Your favourite Mini Pedals (1590A)

[SumOne]

What are your favourite mini (1590A) pedals?

 

 

They are generally on the budget side of things, but a few like the Cog and MXR and One Control pedals are mid-price, while some like the Aguilar and Fairfield compressors cost up to £200.

 

I'm going to make a pedalbaord of them while trying to stick with a £420 budget (the price I just sold my Helix Stomp XL for - I know, I'm fickle!), so I'll need mostly 2nd hand and I might not be able to get every effect type on the list. This is my shopping list:

 

• Tuner: Swiff  
• Octaver: Cog T-16, Markbass Octaver, MXR M280 
• Envelope Filter: There don't seem to be many good ones in mini size but Malekko, Mooer, and Joyo do them. 
• Synth: Bananana Matryoshka and Mooer E7
• EQ: Sasouri 7 band or the EWS mid control
• Overdrive: Cog Mini 66, Mooer and Joyo pedals 
• Fuzz: Plenty to choose from 
• Modulation: Mooer Mod Factory Mk2   
• Phaser: MXR Phase 95
• Preamp: One Control - Crimson Red, Blue 360, Silver Peg 
• Compressor: Spectracomp, Becos mini, Wampler Ego mini, Fairfield Circuitry The Accountant , Pigtronix, Aguilar DB 599. 
• Cab sim: Mooer Radar
• DI: Xvive, Radial

 

Of those I've only tried the Sasouri EQ (it works fine but tiny amounts on the sliders can make a big difference and can be quite noisy if boosting treble), One Control Crimson Red (one of my favorite pedals - instant dubbyness). I've just ordered a Swiff tuner and a Mooer Mod Factory and I might get the Malekko filter that's for sale in the classifieds.

 

Any other recommendations?

Edited December 15, 2021 by SumOne

[ped]

I think the EWS Stormy Bass Drive is amazing. Really clever pedal with such a usable range of sounds and useful controls. I'd love a BMC2 but can't find one at the moment!

[SumOne]

2 minutes ago, ped said:

I think the EWS Stormy Bass Drive is amazing. Really clever pedal with such a usable range of sounds and useful controls. I'd love a BMC2 but can't find one at the moment!

 

Ah yeah, it's EWS I meant for the mid-control. The stormy bass drive looks good too - now added to my shopping list!

[lee650]

8 hours ago, SumOne said:

What are your favorite mini (1590A) pedals?

 

 

They are generally on the budget side of things, but a few like the Cog and MXR and One Control pedals are mid-price, while some like the Aguilar and Fairfield compressors cost up to £200.

 

I'm going to make a pedalbaord of them while trying to stick with a £420 budget (the price I just sold my Helix Stomp XL for - I know, I'm fickle!), so I'll need mostly 2nd hand and I might not be able to get every effect type on the list. This is my shopping list:

 

• Tuner: Swiff  
• Octaver: Cog T-16, Markbass Octaver, MXR M280 
• Envelope Filter: There don't seem to be many good ones in mini size but Malekko, Mooer, and Joyo do them. 
• Synth: Bananana Matryoshka and Mooer E7
• EQ: Sasouri 7 band or the EWS mid control
• Overdrive: Cog Mini 66, Mooer and Joyo pedals 
• Fuzz: Plenty to choose from 
• Modulation: Mooer Mod Factory Mk2   
• Phaser: MXR Phase 95
• Preamp: One Control - Crimson Red, Blue 360, Silver Peg 
• Compressor: Spectracomp, Becos mini, Wampler Ego mini, Fairfield Circuitry The Accountant , Pigtronix, Aguilar DB 599. 
• Cab sim: Mooer Radar
• DI: Xvive, Radial

 

Of those I've only tried the Sasouri EQ (it works fine but tiny amounts on the sliders can make a big difference and can be quite noisy if boosting treble), One Control Crimson Red (one of my favorite pedals - instant dubbyness). I've just ordered a Swiff tuner and a Mooer Mod Factory and I might get the Malekko filter that's for sale in the classifieds.

 

Any other recommendations?

So sorry! Malleko filter is on its way to me. But panic not, I don't always keep them long 😁

[SumOne]

7 hours ago, lee650 said:

So sorry! Malleko filter is on its way to me. But panic not, I don't always keep them long 😁

My fault for snoozing! 

[Jus Lukin]

-

Edited March 16, 2022 by Jus Lukin

[baldwinbass]

The first compressor I bought and still have, is a Fairfield Accountant which is definitely not  transparent. On my board, with a bit of experimentation, I discovered it's a unique effect with a wide range of tone shaping possibilitities beyond basic compression.

I use it as both a limiter to rein in distortion pedals, and for its subtle/sometimes not so subtle tone enhancing capabilities. It's hard to describe, but when needed it thickens up my sound in a pleasantly dirty way - and its basic controls make it quick to find a satisfying tone. 

When I don't want noise I use my other compressor, but the Accountant remains a filthy favourite!

Pricey, yes, but IMHO this mini pedal was worth it for the range of sonic possibilities.

[SumOne]

I forgot I also had the Pigtronix Philosopher Bass Compressor which is an interesting one: The 'grit' control can go to quite full-on distortion and the compression is more like a sustain effect (it's labelled as sustain) so it's mostly a useful pedal for long sustained distortion rather than what's traditionally considered compression. It does have a clean blend too though so using that with low 'sustain' and 'grit' did mean it could work more like a normal compressor. 

 

I'll aim to get the Becos or Fairfield or Aguilar. Or it breaks the 'mini' rule but I'm after a Diamond Comp Jr which isn't much bigger (especially with the top jacks)....none seem very easily available 2nd hand though and getting them new would rinse about half of my budget. 

Edited December 15, 2021 by SumOne

[Japhet]

TC Spectracomp and One Control Hookers Green were on my board for a long time and performed admirably. Valeton OC10 is a cracking little analogue octaver as well. Will probably be flogging a few soon as well.

[bottomfeed]

Markbass raw Octaver is a great pedal.. I'm impressed & swapped my EBS Octabass (which I loved!) for it.. needed a smaller footprint.

I've also had a mooer ensemble queen

...which was ok but didn't really stand up to a boss CEB 3 ...also a mooer envelope, which was reasonable.. but not very versatile.. the sweeper by mooer, has more character in my humble opinion..but not a conventional envelope filter..

xotic sp compressor is great.. I replaced an EBS multicomp with the SP and it totally covers my compression needs!.. 

 

 

[Quatschmacher]

MXR do a new Deep Phase too. Also delay. 

[SumOne]

37 minutes ago, Quatschmacher said:

MXR do a new Deep Phase too. Also delay. 

Nice, they both look decent. I just got an Aguilar Grape Phaser which seems like its similar to the MXR deep phase (but 4x the size). 

[ped]

3 minutes ago, SumOne said:

Nice, they both look decent. I just got an Aguilar Grape Phaser which seems like its similar to the MXR deep phase (but 4x the size). 

How are you getting on with it? 

[SumOne]

14 minutes ago, ped said:

How are you getting on with it? 

I like it - I've had phasers that are more versatile (like the EBS and source audio) but couldn't get them to sound as funky as the grape phaser. 

[Jack]

Firstly, subbed for recommendations. 

 

Secondly, please accept my vote for the MXR Sugar Drive. My favourite klone. 

[Quatschmacher]

13 hours ago, SumOne said:

I like it - I've had phasers that are more versatile (like the EBS and source audio) but couldn't get them to sound as funky as the grape phaser. 

Maybe helps to know how many stages it has and whether it has a resonance control. The SA phasers can do a lot and cop many other pedals’ tones. 

[SumOne]

47 minutes ago, Quatschmacher said:

Maybe helps to know how many stages it has and whether it has a resonance control. The SA phasers can do a lot and cop many other pedals’ tones. 

It's 4 stage - which was always my preferred 'short' setting on the EBS and for source audio settings (via the Gemini). All sound pretty close and I haven't done an A/B test but it seems there's a bit more funkyness to the grape phaser (less swoosh, deeper and more filter sounding), perhaps it's down to a different amount of sweep in those 4 stages or tone colour of the resonance....not much difference really though. 

[Quatschmacher]

2 minutes ago, SumOne said:

It's 4 stage - which was always my preferred 'short' setting on the EBS and for source audio settings (via the Gemini). All sound pretty close and I haven't done an A/B test but it seems there's a bit more funkyness to the grape phaser (less swoosh, deeper and more filter sounding), perhaps it's down to a different amount of sweep in those 4 stages or tone colour of the resonance....not much difference really though. 

Could be simply down to sweep depth, starting frequency and resonance, all of which are adjustable in the Lunar.

 

I’m a big fan of 6-stage phasers. 

Edited December 22, 2021 by Quatschmacher

[ped]

I did like the Grape Phaser but  like quite a few pedals it didn’t like the super hot output of my G&L. I have an MXR 100 now which I really like, but will have to try ‘live’ to see how it sounds properly. First impressions  are very good - it has two really great sounds that I like so far. And it’s huge and orange. 

[Quatschmacher]

30 minutes ago, ped said:

I did like the Grape Phaser but  like quite a few pedals it didn’t like the super hot output of my G&L. I have an MXR 100 now which I really like, but will have to try ‘live’ to see how it sounds properly. First impressions  are very good - it has two really great sounds that I like so far. And it’s huge and orange. 

So you managed to score one. Great stuff. 

[ped]

1 hour ago, Quatschmacher said:

So you managed to score one. Great stuff. 

Yeah right here on BC  I might get a phase 90 to compare it to at some point because I had one so long ago I’ve forgotten why I sold it

[Quatschmacher]

39 minutes ago, ped said:

Yeah right here on BC  I might get a phase 90 to compare it to at some point because I had one so long ago I’ve forgotten why I sold it

They’re quite different. Phase 90 is 4-stage whereas the 100 has some weird arrangement where it’s technically 10 stages: 6-stage with modulation and a further 4 non-modulated stages. 

Edited December 22, 2021 by Quatschmacher

[Quatschmacher]

Just seen that Mr Black do a few mini pedals. There are a few in the current Anderton’s sale.

 

https://www.andertons.co.uk/january-sale-pedals?#facet:&productBeginIndex:0&facetLimit:&orderBy:&pageView:grid&minPrice:&maxPrice:&pageSize:96&

 

https://www.andertons.co.uk/offers/january-sale-pedals/mr-black-mini-flanger-pedal

Edited December 30, 2021 by Quatschmacher