The Walrus Audio Mayflower is a low-to-medium gain overdrive pedal, released around 2012 as one of the company's early effects. Guitar Pedal X describes it as very much its own take on the Timmy circuit, the Paul Cochrane design, rather than a straight copy1. It is long discontinued, coinciding with when Paul Cochrane came back from hiatus1.
What it does
MusicRadar's reviewer Trevor Curwen describes the Mayflower as a low-to-medium gain overdrive that is tonally very transparent, keeping your tone intact unless you want to use the Bass and Treble knobs for a bit of shaping2. Pedal of the Day's reviewer Mike B found that warm, biting drive tones are easily achievable, and that the Drive control has a nice range, allowing for everything from a small amount of crunch to a raging, crisp and powerful overdrive, bordering on distortion and fuzz when maxed out3.
At the low end of its range it can double as a boost: with the Drive control at minimum and the Level anywhere above two o'clock, MusicRadar found it offers a clean boost with just a touch of grit2.
The controls
The Mayflower keeps things simple, with four knobs and a single footswitch5.
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Level | Output volume; above two o'clock with Drive at minimum it acts as a clean boost2 |
| Drive | Gain, from a small amount of crunch to a raging overdrive bordering on distortion and fuzz when maxed out3 |
| Bass | Separate bass EQ to shape your sound to work with your amp, pedals and pickups3 |
| Treble | Separate treble EQ to shape your sound to work with your amp, pedals and pickups3 |
| Footswitch | On/off footswitch5 |
Where it came from
The Mayflower arose at around a similar time to the Jan Ray, in and around 2012, according to Guitar Pedal X1. As a Walrus Audio project it came in myriad different colourway editions, and Mike B described a beautiful blue enclosure with more of the great graphic prints that make their gear so easily recognizable3. Like all Walrus pedals, he found the Mayflower is as tough, rugged and sturdy as you get3.
The Mayflower is long discontinued, coinciding with when Paul Cochrane came back from hiatus1. It sits alongside other early Walrus overdrives such as the Walrus Audio Voyager and the Walrus Audio Messner, and the company's current overdrive range includes the Walrus Audio Ages and the Walrus Audio 385.
What reviewers said
"Warm, biting drive tones are easily achievable here"
"And it's tonally very transparent, keeping your tone intact unless you want to use the Bass and Treble knobs for a bit"
Guitar World's Alex Lynham wrote about the Timmy as classic gear, giving the Mayflower's street price as $179, £169 as of April 20204. Guitar Pedal X, in a look at Timmy-style transparent overdrives, placed the Mayflower among four of a kind, describing it as very much its own take on the circuit with some timbral differences between all four varieties1.
Videos
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Questions
Is the Walrus Audio Mayflower a Timmy clone?
Guitar Pedal X describes the Mayflower as very much its own take on the Timmy circuit rather than a straight copy, noting that there are timbral differences between the Timmy-style pedals it looked at. The Mayflower shares the Timmy's four-knob layout of Level, Drive, Bass and Treble, but Walrus Audio put its own character on the circuit.
Is the Walrus Audio Mayflower true bypass?
Yes. Vintage Guitar magazine's review notes that the Mayflower has true bypass, along with four knobs (Level, Drive, Bass, and Treble) and an on/off footswitch.
Can the Mayflower be used as a clean boost?
MusicRadar's reviewer found that with the Drive control at minimum and the Level anywhere above two o'clock, the Mayflower offers a clean boost with just a touch of grit. That makes it usable as a boost as well as a low-to-medium gain overdrive.
Is the Walrus Audio Mayflower discontinued?
Yes. Guitar Pedal X describes the Mayflower as long discontinued, coinciding with when Paul Cochrane came back from hiatus. The pedal was released around 2012 and is no longer in production.
How much did the Walrus Audio Mayflower cost new?
Guitar Pedal X lists the Mayflower at $179 when new, and Guitar World gives a street price of $179, £169 as of April 2020.
Sources (5)
- Guitar Pedal X, Guitar Pedal X, 2024-06-20
- Walrus Audio Mayflower review, MusicRadar, 2017-05-17
- Walrus Audio Mayflower Overdrive, Pedal of the Day, 2014-10-11
- Paul Cochrane Timmy: history of the classic overdrive pedal, Guitar World, 2020-04-03
- Walrus Audio Deep Six and Mayflower; Celestial Effects’ Cancer Wah the Fuzz?, Vintage Guitar magazine, 2015-10-14
