The Joyo R-01 Tauren is an overdrive pedal, announced in November 2018 as the first release in the company's R series of drive pedals. It is a compact stompbox with a deliberately simple interface: Volume, Gain and Tone knobs, plus an LED toggle and an ambient light feature that sets it apart from most pedals at its price. Joyo markets it with the words "Premium tone at an affordable price"1.
According to Joyo, the Tauren will take you from "a clean boost, transparent overdrive through to warm overdrive/distortion"2. In practice that means it can be used as a boost to push an amp or another drive pedal, as a light touch of grit that keeps the character of your guitar, or as a warmer overdrive approaching distortion territory.
Controls
The Tauren keeps things to three knobs, laid out the way players of a certain well-known drive circuit will recognize. Guitar.com's Terence Stanley wrote that "Its three-knob system harkens back to the classic Tube Screamer layout: 'Volume', 'Gain' and 'Tone'"2.
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Volume | Sets the pedal's output level2 |
| Gain | Sets the amount of drive, from clean boost through to warm overdrive and distortion2 |
| Tone | Shapes the treble response2 |
| LED toggle | Switches the ambient light behavior1 |
Guitar World described the pedal as a "stripped-down stompbox" with those Volume, Gain and Tone knobs and an LED toggle3.
The ambient light feature
The Tauren's most unusual feature is an ambience LED light built into the front and rear sides of the unit. gearnews.com's Jef noted that it "sounds useful for dark stages"1. The illumination behavior is set by a sunken switch on the underside of the pedal: "You can either set the lights to be on all the time or it can come on when the pedal is engaged"1.
The light setting switch is on the underside of the pedal, so set it the way you want before you mount the Tauren on a pedalboard.
The ambient light feature carried forward into the R series: when Joyo extended the range with the R-03 UZI distortion, that pedal included "the handy ambient light feature from the Tauren overdrive"4.
Tube Screamer lineage
The Tauren is not marketed as a clone, but its control layout follows the Tube Screamer template of Volume, Gain and Tone2. For context, the Tube Screamer circuit itself was a new design from Japan based on the old germanium boosters, with a very similar frequency response, and it had replaced them by the end of the seventies5. A 2025 review comparing 22 Tube Screamer originals and clones found that "the sonic differences are surprisingly small", with the basic character remaining similar across all models6.
Tauren in the R series
The Tauren opened Joyo's R series of drive pedals in December 201821. The range later grew with the R-03 UZI distortion4, and Joyo's R series has since included dual-drive designs such as the Joyo R-20 King of Kings and the eight-circuit Joyo Baatsin. If you are browsing the wider category, see the site's page on Overdrive Pedals.
How it compares to the Ultimate Drive
gearnews.com's reviewer owned Joyo's earlier JF-02 Ultimate Drive and wrote of the Tauren: "The new R-01 Tauren drive pedal looks like it could be the next step upwards from my Ultimate Drive pedal"1. He judged it a little more rugged in build, and positioned a step above the Ultimate Drive1. The Ultimate Drive remains part of Joyo's JF line, while the Tauren belongs to the newer R series.
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Questions
Can you turn off the lights on the Joyo Tauren?
You cannot switch the ambient LED lighting off entirely, but you can choose how it behaves. A sunken switch on the underside of the pedal sets the LED illumination: either the lights stay on all the time, or they come on only when the pedal is engaged. The setting is tucked away on the underside so you can set it up how you prefer before mounting the pedal on a board.
Is the Joyo Tauren a Tube Screamer clone?
Reviewers have pointed to the Tauren's lineage rather than called it a straight clone. Guitar.com noted that its three-knob system harkens back to the classic Tube Screamer layout of Volume, Gain and Tone. The Tube Screamer design itself replaced the old germanium boosters by the end of the seventies with a very similar frequency response, and a 2025 comparison of 22 originals and clones found the sonic differences between models surprisingly small.
Where is the Joyo R-01 Tauren made?
The Tauren is made in China. gearnews.com described it at launch as a new budget overdrive pedal made in China, which is consistent with Joyo's positioning as a maker of affordable pedals. It was announced in November 2018 and became available from December of that year.
How does the Joyo Tauren compare to the Joyo Ultimate Drive?
gearnews.com's reviewer, who owned an Ultimate Drive, wrote that the R-01 Tauren looks like it could be the next step upwards from the Ultimate Drive pedal, noting that it looks a little more rugged. The Tauren was positioned as the first release in the newer R series, while the Ultimate Drive belongs to Joyo's earlier JF line.
Sources (6)
- Joyo launches new R Series with R-01 Tauren overdrive pedal, gearnews.com, 2018-11-22
- Joyo unleashes the Tauren Overdrive, Guitar.com, 2018-11-23
- Joyo Audio Offers New Tauren Overdrive, Guitar World, 2018-11-20
- Joyo extends new R Series with R-03 UZI distortion pedal, gearnews.com, 2018-11-26
- VX-T Treble/Mid Boost, treblebooster.net, 2025
- The Big Tubescreamer Shootout: 22 Originals and Clones Head-to-Head, www.gearnews.com, 2026-07-08
