It has taken me 12 or so years to acquiesce to using an overdrive pedal, so as neanderthal with an octagonal wheel I hear you. For what it's worth, the overdrive pedal that softened my previously dead set against effects opinion is the Bass Soul Food. I'm sure it's considered a toy to the effects specialists, but it was the first one I tried that didn't cost an arm and a leg and I could get a sound out of it I liked without too much faffing around.
That said, I think you have to be happy with your blank canvas sound before you start adding effects - it isn't going to help you if you aren't happy with the sound that's going into the effect(s). I came from a position of liking my basic sound and wondering what else I could do with it. Joining a band which is instrumentally a trio added some impetus to this - sometimes the single guitar needs a bit of help to fill things out, give a lift in song choruses, that sort of thing.