Super cheap pedals advice

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Re: Super cheap pedals advice

Post by blunderbuss » Sun Sep 20, 2020 9:04 am

60 Cycle Hum did a “affordaboard” series of videos. While his personality might be an acquired taste, the few I watched did a good job shooting out budget options. Might be something to consider to get a general idea!
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Re: Super cheap pedals advice

Post by shadowplay » Sun Sep 20, 2020 11:02 pm

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Last edited by shadowplay on Sun Sep 20, 2020 11:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Are you loathsome tonight?

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Re: Super cheap pedals advice

Post by shadowplay » Sun Sep 20, 2020 11:03 pm

Thanks for all the great advice everyone, lots to think about, good insight and kind offers by PM.
nanamour wrote:
Fri Sep 18, 2020 3:55 am
Perhaps pushing the budget a few hairs over the edge for this kind of project, but in the cheapish range, sorting her out with Ibanez Delay and Chorus Minis (warning the narration in the clips is not for the pure of soul, but gives a good representation of the sounds) would set her up well for the analog delay and chorus slices of the pie. I've experience with and can vouch for both, the delay was on my board for a long time and it's one of the best sounding analog delays I've played full stop regardless of size or price range. The Ibanez mini line also screams quality in a way a lot of pricepoint-comparables could only whisper and would probably have a better resale value if she changed her tastes down the road. Again, pushing the budget a bit but could be had for $USD 50-75 used each if you don't mind scrounging eBay and the like a bit.

Moving on to the Plastic Fantastic end of the spectrum, you might look out for a Dinosaur (I think there's an Arion branded version too) DCH-1 stereo chorus--the build quality leaves a lot to be desired, but it sounds horrible (digital artifacts galore, laser beam brightness) in a way that's most pleasing for this kind of music. I got mine for $25 brand new. At a similar pricepoint, the Behringer SF300 Super Fuzz has been lauded around these parts as a skid row alternative to the Boss FZ-2, and I'll be damned if I could've told the one I've played apart from the real thing in a blind test.

Lastly, a bit of a departure but you might also consider just getting her an iRig for ~$40 if there's an iPad around the house. It removes the tactile knob-twiddling aspect, but effects in Garageband and Amplitube are surprisingly decent and I got on with them just fine while all my 'real' pedals were in storage as I lived out of a suitcase the past few months. It would also provide her a means to record her compositions in a portable and easy-to-use format.
I think we’re on the same page here (and Brad and Geoff) Ibanez minis were my first hope but they are sadly too expensive (even used) after I bought her the Microbrute. Part of me thinks to just sort her properly but I’m not wanting to overshadow her hard pressed mum by buying her lots of fancy stuff. Her mums buying her a better interface and has told me not to spoil her and I’d worry she’ll google the cost.

Good shout on Arion stuff, it’s just reminded me I have an Arion phaser that I can throw in as a bonus.

You are right about the effects in GarageBand, she uses that but I was just trying to build her a board of interactive pedals. I’m tempted to splurge on the Adimini and cheap out the chorus a bit but reverb is tricky.

At the moment she has a loan one of one of my Korg PME-40X module pedal boards but it’s coming back to me.
MayTheFuzzBeWithYou wrote:
Fri Sep 18, 2020 3:39 am
What kind of Fuzz do you have in mind?
Something very bumblebee. She likes my Kimbara fuzz but I’m guessing some sort of silicone fuzz would be fine for her. Knowing her tastes she’d be using it for a sort of twangy slomo ‘billy thing as opposed to lots of acid soloing.
Maggieo wrote:
Sun Sep 20, 2020 8:43 am
What amp does she have? If it could use an upgrade, that would be money well spent. Better amp, fewer pedals?
She has a Roland cube and an H|H IC100 I gave her so she’s doing OK for amps.

Her style is very post punk and into darkwave, liking a lot of older eyelinered stuff and more modern bands like Tropic of Cancer, Curses, HTRK, Carla Dal Forno and Boy Harsher. So we’re talking cleanish, lots of reverb, smears and smudges of modulation and delays running from miasmaic to hiccuping.

D
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Re: Super cheap pedals advice

Post by Firecat » Mon Sep 21, 2020 1:48 am

mackerelmint wrote:
Fri Sep 18, 2020 3:41 pm
I'm not sure how cheap you want cheap to be, but if dirt's not a concern and $120 US is in the budget, the zoom CDR would fill the bill. One pedal with all the effects, and a very good sounding one at that. Admittedly, I'm a bit of an evangelical about that pedal, but that's not for no good reason.

And I'll second the recommends on Joyo stuff. It's worth the money. Behringer I've had a couple of, and they were both good for the price, though ultimately neither stuck around forever.
I second this. The Zoom CDR-70 is incredible value and will give her the opportunity to experiment with all kind of effects.

Other cheap pedals I recommend are the Mooer Yellow Comp, Mooer Black Secret, Mooer Trelicopter, Joyo American Sound, TC Electronic Spark Booster, TC Electronic 3d Dimension Chorus, TC Electronic Juno 60.

The Mooer Ana Echo and Eleclady are supposedly very good value too, but I have no experience with them.

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Re: Super cheap pedals advice

Post by shadowplay » Mon Sep 21, 2020 3:12 am

Filipe wrote:
Mon Sep 21, 2020 1:48 am


The Mooer Ana Echo and Eleclady are supposedly very good value too, but I have no experience with them.
I've been looking in the Mooer isle.

I like the idea of all one brand purely so it doesn't look like a dogs dinner and seems more 'giftie'

So I'm looking for secondhand nearly new;

Mooer - Ensemble King Chorus (sounds more or less BOSS like)

Mooer - Skyverb

Mooer - Ana Echo (poor girls BOSS DM-2)

Any red flags with these?

I'm not set on these but demos sound totally fine...well the demo's all sound utterly shite with wall to wal pointy headstocked braindamaging widdle pish but the pedals themselves sound like they could make the sounds she likes (or even I like).

D
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Re: Super cheap pedals advice

Post by Firecat » Mon Sep 21, 2020 6:05 am

shadowplay wrote:
Mon Sep 21, 2020 3:12 am
Filipe wrote:
Mon Sep 21, 2020 1:48 am


The Mooer Ana Echo and Eleclady are supposedly very good value too, but I have no experience with them.
I've been looking in the Mooer isle.

I like the idea of all one brand purely so it doesn't look like a dogs dinner and seems more 'giftie'

So I'm looking for secondhand nearly new;

Mooer - Ensemble King Chorus (sounds more or less BOSS like)

Mooer - Skyverb

Mooer - Ana Echo (poor girls BOSS DM-2)

Any red flags with these?

I'm not set on these but demos sound totally fine...well the demo's all sound utterly shite with wall to wal pointy headstocked braindamaging widdle pish but the pedals themselves sound like they could make the sounds she likes (or even I like).

D
Seems like a nice little set up to start with! Add a Mooer Black secret (Rat + Turbo Rat clone) and maybe a Mooer Baby Tuner and you've got a nice little pedalboard that covers all basic needs for the genres you've mentioned. You might need to add a buffer though, as they're all true bypass.

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Re: Super cheap pedals advice

Post by cestlamort » Mon Sep 21, 2020 8:18 am

I'd personally be more than happy with a Korg PMX modular one and H|H IC100... (the former is on loan, I know).
It's good that she has garageband etc so as to do some of the heavy lifting for orientation in the sound world (something I'm still working on myself) by trying out the Cupertino chorus or whatever and having an idea of whether that's where she wants to go or not. I'd think whatever modern equivalents of the boss DD-2(/3) digital delay + BF-2 flanger would work great in that application. (Tangent, the ibanez mini pedals are fabulous and warm and organic – but maybe a bit too organic for some of the dark wavier stuff / I sold mine after getting a DD-2).
I haven't used the mooer pedals myself, so can't comment there.
Arion would be great if you could track them down.
The Zoom CDR might be a great all-in-one option, too.

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Re: Super cheap pedals advice

Post by VPO » Mon Sep 21, 2020 8:20 am

Harley Benton Powerplant Junior is a good power supply. It's a clone of T-Rex FuelTank Junior.

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Re: Super cheap pedals advice

Post by blunderbuss » Mon Sep 21, 2020 12:47 pm

If she’s already on GarageBand, have you considered the Teisco Interface?

https://youtu.be/m9zGNqDLrNw
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Re: Super cheap pedals advice

Post by Maggieo » Mon Sep 21, 2020 3:12 pm

shadowplay wrote:
Sun Sep 20, 2020 11:03 pm

Her style is very post punk and into darkwave, liking a lot of older eyelinered stuff and more modern bands like Tropic of Cancer, Curses, HTRK, Carla Dal Forno and Boy Harsher. So we’re talking cleanish, lots of reverb, smears and smudges of modulation and delays running from miasmaic to hiccuping.

D
When I was her age, I was into that sort of stuff, and EHX was all over the floor at my feet. I can't speak to today's stuff (not all of it, but boy, the Holy Grail is epic), but it's solid, it's inexpensive, and it's not utterly hideous.
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Re: Super cheap pedals advice

Post by Unicorn Warrior » Mon Sep 21, 2020 3:44 pm

I once tried to do this very same thing for a band mate. I ultimately decided I would buy him 1 good effect verses multiple Less quality ones. In the end it paid off. The pedal I got him was a used neunaber wet. The quality of that one reverb made the world of difference in his sound and the way he played

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Re: Super cheap pedals advice

Post by jorri » Mon Sep 21, 2020 3:49 pm

Unicorn Warrior wrote:
Mon Sep 21, 2020 3:44 pm
I once tried to do this very same thing for a band mate. I ultimately decided I would buy him 1 good effect verses multiple Less quality ones. In the end it paid off. The pedal I got him was a used neunaber wet. The quality of that one reverb made the world of difference in his sound and the way he played
I see the theory behind that. Although I'd perhaps disagree with dirt pedals since there are so many cheap clones which are indistinguishable from the up market ones as much as anyone but cork sniffers, or strange noise makers tend to care. Whereas a reverb or delay, or even a required modulation then certainly.

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Re: Super cheap pedals advice

Post by MayTheFuzzBeWithYou » Tue Sep 22, 2020 12:38 am

shadowplay wrote:
Sun Sep 20, 2020 11:03 pm
MayTheFuzzBeWithYou wrote:
Fri Sep 18, 2020 3:39 am
What kind of Fuzz do you have in mind?
Something very bumblebee. She likes my Kimbara fuzz but I’m guessing some sort of silicone fuzz would be fine for her. Knowing her tastes she’d be using it for a sort of twangy slomo ‘billy thing as opposed to lots of acid soloing.
As the Kimbara is one of those Shin-Ei-Superfuzz/Companion things maybe a Behringer SF-300 comes close (enough). Otherwise Fredrick's effects unpleasant companion...but this is already in the 100 bucks territory.
Otherwise - if we mean the same thing talking about bumblebees and twangy tones, I'd say a FuzzRite (clone) might get you/her somewhere in that direction too!

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Re: Super cheap pedals advice

Post by marqueemoon » Tue Sep 22, 2020 6:06 am

If she has a smartphone a used TC HOF Mini would be good for the reverb role.

Personally I’d focus on quality over quantity. I personally think analog delay and fuzz are best/most enjoyable in hardware form.

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Re: Super cheap pedals advice

Post by mackerelmint » Tue Sep 22, 2020 7:41 pm

At the risk of belaboring a point, I think the Zoom would really fit the bill here. Since optics are a bit of a concern and keeping this as low-key as possible for a gift is part of the goal, a one pedal gift would probably make her mom happy.

The pedal sounds superb, so there's that. It has everything but dirt. A tuner, compression, all the modulation. Delays with tap tempo and no shortage of reverbs. It's got stereo ins and outs so that she can use it as an outboard stereo effect during mixdowns if she wants to.

The effects can also be swapped around now, and she can replace ones she doesn't like with ones she does. So with that bit of software running on her computer, she could use the zoom for dirt or amp simulation. And it's MIDI controllable over USB as well.

I'll stop twisting your arm now. ;)
This is an excellent rectangle

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