Paul Cochrane teases a third version of his legendary Tim overdrive
The twin-footswitch big brother to the Timmy looks set to receive an upgrade over the coming months
Paul Cochrane’s twin-footswitch Tim and its downsized little brother, the Timmy, remain two of the most iconic boutique overdrive pedals on the market, having helped to popularize the term ‘transparent overdrive’. Now, a couple of decades on from the launch of the original Tim, Cochrane has offered a sneak peek at its latest V3 incarnation.
In a new Facebook post, the revered builder has shared a prototype of the new design, which has been five years in the making.
The V3 features a shorter box than the original, with top-mounted pots and jacks on the rear, while the FX loop is now tied to the boost footswitch, which should save a few stomps when switching to lead tones.
There are a few tweaks to the control set, too, as Cochrane explains: “The 3-way clipping switch has the same top and middle settings but with a new 3rd more ‘open’ asym setting. A 3-way ‘Hi-Cut’ switch is added which helps it sit better with brighter amps/speakers. It's flat in the middle with -3dB @ 5khz and -3dB @ 2khz settings.”
Other features include a soft switch relay circuit, as well as an internal voltage converter to bump a nine-volt power supply up to 18 volts – as Cochrane observes, “I need to remove that 18vdc from the graphic.”
The builder hopes to launch the Tim V3 “by the end of winter” following a few final circuit and enclosure tweaks.
As per the original, the new Tim will be built by hand, although last year saw Cochrane team up with MXR to launch a mass-produced version of the single-footswitch Timmy in a mini enclosure. We’ll have to wait and see whether the updated Tim receives the same treatment.
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Mike is Editor-in-Chief of GuitarWorld.com, in addition to being an offset fiend and recovering pedal addict. He has a master's degree in journalism from Cardiff University, and over a decade's experience writing and editing for guitar publications including MusicRadar, Total Guitar and Guitarist, as well as 20 years of recording and live experience in original and function bands. During his career, he has interviewed the likes of John Frusciante, Chris Cornell, Tom Morello, Matt Bellamy, Kirk Hammett, Jerry Cantrell, Joe Satriani, Tom DeLonge, Ed O'Brien, Polyphia, Tosin Abasi, Yvette Young and many more. In his free time, you'll find him making progressive instrumental rock under the nom de plume Maebe.
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