OffsetGuitars.com

Hey Gang,

I'm looking for a nice all-rounder OD/Boost pedal for my PT Nano board and I currently only have space for a Mini-sized pedal. I'm running it through my THR and AC15 at home, and my Victory RK50 through the practice space/at gigs with my Yamaha SBG and Highway One Tele and ideally would like this pedal to play nice with all of those amps and both of these guitars, preferably with some tweakability to suit each. Generally I'm going to be using it as a 'more' switch as the amp is already gained up, but it'd be great if it also has some cut for lead lines.

What I've tried/have so far --

Wampler Tumnus - Definitely has cut but there's a character to the gain that I don't really love. It's kind of... shrill even with the tone knob all the way down and the lack of compression makes it sound a little flat to me.

Nobles ODR Mini - Awesome with my Telcaster but tubby as fuck with my SBG and I can't dial it out. Really nice pedal though.

Xotic EP Booster - Same as above. This is what's currently on there.

Mooer Black Secret (Rat) - Too much gain and fizz even at low settings. Sounds cool at home but the RK50 has more than enough of its own distortion.

I was thinking maybe an Analogman Mini Beano, Ibanez Mini TS, MXR Mini Timmy, or Mooer Bluescrab (or maybe the upcoming MXR Duke of Tone) as those seem to be the only major flavors I haven't tried.

Thoughts? Suggestions? Ideas? Hit me.

I've not played through your specific rig, but when I read "Timmy", my first thought was EQD Westwood. I've got both a Westwood and a Special Cranker, and they are both amazing. Special Cranker is definitely a "my amp sound but more" kind of thing. The Westwood is also a bit of that transparent-styled drive, but can be tweaked a little with bass and treble too.

Isn't the AM Beano a treble booster, or is it a clean boost?

Shadoweclipse13 wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 08, 2022 8:17 am

I've not played through your specific rig, but when I read "Timmy", my first thought was EQD Westwood. I've got both a Westwood and a Special Cranker, and they are both amazing. Special Cranker is definitely a "my amp sound but more" kind of thing. The Westwood is also a bit of that transparent-styled drive, but can be tweaked a little with bass and treble too.

Isn't the AM Beano a treble booster, or is it a clean boost?

Yeah, the Beano should be a Rangemaster style treble booster.

Rather than a mini-Tubescreamer, Ibanez makes a mini-boost pedal that has tone controls but should be more transparent than a Tubescreamer. The bass control would let you tighten the low end.

TC electronics makes the Spark, which is supposed to be a nice clean boost.

Fairfield Circuitry makes the Barbershop in a smaller “always on” version. You control the amount of boost with your guitar’s volume knob, but it would need to be 1st in your chain to work.

I think Fulltone and JHS have mini-boosters, but I don’t buy pedals from either myself.

You know I love me some clean boost.

Keeley Katana
TC Spark Mini
SolidgoldFX JFET
Pigtronix Class A Boost*
Coppersound Gravity Bomb
Mythos Cestus

*I have the full sized on my bass board. It’s good but the switch pop is annoying. Not sure if the mini version has this issue.

First thought was...

Mooer Pure Boost



Sounds clean and just does what it says on the tin.

Another vote for an MXR Timmy. I played one for the first time recently, assumed I’d be underwhelmed and honestly it was brilliant. The (very good) EQ should help you get it balanced for each guitar and importantly (for my test), worked well at lower/ no gain too

FWIW - I don’t really like mini pedals so I haven’t tried that many.

Over the last couple of years I have had the Moor Blues Crab, Mooer Pure Boost, Wampler Tumnus & Ananlogman Beano. I absolutely loved the Tumnus & Beano. But like I said I don’t really like mini pedals so I don’t have them anymore.

So this story had a somewhat amusing ending I want to share --

As some of you have seen already my Beano arrived in the mail earlier this week. I also impulse bought a Wampler Belle as my bass player has been borrowing my ODR-1 Mini and after late night binging a bunch of Mike Hermans videos a pair of Mooer Pedals, the Ana Echo and the Green Mile. Felt immediately guilty about the latter, but so it goes in Year of our Lord 2022.

I ended up lining up the various boost options side by side for some A/B testing through my AC15 at home. At the end of it all in the battle between the Tumnus, Belle, Beano, and god knows what else I have, you know what came out on top for me? The humble Mooer Green Mile! I found the Tumnus still too shrill and the Beano lacking in oomph in a 'boosting' capacity (I suspect it works better as an "always on" thing). The Green Mile was just right (what a shock...) and now I have it side by side with the Belle. The Mile for solos, the Belle for 'oomph' on choruses and breakdowns.

Happy ending? Seems that way. Still need to give 'em the final run with my show amp but I have a feeling the results will be the same.

Can't mess with a classic, I guess!

Treble boosters are weird. I think my ideal TB sound has a healthy amount of nasal/crumbly/fuzzy. If it doesn’t sound a little fucked up it’s just an inferior dirty boost.

I'm not really a treble happy player but the plumes has a nice beefy boost on it. the TS mini is something i have been pondering but I don't think another TS style pedal needs to be in my house collecting dust for all the gigs I don't play.

panoramic wrote: ↑

Sat Aug 06, 2022 5:48 am

I'm not really a treble happy player but the plumes has a nice beefy boost on it. the TS mini is something i have been pondering but I don't think another TS style pedal needs to be in my house collecting dust for all the gigs I don't play.

I also like the Plumes, but it is very bright. Literally.

marqueemoon wrote: ↑

Sat Aug 06, 2022 12:17 pm

panoramic wrote: ↑

Sat Aug 06, 2022 5:48 am

I'm not really a treble happy player but the plumes has a nice beefy boost on it. the TS mini is something i have been pondering but I don't think another TS style pedal needs to be in my house collecting dust for all the gigs I don't play.

I also like the Plumes, but it is very bright. Literally.

yes, the boost portion is REALLY bright, i use it on setting 1 or 3 usually and I find the first to be really easy to control on my set up.

Can you fit an MCR Micro Amp on there?

Plumes cuts a lot of bass when engaged, that's the reason I let mine go.

Check out the Laney TI Boost, it's super versatile

If anyone’s looking for a great, super clean boost: Amp-fx Micro Amp. Smaller, quieter, built with better parts and (marginally) cheaper than the MXR it’s based on.