MXR® Timmy® Overdrive

From the first note, I could tell this was a great low-gain, dirt/grit pedal. Perfect for blues, and a light smattering of dirt on your notes, or stacking with other drives for that extra saturation. The tone controls are responsive, functional, and the pedal imparts very little overall coloring, while adding that nice touch of dirt. The three postion switch is not as noticeable at modest gain settings, but if you use the pedal for more of an overdrive, or light distortion, the left and right positions of the switch become more apparent. The right position is more compressed, with dynamics evened out, while the left position is more spitty, and adds a little more hair to the sound. I prefer the center position, which is more natural, with an open, dynamic feel. Gained up, the pedal has a nice warm overdrive sound, that on it's own will get you into rock territory. It does get a little mushy with the gain up higher, which winding back the bass control helps to tighten up, but this pedal is most at home with gain settings between 11-2-oclock in my opinion. If you are looking for a pedal that punches above its weight, sounds great, and is well made, the MXR Timmy is the pedal you are looking for. I am getting a second one to put on my B-Board, it is that good. I was hesitant at first to get one, having a Caline Pure-Sky already, which is also an amazing pedal, I wasn't sure the MXR Timmy would be a notch up. Curiosity got me though, and I am glad I made the jump. The Timmy is an amazing pedal, so if you were on the fence about getting one, just do it.

Just received my MXR Timmy Mini a few hours ago, and WOW!!! I put it on my board after my TC Electronics Spark Boost, and before my MXR 5150 Overdrive, and it stacks beautifully with both. I just dialed everything in to noon, with the toggle switch to the right for the most compression, and it dialed in my tone to exactly what I’ve been looking for! I initially was sitting right in front of my 2x12 cab and it was PERFECT, then I stood up and walked around and had to adjust the bass a LITTLE to compensate for the difference in how I was hearing everything, but everything else stayed at noon and it is perfect. With JUST the Timmy on into my Vox AC10 that is set to “barely crunchy” I get a slightly pushed, bluesy, type overdrive. Add the Spark Boost and you have 70’s hard rock tones. Stack the Timmy and 5150 Overdrive and I have perfectly tight, and balanced metal tones. The 5150 Overdrive is one of my favorites with the on board Noise Gate and Boost, and I guess the added compression from the Timmy just pushes everything into the sweet spot for me. I could not recommend this enough. I was hesitant to add ANOTHER overdrive to my board, and wasn’t sure if this was going to make much difference. I’ve rotated other OD’s on and off of my pedalboard because they seemed redundant or muddied up the sound, but I am SO glad I pulled the trigger on this. I think my rig might be complete……until my G.A.S. kicks in again anyway 🤣😂.

The MXR Timmy pedal was an instant keeper for me. Sparkling light to mid overdrive, very musical, little or no EQ change (with the Treble and Bass knobs fully maxed), very versatile. I've used a Caline Pure Sky for several years, itself quite a good versatile transparent overdrive, but it can get a little harsh or strident sounding when pushed. Also, I'm running out of pedal board space, so a mini-pedal seemed attractive. The MXR Timmy sounds better in all respects to me than the Pure Sky - sometimes subtle, but somehow fuller and more musical. The Caline pedal is 90% there and is a cheap way to experiment with the concept of a Timmy. But the MXR is definitely a better pedal. For the record I'm playing into a Fender 65 PRRI with a 12" speaker (Emi Josh Smith). I didn't give 5 stars because of a few gripes: The 4 knobs are spaced very close together and are hard to get at and turn precisely - I may see if I can get some skinnier knobs as replacements. Also, as other reviewers have said, with the gain turned up high the volume knob jumps from nothing to slightly more than unity gain as you turn it up. But this isn't a problem at mid to low gain, where this pedal really shines.

Bought this to replace a JHS Morning Glory. Does the same but better and is way more versatile. The gain can be a little granular past noon and into light fuzz territory when cranked, which might not suit everyone, but it the toggle switch provides the ability to add a little smoothing and compression. Love this drive stacked with a klon or clone. Perfect "always on" pedal to fatten up your amp tone. The bass and treble cut eq is powerful and has replaced the need for a post drive eq pedal in my rig.

Underwhelming effect with nearly zero EQ shaping available. Coats signal with a dark blanket of sorts, and naturally gets darker with added gain. May be good for very loud or bright amplifiers, or players who 100% already have their sound and want to add a little dirt. I love MXR quality and innovation, but this one is on the boutique hype train. To those seeking a certain sound like this, I would highly recommend saving a little more to spend on an actual Timmy or Greer Lightspeed. Slightly less $$ and more tweakable than this would be a BOSS OD3. Again, this MXR Timmy may suit your needs if you have a guitar and amp with which you already love the sound and simply want more gain without tone shaping capabilities.

First, this "mini" MXR Timmy, is hands down the best and most versatile responsive Overdrive Pedal I have ever used. It is my only go - to OD Pedal on my board now. I have followed the person that originally crafted this type of pedal for the pros, pretty much exclusively for a few years, hoping that someday he would team up with a Manufacturer to make it possible for the masses. Thanks to MXR they got it done. Not only did they "get it done" they absolutely nailed it. My vote, this is a pedal that should be on everyone's Pedalboard. Especially, Blues Players. That is just my small humble opinion. Doug P.

The characters you can derive from this pedal are very satisfying. I'm using the pedal with a American Strat and Dual Reverb Amp. The pedal has a nice range of break up/compressed tones to work with at a click when performing live. Very satisfied with this pedal.

If you’re looking for a small low to mid-gain pedal with a smooth sound, this is one you want to try. For my purposes, this with a Spark would cover 90% of my gainy desires.

MXR hizo una gran colaboración con Paul Cochrane y el resultado fue este grandioso pedal que me tiene asombrado por su calidad y precio. El pedal saturar la señal a muy buen nivel (sin llegar a los territorios de una distorsión) sin perder claridad en las notas, conservando el carácter de la guitarra y amplificador que se este usando; además su sonido se combina perfecto con otros pedales de overdrive y distorsión lo que permite hacer un buen stacking en para la sección de ganancia. Si estas en busca de un overdrive en formato pequeño con un excelente sonido y que se acopla a cualquier estilo/género, este pedal es para ti.

La pédale donne un sons très agréable dans les trois positions du mini switch, néanmoins ce celle-là du milieu la que je préfère la plus car je la trouve la plus dynamique. Le switch tout à droite donne un son et un comportement moins exceptionnel qu’on peut répliquer avec la pédale Mosky MM Silver bien moins chère mais un crins moins dynamique. Pas de problème avec le fonctionnement des jacks ni rien d’autre. Très bonne qualité de construction. En revanche, la position du led, sa auteur, et sa conception sans collier de protection constituent un potentiel point de faiblesse pour la pédale. J'enlève une étoile pour advertir aux acheteurs sur cet aspect de conception en particulier.

Super!

From warm, full, bluesy tones, to gut wrenching tube sounding power. This little pedal is superb and packs a punch. Feels solid too. Very well made. Robust feeling controls and switch. Highly recommend.

This pedal is fantastic- keeps my natural tone to my amp when amp is at any volume and can eq and overdrive to taste at low volumes. Usps is another story though.