“The most ambitious pedal release I’ve undertaken since first opening shop”: The mini pedal market will never be the same again as Electro-Harmonix drops its all-new Pico lineup in its entirety
Downsizing some of Mike Matthews and co's most celebrated effects, EHX's sizable shake-up of the status quo ushers in the arrival of ultra-powerful units and all-new effects
(Image credit: Electro-Harmonix)
Over the past few months, Electro-Harmonix has slowly but surely been assembling its Pico range of mini pedals. First, there was the streamlined POG, then came the downsized Platform compressor pedal.
It didn’t take long for pedal fans to appreciate the significance of the Pico platform. We argued the brand heralded a new era of mini pedals with its Pico POG, and suggested the Pico Platform could be a serious competitor in its own respective ring.
Well, rather than continuing its one-at-a-time release schedule, EHX has now opened the floodgates to its entire Pico line, unleashing seven (yes, seven) new mini pedals upon the gear market, most of which shrink some of the brand’s most popular stompboxes.
There are some new faces in there, though, notably in the form of the three-in-one Triboro Bridge fuzz/overdrive/distortion pedal, and the Rerun Tape Delay.
The rest of the Pico range looks to be of a similar caliber to those initial releases, which have also been joined by the downsized Pitchfork Polyphonic Shifter, Oceans 3-Verb Reverb, Canyon Echo Digital Delay, Deep Freeze Sustainer, and Attack Decay Tape Reverse Simulator.
But there's more to it than that. Indeed, EHX founder Mike Matthews has especially high hopes for the Pico range, labelling it the most “ambitious” pedal drop the brand has embarked upon since 1968.
“We’re expecting very big things from this release,” he said in a statement. “It’s the most anticipated and ambitious one I’ve ever undertaken since first opening shop in 1968.”
Get The Pick Newsletter
All the latest guitar news, interviews, lessons, reviews, deals and more, direct to your inbox!
Read on for a full breakdown – and demo video – of each new pedal.
Electro-Harmonix Pico Pitch Fork
(Image credit: Electro-Harmonix)
You'll soon release that most of these Pico pedals are pretty self-explanatory. The Pico Pitch Fork is, like its larger namesake, a compact pitch shifter, but don't be fooled by its humble size: it sounds like an absolute beast.
30 pitch-shift options can be squeezed from this tiny gizmo, which also somehow offers an expanded control set comprising Volume, Blend, Sweep and Shift parameters. There's also a Mode button for Up, Down and Dual shifts.
This particular Pico pedal is priced at $217.
Electro-Harmonix PICO PITCH FORK Pitch Shifter (EHX Demo by BILL RUPPERT) - YouTube
There are a few EHX Oceans reverb pedals on the market, but none of them are as small as this one – the Pico Oceans 3-Verb, which (as the name would suggest) takes three reverb effects from the Oceans 11 variant and places them in a petit package.
Specifially, those effects – selected via the Type button – are Spring, Plate and Hall 'verbs, which can be tamed by way of Blend, Time, Tone and Delay/Spring knobs. As a neat extra, there's also an Infinite Reverb function for creating ambient shoegaze-y soundscapes.
The Pico Oceans 3-Verb weighs in at $154.
Electro-Harmonix PICO OCEANS 3-VERB Multi-function Reverb (EHX Demo by TOM BURDA) - YouTube
The first delay pedal of the drop is the Canyon Echo. Unsurprisingly based on the larger Canyon Delay & Looper pedal, this Pico version distils its predecessor's "simplicity and versatility into a no-nonsense echo effect".
At its core, the Pico Canyon Echo is a digital echo pedal with three seconds of delay time, as well as a tap tempo function with three beat subdivisions, a Filter parameter to tame treble or bass frequencies, switchable delay tails and, similar to before, an Infinite Repeats mode for ambient tones.
This one will set you back $149.
Electro-Harmonix PICO CANYON ECHO Digital Delay (EHX Demo by BILL RUPPERT) - YouTube
Although its name and aesthetics would imply this is merely a downsized Freeze pedal, the Deep Freeze also takes inspiration from the Superego Synth Engine. In practice, it serves as a sustainer to hold chords or notes for overdubbing or experimental sound manipulation.
Latch, Moment and Auto modes, accessed via the top Mode button, are at the mercy of Dry, Effect, Gliss and Speed/Layer controls.
The Deep Freeze is available for $193.
Electro-Harmonix PICO DEEP FREEZE Sound Retainer / Sustainer (EHX Demo by JON SKIBIC) - YouTube
Here's another pedal that will make you sit up like Leonardo DiCaprio in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood – the Pico Attack Decay. A relative of the original Attack Decay, this mini pedal takes its trademark filter effect and repackages it into its most pedalboard-friendly format yet.
Two modes – Poly and Mono – create either individual or one envelope for the notes you play, and can be reined in using the Volume, Sensitivity, Attack and Decay controls. There's nothing too surprising here; it's just rad to see the Attack Decay in such a teeny weeny chassis.
Price-wise, it sits at the $136 mark.
Electro-Harmonix PICO ATTACK DECAY Tape Reverse (EHX Demo by BILL RUPPERT) - YouTube
Though this pays homage to the tape delay algorithm found in the aforementioned Canyon Delay & Looper, the Rerun doesn't have an EHX namesake, and so can be treated as a newly crafted delay pedal in its own right.
Thanks to that algorithm, the Rerun promises “vintage vibes with modern convenience”, and offers three Flutter modes that are dictated by the self-explanatory Blend, Decay, Saturation and Feedback parameters.
This one can be copped for $137.
Electro-Harmonix PICO RERUN Tape Delay (EHX Demo by DAN MURPHY) - YouTube
Last but certainly not least is the Pico Triboro Bridge, which is a pedal that very much stands on its own two feet. It's not inspired by any existing EHX offering, but instead strives to satisfy those on the hunt to harness the basic “foundations of dirt” – distortion, overdrive and fuzz.
Players can navigate these gain effects using the Type button, with mode-dependent Volume, Gain, Bass and Treble knobs serving different operational purposes. Notably, the fuzz mode has a noise gate and a lowpass filter.
To find out more about each pedal, head over to Electro-Harmonix.
Electro-Harmonix PICO TRIBORO BRIDGE Overdrive, Fuzz & Distortion (EHX Demo by ZACH W, DAN M, ROB P) - YouTube
Matt is a Senior Staff Writer, writing for Guitar World, Guitarist and Total Guitar. He has a Masters in the guitar, a degree in history, and has spent the last 16 years playing everything from blues and jazz to indie and pop. When he’s not combining his passion for writing and music during his day job, Matt records for a number of UK-based bands and songwriters as a session musician.
