People who use mini pedals: why?

[Heraclitus Akimbo]

<newbie fear>
I suppose I come at this from the opposite direction than most people, but I love my mini pedals. Through a strange confluence of events a couple years back, I ended up starting to make some noodly, quiet ambient music with an old Radio Shack SK-1 knockoff and a couple old pedals I had laying around from the previous decade's guitar-banging.

When I found out how cheap and tiny pedals were these days, I started stocking up on them. I have pretty much no dirt, just lots and lots of delays and modulation, and I've been struck by how much texture I can add just from a shit-ton of cheap mini pedals — I tend to think of my pedals as my "instrument" now, like a really cheap and bulky modular synth.

I'm actually starting to buy fancy stuff now (which is how I ended up lurking here) but I have a whole bunch of mini's that I think are really awesome.

(Top-mounted jacks confuse me and mess with the flow, by the way.)

</newbie fear>

[Chankgeez]

It's OK, Heraclitus Akimbo, you have an awesome screen name!

[K2000]

we've done this a million times: there's no room for mojo in mini pedals.

Mojo is in the fingers.

[Bartimaeus]

we've done this a million times: there's no room for mojo in mini pedals.

Mojo is in the fingers.

And the boots too!

<newbie fear>
I suppose I come at this from the opposite direction than most people, but I love my mini pedals. Through a strange confluence of events a couple years back, I ended up starting to make some noodly, quiet ambient music with an old Radio Shack SK-1 knockoff and a couple old pedals I had laying around from the previous decade's guitar-banging.

When I found out how cheap and tiny pedals were these days, I started stocking up on them. I have pretty much no dirt, just lots and lots of delays and modulation, and I've been struck by how much texture I can add just from a shit-ton of cheap mini pedals — I tend to think of my pedals as my "instrument" now, like a really cheap and bulky modular synth.

I'm actually starting to buy fancy stuff now (which is how I ended up lurking here) but I have a whole bunch of mini's that I think are really awesome.

(Top-mounted jacks confuse me and mess with the flow, by the way.)

</newbie fear>

No need to be afraid! If you're looking for dirt on the cheap, mini pedals do offer an amazing avenue to pick up rats, bluesbreakers, etc without breaking the bank. Plus a lot of mini pedals seem to have better build quality than old cheap options used to (no more plastic enclosures). I gotta ask, though, do you have any trouble with accidentally stepping on the wrong pedal when you've got a "modular synth" of them?

[dubkitty]

i thought it was in MOJO magazine.

[oscillateur]

noodly, quiet ambient music with an old Radio Shack SK-1 knockoff and a couple old pedals I had laying around

The Concertmate 500 is not a knockoff but just a rebranded Casio SK-1 .
I also love mine and used it likewise with pedals for ages (though it's semi-retired now). Chords with that flute sound are heavenly, especially when the built-in speaker starts clipping a bit...

[Heraclitus Akimbo]

It's OK, Heraclitus Akimbo, you have an awesome screen name!

I gotta ask, though, do you have any trouble with accidentally stepping on the wrong pedal when you've got a "modular synth" of them?

I sometimes have this or that on the floor, but my minis are pretty much always at tabeltop level. For the knob twiddling.

I went ahead and illustrated my situation in the pedal boards thread.

[D.o.S.]

I have always been impressed by people who can work themselves into a state where they step on the wrong pedal but still perform music as its meant to be played.

Mostly I'm jealous.

[penelope tree]

I've got lots of mini pedals but mostly use them in feedback loops or the loop of my Superego.

Some of the best ones I've tried are:

Fairfield Accountant (obvz).
Mooer Tender Octaver (MK 1)
Mooer Hustle Drive (OCD clone)
Mooer Fog (Wooly Mammoth clone)
Mooer Black Secret (RAT clone)
Ammoon Spring Reverb (Malekko Spring clone)
Ibanez Analog Delay
Ibanez Chorus Mini (conservative but nice for Cocteau Twins style guitar)
TC Spectra Comp (digital bass compressor)
Aroma Mario (bit crusher, crap but fun)

I like the 90s Guyatone pedals too but they're a bit bigger.

[Heraclitus Akimbo]

Aroma Mario (bit crusher, crap but fun)

"crap but fun" is about 49% of my aesthetic.

The Mario isn't one of my faves from my heap, but it adds some nice sonic contrasts sometimes. Worth having/keeping/using to me.

[Jero]

I like the 90s Guyatone pedals too but they're a bit bigger.

These are awesome but they didn't think that bottom through for the long term

Aroma Mario (bit crusher, crap but fun)

"crap but fun" is about 49% of my aesthetic.

The Mario isn't one of my faves from my heap, but it adds some nice sonic contrasts sometimes. Worth having/keeping/using to me.

Agreed. I picked one up (tomsline brand?) for $15-20 maybe a month ago at a pawn shop. It's fun for different textures.

[goroth]

The guyatone mini pedals aren't actually all that small due to the stupid gasket and the shape of the enclosure.
Rad pedals though.

[Jero]

The guyatone mini pedals aren't actually all that small due to the stupid gasket and the shape of the enclosure.
Rad pedals though.

Oh come on you know they're adorable

[Dandolin]

I have and use all sizes. Never bought a pedal specifically because it was jumbonormongous, but the have bought more than one minimicro because it helped with pedalboard jigsawing. Biggest pain is definitely fitting them b/c wide gaps b/w slats. I have used both the double-ended no-wire jacks and EBS flats, so my pedals fit right close to each other and don't fall over. Unless I'm running a few in a row I don't usually have unintentional activation issues. I find that I'm slightly less likely to want to get into b/w song tweaking, but then, I've grown less enamored of that for the projects I've been doing (although that is slated to change ). To me, that is the number one advantage of ginormopedals--in-song foot tweakage (but the control layout has to be propitious).

Here's my latest mini (Buzzaround by pickdropper):

[Chankgeez]

Here's my latest mini (Buzzaround by pickdropper):