Pedals that're good but not really pricey

[wedge]

Kinda the opposite post from the multi-pedals that don't suck thread. I'm in the opposite sitch. I have an older Zoom multi-effects thingee that I just don't like, and I wanna get into pedals. Never have before. I want reverb (or a slap echo), a good crunchy distortion (not fuzzy), and some compression. I need a tuner, too. It's for live performing, by the by...

I've heard some good things about the Danelectro pedals. Apparently, some are quite good for the money, plus they have a pedalboard, with pedals, for like $150. Seems like way too cheap, somehow.

Any ideas?

[ImaginaryCat]

The best thing about pedals is they can suck good. Some of my favorite pedals are the sucky ones that make too much noise. I'd like to mention distortion pedals for now. I have gone through them all. The RAT, the RATII, the vintage MXR, the new MXR, the vintage TUBE SCREAMER, the new Tube Screamer, etc. I work super part time at a cool little guitar shop, so I've been able to try them all as they come through and get first dibs on many. Here are my bargain suggestions:

The Danelectro "Pastrami" distortion is one of my favorites. They retailed for 29.99. It's got a hot little sound that's not too metally, but not as flat and bluesy as the MXR. At that price I keep a couple of extra around. They're discontinued, and the only problem in getting one is finding someone who things they're worth selling at all.

I use a Russian made Yerasov.. I think it's called the 5000 volt, it's the yellow one. They don't have US distribution, but they get around on ebay, for not too much. Yerasov started off making Boss knock-offs in Russia, and then they went a bit further in the designs, this is a kind of MXR inspired thing. Don't try to power them off an AC adapter unless you love the sound of 60 cycles, but running off a 9V, they're not too noisy and have lots of gain, and a tone that really cuts through, great of solos.

[wren]

The Dano French Toast is far too cool for its price.

Zoom G2 series is always worth a mention - doesn't do too many things spectacularly, but doesn't do a bad job at anything either.

The Arion SAD1 is getting expensive, so snap 'em up while you can! (I'm starting to regret hyping them so much on other messageboards, but the damage has been done, so...) I have 2 and I'd love a third (and fourth); my favorite analog delay by faaar. I have a DMM that sits on the shelf most of the time, and I've passed up Ibanez AD9s and DM2/3s because I couldn't justify spending more money for them when the SAD1 sounded better to me.

What else...there's no better way to make something sound totally mangled and broken than putting it through an Ibanez FZ7.

In digital-delay land, the Ibanez DE7 is quite cool.

I was relatively impressed with the Digitech Digidelay and Digiverb for the price, but they seemed very normal and average in every way. If that's what you're looking for, though, hey...

Not all of that is terribly helpful to you, though. Tuner-wise, I've heard nothing but really good things about the new Korg PitchBlack, although I've never used it myself. A Digitech Bad Monkey is a very good utility overdrive, as is a DOD 250/MXR Dist+. If you're looking for something a little more distorted, a Rat might be just the ticket, but then again you might hate it. I'd suggest trying one out before you buy. There are some pretty nifty Electro-Harmonix distortions too, but EHX has notoriously questionable quality control; definitely try them before you buy as well. If you're into DIY stuff, Build Your Own Clone is worth a visit. For slapback echo, I'd suggest the Ibanez DE7; just be aware that the switches are kinda funny, i.e. sometimes hard to turn on/off. If that scares you, the Digidelay is perfectly usable. Or you could just buy a G2 and have a great delay and a very usable reverb as well as a bunch of other useful stuff. Whatever multifx box you have, the G2 is miles ahead of it, I promise.

[Sean Sullivan]

I bought a Danelectro display with 10 of the mini pedals and the one that stood out to me is the Tuna Melt, it's $15-$20 and is a nice tremolo.

As far as reverb pedals go, there aren't any that are under $50 that I would recommend. Used, you can get a Holy Grail for $50. For fuzz, the BBE Free Fuzz is around $30 and is great. I think for Thanksgiving weekend Guitar Center is going to be selling the Free Fuzz and BBE Green Screamer (their version of a Tube Screamer) for $20 or $30 new, I would get both of those they are great.

For a tuner, the Fender PT-10 will work better than any other stompbox for about $20 used. Finally, for a compressor, the Dyna Comp is about $35 used and really great for the money.

So, for around $125 you could get a Holy Grail, BBE Green Screamer, Fender PT-10, and MXR Dyna Comp and I promise you'll be happier than if you got a Danelectro pedalboard.

[Nick Sevilla]

Kinda the opposite post from the multi-pedals that don't suck thread. I'm in the opposite sitch. I have an older Zoom multi-effects thingee that I just don't like, and I wanna get into pedals. Never have before. I want reverb (or a slap echo), a good crunchy distortion (not fuzzy), and some compression. I need a tuner, too. It's for live performing, by the by...

I've heard some good things about the Danelectro pedals. Apparently, some are quite good for the money, plus they have a pedalboard, with pedals, for like $150. Seems like way too cheap, somehow.

Any ideas?

Electroharmonix.

[joel hamilton]

Kinda the opposite post from the multi-pedals that don't suck thread. I'm in the opposite sitch. I have an older Zoom multi-effects thingee that I just don't like, and I wanna get into pedals. Never have before. I want reverb (or a slap echo), a good crunchy distortion (not fuzzy), and some compression. I need a tuner, too. It's for live performing, by the by...

I've heard some good things about the Danelectro pedals. Apparently, some are quite good for the money, plus they have a pedalboard, with pedals, for like $150. Seems like way too cheap, somehow.

Any ideas?

Electroharmonix.

Boss.
I have owned boss pedals that I took on like 15 years of touring that still work perfectly.
They work really well, are well designed, and some of them sound really good.
They make so many you HAVE to be able to find two or three that you would use in whatever type of music you play.
the EH stuff will probably break, the danelectro stuff will totally break, and the Boss pedals will still be going on and on and on.
Plus there are so many people using obscure one off pedals and stuff like that these days, that it is almost unique and bold to use boss again!!

[kayagum]

Reverb: EH Holy Grail family is a good start.

Distortion: too many to name them all, but I'm really liking the OCD and the You Dirty RAT for distortion (although the RAT is more than borderline fuzzy), Menatone Red Snapper for OD.

Others to try: Tube Driver, Varidrive, Sparkledrive, etc. Haven't tried the ZVex Box of Rock/Metal yet.

Compression: I will never sell my Maxon CP101. You can also try the MXR Dynacomp.

Tremolo: Supa-Trem slays them all.

[mjau]

Boss SD-1 isn't that bad, and usually fetch about $40 used online. Some of the small guyatone stuff is interesting, too.

[GarryJ]

The Boss RV-3 has reverb and delay (and combined) settings, and can be found cheap as chips if you look around. Sounds really good.

[curtiswyant]

The Proco Rat is my favorite distortion pedal. They're $50 and they sound great live and on tape. Sometimes I don't even fire up my "big" amp for distorted parts; instead I use a Rat through a Vibrochamp. I haven't been sold on any boutique ($$$) distortion pedals.

The Boss TU-2 is the best money I've ever spent on any pedal. I haven't tried any other tuner pedals, though.

My secret-weapon delay is an old DOD 585a Performer analog delay. It's good for slap or crazy regenerating effects; not good for looping or anything like that. I also had a Boss delay with tap-tempo that I liked.

If you're handy with a soldering iron, I'd suggest DIY for a fuzz pedal or compressor. They won't have any resale value, though.

[Recycled_Brains]

Voodoo Labs makes awesome sounding and affordable pedals. I own the Microvibe and Sparkle Drive. Both sound sick. The Sparkle Drive is basically a tube screamer circuit, with the addition of a wet/dry knob. Very versitile. Great for keyboards, guitar, bass.....I've even put vocals through it (wet/dry comes in really handy here). The Microvibe is pure "Machine Gun" vibrato sound. Very 'warm' and dark sounding. I've tried their fuzz pedal too, and almost walked home with it. If I wasn't building my own Fuzz Face clone, I would totally buy it. Sounded great. Not like the Big Muff style fuzz. More of that 70's kinda sound.

MXR makes solid stuff too. I own the Carbon Copy analog delay, and think it sounds great. Had to send it in for repair already though, so I'm not sold on the build quality. Dunlops customer service has been good though, so we'll see.

The Fulltone OCD overdrive is a fantastic pedal. Can go from a little gritty to downright filthy by adjusting your volume knobs and how hard you play. It's very responsive to dynamics.

The Boss PS-3 Pitchshifter/Delay rules. Tons of options with that pedal. Not true bypass or whatever, but who cares. I agree with Joel about the build quality too. I've had it for years with no issues at all. Can get crazy sounds.

If you're handy with a soldering iron, the Build Your Own Clone website has complete kits that you can build. I've heard a few and they sound great.

[desdinova]

You can get a good slap echo from the old dano de-1. I've a good friend who always has one in his chain, whether it's engaged or not. It does suck tone, but could work for you. It's more than a lot of the dano pedals but cheaper than a new boss DD. I have read that the Behringer(gasp!) VD400 vintage delay is very good for the price and a real BBD. Haven't had a chance to play with one, but I think they're going for $20 new.
The Ibanez tone-lok pedals are cheap, haven't tried their "budget" Tubescreamer, but I have used the SB7 synth bass and DS7 distortion. I really like the DS7, it's usually behind a TS9DX on subtle settings to cut the highs a bit.(Bass and synth).

If you can get away with putting together a small rack rig, something like the old Boss Guitar driver and a midiverbII would get you FAR on the cheap. MVII is still one of my favourite multieffects and it's just ridiculous cheap. I usually drive it line level, but it can sound good at guitar level if you've got a clean boost pedal or particularly hot active pickups.

[losthighway]

I think delay/reverb type effects are easier to get from the common mass produced guitar center market on the cheap. Boss delay is fine. I've heard Danelectro delay's used a bit more subtle that seemed fine.

Holy Grail is not 'cheap' but everyone is right when they say that it is good.

Distortion pedals are a little trickier. Every guitar and amp combination has a certain gain structure that adding a distortion/overdrive pedal effects in a vital way. For some reason a lot of cheaper, mass produced overdrives have less gain, then you get the nasty effect of semi-rocking clean guitar, step on the gain to go big and "uh oh" the guitar gets quieter. I've found boss pedals to be especially bad with this.

But it depends on your guitar. Humbuckers usually have higher output so it takes more juice from a pedal to get an audible boost. Most single coils seem to bloom a little easier with a variety of pedals. Unfortunately I like fairly high output humbuckers so I have had to find just the right distortions. I love my Fulldrive 2 for these reasons. I have a nice Keeley Fuzz that sounds great, but often drops the level of my guitar a bit.

[casey campbell]

Boss SD-1 isn't that bad, and usually fetch about $40 used online. Some of the small guyatone stuff is interesting, too.

+1 on the superoverdrive. killer pedal, little money. all this coming from a guy who is the chief designer for a boutique pedal company...

[chris harris]

If you're handy with a soldering iron, I'd suggest DIY for a fuzz pedal or compressor. They won't have any resale value, though.

I don't know, man.... i built a Big Muff clone where the kit shipped with one capacitor of the wrong value. I went ahead and put it in there and the thing sounds amazing. Similar to a Big Muff. Nice, warm fuzz. And, quiet as can be. I probably couldn't get anything for it on ebay. But, I probably could sell it to any band that's been into the studio since I built it. And, I could probably get a lot more than the kit costs.