The World's Smallest Effects Pedal: Meet the Olinthus Cicada

The Olinthus Cicada is as small as its namesake insect, but packs the roar of a lion. It sings with the same rich, silky, analog overdrive of the Ibanez TS808 Tube Screamer, but in a body that could fit in your pocket—or stay within easy reach on top of an amp, synth, or desk top, or, hell, even taped right on a guitar.

The lovingly designed effect comes to us from a brand new company—Olinthus—and it's available right now on Reverb, directly from the makers, just in time for stocking-stuffing season.


Olinthus Cicada perched on a guitar body

The team at Olinthus are a passionate bunch, dedicated to making devices that are whimsically but precisely designed, for the sheer joy of bringing something unexpected into the world.

"Yes, we're aware that an overdrive pedal this tiny is a bit ridiculous," they say. "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."

The internal analog circuitry works just the same as larger pedals, even if greatly reduced in size. But with such a small chassis, they had to get creative with how the pedal connects to the rest of your gear. Included with the Cicada is a three-way TRRS splitter cable, which brings together standard pedal power and quarter-inch input/output cables together in one mini connection.

Watch Olinthus' launch video of the Cicada

To turn the pedal off or on, one simply has to depress the bottom edge, which offers a satisfying click into place and triggers an LED light to let you know.

Having strung two Cicadas together already for a gnarly double-overdrive sound, we can imagine a future in which we have a pedalboard full of these little, inventive creatures.

Get your Cicada today on Reverb, directly from Olinthus, for $99.

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