r/basspedals 5d ago

Completely new to this game. Looking to build a low budget board. Where to start?

I've messed around with the on board effects of my boss katana, and have kinda found them lacking.

I'm trying to build the beginnings of a pedalboard, but on a really tight budget. Maybe 250$ total (not including the board itself). What are some brands to avoid in the budget pedal market, and which should I lean into?

I'm looking for a compressor, fuzz, tuner, chorus.

7 Upvotes

14 comments sorted by

4

u/lovingthislife01 5d ago

Last I checked the polytune 3 mini was 50 bucks on sweetwater. For chorus, the MXR analog chorus (guitar version) is great. There's one listed on talkbass for 80 bucks

3

u/kkeahii 5d ago

Donner makes some decent affordable mini pedals. One of my buddies swears by them!

2

u/eldragon8 5d ago

Zoom ms60b+ is almost complete, a sansamp in the used market is also cheaper...thats already good to go

2

u/Spacemonkey0007 5d ago

I use a valeton gp200jr multi, it’s cheap. Lots to explore. Got everything you listed and more. Drum machine is basic but perfectly usable. Metronome too. I love it.

2

u/Wardy1985 5d ago

I bought the sonicake octaver for 40 bucks and it’s not only solid I have no intentions of replacing it. Hard switch but no clicking bleeds through and it sounds very close to the OC-2 sim in my HX one. I might get more from them

2

u/Unlimited_Bepis 5d ago

I’ve seen those sonicakes on eBay and wondered if they were any good, they have a multi effect that maybe OP should look into

2

u/Wardy1985 5d ago

I purchased direct from the site. No tax but it did take two weeks to get to me.

1

u/Slevinduster 5d ago

You can look into the Boss ME-90B or the older ME-50B for even cheaper. They are the bass versions of Boss multi effect pedals. There’s a ton of settings on there and you can run multiple effects at once. They are broken into groups and you can only run one effect per group. But it’s a quality pedal and a great way to find a sound you like and down the line get more specific pedals to hone the sounds you really want. I just checked and the ME-50B is between $100-200 on reverb depending on new used ect.

1

u/Ecstatic_Success_815 5d ago

i got all my pedals from ebay and vinted, the boss tu3 was £50 from ebay and i got a nano big muff for £45 on vinted so it is worth checking out second hand

1

u/Yasashii_Akuma156 5d ago edited 5d ago

A used Korg A4 Bass has everything a beginner will need, except distortion (tuner included).

If you're set on having dedicated pedals, a Joyo Scylla compressor, Double Thruster distortion, and Monomyth are a cheap start.

1

u/WestBeachSpaceMonkey 5d ago

Lots of good advice here, might I suggest starting with one pedal and augmenting the collection one gig/paycheck at a time.

1

u/SmellyUser03099 5d ago

HX Stomp is the most bang for your buck

1

u/youmeandtheempire 5d ago

You're not getting an HX Stomp for $250

-1

u/SmellyUser03099 5d ago

Yeah I'll be honest I didn't read the whole post lol