Based on one of the most popular tube screamers, the pocket-sized device is redefining how small and mighty stompboxes can be
Good things, they say, come in small packages, and the miro-sized Olinthus Cicada is aiming to be just that for players with extremely limited pedalboard space.
Quite possibly the world's smallest overdrive pedal, its roughly the size of its namesake insect, meaning it can fit snugly in the palm of your hand. Despite its humble size, its creators say it has "the roar of a lion," with its circuitry based on the heralded Ibanez TS808 Tube Screamer.
Olinthus prides itself on making "whimsically but precisely designed" devices, and here offers a "rich, silky overdrive" that may require tweezers to fiddle its dials, but packs a sound belying of its microscopic nature.
It copies the TS808's Level, Drive, and Tone trio of dials, and the pedal is either engaged or bypassed by depressing its bottom edge. This provides "a satisfying click," for users, and if that isn't enough, there's also the handy spec of an LED light.
Beneath its unassuming chassis, its circuitry is just like its more standard-sized counterparts, but hooking it up to other pedals proved something of a head-scratcher.
With such a small chassis, Olinthus had to get creative with how the pedal connects to the rest of a player's gear. The solution is a complimentary three-way TRRS splitter cable to unite standard pedal power and quarter-inch input/output cables. It does slightly increase the device's real estate, but it's hardly rivaling the Big Muff.
"Yes, we're aware that an overdrive pedal this tiny is a bit ridiculous," says Olinthus. "But by challenging our notions of what an effects pedal has to be, a new world of possibilities opened up that we never expected. Turns out, making it small also makes it pretty awesome."
Available directly from Olinthus' Reverb Shop, players can slip one into their pocket for $99.