In Praise Of Cheap (Good) Pedals

AlexC · August 2019

This is not an ‘anti’ thread or an inverted snob thread - Yes, some boutique pedals are terrific and so are some expensive or regularly priced pedals. That’s a given.
As I’m not working or gigging at the moment buying new gear is near impossible for me right now - so I’ve been getting budget pedals and I think some of these Chinese micro pedals sound great.
Recently there was a thread on here talking about Klons and someone mentioned how good the Mosky Golden Horse was. So I got one. Under £20 new. It’s great. As good as an EHX Soul Food, I reckon. And I’ve never tried a Wampler Tumnus but there are players on-line who say it is just as good.
I use it as a boost for other pedals and on its own for a solid transparent crunch and I love it.
So - don’t be shy! Any recommendations for great sounding pedals for £50, or less?

DesVegas · August 2019

I have the silver version and it's great. On its own or pushing a fuzz it adds something special to my sound. Real clear and characteristic.

BobTheSalmon · August 2019

TC Electronic Spark Booster £39 (GuitarGuitar)
Best booster bang for buck! Either always on at beginning or end of chain, to goose other drives or as solo boost. Unbeatable value!

Mosky Blue Delay £17 (Ebay)
Ridiculously good analogue delay clone of Mad Professor!

Tone City Angel Wing £45 (Andertons)
Terrific chorus pedal, as good as anything (in terms of sound) under £100

AlexC · August 2019

I’ve been looking at those Tone City pedals. Some of them seem really decent. I’m considering the Black Tea - a Vox AC style overdrive.

BobTheSalmon · August 2019

AlexC said:

I’ve been looking at those Tone City pedals. Some of them seem really decent. I’m considering the Black Tea - a Vox AC style overdrive.

I've owned a number of them and they really are great. My personal faves are the aforementioned Angel Wing, Sweet Cream, Fuxx Fuzz. All genuinely great sounding units.

LastMantra · August 2019

I really like my boss OS-2. It can be tuned in to sound like another channel on your amp retaining the voice of the amp and staying very "transparent" (for want of a better word).

ICBM · August 2019

Behringer SF300 Super Fuzz. It's actually a Boss FZ-2 copy, which are silly money now - and in turn is a Univox Superfuzz/Shin-Ei FY-6 copy with added active EQ, clean boost mode and buffered switching.

I have a FZ-2, but it's become valuable enough that I started to worry about gigging with it since a lone pedal at the front of the stage is easily nicked - I use it for bass, and for that I don't use a pedalboard.

Anyway, the Behringer sounds identical to the Boss and costs about £20 new (it seems to vary slightly). I recently bought another one as a spare, and I could still buy another five before I got to the cost of replacing the Boss...

thecolourbox · August 2019

The Little Bear Woolly Mammoth clone, if morally you are happy with that type of thing. Brilliant sounding pedal

VJIves · August 2019

The SF300 is a great shout, they seem to be out of stock a lot at the moment for some reason. Maybe word's spreading? I got a MKI Mooer Tender Octaver back when aliexpress were knocking them out for £30, I can't imagine ever selling it. I tried the MKII and aside from being more expensive, it doesn't track anywhere near as well or sound as good.

drofluf · August 2019

Someone put up a video comparing the “name” pedals to the Behringer equivalents and generally the Behringer ones were as well rated. I’m a strictly bedroom player and have a number of cheap pedals. All are good enough for my ears.

thecolourbox · August 2019

The Behringer Harmonist was good fun too

EricTheWeary · August 2019

thecolourbox said:

The Little Bear Woolly Mammoth clone, if morally you are happy with that type of thing. Brilliant sounding pedal

The bastards, no one should exploit mammoths in this day and age.

YellowLedBetterMan · August 2019

Funny you mention Mosky. I've been eyeing up their EP Booster clone - the XP Boost - for quite a while.

I'll pitch in with:

Danelectro FAB Delay, which can be had for nothing (or £10 on this very forum from a very handsome individual).

Tone City Angel Wing (again, I have one for sale, but they are great)

TC Electronic Dark Matter and Spark Booster (£40 a piece).

The TC Electronic 3rd Dimension gets great reviews also, but I've never tried one myself.

munckee · August 2019

Joyo american sound, vintage overdrive and tremolo all excellent. American sound is particularly excellent.

Modulus_Amps · August 2019

bad monkey if you can get one

I recently build a klon clone and it sounds fab, only thing about it is I think the pots will fail as soon as the foot misses the footswitch

Image: https://scontent-lht6-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/67538379_10156233258391338_4504112343386423296_o.jpg?_nc_cat=110&_nc_oc=AQn3RqGM73IA1c6JwfVXQLDkaAokaeTeyHY0keTSDKGZdkkrrKEDmAEkEzVkBe_o_Ts&_nc_ht=scontent-lht6-1.xx&oh=9b75aefe8ffec2da032a72555737e27c&oe=5DCF875B

english_bob · August 2019

drofluf said:

Someone put up a video comparing the “name” pedals to the Behringer equivalents and generally the Behringer ones were as well rated.

It was Josh from JHS.

Fishguy · August 2019

I also like the bad monkey and sf300 fuzz pedal. A lot of the Behringer pedals seem to be on order with a lot of shops at the moment. I have been eyeing up their vintage delay pedal. Mind you the boss dd7 seems to go for a sensible price second hand and might be a better quality option. Even if it does cost 4x the price!

Philtre · August 2019

Mooer Yellow Compressor. Love it.

Gulliver · August 2019

Mooer Ana Echo is an absolutely mint analogue delay pedal

Philtre · August 2019

I have a Tone City Lime Pedal and can dial it in to sound almost exactly the same as a Tube Screamer.

TTBZ · August 2019

The Caline Orange Burst is a great drive pedal for under £20. Would have loved this amount of choice and quality when I first started.

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In Praise Of Cheap (Good) Pedals

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