Pedalboard of New Effect Pedals under $150
At Sugaree Licks we thought it would be fun to throw together a pedalboard with ten pedals that were introduced in 2018 or 2019. We only wanted pedals that had a retail price of $150.00 or less. In the end, we came up with a really fun pedalboard for our tastes. As always, you can comment on this article to be included in our monthly pedal giveaway.
Get Funky in Front
Since the 2013 Competition Series debacle, Fender waited five years to introduce its next line of pedals in 2018. 2019 they added seven more pedals including their Pour Over envelope filter pedal. Nice looking pedal with everything you need to filter out highs and lows and funk it up wah wah style. Solid design with knobs that light up the level positioning. Fender marketing was never much for exciting pedal names. They took a shot with the Pour Over name. Price point starting just below the $150.00 mark.
Fender Description:
A unique spin on the traditional envelope filter—aka auto-wah—the Pour Over envelope filter has a few tricks hidden up its sleeve. Not only does it react to your picking dynamics, we added an onboard distortion circuit with dedicated controls that can be toggled to punch things up a bit. The comprehensive control set also includes selectable High-Pass, Low-Pass and Band-Pass filter types, as well as sweep direction control so you can tailor the sound precisely for your musical needs. Designed by our in-house team of experts, the Pour Over Envelope Filter is an all-original Fender circuit. The chassis is crafted from lightweight, durable anodized aluminum, and the Amp Jewel LED gives your pedalboard the classic Fender look. The switchable LED-backlit knobs show your control settings on a dark stage at a glance.
Even it Out
After the wah/envelope filter we need a compressor pedal to help even out our crazy pick attacks. Compressors are not sexy and fun, but they are an important part of a pedalboard. If we learned anything from thousands of MXR Dyna Comp sales, it is to keep the compressor pedal simple. The J. Rockett Squeegee does just that.
Since the launch of J. Rockett in 2006, Chris Tassel and Jay (Rockett) have manufactured some really Sugaree Sweet gear. The introduction of the Squeegee in 2018 is no exception. Hit this compressor with high gain and the Squeegee will keep you right in the sweet spot with its easy to use two knobs, volume and compressor. The Squeegee can be purchased for only $119.00 and is our choice for our pedalboard.
J. Rockett Description:
We all know the classic tones of The Police or laying down those killer funk lines, tearing it up with our double stops or plinking out innerchordal melodies right? Well they all really need compression. If Mark Knopfler asked us to build him a compressor I bet the Squeegee would hit the spot. This is not one of those recreations of a complicated studio compressor where you have no clue what any of the controls do. This is a basic two know job that makes it easy for the user, just like what the classic guitar tones were made of. Unlike most compressors that squash your tone a little too much or have too much noise when kicked on our Squeegee provides toneful compression that is dead quiet and feels like real tubes working hard.
Boost it Up
At this point we need to add a booster to our pedalboard so all of our adoring fans can hear our amazing guitar solos. Xotic sets the standard for buffer and booster pedals in the effects market. Small and powerful, the Super (Sugaree) Sweet boost pedal hits the pedalboard with 20 decibels of punch. We really love the internal dip switch which lets us choose which frequencies to emphasize. Highs, mids and lows can be flipped inside the pedal for your own unique boosted tone. The budget friendly price of $120.00 fits us just fine.
Xotic Description:
With premium components and up to 20dB of boost available, the Xotic Super Sweet Booster pedal is a great way to punch up your tone. The real magic lies in the Super Sweet Booster’s external DIP switch, which allows you to fine-tune which frequencies are emphasized with the boost. Whether you want a broad-range boost or want to focus your mids for more punch and impact, the Super Sweet Booster has you covered.
Drive it Home
Now the fun begins! Distortion, overdrive, fuzz, chorus, delay, the options are endless to add to our pedalboard. We chose the EarthQuaker Plumes pedal for our first only overdrive pedal on the board. Super easy and clean Tube Screamer style pedal for under $100.00! Three clipping options lets the guitarist choose what fits their tone best. JFET Op-amps give this pedal plenty of headroom for high gain and sustain.
EarthQuaker Devices Description:
Plumes® is a unique, all-analog approach to a classic tube-like overdrive circuit offering 3 different clipping voices, loads of headroom and almost three-dimensional clarity that will push your amp over the edge. The reimagined tone control is finely tuned to sculpt low end, clear top end, and focus midrange with blooming sustain.
Hammer it Home
“Say hello to my little friend!” Time to step on the neck of the fans in the front row. The Boss Waza Metal Zone distortion pedal adds the dirty, grimy, hardcore, distortion that will knock them on their backsides. Beautiful analog gain with the edition of three equalizer knobs to help shape your tone. The Boss Waza line of pedals are made with premium components and add even more boost to our pedalboard. It fits nicely at a price tag of $149.00.
Boss Description:
For over 25 years, the MT-2 Metal Zone has been one of the most popular and influential compact pedals in the BOSS lineup, with overall sales that are second only to the venerable DS-1 Distortion. Made in Japan and infused with Waza Craft mojo, the MT-2W takes the iconic stomp to new levels of tonal range and versatility. Standard mode delivers an evolved version of the original mid-focused Metal Zone tone, while Custom mode introduces a fresh, wide-ranging voice that’s perfectly suited for today’s diverse high-gain styles.
A Touch of Reverb and Tremolo
Robert Keeley collaborated with Eddie Heinzelman to create the Verb o Trem Workstation and then the smaller Verb o Trem pedal in 2018. Two great minds combined two great effect types. The Keeley Electronics Verb o Trem gives us both spring reverb and plate reverb to thicken up your sound. Three types of tremolo for our pedalboard: R+T – is an organic tube bias type tremolo. Mack – is a MagnaAmp style pitch vibrato. HAR – is a Harmonically Amplified Resonator. All of this for just under $150.00. What a bargain.
Keeley Electronics Description:
The Keeley VoT reverb and tremolo combo gives players a simple and beautiful sounding way to end their pedal boards. Reverb and Tremolo often sound best at the end of your guitar rig, after effects like compression, fuzz or overdrive. The Keeley VoT gives you famous Keeley spring and plate reverbs as well as modulated tube amp tremolos. This immaculate pairing provides you with everything you need for a small, compact pedal board. When you go minimalist, you still consider Reverb and Tremolo. Even the guys that say they just plug their guitar cord into the amp…still admit they love verb and trem! So if you’re doing a small gig with a compact board or you just want the captivating power of tremolo and reverb at the same time, the Keeley VoT is a simple and beautiful sounding combo.
Liquefy It
For the chorus pedal we chose the Carl Martin Atlantic V2 pedal. The Atlantic chorus gives us a really nice watery tone to the board. The Level control lets us boost our tone and we can adjust the Rate knob and change our chorus tone to a vibrato. Just $139.00 is just right for us.
Carl Martin Description:
Well, does the world really need another Chorus pedal? Hmmm good argument, does it? Does it really? Well yeah, if it has something to bring to the table. So what does the new Carl Martin Atlantic Chorus bring to the table apart from the stellar looks with its new two-toned die-cast enclosure in Ocean Blue anodized finish, small pedal board friendly footprint, connector jack on the top, and top-notch sound (off cause)? Well, there are a few tricks; highly unusual for a chorus pedal, the Atlantic Chorus has a level control, which actually can boost the signal quite a bit to sit right in the mix. But the real game changer is in the RATE control knob which blends in vibrato for some more extreme in-depth chorus modulations.
Add Some Hair
There is a lot of fuzz to choose from for under $150.00. This was a tough decision, but because we are only having one fuzz pedal on our board, I chose the Keeley Electronics Fuzz Bender 3 pedal because of its multiple fuzz options. The Fuzz Bender 3 gives us boost, equalizer and both germanium and silicon fuzz. The added Bias Knob lets us shape our fuzz to our own fuzzy standards.
Keeley Electronics Description:
The Keeley Fuzz Bender is a 5 knob – 3 transistor modern fuzz using a combination of high-gain silicon and silky smooth germanium. What makes fuzz better? Active EQ. Using two gyrators as an active EQ gives you the ability to create massive fuzz tones not possible with typical square-wave boxes. Pummel your amp with over 20dB of boost/cut at 100Hz and 10K Hz. The Fuzz Bender is built around vintage Japanese germanium to create its monumental fuzz tones. With the all new Bias Control, you control the attack and decay of your notes. Anything from Fat Square Waves to Angular Fuzz to glitchy-Velcro attacks are possible with the Bias Control. The Fuzz Bender’s five knobs confirm size matters when creating a new and epic world of fuzz.
Have Some Fun
No whammy, no whammy STOP! No whammy here, but the TC Electronic Brainwaves pitch shifter can offer whammy pitch shifting and 2 octave up and down controls. With revolutionary MASH expression control footswitch bends pitch-shifted notes and is assignable to any parameter of the pedal. You can also craft unique pitch effects and customize MASH functionality with the free TonePrint Editor from any computer. This isn’t your mamma’s Pretty in Pink. This is a lot of digital for $148.00
TC Electronics Description:
Pitch Shifter: With its mind-bending range and kaleidoscopic pitch effects, the studio-grade BRAINWAVES PITCH SHIFTER is the perfect fusion of brains and brawn. This pink-clad pitch professor masters a variety of polyphonic effects including whammy and detune, plus a bunch of others – thanks to the dedicated TonePrint app.
The award-winning MASH footswitch packs expression pedal performance into a pedalboard-friendly size.
Pitch Polymath: Pitch-shifting mode expands your sound by adding up to two extra voices and letting you decide whether these voices go above or below the original signal. Just imagine – the solo from “Owner of a Lonely Heart” never sounded so huge. And, since BRAINWAVES is polyphonic, you can use it on your standard-tuned guitar for a wide range of rock-solid sharp or flat tunings – without detuning the actual instrument.
Polyphonic Pitch Syndrome: With separate voices pitched in either direction, the polyphonic algorithm lets you easily process pitch-shifted chords, riffs, and furious flurries of single-notes. Since each voice is adjustable from unison to two octaves up or down (and anything in between), BRAINWAVES has more range than an interstellar battle cruiser. You can quickly create custom pitch settings via the free TonePrint app to find or expand your own pitch personality.
Rinse and Repeat
At the end of our new pedalboard we finished up with a very solid delay pedal. Not just any delay pedal, the MXR Carbon Copy 10th Anniversary pedal. Now, to be fair the original M169 was introduced over ten years ago, but since the 10th Anniversary pedal came out in 2018, it is fair game. The MXR Carbon Copy is a nice little analog delay pedal with 600ms of delay time and three easy knobs. For under $150, you get a vintage sounding bucket brigade delay pedal that many popular artists around the world have added to their rigs.
Description:
Go from crisp bathroom slap echoes to epic, Gilmouresque delays with the MXR Carbon Copy Analog Delay. Featuring 600ms of delay time with optional modulation, and a three-knob layout that controls Delay, Mix, and Regen. In addition, there are two internal trim pots that offer user-adjustable width and rate control of the modulation for even more tonal options. All done by a completely analog audio path for authentic rich, warm analog delay-made possible only by old-school analog bucket brigade technology. True bypass.
This was a really fun list to create an inexpensive pedalboard with new pedals only. You can search, sort and filter your own lists of equipment on our “All Pedals” page. Thousands of ways to search through thousands of pedals new or used. Thank you again to all the manufacturers that create new and amazing gear for us to play with!