Mosky Mini Screamer Overdrive

The Mosky Mini Screamer Overdrive is a mini-format overdrive pedal from Mosky, built on the Tube Screamer circuit and carrying the model number MP-38. Mosky describes it as a Tube Screamer overdrive with a 100% analog signal path, and RockBoard's PedalPedia entry says it aims for "the smooth, touch-sensitive clipping and harmonic warmth characteristic of vintage tube-style overdrive"¹². For a player, that means the familiar midrange-forward, touch-responsive overdrive sound of the classic green pedal, in an enclosure small enough to fit on a crowded pedalboard.

What it does: a mini Tube Screamer overdrive

Mosky's product page lists the effect type as Tube Screamer overdrive and states plainly that the pedal is "Based on Tube Screamer"¹. The Tube Screamer, originally designed by Susumu Tamura, is the circuit most overdrive pedals are measured against, and its family includes the Ibanez Tube Screamer and the mini-format Ibanez Tube Screamer Mini, which shares the same three-control layout³⁴⁵.

The Mini Screamer sits in Mosky's range of mini pedals alongside the MOSKY Golden Horse and the Mosky Mini TM Overdrive. Mosky builds it by hand and lists an on/off LED indicator and a true bypass footswitch, which RockBoard describes as keeping the signal transparent when the effect is disengaged¹².

The controls: Drive, Tone and Level

The control set is the standard Tube Screamer three-knob layout²:

Mosky's own page lists the same three controls: a Drive (Overdrive) control, a Tone control and a Level control¹. This matches the Ibanez Tube Screamer Mini's Level, Tone and Overdrive controls, so anyone moving between the two pedals will find the knobs where they expect them⁶.

The circuit: a JRC4558D Tube Screamer design

The Mini Screamer uses a JRC4558D op-amp IC, the same chip associated with vintage Tube Screamer circuits¹. The HomeBrew Electronics Power Screamer, another Tube Screamer-derived overdrive, is likewise based on the JRC4558D⁷. Mosky also lists its capacitor types as CBB, ceramic and tantalum among others¹.

The Tube Screamer circuit has been the basis for many overdrives beyond Mosky's. The Hungry Robot Mosfet Screamer is described by its maker as "my take on the fabled tubescreamer"⁸. The Mini Screamer is a straightforward take on the design rather than a modified or extended one.

Power: 9V, 100mA

Mosky specifies 9V DC power with a negative center, and recommends a regulated supply¹. RockBoard lists the current draw as 100mA². There is no battery option in the maker's specifications, so a 9V pedal power supply is the intended source.

How big is it?

Mosky lists the Mini Screamer's weight as 125g¹. It is a mini-format pedal that takes up little board space¹.

Mini Screamer vs Green Screamer

Mosky also makes the Mosky Green Screamer, a full-size analog overdrive with the same Level, Tone and Drive controls⁹¹⁰. The difference is voicing: the Green Screamer adds a four-mode selection knob offering TS808, SD1, M and TS9 modes, letting one pedal cover several Screamer-family sounds⁹. The Mini Screamer has no mode switch, so it delivers a single Tube Screamer voice in a smaller box. Players comparing the two circuits behind the Green Screamer's modes may also find the Boss SD-1 vs Ibanez TS9 comparison useful.

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