MXR Timmy Overdrive Mini Pedal Reviews

MXR Timmy Overdrive Mini Pedal is excellent because all of the sounds are great, and it's VERY versatile.
Anything from transparent OD to tone sculpting coloration is here.

I'm going to buy a second one for another board.

Timmy got sent to the closet when I swapped it out for a morning glory. Not better or worse, just different. And you know how you take your favorite guitar and set up your amp and all the dials on pedals to perfection? Then switch guitars and it all sounds horrible? Well, take Timmy out of the closet and put it first in the chain, basically as an eq and level control.
My fave sound is asat with mojotone broadcaster pups. Now I can get out my bluesboy with P 90 and humbucker OR Charvel tele with active fishman fluence system, click on Timmy with bass and level cut and presto! All my drive pedals sound great. Now I play all my guitars because it's easy to switch. And the guitars still maintain their different characteristics. Seriously, I was about to spend a lot of money on new pickups or a boss eq pedal, but this did the trick.

Full disclosure: my name is Timmy. It seemed inevitable I was going to have to try one of these at some point. Thank you MXR for working it out that I could afford to do so with this neat tiny version, & Sweetwater's great customer service delivered it quickly. The verdict? Everything I loved about my guitars sounds just...better. Its a clean boost foremost- but very organtic. Once you get it dialed in to liking (which is easy) you start to just leave it on. Becomes your base sound, as it doesn't color anything. The instrument becomes so much more touch sensitive, and you find the ability for better expression in your playing just leaving it on & working your hands and the volume/tone knobs of the guitar. Single coils or humbucker- you can get either sounding great simply with the 4 dials & clipping switch on this mini pedal. Wanna wail? Try a Klon clone of choice set on "stun" downsteam of this li'l blue wonder. Stomp that on when you need it. Feeding Timmy's signal into one of those pedals is a beautiful thing, it's amazing what happens. The Timmy is a game changer for me, I couldn't be more pleased with it. I'm a simpleton. I play into the front of a 15 watt tube Fender combo w/ 12 inch speaker, primarily using a Tele or Les Paul. My effects compliment fits on a Pedaltrain Nano with room to spare. The Timmy pedal is on there to stay!

I got it to add to my board. I have a Hair Pi Fuzz, Tube screamer, and a Blues Driver but was looking for something a little deeper in tone. Timmy brought that! What an awesome sound and tone!Great addition to my board.

Have the Tube Screamer and an OCD - but the Timmy is totally the perfect tone and adds to my sound- 100% satisfied.

Timmy Overdrive Effects Pedal is OUTSTANDING! Lots of pedals claim to be transparent, but this is capable of being completely transparent. If you love your guitar and amp, the Timmy can truly give you more of what you love already. It CAN also be used to sculpt your tones in very musically pleasing ways. I'm blown away by this pedal. One of the very best and I've had dozens of pedals.

This MXR Timmy sounds just like my other Timmy V2, just need to reset the tone controls! I have a Archer before it shape and boost the signal and I'm amazed at the sounds I can get out this stack up!

I'm a overdrive / fuzz junkie :-). I have lots of overdrive pedals and I'm constantly experimenting (Searching) for the ultimate pedal board setup for my rig. I just completed a review of the Wampler Belle a few months ago and thought that I finally achieved perfection (If there is such a thing). I got curious about what I was messing in the Timmy and decided to try them side by side. I love both pedals! But, the Timmy will replace the Belle. It has more gain, more flexibility and in my opinion it's closer to being truly transparent. It provides a wonderful boost for my fuzz. It stacks beautiful with other combinations of pedals. But the best part is that it doesn't change the sound of my amp! There are other pedals that claim to be transparent but this one truly achieves that goal.

I must confess that I have never tried an actual or original Timmy but, at this price point and availability I can't believe that it would be all that different. *** If I had one critique - it's the mini format. I like mini pedal but, it's a challenge at times for my big figures to make the adjustments on the knobs and switch.*** I wish it was a little bigger. Trivial - I know but, what would a review be without one complaint. :-)

The Timmy is all it's advertised to be! So awesome! It sits nice alongside my EHX Soul Food and Tube Screamer. They all stack well together.

This is my "always engaged" overdrive pedal. I have the drive set at about 2 o'clock, and I'm a huge fan. It darkens the tone a bit, which I happen to really like. With my pedalboard, it does play well with others. I personally like it engaged alongside my fuzz face mini (the red one, dimed) and it really takes the edge off the tone so I can get a beautiful tone without it cutting too harshly. I use an EQD Plumes Overdrive, and it really adds some "oomph" when paired with that. 10/10 would recommend.

I think this pedal is both simultaneously over-rated as well as incredibly intelligent in its design. On one level, I am sick and tired of the cork-sniffing "mmmm yess muh transparent overdrives!" the industry has arrived at. However, a pedal EQ that is not only cut-only, but the bass comes pre-gain to tighten the sound and prevent muddiness, and the treble is post-gain to retain presence and bite? Exceptionally clever. The amount of gain this pedal gives is just enough. The clipping options are great as well. BUT the EQ is THE REASON this pedal is on my board (vs a Tumnus or other big name transparent drive).

I am very thankful MXR partnered with Paul to mass produce the Timmy circuit 100% authentically, with exceptionally sturdy and solid construction, in a small pedal form. This is a Godsend to the pedal world, specifically because of the EQ design.

This little Timmy is the new star of the board. ;) Blues, blues/rock player looking for a smooth OD that maintained articulation even when the gain was boosted. Found it here. Compliments my other ODs that drive mainly Fender tube amps. A DRRI, Blues Jr. IV and a 57 Champ. This little guy handles all well. It truly unlocked sweet tones I wasn't able to quite dial in with an assortment of other pedals. 65 years young here and playing for nearly 50 of those. Only regret is not discovering this little gem sooner. Per usual, efficient Sweetwater sale and delivery.

I've had lots of O.D. pedals. This TIMMY is different than any of them. I was skeptical. I haven't had it long enough to critique it thoroughly. But it has a sound and feel unlike any of my other pedals. It really is touch-sensitive. It's now #2 on my tone chain. First is the Mooer Blues Crab. Then comes the Timmy. Great pedal at a great price. Special thanks to Charles Cummings for all his help and patience.

The Timmy lives up to the good reviews it receives. I've been playing it for about 6 months now and love that it doesn't change your guitar's tone while giving you a clean boost. But most surprising is how it reacts to your picking. From one song to the next without changing any settings on your amp, or the Timmy, it responds to your attack and you can get a pretty mean sounding tone from picking alone. Stacks up well with other pedals too. For more super sustain tones I use a Friedman BE-OD so I haven't tried to get those kind of the tones from the Timmy but for my cleaner needs it handles them really well and give it 5 stars. Also 5 stars for Sweetwater for their prompt shipping, great product descriptions and awesome tech support.

This is one heck of a pedal. I've only been able to use it a few times, but once stand alone, and once stacked with a Wampler Tumnus Deluxe. Both were impressive, one alone yielding a cutting tone that was decisive, quick, and replicated Fastway on Say What You Will. In tandem with the Tumnus gave me such a deep, yet transparent tone that it defies easy classification but, I think it might become my new blues tone. The stops were pulled out though, when I ran it stacked with the Wampler Pantheon. Oh. My. God. If you liked VH's brown tone in the early days of VH I and VH II, get this! If you like the buzz saw of the 80's and being able to reach 90's grunge and 70's Deep Purple, Thin Lizzy and others, get this. You won't be disappointed (A little Wampler goes a long way too.;).

Wow what a great pedal! This is a proper overdrive pedal IMO. Very transparent. Reacts to your pick attack and guitar volume extremely well. Find your spot and work the magic with your guitar volume and picking hand. Plus it's tiny!

If you want a pedal that doesn't stomp all over your quality tone, this is it.
Compared to the three Wampler Overdrive pedals I have, Tumnus, Euphoria, and Pantheon, the MXR Timmy is definitely more transparent. Preserves your pick dynamics and doesn't re-eq your guitar sound. Stacks well with other pedals. I put the Tumnus in front for a nice mid-range bump, or follow it up with a compressor for increased sustain without extra dirt. Give it a try.

Just takes a second to figure out that the tone controls. Once you get that you're golden. Great pedal!

Covers most bases for drive. Don't bother with the v2 on reverb. I did. Payed $200+ for it too. Pots were scratchy and I couldn't change the op-amp in it, even thou it was installed in a harness. The pedal was from a 2012 build so it was whipped.

This "New" Timmy is crazy good!! Gobs of drive on tap. 3 way switch for clipping options and a very smart pre-drive bass knob and a post-drive treble knob. Both are cut only. Once you understand the reason behind this design you will achieve overdrive bliss!!

This is a no-brainer. Get it while you can. Custom shop Mxr are never around for very long!!

I thought I owned a transparent overdrive, but then I played the MXR Timmy. This mini pedal is sonic awesomeness. The three clipping modes provide subtle, yet appreciated flexibility in the output and overdrive style. The bass and treble cut-off filters are the real magic of this overdrive. Leave them all the way up for open, crisp clear tone with a wide frequency range - Truly transparent with even a little sparkle! Turn them back down to cut out bass or high frequencies and tailor the sound as you wish. For tone chasers, the frequency knobs will bring a smile to your face. Stacks great with other overdrives. I prefer it at the end of my drive chain. (Note, I've never played a PC Timmy, only the MXR. But I bought the MXR Timmy due to the recommendation of a professional who uses a PC Timmy, and I am glad I did!).

I wanted a pedal that wouldn't color the tone of my amp. This pedal did just that. Make sure you buy a power supply for this pedal. I bought mine only to find out on arrival it didn't accept a battery.

I am a child of the late 70's early 80's and have always been an MXR fan. Distortion + was my first overdrive pedal. I play a Twin, so I wanted something to give me edge of breakup tone at reasonable volume. This pedal does that very well and gives many EQ options.

So, I've owned a couple original Timmy's (long ago, in a galaxy far away)….this one is similar, yet much smaller.
I won't be selling this one anytime soon because, as fate would have it - I found (as hoped) that this one prestacks perfectly into my Freidman BE.
Actually, my current board set-up (and I have had MANY) initially consists of a tuner going into the Freidman Sir-Compre/ into an ARCHER/ into the TIMMY/ into a JHS AT/ into the Freidman BE (and then to the special effects, out to amp).
I put this line-up against any for having a LEGIT guitar tone that covers many genres. I find that, even at low volumes - I can get into MESA territory.....Marshall tones can be dialed-in to cover different era Marshall heads.
I never stack the AT into the BE, instead, alternate between the two (as the last in line ~ before modulation/delays/reverbs) as needed, to achieve desired tones.
Of course, a quality tube head (set clean) is needed in the end (before your cab) to really make it all work.
Stacking pedals has always been hit & miss for any guitarist' but the Timmy, somehow brings it all together and makes low volume practice fun again.

The MXR Timmy is a sweet little tone package.

The MXR Timmy is very well built and sounds amazing. The knobs and switches feel substantial and of high quality. This has become my go to drive pedal!

Definitely a pedal that punches above its weight class
As good or better than pedals that are much pricier
No complaints... would buy again!

My main overdrive for the past few years has been my v2 Timmy. Sadly, after putting it through the wringer, it's response had gotten spotty. I needed a replacement.

I tried using my POT, Super Phat Mod, and Tumnus Deluxe to fill the role. While they will all do the job, they all left me wanting in some way.

Since Timmy pedals have gotten so hard to find I had resigned myself to a long wait, but MXR came through and released this.

No two pedals sound exactly alike, but it's got the Timmy sound. I'm super happy.

I've never owned a Timmy before but I know the hype and I have to say that the hype doesn't do this pedal justice. The pedal really is super transparent and just makes everything sound fuller...gives the sound more character without compromising the original signal. So far I've used it with a slide rig in front and stacked it with a Blues Driver behind. It just makes everything sound that much better (with or without the stacking). Cant wait to stack it with a KLON or a RAT. Great Always ON Pedal..

It is an awesome addition. The tonal differences give you unlimited possibilities. I love the transparency of the distortion. It is perfect

It is a nice addition to my selection of OD/Boost pedals. I preface this by saying I have never tried or owned a Timmy. For right now I'm keeping it up front right after my compressor. It makes for a great boost with my strat. I find the tone controls work very well as cuts. For the money and size it's a useful pedal.

I don’t know where to start. This tiny pedal has so many tones packed in it. Although I have never played a Timmy made by Paul Cochrane, I can definitely see why this overdrive is so legendary and beloved by gear aficionados. Eirik from Livingroom Gear Demos declared it the greatest overdrive ever made (which is quite a claim). Once you figure out how to manage the treble and bass knobs, you can easily dial in a wide array of sounds to suit your needs. The bass knob is quite powerful and can do wonders for your bottom end without getting muddy or dull. I also love how the gain allows individual notes to ring out even when you strum a chord. This is one of those rare drive pedals that makes both lead and rhythm playing fun and inspiring. I look forward to more future collaborations between boutique pedal builders and bigger manufacturers like Dunlop/MXR.

If you like the Timmy you will like this pedal! It sounds amazing! The small enclosure is a plus. I own V2 and a V3 as well, and this pedal is just as great as both of those. You won’t find a better overdrive pedal anywhere, especially not in this price range.

Well a couple days ago I was only looking at these and wondering how close can it really be to timmy v2...Took delivery today and playing it as I write this...very close id say...has the familiar soft breakup tone/clipping swithch.Yeah it is mini...but don't let that stop you from moving on one of these...thumbs up paul and mxr,thankyou!

This pedal sounds amazing once you get a hold of the controls. Even after they made the tone control knobs turn the correct way, their use of the knobs is still misleading. Turn the bass and treble ALL THE WAY UP to start with, and cut back from there. They don't ADD bass or treble from your signal, they remove it as you go clockwise. Not totally intuitive. Also, the with clipping switch would be nice to know what position did what. I played around with it for probably 15 minutes trying to find the sound I liked with which switch position. Once I had it down, it'll probably never move.

I like the tone of the pedal a lot! This'll probably be my leave on pedal on my rig!

For me this doesn't work well as a stand-alone overdrive into a clean amp. But it's GREAT at adding harmonics and girth to other distortion and overdrive pedals and adds depth to high gain amps.

Finally a mini-format version of one of the greatest boost/overdrives ever created. Paul Cochrane developed something wonderful and all together different with the Tim/Timmy.

Its ability to bring the best out of your amp, while retaining the voice of your guitar is the envy of many a stomp box. I would say the Tim/Timmy IS the most "transparent" drive available.
Perhaps it's the unique EQ which controls the bass before the clipping curcuit, and the treble after. The originals have bass and treble "cut" controls (clock-wise meant less), this was due to the tapers of the pots used. Paul C being a visionary, decided that despite this abnormal function, it was better for the overall sound. This version has made the tone controls function "normally" so tweak with your ears.
I compared this head-to-head with my Tim and V2 Timmy. Overall MXR knocked it out of the park with this one! The same great clarity and punch exists within this little blue wonder. I would say the pot tapers, while being opposite the originals, are a little different. I found myself pushing the treble and volume a tiny bit more to reach the same tone, though there was plenty left over. The volume taper seemed sensitive near the 1-2 o'clock region. A good tip I picked up for the Timmy was, "the more gain you use, the less bass and treble you want".
I would guess Paul had MXR use the slightly smoother LM1458 IC chip in this version like he did with his v3. I replaced my standard JRC4559s with them and the tones I was getting were identical.
For those looking to save some space on the board, but still want the option to push their amp a little or into the cosmos, the MXR Timmy is the way to go. Add this classic to your arsenal now!

The Timmy is different from my other overdrive pedal I've played (tubescreamer variants and Tumnus Deluxe). There's more compression in the circuit which can be really good. Both bass and treble are cut controls, so "10" is normal. That's unusual but useful once you understand it. I keep the clipping switch in the middle position for the most part. To the right (symmetrical) is interesting sometimes. Not keen on the asymmetrical clipping (left).

I'd describe this as a light/medium overdrive. It doesn't do full gain well IMHO. However, I discovered that running the Timmy after a tube screamer OD produces a neat combined overdrive that can get nice and meaty.

It sounds better in front of my clean Princeton Reverb than it does with my Tweed 5F2-A amp. Oh and better with single coils than humbuckers, but that's just my taste.

Love the way it works with the strat. Still dialing in the humbuggies....more my fault than the pedals though(barely put strat down) Definitely a must have for any pedal fiend

The original Timmy does sound better but this is so close that is all good. It's small and fits perfectly on my crowded board (3 H9's take up a good bit). I like that it sounds like it's adding a distorted guitar amp along with a compressed clean signal. In a mix it really helps your guitar remain tonal even when blending with a good bit of crunch already.

I have an older original Timmy that I love, but the footswitch has gotten flaky and drops out sometimes. I bought this planning to replace my original for the time being (and it's smaller too!). So I put them side-by-side and played them both for an hour or two. First off, the original is much louder, volume to match bypassed volume is around 10:00 on the original and around 2:00 on the MXR. Second thing is that the MXR has the tone controls right-way-around (clockwise is more), which is good.

I spent a while with the tone controls at noon and the volumes matched trying to get them to sound the same. They're close, but the original is a little thinner and lets the original guitar sound through a bit better. The MXR seems to have a little extra low mids happening compared to the original. Bottom line, they sound very close, but still a bit different. I found myself liking the original more more than not, although on a couple of settings I liked the MXR better.

One nice feature is that the MXR controls and nice and stiff to turn, and are not likely to get 'randomized' while traveling around gig to gig. I had put rubber washers under the original controls because they turned if you looked at them hard. :) The MXR LED is also brighter and easier to see.

Bottom line, it's not identical to my older Timmy, but's it close, and sounds very good.

I have a Paul Cochrane Timmy v.3 that I love, and bought this for my second pedalboard. I really wanted to love it, but not quite the same as the real deal. Finding that I have to crank the gain to 10 to get what I achieve at much lower levels with the V.3, and at 10 it gets shrill. I'd pass on the MXR version and go for the real deal.

Incredibly useful/sounding pedal when it's working. My first pedal input jack went intermittent and Sweetwater sent it back to MXR who replaced it. The replacement didn't last long before it developed the same problem. Both pedals lived on a pedal board and were not abused or unplugged more than a few times. Thankfully Sweetwater is sending me a replacement, bless them for outstanding service! Fingers crossed third time is the charm as I'd like to use this little pedal.

The sound is fantastic. I put it at the end of my drives and use it primarily as a distortion boost. It sounds best with the bass and treble close to max (the eq is passive, so it cuts, not boosts).

I can't say whether it compares to a "real" Timmy, as it has been a long time since I had a Cochrane Timmy on the board. I used that one as a light overdrive and never maxed the eq, so it's not apples to apples.

But here's the reason for the three stars. Right off the bat I noticed a glitch in the input jack. Because the pedal is narrow and tall, it tends to rock a little when you hit the switch. This was causing it to sputter and sometimes cut out due to sideways pressure on the jack. Of course I tried different cables and isolated it from the rest of the board. Same result when any perpendicular force was applied to the cable end. This could be avoided by using a better quality jack. I never had this problem with my other minis. Pedalboards are tight, and cable ends are often touching. The jacks need to be solid.

I carefully repositioned it and let out some slack so it can rock without disturbing the jack. Took almost an hour to figure it all out. Bah. This is not user error. The jack is tight and cables work fine. The jack is not defective, just cheap.

So long story short, I think I will keep it for now because I like the sound. Too bad the hardware's not better quality.

If you want a Timmy get a Timmy or Dr. J green crystal overdrive from Joyo pedals because MXR cant do it right when it comes to mass producing a good design. Cheap stomp on off switch and muddy sound. I havent used an MXR pedal in 40 years since my distortion + ended up in 8 seperate pieces. Its a hunk of metal with the absolute cheapest components available.

Like someone else on here, I too had a poor experience due to the jacks not holding a 1/4" plug. Also the switches feel like they are ready to fall off. Very unstable connections renders the pedal useless...

Both input and output jacks wont hold the 1/4" plugs. Never encountered something like this before. Both input jacks are faulty. Just engaging the switch is enough movement to make the 1/4" plugs slip out just enough to break the connection. This is unacceptable. I'm surprised MXR's quality control would let something like this get out the door. I mean c'mon! Both input jacks faulty?