Timmy - Reflections on a great pedal

[theHoss]

Howdy,

I have had my timmy for several weeks now, and wanted to give myself some time to reflect on it. With the quality of work Paul does, he deserves the same quality in the review. There are three things I want to discuss, two of which have already been coverd on TGP so I will keep those short.

1) Gain - As paul describes it the Timmy is more of a power ampy grind. He is exactly right! If you are wanting preampy saturation look else where, but if you want very nice poweramp stage break up Timmy is you man. It can also be a very clean type boost.

2) EQ - The EQ capabilities are unique. Instead of adding in a traditional EQ, you are rolling off frequencies. I am not technical enough to know why this is the case (other than it makes all your controls behave the same way), but needless to say, the EQ in the Timmy is very well thought out.

3) Predictability - This is something that I haven't seen anyone else talk about. I thought I would add a bit on it. The Timmy is very predictable (this is a great thing). Becuase of its Transparency, quality controls, and EQ, the musician can envision the sound they want, then easily dial it in with the Timmy. In my experience with pedals, often it is the other way around. You play, then adjust, play adjust etc. With the Timmy, you can dial in the controls as you envision it, and there is the sound you imagined.

The timmy is very transparent (I know that is an Oximoron with pedals, but its true). The EQ does what you ask it to do, and nothing more, and the controls are tight and well crafted. All of this allows for a pedal to really extend your musical vision.

How I currently use it? I have its gain set to about 8o'clock, and volume at unity. I EQ it differently with a a Strat or LP. I use it for that vintage power amp breakup for rythym and blues work. For leads I either boost it afterwards, if I want to preserve the Timmy tone, or I run preamp pedal into it (in this case a barber direct drive) so that I can leverage the Timmy's EQ to shape my tone.


Needless to say (as many others have) this pedal will always be on my board. Hopefully this helps.

Sorry for any typos (sp??).

Take care, and thanks for the TGP for turning me on to the Timmy, and Paul for creating it.

P.S. Can't wait to hear it through my Heritage Liberty that should be here soon!

 

[jeak]

Thanks for the nice review. My Timmy is a few weeks away. Eager to hear it for myself.

Which amp(s) are you using it with now? Have you tried it with a totally clean one? How about as a stand-alone lead pedal with the gain cranked?

Thanks.

 

[theHoss]

Right now it is going through a Fender Twin Reverb (so pretty clean). I have waiting on a PaulC designed Heritage Liberty. I have played it through the Liberty, and it sounds amazing. As for leads. I love the sound of the timmy with the gain crandked. Its not super saturated preamp gain, but it is great at cranked poweramp stage gain. With my rig, I like to set it to low gain settings, and when I need a lead tone I stack a another pedal through it (lets me use the great EQ on the Timmy). PaulC suggested a ZenDrive through it, which I haven't tried. Currently, I am running the barber direct drive into it.

You will be really happy when it arrives, I would love to hear what you think abou it.

 

[jeak]

Thanks, Hoss. I'm looking forward to it indeed. I play Stick through a super-clean solid-state bass amp. Looking for an OD for the melody side. When I ordered my Timmy, Paul expressed particular interest in how it works out with my rig. As far as he knows, no one has yet run a Stick through a Timmy. I bought a used Zen last week too, and I like it. Without a tube guitar amp, I suspect I am missing out on some of its potential, but it does sound nice nonetheless. A little thin for single-note leads but beautiful with doublestops and other dyads. I tried a Barber DD but returned it. It was a bit harsh and fizzy with the Stick. I'm also waiting for a used MI Blue Boy that I bought this week. Looking forward to comparing it with the Zen. Also mulling some G2D pedals, but I think I'll wait for the Timmy first.

 

[theHoss]

Let me know if you ever want to unload the Zen or Blue Boy....I would be interested in either. Good luck!

 

[threm]

Originally posted by jeak
I'm also waiting for a used MI Blue Boy that I bought this week. Looking forward to comparing it with the Zen.

There was recently a thread at HCFX about changing chips in the Blue Boy. No soldering requiered as far as I understand. A good read;
Burr-Brown OpAmp in MI Blue Boy...
http://acapella.harmony-central.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1042191

 

[erksin]

Originally posted by threm
There was recently a thread at HCFX about changing chips in the Blue Boy. No soldering requiered as far as I understand. A good read;
Burr-Brown OpAmp in MI Blue Boy...
http://acapella.harmony-central.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1042191

Yep - just email Michael at MI Audio and get his opinion on what chips might sound good with your rig - it's a VERY tweakable pedal. The BB is my favorite medium/higher gain overdrive and it pairs really well with the Timmy IMO.

 

[Muse-ic]

Originally posted by theHoss

1) Gain - As paul describes it the Timmy is more of a power ampy grind. He is exactly right! If you are wanting preampy saturation look else where, but if you want very nice poweramp stage break up Timmy is you man. It can also be a very clean type boost.

Can you explain this a bit more? I don't care so much about extreme breakup, but sustain with a nice edge to it - would this be more the preamp satuation that you're talking about?

 

[jcshirke]

My Tim has been on order for 2-3 weeks or so, and I can't wait to get it.

Only thing is, now I'm also Jonesing for a Timmy. I've read a little bit in other threads about the differences between the two pedals, but no one has, as of yet, stated whether or not the pedals are different enough to warrant owning both.

I have three different amps, so I probably could justify owning both.

So, what say ye? Is there a place for both a Tim and a Timmy?

Thanks,

Jeff

 

[jeak]

I actually did not think much about the Tim because I really wanted the smaller box of the Timmy. I'm trying to build a really minimalist pedalboard that I can toss into a backpack, so smaller is best for me. But do a search here on Tim/Timmy. There's been plenty of discussion about the differences. I'm not really much of a collector (yet), but if I were, I would absolutely buy both. Why not?

Thanks for the advice above about swapping chips in the Blue Boy. The very kind gentleman I bought the BB from is shipping it to me with a whole bunch of other chips (he says it has the 1458 IC in it right now). So I will no doubt have fun experimenting with them. I also look forward to calling Michael and consulting him about my Stick rig.

 

[John Hurtt]

Originally posted by jcshirke
My Tim has been on order for 2-3 weeks or so, and I can't wait to get it.

Only thing is, now I'm also Jonesing for a Timmy. I've read a little bit in other threads about the differences between the two pedals, but no one has, as of yet, stated whether or not the pedals are different enough to warrant owning both.

I have three different amps, so I probably could justify owning both.

So, what say ye? Is there a place for both a Tim and a Timmy?

Thanks,

Jeff

You betcha!

I ended up getting both really as an experiment to see if one cascading into another could cover all the bases for me. I ended up using the TIM on my pedalboard with a Clay Jones OD and the Timmy has been loaned out to a buddy of mine to check out for a while. The Timmy seems a bit gainier than the TIM, and possibly a bit more aggressive sounding. I haven't messed with the internal dip switches so there is still more to explore.

 

[Ryan]

Is it possible to run TIM/Timmy at 18V?

 

[fast ricky love]

Originally posted by theHoss
if you want very nice poweramp stage break up Timmy is you man.
The timmy is very transparent (I know that is an Oximoron with pedals, but its true). The EQ does what you ask it to do, and nothing more, and the controls are tight and well crafted. All of this allows for a pedal to really extend your musical vision.

Absolutely. If I had to pick ONE pedal above all others as my only, it would be a Timmy.

 

[theHoss]

Originally posted by Muse-ic
Can you explain this a bit more? I don't care so much about extreme breakup, but sustain with a nice edge to it - would this be more the preamp satuation that you're talking about?

Hmm, I wish I had the wealth of experience with other amps to make a comparison, but I don't. I guess a timmy would be akin to dimeing a twin, where a preampy pedal would be like cranking an amp with a master volume and overdriving the preamp, but limiting the power amp. Hope that helps....sorry for not having access the the amps that other on the TGP do.....