| Build Quality: |  |
| Hardware: |  |
| Electronics: | |
| Sound: | |
| Value: | |
| Average: | |
Pros:
- Smooth operation
- Ease of use
- Additional controls
- Good quality
Cons:
- Comes with cheap cables
- Has a plastic feeling
No matter what effect you are going for, more often than not you choose to pay slightly more for the guarantee that your favorite stompbox will be by your side for a long time. When our budgets are tight, we give ourselves the right to compromise that feature. But when money isn’t a problem anymore, we still stick to the devices that we know will work. That attitude is justifiable in any scenario, as reliability is something we are all looking for. That is especially true when talking about the units that are less dramatic but look more like tools. We want such pedals to last through a couple of lifetimes and that requirement doesn’t lower no matter where you look at. One of the tools that everybody needs but not so many musicians choose to purchase is an expression pedal. Since it has the potential to be on your pedalboard for good, you will need it to have wonderful quality externally or internally. That is why today we are going to discuss EP-3 from Moog. If you have played with at least one Moogerfooger, you will know what to expect from this one. Something is telling me that EP-3 will have everything you are looking for in an expression pedal. Let’s continue and see what we have here!
Features
Moog has always been a brand that sets a high bar when it comes to the musical apparatus. They always come out with ground-breaking units and are welcomed to every effects party. Expression pedals aren’t an exception to that rule and EP-3 follows the same pattern as well. It has amazing build quality that combines metal parts with hard plastic enclosure – though the shell isn’t made out of metal or aluminum, it still is durable enough to handle daily abuse with ease. Unless you run it over with the tank, you won’t have any problems with this one. More importantly, it is compatible with any instrument or device that has an input for the expression pedal: be it a harmonica, a keyboard or effects stompbox. This means that it isn’t limited to your electric guitar and can pair as a wonderful controller for other instruments as well. EP-3 is a passive unit in its essence, which means you can forget about power supplies, adapters, drained batteries and tangled cables with this one. It incorporates the famous cam system that enhances its smoothness and makes it even more flexible. You can modify the polarity of this one depending on the rest of your chain. By doing so, you can avoid the chance of malfunction and set up a chain that won’t result in a disaster. It has modifiable output range so that you can suit this pedal to your genre and basically tweak everything in a way that will make the whole rig seem as if it had a single body. It does also allow you to choose the range of operation and turn this baby into an almighty tool. As you can see, Moog did something that didn’t seem feasible before: they maintained the simplicity of expression pedals, yet still created something that has meticulous and thoughtful features. Exactly what we had expected from them!
Controls
I am really excited to discuss this section with you, since unlike other expression pedals out there, EP-3 actually has something to offer over here. Yeah, you heard me, it has a couple of controls that enhance your possibilities so much more and simplify your job quite a bit. After all, what can be better than a user-friendly device that also gives you more control than you asked for?
The main portion of the control falls onto the shoulders of the taper. EP-3 has a treadle that is covered with textured pattern, making sure that your foot is secure on it. What it does is that it transitions smoothly from property to property and enables you to achieve some interesting sonic results. Apart from the taper, we do also have a Polarity switch that makes this one compatible with the rest of your chain. We have one more knob here: Scalable Output Knob makes it possible to choose the range of the operation and assign the pedal to go through the whole scope of settings or just tackle specific portion. What a wonderful thing! EP-3 gives you so much control compared to its rivals that even that single feature would be enough to keep it among the top league pedals.
Moog EP3 Sound
If you own Moogerfoogers, they really need EP-3 to unleash their true potential. Even though they get along really well, there is virtually not a unit that this puppy won’t be able to work with. Be it a wide array of instruments or effects stompboxes, it will still know what to do. Its taper is smooth and shifts between settings gradually and seamlessly. The range is pretty amazing as well, enabling you to go from mild to wild with ease. The additional features of EP-3 are so intuitive that you won’t have to make the slightest effort to make this thing work. Polarity switch eliminates so many problems that might occur in your signal chain. Scalable Output Knob is what changes your options dramatically: you can choose to alter the full range of a control or select out specific part and work on it with this pedal. No matter what you choose to do with this one, it will still know how to behave itself.
Conclusion
I really doubt that anybody would have negative expectations about the products from Moog, but if they did, they will change their minds with EP-3. This simple expression pedal has found a way to be powerful and useful during daily usage or live scenarios. It works with every musical apparatus out there and lets you turn into a control freak in a positive way. With the help of this pedal you can modify various parameters on the fly and transition between them so smoothly, your audience won’t believe their ears. Good luck!
Click here to view more from 5 Best Expression Pedals.
I was hoping to find out what voltage range can be expected from it as you mention CV. It looks like I’ll have to acquire one to find out but ready to send back if it doesn’t have the range I want.