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Your favorite pedal under $50 new

#22
The price in 2022 or the price in 1996?

I bought a Dunlop Crybaby and a Sovtek Big Muff (the green russian big box version) both for $49.99 back in 96' or 97'. They were great and staples on my board at the time. I still have the Crybaby, although it's been heavily modded with one of the BYOC kits from 10 years ago.

Sadly I can't remember the last time I spent $50 on a pedal.
 
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#23
Dave W said:
The price in 2022 or the price in 1996?

I bought a Dunlop Crybaby and a Sovtek Big Muff (the green russian big box version) both for $49.99 back in 96' or 97'. They were great and staples on my board at the time. I still have the Crybaby, although it's been heavily modded with one of the BYOC kits from 10 years ago.

Sadly I can't remember the last time I spent $50 on a pedal.
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2022. It's a thread to bring the 1996ers into the present tense.
 
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#24
Zbysek said:
TC Electronic Spark
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Marihino said:
I second the Spark. It was £39 for the longest time over here. Got one an loved it instantly, not only my favourite inexpensive pedal, but my favourite pedal full stop.
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This ! For me it's the perfect slap pedal : volume boost, mild compression with the additional gain, and a slight mid scoop w/ low and high boosts. But it can do much more :thumbsup: Awesome value
 
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#25
I've had a slew of cheap mini pedals in recent years. If I could pick one keeper, it would probably be the Rowin Slow Hand. I also have a Donner Dark Mouse (Rat) and a Stax Harmonizer, which are fine, but given the choice I probably would not buy them again. I had a few others not really worth mentioning.
 
#28
Probably the M-Vave Fuzz (same as a Cuvave Fuzz). got it for $20. Is it versatile? No. Is it killer? Yes.
Spitty, velcro-ey, cuts through like a buzzsaw - but you can cut the highs with the tone knob. And it's LOUD.
I've read that it's a simplified Zvex mammoth, but like ridiculously cheap yet still has solid metal build quality.

Another good underrated fuzz I'm eyeing on is the Ginean Hairy Show fuzz, which is basically a DOD Carcosa clone, looks promising. It sounds identical on youtube comparisons.
$70 on Reverb, but I found it for like $40 elsewhere.
 
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#29
NKBassman said:
Joyo Ultimate Drive (OCD clone). I see them for $40-50 CAD on Amazon.ca as of this moment. Excellent sharp and bitey overdrive with no low end loss.

The only other uber cheap pedal I have is a Kmise Tremolo. It trems, so it's fine for what it is but nothing really to shout from the rooftops.
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Hey, Nk! I'm in a search for a Distortion Pedal. I already have a FUZZ but I want something "1 step before", less "fuzzier / loud". Could you talk more about the Joyo Ultimadre Drive?
 
#32
IanStephenson said:
There's multiple rebrands of the Ultimate Drive on AliExpress under $20. It's a must buy at that price. I have the Saphue branded version which is $15 at the moment!

My other favourite pedal is the Donner Tutti Love chorus - also under $20.

Generally good experiences with Donner (cheap), Saphue (very cheap) and sonicake (pretty cheap). Not so much Movall and Ronin (cheap but didn't work well - maybe just unlucky). At the prices on ebay/AliExpress they're pocket money fun.
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Hey, Ian! Did you test any of those brands? Is the Saphue as good as the Joyo one?

(Guys, sorry for the triple post. Got really excited about this thread <3)
 
#33
Zam said:
Hey, Nk! I'm in a search for a Distortion Pedal. I already have a FUZZ but I want something "1 step before", less "fuzzier / loud". Could you talk more about the Joyo Ultimadre Drive?
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I think I'd qualify it more as an overdrive than a distortion. However, honestly I haven't used it in quite a while... it's just not worth enough money to bother selling :p. It is pretty flexible though. Standard Gain/Tone/Volume layout, but also has a Hi/Lo switch for different gain ranges. It might give you what you want in high gain mode, but I typically kept it in Lo for a bit more transparency. It lets a lot of low end through, and has a nice grindy crunch through the mids and highs.

Not my videos:


 
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#34
The one that got the most use was the Behringer Bass EQ (BEQ700). $20 new at the time ($30 now). I used it to add lows back in after distortion/fuzz. Given the availability of many guitar ODs/fuzzes/distortions on the used market, and their often less than friendly use with bass guitar, I definitely recommend adding one to your board if you want to try some pedals you might otherwise skip.

There’s no need for it in my current setup, but it does still have a home on my brother’s board after his Deucetone Rat and his Foxx Tone Machine clone.
 
#35
capnjagg said:
The one that got the most use was the Behringer Bass EQ (BEQ700). $20 new at the time ($30 now). I used it to add lows back in after distortion/fuzz. Given the availability of many guitar ODs/fuzzes/distortions on the used market, and their often less than friendly use with bass guitar, I definitely recommend adding one to your board if you want to try some pedals you might otherwise skip.

There’s no need for it in my current setup, but it does still have a home on my brother’s board after his Deucetone Rat and his Foxx Tone Machine clone.
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Is it noisy? I've always found the BOSS EQ pedals to have some white noise whenever you move a slider.
 
#40
dkelley said:
if I recall mk1 was amazing but they got sued for stealing the circuit of another great pedal, so invented mk2 which isn't as good.

unless I'm confusing this with a different octave pedal that has mk1 and mk2 versions....
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Nope, you're correct. EHX sued them and won for copyright infringement. They even kept the EHX watermarks in the code.
 
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