ot- dmm

[LightSoundGeometry]

recommend and link up some of the best bang for buck audio/amp/pedal dmms in the 50-100 dollar range.  thanks in advance.

[Phoenix]

Bit outside your specified price range ($125), but I recommend the EEVBlog edition Brymen BM235.. It's about the cheapest meter with CAT II 1kV rating that I actually trust (if you're planning on working on tube amps this is absolutely required for your safety - you did mention amps in your list).
There are other meters that supposedly offer the same safety ratings at a lower price - but they are questionable or outright lies in some instances. There are a few Youtube channels that do destructive testing on multimeters that demonstrate the failures of some of these.

I have a number of multimeters, a Fluke 87V (industry standard), a Fluke 112, and a Keysight U1241B (all significantly more expensive than the BM235), and a couple of the BM235's. The EEVBlog version comes with upgraded excellent quality probes. The meter itself has all the features required for electronics work, and I actually like it better than my U1241B (faster continuity buzzer and startup time).

Don't buy cheap; you'll pay twice. Buy once, cry once.

[digi2t]

Save up your cash and buy quality, like a Fluke. I wouldn't want to be noodling around inside a tube amp with substandard testing tools. When working around high voltages, a DMM is a critical tool insofar as intrinsic safety is concerned. If you're gonna go cheap, and work on amps, you might as well hold on to the chassis, and use your finger.

I own an older Wavetek-Meterman DMM, which was a subsidiary Fluke in the day. It was like the "budget brand" to Fluke, but just as rugged and well made as a Fluke. Unfortunately, they don't make them anymore. They were probably "too good" and started eating into Fluke's profits. Anyway, if it ever dies, I'll be on the market for a Fluke, but this thing will probably bury me, along with several generations after me.

If it's strictly going to be for pedals (low voltage) then yeah, $50 will get you plenty of bang for the buck.

Do yourself a favor as well, make sure that the leads can accept adapters as well. Something like insulated clips are invaluable when testing high voltages. You can set up, and then power up without having any body parts close to, or in the chassis.