In a time of economic crisis....what 'cheap' pedals have turned out to be great?

reaching handsreaching hands Posts: 370
edited November 2008 in Musicians and Gearheads
we've all used cheap pedals before and been dissapointed (generally when we first start our playing life) and as i scour ebay for a bargain....i can't see any nowadays. has anyone found any of the cheaper pedals to be unkown little gems? and what were they (make and models)

leeds 26/08/06....electric
paris 11/09/06.....crushed...but estatic
wembley 18/06/07.....oh yes

'listen...you can hear the sustain...you just hold that note and you can go get a bite whilst its still going'

the legend , nigel tufnell
Post edited by Unknown User on

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  • I know of some I haven't tried that sound good but my favourite budget pedals that I've used are:

    Digitech Bad Monkey - killer overdrive; gets a lot of praise and deserves it.
    Danelectro Fish and Chips - quieter than the Boss GE-7 and cheaper.
    Danelectro Tuna Melt - Solid little tremolo for the money.

    The new Danelectro Cool Cat range is meant to be pretty awesome.
  • Danelectro Milkshake Chorus-Great chorus pedal for such a cheap price
    BOSS DS1-Standard distortion, nothin too fancy
    BOSS SD1-After being moded, probably one of the best overdrives I've ever heard
    Grand Rapids '04, Detroit '06
    JEFF HARDY AND JEFF AMENT USED TO LOOK THE SAME
    "Pearl Jam always eases my mind and fires me up at the same time.”-Jeff Hardy
  • Digitech Bad Monkey - killer overdrive; gets a lot of praise and deserves it.
    Danelectro Fish and Chips - quieter than the Boss GE-7 and cheaper.
    Danelectro Tuna Melt - Solid little tremolo for the money.


    I was gonna say... Bad Monkey, and a bunch of the Danelectro stuff.

    I can't remember the model names, but there were a couple or three delay pedals (the big one, and two of the little ones) in the Danelectro stuff that were pretty good. They had a little case that would carry 5 or so of the mini pedals, I think it was called the Lunch Box... I always wanted to get one of those, and put together a little cheapo pedalboard.
    ...and if you don't like it, you can suck on an egg.
  • I was gonna say... Bad Monkey, and a bunch of the Danelectro stuff.

    I can't remember the model names, but there were a couple or three delay pedals (the big one, and two of the little ones) in the Danelectro stuff that were pretty good. They had a little case that would carry 5 or so of the mini pedals, I think it was called the Lunch Box... I always wanted to get one of those, and put together a little cheapo pedalboard.
    I had one of those for a while, then I basically upgraded all my stuff to boss.

    Still, the Dano board was much more fun than a multi effect!
    Believe me, when I was growin up, I thought the worst thing you could turn out to be was normal, So I say freaks in the most complementary way. Here's a song by a fellow freak - E.V
  • ianvomsaalianvomsaal Posts: 1,224
    If you don't mind Digitech (I hate them), their Bad Monkey
    is similar to a BD-2 Blues Driver, but with more eq controle.

    The newer Danelectro Cool Cat stuff sounds like it might be
    interesting (but I'd really need to play them to know for sure).
    They now have metal bodies, metal in/out-jacks, and are now
    true bypass. The fire engine red Distortion sounds interesting
    (Marshall-esqu tones). I think if I actually liked it I'd probably
    end up pulling it's guts and putting it into another skin (lol).
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  • intresting stuff guys, thanks for the replies

    i've trimmed my pedals down to just a dd6 , maxon od9 and morley power wah and just intrested if anyone had some cheap alternatives for other pedals really cos i'm skint at the moment and probably will be for a while and its nice to know if others have found cheaper alternatives

    leeds 26/08/06....electric
    paris 11/09/06.....crushed...but estatic
    wembley 18/06/07.....oh yes

    'listen...you can hear the sustain...you just hold that note and you can go get a bite whilst its still going'

    the legend , nigel tufnell
  • intresting stuff guys, thanks for the replies

    i've trimmed my pedals down to just a dd6 , maxon od9 and morley power wah and just intrested if anyone had some cheap alternatives for other pedals really cos i'm skint at the moment and probably will be for a while and its nice to know if others have found cheaper alternatives


    Generally speaking, the cheaper pedals are made with less quality control, less attention to build quality, cheaper (and more fragile) components like jacks and switches. But a lot of them can sound pretty good, especially since a lot of them are blatant clones of more popular pedals.

    The sacrifices you make are usually in signal-to-noise ratio and fragility. A lot of cheap pedals have inherent noise, and can cause hissing and buzzing. When you play, it's not a huge deal, but if you play something a little quieter or spaced out; or alternately, when you stop playing... Hsssssss... They can even suck the tone of your signal when they aren't engaged (ever hear of true-bypass? cheap pedals don't have that).

    But really, for playing around, or to get some funky tones on a budget, all of those little Danelectro mini pedals are fun to use. They come at about $20 a pop on eBay, and while they aren't built to take a beating, you'll almost assuredly get twice your money in value from them. The best part about them is finding what effects you want, and what quality you're looking for in said effect. That way, you know what to look for when you wanna spend $100 or more on the real thing.

    Anyone have any experience with the newer Behringer FX? The unabashed Boss clones? I know those things are cheap, but I don't know if any of them are worth playing.
    ...and if you don't like it, you can suck on an egg.
  • The Danelectro Chicken Salad has an internal trimpot. With a bit of tweaking, you've a good, cheap univibe clone. As long as you run it off your 1 spot, it should be fine (because it's not economical on the battery-munching front). For me it only sounds right clean (so it's fine for my acoustic pedalboard setup). With distortion it sounds like a farty phaser.

    The new Cool Cat Vibe sounds good from clips I've heard on You Tube, though, and am I right that it's got true bypass?

    Edit: Okay, I saw Ian's post. It's true bypass.

  • Anyone have any experience with the newer Behringer FX? The unabashed Boss clones? I know those things are cheap, but I don't know if any of them are worth playing.


    The vibrato's okay. I even gig with it. But the flanger's a noisy little bastard, and even off, it makes the sound mushy.
  • The vibrato's okay. I even gig with it. But the flanger's a noisy little bastard, and even off, it makes the sound mushy.
    The acoustic sim is the ONLY pedal I've sold (excluding to friends). There's TERRIBLE feedback from the pedal and it's useless.
    Grand Rapids '04, Detroit '06
    JEFF HARDY AND JEFF AMENT USED TO LOOK THE SAME
    "Pearl Jam always eases my mind and fires me up at the same time.”-Jeff Hardy
  • Pacomc79Pacomc79 Posts: 9,404
    The Marshall Guv nor is a pretty nice little drive pedal that you can usually pick up used for fairly cheap.
    My Girlfriend said to me..."How many guitars do you need?" and I replied...."How many pairs of shoes do you need?" She got really quiet.
  • The Danelectro Chicken Salad has an internal trimpot. With a bit of tweaking, you've a good, cheap univibe clone. As long as you run it off your 1 spot, it should be fine (because it's not economical on the battery-munching front). For me it only sounds right clean (so it's fine for my acoustic pedalboard setup). With distortion it sounds like a farty phaser.

    The new Cool Cat Vibe sounds good from clips I've heard on You Tube, though, and am I right that it's got true bypass?

    Edit: Okay, I saw Ian's post. It's true bypass.
    Word on the street is that the Cool Cat Vibe has a big volume boost.
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