Current Andy Timmons Signature Compact Pedal Trifecta - Super AT Mod Overdrive, @+ Distortion, and Halo Dual Echo
You may recall that Andy Timmons recently inspired me to get in the 3 Xotic Effects pedals I featured last week. I had initially intended to get his discontinued Signature Xotic BB Preamp - but came away with an even better version as far as I am concerned - the Custom Shop BB Mid Boost Preamp.
We know that Andy usually deploys Xotic BB Preamp and RC Booster pedals on this board - so while my versions aren’t exactly the same editions as he uses - I’m totally covered for those slots. I was aware of the Keeley Signature Super AT Mod and Bending Light Edition of the Halo Dual Echo - around the end of last month - indeed when I pre-ordered my copy of the Bending Light Halo - which was originally due to ship on the 18th of May, but was delayed by a week - so I’m not sure it will land before the end of the month - in any case I thought I would still do this article as the only difference for the Halo Bending Light edition is its transparent etched enclosure - which supposedly is pretty finicky to manufacture. Keeley Electronics were supposedly missing some vital part - which led to the delay in dispatch - while the advice was originally just about a 48 hours delay - but it’s been quite a bit longer than that!
Anyway, the Andy Signature Xotic BB Preamp is long since discontinued - and very few seem to have ever been made in the first place - as there have been none about that I could spot on any of the usual second-hand sites. Note that there is a 4th Current Signature Andy pedal in the Carl Martin Dual Compressor he uses - while that’s obviously BB-sized and therefore not right for this very specific selection. If I was being particularly fastidious I might include the Carl Martin Compressor, and the Andy BB Preamp. Possibly also the Xotic Effects XW-1 Wah pedal too - which Andy seems to use pretty consistently - that may as well be a signature pedal too! Yet I chose to stick with just the current Compact Editions - as those are the 3 I personally acquired over this last month or so!
So for the purposes of this selection I obviously picked up the very recent Super AT Mod - a further modified Blues Driver, the rarer black edition of the JHS @+ distortion - and the now week-delayed Bending Light Edition of the Halo Dual Echo. All these are straight on the board for Andy Timmons month - well - two are right now - while the Halo will be taking over on slot #39 when it lands - making for a rather unique scenario - that there will be 4 new delay pedals in the chain at the same time - where I can’t reveal the 4th one yet as it doesn’t launch until this Friday - the other two are the brand new Boss SDE-3000EVH, and Red Panda Raster 2.
Here follow the individual details on the 3 pictured pedals - note that there is no specific video for the Bending Light Edition of Halo yet - so I will be using one of the classic existing ones. Here we go :
Keeley Super AT Mod Full Range Overdrive (1000 Ltd Edition Modified Blues Driver) - $199
Controls - Level, Tone, Drive, Mode : AT (Tighter) / Phat.
Probably the ultimate Modded BD-2 Blues Driver style overdrive now - with Roberts' well loved Phat Mod joined by an entirely new AT Mod which tightens up the low-end somewhat. Andy has stated that the 'Phat' mode is better for Single Coils and AT mode is better for Humbuckers - while my favourite all-time overdrive tone is the Phat setting on a very particular Keeley Modded Blues Driver. This new pedal raises the stakes with an additional handy Andy Mod - which allows you to knock back some of the bass - for a more transparent and balanced output - in particular when deploying humbuckers.
I spent a considerable time A/B-ing my favourite Keeley Freak Fuzz Modded BD-2 Blues Driver (which includes the Phat Mod) against this Super AT Mod - and they are subtly but audibly different. It's as if the Q-Bandwidth is set slightly wider on the original Boss - which gives that a slightly richer and wider timbre - while the Super AT Mod is slightly more 'focused' even on the Phat mode. They render as very slightly different pedals for me - of course these differences might be fairly minor to some ears - but I can distinctly hear a difference - and there is some extra-special ingredient in the original Boss that makes it ever so slightly preferable to my ears. The Super AT Mod is certainly no slouch, and more suitable for many applications - I would imagine it cuts through a little easier - but in doing so sounds ever so slightly thinner - while of course not being in the slightest bit thin - these are fairly narrow margins. I would imagine the Super AT Mod (Both modes) is somewhat better honed to Andy's style of playing - while there is still some mystery magic about the original modded type. You often get this - sometimes with just singular one-off pedals - where there is some slight parts difference (sometimes made by mistake) which renders some extra magic. Which is why so many signature pedals are calibrated very specifically from one particular specimen. I will still use the Super AT Mod extensively - but there is a little extra magic about my original BD-2 Blues Driver which means that it holds its spot as all-time favourite overdrive. The Super AT Mod matches it in most regards - and has its own advantages - white for me my Keeley Freak Fuzz Modded BD-2 will remain as 'the special one'! Note that the tone-stack renders quite differently on the Super AT Mod versus the BD-2, where on mine it is set to just after noon, while the BD-2 is on c. 3.30 o'c - the Level and Drive knobs need to be notched slightly higher on the Super AT Mod for equivalent amplitudes to the BD-2 also.
JHS @+ Black Edition Distortion and Boost (Modded Angry Charlie / JCM800) - $219
Controls - Volume, Wattage / Gain Structure - 25W / 100W / 50W, Drive, EQ, Air / Presence, Boost, Bypass Footswitch, Boost Footswitch.
I had always and long intended to get one of these in - but I really wanted the rarer Black Edition - and there never seemed to be any in stock on this side of the pond - until I spotted one at Peach Guitars very recently. It's a cool JCM800 voicing evolved from the JHS Charie Brown - a touch on the darker and denser side - not quite as naturally Marshall-sounding as the Formula B Eighty Master, and not with quite as much verve or nuance as the Sinvertek N5 MGAT-1 - but still really decent. Just a little fiddly on the dial-in, but I got a very satisfactory tone relatively quickly - mostly on the 100W mode weirdly - where I tend to prefer the openness of the 50W Modes typically on these sorts of pedals - but there is a certain zing and character that is only really present on the 100W Mode here - so that's where that switch mostly stays. I'm really spoilt for choice for MIAB and JCM800 style pedals in the collection in particular (around 50 varieties in the collection to date) - I think the only one of note that I have still to add is the Dawner Prince Red Rox - which has been on the wishlist for about as long as the JHS @+ was, obviously slightly longer now! - it's nice to have the @+ in the collection at last - it faces some really stiff competition though for a regular spot on the board!
Keeley Halo Dual Echo Light Bending Limited Edition (Transparent Box) - $399
Controls - Time / HPF, Level / Saturate, Feedback / Press for Alt, Rate / Tone, Depth / Rhythm : Halo Effect, Dotted Eighth, Analog Rack Delay, Quarter, Multi-Head Tape Delay, Settings : A / B / Status, Presets : 1 - 4 (A + B), A Footswitch, B Footswitch, Hold for Tap Tempo per side, Hold on Opposite Side for Infinite / Freeze Effect.
I love the look of transparent pedals - and I permanently have one of the limited edition Blammo Tomb Sender (TB MKIII) Transparent Editions on my desk as a circuit demo piece. And it makes even more sense to have a mostly digital pedal (as here) fully transparent as you don't need to worry about radio frequency interference that you get with some fuzzes. In any case this limited edition (100 units) is very special and has been a long time coming. I worry about the long-term maintenance / upkeep of such a pedal - as those enclosures will inevitably get a little bit more scuffed up than steel or aluminium ones. I've really grown to love Andy's tone in recent years - we seem to share such similar philosophies in how we arrange and stack our pedals. Both of us using a series of Boost stages for our optimal tones. And I never play without a delay - so we share that part also. I even managed to dial in a really cool Halo-esque preset on my Boss SDE-3000 - I will dial it in more closely to match the Halo once that's finally arrived and on the board too - but it already sounds brilliant as far as I'm concerned - and adds dynamics and dimension to everything you play - particularly lower gain stuff - that just sounds glorious on top of that style of delay!
I will likely use the Halo 99% of the time just for the core Andy Signature Halo setting - while I of course have that luxury currently with 4 different delays on the board (actually 5 with the Eventied H-90) - some of those can afford to be more specialist / singular in deployment - while others are broader and more generalist in their coverage. The Halo was another pedal that was always on the wishlist - so I'm delighted that I've been able to round up all three of these in this single 'Andy Timmons Month' - even though my Halo edition may not be in by the end of the month - as we have yet another Bank Holiday to get in the way that - should be very soon though!
Final Thoughts
I've definitely acquired an affinity for Andy Timmons in recent years - to such an extent that I'm even considering getting in a version of his Signature Ibanez guitar. For now though it's all about his excellent pedal choices - which are marvellously close to my own favourites and preferences.
I will be doing an 'Andy Timmons Pedalboard Dynamics and Essential Tone Components' feature early next week - which is based on his most recent That Pedal Show appearance - where I feature the contents of his pedalboard in its order of arrangement. And then suggest what I would personally change up for my own preferences - on certain slots. Of course with some rules attached about signature pedal use where appropriate.
As I state in the main body of this article - the Keeley Modded Boss BD-2 Blues Driver is my favourite overdrive pedal of all time - I love the tone, texture and the amazing guitar volume gain cleanup dynamics of that circuit. I of course love the Marshall JCM800 format as well - and the JHS @+ is one of the best for that - even though I already have a few more preferred varieties of that - I don't think you can avoid the Sinvertek N5 MGAT-1 comparison when discussing any JCM800 or MIAB style pedal. And there's already a quite brilliant JCM800 pedal on the board in the guise of the Formula B Eighty Master - which I do prefer to the @+ too - while I still really like the @+ - that's definitely still top tier.
And finally Andy's Halo Dual Echo effect is just genius - it's another 'fairy dust' element that makes everything you play just sound better - it adds depth and dimension to all your tones - in particularly to the more spacious lower gain stuff - it really does sound immense. I've been having a lot of fun with my Boss SDE-3000 copycat Halo setting in advance of that pedal arriving.
So for a core Andy Timmons tone replication - I feel these three pedals are pretty much essential - plus the 2 relevant Xotic Effects ones, and of course a decent compressor.
I really don't think you can go wrong with any of Andy's tone component choices - and those mirror a lot of my own thinking in how my Pedal Platform Philosophy has evolved over the years. Most guitar players out there tend to be amp first and with pedals as supplementary and auxiliary tone shapers, while Andy is one of the pioneers that has an almost pedal platform approach with his pedals being as much key to proceeding as his core amp tone.
My own philosophy and pedal platform science in based on getting high levels of saturation / texture / harmonics much lower down the volume and gain scale - and there really are a lot of similarities to mine and Andy's approaches - which makes him feel like something of a kindred spirit. He of course also accompanied one of my favourite ever persons for much of her careers - Olivia Newton John - so Andy has an extra soft spot in my heart for that association too.
In any case I don't think anyone would be dissatisfied with any of these 3 pedals - they all sound amazing, and have added smarts to them in abundance!
