Behringer Pedals - Why So Inexpensive?

[GIBSON67]

I have two B pedals which are both still going strong. One is a Analog Reverb, I don't like to use reverb and it sounds fairly fake, and I don't use it.

The other is a Bass pedal clone of the V amp I think, I love it for bassing up my Marshall.

 

[V-man]

Read this if you'd like to learn more about it: http://www.thegigrig.com/acatalog/TheGigRig_what_is_a_buffer.pdf

You know you might just have a problem when a guitar article takes a pic of a pile of pedals (which could be anything out of thousands of choices) and you can spot at least a half-dozen you own. :eek2:

 

[Micky]

Boss pedals get a bad rap also.
The only pedal I currently own is a DS-1, with a few of my own mods.

 

[Ricochet]

Of course behringers have their purpose, they are good for beginners, but they're not for the more advanced, serious guitarists.

Good post and I agree 99%.

To clarify. Behringer pedals were introduced around 2K, I can't recall any budget brands from that time, but the pricepoint was unprecedented, even by '80s and '90s standards. 20 bucks a pop.

I was being cheeky with the looper. I guess it depends on what you want it to do, and how much you're relying on FX. It does solve the plastic housing/flaky switch issue of cheapies, that was my point, cheeky or not.

 

[johnfv]

Behringer "borrows" from other brands and manufactures very cheap. I have the PB100 volume boost (a straight boost with bass/treble controls). I use it for practice and around the house. Works fine, it is flimsy so not exactly gig worthy (but have played a couple gigs with it).

 

[scat7s]

not sure if it has been mentioned, but in case your still not convinced, behringer uses SMT (surface mount technology) to build their circuit boards, this means automated machinery, run by cheap overseas labor, using cheap (ie: noisy, and less desireable) parts/components.

they are disposable products. surface mount is very small, fragile, and difficult to work on (modify or repair).

 

[Lespaulnmarshall]

You know you might just have a problem when a guitar article takes a pic of a pile of pedals (which could be anything out of thousands of choices) and you can spot at least a half-dozen you own. :eek2:

Ha same here!!

 

[blues_n_cues]

speaking of cheap pedals,a couple years ago I bought a Starcaster Chorus by Fender just for kicks. they were a limited run @ $12.00 through BestBuy but w/ my discount card & shipping it ran me a grand total of $8.00. I was amazed- metal housing,solid jacks,good knobs,& sounded good. it's still going strong.
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Fender-0868524002-Starcaster-Chorus-Pedal/dp/B000VOBUD6]Amazon.com: Starcaster Chorus Pedal: Musical Instruments[/ame]

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

Aren't the DOD and Arion pedals also pretty popular, even though they were also cheap?

The problem I see with Behringer that these old pedals don't have is

A) They're trying to blatantly copy a design and sound
B) Unreliability

Those pedals like the DODs, Arions, and maybe ones like Danelectro and Starcaster have their own unique sound that are sought after. The Behringers are obviously trying to be cheaper Boss pedals.

 

[blues_n_cues]

Aren't the DOD and Arion pedals also pretty popular, even though they were also cheap?

The problem I see with Behringer that these old pedals don't have is

A) They're trying to blatantly copy a design and sound
B) Unreliability

Those pedals like the DODs, Arions, and maybe ones like Danelectro and Starcaster have their own unique sound that are sought after. The Behringers are obviously trying to be cheaper Boss pedals.

I'm pretty sure the Starcaster is based on this but I've never tried one.
MXR M234 Analog Chorus Guitar Effects Pedal | Musician's Friend

I'd love to have another old MXR hardwired stereo chorus but they're going for too much on the bay for me. the Alesis does a good enough job for as much as I use it.

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

Nah, the Analog Chorus is recent. The Starcaster pedals are pretty old.

 

[V-man]

Aren't the DOD and Arion pedals also pretty popular, even though they were also cheap?

The problem I see with Behringer that these old pedals don't have is

A) They're trying to blatantly copy a design and sound
B) Unreliability

Those pedals like the DODs, Arions, and maybe ones like Danelectro and Starcaster have their own unique sound that are sought after. The Behringers are obviously trying to be cheaper Boss pedals.

The way I remember it, DOD wasn't cheap back in the day... not like Behringer/Dano. They were on point in prices with Boss Pedals, IIRC.

 

[scat7s]

i think they were cheaper, b/c i owned a few at my start.

i hated the the terrible switching mechanism on the late 70's/80's DOD stuff...financial notwithstanding, i would have preferred boss simply for the more robust (and reliable) switching.

 

[iron broadsword]

Yeah as said Behringer are pretty much crap. There are a few gems but they're really just a junk clone of something else.. I do own and use 2 VD400's though, clones of the old Boss DM2. Not bad, but not amazing. I've got some nice gear but I just didn't want to spend a lot of cash buying or building two different delays when I can get get those for under $60CAN.

Only experience I have with DOD is the Tech4 and Tech4x. Wow were those junk... look it up on youtube if you want a laugh

 

[MaxFrames]

It may be that Behringer products sound pretty good for the bucks.
But what they make up in bargain value they lose in engineering, materials and reliability so in the end I have made my informed decision that all Behringer stuff must be considered - to be on the safe side - as crap and I will never buy any of their products anymore.
Oh - and their assistance, much needed as you may imagine - is appalling too.

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

The way I remember it, DOD wasn't cheap back in the day... not like Behringer/Dano. They were on point in prices with Boss Pedals, IIRC.

Must of been made cheaper later on, then. I think I remember some being as cheap as the lower-end Digitechs.

 

[scat7s]

DOD is (or was, or became) digitech. and some of the first digitech pedals use that same momentary soft touch switching. i think they still use it on some of their stuff.

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

Yeah, DOD became a subsidary of Digitech, I believe, and eventually a few of the remaining DOD pedals became budget Digitechs.

 

[V-man]

Must of been made cheaper later on, then. I think I remember some being as cheap as the lower-end Digitechs.

Quite possibly. I do recall the day-glo metal pedals costing at least $60 in the late 80s-early 90s.

 

[mrrstrat]

I have used Behringer gear on occasion - I had a Bass Vamp Pro I used for a number of years as a DI box for bass, and I have a Behringer Dual 15 band Rack EQ I use for microphones.

You do get what you pay for, and generally a 39 dollar pedal does not stack up against the 275 dollar pedal it is copied from. As a rule, I would not use Beringer pedals for anything more than pedals to use when I dont want to use real equipment.

But, if you are on a budget and you want to try different effects, its nice to see if you like the effect they make.