The Tone City Mickey is a Tone City distortion pedal, currently around $54.90. Close alternatives include the Strymon Riverside and the Aria Lil' RAT Distortion. It pairs well with the Marshall JTM45 45W Tube Guitar Amp Head and the Laney RB3 Richter Bass Amp.
Tone City Mickey
Tone City · pedal
The Tone City Mickey is a compact, pedalboard-friendly distortion in the classic RAT-style rodent-pedal tradition. Despite having only three controls, Volume, Tone, and Gain, each has a wider usable range than expected for a mini pedal, and a Mod switch toggles between two clipping settings spanning sweet crunch through fat, crushing high-gain tones. It responds well to guitar volume knob and pick attack changes, giving it real dynamic range rather than a fixed, static distortion character despite its simple control set.
- clipping
- pick attack
- simple
- distortion
- crunch
- sweet
- dynamic
- responsiveness
Good for
- Busking
- Live
Price updated Aug 24, 2026
Genres the Tone City Mickey is commonly used in
- Rock
- Alternative Rock
- Christian Rock
cited
Inferred from shared tonal signals, not a stated genre tag. - Punk
cited
Inferred from shared tonal signals, not a stated genre tag. - Blues Rock
cited
Inferred from shared tonal signals, not a stated genre tag. - Blues
cited
Inferred from shared tonal signals, not a stated genre tag.
Amps that pair well with the Tone City Mickey
Marshall JTM45 45W Tube Guitar Amp Head
amplifier
24% matchFeed a crunchy signal into Marshall JTM45 45W Tube Guitar Amp Head and it comes out closer to mid-forward
Laney RB3 Richter Bass Amp
Laney
23% matchLaney RB3 Richter Bass Amp takes that crunchy character and pushes it toward mid-forward
Ceriatone HRM 50
Ceriatone
tonal matchStack Ceriatone HRM 50 on top and a crunchy tone tightens toward mid-forward
Ceriatone Overtone Special HRM Bluesmaster 50
Ceriatone
tonal matchFeed a crunchy signal into Ceriatone Overtone Special HRM Bluesmaster 50 and it comes out closer to mid-forward
Peavey 112-6 1x12
Peavey
tonal matchPeavey 112-6 1x12 pushes a crunchy tone toward mid-forward
Roland Cube Street EX
Roland
tonal matchStack Roland Cube Street EX on top and a crunchy tone tightens toward mid-forward
Mesa Boogie Mark I
Mesa Boogie
tonal matchMesa Boogie Mark I takes that crunchy character and pushes it toward mid-forward
Gallien-Krueger Legacy 212
Gallien Krueger
tonal matchStack Gallien-Krueger Legacy 212 on top and a crunchy tone tightens toward mid-forward
Pedals that stack with the Tone City Mickey
Browne Amplification Gritador
Browne Amplification
21% matchFeed a crunchy signal into Browne Amplification Gritador and it comes out closer to mid-forward
Greer Southland
Greer
21% matchStack Greer Southland on top and a crunchy tone tightens toward clean boost
Wampler Cory Wong
Wampler
18% matchWampler Cory Wong leans toward clean boost, and that's a real, usable character to pair with
Caroline Guitar Company Parabola State Tremolo
Caroline Guitar Company
15% matchRun Caroline Guitar Company Parabola State Tremolo after Tone City Mickey in the signal chain, clear of Tone City Mickey's own gain stage
Catalinbread Epoch-Set
Catalinbread
11% matchKeep Tone City Mickey's crunchy voice out front: Catalinbread Epoch-Set goes after Tone City Mickey in the signal chain so its warm voice doesn't muddy it — goes in the amp's FX loop (or last, into a clean amp)
Boss RV-5 Digital Reverb
pedal
8% matchPut Boss RV-5 Digital Reverb after Tone City Mickey in the signal chain, clear of Tone City Mickey's own gain stage — goes in the amp's FX loop (or last, into a clean amp)
Spaceman Effects Atlas IV
Spaceman
tonal matchFeed a crunchy signal into Spaceman Effects Atlas IV and it comes out closer to clean boost
MXR CAE Wah
MXR
tonal matchStack MXR CAE Wah on top and a crunchy tone tightens toward mid-forward
Boutique & premium upgrades
Walrus Audio Fundamental Distortion
Walrus Audio
75% similarityShared character: volume, simple, crunch
EarthQuaker Devices Zoar
EarthQuaker Devices
72% similarityShared character: fat, pick_attack, pedal
Fulltone Custom Shop OCD Gold Standard LTD
Fulltone
70% similarityShared character: pedal, crunch, distortion
Catalinbread Karma Suture
Catalinbread
69% similarityShared character: sweet, pedal, distortion
Walrus Audio Ages Five-State Overdrive
Walrus Audio
69% similarityShared character: pick_attack, volume, pedal
DigiTech DOD Overdrive Preamp 250
Digitech
92% similaritysimilar tone character
Similar charactersee all similar tone character →
Strymon Riverside
Strymon
71% similarityShared character: sweet, pick_attack, pedal
Aria Lil' RAT Distortion
Aria
70% similarityShared character: volume, crunch, distortion
Suhr Riot
Suhr
69% similarityShared character: pick_attack, volume, crunch
One Control OC Dyna RED
One Control
66% similarityShared character: pick_attack, distortion
Walrus Audio Fundamental Series Distortion
Walrus Audio
93% similaritysimilar tone character
Dunlop MXR M94SE Super Badass Distortion
Dunlop
92% similaritysimilar tone character
See all alternatives to the Tone City Mickey (cheaper + boutique) →
Questions people ask
What are good alternatives to the Tone City Mickey?+
The closest matches in character are the Strymon Riverside, the Aria Lil' RAT Distortion, the Suhr Riot. Boutique upgrades: Walrus Audio Fundamental Distortion, EarthQuaker Devices Zoar, Fulltone Custom Shop OCD Gold Standard LTD.
What pairs well with the Tone City Mickey?+
Strong matches from rig and tone-complementarity evidence: Marshall JTM45 45W Tube Guitar Amp Head, Laney RB3 Richter Bass Amp, Ceriatone HRM 50 — Feed a crunchy signal into Marshall JTM45 45W Tube Guitar Amp Head and it comes out closer to mid-forward.
How much does the Tone City Mickey cost?+
Around $54.90 (live listing price, updated Aug 24, 2026).
Compare
- vs Walrus Audio Fundamental Series Distortion
- vs Dunlop MXR M94SE Super Badass Distortion
- vs DigiTech DOD Overdrive Preamp 250