak!!
King of kings is midrangey too, it's based on kot but not an exact copy.
The Dano is around 100 now.
Yeah, these are all creeping up in price :( Not sure you can still find the Dano new any more anyway.
ODR Mini
That's one pedal I always keep coming back to... it's just so good and it fits on any board I happen to be putting together!
👍🏻👍🏻
Thank you my friend!
What do you mean by "transparent overdrive"? how can you test if you overdrive is a Transparent overdrive
You're totally right - if they were 100% transparent you wouldn't hear any change when you had them on or off! I do cover this in the video though, mainly at 17:14. To me, transparent overdrives are the ones that don't radically alter the character of your rig and tone when you engage them - they give you more of what you've already got, so you can preserve your base tone.
I could hear right THRU this 1! ;oP
Ha ha, I'm sure you did! Now the secret to great tone has become CLEAR 😎 I'll get my coat.
@@RichWordsMusic Technicolour Dream?
@@DMSProduktions Something like that 😎
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