In the guitar world, there are thousands, if not millions, of different guitar pedals available for purchase. For a new player, it can sometimes be difficult to find a good quality pedal that doesn’t break the bank. This topic is open to discussion/suggestions for budget pedals.
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I there anybody here who has used the Amazon Basics line of pedals?
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Frankly, most simple analogue pedals.
Things like simple drives, delays, etc. are not complex or “magical” circuits. the circuit cost of these things are relatively low. probably the biggest cost is the enclosure and the controls on them.
It’s not difficult for a manufacturer to churn out low-cost replicas of classic pedal circuits in volume.
The only downside is that, if they are really cheap, some of the controls might be a bit poor quality and be scratchy, or may not be very sturdy.
So, I don’t see there could be much wrong with the Amazon pedals. Many of the Behringer pedals have also received very good reviews.
It depends what you are looking for.
And if you don’t know what you are looking for, a cheap multifx unit is often a good starting point, to help you learn about FX and what you, personally, like.
Cheers,
Keith
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In this day and age, it became “interesting” instead of “brave” to try low priced gear.
I get the best speaker sounds digitally, form free IR’s,
I play both expensive and cheap guitar
I fully embraced the power of digital, that really made a mark on the past 5 to 10 years.
My general advice would be?
Want to try something cheap? try to go for RECENT cheap items.
throwing in a €20 Harley Benton EQ is worth the risk and if it works well enough for you, you have a bunch of tonal options for the price of 3 coffees.
Joyo Bantamp “Zombie”
A lunchbox Mesa Boogie kinda amp.
For the price of a pedal, you get quite a potent amp!
I have v1 of this amp as backup. plug it into a 2x12 and it matches your loud metal drummer, guitarist and bassist.
It sounds good too!
Next cool thing: Thomann t.bone mics
I have this set, I bought it thinking; if they survive the fmaily weekend, best €35 spent.
I’ve been using them for YEARS now
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I have the Behringer Tube Amp Modeler, and it’s pretty bad. I think it is because it’s a digital circuit though from what I read online.
Ok, to your point on the multifx unit, would the Line 6 Pod Go be a good place to start?
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I think it depends on what you consider ‘budget’. The majority of the standard line (not Waza) Boss Pedals are less than 100 GBP, they are built like tanks and are on the boards of a lot of touring musicians.
Admittedly, if you want this particular Boss OC-3, it’s going to cost you 126,000 GBP as it’s attched to Jeff Beck’s pedal board sold yesterday.
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Boss pedals. They aren’t ultra cheap “china pedals” but still very cheap compared to more boutique brands. But they’re proven tech, generally sound great and built to last a lifetime
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This is not the reason. Digital circuits are not the fault of the thing sounding bad. Blame the designer, not digitization.
Your PodGo suggestion is one I would expect to be good. I use a Helix and the models seem to be common.
Lastly, a clean amp with proper guitar speaker will make things sound like you’d expect. I tried playing through a stereo amp and it just sounded boring. After getting a guitar cabinet with speaker, it sounded much more like I wanted.
With something like the Pod Go, you can, and may even prefer, a clean amp without distortion chain. the Pod Go can handle the EQ and amp models (linear and non-linear parts of your signal chain) to give you sounds that are what we expect. If you get an amp with various distortion options, then the PodGo would not need to use those features, and you’d probably be using traditional pedal models only. My amp is just a clean amp with some IR type options in it. without my Helix, it is simply just a louder version of what my guitar produces alone. I rely on the Helix to do all the interesting work.
I agree with Majik. The multi-effects option is a great way to learn what you like. In my case, I don’t see any need for a pedal because I have everything I need in my effects unit. I don’t even need a specific amp because I can select a model and get something that sounds close enough I cannot tell the difference.
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And tend to hold their value.
Cheers,
Keith
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Yes.
Line 6 Pod
Boss GT-1
Boss GX-10
Zoom G1X Four
Valeton GP200
etc.
All good places to start with modelling. The more expensive units will generally have more capability, be more physically solid, and the effects will sound better and be more plentiful, but if you are starting out and budget is an issue, don’t pooh-pooh the cheaper units.
I used a Zoom G1X Four during lockdown when I was stuck in room in a foreign country and had a lot of fun with it. I’ve had a Boss GT-1 for years and keep thinking about upgrading it, but it’s still very good.
Cheers,
Keith
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Plus one for starting with a multi and see what you like. I still have a very ancient Zoom GFX707, which I “reprogrammed” a few years ago. The original presets were very extreme and not exactly user friendly but I now have 99 usable preset, if my POD Go ever goes south ! 
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Saw a video recently from Josh - the CEO of JHS pedals - comparing Behringer to Boss & even a few of his JHS pedals… his take was that the Behringer ones were really good. Plastic boxes, but if you’re using them at home, a really viable option for the average recreational guitarist. Here in the US, most Behringers are about $25… the Boss equivalent ranges from ~$70-$140 or so…
4-5 Behringer pedals = 1 Boss pedal… 
My 2 centavos! 
Tod
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I wanted some pedals when I got back into playing.
Didn’t have a clue what I should get.
So. I looked used. Worse yet, I looked at cheap pedals that were used.
In the end I got 6 of them.
5 of the six are joyo. Maybe $25-$30 pedals ea. Got them a shade cheaper since they were used.
3-4 years later. My joyo phaser ‘mostly’ works. I also took it off the pedal board as I didn’t use it much.
The others are all still going. 2 of the three pedals I got used are still in use, the other was the phaser. 2 of them joyo pedals were new. Got them for $50 for two of them. Their still in use.
Also got a tc electronics delay pedal used. I’ve had it 4 years now and was one of the first ones I got used. It still works just fine.
Point is. While joyo may be cheap pedals, for the round abouts $25 ea. I paid for them, they have outlasted what I paid for them I think.
I will buy more joyo if I think I gotta get another pedal.
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I was wondering how much that sold for.
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Btw, don’t forget the factor: power supply.
I once had a bad (and cheap) one and it caused a lot of noise in my signal. when I invested in a good power supply with isolated circuits and what not, my pedals (the expensive, cheap, analog and digital ones…) they were all much quieter
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Agreed.
If you have 1 pedal then fine you don’t need a fancy power brick but once you have multiple pedals do yourself a favour and buy a proper power brick that has isolated sockets. Yes they cost a bit more but it’s definitely an area where the adage buy cheap, buy twice applies in my opinion. A good isolated supply will serve you for years
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I have a box full of Donner pedals and they’re pretty reasonable, I watched a few reviews by Shane from the In the Blues YouTube channel and decided to try them, first impressions were pretty good so I got more…. and more……… 
I now have a Sonicake Matribox Multi fx and despite it being budget it’s pretty good, the presets are a bit overdone with reverb and echo but can easily be tamed!
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Yes, that’s the danger with these units. The presets are mostly terrible.
And the trouble is people often don’t tend to explore beyond paging through the presets which, IMO, is a waste.
The benefit of these units is they act like a chain of multiple real-world pedals, but without needing to worry about cabling and powering them, keeping all those wires and boxes tidy and usable, dealing with possible noise issues, and rewiring them when you want to make changes.
And it gives you a small shop’s worth of guitar pedals (different models, and types) and the ability to try them all out and learn how to tweak them, without the cost and hassle of buying and selling individual pedals (not to mention trying to decide what you want to buy in the first place).
But you only get that if you delve into building your own patches. If you blindly rely on presets, then you won’t learn anything and will be stuck with the awful presets.
The point of having these systems as a beginner is, IMO, to use them as a learning tool to understand what different pedals do, how the controls on them affect the sound, and how they can be used to create tones. You can then graduate onto individual pedals if you want to, with a much deeper understanding of what to buy.
Or you could stick with modelling, which is what a lot of people do.
Cheers,
Keith
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Tone City gets a lot of love in the world of budget pedals and they are likely to have a clone of any of the name brand pedals you might be interested in.
I haven’t played any of them but the demos I’ve watched have impressed me.
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I know where your coming from…
I recently dove into the rabbit hole that’s pedals and sounds and the cost of some of those pedals…
I found this channel https://www.youtube.com/@jhspedals on youtube, and it’s helped me a lot.
It still is.
There’s cheap and more expensive pedals on show, but they give you all the info you need to make an educated decision about which pedal to buy for what use.
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