Electro-Harmonix unleashes full-featured Pico Series (Mini) DSP Editions of some of its most iconic pedals
I’ve obviously featured the Pico POG previously as the first in this particular series / range to be released - where we now have 9 fully formed candidates - 7 mini editions of EHX Classics - and 2 brand new formats - the Rerun Tape Delay, and Triboro Overdrive + Distortion + Fuzz pedal - all DSP types.
These are somewhat streamlined in feature sets mostly compared to their Nano / Compact equivalent forebears - while some here actually have a little more to them - including the Pitch Fork, POG and Deep Freeze.
Readers will know that I’m keen on innovative mini pedals - and most of these certainly fit that category. Interestingly - while we have consistency in format and control topology on each of these - 4 knobs and a 2 / 3-way Mode push button on each of these. The pricing however is seemingly kind of all over the place - with a 100% differential between the cheapest (Platform Compressor @ $119), and dearest (POG @ $240). Companies normally arrange products into tiers / price-bands - to make it easier to understand and remove barriers to sales - while every single price here is totally different - which is very unusual - and is why I included the pricing in the visual!
I feel there is merit in each of these - a little less for the Triboro to a degree - as if you want an all-in-one high quality mini Overdrive + Distortion + Fuzz pedal - then the Decibelics Reverend is likely the high water mark for that - fully THT, hand-assembled, and all-analog - a mini masterpiece Expandora!
I already have the Nano / Compact edition of the Pitch Fork, and Micro / BB editon of the Attack Decay - so would be delighted to have those in Pico format too. And my other big winners here are the POG and Deep Freeze - which I would consider acquiring also.
For the Platform I feel there are better mini analog compressors like the BecosFX one for instance, and for Delay and Reverb effects I really need for those to be in fully immersive stereo for my rig - so the trio featured here in the bottom row doesn’t quite fit the bill for me - I tend to favour larger workstation formats for those.
All-in-all though a really impressive range to have out all at the same time. Meaning that the only pedal business of note not to ship mini editions these days is Boss. EHX must have picked up on MXR’s success with the format - and I think they will largely do very well with this series - particularly the 4 I picked out as the ones to get - Pico Pitch Fork, POG, Attack Decay, and Deep Freeze!
Here follow the individual details as usual :
Pico Platform Compressor / Limiter - $119
Studio-style compression / limiting in a super-small pico package!
Controls - Type : Green (Compressor) / Orange (Limiter), Volume, Sustain, Attack, Blend.
A cool mini compressor to a degree no doubt, while I would probably lean more into the leading mini analog ones - BecosFX, Fairfield Circuitry, JHS Pedals, Keeley Electronics, MXR, Pigtronix, Wampler, and Xotic Effects all make brilliant varieties. With probably the BecosFX CompIQ Pro Mini my current favourite from that selection. There is much to love about the Pico Platform - and how you can flip between Compression and Limiting. For certain types of effects I tend to have an affinity with one variant over another - meaning that in lots of places I prefer analog types over digital - while that margin is shrinking every year!
Pico Pitch Fork Polyphonic Pitch-Shifter - £218
30 fully polyphonic pitch-shifting options under 15 square inches!
Controls - Mode : Red (Pitch Up) / Green (Pitch Down) / Orange (Dual), Volume, Blend, Sweep, Shift.
Ideally the 'Shift' knob here should be notched - or at least have 10 segment intervals to mark off the different pitch-shift intervals. Which for Pitch Up / Down are - 1 Detune / 2 Minor Second / 3 Major Second / 4 Major Third / 5 Perfect Fourth / 6 Perfect Fifth / 7 Major Sixth / 8 One Octave / 9 Two Octaves / 10 Three Octaves. And for the Dual Mode - 1 Detune / 2 Deep Detune / 3 Major Second Up + Major Sixth Up / 4 Major Third Up + Perfect Fifth Down / 6 Perfect Fifth Up + One Octave Down / 7 Major Sixth Up + Perfect Fifth Down / 8 One Octave Up + One Octave Down / 9 Two Octaves Up + One Octave Down / 10 Three Octaves Up + One Octave Down.
So 1 less Shift Interval than the Nano - but otherwise more controls! Actually even cooler than I thought it was at first glance - will definitely be getting one of these!
Pico POG Polyphonic Octave Generator - $240
Music’s best octave pedal in a powerhouse pico package!
Controls - Filter : Green (Tone), Red (LPF), Orange (HPF), Sub Octave, Octave Up, Dry, Tone.
This is actually superior to its 2 larger Nano and Micro sibling - with 5 controls instead of 3 - and with additional 3-Way Filter Push-button selector, and 4th Tone knob. This is another here that I feel is definitely worth getting in - as the EHX Octaves have a very distinctive tonality - and this is actually really potent - while the relatively high price tag is a slight disincentive - I will bide my time here probably and wait for the price to come down a touch. Definitely a really worthy contender in this space!
Pico Attack Decay Tape Reverse Simulator - $137
Seductive swells and reverse tape effects push the envelope on any pedalboard!
Controls - Green (Mono) / Orange (Poly), Volume, Send, Attack, Decay.
I of course have this one's bigger sibling - the Micro edition one - which has significantly more features and controls - and includes a fuzz voicing - so this is slightly stripped back from there - but will do those Sigur Rós bowed string sounds just as well. Really handy to have that in such a small form factor. The Attack Decay is one of my favourite EXH pedals - and I will definitely be getting this smaller companion at some stage - decent price too!
Pico Deep Freeze Sound Retainer / Sustainer - $193
Expanded Freeze in a lowball-sized package!
Controls - Mode : Green (Latch) / Orange (Momentary) / Red (Auto), Dry, Effect, Speed / Layer, Glass.
Massively extended feature set - 5 controls in place of the Nano's 2. This is another relatively pricey one - funny that all my favourites here are on the pricer end of things! You have evolved and added granularity here in how you hold and sustain those samples essentially! Really cool evolution for sure!
Pico Triboro Bridge Overdrive, Distortion & Fuzz - $144
Bridging the worlds of overdrive, distortion, and fuzz in a sub-compact pico chassis!
Controls - Type : Green (Overdrive) / Orange (Distortion) / Red (Fuzz), Volume, Gain, Bass / Gate, Treble / Tone.
I'm not 100$% convinced with this one - where for me - if you want an all-in-one Mini Overdrive + Distortion + Fuzz - surely you cannot do better than the all-analog Decibelics The Reverend (Expandora), or the Pigtronix Disnortion - those have long been two of my favourites in that category and both sound brilliant! I'm sure there are more - but those really stand out front and centre.
Pico Rerun Tape Delay - $138
Vintage tape-style delay smaller than a cassette player!
Controls - Flutter : Green (Low) / Orange (Medium) / Red (High), Blend, Delay, Saturation, FDBK.
Two new ones in a row here - this is a cool new entry - a Tape Echo style delay with different degrees of Flutter - for that proper vintage feel. Also include Saturation Preamp control - so a really smartly through out Tape Echo all round. It can't really compete with my current favourite DM-101 though!
Pico Canyon Echo Digital Delay with Tap Tempo - $150
Flexible digital delay in the world’s smallest Canyon!
Controls - Tap Div : Green (Eighth) / Orange (Dotted Eighth) / Red (Quarter), Blend, Delay (8 - 3000ms), Filter (LPF / HPF), FDBK.
A distinct departure from its larger 11-Mode Nano sibling, in fact not sure why it retains the Canyon moniker as this is quite a different delay to the other 2 that bear this name. A single voice digital delay with Tap Divisions and LPF (CCW) and HPF (CW) Filtering. Tap Tempo is engaged by holding down the footswitch when powering up - two taps then set the tempo, and if you press-hold while delay is engaged you get infinite repeats / feedback. Trails Mode is adjusted by holding down Type button. A cool mini delay for sure - there's pros and cons for each of the 2 delays in the range - neither though is really the right one for me - I can see how others might find them handy though!
Pico Oceans 3-Verb Multi-Function Reverb - $154
Ultra-compact ambience featuring the spacious sounds of Spring, Plate and Hall Reverb!
Controls - Type : Green (Spring) / Orange (Plate) / Red (Hall), Blend, Time, Delay(Pre - up to 1 Second) / Spring, Tone (Brightness).
Obviously a much streamlined format of the Oceans 11, and Oceans 12 which I have. Here you have just 3 Types to play with - Spring, Plate and Hall Reverb. For the latter two you can pass an hold the footswitch for Infinite sustain Reverb. While for the Spring Type the (Pre)Delay knob becomes a Spring Length parameter control - splitting the sweep into 3 - Short / Medium / Long. Its a neat tiny reverb, while I need my Reverbs to be fully stereo immersive - while I do feel this poses serious competition for some of those larger / compact 3 Mode Reverbs. All 3 time-based effects pedals here are reasonably priced - I would have made them all $150 each - but no they're in ascending order of $138, $150 and $154 - very odd pricing indeed, as I noted at the start!
