The One Control Silver Bee 4K Mini is a compact overdrive pedal built around a circuit Bjorn Juhl, the analog designer known as BJF or BJFe, customized from his earlier Honey Bee OD. Where the Honey Bee leans toward a darker, looser amp feel, the Silver Bee is voiced after classic American "silvery" combo amps: One Control says Juhl conceived it to capture that "on the edge" sound, with shimmering treble just on the brink of distortion, and Delicious Audio describes the result as running from clean to dynamic overdrives with a flat low end and an airy top end12.
The 4K Mini is a shrunken version of the regular Silver Bee, which One Control announced at NAMM in January 20192. It uses mini-sized SMD (surface-mount) parts, and after what Delicious Audio reports as many years of research by BJF himself, the design accounts for the behavior of those smaller components so the original BJFE tone is reproduced2.
What it does to your sound
The Silver Bee sits in One Control's line of BJF-designed drives alongside pedals like the One Control Honey Bee and the One Control Blue Bee OD 4K Mini. Compared with the Honey Bee it is based on, One Control describes the Silver Bee as having a tighter, more modern overall sound, with sparkling highs, sharp edges, and sweet, subtly distorted amp-like tones1. Delicious Audio frames it the same way: a Honey Bee-derived circuit voiced after classic American "silvery" combo amps, from clean to dynamic overdrives with flat low end and airy top end2.
For a player, that means the pedal is aimed at the edge-of-breakup territory rather than high gain: the treble sits forward and the low end stays controlled, which suits clean-ish amp settings where the pedal supplies the push1.
The controls
The 4K Mini keeps the Silver Bee's control set in a small enclosure. One Control's page for the Silver Bee OD Limited BJFE Style Wave, the circuit the Mini is built from, lists four knobs plus the switch1, and Delicious Audio's listing of the Mini confirms the same layout2:
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Drive | Adjusts the intensity of overdrive1 |
| Volume (V) | Adjusts the overall signal volume12 |
| Bass | Adjusts the low/mid frequencies of the output signal1 |
| Treble (T) | Adjusts the high frequencies of the output signal; on the Mini, tone centered on high-frequency components12 |
One Control calls the Bass and Treble pair a highly controllable 2-band EQ1, which is more tone shaping than many mini drives offer.
The Vintage/Modern switch
Under the output jack sits a VINTAGE/MODERN switch that changes the pedal's headroom response and, as Delicious Audio puts it, subtly changes the response of the low frequencies2. The two positions:
- Modern: the upper side of the switch, a slightly thicker response2
- Vintage: the lower side, a slightly cleaner tone2
Delicious Audio explains the reasoning: the Vintage position reproduces the earliest Honey Bee OD sound, with slightly more sag and a shift in the low mid frequencies, giving players the option to switch to the earlier style circuit2. If you know the One Control Honey Bee, the switch is effectively a choice between the original Honey Bee voicing and the Silver Bee's tighter, more modern take.
Power and specifications
The Silver Bee 4K Mini runs on 9V DC, center negative, and draws only 3.6 mA12. That is a very low current draw, well under what a typical isolated output supplies, so the pedal is easy to fit on a shared supply alongside other low-draw boxes.
Batteries are not included with the pedal2, even though the listed weight accounts for one being inserted (about 200 grams with a battery, against roughly 160 grams without)2.
The remaining published specifications12:
| Specification | Value |
|---|---|
| Input impedance | 270K12 |
| Output impedance | 25K12 |
| S/N ratio | -90dBm2 |
| Current consumption | 3.6 mA12 |
| Drive voltage | 9V DC, center negative12 |
The enclosure is aluminum on the full-size Silver Bee OD Limited BJFE Style Wave1, the limited-edition pedal the Mini's circuit comes from. The 4K Mini measures 39W x 100D x 31H mm excluding protrusions, or 47W x 100D x 48H mm including them2, which is the point of the format: it fits into gaps on a crowded board where a full-size drive would not.
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Questions
Does the One Control Silver Bee 4K Mini take a battery?
The pedal's listed weight of about 160 grams rises to 200 grams when a battery is inserted, so the enclosure is designed to take one. However, batteries are not included with the pedal, so you need to supply your own if you want to run it without a power supply.
Who designed the Silver Bee?
The Silver Bee was designed by Bjorn Juhl, the Swedish analog effects designer known as BJF or BJFe. He conceived it drawing from his earlier Honey Bee OD design, and the 4K Mini is a version he customized himself using mini-sized SMD parts to reproduce the original BJFE tone.
What is the difference between Vintage and Modern on the Silver Bee?
The Vintage/Modern switch changes the pedal's headroom and low-frequency response. Vintage reproduces the earliest Honey Bee OD sound, with slightly more sag and a shift in the low mid frequencies for a slightly cleaner tone. Modern is the default tighter, thicker response.
How much current does the Silver Bee 4K Mini draw?
The Silver Bee 4K Mini draws 3.6 mA at 9V DC, center negative. That is a very low draw, so it shares a modest power supply easily with other low-current pedals on a small board.
Sources (2)
- Silver Bee OD Limited BJFE Style Wave (OC-SVBODn-BJW), One Control USA
- One Control Silver Bee 4K Mini Overdrive, Delicious Audio, 2023-04-04
