Gain Changer vs. Timmy

[Mike R.]

Considering one or the other.

Using a Dano Tele into a Princeton Reverb.

Already using a SNOUSE Black Box for low gain and a Mythical Overdrive for boost.

Thanks!

 

[PerFusionist]

I kept the Timmy. I think you'd be happy with either one though. You'll find lots of GC fans here.

 

[ndtealmusic]

The story I hear is that the GC can basically cover all the ground a Timmy can, but not necessarily vice versa. I don't know how true that is, but it's what I've heard.

I'm a big fan of the Gain Changer, personally, but I've never had the pleasure of playing through a Timmy either, but I would personally lean toward the GC anyways in pairing with the Snouse, which is a blues breaker v1 clone. I've found it to work quite well with BB circuits, can cover similar grounds or completely different. The LTD V2 mode is just dang good. But again, take my opinion with a grain of salt, as I've never used a Timmy.

 

[joesnewmatch]

We have very similar gear, so maybe I can help...

My main amp is a Princeton Reverb and I use all sorts of guitar through it. I have had the Timmy for a long time. It's a great little pedal that helps EQ or contour your tone, which makes it great for stacking, since you can cut the lows or highs with it. I like it best for low gain, by itself, as opposed to high gain, but at full-on gain, it does get a little fuzzy. For stacking it is great for taming a fuzz or building up a lead with another pedal. I recently bought a Snouse Black Box and I really like it for a convincing low to medium gain driven-amp kind of sound, particularly with my strat and tele.

On a recent trip, I finally got to try a Gain Changer at Atlanta Discount Music and I was really impressed, particularly for the price. I tried it through a Vintage Sound clone of a PR, with a Nash strat and I found it to have a ton of different, usable gain settings, but I don't use much gain, so I doubt I'd maximize its potential. That makes it much different than either the BB or the Timmy, which sort of have one voice. The cool thing about all three of these pedals is that they're all quite good, different, and they are all beyond reasonable in price. I should add that the Timmy sounds better through my tweed amp, which is more mid-focused. The pedal was designed for Marshall style amps and you will notice different results from amp to amp.

Honestly, I've been slowly losing space on my Pedaltrain Jr., since adding a Mobius, and I have ordered a Big Sky, so I am about to have to decide what dirt I really want to keep on the board and what comes off -- or whether to upgrade to a bigger board, which I really don't want to do. When I play with others, we usually play fairly clean or with a bit of dirt for some bluesier or faster stuff. In the dirt department, I plan to keep my EP booster, because I like the way it warms up my signal as an always-on, or gooses everything if I need a lead (and have the knob above zero). So the BB had me thinking about whether it was a Timmy replacement. I'm still not sure. My Fuzz was bumped not long ago. I also pulled out my old RAT and find that it is best for lead work when playing for others, since it always cuts through, if you need that.

Does that help, or is it too much information? lol Too many choices, so much great gear out there, and never enough time...

 

[ChickenZombie]

I agree largely with joesnewmatch. I prefer timmy into my jtm cause it can trim da bass. But I LOVE gc into my sfpr due flexibility and effective bass knob (on the amp).

Gc has two really killer types of od.

 

[crxshdxmmy]

I've used a Timmy forever... and I've had a GC a couple of times now. The GC is a great pedal that's wonderfully versatile as a standalone drive, but trying to replace the Timmy with it always made me hate the EQ curve. I just couldn't get it to balance the way I wanted. So, yet again, the Timmy wins.

 

[Mike R.]

We have very similar gear, so maybe I can help...

My main amp is a Princeton Reverb and I use all sorts of guitar through it. I have had the Timmy for a long time. It's a great little pedal that helps EQ or contour your tone, which makes it great for stacking, since you can cut the lows or highs with it. I like it best for low gain, by itself, as opposed to high gain, but at full-on gain, it does get a little fuzzy. For stacking it is great for taming a fuzz or building up a lead with another pedal. I recently bought a Snouse Black Box and I really like it for a convincing low to medium gain driven-amp kind of sound, particularly with my strat and tele.

On a recent trip, I finally got to try a Gain Changer at Atlanta Discount Music and I was really impressed, particularly for the price. I tried it through a Vintage Sound clone of a PR, with a Nash strat and I found it to have a ton of different, usable gain settings, but I don't use much gain, so I doubt I'd maximize its potential. That makes it much different than either the BB or the Timmy, which sort of have one voice. The cool thing about all three of these pedals is that they're all quite good, different, and they are all beyond reasonable in price. I should add that the Timmy sounds better through my tweed amp, which is more mid-focused. The pedal was designed for Marshall style amps and you will notice different results from amp to amp.

Honestly, I've been slowly losing space on my Pedaltrain Jr., since adding a Mobius, and I have ordered a Big Sky, so I am about to have to decide what dirt I really want to keep on the board and what comes off -- or whether to upgrade to a bigger board, which I really don't want to do. When I play with others, we usually play fairly clean or with a bit of dirt for some bluesier or faster stuff. In the dirt department, I plan to keep my EP booster, because I like the way it warms up my signal as an always-on, or gooses everything if I need a lead (and have the knob above zero). So the BB had me thinking about whether it was a Timmy replacement. I'm still not sure. My Fuzz was bumped not long ago. I also pulled out my old RAT and find that it is best for lead work when playing for others, since it always cuts through, if you need that.

Does that help, or is it too much information? lol Too many choices, so much great gear out there, and never enough time...

Thanks everyone for the opinions. I appreciate your time.

@joesnewmatch

Nope....not too much information. Yes - Too many choices.

You having basically the same guitar/amp combination as me helps.

I like the way the Gain Changer offers more than the 'one thing' the Snouse Black Box or the Mythical Overdrive do.

I'm looking to go:

Snouse into Gain Changer (or Timmy) into Mythical OD (I don't want more distortion from the OD boxes, I want more volume which is why I have the Mythical OD last.)

Or I could pick up another boost (An Xotic EP Boost perhaps) and add that as the very first pedal allowing me to have a boost before or after the OD section.

Thanks again for the reply.

 

[DHC]

Don't have a Timmy, but good luck prying the Gain Changer from my rig. It's an oustanding and flexible device.

 

[Dunzie]

I've twice owned the Timmy in the past four years, and recently parted with it again. The Gain Changer I've owned two as well, replaced a regular one with the black limited edition one which is still on my board. Both great pedals for low-mid gain drives for sure and their reputations are well deserved. Playing a clean-based Fender tube as I tend to, I prefer the Gain Changer overall, a little more range and versatility. It's still pretty much as smooth and dynamic as the Timmy but has a wider usable gain range and I just like the way it responds to your playing and attack a little better... again, through my rig. While I've parted with the Timmy twice, I still keep the GC around, and I run it at 18V.

To go off the map a little, if you are interested in other suggestions for comparisons, try and give the Rockett Blue Note a listen sometime. It's the reason I no longer have a Timmy and don't use the GC as much. Smoother and with a nicer drive tone IMHO, and pretty much as flexible as the Gain Changer overall, and sounds awesome through a cleanish Fender tube. Where the Timmy makes a great push into an amp that is already fairly hot, the Blue Note can do that, plus works fantastic as a foundation drive into a clean one. Just a suggestion.

However, hard to go too wrong with the Timmy or the Barber.

 

[ClintWells]

I've owned two V2 Timmy's and a Tim. I love the **** out of those pedals and my Timmy was the longest running overdrive on my board UNTIL I got a Gain Changer. It immediately bumped off my Timmy and I don't miss it. I was so impressed that I also got the Direct Drive. The gain options between those two pedals are insane and perfect for what I do which is bounce around all kinds of artists and bands.

For context, I play a tele and a 335 through a deluxe reverb and a vox.

 

[geodr]

Ive had both pedals and find the EQ of the Timmy invaluable, and don't need the added gain of the GC in my setup

 

[deadlands]

I've used a Timmy forever... and I've had a GC a couple of times now. The GC is a great pedal that's wonderfully versatile as a standalone drive, but trying to replace the Timmy with it always made me hate the EQ curve. I just couldn't get it to balance the way I wanted. So, yet again, the Timmy wins.

I had really good luck with the bass-in-place mod. It keeps the low frequencies mostly intact while the tone knob lets you dial in the highs were you want them. The mod is very simple, a 47k resistor across the tone pots two outer lugs.

 

[stucker]

I'm using both the Timmy and Gain Changer for mid-gain overdrive but for different applications.

The Gain Changer has a little high-midrange emphasis which is fantastic with Strat neck, middle, or middle/bridge pickup combinations. I can get great pinch harmonics with it and easily coax my guitar to feed back used this way.

However, with the way my gear is EQed, the Gain Changer can be a bit harsh and thin (with a little more noise) with a Tele or Strat bridge pickup, although, I do use it this way if I need a very cutting guitar sound.

But the Timmy excells with single coil bridge pickups. The flatter frequency response gives a fuller bottom end and I can still get great pinch harmonics and feedback (and with less noise) with a bridge pickup. The Timmy won't give your other pickups as much bite as the Gain Changer. But I like to use the Timmy for slide with those pickups for a warmer sound.

Both pedals are very touch-sensitive and "transparent". However, the Gain Changer cuts a little bass, and pushes the high-mids a bit while the Timmy can achieve a flatter response. I really LOVE both pedals.

 

[sanhozay]

i love the tim and i use it all the time but it's a little soft and lacking mids for lead tone.

But for that gently nudged grit without losing any top or bottom end, there's nothing that betters that objective.

I have the black box and it's a GREAT pedal! A nice tube screamer sits with it perfectly.

I use an older Fulldrive and it sounds great into the Snouse

 

[.]

Or I could pick up another boost (An Xotic EP Boost perhaps) and add that as the very first pedal allowing me to have a boost before or after the OD section.

Always this. No matter whether you choose the GC or the timmy, get an EP and run it first in your chain. Some where 9:30 to 11:30.

Btw...have my timmy, have my EP, all the Barbers are gone. They were great. No doubt. But at some point we realize...almost all higher quality dirt sounds extremely similar...

 

[slave]

I had really good luck with the bass-in-place mod. It keeps the low frequencies mostly intact while the tone knob lets you dial in the highs were you want them. The mod is very simple, a 47k resistor across the tone pots two outer lugs.

Is this the Timmy you're referring to?

 

[mkr1]

^No, that's a GC mod.

 

[misisipimike]

I can put in a vote for Tele>GC>Mythical>Princeton. Much fun to be had!

 

[johntoste]

I've had the GC twice and the Timmy thrice. Both great pedals.
Timmy's a bit more transparent. GC has a bit more gain.
You can't go wrong. Buy them both.

 

[crxshdxmmy]

I had really good luck with the bass-in-place mod. It keeps the low frequencies mostly intact while the tone knob lets you dial in the highs were you want them. The mod is very simple, a 47k resistor across the tone pots two outer lugs.

That sounds like a good mod.