MXR timmy
Meet the accessible version of a cult classic
We guitarists love a yarn, especially when it comes to tone. Tales of golden-eared wizards crafting away at their breadboards in an attempt to create the Holy Grail of guitar sounds, the virtues of which are spread word-of-mouth by players in the know. If you’re destined for it, it’ll find its way to you. But only once you’re ready.
Except the story of Paul Cochrane and the Timmy isn’t a tale. His original late-90s Tim overdrive was well received, but took up too much ’board space. So Paul produced the smaller, four-control version as the Timmy in 2004, helping kickstart the trend for boutique transparent overdrives.
But there’s a problem with ‘boutique’; its exclusive nature means that not everyone can get their hands on the product. Enter MXR with mass-production capabilities and global distribution chain and now you can get an official, Cochrane-collaborated Timmy for an affordable price from a dealer in your own town!
As with the original, the Timmy’s tone controls act as cuts, rather than boosts. As such they are ‘reversed’: turn them to the left to increase their effect. The bass control comes before the overdrive part of the circuit, so you can reduce the low frequencies being fed to the gain. The three-position toggle offers three different levels of clipping, from low gain on the left and maximum on the right.
Sound-wise, there’s a lot of mileage here. From low gain/high output forcing our amp’s preamp to work harder, to thick, harmonic, amp-like drive at higher settings. It’s responsive, too, reacting dynamically to volume changes from our guitar’s controls.
It’s sometimes tough to get excited about yet another overdrive, but this isn’t just any other drive. It’s a modern classic that will serve multiple purposes in your rig.
Stuart Williams
AT A GLANCE
TYPE: Boost/overdrive CONTROLS: Bass, treble, gain, volume, clip toggle switch SOCKETS:
BYPASS:
POWER:
CONTACT:
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