By Ian Waters
Posted 09/29/2024
Of all the overdrive pedals of today and yesterday, some have become iconic within the guitar playing community. Some of those have been mass produced by Ibanez and Boss, and others have been produced by individuals with an ideal sound in mind when designing, and some of those have gone on to be replicated and imitated for years. Paul Cochrane’s veritable “Timmy” has been one such pedal, and as such, Cochrane himself has continued to build and redesign the pedal with slight changes based on requests from guitarists. HIs original circuit fetches Klon and King of Tone prices on the used market, and his second and third versions also can be hard to find, spurring clone builders and imitators popping up and MXR going as far to create a Chochrane-endorsed version that is mass produced in China (a trend Mike Pierra from Analogman has participated in as well).
Cochrane’s third iteration is the 15th Anniversary Timmy, a pedal that is (at the time of this writing) unavailable on the used market, but occasionally pops up for around 300 USD. We here at Humbucker Soup just happened to get our hands on one and demoed it with a Les Paul, a Stratocaster, and a Telecaster into a Fender Custom Deluxe Reverb (hyperlink). In doing so, we found that the pedal offers dynamic volume and tone shaping capabilities that live up to the hype. We also compared the V2 as well as the MXR versions (hyperlink) and think the 15th Anniversary edition stands out for the robust build, intuitive usability, and transparent and musical dynamics and harmonics available. If transparency, clarity and integrity in an overdrive is paramount, the Timmy V3 is an excellent choice if you can find one.
Timmy V3 Layout
The V3 is housed in its characteristic blue case and features four smart looking white knobs and a gain boost toggle switch. The knobs are sturdy and the pots move smoothly with enough resistance to feel steady in any setting. Overall, the pedal feels robust with a solid feeling design and looks great. The Timmy knobs have historically worked counter-intuitively, moving clockwise to reduce and vice versa. For the 15th anniversary edition, the knobs now move in the classic direction, clockwise boosts and more feels like more.
The circuit employs a 1458 opamp chip like the original design and is, according to Cochrane, ever so slightly less harsh in the top end, but you’ll have to “squint your ears” to notice a difference. The original design features an external switch to change from symmetrical to asymmetrical clipping. Here, that control is relegated to an internal dip switch. Instead, we have a gain boost available via external toggle. The switch allows for the traditional amount of gain available to the Timmy to be boosted to otherwise unachievable levels of gain. In effect, this moves the pedal from boost and always on territory into a nearly high gain option for solos and more distortion.
The internal levels of gain have been reduced so that, engaged or not, the amount of gain is considered usable at any point of the spectrum. This feels true, especially when using the Les Paul, as the harmonic saturation level can be as slight and subtle and can go all the way to near metal levels, but will require a heavy hand to do so. When stacked with another pedal, before or after, the gain levels can enter near Mesa territory. The original design seems to be faithfully recreated and made just a tad more versatile with the gain switching, making the V2 seem a little too far from the original design and, in a way, generic.
Who is the Timmy V3 For?
Why go for the V3? Timmy’s reputation for transparent, musical compression, boost and dynamics is well earned. In an era where the boutique market can feel saturated and choices feel redundant, the Timmy’s reputation as a stalwart in the game is only solidified by the V3. When playing single line chicken pickin’, searing solos, and especially light overdrive/edge of breakup style blues, the Timmy V3 reminds players why the standard has been set. Unless the nasal honk of a Klon is the preferred flavor, the Timmy is the gold standard for transparent and customizable tone for a guitarist who uses their hands and knobs to go from clean to dirty. With the original circuit going for 700-1000 USD, and the V2 version feeling a little too generic, the Timmy anniversary edition is the perfect compromise of value and quality, if you can find one.