Suitable for electric guitars, the Soul POG combines Electro-Harmonix’s Soul Food overdrive pedal with the Nano POG polyphonic octave generator into one multi-effect pedal, giving you distortion, octave generation, and various combinations thereof. The unit provides white knobs for the discrete Nano POG section and black knobs for the separate Soul Food section, making it clear which parameter affects which part of the pedal. Two footswitches are also provided, one to engage each circuit, with corresponding LEDs visibly announcing the engaged or disengaged state of the pedal.
Of course, you can run both sections of the unit at the same time. If you choose to do so, you’ll find the toggle switch in the center of the stompbox quite handy, as it changes the order of effects in the signal chain, putting one section before the other, arranged in a manner suitable to your needs.
The pedal utilizes an interesting routing scheme, giving you a mono 1/4" input and two 1/4" output jacks—one for dry signal, and one for processed signal. The effect output provides audio from the Soul POG, so you can separate your distorted/octavized sound and route it to its own destination point. The dry output, on the other hand, routes the buffered, bypassed input straight into to a destination of your choice, and will not be affected by the Dry knob.
Also provided is an effects loop, complete with 1/4” send and return jacks. Through this loop, you can put effects in the signal path between the Soul Food and Nano POG sections of the pedal, thereby increasing your sonic possibilities. Included with the pedal is an Electro-Harmonix 9.6DC-200BI power supply.
Controls
Soul Food Section
DRIVE Knob: This controls the amount of input gain. As you turn this knob clockwise, the overdrive ranges from a clean boost—in the fully counter-clockwise position—to classic distortion (in the fully clockwise setting). In addition, turning this knob clockwise brings out more midrange in your tone.
TREBLE Knob: This knob acts like a conventional tone knob on a tone stack. When set to 12 o’clock (50%), the tone is neutral. As you turn the knob clockwise from the 12 o’clock setting, the treble gain increases, making your overall sound brighter. Turn the dial counter-clockwise from 12 o’clock, and the high end is reduced, emphasizing the lows.
VOL Knob: This control sets the output level of the Soul Food section of the Soul POG. As it’s turned clockwise, the output volume increases.
SOUL FOOD Footswitch and LED: This footswitch selects whether the Soul Food section is engaged or in bypass mode. When the Soul Food is engaged, its corresponding LED is lit. The Soul Food circuit in the Soul POG is always in buffered bypass.
Nano POG Section
DRY Knob: This controls the output volume of the Dry signal at the Effect Out jack. As this knob is turned clockwise, the volume of the Dry signal at the Effect Out jack increases.
SUB OCTAVE Knob: This dial controls the output volume of the Sub Octave signal, which is tone generated at one octave (half-frequency) below the original input signal. As this knob is rotated clockwise, its level increases.
OCTAVE UP Knob: This knob controls the output volume of the Octave Up signal, which is tone-generated at one octave (double-frequency) above the original input signal. As this knob is rotated clockwise, its level increases.
MODE Switch: This toggle switch changes how the Octave Up signal responds to your playing. With the Mode LED off, you’ll be utilizing the default Nano POG algorithm, which is better for single-note runs, and provides lower latency. With the Mode LED on, the upper-octave notes contain enhanced harmonics and improved polyphonic capabilities.
POG Footswitch and LED: The POG footswitch selects whether the Nano POG is engaged or in buffered bypass. When the effect is engaged, its corresponding LED is lit.
EFFECT ORDER Switch: This toggle switch, located in the middle of the Soul POG, selects which effect comes first in the signal chain. With the switch to the right, the signal chain is Soul Food going into Nano POG. With the switch to the left, the signal chain is Nano POG going into Soul Food.
