User reviews: Electro-Harmonix Micro POG

12/12/11

James...'s review "A bit overpriced but still nice"

Advertised as a 12 string emulator and polyphonic generator but it's more of an octaver and all around crazy sound generator. Let it be known right now, if you want and Octaver go buy an Octaver. This is a different beast altogether. While the general layout is very much like an octave pedal, the effect itself is a lot more broad sonically speaking. It's a digital pedal as far as I can tell. Has dry and wet outputs which I suppose is a good feature to have. Has a wet dry knob and separate switches for up and down octaves. All in all not that complicated of a pedal.

Utilization

To be honest I did not plan on buying this. I received it in a trade for a pedal of near the same value. I am a bit of a pedal collector and having never previously tried the micro pog I decided to give it a shot. Like most of the Electro Harmonic stuff it feels very solid and seems reliable. Battery installation is kind of a pain but if you don't leave it on for hours that shouldn't be a problem. I really don't have any complaints about the configuration. Knobs are simple. No issues.

Sound Quality

This is where words become limited in how I can describe what you hear from this pedal. First of all, I think a lot of players use this pedal for the more traditional 12 string emulation feature, and while I'm not really into that sort of thing, I can attest that the 12 string sounds are pretty darn good. I'm impressed with the accuracy coming out of this small pedal. Usually 12 string emulations sound fake at best, but this one is decent at least. Even believable.

The octave sounds are also pretty good. Nothing I haven't heard before. Be aware that you won't get any bass sounds because the low octave only goes down once. So no bass sounds. The really interesting sounds come out when you mess with the blend knob. You can get some triple octave stuff going on which is great.

Overall Opinion

Honestly I was expecting more. At the end of the day this is a really fancy octave pedal with blend options. I'm not knocking it for that. It's actually one of the better octave pedals I've used and definitely the most flexible octave pedal of this footprint I've found. But for $200 I think I should get more. I suppose the sound quality is what I'm paying for here.

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11/30/11

iamqman's review "Cool Octave"

Characteristics

Electro harmonics is very well-known for their effects pedals and primarily their Big Muff distortion fuzz overdrive pedals. The build very high quality pedals extremely reasonable prices. This pedal is basically an octave reverberator type. So basically it's a filter type pedal that allows you to play your guitar tone with octaves below and underneath. This is a cool pedal for someone who likes to have that octave type sound that really only at pedal like this can achieve.

Utilization

Features

Super fast tracking

Glitch-free polyphonic output

Dry, Sub Octave, and Octave Up controls

Dry and wet outputs

Includes 96DC-200BI power supply

Sound Quality

The tone itself is a cool little unit that only has three control knobs of operation. You have a dry switch , a sub octave control, and an octave up control. You also have an effects out any dry out a allows you to play in multiple amp settings. This is a cool pedal if you're really striving to get a sound and make your guitar or six string guitar sound like a 12 string guitar. Or if you play bass and you play for string and makes it sound like you're playing and 8 string. It's sort of like a chorus pedal in a sense that adds extra sounds that makes it feel like there's a bigger wall of sound.

Overall Opinion

These pedals are a little bit more expensive than a standard Electro Harmonics petals. You can find these new for right around $210 . This pedal will give you a specific sound and it's probably not a sound that you can use a whole lot in a band. So this is a little bit expensive for a pedal that does only one thing. But if you're looking for that particular octave sound and this is a great pedal to own.

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05/31/11

tjon901's review "Cool little octave pedal"

Characteristics

Electro-Harmonix is a New York based company that has been making unique and high end effects pedals for decades. They are well known for their quality and creativeness when it comes to making pedals. Some of the most iconic pedals of the 70s have come from Electro-Harmonix. The Electro-Harmonix Micro POG or Polyphonic Octave Generator is a little octave pedal that lets you get sounds an octave down or an octave up and blend them with your dry sound. It has one input with two outputs. It has a dry output and an effects output. It has 3 knobs a Dry knob with a Sub Octave knob and an Octave Up knob.

Utilization

The pedal is good solid metal construction as you would expect from Electro-Harmonix. The knobs work as you would expect. The Dry knob controls how much of your dry signal you hear in your tone. With it up all the way your normal guitar signal is at regular volume. With it down all the way you cannot hear your regular guitar sound. The Sub Octave knob controls how much bass frequency you get to hear. With it down all the way you do not hear anything but with it up all the way it sounds like a bass at full volume. If you have the bass knob up and the dry knob all the way down you will only hear the bass sound. The Octave up knob does the same thing except an octave higher.

Sound Quality

This pedal works well for single notes or two note chords. Any more notes than that at the same time and the sound starts to get flubby. The bass frequencies sound good when you are in the middle range of the guitar. If you are already playing in the low range of the guitar the bass sound can get a little soggy too. The high octave has a similar trait. If you are playing in the middle of the guitar the high octave sounds great. If you are playing high on the guitar with the high octave on it sounds very shrill. If you have all 3 knobs maxed you can kinda get it to sound like an organ.

Overall Opinion

If you need a good simple octave pedal this is for you. If you keep your playing simple you can easily fill in for a bass on a recording or something with the Micro POG. If you want to sound like an Organ for some reason this is also a good pedal for you. As long as you keep your playing simple and straightforward this pedal sounds really good.

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02/19/11

MGR/Billy's review "Electro-Harmonix Micro Pog"

This is the Micro Pog. 3 knob edition not the big boy with all the sliders. It offers an octave up, octave down and a dry knob which allows you to blend however much or little of the effected or straight signal sounds. POG stands for Polyphonic Octave Generator.

I first saw John Mayer use this and it got a crazy sound somewhere between a Hammond B3 organ and a 12 string guitar.

I bought one at my local music shop for $200. This pedal isn't cheap, but well worth it.

Simple and easy to use. The knobs do what they say they do! Sturdy and compact design. It fit on my pedal board no problem.

The In and Out jacks as well as the power jack are on the side. The tracking is excellent.

Not really much to complain about. Not sure if this is True Bypass or not, but then again if I can\'t tell does it really matter?

Well built. No complaints again. Solid box, the knobs feel good, switch kicks over nicely and the jacks are in usable spots.

Make your guitar sound like a completely different instrument! A fun pedal to mess with. You don\'t often see a pedal that allows the octave up option.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

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02/27/09

moosers's review

Characteristics

The Electro Harmonix Micro POG (Polyphonic Octave Generator) is an analog guitar effect pedal. It has a 1/4 inch input and both a dry out and an effect out in the form of a 1/4 inch jack. It is not rackable as it is a stomp box and it is powered by the 9 volt power supply that comes with it. It also has a really cool look and is easier to use than the regular POG.

Utilization

The configuration of the Micro POG is really easy to follow and use at it only has three knobs. It has a knob for dry signal, one for sub octave and one for octave up. It is easy to get some really cool sounds from this within minutes because of how easy the configuration of it is. I don't have a manual for this but it is easy enough to use that I never needed one.

Sound Quality

The sound from the Electro Harmonix Micro POG is beyond awesome. It gives you a kind of organ like tone and it has great tracking while playing chords. I have only used this with guitar, but would work with any electronic instrument you wanted to plug into it. The sound quality is top notch and is what I have come to expect from Electro Harmonix pedals.

Overall Opinion

I've been using the Electro Harmonix Micro POG for about a year and I really like the sounds this gives my guitar. While not as in depth or versatile as the Electro Harmonix POG, it still sounds great and is a great option for those who want this effect without having to pony up all that dough for the POG. This is an extremely unique guitar pedal and I definitely recommend it for anyone interested in exploring new types of guitar tones.

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03/25/08

rarson's review

Characteristics

The Micro POG is, as its name implies, a polyphonic octave generator. With the three knobs, you can control the mix between the dry signal, sub octave, and octave up. It includes an input, a wet output (effect out), and a dry output, along with a 9V connection, no battery clip. Electro-Harmonix includes a power adapter to get you going right out of the box.

The pedal is housed in a sturdy little enclosure, the same type as the Little Big Muff. It's a smaller version of the regular POG, which has more features and octave capabilities, but for the cheaper price, the Micro POG can do many similar sounds.

Utilization

Easy as pie. Plug it in, dial in the amount of dry, sub, and octave up that you want, and hit the button. It doesn't get any easier, because the effect is so straight-forward.

Sound Quality

Sounds great. I had a Digitech Whammy (the current version, not the original) which didn't track notes anywhere near as good as this does. It tracks really well. It has a sort of character to the sound, and it seems to work better after distortions rather than before, though I suppose it really depends on the sound you like best. If you place the POG after a distortion, the distortion itself is replicated over two octaves, so it gives a more distinct sound of 3 different notes. If you place it before the octaves, the sound kind of runs together. The octaves have sort of a digital sound to them; it doesn't sound bad at all, and I think it sounds pretty neat, but the octave up (for instance) isn't going to sound exactly like the guitar would if you simply played an octave higher. I think this sound quality is interesting and lends another dimension to the palate of sounds you can create with it.

I almost sounds like an organ when you add all three octaves together. And when palm muting, it almost sounds like a brief orchestra hit. I like the sound quite a bit.

Overall Opinion

It's a very cool pedal, and something that can introduce some variety into your current setup. I know Jack White has a regular POG that he uses on some songs like "Blue Orchid," and despite the octave limitations, you can get basically the same sound with the Micro POG. But I just love playing with this thing. Moving it around in your chain will help you find the sounds you like best. It's a lot of fun to play with, and the quality of the effect is great. I actually liked it so much that I returned the Whammy, because the Whammy doesn't have anything on the Micro POG when it comes to sound quality.

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Electro-Harmonix Micro POG

Electro-Harmonix Micro POG user reviews ( 9/10) - 13 user reviews

James...'s review "A bit overpriced but still nice"

iamqman's review "Cool Octave"

tjon901's review "Cool little octave pedal"

MGR/Billy's review "Electro-Harmonix Micro Pog"

moosers's review

rarson's review

4db9sa's review ( translated ) Improve this translation " Super!"

Jedi64's review ( translated ) Improve this translation " Of Tonerre"

adbass's review ( translated ) Improve this translation " A must for the octave"

Nicolas Taussac's review ( translated ) Improve this translation " Octaver the best!"