MXR Timmy Overdrive Guitar Effects Pedal (CSP027), Blue

Product Information

So what I’ve been doing is using the MXR Timmy to give me a light overdrive sound, straight into the Origin 20H. By modern tastes, it probably still counts as a clean tone, but I think it’s really sweet. How Does It Compare To The Original Timmy v2? First, it has a flatter base EQ profile, leaving you freer to use its EQ controls, or indeed those at the amp end, to sculpt your tone. Gone is the kind of mid bump that you see on the Tubescreamer, and to some degree, other drives like the Klon. MusicRadar verdict: Smaller, more affordable, more available and just as musical as Paul Cochrane's originals, Timmy remains one of the first names that come to mind when you think of transparent overdrive. The web says You can trust Guitar World Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing guitar products so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test. Some overdrive pedals thrive when they’re playing with a tube amp that’s already on the edge of breakup. With the right settings, the best overdrive pedals can really get your amp singing. Some also pair incredibly well with other pedals – for example, a Tubescreamer feeding into a Klon style OD is a classic pedal combo. What is a transparent overdrive?

In terms of sounds, the Klon is often described as 'transparent', but we've always found it to be distinctly colored, chewy in its drive tone at lower gain settings, and crunchy and dry with the gain up – these qualities are also true of the Tumnus. By doing this, you can get Super Lead-esque tones or Super Bass sounds, which makes this pedal a versatile overdrive option for bass guitar as well. The Timmy is described as a transparent overdrive pedal that gives you the sustain and bite you need without changing the character of your original guitar tone. The MXR Timmy is based on the most current V3 edition, and according to MXR, it nails the same transparent but full character of the original Timmy. The Riot mini features the classic three-knob controls you know and love but also features a two-position voicing switch. This changes the clipping styles from a vintage high gain sound to a more modern clipping sound. The three-way clipping switch provides you with even more options and different headroom settings. Overall, the MXR Timmy Mini is a really good take on a classic pedal - it keeps everything that players love about the original, and houses it in a smaller casing.Sonically, the Riot can go anywhere from creamy mid-gain overdrive to all-out high-gain mayhem. But it always stays responsive and controlled, like plugging into a high-gain 100-watt amp. It never gets tubby or loose sounding and really does sound like a fully cranked amplifier. Being an op-amp overdrive that employs soft clipping, to some degree it is influenced by, and in the family tree of, the venerable Ibanez Tube Screamer. However, in its more streamlined design, two crucial things are different. The Timmy is one of those utility pedals it’s great to have. You might not use it all the time, but when you need it, nothing else quite does the job. Related to this is also how you plan on using the pedal. Using an overdrive pedal on an already distorted amp will sound very different to using it through a clean amp. You’re more likely to hear the characteristics of the pedal (if it has some) in the latter case.

Thanks to Paul’s inventive implementation of clipping options and tone controls, the Timmy Overdrive is a dream come true for working guitar players. The Clip switch provides three different clipping styles for a multitude of scenarios, whether you need a big, bold always-on sound with a ton of headroom to slam the front end of your amp, a more compressed and saturated sound for fat chords, or anything in between. The Bass and Treble controls offer further refinement in two key ways. First, they’re cut-only, keeping your signal’s character intact while making it super easy to dial in a clean boost. Second, Paul wired the Bass control to affect your pre-OD signal so that you can your maintain low end at lower Gain settings and the Treble control to affect your post-OD signal so that you can adjust the top end to keep dirty settings smooth and musical. Xotic has been in the mini pedal market for years, making great-sounding pedals that typically fall into the utility category, such as their EP booster and SP compressor. Finally, the MXR design team worked with Paul to select an op-amp that perfectly complements his expertly crafted design. They chose the LF353, a component well-respected by Dunlop engineers for providing high output, high gain, and hi-fi signal delivery. The resulting MXR Timmy Overdrive is a professional-grade must-have for players who want sweet, harmonic breakup that responds to playing dynamics and maintains a rig's personality at a fraction of the standard pedal size. While most of these pedals have all fit into the new “mini” standard pedal enclosure, Dunlop’s Mini Fuzz Face reissues don’t quite match in terms of size. They are, however, certainly more compact than the original Fuzz Face pedals.Then there’s the whole ‘transparent’ overdrive thing. A transparent overdrive pedal essentially means that your core tone shouldn’t change much when it’s engaged; you just get more of it – fattened up, probably slightly more compressed, with a little more gain. But that’s not all! The Timmy also has a 3-way toggle switch that actually changes the clipping diodes, giving you 3 more distinct flavors of overdrive style. These range from super transparent boosted sounds to more amp-like asymmetric clipping. It goes waaaaay beyond preferring buffered or true-bypass switching. You begin to develop a taste, and a set of preferences and expectations.

If you’re looking for the best overdrive pedal for you, then there are a few things to consider beforehand. Firstly, what are you looking to get out of it? Are you looking to use it as a boost for solos? Do you want one as the basis of your main sound? Are you using it to push an already driven amp? Thinking about the application will help you figure out what you need in an overdrive pedal. What's the difference between overdrive and distortion? Some feature more tone-shaping controls than others too. If you have a specific sound in mind, then look for something with more EQ controls, as these will give you more ability to fine-tune your sound. You can also use these to combat troublesome frequencies within your amp, for example, many metal players use a Tube Screamer, or something similar, to push the front end of an already distorted amp a little more, and to tighten up the bottom end. If you’re using an overdrive pedal for solos, then dialling in more high-mids and top-end can help you cut through a live mix better. Can I use multiple gain stages or overdrive pedals? There’s a reason the Tube Screamer is so popular, because it just sounds so good, and having an option that takes up half the space means you can have more space for different effects. I bought a second-hand MXR Timmy overdrive pedal. It’s a mini-pedal, made in collaboration with Paul Cochrane, who used to hand-make the original Timmy pedals. Why Did You Buy It? The overall character is that of a high-gain American style amp, so if you’re looking for something with heaps of distortion that still sounds responsive and tight, the Suhr Riot mini is a great choice. 4. Xotic SL DriveThe right (minus) mode gives you splatty, glitchy, and almost gated fuzz tones. It’s somewhat reminiscent of using a dying battery in a guitar pedal, but without the inherent fear that the pedal will actually die on you! So even though the Mini Foot is small, it’s definitely got some versatile sounds built-in. If nothing else on this list has piqued your interest yet, or you’re just looking for something more unique than your standard “fuzz” pedal, the Fuzzolo is a fantastic option!

The MXR Timmy has more dynamic presence than your regular overdrive. There is a clear top-end chime and warmth in the midrange. It is a more musical-sounding overdrive that blends in beautifully with amplifier crunch – perfect for when you need even more harmonic complexity." One awesome feature of the new Octavio is the ability to turn the “octave up” effect on and off, which doubles the effectiveness of the pedal. You can use this for super gnarly riffing, or use the octave-off mode as a “standard” fuzz pedal. Transparent’ overdrive pedals aim to give you more overdrive while still sounding the same in all other aspects. None of them quite manage that, but the Timmy does come closer than many. What Is A Timmy Pedal Good For?

MXR buddies up with Paul Cochrane for a reissue of his much prized transparent drive pedal

The Timmy is one of the original transparent overdrive pedals. It’s right up there with the Klon and the King of Tone as a legendary pedal. The Octavio features a super simple control set, much like a Fuzz Face, though sonically the Octavio sounds much more aggressive and gritty, which is kind of the point. The harmonized octave up sound is both classic Hendrix and can also be useful in other “heavier” genres. It just doesn’t make sense for me to chase another Timmy v2. Not when this pedal from MXR is widely available. What Is A Timmy Pedal?