For other fields, the word distortion is nothing but bad, a kind of defect and an unpleasant outcome of an end product. However, as a medium of expression in art, and to music as we all know is an art form. This could be the greatest sound ever invented and an anomaly well received that changed the whole perspective how people listen and appreciate music.
The genre of rock arguably will not be as profound today and playing the electric guitar wont be as sweet and enjoyable without the sound of a creamy overdrive tones, classic to a more aggressive type of distortions and the raspier sounding fuzz that started the saturated sound revolution. So aside from the built-in overdrive/distortion channel on a guitar amp. Each of these distorted sounds described can be further delivered with the use of effects pedals that varies in price points and the level of dirt they can provide to suit a guitar players taste and fits a specific genre of rock music.
Is there any good distortion on the price range of $50 or less? Absolutely Yes! There are a number of distortion pedals to choose from at this budget that are very popular for both beginners and veterans alike for the sound they bring to the table and arguably they are also presented in good built quality. This list will mention only a few of them and for sure there are a lot out there that are also worth the time to play with and invest in, even we are just only talking about of a small amount money.
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Donner Morpher Distortion Pedal
- Mini distortion pedal
- Best to offer a high degree of distortion effect for just paying way less of a price
- Resembles the quality of tones the Suhr Riot pedal provides
- Controls are effect level, tone, gain, 3-way toggle switch for natural-tught-classic tones and footswitch
- Built using aluminum alloy for casing, LED indicator and heavy duty pedal switch to stomp over and over again
Among the many mini distortion pedals out in the market today, the Donner Morpher is probably the best to offer a high degree of distortion effect for just paying way less of a price. Even to some guitarist opinion, the distorted sound it produces closely resembles the tones of a Suhr Riot pedal provides.
The pedal is well built using aluminum alloy for casing, complimented by a LED indicator and heavy duty pedal switch to stomp over and over again. It is simple to operate using only gain, tone and level knob for its tone controls and the toggle switch to change the level of distortion from normal to classic and tight.
Mosky Black Rat Distortion
- Mini distortion pedal
- Affordable alternative of the Pro Co RAT
- Offers classic RAT and Turbo RAT distortion
- Controls consisting of a 2-way toggle switch for changing the voicing, distortion, filter and volume
- Housing made of aluminum with a footswitch and LED indicator that turns On/Off the pedal
Looking for a good sounding distortion pedal under this budget? Well if that is the case, the Mosky Black Rat Distortion could be the one you are looking for. This very affordable distortion mini pedal in a nutshell is an awesome alternative to the Pro Co Rat and other versions of the said pedal.
It is in black, body housing made of aluminum with a footswitch and LED indicator that turns On/Off the pedal. Then followed by controls consisting of a 2-way toggle switch for changing the voicing, distortion, filter and volume.
Tom’sline Engineering AHOR-3 Holy War Metal Distortion
- Mini metal distortion pedal
- Combines a good mix of vintage distortion sound and fuzz tone to it
- Controls are volume, contour, distortion 2-way toggle switch to change from classic to extreme and footswitch
- True bypass, aluminum alloy chassis with a chrome-cast metal protection bar to avoid stomping on the control switches when it is already on preferred settings and heavy duty footswitch
- Small to fit any size pedalboard and run on a brick power supply
Here is a small but powerful distortion pedal that combines a good mix of vintage distortion sound and fuzz tone to it. It has a distortion knob for adjusting the distorted sound output, and a contour knob that changes the tones color in a variety of ways. There is also a toggle switch were players can even change the overall output from classic to extreme.
The Tom’sline Holy War has an aluminum alloy casing in a black and silver with a chrome-cast metal protection bar to avoid stomping on the control switches when it is already on preferred settings. It only runs with a 9V power supply which is not provided together with the pedal. For an affordable effects pedals and like the other pedals on this list, it is good mini pedal worth checking out.
Mooer Black Secret Distortion
- Mini distortion pedal
- Big on what it can do in delivering the sought after distortion effect a guitarist will surely crave for
- Straight forward controls consisting of a footswitch, 2-way toogle switch to change voicing, effect level knob, filter knob and distortion knob
- Full metal casing, heavy duty footswitch control and small to fit on any size pedalboard
- Runs on 9V power supply
The Mooer Black Secret maybe a mini effect pedal but it is big on what it can do in delivering the sought after distortion effect a guitarist will surely crave for. Looking at its operation, it has a straight forward controls consisting of a 2-way toggle switch, effect level knob for boosting the effect, filter for shaping and distortion knob for what it do best.
When talking about effects pedals, size does not always matters. Arguably, having a small pedal is an advantage because it is much easier to set it up with the other essential pedals on the pedalboard.
Behringer HD300 Heavy Metal Distortion
- Heavy metal distortion pedal
- Has a gain boost circuitry to give a super-thick distortion for heavy metal, modern metal and hardest of rock sounds
- Controls are effects level, tone, distortion, gain boost, botton low-high knob and footswitch
- Housing made from light high impact plastic with LED indicator for battery check and as its On/Off
- Runs on 9V battery or using the pedalboard power supply
This effect pedal is made from light high impact plastic housing and has a gain boost circuitry to give a super-thick distortion for heavy metal, modern metal and hardest of rock sounds.
The Behringer HD300 creates distortion sounds using a dedicated distortion switch, effects level knob, tone, gain boost and high-low for the bottom end. It runs on battery or with a power supply monitored by a status LED indicator for battery check and as its On/Off. The Behringer Heavy Metal Distortion HD300 is a good choice of distortion pedal if you’re not that picky and on a tight budget.
Nux HG-6 High Gain Distortion
- High gain distortion pedal
- Provides a warm overdrive sound to play classic rock, hard rock and when the gain knob is crank-up, it’s perfect for playing heavier music like metal
- Controls to blend in tones are level, gain, scoop, tone and footswitch
- Road worthy housing and true bypass free of interference
- Can either run using a 9V battery or by plugin it to a 9V power supply
The Nux HG-6 can provide a warm overdrive sound to play classic rock, hard rock and when the gain knob is crank-up further, it gives a high saturated voice that stays articulate, perfect for playing heavier music like metal. Along side its gain, level/volume and tone controls to blend-in and shape tones. It features scoop control for players to easily dial-in a more modern distorted sound.
The true bypass nature of this pedal gives more control over the effect and minimizes the loss of its rich tones. The pedal can either run using a 9V battery or by plugin it to a 9V power supply that is sold separately with the pedal.
BOSS DS-1 Distortion
- Classic distortion pedal
- Highly recommended for beginners out there for their first pedal and to seasoned guitarist as well
- Housed on a road worthy casing that ensures it will last for countless usage on top of the stage and countless hours of practice
- Controls are simple consisting only of a tone, level, distortion and footswitch
- Runs on 9V battery or using a power supply
Probably the Boss DS-1 Distortion is most reviewed and much well known distortion pedal in comparison to others for being around 30 years now. It is already considered a classic that have been used by countless musicians around the world and guitar legends in the likes of Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Glenn Frey and Kurt Cobain just to name a few.
For controls on the Boss DS-1, it is very simple as it can get. Foot switch to go from clean to dirty. The tone and level knob to darken or brighten the tones depending on your taste, and finally the distortion knob for the intensity of distorted sound. This pedal is housed on a road worthy casing that ensures it will last for countless usage on top of the stage and countless hours of practice. Highly recommended for beginners out there for their first pedal and to seasoned guitarist as well who is looking for a cheap but good sounding and reliable distortion pedal.
TC Electronic Dark Matter Distortion
- Distortion pedal
- Dynamic distortion pedal that delivers lots of sustain
- Offers an organic sound of a crank-up tube amplifier plus the overall feel
- Controls are gain, level, voice toggle switch, 2-band EQ bass-treble and footswitch
- True bypass allows for optimum clarity and zero high-end loss when the pedal is off
Best describe and coming from TC Electronic itself, the Dark Matter pedal is designed to be phenomenal as much as possible for players to get a wide range of drives to distortion sounds to cover genre of music.
The pedal features 4 knobs to operate. It has a gain knob to control the amount of distortion, level knob to match the distortion sound with the clean signal and an independent bass and treble knob to shape the bass and treble frequency when in high gain mode where the sound starts to get muddy if too much. In the center of the pedal is a toggle switch to change the voice from classic to a modern distortion sound.
When they made the Dark Matter Distortion Pedal, they also work on a overdrive pedal called the TC Electronic MojoMojo overdrive pedal. When chained together these pedals compliments each other beautifully giving a clean sound, overdriven, distortion sound and used together at the same time a great lead sound.
Caline CP-15 Tantrum
- Heavy metal distortion
- Wide range of saturated sound from subtle overdrives up to heavy distortion for lead riffs and rhythm part in playing rock up to heavy metal
- Controls to operate are volume, distortion, boost, 3-band EQ bass-mid-treble and footswitch
- True bypass design, housed in aluminum alloy casing with stoving vanish finish
- Also comes with a boost channel that has its own separate footswitch
Another affordable pedal that offers a wide range of saturated sound for lead riffs and rhythm part in playing rock up to heavy metal is the Caline CP-15 Tantrum. It has a volume knob for the sound output, high gain knob to increase and decrease the amount of distortion, and a 3-band EQ bass-mid-treble to shape a low, mid level and high frequency to capture the needed clear sounding dirty tones.
Also comes with the pedals is a boost channel that has its own control and separate footswitch that adds more definition, depth and doubles the range of distortion sound. The pedal is true bypass, housed in aluminum alloy casing with stoving vanish finish.
Joyo JF-17 Extreme Metal
- Heavy distortion pedal
- Offers a wide range of dirty tones and when correctly dialed, can deliver an epic heavy distortion sound to play some heavy metal
- Controls are boost, level, drive, high, mid, low and footswitch
- Offers a great distortion sound to chain with other effects pedals
- True bypass design, aluminum housing and white knobs
This affordable distortion pedal from Joyo the JF-17 Extreme Metal offers a wide range of dirty tones and when correctly dialed, can deliver an epic heavy distortion sound to play some heavy metal. It has 6 controls to manipulate the sound. Namely a level/volume, boost, drive and a 3-band EQ high-mid-low for added shaping on the tones.
Another feature on this pedal is the extra footswitch to boost the signal. Making the overall output even more louder and heavier on the distortion end if not enough. It is a true bypass pedal where the circuit allows to completely remove the guitar effects pedal from the signal chain when the pedal is off for true control on the pedals and achieve a cleaner pedal train when laid down with other effects pedals.
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