RC Booster& Timmy: What's the difference??

[cedjazz]

They're both clean boosts with gain & volume. They're about the same in price. Both give you more of your amp.If there IS a difference, can you be specific? If there isn't, just say so. I have an RC already and I love it as my "always on" pedal. I need another but am contemplating the long Timmy wait...... thanks

[Gary Brennan]

I'd guess its due to:
different circuits,
different eq sections (both band centers/width and Timmy is only cut eq I believe)
different compression characteristics

Thats probably not all either.

gb

[BillyK]

For me, the RC (which I used for quite a while) sounds "sterile" next to the Timmy. If I set the Timmy right, I can get the sound of my vintage Fenders "in the sweet spot" but at a low volume - it really just disappears. The RC always sounded (to me) like I was using a pedal.

Both are good. IMO, the Timmy wins.

[mad dog]

I used an RC Booster for a long time, now using a TIM. They don't sound much alike to me. The TIM is much smoother, has an enveloping sound, for lack of a better description. It seems like a tonal space, rather than an effect. More gain on tap in the TIM.

The subtractive EQ controls on the TIM are much more effective and precise. I always liked my RC Booster. The TIM seems to be in another class ... hard to explain but easy to hear.

[tjmicsak]

I have done side by sides with the Dano TOD and the RC Boost.
The sound of the breakup is different between the two. To me, the TOD was smooth but the RC had more "off" sounding overtones in it. I guess you could say while the TOD got dusty and dirty, the RC got greasy and grimey. Just the way I heard it through headphones. Might be even or odd harmonics in the overtones between the two. Like oil and water.

[orogeny]

Originally Posted by cedjazz

They're both clean boosts with gain & volume. They're about the same in price. Both give you more of your amp.If there IS a difference, can you be specific? If there isn't, just say so. I have an RC already and I love it as my "always on" pedal. I need another but am contemplating the long Timmy wait...... thanks

one man's clean is another man's dirty. ..

i find the timmy gets me soooooooooo much closer to my amp than the RC. the RC definitely imposes it's own 'color' more. . .

not necessarily a bad thing at all. . . .

[cedjazz]

so is the RC Booster a line driver or more of an OD?

[sleejay80]

the way I see it,
Timmy is "same tone, more dirt" pedal,
RC is solo boost and/or enhancer pedal.

So obviously the RC is meant to change your tone, while the Timmy tries to keep it same.

[79stratman]

Originally Posted by sleejay80

the way I see it,
Timmy is "same tone, more dirt" pedal,
RC is solo boost and/or enhancer pedal.

So obviously the RC is meant to change your tone, while the Timmy tries to keep it same.

Interesting, I find it nearly the opposite. The RC is set for a clean boost. I do tweak the EQ knobs ever-so-slightly when I need to balance the tone for a specific purpose. There is a very faint "hard" edge to the RC, which virtually nobody except myself, would ever notice at a gig.

I love my Timmy, but never cared for it as a clean boost. However, I do like the previously-mentioned, Fender-esque OD sound and feel it adds. The Timmy seems to blend well with every other pedal I have on my pedal board. Stacks well too!

[harryjmic]

Here's a good way to think about it. The Timmy is like a tweed amp played clean, there is texture to the notes the tambor has some surface irregularities to it, think suede.

The RC is like a blackface Fender or smooth w/o that suede type feel, it comes off sometimes as a little harder, and perhaps cleaner.

The RC boost has a midrange push, the Timmy does not.

[thedroid]

I replaced my RC with a Tim. To me, with all knobs at noon and -- this is important -- the added-compression pull pot in the out (extra compression) position on the Tim, they were doing much the same thing. But take away the added compression, and the Tim had more clarity, more cut, better high end. So the Tim will kind of do the RC, but not vice versa.

[BillyK]

"The RC boost has a midrange push, the Timmy does not."

Interestingly, if you dial back the high and low end and increase the level on the Tim/Timmy, you are left with a midrange push - and a very nice one!

=)

[fr8_trane]

Very simply put, the RC boost is a boost pedal that has optional (and not particularly great IMO) low gain overdrive - very low gain BTW.

The timmy is an overdrive with a much larger gain range than the RC that can be setup to give you a very clean transparent boost. With the gain at 0 you only have 6db of boost available which is much less than what the RC offers.

The RC's EQ section is active
The timmys is passive.

If you need a great overdrive that is amazingly versatile get the timmy.

If you need a clean boost with EQ and maybe a bit of hair around the edges get the RC

[cedjazz]

Originally Posted by sleejay80

the way I see it,
Timmy is "same tone, more dirt" pedal,
RC is solo boost and/or enhancer pedal.

So obviously the RC is meant to change your tone, while the Timmy tries to keep it same.

... I actually find the opposite to be true too. The RC(Real Clean) is touted as a pedal that does NOT color but just give a "real clean" boost to your signal. Sounds like the Tim does this too, but with more gain available.

[VanStone]

Originally Posted by fr8_trane

If you need a great overdrive that is amazingly versatile get the timmy.

If you need a clean boost with EQ and maybe a bit of hair around the edges get the RC

Bingo!

And I find the RC's EQ dialed in better than the Timmy. Bascially if you want light OD get the Timmy, if you want Boost and EQ get the RC.

V