Welcome back to Analyzing The Hype, a series in which we look at some coveted pieces of old school gear, why they became so damn popular, and what is out there that can get you some of that sound. Today: the Paul Cochrane Timmy.

The Timmy is an overdrive pedal that is designed and built by Paul Cochrane, which has been in production since sometime in the early ’00s. This $130 pedal has been the subject of myth and debate since it became available to the public. So, what makes such a relatively affordable pedal so coveted?

Time to dig deep.

The History

The Timmy started out life as the simpler, more pedalboard-friendly version of the Paul Cochrane Tim, and was introduced sometime in the early 2000s. Both the Tim and Timmy pedals had the same basic overdrive circuit and controls, with volume, gain, treble, and bass knobs, but the Tim was a bigger pedal with a foot-switchable 2-knob boost function and a 3 position diode selector.

Later on, the Timmy was slightly modified when the V2 was released at some point during it’s production. The main changes were the repositioning of the controls, and the introduction of the Tim’s diode selector. The pedal is still being made today and has long outlived the original Tim. Then what is it that gives this pedal such a high desirability? Well…

Why Is It So Hyped?

Because of the internet.

Seriously.

No, seriously. I’ll explain.

Basically, some people who got theirs went on to internet guitar forums to exalt the virtues of this pedal and tell everyone just how good it sounded. Naturally, as this started to happen, more people became interested and placed orders.

Paul Cochrane builds all of the pedals himself by hand, so with this ever growing influx of interest, the waiting list also kept on growing.

Now, when you couple all of that with the fact you actually have to personally contact Paul himself to place an order, you can understand the sheer desirability and lack of availability of these fairly affordable pedals in the wild.

Real World Options

Now, normally in this series, I would suggest budget alternatives to super pricey and sought after pedals. But, seeing as this is only $130, the alternatives we will be looking at won’t necessarily be cheaper, but they will all be much, much more readily available.

Firstly, you have the Electro Harmonix Crayon (not to be confused with the JHS Crayon, which is a totally different concept), which follows much of the same route as the original Timmy. It has the 4 main controls and nothing more. At $65, it’s wallet-friendly as well

Another wallet pleasing pedal is the Tone City Kaffir Lime. This green box, again, follows the pattern of the original Timmy, but it’s now in an even smaller micro housing. Very cool if you really need space, and it’s $64, so it just edges out the EHX for price.

Finally, we have the DOD Looking Glass. This is pretty much a Timmy on steroids. Built in collaboration between Digitech and Shoe Pedals, this pedal adds an input filter control and a high/low gain switch to the basic 4 controls. At $150, it’s a bit more expensive, but it’s also much more versatile.

 

It’s totally awesome that Paul hasn’t taken advantage of his hype to sell his pedal for an insane amount. Personally, I think it’s too cheap! There’s no reason to not pay $200 for a good overdrive! So this is a good deal if you’re willing to wait. If not, check out any of the options I suggested.

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This article written by community contributor John Waldock.

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