OneControl 15 Favourites Capsule Collection
I’ve always loved Mini Pedals - particularly those from Decibelics, Function F(X) / Pickdropper, Mooer and One Control, the latter two brands making up most of my mini pedal collection to-date - in fact you could probably add Wampler to the original list of 4 too - Brian makes some very fine minis - oh, as does MXR, and Ibanez even.. While for me at one time - Mooer was in the lead with 10 candidates in my mini pedal collection, while this latest exercise has pushed OneControl to the top of that league - now at 17 - including a couple of earlier versions of those featured here.
This particular phase was initially triggered back on June 10th this year - where the catalyst goes back to the article I did on the Tone City Matcha Cream Mini - which was the main winner of an Andertons Doom Fuzz head-to-head knockout feature. Even though another pedal won out in the final rounds, the Matcha Cream Green Russian style Muff Fuzz was the one that really stood out, as it won by far and away the most rounds.
So I then thought it opportune to compare the Tone City Mini Pedal Range - with two of my favourite Mini Pedal Brands (the ones with the most varieties) - Mooer and OneControl - which resulted in an article 2 days later - ’Mooer Mini Pedals vs OneControl vs Tone City vs All The Rest!’. In that article I listed out all of the OneControl mini pedals available then, per the below visual :
Next I picked out my 5 favourite OneControl pedals from that selection - where weirdly the 3 x BJFE ones all together kind of counted as one (Honey Bee / Silver Bee / Blue Bee), and then I had the Baltic Blue Fuzz, Dimension Blue Monger, Golden Acorn Overdrive, and Strawberry Red Overdrive RC - where I was missing quite a few of those.
The first impact of those articles was that on July 1st I added the two OneControl BJFE types I was missing at that stage - the BJFE Silver Bee and Blue Bee Custom Minis. In doing that article I then thought I should probably add some of the other OneControl pedals I was missing to bring that capsule collection fully up to date with all my favourites. There we a couple of models - the Anodized Brown Distortion and Purple Plexifier that had been significantly updated with more potent 4K / 4-knob varieties.
So I initially didn't have a final list of those pedals I thought I should have, but as I further explored the range, I added more and more essentials to my roster. These really came from all over the world, as no one vendor seemed to have all of those in stock that I wanted. I also buy rather opportunistically, so always looking for discounts - and as a result - the 8 pedals I picked up variously came from Thomann in Germany, Andertons in the UK, and then various American, Finnish and Japanese vendors across Reverb.com and Ebay. So I fairly had to scour the world to find those that had those in stock, and hopefully going for less than full price! All in all I added 10 of these OneControl pedals across August, September and October, and a couple of those only really landed fairly recently - which is why and how I'm doing this feature now!
The 10 Added this Year!
- BJFE Silver Bee OD [9V]
- BJFE Blue Bee OD Custom [9V]
- Anodized Brown Distortion 4K [6-18V] (EVH Brown Sound)
- Butter Yellow Auto Quack [9V] (Auto-Wah)
- Dimension Blue Monger [9V] (Boss DC-2 -ish)
- Fluorescent Orange AIAB [9V] (Orange RockerVerb)
- Golden Acorn Overdrive Special [9V] (Dumble Drive)
- Purple Plexifier 4K [9V] (Marshall Plexi SLP)
- Rebel Red Distortion [9V] (Hot-Rodded Marshall Plexi/JCM800)
- Strawberry Red Overdrive RC [9-18V) (TS808 derived / adjacent - further ReConfigured for Humbuckers)
The resulting Fabulous 15
- BJFE Honey Bee OD Custom [9V]
- BJFE Silver Bee OD [9V]
- BJFE Blue Bee OD Custom [9V]
- Anodized Brown Distortion 4K [6-18V] (EVH Brown Sound)
- Baltic Blue Fuzz [9V] (Multi-Muff)
- Butter Yellow Auto Quack [9V] (Auto-Wah)
- Dimension Blue Monger [9V] (Boss DC-2 -ish)
- Fluorescent Orange AIAB [9V] (Orange RockerVerb)
- Golden Acorn Overdrive Special [9V] (Dumble Drive)
- Jubilee Red AIAB [9V] (Marshall Silver Jubilee)
- Persian Green Screamer [9V] (TS808)
- Purple Plexifier 4K [9V] (Marshall Plexi SLP)
- Rebel Red Distortion [9V] (Hot-Rodded Marshall Plexi/JCM800)
- Strawberry Red OverDrive [9V] (TS808 derived / adjacent)
- Strawberry Red Overdrive RC [9-18V) (TS808 derived / adjacent - further ReConfigured for Humbuckers)
As with any selection there are some real stand out candidates, while nothing here is weak sauce. My favourite recent acquisitions of these are the Anodized Brown Distortion 4K, Fluorescent Orange AIAB, Golden Acorn Overdrive, Rebel Red Distortion, Dimension Blue Monger, and Butter Yellow Auto Quack. Ideally I would make some slight tweaks to the Strawberry Red Overdrive RC, and Purple Plexifier - the latter of which could certainly do with some more volume. The first 3 mentioned here are simply blistering! Really loud, vibrant and visceral and those compete with the best of my full size pedals, while just a handful are very slightly under-powered - including the 3 BJFE Overdrives too - but still essential.
The Baltic Blue Fuzz has long been one of my favourite Multi-Muff pedals, and is right up there with my other favourite Mini Muff - the Deep Fall Diver Huge. More than half of these OneControl pedals will easily compete with the best of what's on offer from much larger enclosures. Some of these are almost at Decibelics levels of quality output - If you just get one of these - then the new Anodized Brown Distortion is wholly amazing! That, the Fluorescent Orange and Golden Acorn pretty much blew my socks off! But more of that with the individual pedal details following on below!
You can read up more about these fantastic mini pedals on the official OneControl Website!
BJFE Honey Bee OD Custom [9V] - $299
Controls - Volume, Drive, Bass, Treble, Modern/Vintage side slider switch.
The most essential and best balanced of the Honey Bee Mini Series for me - the classic mids-forward honey-toned overdrive - supposedly based on a beaten up early 60's Supro amp. Still one of the great overdrive sounds for me!
JFE Silver Bee OD [9V] - $289
Controls - Volume, Drive, Bass, Treble, Modern/Vintage side slider switch.
This version of the circuit is slightly tighter and more modern, not quite as full fat as the original - slightly thinner in fact, but still sounds great.
BJFE Blue Bee OD Custom [9V] - $299
Controls - Volume, Drive, Bass, Treble.
I believe this variant was mostly tweaked for Single-Coil guitars - delivering a slightly thicker and gainer sound. I love bass overdrives, and this is an interesting variant - possibly a little too woolly to suit most humbuckers - but there are times when I really quite like it - it sounds totally different to the sharper / tighter Silver Bee, and the more balanced Honey Bee.
Anodized Brown Distortion 4K [6-18V] (EVH Brown Sound) - $179
Controls - Gain, Volume, Mid, Treble.
This one totally blew me away - a proper blistering Brown Sound variant - with so much in reserve. You can power it at 6V to 18V - while at 9V is already super loud, vibrant and visceral. This one may even knock out the Colombio Audio Eruption - it's that good! It also has more volume and more gain than the Eruption. Both are top tier pedals at the top of their game - the fact that a mini pedal can sound this good is quite extraordinary!
Baltic Blue Fuzz [9V] (Multi-Muff) - $169
Controls - Tone, Volume, Sustain.
One of my 2 favourite all-time Mini Muffs - alongside the Deep Fall Diver Huge - which is slightly more potent, but not as versatile as this Baltic Blue - which cleverly delivers 3 classic Muff flavour via smart manipulation of just those 3 controls - you get Triangle, Ram's Head, and Red & Black edition tones aboard - such a smart fuzz!
Butter Yellow Auto Quack [9V] (Auto-Wah) - $179
Controls - Bias, Decay, Sensitivity, Mellow/Bright side slider switch.
A quite sensitive pedal to dial in, and can be a little fiddly on occasion. You definitely need safe-cracker skills to dial it in to it's optimal degree, where I'm getting my best sounds with Bias @ 8:30 o'c , Decay @ 8 o'c, and Sensitivity @ 2:30 o'c. You definitely need patience with this one - but it's capable of some great results.
Dimension Blue Monger [9V] (Boss DC-2 -ish) - $189
Controls - Colour (Brightness), Complexity (Modulation Depth & Speed), Wet Mix (Intensity).
A really interesting chorusing effect - similar in name to the DC-2 Dimension, while Björn states this is not based on that circuit - while it deliver a similar shimmery / fluttery effect - I really like it, and it has plenty of range onboard.
Fluorescent Orange AIAB [9V] (Orange RockerVerb) - $169
Controls - Volume, Presence, Master (Gain).
This 3-knob Orange RockerVerb style distortion has no right being as great sounding as it is. Similar to the Anodized Brown - this delivers a massive sound way beyond its miniature stature. I would definitely get a 4K version of this if it were ever made available, but I'm not sure this circuit needs it - as it already sounds superb - one of the highlights for sure of my recent acquisitions.
Golden Acorn Overdrive Special [9V] (Dumble Drive) - $179
Controls - Volume, Bright, Ratio (Distortion & Compression).
Another really special pedal - this time of the Dumble Drive variety. Goes from subtle to really quite gainey courtesy of the Ratio control. Really simple, but potent circuit - really great sounding too, but not really like my Demon Pedals Kondo Shifuku or Tanabe Zenkudo. This has its own tonality and timbre, and is fantastic in its own way - another one with huge amounts of range onboard.
Jubilee Red AIAB [9V] (Marshall Silver Jubilee) - $179
Controls - Treble, Volume, Mid, Gain.
A cool take on the Marshall Silver Jubilee - one of the few with the transitional artwork before the latter curved editions took over. I probably don't need all of the Anodized Brown, Jubilee Red, Rebel Red and Purple Plexifier. Of that quartet the strongest ones are the Anodized Brown and Rebel Red, that doesn't mean the Jubilee Red and Purple Plexifier aren't decent also - just that the other two are more immediate and visceral and overall more imposing!
Persian Green Screamer [9V] (TS808) - $169
Controls - Level, Tone, Drive, Vintage/Modern side slider switch.
A fantastic dual-mode TS-style overdrive - with Vintage Mode being TS808 like and more textured (no Tone), and where Modern is more transparent and makes good use of the Tone control. For a long time this was my favourite screamer voicing, while the Becos FX Ziffer Overdrive took over when that was released. I've always preferred the Persian Screamer to the Mini Ibanez Tube Screamer though - its more vibrant, and has more range!
Purple Plexifier 4K [9V] (Marshall Plexi SLP) - $179
Controls - Volume, Distortion, Mid, Treble.
I tested this one alongside the Anodized Brown and Fluorescent Orange - both of which are more vibrant and visceral than this Purple Plexifier. The Plexifier is decent, but nowhere near as potent or immediate as the other two. For me it could do with a little more Volume and Gain. I like it, but it gets outmuscled and over-shadowed by the other gain pedals in my OneControl selection.
Rebel Red Distortion [9V] (Hot-Rodded Marshall Plexi/JCM800) - $179
Controls - Volume, Distortion, Treble, Drive.
Based on those California 80's Hot Rodded Marshall Plexi and JCM800 amps - this is a really smart dual-gain Overdrive / Distortions with incredibly granularity of gain range. Another one of the greats from this selection - this sound immediately vibrant and visceral - up there with the Anodized Brown and Fluorescent Orange. Another top tier favourite!
Strawberry Red OverDrive [9V] - [discontinued] - (TS808 adjacent) - $129
Controls - Volume, Treble, Drive.
I've always thought of this wide-ranging Björn Juhl pedal as being somewhat adjacent to a Screamer, it shares some of the same parts but adds a lot of different ones and different values - ranging from Clean to fairly high gain overdrive in its output - a proper all-rounder. It sounds a little better balanced than a screamer - but there are some similar characteristics in the mix too - as there are plenty of super versatile Screamers out there too - like the Becos FX Ziffer. This is decent, while the later 4K and RC variants add quite a bit more potency and versatility. The standard 3-knob variety is a little bit underpowered for me - but the 4 knob variants are pretty superb!
Strawberry Red Overdrive RC [9-18V) (TS808 derived / adjacent - further ReConfigured for Humbuckers) - $179
Control - Volume, Drive, Treble, Low.
This one ramps things up a lot from the standard 3-knob Strawberry, it ovbioulsy adds a second tone control, but along with the 9-18V power option this one delivers a lot more in every area. The now discontinued Strawberry Red has always been decent, but a little bit underpowered - where this RC version - which I think stands for ReCalibrated / ReConfigured or something like that, in being tweaked to better suit Humbuckers. In listening to the demos - the RC variety had a little more about it than the 4K edition - and so I went with the RC version - which seems like definitely the right choice. A really decent well balanced all-rounded overdrive - that has great dynamics - and takes you easily from clean to scream!
