A while back, I picked up a cheap guitar amp (a ROSS Loudmouth) at a downtown farmer's market. With just your basic options, plus reverb, it has served me pretty well. I use it for my electric violin and my mandolin, and the sound quality from the 40 watt 12-inch speaker is good enough for me.

At a garage sale this last Saturday, I picked up a distortion pedal for $5, because I've always wanted to hear my violin under distortion. After changing out the 9-volt battery, the distortion pedal LED lit up, and the sound that came out of my amp with the pedal inline was fantastic. Fun fun fun. And it sounded great on my mandolin, too.

I'm now on a quest to find more cheap effects-pedals for my violin.