$70 Pedals That Don't Suck
Okay, hypothetical situation here: you find $70 in your coat pocket. Hey, crazier things have happened. Maybe a kind stranger slipped it in when you weren’t looking. Maybe it’s leftover from the bake sale that you just organized for your kid’s third grade class.
It doesn’t really matter how the $70 got there. What matters is you have Ulysses S. Grant and Andrew Jackson chilling in your pocket, and you need to spend them. You could change the ink cartridge in your printer. You could change the oil in your car. You could even buy 10 frappuccino macchiatos(T) at the local Starbucks.
Or you could buy one of these 10 pedals for under $70 that I personally love.
Now, I’m fairly good with words, but I can’t paint the perfect picture of how these pedals sound. If you really want to get the full effect, go back and watch my “$50 Pedals That Don’t Suck” JHS show episode, and you’ll hear us jam with each of these pedals.**
**Inflation is real, y’all. We released that episode in 2019, and I had to tweak this article a bit to catch up with 2020 prices. It happens.
BBE 427 Distortion
The first pedal I want to show you today is the BBE 427 Distortion. This thing's awesome because it's based around the vintage big-box ProCo Rat pedal. A real vintage RAT is big, black, and could set you back upwards of $1000. This clone is $60, is smaller, and it's blue.
And did I mention it's awesome? I rest my case.
Danelectro Tuna Melt Tremolo
Danelectro Tuna Melt Tremolo. The name alone is worth $39. Yeah, I said $39.
That’s eight $5 bills. That’s four tens. That’s--okay, I’m going to assume you also know basic math. What I’m getting at here is that you probably have $39 to spare. Most people do. And you probably need a tremolo. If you don't need a tremolo, you probably need another $39 tremolo, am I right? To have on hand just in case.
I used to re-case these into a metal enclosure, but to be honest, this plastic case lasts quite a while with just the switch there. I like it. The circuit's really, really fantastic.
And it's $39. I don't know if I mentioned that.
Deadbeat Delay Lay Lay Analog Delay
Next up is the Deadbeat Delay Lay Lay Analog Delay. Try saying that five times fast. Now try it again with your mouth full of marshmallows. Wait, that’s “Chubby Bunny.” Sorry. Moving on.
Now, the name is a little misleading, as it's not actually analog. It’s technically digital, because it uses the famous/infamous PT-2399 chip set, so it's a digital chip set. You filter it in a way that replicates analog. It has a really warm repeat.
To be completely honest, this sounds fantastic. One of the problems you run into with that chip set is that it gets really noisy, but they've kept this extremely quiet. It has a good, long available delay time. It does fantastic slap. It's just a great pedal.
Next up is the DOD Stereo Flanger FX75-B. There's a lot of different versions of these pedals. This entire DOD era is really fantastic. And for $59, I think it's an amazing pedal.
I tend to use it very subtly. You guys know, I love to use flangers almost like a chorus, but there's a setting on here where I can still hear the flange. It's almost like a slap delay holding the whole thing together. It's really, really cool and clean guitar.
Also, I love DOD. Like, if I wasn’t already happily married, I would probably marry DOD. See my “DOD Lamb Series” JHS show episode for more on this.
Dr. J D-56 Planes Walker Fuzz
Next up is the Dr. J D-56 Planes Walker Fuzz. This is a $65 fuzz pedal that will melt your heart and rip off your face, people. You can spare that much money. Trust me.
Do yourself a favor and google this thing, because you need to see a photo properly appreciate the color. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: if the pedal is pink, then you know it’s good. And I love the size of the enclosure. The circuit on this is also really, really great. You have a color control, which is kind of like a mids control. Input acts as the gain. You can go between silicon and germanium settings. The germanium setting is a really great distortion. It will do really nice fuzz sounds, go to the neck pickup, it cleans up, and all that stuff.
Honestly, I own the entire line and I'm a big fan, just because these pedals are really affordable and really cool. It’s a win-win.
Marshall ED-1 Edward Compressor
Sometimes you just want to take your guitar and the tone coming from it and squish it to death. I’m talking squish it beyond the point of annihilation, yet keep it clean somehow? Yup, that's what a compressor does.
So for $45, you can have the compressor Marshall ED-1 Edward. This line of pedals is really fun, and this is a really inexpensive, well-made pedal. It has metal casing and metal knobs. There's probably some metal inside. I didn't look. What I’m saying here is this is a quality pedal. We all know that metal means it's good.
You can honestly apply that phrase to pretty much anything in life. Is this pedal good? Well, it’s a Metal Zone, so yes. Is this song good? Well, it’s heavy metal, so definitely. In the JHS episode, I actually played some weird hybrid of jazz funk, rock, country, and jazz with this just to show you how squishy it gets.
If you need a compressor, this is a good place to try one because you might try it and hate it. But you can always say, “Hey, I gave it a shot. I tried a compressor for $50.” And we would applaud you.
Electro-Harmonix Neo Clone Analog Chorus
Okay, I’m going to shoot straight with you here. This one appreciated in value a lot since the original JHS Show episode aired. At that time, you could grab one of these pedals for $40.
Since this, the price has jumped to about $55.
Yeah, a whole $15. I know you’re not made of money. I get it. Neither am I.
Joking aside, though, it’s a fantastic pedal. $55 is still a very reasonable price for the Electro-Harmonix Neo Clone. This is in the lineage of the small clone chorus. It's really, really classic. I’d say this is still a really good chorus for people who are new to it, or just wanting to see if they can add that to their rig and enjoy it. It’s simple. It has one knob, one switch, so there's really no bad sounds.
In the demo, I used it in a slow setting, and it sounded great.
If you're looking for a new overdrive that'll handle light gain all the way to have your gain drive sounds, look no further. The MXR GT-OD Overdrive Pedal is a fantastic choice.
First off, you can pick one of these up for $65, which is amazing. Here’s something else that might blow your mind a little: the pedal is green and it has three knobs. So you're thinking, “Oh, it's a Tube Screamer,” but actually it's not a Tube Screamer.
It's a few parts removed from their signature Zakk Wylde overdrive, and it's really, really great in the middle gain setting. I think this might be the pedal that some of you guys need, because there's a few of you out there who have six or seven overdrives on your board and you're thinking, “I could go up to eight, nine, or ten drive pedals.”
The GT-OD will save your wallet and it’ll save your board, because we all need more drive pedals, but at what cost? In this case, roughly $65.
TC Electronic Skysurfer Reverb
For $53, you can have a new reverb--or your first reverb. I don't know who you are personally, but I know that everyone needs a reverb at some point. I'm just here to help.
First off, do a quick image search for this pedal so we can look at this color together. It's a baby blue. There's no more pleasant color on a pedal enclosure than baby blue. It's so calming. Even aside from the beautiful color, the TC Electronic Skysurfer Reverb is a fantastic pedal. It has three different settings: plate, hall, and spring. I like using it in kind of a washed-out, spring sounding reverb. It’s just a beautiful sound.
Donner Nano Series Metal Head
The last pedal on our list is the Donner Nano Series Metal Head. I saved the best for last, because you can snag one of these bad boys for just $29. This is such a small price to pay for such a small pedal to play.** This pedal is fantastic for metal riffs, which is basically another name for jazz metal.
**And that’s why they call me the Rhyme Master.
This is not an exhaustive list of inexpensive, not-terrible pedals, but I personally think that these pedals are amazing. I've used a few in my personal rigs over the years. These pedals are proof that you don't need to break the bank to generate some awesome guitar stank. And at the end of the day, what else can you ask for in a pedal?
*This video was published in 2019 prices may vary.