Are Cheap Pedals Good?! - Do You Have To Spend Hundreds On Boutique Guitar Pedals To Sound Awesome?

Dagan finds out if cheap pedals are any good! Everyone knows that if you spend hundreds on Strymon, Jackson Audio & Earthquaker Devices Pedals your tone will be stunning... But there was a simpler time before these wonderful pedals, and peoples tones were pretty damn SWEET! The pedals were easy to use, still sounded great and didn't break the bank! You can still get some of these iconic, easy to use, affordable pedals these days - the Boss SD & Electro Harmonix Big Muff for example, but also tonnes of other budget guitar effect pedals that sound absolutely awesome and can be used in multiple genres and styles!

Grab all the pedals Dagan uses in this video at PMT Online below:

PMTVUK demo video mentioned by Dagan on each pedal range:

We run though some classic affordable pedals, such as the awesome Boss SD-1 overdrive and Boss BD-2 Blues Driver, you'll find these pedals on so many legendary records and in famous recording studios, it's absolutely crazy, and that tone can be yours for not a lot of money! This is also exactly the same case with the Electro Harmonix Big Muff!

We also have a look at awesome modern brands such as Big Top FX, which are exclusive to PMT. These pedals are a great way to get the most popular guitar effects around on your board and not bust the bank, the range features everything from Delay & Reverb to Modulation, Overdrives Fuzzes & Distortions oh and also a looper and power supply!

You'll also see some pedals from some of the biggest guitar and amp brands in the biz, Fenders Hammertone pedals cover all ground in the world of FX, they're easy to use, sound great, look awesome and its a brand you can definitely trust, Fender! The same goes for Blackstar with the LT Drive & Distortion, get the stunning saturation Blackstar is known for whilst still keeping your wallet fat!

We have to include some honourable mentions at the end with a couple of pedals that cost a little more than the others, but for how LEGENDARY they are, every guitar player needs to own them! I'm talking about the Ibanez Tubescreamer & MXR Phase 90!

00:00 Intro
01:20 Do You Have To Spend A Lot To Get A Great Guitar Pedal?
03:55 Fender Hammertone - Space Delay & Reverb
07:23 Electro Harmonix Big Muff Tone Wicker
12:14 Big Top FX - Juggler Reverb, Candy Floss Chorus, Creepy Clown Fuzz
19:20 Boss BD-2 & SD-1
24:54 Blackstar LT Distortion & Drive
29:34 Honourable Mentions - Ibanez Tubescreamer TS9, MXR Phase 90
34:16 Final Thoughts

#GuitarPedals #GuitarEffects #Overdrive #Distortion #Delay #Modulation
__________________________________________________________

Subscribe to PMTVUK:

Find us on social media:

[rdStoreyChemist]

A BD2+SD1 or two BD2's is incredible, no need for 5 year waiting lists.

[ParaBellum]

My experience: _some_ cheap pedals are good. When trying them out, assuming you like the general effect quality and sound, check for the following negatives: 1) too much hiss or white noise - this can be expected when drive pedals are wound up, but if they hiss at low settings, then I reject them. 2) effect bleeding through when switched off - noticeable with modulation pedals such as choruses, if I can still hear the sound "swishing" when the pedal's off, I reject it. 3) switch noise - buffered pedals should switch silently, and many true bypass pedals are also quiet, but some are very noisy, so I won't have them on my board. If I could have only one pedal (assuming my amp had reverb), it would be a Boss BD-2 Blues Driver.

[miroslavmp]

I am an 80's hair metal fan just like Dagan, but play a Zoom G1X Four multi-effect and am considering switching to pedals, especially when I start doing live gigs, so this was very educational. My favorites from the video are both 24:54 "Blackstar" and all the 12:14 "Big Top Fx" pedals. 🤘😎

[TribalGuitars]

I definitely need to invest in a Blue Driver! I have an Arion chorus that was a "cheap" pedal back in the day and it's still one of the best choruses I've heard. My Sophgate noisegate does a great job and does a couple other trick for well under $100, but I'm also impressed with the $25 Behringer gate I got for my daughter's Tele.

Would definitely love to see more "great and affordable" gear demos.

[craigsmith]

I used the Hammertone Reverb for about 6 months and was really pleased with it. I wanted a huge sounding hall reverb for the more ambient parts of our songs and it did the job. I replaced it with a JHS 3 Series Hall Reverb because it sounded even bigger and it was still less than 100 quid!

[GRBAquatics]

Very cool, Thankyou. I Have Behringer Pedal Board with CS400, PB100, SE200, OD100, HM300, FX100, VD400 as my everyday home use Board. It is awesome, provides all the sounds I require, and each pedal was purchased for no more than $20- Australian (which is like free in UK and USA). Also The Joyo Vintage Overdrive and The Cuvave Fuzz are outstanding affordable pedals. Cheers

[jafo]

Just picked up a BD-2W. Thanks Dagan!

[derekhenderson]

Nobels OD1, EHX Soul Food, Budda Zenman, TC Electronics El Mocambo , 4 great budget drive pedals that also stack in pairs extremely well together. Even some of the Klon Clones out there are fabulous (like the Soul Food) are more than worthy for a mention. When the TS808 first came out it was a £20/£25 pedal in the early 80s, that was still a pretty cheap item, even then, and look at the status it acquired all because of SRV. It really is all in the hands, , I've heard people with top dollar pedals sounding less than average, but they had deep pockets. Whether it's cheap or expensive, a capacitor is a capacitor, a resistor is a resistor and a transistor is the same as all the rest. All manufacturers use the same components and the inconsistencies are all part of the equation. Hand-wired, or surface mount, are there any sonic differences ?? I've got both and it's very difficult to tell

[pads-zrln]

I was watching a pedal show hosted by the jhs owner who basically said the beringer tube screamer was basically thr same circuit as the original, £20 granted its in a flimsy case but for beginners it's excellent

[jasonlewis]

The Boss OD3 with the SD-1 is a great pair.

[jonathanlego]

I use a boss distortion, keeley compression plus, Friedman Be-od, electroharmonix silencer, behringer guitar modulator, prophet by TC, boss reverb delay combo. Dunlop wah pedal, rat, tube screamer TS9. All through a code 25 Marshall combo.

[che]

My soundtank ts5 is still the one since 1992. I spent 399 on a Headrush MX5 and got all the pedals now.

[KarenBasset]

Looks like guitar pedal videos are 10x more popular than bass amp videos. I watch them all myself. Great content!

[mikem]

Those are the two Hammertone pedals i’ve picked up - really enjoyed so far. Thinking about getting the chorus and distortion as well.

[Deadhansome]

That phase 90 sound just put a huge smile on me mug while I was making a cuppa

[malcolmgordon]

Mooer Blues Crab… a Marshall Bluesbreaker clone. I’ve some fairly pricy pedals on my board, but the Blues Crab is my ‘always on’ drive! Get two and you’re close enough to a King Of Tone for under £100!

[mmudigonda]

Just when I thought my opinion of Dagan couldn't get any higher, he goes and plays Pure Imagination from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.
Dagan - Don't EVER change! 😄😄

[craigreynolds]

I've just brought a big muff fuzz and it is awesome with .my tubescreamer mini in front of it giving it a boost and my TC electronic blood moon phaser after it I am getting some wonderful eclectic sounds from the blood moon and muff and really distorted tones with the tubescreamer and muff going together I would recommend this to anyone

[devilslide]

Hey Dagan, great video! Just wondering since you’re an official Blackstar endorsed guy, what your Blackstar of choice is….only one…ok maybe a runner up too

[TheDemonsReflection]

My fabourrite pedal is cheap. The Behringer GDI21 v tone amp modelled. It's versatile as hell. From clean tweed to metal distortion.