Mini pedals esp the tube screamer and fuzz face??

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BloodRose

Professional Scapegoat
I had to take a trip to the big city (Jax) for a doctors appt to get my pain pump refilled a few days ago.. I popped into Guitar Center to take a looksie. I checked out the pedal case and had to chuckle that there are now tons of pedals coming out in the mini format. Why didnt they do that years ago to lessen board usage space?? I your experience, do the mini sound the same as the normal ones? Im especially curious about the tone of the Tube Screamer and Fuzz Face pedals. Do those sound the same as the big ones??

Thanks
 
Re: Mini pedals esp the tube screamer and fuzz face??

The current crop of micro pedals are one dividend of SMT miniaturisation. Their size can be convenient in terms of pedalboard real estate but inconvenient in terms of operating the controls under time pressure.

I have a Mooer Lo-Fi Machine bit crusher pedal. I only use it for experimental recording projects. Hence, control knob access is less of an issue than it might be onstage.

The Tube Screamer question is a whole other issue, worthy of a thread to itself. (This has probably already happened.) There are now so many TS variants and modifications that their respective advocates would be hard pressed to agree what each sounds like and which is best.
 
Re: Mini pedals esp the tube screamer and fuzz face??

As far as mini pedals go... they do save a bit of space in a pedalboard, but there's also the issue of how close you can really get them while still being able to turn them on or off comfortably without accidentally stomping on other things.

The TS Mini has a flavor of its own compared to the TS9 and TS808. I feel it's closer to the TS9. The TS9 and TS808 are already pretty close anyway.
 
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Re: Mini pedals esp the tube screamer and fuzz face??

The mini Fuzz Face was a long time coming. They are real fuzz face circuits with full size transistors.

The other mini pedals fall into two categories, SMT versions of analog pedals (Tube Screamer, SL Drive, Keeley Red Dirt Mini) and SMT Digital modeling pedals like TC Electronic Mini Flashback, Mini Corona, etc. SMT parts don't have the mojo of NOS through hole, but they are a lot more consistent too.

I have an unnecessary desire to build a mini board...
 
Re: Mini pedals esp the tube screamer and fuzz face??

Dunlop is releasing a new bass mini wah next year too, which I am interested in trying because I would like the extra pedalboard real estate.
 
Re: Mini pedals esp the tube screamer and fuzz face??

I think if you are using a switcher on the board then the mini pedals can save a alot of space as you can add more stuff. Otherwise, depending on foot size it can be a little inconvenient to step on these if spaced to close to each other.
 
Re: Mini pedals esp the tube screamer and fuzz face??

I know the TS Mini is supposed to be the 808 circuit, I've never owned an original 808 but I love my mini
 
Re: Mini pedals esp the tube screamer and fuzz face??

Imo all mini pedals are the upgrades to vintage stuff enclosures, I mean eg Fuzz Face. They are easy to put in PB, have the supply direct filters, but as I have worked as the service of guitar stuff all the SMD elements, thin signal PCB paths are tone sucking. The same goes for Gibson guitar PCB on which the pots are mounted, conversion to classic wiring made the guitar sound let's say uncut. Go classic boyz!
 
Re: Mini pedals esp the tube screamer and fuzz face??

I don't know, for me it depends on the pedal? 90% of the micro and nano pedals are just smaller versions of their big brothers & sound the same or close enough that it doesn't matter much but others like the Hall Of Fame fall into another category. Some of the larger ones have a lot more features or at the very least they give the user a lot more control over the flavor of said pedal.

Also Rex brings up a good point, you can only place them so close together before they're too close & you start hitting switches you don't want? Call me old fashioned but I like my pedals the size they were originally meant to be? I do use a micro Polytune but its just a tuner and has no real bearing on my overall tone...
 
Re: Mini pedals esp the tube screamer and fuzz face??

Thnks for the input! Alot of what Ive read, they say the circuitry for most of them is the same. The space saver is there is no battery compartment. And yes, I can def see how lining a bunch of them side to side could be difficult for accuracy to hit the right one. But you could easily add one or two to an existing board or make a board of minis, and space em alittle farther apart and still get a bunch on.

The biggest reason Im curious about the TS mini is in some places Ive read, states that it comes with that chip (JR something I think) that made the originals so desirable and that those special models that were about $350 had that came out a few years back.. If this is true, I def wanna slap one on the board..
Also in regards to the fuzz faces, I was looking at those and one has the Germanium (sp?) and all. cool beans!
 
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