Get the tone Get the tone Get the tone

BASS2 o’clockGAIN9 o’clock

VOLUME 2 o’clock BASS 10 o’clock

BASS2 o’clockGAIN 10 o’clock

VOLUME 3 o’clock BASS 11 o’clock

BASS2 o’clockGAIN3 o’clock

VOLUME 12 o’clock BASS 12 o’clock

23

MARCH 2020 TOTAL GUITAR

THE FX FILES

UNDER THE INFLUENCE

CLASSICTONES

GET THE TONE #1

LOW GAIN DRIVE

First, note that the Timmy’s EQ controls are
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controls that increase the level of an EQ band.
Depending on the type of your amp, you might
need to adjust treble and volume to taste; we
prefer a punchier, brighter sound. For a more
classic blues tone, pull back the treble. To let
a valve amp do the heavy lifting, push up the
volume, and pull the gain back further.

GET THE TONE #2

AMP CRUSHER

Depending on how your amp responds to

having the front end smashed, you might need

to alter the EQ. Ours tend to brighten up at

higher volumes, so we pull back the treble, and

add a bit more of the pedal’s gain to compress

the signal going into the amp. While this

creates singing tube saturation, bear in

mind it’ll also be a big jump in volume!

GET THE TONE #3

GRUNGY DRIVE

If your amp is particularly dark, you might need

to pull the bass back a bit so it doesn’t get

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grungy bands with a bit of a classic rock vibe to

them when we use higher-gain settings on the

Timmy into a tube amp, like Pearl Jam or

Swervedriver.

CALINE PURE SKY

FROM £26

The Caline Pure Sky is a straight-up Timmy clone

without the clipping options. Also, where the original

Timmy had both EQ options functioning as cuts, the

Pure Sky has them operating perhaps more intuitively;

that is to say that turning bass or treble clockwise

increases that level, as opposed to cutting it.

LOVEPEDAL AMP 11

FROM £225
Side-by-side schematic analysis has shown that the
Amp 11’s main drive circuit is a Timmy Clone. Now, you
might think that would mean the boost would be that
found in the Tim, but you’d be wrong – supposedly it’s
based on the Electra, which makes the Amp 11 a bit
of a different beast with that into the gain-stacking
equation.

WALRUS AUDIO

MAYFLOWER

FROM £169

The Walrus Audio Mayflower is a Timmy with additional

power-line filtering and signal chain buffering, and it’s

also been suggested that their Warhorn is a Timmy

with the additional clipping diodes permanently

engaged. It certainly sounds very Timmy-like to us.

BASS GAIN VOLUME TREBLE BASS GAIN VOLUME TREBLE BASS GAIN VOLUME TREBLE