Anyone using Tone City Pedals? or other extremely affordable OD's?

notonlybutalso

Ok so recently i have been trying to downsize/downgrade some of my gear, mainly to free up some cash for other things like my car which seems to be deathly allergic to tarmac.

I have read plenty of accounts of people loving the sound of the Tone City stuff especially for the price but i have never tried them personally. The best things i have ever heard of cheaper pedals like Mooer or Joyo or Hotone are that they are good "for the price" which was never really good enough for me so i never really looked into the lower end of the market, thinking it would all be a compromise on the sounds i really wanted.

But recently it seems you can pick up pedals for dirt cheap that sound great. But like i say i have no experience or knowledge of the lower price end of the market so can anyone help me out? what are your favourite sounding pedals that cost peanuts? not just great FOR the money, but great DESPITE it 

DesVegas

I have an ENO Myomorpha, which is a rat clone and it sounding super large at practice last night.

I got that here for £13 .. win!

jpttaylor

I can't speak for any of the Tone City drive pedals, but I bought their Fuxx Fuzz a month ago - it sounds terrific and it's extremely well put together, especially considering the price.

The Tony City pedals are all clones of well known pedals so they get 90% of the way there. You won't get many "original" pedals for circuits for that price so have a look at the pedals they're based on and decide if you want that sound. A lot of them, including things like the Mooer Black Secret aren't just great for the price, they're great full stop.

There's always things like the Boss SD-1, OD-3 and BD-2 that can all be had for under £40 and they're staples for a reason - built like tanks and sound great!

monquixote

Tone City do a King of Tone clone which is meant to be very good indeed. 

professorben

The Joyo Ultimate Drive (ocd clone) and US Dream (Suhr Riot) clone sound pretty awesome. 

notonlybutalso

bloody hell thats a bargain @DesVegas if its as good as you say! i have never heard of ENO but i will go check them out

and yeah @jpttaylor  i know they are clones which makes it a little easier for me narrowing the selection down somewhat to what i want, currently i am looking at a sweet cream (mad professor sweet honey) and possible a mandragora (lovepedal kalamazoo). And the Mooer black secret is really good? i havent really used their stuff i have only heard the green mile and i thought it sounded rubbish but maybe that was a one off

@monquixote i have heard captain lee use that pedal a lot yeah, it definitely sounds good to my ears, i think their new range of dual style "pro" pedals sound great especially considering they are only 70 quid new

notonlybutalso

@professorben i have heard the ultimate drive and i was fairly impressed i must say. Oh while i am replying, has anyone used any of the Jet City pedals??

monquixote

I'd be wary of the Joyo stuff I've had some thing fail.

Also though the US Dream is a good pedal it's an inaccurate clone of the Riot.

notonlybutalso

hmm interesting, think i might steer clear of them then. Inexpensive pedals are good for gigging on a budget but if they have a high failure rate its just a false economy. Thats part of the reason i like Tone City, they come with a two year no hassle guarantee and are apparently built solidly

professorben

monquixote said:

I'd be wary of the Joyo stuff I've had some thing fail.

Also though the US Dream is a good pedal it's an inaccurate clone of the Riot.

I've never tried a real Riot but the videos are pretty close online. 

What failed on the Joyos you used?
just interested as I'm thinking of starting to integrate them into my live rig. 

professorben

notonlybutalso said:

hmm interesting, think i might steer clear of them then. Inexpensive pedals are good for gigging on a budget but if they have a high failure rate its just a false economy. Thats part of the reason i like Tone City, they come with a two year no hassle guarantee and are apparently built solidly

It's worth pointing out tho that as cast iron as a warranty may be. 
Its not gonna get you out of the doodoo on a Friday night in a venue if a pedal dies.  

professorben

notonlybutalso said:

Ok so recently i have been trying to downsize/downgrade some of my gear, mainly to free up some cash for other things like my car which seems to be deathly allergic to tarmac.

I have read plenty of accounts of people loving the sound of the Tone City stuff especially for the price but i have never tried them personally. The best things i have ever heard of cheaper pedals like Mooer or Joyo or Hotone are that they are good "for the price" which was never really good enough for me so i never really looked into the lower end of the market, thinking it would all be a compromise on the sounds i really wanted.

But recently it seems you can pick up pedals for dirt cheap that sound great. But like i say i have no experience or knowledge of the lower price end of the market so can anyone help me out? what are your favourite sounding pedals that cost peanuts? not just great FOR the money, but great DESPITE it 

Honestly I think a lot of the time you can look at individual pedals rather than a brand. 
For example Mooer. 
The Trelicopter and ElecLady get great reviews, and are pretty loved on here by a lot of seasoned players. 
I recently bought clones of clones
got a Rowin Phaser and Flanger which are identical to the Mooer versions apart from colour and knob type. 
They sound awesome £15 DELIVERED!!!
even if i have to buy 2 it's still stupid good value. 

steamabacus

From what I've heard, Tone City are the same pedals as the (now defunct?) Movall pedals. Movall had some kind of a disagreement with their chief engineer - he upped sticks and set up his own pedal company - Tone City. I believe they are the same circuit designs (which are probably pretty much clones of popular established circuits). Whether they are built to a higher, lower or identical standard to the Movalls, I have no idea?

notonlybutalso

@steamabacus i have no idea but they do look similar, from what i had heard the guy who set up Tone City was ex Mooer, i dont know if he did Movall first though

notonlybutalso

professorben said:

notonlybutalso said:

hmm interesting, think i might steer clear of them then. Inexpensive pedals are good for gigging on a budget but if they have a high failure rate its just a false economy. Thats part of the reason i like Tone City, they come with a two year no hassle guarantee and are apparently built solidly

It's worth pointing out tho that as cast iron as a warranty may be. 
Its not gonna get you out of the doodoo on a Friday night in a venue if a pedal dies.  

True, but apparently they are better built than similar makes, but you can never really know can you. Also the warranty i really just mentioned because its handy. Its just that they are so cheap to produce they tell the distributors and stockists that if a customer has a pedal fail just to replace it for them as its cheaper than getting it sent back for repairs

watting

I have a Tone City Sweet Cream, which is a pretty nice low-gain overdrive based on the Mad Professor Honey Overdrive. I also own an Angel Wing chorus, and an All Spark boost pedal. All are good sounding pedals, solidly built and incredible value for money IMO.

notonlybutalso

Nice one @watting how would you compare the sweet cream to other od's you have owned?

cj73

I bought a Tone City Bad Horse when I dropped my Soul Food and a pot snapped off, imagine that?.. It was £35 iirc and I'd say it's not as good as the Soul Food.  Just sounds flatter regardless of settings.

monquixote

professorben said:

monquixote said:

I'd be wary of the Joyo stuff I've had some thing fail.

Also though the US Dream is a good pedal it's an inaccurate clone of the Riot.

I've never tried a real Riot but the videos are pretty close online. 

What failed on the Joyos you used?
just interested as I'm thinking of starting to integrate them into my live rig. 

At the very basic level the riot has three modes and relay bypass, but side by side they are clearly very similar, but not the same. 

I had an American Sound go intermittent on me and an Ultimate Drive die. I also know a couple of people who have had similar issues. 
I wouldn't gig one now.

Adam_MD

professorben said:

The Joyo Ultimate Drive (ocd clone) and US Dream (Suhr Riot) clone sound pretty awesome. 

I thought the ultimate drive was ok and the us dream was awful with absolutely no bottom end.  It wasn't just mine either I tried someone else's and it was exactly the same.  

Adam_MD

steamabacus said:

From what I've heard, Tone City are the same pedals as the (now defunct?) Movall pedals. Movall had some kind of a disagreement with their chief engineer - he upped sticks and set up his own pedal company - Tone City. I believe they are the same circuit designs (which are probably pretty much clones of popular established circuits). Whether they are built to a higher, lower or identical standard to the Movalls, I have no idea?

Chief engineer lol he must have been the guy who used to log onto freestompboxes and download schematics for them