New old pedal fun: flangers

[fuzzjunkie]

Flanger was never one of my main effects but I like having one available. I only ever coveted an old Electric Mistress but I have never owned one.

My first introduction to flanger sounds was through Boss, like 50% of the guitar playing world. I also had an Ibanez UE-400 which was a foot switchable analog rack unit with compressor, phaser, flanger/chorus and overdrive. All the 9 series pedals and you could change the effect order routing with a flip of the rotary switch.

I mostly used it with a Big Muff and DMM for Cocteau Twins or Cure and later some Slowdive tones. The phaser into flange or chorus was perfect for that swirling modulation.

I ended up selling it to a friend after I got a deal on a set of vintage A/DA Flanger and Final Phase pedals. I can get all those previous sounds plus a few more experimental ones. Too bad the most recent versions of those pedals don’t live up to the originals.

[fuzzjunkie]

Someone mentioned the old Ross Flanger and I have to mention that a bandmate used one to great effect on bass years ago. Back when bass players used less than 2 and often no effects. He only had a compressor and the flanger into an Ampeg amp. I saw a band last weekend where the bassist had 10-12 pedals, which is more than my guitar pedalboard has!

[cestlamort]

Haha. Everyone is in the Mission Control game these days.
(And I wonder if/how much Fender Offsets are benefiting from their effect pedal friendliness).

I used the old Ibanez UE racks as my main (or only) effects for years. I dug it out yesterday to give the flanger a whirl again. The UE400 still sounds really good (and “solid”) but the flanger is pretty tame. Lots of good sounds in there but I didn’t land on any great ones. Still a sleeper if you come across one, as is the UE405. (I still like the MXR flanger and micro flanger better). I assume that it is the same circuit as the x0x series flanger. It only has three knobs in the flanger so the FL9 can probably do more.

[spiffy chap]

Someone mentioned the old Ross Flanger and I have to mention that a bandmate used one to great effect on bass years ago. Back when bass players used less than 2 and often no effects. He only had a compressor and the flanger into an Ampeg amp. I saw a band last weekend where the bassist had 10-12 pedals, which is more than my guitar pedalboard has!

Yes, big love for the ROSS. I’ve had a few of the classics TC, Boss, EH and some not so heavily revered, but the ROSS fits my needs.

[fuzzjunkie]

Haha. Everyone is in the Mission Control game these days.
(And I wonder if/how much Fender Offsets are benefiting from their effect pedal friendliness).

I used the old Ibanez UE racks as my main (or only) effects for years. I dug it out yesterday to give the flanger a whirl again. The UE400 still sounds really good (and “solid”) but the flanger is pretty tame. Lots of good sounds in there but I didn’t land on any great ones. Still a sleeper if you come across one, as is the UE405. (I still like the MXR flanger and micro flanger better). I assume that it is the same circuit as the x0x series flanger. It only has three knobs in the flanger so the FL9 can probably do more.

I agree with the flanger being pretty tame. It covered the basics. I don’t remember using it on its own for that reason. Always paired with the DMM and/or the Phaser, and even then I probably used the chorus setting more often.

I always wanted to get a UE 405 to replace it because I wanted the analog delay. I can’t remember why now? I think it was because Marty Wilson Piper used one on the early Church records, but maybe it was someone else? I had a friend that used one along with a Roland SDE-3000 and got great delay tones with a pair of vintage Rickenbacker guitars and a blonde Bassman amp. He was also a fan of the Church.

[cestlamort]

I agree with the flanger being pretty tame. It covered the basics. I don’t remember using it on its own for that reason. Always paired with the DMM and/or the Phaser, and even then I probably used the chorus setting more often.

I always wanted to get a UE 405 to replace it because I wanted the analog delay. I can’t remember why now? I think it was because Marty Wilson Piper used one on the early Church records, but maybe it was someone else? I had a friend that used one along with a Roland SDE-3000 and got great delay tones with a pair of vintage Rickenbacker guitars and a blonde Bassman amp. He was also a fan of the Church.

You remembered right. It’s all over the older Church stuff. Peter Buck used a UE400 for years too. I think Bob Weir used both too. I love the Phaser on the UE400.

Spent some time yesterday tweaking the H90 flanger to get close(r) to the MXR. Thought I did great… until I a/b’ed them.
(People have made good electric mistress patches though).

I just can’t seem to get the deep end of the slow sweep right.

[Nevets]

Just picked up a Valeton clone of the old Boss HF-1 high band flanger. I'd never played this one before and I am loving it! It's coming close to dethroning the Mooer e-lady as my favorite flanger.

[gerardguey]

Nice. I also recently bought my first flanger, I picked up a 90's made in taiwan BF-2 after years of being unhappy with various chorus pedals. Had no idea it could do chorus until I saw it in a youtube demo. I almost bit the bullet on a vintage CE-2 but the BF-2 manages to do the perfect thick chorus sound i always heard in my head.