Product Review: The Vintage Electro-Harmonix Micro Synthesizer
I have been a huge fan of Electro-Harmonix’s all analog Micro Synthesizer for years, but it wasn’t until the early 90′s, when I played in a band called Distortion Felix, that I purchased my first. The band’s guitarist Manny and I used those pedals all over the two records we did in the 90′s. Although Electro-Harmonix made a Micro Synthesizer for bass (which I also own), I feel like the guitar Micro Synthesizer works like no other. As I have stated many times on PedalsAndEffects, no two vintage pedals sound the same and you have to search for ones that sound good to your ears. The guitar one happened to sound better to mine.
In this old video I made before I started PedalsAndEffects, I sampled a single note in my Digitech PDS 20/20, manipulated it in the delay part of the pedal to give it an ascending/descending loop then put that signal into the Micro Synthesizer. All of the Micro Synth’s slider functions work as they should which makes it easy to hear some of what this pedal is capable of doing. I think my bass sounds like a synthesizer.
One of the coolest parts of the vintage Micro Synthesizer is the input control on the bottom of the pedal that you can access via a small screwdriver. This allows you to crank the input to really get the pedal to react over the top.
Although it wasn’t my intention to call out Electro- Harmonix on the quality of their new Micro Synthesizers versus their vintage ones, I did recently compare my vintage pedal to their new Micro Synth and there was virtually no comparison. I might as well have been comparing a real vintage Micro Synthesizer to a bad clone copy. I scratch my head every time I pick up a new Electro-Harmonix pedal and notice the weak construction; the reissues also don’t hold a candle to the vintage ones when it comes to sound. I still believe in Electro-Harmonix’s design team’s ability to come up with interesting pedals like the Ravish Sitar, but even that pedal has gone down on me on tour and in the studio.
Until there is an overhaul at Electro-Harmonix, I’ll continue to favor their older pedals. Sometimes, new doesn’t always mean better.
whats that red digitech pedal I always see you using?
Cool review dude, I have been considering getting a synth pedal and this review came just in time. Maybe you could do a video comparing the guitar synth wiht the bass one? It would be cool to hear the see the differences.
I’ve got to get the bypass switch on my Bass Micro Synth fixed. It’s one from a few years ago and it does sound better than new. Juan- have you gotten any of your Micro Synths modded? I know there was a user on the EHX and TalkBass forums called shotgunn that was doing some mods on these that a lot of folks were digging.
One of my Micro Synths is modded by the creator who worked at EMS synths. It is super insane.
This has been a mainstay on my pedal board for several years until the plastic sliders broke and the footswitch went. Juan, don’t apologize for the truth, Series 1(70s) and Series 2 (90s- 2004?) big box EH Micro synthesizers blow away the new compact version. I would advise to purchase either the guitar or bass version of the classic while you still can. The sub octave in the pedal is fierce and very similar to an Octave Multiplexer. As far as mods go, there are many and there is way to put an expression out which controls the sweep and also change the guitar version to bass and vice versa. Sad to say EH wont service them anymore and apparently have no remaining backstock parts for repair, which I find hard to believe. CONS: Not a true bypass pedal. There is a distinct cut of the signal, I would suggest using a line selector pedal and take the Synth out of your signal chain. Also, the most common break is the footswitch which weakens the integrity of the circuit board over time which could crack it. Don’t stomp too hard. Anyhow, the pros weigh out the cons heavily. Heres an example of the Series 2 bass synth on an all analog (Quantegy 456 2″ tape) recording I did in 2003 with my group. The first few measures are just the pedal and my bass which can fool a casual listener. Listen at 2:42 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42BgB6Y-u_s Love this website! Would love to contribute in any way. I am obsessive about pedals and bass sonic exploration. Hope we get reacquainted through mutual friends in the future Juan. peace.