Best Guitar Pedals

In my years of guitar playing. I have been very lucky and fortunate enough to have tried a plethora of pedals. In fact, I've tried so many different pedals that I feel confident in claiming to know quite a lot about effects. As confident as that may come across, and as much of a pedal snob as that may sound. I'm in fact here to tell you that there are plenty of guitar effects pedals in the world that cost less than 50 dollars and are just as good, if not better than the boutique and expensive pedals out there on the market. You see, you don't have to have a lot of money to get a good guitar sound. Because I myself do not have a lot of money. Which has forced me to take this route of trying out different guitar pedals at this budget-friendly price?

And now I present to you my budget-friendly guitar pedals under 50 bucks

The Boss DS-2 is incredibly easy to use and you’ll have no problem adjusting the knobs to find a setting you like.

The pedal has three knobs; tone, level and distortion plus a switch to change between turbo modes 1 and 2. It is this turbo that makes the DS-2 slightly different to the BOSS DS-1. The turbo defiantly gives this pedal more crunch which is perfect for lead guitar playing.

The Boss DS-2 comes complete with a manual explaining how to use the pedal and even provides you with some sample settings to get you started – although you will probably have to tweak them a little to get the exact sound you want.

I found it really easy to get a great sound out of this pedal so I’m sure you will have no problem.

Also included in the manual is a blank table where you can write down the exact settings for any sounds that you like.

SOUND

The Boss DS-2 sounds great for almost any type of distorted music and is definitely one of the best distortion pedals available in terms of both sound qualities and value. There is a huge array of sounds available to you in the Boss DS-2 so it’s basically just a case of playing around with the settings until you find one you find.

The pedal’s great for producing lead guitar sounds as it really boosts the mids which also makes this pedal perfect for solos too. When playing rhythm guitar this pedal really roars but still sounds nice and smooth at the same time.

The sounds can sometimes be a little “muddy” if you go lower than 9 o’clock on the settings however adjusting the settings on your actual amplifier can really help.

Here's What Another Professional Guitarist Had to Say About This Pedal:

Alright… it’s Boss. True to form it sound as good, looks as good, and is as durable as any Boss pedal. This is a blessing and this is a curse. It does what its meant to do, which is to bring heavy rich distortion. And it sounds great. But… one of the cons of this pedal is. It does what it’s meant to do and not much else. If you are a Classic rock, heavy rock, or light medal player, than this may be the pedal for you. but if you are a blues or jazz kind of player this may be slightly to heavy for you. It brings variety within that style but it is hard to get a good old bluesy overdriven tube amp sound. But I still give this four stars because that’s not what it’s meant to do. If you play five styles in one set, having one pedal to control it all is not exactly convenient. Good ol’ Boss has done it again. For the price this is an amazing pedal and I highly recommend it!

I know Guitar Pick Zone reviewed their best guitar pedals under 50 dollars here http://guitarpickzone.com/best-guitar-pedals-under-50/ however in their review they chose the Boss DS-1. But I decided to choose the DS-2 as I find it more versatile than the Boss DS-1. However, the DS-2 is a little more expensive.

Simply put, the gain is turned up to eleven and then the knob is ripped off!

Low, Mid, and High tone controls give you the flexibility to boost or cut the bass, middle, and treble frequencies and the Level knob boosts the output level of your signal.

EFFECTS GOOD FOR:

Metal (most types)
Rock
Alternative
Hardcore
Metal Core
Death Metal
 

FEATURES OF THE DIGITECH DEATH METAL DISTORTION PEDAL

The Digitech Death Metal pedal https://www.digitech.com/pedals/ is one of the easiest distortion pedals to use. There are four controls and pretty much speak for themselves.

Level controls the volume output
Low controls the amount of bass put into the tone
Mid basically does the same job as the middle knob on your amp
High acts as more of a contour control and offer a lot of depth
Included is the Digitech Death Metal Distortion Pedal manual with details several example settings for you to try out or adjust to your liking.


SOUND OF THE PEDAL

The Digitech Death Metal is one of the best distortion pedals for metal (providing you are willing to spend a little time dialling in different settings). The overall tone of the pedal is a thick crunchy tone, however, you can, of course, create a whole array of sounds.

The sounds offered range from light overdrive through to complete, over-the-top distortion. With the huge amount of distortion available it can take a little time to dial in a sound that isn’t TOO heavy. If you’re looking for a distortion pedal that will create thick, dark, chunky palm-muted notes then this is the perfect pedal for you.

The pedal doesn’t particularly offer many warm tones, however, it isn’t really made for that. If you’re wanting all-out metal then I’d recommend you buy this pedal and give it a go, however, if you’re wanting something a little more reserved then check out a lighter distortion pedal such as the Boss DS-2 or for a thick warm tone, the Ibanez Jemini.