Electro-Harmonix Superego+

The Superego gets the ‘plus’ treatment with multieffects and external control options. Robbie Stamp takes it around the block

The Superego+ pedal combines the Superego ‘synth engine’ with a simple two-knob multieffects unit and opens up the control with expression pedal and external control inputs. As with many recent EHX pedals, there's a lot to get to grips with here.

The core of the Superego+ is the synth engine, a polyphonic pitch tracking delay-based sustainer/freezer effect. The Attack, Decay and Threshold control the effect’s response to the input. Though it’s geared toward guitar, any instrument-level source works: I tried bass and monosynth to great effect. The Layer and Gliss knobs set how the smoothed-out sustain effect overlays itself as the input changes and how the tracked pitch changes, (ie the glissando effect). The pitch tracking is good and with long Decay/Gliss settings, a slow Attack and some healthy Layering, some real spaced-out sounds can be harnessed. Mix is via two knobs, Dry and Effect, which makes a better job of balancing the gain structure than a single mix knob, especially when using the Send/Return path as things can get rather spicy (distortion works a treat here). The Send-Return path is for the Effect signal only, with the Send also able to act as a signal splitter for two amps/destinations.

The expression pedal can be assigned to control any of the seven synth control knobs, it’s just a matter of setting controls at heel-down and heel-up points, and this opens up a world of potential... and weirdness.

The multieffects portion of the Superego+ comprises mod effects (flange, phase, rotary, trems, chorus), delay/echo, pitch/detune, and filter (LPF). Two knobs control Rate and Depth, with the former controllable via the expression pedal input. The central footswitch toggles this section on/off in four of the five available modes, with the fifth mode being multieffects only (no Freeze). The effects are all of a good quality, adding a creative flexibility to the Superego effect. They won’t beat dedicated stompboxes, but they will save on pedal board space.

The multieffects, extra synth knobs and external control inputs are worth the extra £30-40 over the original Superego. An expression pedal enhances the creative range of the core effect, and though I didn’t get to explore the EXT (external control) input, it offers a useful range of remote switching options for use in larger pedalboard setups. The synth-engine effect takes a little getting used to, but with familiarity the Superego+ can add anything from luscious atmospherics to ear-melting wall-of-noise (add distortion to taste).