Which cheap pedal utterly exceeded your expectations?

Voxman

I have a Behringer T0800 Vintage Tube Overdrive.  Dirt cheap 'tube screamer' clone that cost £22 new - it's plastic (tough though), cheap knobs etc - but it really kicks ass!  

A friend of mine has a current (non vintage) Ibanez green ts808, and when we ran them side by side it was pretty tough to tell them apart. I'm not sure but I think Behringer uses the same germanium diodes and op amps as in the original. If anything I found the Ibanez just a tad muddier.  I'm sure an original Ibanez tubescreamer would sound better, but for £22 I'm absolutely delighted with the Behringer - and it just does the job very well. 

One thing we both noticed is that when he got a mains unit for the Ibanez it didn't sound quite the same, even with a brand new battery. Both struggled to put our finger on it but it actually seemed better with the battery...wierd....were we going mad or has anyone else encountered that with this or any other pedal?  Out of interest I tried my T0800 with a battery (I use it mains powered on my pedal board) but the tone seemed consistent.  

EricTheWeary

mike_l said:

Skarloey said:

Gary Moore used the BM in what became the final phase of his career, amd that's a recommendation in my book.

I didn't know that.

Funnily, I play nothing like GM, but the Bad Monkey is a favourite of mine for adding grit and boost to a dirty Marshall.

I'm very impressed with the MXR Distortion+ I recently acquired from Coda. Cost £40 (used), and sonically it delivers. Nice as a boost, doesn't colour the overall sound, and tightens the low-end (with amp/pedals for dirt) nicely.

I owned a Distortion+ briefly. It was okay but seemed to have the most limited range of doing stuff ( technical term) of pretty much any pedal I've ever used. I suppose a one trick pony, fine if you like the trick.

Drew_TNBD

For the money? The Line 6 M9.

Okay, I know it's not the cheapest, but for most guitarists it really is all you need. Not for me of course, coz I'm a pedalwhore! But exceedingly good value for money.

Voxman

One other pedal I think is really great bang for buck is the Marshall GV2-Plus 'Guvn'r'.  It really does do a great Marshall tone.  I picked it up pre-owned from a local store for £30 (circa £50 new) and I think its got to be one of the most under-rated distortion pedals out there.

hugbot

mike_l said:

monquixote said:

Excluding clones the Hardwire Overdrive is a massive bargain at the moment.

Yes, and the Digitech pedals (Bad Monkey, Hot head, Metal master, etc) are all excellent dirty pedals for not much dollar.

I'd also say the Digitech multichorus and Digidelay are both excellent at their respective jobs, again at the cheaper end of things.

The hardwire CM2 is reportedly a slightly cleaned up Bad Monkey that runs at 15v

ThePrettyDamned

Voxman;345984" said:

One other pedal I think is really great bang for buck is the Marshall GV2-Plus 'Guvn'r'.  It really does do a great Marshall tone.  I picked it up pre-owned from a local store for £30 (circa £50 new) and I think its got to be one of the most under-rated distortion pedals out there.

Ooo yeah, I love these too. Great vintage sounds in it.

mike_l

hugbot said:

mike_l said:

The hardwire CM2 is reportedly a slightly cleaned up Bad Monkey that runs at 15v

I thought the Hardwire was closer to my Mk1 Guvnor than my Bad Monkey. And better in use as a stand-alone alternative to a dirty amp than the BM. All IMO.

mike_l

EricTheWeary said:

I owned a Distortion+ briefly. It was okay but seemed to have the most limited range of doing stuff ( technical term) of pretty much any pedal I've ever used. I suppose a one trick pony, fine if you like the trick.

Yep, it's does one thing, boosts and tightens a dirty sound. Certainly not a stand alone dirt box. I wouldn't use it as anything other than a boost. 

fretmeister

Marshall ED-1 Compressor.

Can be found new at £49

I love compression pedals and IMHO this is the best sub Keeley-price pedal. It's just brilliant.

gubble

I'm not sure my Tech 21 XXL counts. awesome drive pedal and i found it for a tenner in a second hand shop a few years ago.

 

Failing that both the Boss SD-1 and the Digitech Bad Monkey are stunning pedals for the price. Either of those are my main drive sound.

Dave_Mc

citizen68 said:

Deijavoo;345645" said:

Not cheap but have felt like absolutely wonderful value for money was the 3 big Strymons. I know they're bloody pricey but they've replaced so many pedals for me and sound absolutely amazing. 

Lol - think you misread the op - what was the outlay on your 3 big Strymons? At least £1k? Why post?

)

mike_l said:

monquixote said:

Excluding clones the Hardwire Overdrive is a massive bargain at the moment.

Yes, and the Digitech pedals (Bad Monkey, Hot head, Metal master, etc) are all excellent dirty pedals for not much dollar.

I'd also say the Digitech multichorus and Digidelay are both excellent at their respective jobs, again at the cheaper end of things.

Yeah the Bad Monkey, screamin blues (glorified BD2) and hot head (glorified DS1 I think) are pretty nice for the ~£20 they go for now. If my hardwire od is anything to go by, though, it's quite a bit better. Admittedly, it's twice as much. Though it used to be 4 times as much- at 4 times as much I'd say "Just get the Bad Monkey". At £46 I'd get the Hardwire.

mike_l said:

hugbot said:

mike_l said:

The hardwire CM2 is reportedly a slightly cleaned up Bad Monkey that runs at 15v

I thought the Hardwire was closer to my Mk1 Guvnor than my Bad Monkey. And better in use as a stand-alone alternative to a dirty amp than the BM. All IMO.

Sounds like a better bad monkey to me too. I was under the impression that's what it was. Not sure if it's been reversed, though.

EricTheWeary

Still somewhat regret selling my Behringer VTM - excellent delay for the money, just a stupidly big lump of metal.

Danelectro CoolCat Chorus - the plastic horse shoe shaped one. About £40 new, mine was £15. I haven't used it much TBH but it does a big swirly chorus thing - turn it on and you develop shoulder pads and a Kajagoogoo fixation.

We usually get mention of the Danelectro Transparent Drive as well from the same range. The original allegedly a Timmy clone for £40 when they were new/ available. A good condition V1 seems to go for more than a new V2 but maybe one to look out for at car boot sales and pawn shops.

 http://sharemyguitar.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/SMG_Danelectro_CTO1_2.jpg

bobblehat

Behringer DD400 delay  £22 cheap plastic rubbish but sounds great .I even has tap tempo!   

JayGee

EricTheWeary said:

Still somewhat regret selling my Behringer VTM - excellent delay for the money, just a stupidly big lump of metal.

Danelectro CoolCat Chorus - the plastic horse shoe shaped one. About £40 new, mine was £15. I haven't used it much TBH but it does a big swirly chorus thing - turn it on and you develop shoulder pads and a Kajagoogoo fixation.

We usually get mention of the Danelectro Transparent Drive as well from the same range. The original allegedly a Timmy clone for £40 when they were new/ available. A good condition V1 seems to go for more than a new V2 but maybe one to look out for at car boot sales and pawn shops.

 http://sharemyguitar.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/SMG_Danelectro_CTO1_2.jpg

I have a dead TOD V1 which was bloody brilliant till it died. 

I have (and use) a number of other Dano Cool Cat pedals, the not-transparent OD (allegedly an OCD clone), the Fuzz (alleged Peach Fuzz clone), the Distortion (red one - came free with a Guitarist subscription, as far as I know not yet fingered as a clone) and the Vibe (again not yet fingered). They're all bloody brilliant too, especially the Vibe!

Dave_Mc

I thought the distortion was supposedly guvnorish... i haven't tried it, though, and I'm not sure if it's actually been reversed or if that's just internet rumour (i.e. probably wrong).

my drive died... luckily it was the one i used least (plus being an OCD clone, easier to get elsewhere) out of the 3. The trans/timmy and peach fuzz are very nice and difficult to get elsewhere.

but yeah i'm not sure about the reliability. and the background noise is slightly higher than i'd like. and the knobs at the back are annoying. aside from that, they're very nice.

impmann

Nobels ODR1 Overdrive thingy... seriously brilliant.

Danelectro PB&J Delay - do the mod thingy and these are wonderful

dogload

Yeah- the Nobels ODR is excellent. I've got the ODR1+ which has a switch for extra boost, but to be honest, that never gets used. I use the ODR in conjunction with a Boss SD-1. Classy boutique OD pedals aren't my bag, baby.

meltedbuzzbox

dogload said:

Yeah- the Nobels ODR is excellent. I've got the ODR1+ which has a switch for extra boost, but to be honest, that never gets used. I use the ODR in conjunction with a Boss SD-1. Classy boutique OD pedals aren't my bag, baby.

Ahh nobels top trumps eh?

I have a Nobels ODR-S, it has 5 nobs....

and is no different to the ODR1 really. 

All variants are fecking awesome. 

dogload

meltedbuzzbox said:

dogload said:

Yeah- the Nobels ODR is excellent. I've got the ODR1+ which has a switch for extra boost, but to be honest, that never gets used. I use the ODR in conjunction with a Boss SD-1. Classy boutique OD pedals aren't my bag, baby.

Ahh nobels top trumps eh?

I have a Nobels ODR-S, it has 5 nobs....

and is no different to the ODR1 really. 

All variants are fecking awesome. 

Not one-upping at all. Just making the point that the ODR is a good pedal without any need for fancy switches.

meltedbuzzbox

I know mate I was only pulling your leg @dogload they are awesome pedals

a special thanks to @Benecol for getting me into it and in turn that got @impmann on the merry go round too. 

I am really surprised these aren't on more boards