Best drive pedals for under £40

stonevibe

So having just bought a Bad Monkey and being the owner of a Joyo Ultimate Drive as well. I thought maybe we could pool our collective knowledge and create a thread based on the 'Pros & Cons' of all the sub £40 drive pedals out there.

I think under £40 new is the basic threshold and also they have to be currently available / still in production.

Maybe some reviews and links to schematics with mods as well.

The idea being anyone on the lookout for a cheap drive could use this as a resource instead of wasting hours scouring the web. I really think we want information based on actual user feedback and gigging / recording use. Not stuff just copied and pasted from the web and based on 'general consensus'.

There are some great bargains out these and maybe if we could create this and get it updated frequently, then we could move on to doing  thread about other pedals as well i.e delays, chorus etc

monquixote

The Joyo US Dream is very good (though apparently not a very close Riot clone)

The Crunch Deluxe is supposed to be a Plimsoul which is one of my favs so I might invest in one of those at some point. 

Joyos always seem a bit flimsy, but I have gigged them in the past. 

ThePrettyDamned

Boss SD-1, Bad Monkey, the Joyo drives are all pretty much the standard overdrives.  The SD-1 is nice, and the Bad Monkey is one that I wouldn't gig without, if only for the DI function.  

Boss DS-1, Joyo Crunch box, Boss DS-2 (one of my favourites, but not sure if it goes for less than 60...) and the Duncan Powergrid (which is, in my opinion, the best higher gain crunch distortion on the market for less than boutique prices, and probably better sounding than a lot of them).  Sadly not in production, but still available at blowout prices of around 40 quid or so.

The ones I've covered go from lower gain OD, TS clones, ampy crunch and... Well, DS-1 (which just sounds like a DS-1).  

Also, any clone of a rat available for that money.  Mooer Black Secret is a little over budget, but it'll get you 'that' sound.  Loves me a rat. 

stonevibe

I'd totally agree on the Boss SD-1. Great pedals and actually the first pedal I ever owned as a kid.

ThePrettyDamned

A really cool distortion is the EHX Metal Muff with top boost.  Okay, the top boost should not be allowed to go past a fraction on the dial (it gets pretty nasty) but the distortion is huge, thick and heavy, with a powerful eq, but the most common complaint is it doesn't sound ampy.

ICBM

I'll have to second the Boss SD-1 and DS-1. Although they do have faults, what other all-time classic, pro-quality overdrive and distortion pedals can you buy for under £40 new?

The Bad Monkey might be approaching that status now too. (I prefer the Hot Head, although its not as popular.)

Why buy clones with dodgy build quality and unreliable switching when you can have these…?

mike_l

Boss SD-1

Boss SD-2

Bad Monkey

 

monquixote

The Little Big Muff can be had for £40 quids. 

LT Drive just breaks the budget at £42, but that's still a bargain.

ThePrettyDamned

Actually, the whole range of digitech drives... The Grunge is pretty cool sounding, and the Screamin' Blues is nice, too.  All available from GAk for 25 quid.

I love the DS-2 but it comes in over budget.  DS-1 it is.

fretmeister

I would have said the Marshall Jackhammer, but it seems the price has crept up to about £45.

Stunning pedal. I'd be way more upset if I lost mine than my Wampler / Carl Martin / Suhr!

monquixote

If anyone wants one you can have my mint boxed Jackhammer for £25

stonevibe

monquixote said:

If anyone wants one you can have my mint boxed Jackhammer for £25

Like this one ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiwMd2tNiKM

monquixote

Exactly like that one and very good it is too. 

I can't really justify it when I have a shredmaster. 

stonevibe

monquixote said:

Exactly like that one and very good it is too. 

I can't really justify it when I have a shredmaster. 

Listen to his demo, it had me in stitches.

monquixote

Ha that's brilliant

It does sound good despite that demo.

Dave_Mc

ICBM said:

I'll have to second the Boss SD-1 and DS-1. Although they do have faults, what other all-time classic, pro-quality overdrive and distortion pedals can you buy for under £40 new?

The Bad Monkey might be approaching that status now too. (I prefer the Hot Head, although its not as popular.)

Why buy clones with dodgy build quality and unreliable switching when you can have these…?

You have more options with joyo clones- most of the joyo or mooer clones I'd prefer (in terms of sound) to the ds1, for example. (The sd1 is great, though, but then you have that bleed problem.)

That being said, I'd still second them too ) (As you said, though, I think the hot head is a glorified ds1 and is even cheaper again.)

Admittedly the build quality is the problem with the likes of joyo. For just duffing about at home and figuring out what I like, they're great. I'm not sure I'd trust them for gigging.

Since Digitech was mentioned, the screamin blues is pretty nice too, apparently it's a glorified BD2.

ThePrettyDamned

Okay, I'll be slaughtered for this

But behringer. Seriously, they have every flavour of drive for about 20-40 quid. They're probably not that reliable, but for 20 quid, it's more about 'sound seeking' than it is 'performance quality' and I think that justifies their inclusion.

dindude

My vote goes to the Joyo Sweet Baby, yes it's a copy of the Mad Professor Sweet Honey, but it is genuinely brilliant as a flavoursome low-gainer.

Axe_meister

Or build your own.
Just built the pedal parts zendrive clone.
Oh what a sound.

JayGee

Danelectro Cool Cats. 

There's a Transparent OD Mk 1 on my board (along with a Peach Fuzz and a Vibe) and I used to have a Distortion (the red one) on there which also makes a good drive if you keep the gain down and goes back on the board to substitute for the red channel of my Mesa 5:25 for "backline provided" gigs.

They're really good sounding pedals, not good for the price, just good sounding full stop.

I gather the other Drive (the silver one) isn't too shabby either but haven't tried one myself...

vasselmeyer

The Digitech Screamin' Blues is excellent as is the Bad Money which most people seem to think is a TS clone but I understand that it's based on a DOD Juice Box.

The Joyo Sweet Baby is really good and their AC-Tone is just fantastic. I'm really not sure about their build quality but for just messing about with or rehearsing with, you can't beat them.