Pedals over $100 that are actually worth it.

Pretty much everything that is on one of my boards. The strymon stuff especially is always worth the money if it fits your application.
 
There are a lot of very decent pedals in the $150 to $200 range, while there are a limited number below $100. I think the more interesting question would be, pedals worth the money that cost more than $200.
 
$100 seems like a very low benchmark even with the trend of super cheap Chinese pedals flooding the market. I can't think of very many "Name Brand" pedals that are less than a C-note. BOSS being what I consider a fair benchmark, has very few pedals under $100, and the ones that are (DS-1 etc) are only so cheap because there's millions of them in circulation and they never break. When you can pick up an original Black label MIJ DS-1 for 60 bucks, it's hard to ask more than that for a new Taiwan model.

I typically don't do "expensive" pedals like Strymon etc, but most of what I currently use is $100+ new. I think my Dynacomp was $99 or maybe $89. Hell, I paid some dweeb in New York a hundred bucks for a used RAT. :)

I think once you go above that $159 territory is where the question gets much more interesting.
 
oh, and the boss HM-2! even all the fancy clones don't quite capture the magic, IMO. as they've gotten more popular and are "vintage" now, they're generally > $100
 
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Most of my pedals fall between 100 and 200. The one spendy pedal I bought is a Fulltone Choralflange that I got new a few years ago. Tried it out and fell in love with the sound.
 
Any of my Catalinbread ones. And my customized BYOC build of a RAT clone with all sorts of different op amp and clipping modes. I love that pedal. And though none of it is truly exceptional, my M13 has been a very useful piece of gear. And I do love my Carbon Copy and its sound. I am not so great at using it, but it was still worth over a benji. Plus, it was a gift from my parents.
 
yabba said:
oh, and the boss HM-2! even all the fancy clones don't quite capture the magic, IMO. as they've gotten more popular and are "vintage" now, they're generally > $100
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Got mine, an original black label MIJ for $40.
 
Grant Gross said:
There are a lot of very decent pedals in the $150 to $200 range, while there are a limited number below $100. I think the more interesting question would be, pedals worth the money that cost more than $200.
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And the ones that are worth it (not just ok for the money) for under a benjy.
 
sunvalleylaw said:
Hey, you ARE a pro. Whatever helps you feel comfortable and ready to perform and express at the high level you are capable of is worth an extra $50 per pedal or whatever. In spades.
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This. I feel like Mark could fart on a Hello Kitty Online Adventure Special Edition plastic guitar and make it sound good.

I think the value of the pedal is worth the engineering and ingenuity put into it... so that's your Keeley, Wampler, Chase Bliss, Strymon. I get frustrated looking at pedals that are derivatives of something else and slapping a $150 premium to it.

(I know I'm a hypocrite that builds clones.)
 
RyanNo3 said:
This. I feel like Mark could fart on a Hello Kitty Online Adventure Special Edition plastic guitar and make it sound good.

I think the value of the pedal is worth the engineering and ingenuity put into it... so that's your Keeley, Wampler, Chase Bliss, Strymon. I get frustrated looking at pedals that are derivatives of something else and slapping a $150 premium to it.

(I know I'm a hypocrite that builds clones.)
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Counterpoint: Most of what Keeley and Wampler are doing are just tweaks of mass production pedals. Strymon is digital and they always cost more. The only real innovator is Chase Bliss.
 
Help!I'maRock! said:
Counterpoint: Most of what Keeley and Wampler are doing are just tweaks of mass production pedals. Strymon is digital and they always cost more. The only real innovator is Chase Bliss.
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Counter-Counterpoint - Correct. However there are some pedals (Oxblood) that RK took his favorite drive sections, tone stacks, etc and mushed them together to build his flavor. He's kinda like the Ben & Jerry's of pedals. They didn't create cherry icream, but they certainly do make a bomb ass Cherry Garcia.
 
sunvalleylaw said:
Mebbe. And mebbe some of Catalinbread designs are derivative of something else. But they just seem to work so well for me, and have the tone they are derived from dialed in so well. For my tastes anyway.
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I would say Catalinbread are a combination of innovation and copying. My favorites from them are the Echorec and Belle Epoch. They were trying to make pedals that sound like old tape machines, so they were copying a sound, but innovating getting those tape sounds in a tapeless pedal. The pedals you are using from them are trying to capture the sounds of vintage amps, so same kind of thing.
 
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