In a world where our cell phones are getting smaller by the day, so are your guitar pedals.

Good things come in small packages, and we’ve rounded up some of the best micro-sized guitar pedals we’ve ever played. Whether you need to save space or just want to see some pedals you’ve never heard of, we’ve got you covered.

Mooer Cali MKIV Preamp

Yes, you read that right. This is a micro-sized guitar preamp.

Not only that, but it’s a recreation of the classic California sound that just makes you want to “Boogie” if you catch my drift. 😉

This is a full 2-channel preamplifier with independent 3-band EQ controls for each channel, as well as two different modes for the clean channel depending on how you like your cleans.

But they didn’t stop there, you’ve also got a built-in cab simulation inside for those cab-less gigs! Talk about traveling light! Don’t worry, if you’re in love with your cab you can disable cab simulation as well.

With plenty of gain on tap, you can go from crystal clean to blues, all the way to chunky, beefy, modern tones with ease.

If you’re more of a 5150 kinda guy, check out the Moore Brown Sound.

If you’re looking for tight, responsive, and devastating tone from this preamp, this pedal pairs INCREDIBLY well with our next one…

Horizon Devices Nano Attack

Horizon Devices – founded by Periphery guitarist Misha Mansoor – has launched a pocket-sized version of his highly successful Precision Drive pedal.

An overdrive, clean boost, and unique EQ all rolled into one, the small size and single-knob operation may fool you into thinking it’s very limited, but it has additional internal switches to adjust the pedal to your taste.

The main knob on the front face lets you dial in the perfect amount of low-end tightness, with 6 settings from loose to modern.
The volume controls how much boost you want, taking you from a clean boost all the way into a front-end smashing overdrive with an insane amount of volume on tap.

Lastly, there’s a bright knob that can let you add extra sparkle to your tone, or add more cut for your solos.

Did I mention it works on bass? Because it works on bass.

Coming in at just $149 this is by far the most versatile clean boost/overdrive and tone-shaper in a pocket-sized package.

Mooer Micro Drummer

This is an incredible practice tool at an even better price. Mooer has an extensive line of micro-sized pedals with everything from your basic effects to far more niche and unique devices, this being one of them.

The Micro Drummer is a series of drum loops in many different genres and patterns. They are fully tempo adjustable and can be controlled by simply tapping the tempo like you would with a delay pedal.

It covers everything from jazz and Latin music to rock and metal, a wide multitude of grooves lets you practice your time-keeping, songwriting, or improvisation with ease!

Want to jam with a friend or two but none of you play drums? This is a cheap and simple solution to prevent you from ever getting stuck in that situation again, stifling your creativity.

Additional features include volume and tone controls for the loop to make sure you’re perfectly dialed in, as well as a standard metronome sound to make sure you’ve got one less thing to bring with you to your next practice session.

 

Outlaw Effects Iron Horse

I have to plug one of my new favorite pedal companies: Outlaw Effects.

Their entire lineup is dedicated to pedals of this size and despite the low price tag, they are surprisingly good!

Only a couple of them are really outstanding, but all of them sound solid and have great build quality. They are perfect if you want to build a small pedalboard on an even smaller budget. By far the most budget-friendly and pedalboard-friendly options.

The Iron Horse is one of the most ingenious devices I’ve ever seen on the pedal market, it’s a 2-in-1 tuner and power supply!

Now, we’ve seen tuners in the past like the PolyTune that had a power output to daisy chain another pedal, but the Iron Horse boasts a whopping 8 SEPARATE 9V OUTPUTS. Six of them run at 100mA while the last two run at 500mA for those power-hogging pedals on your board. I have to commend them for labelling the power rating on each one as well, flipping through manuals is a pain.

The tuner itself is great as well, and while it’s not the most finely accurate on the market like a Peterson or similar pedal, it sits quite high up in the ranks right alongside a PolyTune or Pitchblack tuner.

The only downside here is that – from what I can tell – the outputs are not isolated, meaning there’s a chance you will experience more noise than you would with isolated outputs. Even so, it’s a steal for all those great features.

Fender Micro EQ

I’m not normally a big fan of Fender’s pedals, but the Micro EQ is the best graphic EQ for a small board.

There’s not much to say about a graphic EQ, but what makes this one stand out is the same thing that makes or breaks any graphic EQ pedal: the frequency bands.

With room for only a handful of sliders, Fender chose their affected frequencies very carefully and it paid off. They’ve placed each slider perfectly in the spectrum to cover the most important frequency areas for electric guitar tone, including that dreaded 4K frequency!

You can sculpt your tone with precision, or use this pedal to compensate for any differences between your guitars for perfect volume and tonal consistency.

Final Thoughts

With pedalboard real estate becoming increasingly valuable it’s hard to make an argument for oversized pedals when companies are continually adding pedals that sound just as good – or even better – in a smaller package. Whether you want to open up to some new tonal options or build yourself an entire travel-sized gigging board I can guarantee you won’t be disappointed with these incredible doorways into the micro-sized pedal world.