Walrus Audio enters the Budget Pedal Arena with its incredibly well-considered Fundamental Series initial offering of 8

Most people consider JHS Pedals’ 3 Series launch back in October of 2020 as the catalyst and forerunner of this particular effects pedal industry Budget phase / development. While I would go back to August of 2019 to EarthQuaker Devices’ first $99 pedal - the Plumes Small Signal Shredder OD - as the starting point of this trend.

Of course Josh Scott was the first to issue a full range of $99 pedals - where he launched with 7 white utilitarian / industrial style 3-knobs + 1-switch - somewhat simple / simplified pedals. JHS’s 3-Series launched with a Compressor, Fuzz, Overdrive, Distortion, Chorus, Delay and Reverb. While there are now 13 pedals in that range - with Screamer OD, Flanger, Phaser, Harmonic Trem, Hall Reverb, and Octave Reverb added in follow-up batches. All 13 pedals are priced at the sweet-spot $99 mark

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Next was Gibson in January of 2022 - who revived their Maestro effects line - with a 5-pedal initial offering. This included a Fuzz, Overdrive, Distortion, Chorus, and Delay. And a second batch of 5 added a Compressor, Envelope Filter, Boost, Phaser, and Tremolo - to bring that range up to 10. These are somewhat dearer pedals - priced either at $149 or $159. Gibson otherwise followed JHS - with a consistent 3 knobs and additional options Toggle-switch topology. Note that the Maestro enclosures are somewhat larger than the norm here.

Then came Fender less than a month after the Gibson Maestros - with its Hammertone Range of 9 - priced at $79 and $99. These included a Fuzz, Overdrive, Distortion, Metal Distortion, Chorus, Flanger, Delay, Space Delay and Reverb. Fender has not extended that offering yet - the range remains at 9.

Later last year - in October - Catalinbread put out its Elements Series of 3 x 1-knob wonders - a Fuzz, Overdrive, and Distortion. These are the same sort of price-point as the Maestros at $149 - and even more simple and streamlined affairs with just single controls.

In December of 2022 Wampler threw its hat in the ring - with the full-featured budget Collective Series duo of an Overdrive and Distortion - each with 6 controls - and yet still with just a $99 price tag - so breaking the simplified model template as such.

EarthQuaker also launched their second $99 pedal - the Special Cranker OD - in April of last year.

This article though is mostly about Walrus Audio’s new Fundamental Series - while I thought it would be good to have a proper context and overview of the marketplace those 8 new pedals are entering.

For my money - Walrus have launched here with an incredibly strong hand. Their logic here is near perfect as if I were launching a range of 8 pedals - then these are exactly the genres I would feature in my selection too. For me it’s the best-balanced launch - and  in many ways also the most appealing - with a really well considered and refined branding - which looks elegant and worthy and fairly timeless. Also the use of sliders instead of the more conventional rotary potentiometers really makes the Fundamental Series stand out.

It’s the most appealing selection for me overall by most of the key criteria. Sliders tend to be more fragile than pots though - so there’s a question mark over the durability of those pedals. Also there is a slight complexity in the pricing as only the 3 gain pedals of those are at the appropriate $99 mark, while the majority is at $129. I feel this will therefore still leave JHS in the driving seat - as for younger folk - the shift from $99 to $129 can really be quite significant.

Empirical market data has shown that compact $99 types are the sweet spot for pedal sales - while if you’re closer to $149 or $200 even - then that is typically a whole different category and level of consideration.

As these are meant to be entry-level pedals for newbies and beginners largely - I feel that the $99 price point is significant. Looking at Sweetwater I see that Boss has 5 pedals under $99, 4 at $109.99, and then the majority of the range at $119.99 - so that’s obviously the industry standard competition.

I feel that if you’re going to have a budget range - then it should really be at $99. I’m not sure these brands have done proper conjoint pricing analysis - while I doubt the pricier ones here are doing as well as the $99 editions - so it’s a matter of volume, scale and profit margins. And surely if JHS can do it then others can too!

Generally within these budget ranges we tend to see largely the most classic of effects - which means typically Fuzz-Face style Fuzz, Screamer Overdrive, Marshall Distortion, CE-1 style Chorus, Phase-90 style Phaser and similar etc.. While not all here adhere exactly to that template - but close enough!