Pigtronix Releases 3 More Killer Mini Pedals - Constellation Analog Delay, Moon Pool Phaser + Tremolo, and Space Rip Analog Synth
Pigtronix has gained quite a reputation and track record for Mini pedals of late - particularly the trio of Disnortion Micro Fuzzstortion, Octava Analog Octave Fuzz, and Philosopher’s Tone Germanium Gold Compressor. The Class A Clean Boost, regular Philosopher’s Tone Compressor, and Gatekeeper Noise Gate are decent too - but not quite as appealing as the principal Mini Flagship Trio.
The 3 new Mini Pedals are all killer - and would be equally impressive at full-size - while these half-pints are all uniquely feature-rich varieties which are helping to change the game for Mini Pedals - these would all surely fit in with my Mini State of the Art features - as each of these is a category leader.
I would say that the Analog Delay looks very similar to the Xvive Echoman Mini - and sports the same controls, albeit with slightly different labels. The Moon Pool and Space Rip seem to be entirely unique as far as I can see.
I already have the Mothership 2 - Pigtronix’s full-size analog synth, which is highly capable, but somewhat fiddly in use. This Mini Space Rip variety hugely simplifies the Mothership and makes for a very easy to use mini synth.
Possibly the most interesting one here is the combined Phaser and Tremolo Moon Pool which has highly reactive Sensitivity response to playing dynamics - increasing or decreasing the intensity of each Modulation depending on how you set the Dynamics switches.
In terms of my infinite wishlist - it’s the Octava that I’m still keenest to get my hands on - followed by the Moon Pool and Space Rip!
Here follow the details, note that the Moon Pool doesn’t as yet have a demo - I will add that when it materialises! :
Constellation Analog Delay - $179
This uses MN3005 Bucket Brigade Device chips - same as the Xvive Echoman, and delivers 600ms of delay - with either Chorus or Vibrato Modulation on the tails. Identical control topology to the Xvive Echoman as follows :
- Time : Up to 600ms of echo
- Mix : Dry/Wet Balance
- Mod : Degree of Modulation - Chorus or Vibrato as set by Feel button
- Repeats : Degree of Feedback
- Feel : In = Chorus, Out = Vibrato
Moon Pool Phaser + Tremolo - $179
The one currently with no demo is probably my favourite of the lot - combining a decent Phaser and Tremolo in the one unit - and with smart reactive Sensitivity which increases or decreases the degree of modulation based on your picking dynamics. You have individual Dynamics controls for both Phaser and Tremolo - so you can have one increasing while the other moves in the opposite direction - plenty of scope for interesting patterns and textures here - and definitely the star performer from this batch.
Here are its controls :
- Phase Speed : Clockwise for Faster
- Trem Speed : Clockwise for Faster
- Depth : Intensity for both Phaser and Trem
- Sens : The amount of signal needed to trigger change in speed when Dynamic Processing is turned on
- Trem / Both / Phaser : Switch Up for Trem only, Down for Phaser only, Middle for Both
- Phaser Dyn : Phaser modulation increases in response to playing dynamics, Middle = no change, Down = decreases
- Trem Dyn : Up = Tremolo modulation increases in response to playing dynamics, Middle = no change, Down = decreases
Space Rip Analog Synth - $179
mentioned how I have the full-size Mothership Analog Synth - and how that can be a little tricky to dial in. The smaller stripped down variety surely has significantly increased the ease of use - while there are a few cool Mini Synth pedals out there including the Mooer E7 Synth - but very few are fully analog like this one.
You have six handy controls to tune each voicing to your preferences :
- Rate : Controls Speed of Waveform motion / pulse
- Tune : Fine-Tune Synth Voicing
- Mix : Clean/Synth Blend
- Sub : Adds additional Sub Octave Voice - one Octave down from input signal
- Shape : Waveform Type - Sawtooth / Square Wave
- Octave : Drops entire Synth voicing down an additional Octave
Final Thoughts
I do like my mini pedals - and mini fuzzes in particular, while there are all kinds of uses for these - particularly on busy modern pedalboards where space is tight. I see the Moon Pool being the real winner here - probably ousting the Mooer Trelicopter as the favourite Mini variety - where you get a little more here - somewhat more refined design - with cooler knobs too.
As mentioned, the one Pigtronix I have still to pin down is the Octava Mini Octave Fuzz - which has been on my wishlist for the longest time. I highly recommend the Disnortion Micro too - probably the most versatile mini drive created yet.
All of these others are nice-to-haves for me rather than essentials - while I do really like the Moon Pool and Space Rip and may very well pick those up too eventually.
