How much would you pay for the perfect pedal?

[father of fires]

So how much would you pay for a pedal that met all of your needs (a fuzz, a chorus, whatever)? Sometimes I look at $300 pedals and think, “If this was the sound in my head it’d be worth it”. Most of the times it’s not and I find myself buying sub-$100 pedals that get me almost there.

This is just a thought that popped in my head this morning and I was wondering what some of your guys limits were.

[PJMiDi]

Depends on the type of pedal. I'll spend more on fuzz and delay than i will on anything else typically; but its also what I use the most. The limit would be 500. Not saying I buy tons of 200+ dollar pedals but I have no problem spending up to that if it will get me the sound i want.

[giacomini]

Right now I'm GASing for a POG2, and I think I will go up to $324.00 (the retail price) to get that one.

That's about the max I'd pay for a pedal, even thou I'd do it with tears in my eyes ( ), because 3 hundred bucks can buy a nice cheap bass.

[The Mouse]

what do you reckon?

[finalrequiem]

It'd be a flop. In my limited experience, effects junkies GAS for the hunt as much as they do actually achieving the tone. Why have one perfect pedal when you can have 15 pedals that look cool, have funny names, and that you know you're going to eventually sell or trade for different ones, only to get them back later.

[Eric!]

maximum i'd spend? i'll probably buy a Pitchfactor again.

[stingraysvt]

$300 comes to mind, I've thought about several that were that price or so and then I remember I'm lazy and don't use pedals... I have over $1000 worth of pedals I don't use now as it is....

[bigchiefbc]

I've done 500 once, 400 once and 300+ three more times. 500 seems to be my limit so far, although I never made a conscious decision to make that number my limit.

[Jared Lash]

I've bought a few pedals in the $300 to $500 range:

Mutron Octave Divider
Akai Deep Impact
BJFE Blueberry Bass OD
Darkglass Microtubes B3K
Empress Superdelay
Lightfoot Goatkeeper
Eventide Pitchfactor
Retrospec Squeezebox
Toadworks Phantasm

I'm sure I'm forgetting some but there's most of them. And I've had a few that I got used for under $300 that would have sold for more than that new.

Basically if I think I'll love the effect or it seems to fit what I need, I'll spend the money. Of the effects on that list I didn't love the Phantasm and Pitchfactor and they moved on in short order.

Loved the Mutron but it eventually broke down and I moved it to a friend who nurtured it back to health. The Deep Impact, Blueberry and Squeezebox were all well loved and well used but moved on when I changed bands and didn't really need them. Hard to justify such expensive pedals if they aren't getting the call for gigs.

The B3K and Superdelay are here and getting a ton of use and the Goatkeeper has yet to arrive.

It's hard to say what my "limit" is, especially since I usually sell gear to fund new purchases as I'm a player and not a collector. If a $500 pedal replaces two pedals that I sell for $200 each, then what's it's real cost? That said, I've never paid more than $500 and I'm not sure I ever will. At this point I'm not sure I'll pay more than $300 for a pedal again. We'll see.

[bassteban]

$100

[Ron Now]

I paid $600 for my delay...but it's worth more. It's also completely irreplaceable to me, no matter what else is out there nothing sounds better to my ears.

It's a Moog 104-SD since I didn't mention that.

[Bryan R. Tyler]

I paid $2000 for a multieffect and $1500 for a looper.

For single effects, I paid $575 for a Bass Whammy, but that was mostly to resell for a bit of profit.

[Swimming Bird]

I max out around $450 and that needs to be a very versatile box with a lot of live control.

Pitchfactor was absolutely worth it (mind you I got an awesome price).
Pigtronix Mothership is maybe worth as much as it goes for on aftermarket sales, but I guess I only dropped $60 after trading in a bunch of stuff I don't use anymore.
Modfactor has been darn good to me, but I may swap it out depending.
Deluxe Memory Man has been amazing as a studio tool.

[Achtane]

No such thing...I wonder if current pedals can get you $2000 sounds. Maybe I'm just limited though.

But $300 is definitely the most I'd spend on a single pedal. And I would have a very hard time doing even that...

[wolffman]

Originally Posted by finalrequiem

It'd be a flop. In my limited experience, effects junkies GAS for the hunt as much as they do actually achieving the tone. Why have one perfect pedal when you can have 15 pedals that look cool, have funny names, and that you know you're going to eventually sell or trade for different ones, only to get them back later.

I think you only hit half of the proverbial nail on the head here. Yes we gas for the sake of gassing and wanting something new- but there is often a reason. In my opinion there are 2 types of pedals: necessities and flare. The necessities are pedals I absolutely need for my current band. I couldn’t get the feeling in a song/jam with out them (oc2/xergraph/befpro/compressor/and 1 dirt pedal). I’m always looking for something that will improve these sounds, or have more functionality… so some money goes here. Also The specific pedals would change in a different band.



But I'm guilty also of chasing a sound/functionality for my specialty sounds. Personally I’m on the synth quest- and it’s hard to get that perfect sound/tracking etc…. So I have tons of pedals all of which get me part of the way there. This category of pedals is more idealistic and may never get where I want the. Sometimes I buy and sell trying to inch closer to that sound. I’m not sure what my limit is. Pretty sure a deep impact is what I need, but I’m unwilling to pay that much for one…. To answer your question- currently my limit is less than a deep impacts current market value.

[bassbrad]

I'm a tight wad and on a budget so the most i am willing to go is $200 for something really special usually I am looking for $50 or less. But not just effects I am the same way with mics for the studio, really squeeze the pennies out of those gear dollars.

[Waterpilot]

I'm still having a hard time pulling the trigger on the B3K even at the discounted price. I really wanted another amp, which I have bought, so that may be part of the problem... But as of now, my max seems to be around the $200.00 range

[Pilgrim]

Maybe $150 - if it walked my dog and did the laundry.

[jucas]

I keep finding myself willing to spend less and less on pedals. I have spent in the $300+ range before, but I think I've sold most of them for about the same amount.

The few I've kept are either things I couldn't build as well myself (HEXE bitcrusher/Goatkeeper), I've grown attatched to (BJFE blueberry), or are just well put together (Frostwave resonator/randy's revenge). All stuff that'd get lots of use when I swap it onto my board even if its not there all the time... so even though I'm sure I'll miss it, my chunk octavius squeezer is on the chopping block since I don't use it enough.

Most dirt pedals/filters/modulation pedals I could build something that got 90% of the way there, so no matter how perfect it was I probably wouldnt cross the $250 mark again (well... for now).

[RickenBoogie]

It just depends. A MoogerFooger can run a few sheckles, but if I think I need it, so be it. But, something like a chorus, phaser, flanger, I'd call it $300 max.