If space is the problem or you need a cool guitar pedal, then you should consider the best mini guitar pedals below.
Although these pedals are small, they’re power-packed with a vast collection of reverbs, delays, modulation, overdrive, compression and more to choose from.
They’re your usual guitar pedals in smaller sizes. And even if your pedalboard is not congested and you’re just building space for more, mini guitar pedals enables guitarists to jam more pedals on their boards.
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Why You Should Use a Mini Guitar Pedal
They’re cheaper, smaller and less complex than larger guitar pedals; for most, those three are enough reasons to switch to mini-sized guitars.
You get the same core sound, although not as many controls as found on larger sized guitar pedals, which makes them complex, by the way. And if you’re like me, who wants a great tone without unnecessary trouble, then a mini guitar pedal is the way to go.
Sometimes, the smaller size means reduced components; for example, the pedals have fewer controls. Unlike the Ibanez Mini range, the pedals are cheaper and smaller – but there’s no other difference, so it’s exactly a smaller replica of its bigger version.
Top 10 Best Mini Guitar Pedals
Ibanez Tube Screamer Mini
An overdrive pedal and the mini version of the Ibanez tube screamer, this pedal measures 10.3ounces. It has appealed to many guitarists due to its legendary midrange growl and expressive touch sensitivity, the perfect companion for rock and metal players.
Also, when used with a clean amp, it is an excellent choice for playing blues. It has three knobs which have reduced the complexity of the Ibanez tube screamer, and with its wide tonal range, tonal excellence is a surety. Unfortunately, it requires an external 9V adapter for power.
Pros
- It sounds incredible
- It can be used both with a clean amp and an overdrive/distorted amp
- Setting the drive down, volume up, and mid-tone makes the amp punchier and tighter and produces warm tones.
Cons
- The settings are hard to read
- It cannot be battery powered
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Xotic EP Booster Mini EQ Effect Pedal
This is a versatile boost pedal for that classic tone you’ve been aiming for.
The Xotic EP Booster features up to 20db of gain on tap and two internal DIP switches to customize the boost. In addition, it has two internal switches for bass boost and bright.
More so, the bass boost is for adding the right amount of low end for single coils to keep up while turning off the Bright Switch gives you a full frequency boost that is transparent and delivers back what you put into it.
It features up to +20db of Gain and is a discrete FET preamp model that uses 9- 18vdc operation.
Pros
- It adds sustain and clarity
- The mini pedal produces a warm, crunchy, fluid, full tone
- It comes with a knob that equalizes tone beautifully
- It is effective for pop, rock, blues, country and jazz
Cons
- The knob is not easy to read
Dunlop CBM95 Cry Baby Mini Wah
A mini wah pedal is just the extra flair to add to your pedalboard and, despite its small size, doesn’t cut corners on tone, usability and durability.
At half the size of a standard Cry Baby pedal, the CMB95 is perfect wherever space is necessary without sacrificing tone.
It comes fully equipped with the legendary Fasel inductor, a full sweep range, and three internally adjustable voicings, including Low, Vintage, and GCB95.
What’s more, it captions credible bypass switching and outstanding quality hardware, making it one of the best mini guitar pedals.
Pros
- Tone is great
- Decent sweep and solid wah
- Sturdy and durable
Cons
- It doesn’t come with a LED light to signify whether it is on or off
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Dunlop FFM3 Jimi Hendrix Fuzz Face Mini Distortion
This fuzz face mini pedal features legendary fuzz face tones in smaller, more pedalboard-friendly housings. It contains a bypass switch, status LED, AC power jack & battery and possesses the same circuit as the classic Jhf1 Hendrix fuzz face.
Despite its small size, it delivers the same thick, smooth fuzz face tone that Jimi Hendrix is famous for. It also weighs 10.4ounces
Pros
- A fantastic sounding fuzz face
- Pedalboard friendly
- Highly versatile and usable
Cons
- It needs to be first in the signal chain as it loses clarity when put behind
MXR Timmy Overdrive Guitar Effects Pedal (CSP027)
This overdrive effect pedal generates a vast, responsive spectrum of gritty and textured tones that enhance the sound of your guitar while preserving its fundamental identity.
It is constructed with veteran Nashville pedal builder Paul Cochrane and provides a huge range of overdrive tones in MXR mini housing.
With its clipping options and tone controls, this pedal is a working guitarist’s dream come true. The three different clipping styles cover many situations, including an always-on sound, more compressed and saturated sound for thick chords or anything in between. Then we have the bass and treble controls that offer a further refinement of your sonic profile.
Pros
- Sounds smooth and good
- One of the most versatile overdrive pedals
- Sounds as good as regular sized guitars
Cons
- 4 knobs are small and hard to read
- Requires power supply
TC Electronic Guitar Ditto Looper Effects Pedal
This is a mini looper pedal that takes up minimal space on your pedalboard and yet has the essential looper features. Such as True Bypass, which allows for optimum clarity and zero high-end loss when the pedal is off.
It also has Analog-Dry-Through to ensure your tone remains uncoloured. It contains only one knob with the essential looping features for simplicity of use with 5 minutes of loop time, unlimited overdubs and undo/redo and requires a 9 V power supply providing 100 mA or more.
Pros
- An invaluable songwriting tool because it records chords played
- The audio quality is incredibly accurate
- Not as complex as other loop pedals
Cons
- It is not durable
TC Electronic HOF Mini Reverb pedal
This high-quality reverb pedal offers all the phenomenal reverb tones you could dream of. Every necessary feature is packed into a single knob that offers simplicity and helps you focus on playing and a true bypass that enables optimum clarity.
Also, it comes with a zero high-end loss for when the pedal is off and an analogue-dry-through, no tone colouration, zero latency and no modification of the dry buzzer for absolute tonal clarity.
Free tone print editor where you can create your own custom tone print pedal and also previously stacked with the famous TC Electronic hall reverb, with additional award-winning Hall of Fame reverb effects available via TonePrints.
Pros
- Solid build quality
- It has a variety of reverb sounds
- The clarity of the sound is great
Cons
- You need a smartphone to switch between tone prints
- It requires a separate 9V adapter to work
MXR M290 Phase 95 Mini Guitar Effects Pedal
This MXR M290 Phase 95 mini phaser pedal is an excellent choice of a phaser pedal; despite its small size, it’s built with superior construction, and it possesses refined sound.
It Combines the mixer’s most iconic phase circuits in a single mini housing, the phase 45 and the phase 90 circuits. The 45/90 switch moves on and forth between the phase 45 mode’s indirect two-stage phasing and the phase 90 mode’s more prominent four-stage phasing, while the Script switch toggles between two phasing styles, the modern, which is the default phasing style and the vintage.
Pros
- Produces creamy and spacey phasing sounds
- High quality
- Produced the exact phaser sound
Cons
- LEDs are too many and too bright
Electro-Harmonix Nano POG Polyphonic Octave Generator pedal
Despite its small size, it provides impeccable tracking and sound; it is built with three knobs that control your blend of dry sound, sub-octave and octave up.
It is also highly versatile due to its separate dry and effect output jacks; its noiseless foot switching also increases its appeal to guitarists.
An EHX9.6DC power supply is included making it one of the best mini guitar pedals for you.
Pros
- Highly responsive without any delay
- Rich, clean, sustain
- Produces great sound
Cons
- Its regular-sized version sounds warmer than it
TC Electronic Flashback Mini
This is a mini delay guitar pedal and is TonePrint-enabled to let you induce great tones into your pedal with the free TonePrint App. It has 7seconds of delay time that allows everything from slap backs to reverberating echoes, and it also features a true bypass that allows for optimum clarity and zero high-end loss when the pedal is off.
Pros
- The quality of tone is imposing
- The Sound it produces is huge and thickened, fuller, more organic and natural sounding.
- Small and awesome, built like a tank
Cons
- Switches tend to go bad
Things to Consider When Buying a Guitar Pedal
Many guitarists want to own a guitar pedal because guitar pedals help amplify music sound; with it, you can try something different with your sound or explore.
All in all, it is a good investment for guitarists. However, when choosing a mini guitar pedal, there is a lot to consider.
Budget
Luckily for you, mini guitar pedals are budget-friendly and do not create many dents in your pocket, and there are a great selection of mini pedals out there in different price ranges and are also quite sturdy.
Durability
Another factor is the durability; just because you’re getting a budget-friendly guitar pedal doesn’t mean you shouldn’t enjoy it while it lasts, and it shouldn’t be pulling apart within a few days of using it, the pedal should be of reliable construction. It should consist of both quality and workmanship.
Type of Guitar Pedal
Another important thing to note is the style of music you’ll be playing; this will help determine your choice. There is the distortion pedal, way pedal, reverb pedal and a host of others, including a multi-effects guitar pedal.
All these features will help you make the perfect choice of mini guitar pedal to buy.
Most Used Guitar Pedals – Pedal Effects
Distortion Pedal
Just as the name implies, it takes the sound and adds that crunchy edge, volume and sustain that defines hard rock and metal genres.
It can also be called an overdrive or fuzz based on the level of distortion. It is the most widely used guitar pedal.
The effect of the distortion pedal on the sound your guitar produces is dependent on the type of guitar and amp being used.
Chorus Pedal
On the other hand, this pedal reproduces your sound and gives the effect of multiple guitars playing at once. Unfortunately, sometimes it is negligibly out of tune with you, and they repeatedly recede with faltering vibratos; it thickens up your guitar and bass sounds.
Reverb Pedal
It adds resounding echoes as in a large concert hall, or that reverberates off the walls in a cave. It adds weight to your undistorted guitar sound.
Wah Pedal
This gives a sort of imitative harmony, it’s like a continuous repetition of the ‘wah’ sound, and it can be achieved by simply rocking your foot back and forth on the pedal.
Looper Pedal
They leave the sound as it is and add no effect whatsoever but instead playback what you played. It records for you as you press on the pedal and plays it back to you when you press it again. This feature helps beginner guitarists a lot as it points out your mistakes; it also makes it seem like more than one person is playing the guitar.
Delay Pedal
This replays the original sound played. In addition, it copies each note played after you stop strumming, and you can control the number of times it replays it.
Tuner Pedal
It is necessary for guitarists at all levels, your guitar probably comes with a tuner clipped on, but it cannot be compared to the effect of a tuner pedal. Also, it provides instant, accurate tuning and also alternative tunings. It is the perfect equipment to take your guitar playing to the next level.
Other types of pedals include the compressor pedal, fuzz, overdrive, volume, tremolo, phaser, flange, boost, noise gate, acoustic simulator and EQ pedals.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Which is better between the mini-sized guitar pedal and the normal-sized guitar pedal?
The best is the one that works best for your needs and your settings because they’re both practical choices.
Mini guitar pedals are smaller and cheaper and take up less space on the pedalboard but sometimes, due to the downsizing lose some important features present on the regular-sized pedal.
On the other hand, regular-sized pedals are bigger and more expensive versions, and a pedal that you seldom use will be taking up much space on the pedalboard that could have been room for one more.
The best mini guitar pedals listed above sound as good as regular-sized pedals but most of the other gears are standardized to work with regular sized guitars.
Making a choice comes down to personal preferences and how many pedals you want on your pedalboard.
Are mini guitar pedals worth it?
Yes, they are cheaper. However, they save space on the pedalboard allowing for more pedals and usually sound as good as regular-sized pedals.
Conclusion
Now that we’ve compiled the list of our best mini guitar pedals, it’s up to you now to choose which mini guitar pedal or pedals to buy, and don’t forget that mixing them helps create that sound that is uniquely you. So have fun creating spectacular sounds.
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