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Post by helmi on Sept 12, 2022 16:58:49 GMT -7
What are your thoughts on the mini pedal craze? I don’t mind a small pedal if it has only 1, maybe 2 knobs at the most. any more then that and unless you have little “girly” hands, you can’t turn one knob without throwing off another knob setting. I don’t like the “internal” dip switch thing. and also another thing I don’t get is they promote them as taking up less space on your pedalboard, but unless you have little petite feet, your can’t put them too close together anyway. I can have a bunch of mini pedals, but I still have to keep them apart at a certain distance to accommodate my size 11 1/2, 4 E foot. so basically, what I have concluded is the mini pedal’s are great, if your a young girl with little “girlie” hands and little ballerina sized feet! what are your guys thoughts?
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Post by nick0 on Sept 12, 2022 17:34:06 GMT -7
What are your thoughts on the mini pedal craze? I don’t mind a small pedal if it has only 1, maybe 2 knobs at the most. any more then that and unless you have little “girly” hands, you can’t turn one knob without throwing off another knob setting. I don’t like the “internal” dip switch thing. and also another thing I don’t get is they promote them as taking up less space on your pedalboard, but unless you have little petite feet, your can’t put them too close together anyway. I can have a bunch of mini pedals, but I still have to keep them apart at a certain distance to accommodate my size 11 1/2, 4 E foot. so basically, what I have concluded is the mini pedal’s are great, if your a young girl with little “girlie” hands and little ballerina sized feet! what are your guys thoughts? I have girlie hands and little ballerina feet and I love mini pedals! Lol!!! If a pedal sounds good to me then I like it. If it's the size of a dump truck or a mini pedal. Wampler faux spring reverb Wampler ratsbane Wampler belle Jhs tidewater Jhs whitey tighty Xotic super sweet booster Xotic sp comp All killer. If they can make um smaller, I say cool. Plus I get to utilize my pink pointy slippers.
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Post by wubberdubber on Sept 12, 2022 22:18:10 GMT -7
Proper marketing makes anything seem like it's just the greatest thing since sliced bread. I think their greatest appeal is that they're "cute". To me, more practical for studio use than live.
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Post by Mark (Basement Enthusiast) on Sept 13, 2022 6:57:30 GMT -7
I think the mini pedals are an interesting/unique way to solve the "real estate" problem; however in reality I don't find the actual pedal's size to be a limiting factor in pedalboard utility--
First off, IMO the traditional MXR/Boss-sized pedals are about the smallest that I think are practical--the mini ones get so tiny that it's hard to get your foot (toe) into & out of there quickly and accurately to hit the footswitch.
Second, those tiny or cramped knob layouts...
Lastly, when you stack all those mini pedals together, you begin to see what the REAL space hog has been all along--all those jacks & cables housings, etc. I look at an all-mini pedalboard, and all I can see is jacks & connectors...
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Post by premiumplus (Dave) on Sept 13, 2022 6:58:39 GMT -7
Personally I don't like 'em. They're too little for my size 13 stompers and they kinda get lost in between 'full size' pedals. +100 on the internal dip switches too. I also don't like that they invariably use itsy bitsy "Pick and Place" miniature components on a tiny PCB. Another thing is that the tiny knobs get bumped when I hit it with my foot. It's just too small and I'm no ballerina!
I don't have any problem with good PCB construction but if the PCB isn't laid out right you may have issues. I've noticed that the mini pedals I have don't sound as good as their full size brothers. I'm looking at my mini Timmy pedal right now. It's just not the same. My $.02...
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Post by j4gitr (John) on Sept 13, 2022 7:08:41 GMT -7
My baby 14’s do have a difficulty when it comes to doing the toe dance. As phones get bigger pedals get smaller. It’s all marketing to keep this pedal industry alive and kickin.’ I’ve never been able to navigate playing pedals, I’ve tried to stick to playing guitar, so while I have too many pedals, I find that I use them like Brylcreem, “a little dab will do ya.” I guess I lean to the slightly larger side when selecting a product.
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Post by daddyelmis (Greg) on Sept 13, 2022 7:35:11 GMT -7
I think the mini’s are good for certain specific things - like a small, grab n go board for quick gigs that just has OD, delay, maybe chorus. Or to add one needed effect on an already crowded board (like adding one add’l delay). A full board of them would be too hard to tap dance around. And those mini cry baby’s don’t work - not enough platform to rock back and forth.
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Post by Don A on Sept 13, 2022 9:21:11 GMT -7
And those mini cry baby’s don’t work - not enough platform to rock back and forth. It's funny- I came here to say that I don't care for mini pedals except my Mini Cry Baby! I love that pedal! The tone and the sweep suit me well, and it works well with my size 12 stompers, but... ...don't expect it to save space on your pedalboard- you still need room for your toes when operating the pedal. I don't like wahs on pedalboards. The slightly raised angle is awkward for me, so I run my wah next to my pedalboard. The mini is nice because I can carry it in the pocket of my gigbag.
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Post by nick0 on Sept 13, 2022 9:21:52 GMT -7
Lastly, when you stack all those mini pedals together, you begin to see what the REAL space hog has been all along--all those jacks & cables housings, etc. I look at an all-mini pedalboard, and all I can see is jacks & connectors... I love the Ebs cables. I just put a little board together using all Ebs. I've got 6 great effects on it. I can carry it, a guitar, and an amp in one trip! I also have a board you could surf with..... lol
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Post by daddyelmis (Greg) on Sept 13, 2022 12:59:42 GMT -7
And those mini cry baby’s don’t work - not enough platform to rock back and forth. It's funny- I came here to say that I don't care for mini pedals except my Mini Cry Baby! I love that pedal! The tone and the sweep suit me well, and it works well with my size 12 stompers, but... ...don't expect it to save space on your pedalboard- you still need room for your toes when operating the pedal. I don't like wahs on pedalboards. The slightly raised angle is awkward for me, so I run my wah next to my pedalboard. The mini is nice because I can carry it in the pocket of my gigbag. Hah! And that’s why there are pedals for everyone! I really wanted to like the Cry Baby Mini. I’ve had a few of the Hotone pedals and thought they sounded quite good, especially for the price.
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Post by dcarver on Sept 13, 2022 15:24:43 GMT -7
I have 2 mini pedals, love'em both. Mooer Ensemble King Chorus; great pedal with a mini price. Gotta love it. Xotic SL Drive; fire engine red limited edition. Lotta Marshal in a little box. The Wampler Belle is very tempting. Might have to try that one.
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Post by LT on Sept 14, 2022 12:15:52 GMT -7
In general I like mini pedals. Many of mine are drive pedals and I use them in a simple 2 or 3 button looper, so their size under foot is not an issue.
Here are the ones I have: Mini TS MXR Timmy Ibanez mini Chorus and Tremolo Mooer Ana Echo TC Polytune mini MXR Duke of Tone (on order)
I've had the Xotic SL, SP and EP and all of them I thought were very good. I've also had some TC Electronic minis, but the only one that remains is the tuner.
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Post by Norrin Radd on Oct 5, 2022 19:50:55 GMT -7
You nailed it right here:
“ unless you have little petite feet, your can’t put them too close together anyway.”
Can’t use them. Ironically OP, we have the foot size!
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Post by Seńor Verde on Oct 5, 2022 20:13:52 GMT -7
For me, mini pedals being small so they can be crammed together and have a more pedals on a board doesn't really work for me. With my size 12 feet, they need to have switches that are at least a certain distance apart. This means full size pedals are better for me. However, I'm thinking mini pedals could allow a more ergonomic placement of pedals on a board with limited space. I don't currently have any mini pedals, simply because none of the pedals I use come in that format.
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Post by zpilot on Oct 9, 2022 22:36:49 GMT -7
Generally I prefer the standard size boxes. I find that the pots in the mini pedals are much more likely to have a glitch in their sweep. Also they don't actually save space for me because I still have to have them far enough apart to allow me to quickly switch one without accidentally hitting the adjacent one on stage. I can see where they might be nice otherwise or when using with a loop switcher. They do seem to SOUND as good as the full size pedals for the most part, unless one of those pot glitches happens to fall exactly were I want to dial it. It happened to me with a Mini Timmy.
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Post by premiumplus (Dave) on Oct 10, 2022 0:37:24 GMT -7
Generally I prefer the standard size boxes. I find that the pots in the mini pedals are much more likely to have a glitch in their sweep. Also they don't actually save space for me because I still have to have them far enough apart to allow me to quickly switch one with accidentally hitting the adjacent one on stage. I can see where they might be nice otherwise or when using with a loop switcher. They do seem to SOUND as good as the full size pedals for the most part, unless one of those pot glitches happens to fall exactly were I want to dial it. It happened to me with a Mini Timmy. That's so true about the pots in mini pedals. They use tiny 1/4 watt pots instead of the regular 1/2 watt ones like are used in guitar amps. I hadn't really thought about that but it's a great point. The little pots naturally have much smaller carbon traces inside, and so the adjustment range is cruder and somewhat less accurate than you would get with a larger trace for the wiper to sweep against.
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Post by helmi on Oct 10, 2022 3:46:13 GMT -7
I can see where they might be nice otherwise or when using with a loop switcher. This is a good point none of us thought of.
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Post by LT on Oct 10, 2022 11:56:52 GMT -7
I can see where they might be nice otherwise or when using with a loop switcher. This is a good point none of us thought of. In my post, I mention using a looper. I like the uniform spacing and uniform click feel of a looper. Loopers do require more patch cables and use up a 9v tap though. Dave brings up a good point about their smaller pots being more sensitive. That explains why I've sold more than a few minis because I felt the pots were very sensitive.....a small movement resulted in a major change.
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Post by nomadguitar on Oct 29, 2022 17:51:24 GMT -7
I'm not a fan of mini pedals. I don't like the way seat on a pedalboard, don't feel secure enough when turning them on and off.
I have problems still hitting two pedals at once even with full size pedals.
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