Best Cheap Guitar Pedals

best-cheap-guitar-pedalsGetting your hands on the best cheap guitar pedal that has great effects and tone isn’t that easy. Most affordable guitar effects pedals don’t sound that great and are typically made out of poor materials. There are plenty of nice budget guitar pedals out there though. You just have to find them.

The good news is, we’ve played and reviewed hundreds of different pedals in just about every effect to find the cheapest guitar pedals with real, quality sound. We listed a few of them here and as we find more that are worth getting, we’ll add them to this page.

Check them out and see if you need to add one to your pedalboard.


Top 3 Cheapest Guitar Pedals


Top Budget Cheap Guitar Effects Pedals

Below is a list of the best cheap guitar pedals that are affordable, won’t break your effect pedal budget, and still sound great.


BOSS DS-1 Distortion Pedal

boss-ds1-cheap-distortion-pedal

CURRENT PRICE

Boss is a brand that guitarists world over have come to trust for the delivery of some of the best effects pedals. While the brand offers other products in the music industry, pedals are among its more popular offerings.

What we have here is the DS-1, a really popular distortion effects pedal. You will be hard pressed to find a guitarist who does not know this pedal. It is built like a tank and will withstand all the stomping that guitarists can muster. Thanks to its metals casing and overall sturdy construction.

It is pretty much easy to use. You have three knobs with which you can manage the tonal output. There is the distortion knob which controls how much of the effect is added into the mix, there’s also the tone knob which controls how bright or dark the tone will be and there is the level knob which basically controls the overall volume sent out from the pedal’s output. Finally, there is the pedal switch option for those who want to use this.

Setting this pedal up is quite easy. It offers two power options. You can either use a DC power adaptor which is not included, or you can use a 9 volt battery.

Connecting it into your setup requires the standard ¼ TRS jack for both the input and output sockets.

Pros

  • Build – Sturdy and durable.
  • Effects – Distortion.
  • Power – AC power adaptor or 9 volts battery.

Cons

  • Power – The AC power adaptor is not included.

Our Recommendation

If you need a distortion pedal that is affordable and won’t fail you, then consider this.


TC Electronic MojoMojo Overdrive Pedal

tc-electronic-mojomojo-cheap-overdrive-pedal

CURRENT PRICE

TC Electronics is one brand that has over the years grown from strength to strength. While not among the very traditional brands, TC Electronics has clearly come into its own, providing numerous high quality gear that are used in different sections of the music industry.

The MojoMojo is an overdrive effects pedal designed for the modern day guitarist. From the outer design, it is clear that this stomp box can withstand a lot and this is thanks to its die cast metal construction.

Setup and connectivity is also a breeze with this pedal. It offers an AC power adaptor (not included) option as well as a 9 volts battery option. The audio input and output both require the standard ¼ TRS jack so there are no surprises there.

For controls, it offers a little more by way of options that make it easier for the musician to dial into the exact sound they need. These controls include a drive knob which regulates the amount of overdrive that is pushed out, a level knob which controls the overall output, separate bass and treble knobs used as a 2-band EQ and a voicing switch that offers two variations of the drive tone.

Pros

  • Build – Die cast metal construction.
  • Effects – Overdrive.
  • Power – AC power and 9 volts battery.

Cons

This also does not come with an AC power adaptor.

Our Recommendation

This is an overdrive pedal that offers great potential. With its control options, you may only be limited by your creativity.


Biyang Baby Boom Fuzz Pedal

baby-boom-fuzzstar-cheap-fuzz-pedal

CURRENT PRICE

Biyang is not a brand that many have heard of nor is it a brand that many will easily pick out at a music store but it made this list because of the quiet impact it has been making.

The Baby Boom Fuzz Pedal is currently a best seller on Amazon and this certainly cannot be for no reason at all. A close look reveals some quality that has obviously made many guitarists overlook its unknown brand status and the outward look.

First, it is sturdily built with a metal shell that can withstand those excited stomps. The design also ensures that dust and dirt cannot easily get into it to degrade the potentiometer.

In the power section, it supports both 9 volts battery power and power from a suitable AC Adaptor.

Now to the interesting part, this effect offers interesting tonal options. First, there is the usual set of buttons which include a Tone knob, a Level knob and a Fuzz knob. Added to this is a 3-way switch which further adds versatility to the tone. You can switch from Normal, to Bright, then to Warm.

This is no doubt a great pedal with a huge palette of tonal possibilities.

Pros

  • Build – Metal casing construction.
  • Effect – Fuzz.
  • Power – AC adaptor and 9 volts battery.

Cons

If your unit has a buzz when you power it on, you may have matched it with a wrong power supply. Using a 9 volts battery instead may fix this.

Our Recommendation

If you are on a tight budget and you need a Fuzz pedal that will get the job done really well, then go for this.


Caline CP-26 Snake Bite Digital Reverb Pedal

caline-snake-bite-cheap-reverb-pedal

CURRENT PRICE

Caline is another brand that’s pretty new on the scene. Based out of China, this brand offers guitarists different good quality guitar effect pedals and other accessories at very affordable prices.

The brand’s product under review here is the CP-26 Snake Bite. This is a digital reverb pedal that promises to fit in nicely into your rig. Being a stomp box, it is built with a metal casing to enable it endure all the stomping you can throw at it.

Designed with a True Bypass circuitry that ensures that when disengaged, you get the clean, unaffected guitar tone, this pedal offers more value than its cost. It comes with a myriad of controls that give you the ability to play around with your tone, achieving a wide range of possibilities.

These controls include a RES knob that determines room type/size, a CFR knob that controls tone, and an LPF knob that determines the amount of warmth present. Others include a PRD knob that controls delay time, a Mix knob that manages the amount of reverb that is added to the clean sound and finally a Decay knob that controls the reverb length.

What you will get from this will only be limited by how creative you can get.

Pros

  • Build – Metal case construction.
  • Effect – Reverb.
  • Power – DC adaptor and 9 volts battery.

Cons

Considering the price, you really can’t complain about anything.

Our Recommendation

If you need a really affordable reverb pedal think no further than this. You may actually end up really loving it.


Donner Yellow Fall Delay Guitar Effect Pedal

donner-cheap-delay-pedal

CURRENT PRICE

As far as newbies go, Donner is one of the newest of them. This brand was established in 2012 but has, within its short period of existence, come up with products that are innovative and highly impactful. This is thanks to the energetic and highly motivated approach of this young team to R&D.

This product from Donner, the Yellow Fall, is a delay pedal that offers guitarists a pure analog delay effect with which they can spice up their tonal palette. The box is constructed with aluminum alloy to ensure it is sturdy enough to withstand the rigors of use.

It is solely powered by a DC adaptor, which means that it has no provision for battery power. It is however important that the right power supply is used to avoid a mal-performance.

This pedal is designed to be easy to use. Its controls are really simple, featuring an echo knob which controls the amount of effect added to the clean sound, a feedback knob which controls the number of delay repetitions and a time knob which controls the speed of the delay.

With these, you can fine tune your sound to achieve whatever kind of delay effect you want. With its True Bypass feature, you can also easily by-pass the effect entirely, sending a clear and effect-free sound out to the amp.

Pros

  • Build – Aluminum alloy construction.
  • Effect – Delay.
  • Power – DC power.

Cons

  • Power – It does not support battery power.

Our Recommendation

This is the pedal you should go for if you need something simple but effective.


Our Opinion

It’s been another great time reviewing different products, in this case, cheap guitar pedals. This is easily one of the most subjective topics we have ever reviewed. The reason is that the choice of a pedal is dependent largely on personal taste and maybe music genre.

That said and since we must choose one of these as our Top Cheap Guitar Pedal in this list, we will go right ahead to do just that. After carefully looking through the list and considering factors such as cost, value and ability to compete with costlier pedals, we picked the BOSS DS-1 Distortion Pedal as our Top Cheap Guitar Effects Pedal.

We believe that this pedal offers good value and will compete favorably with most distortion pedals out there.

PD Music

View posts by PD Music
We are a small group of musicians and educators with a mission is to make music education and instrument knowledge accessible to everyone.