Flanger Pedals...

andyp

Hi folks. Does anyone know much about Flanger pedals? I'm considering one for a bit of fun and potential dabbling with some easy Van Halen stuff and a bit of goofing around... thing is, they all seem quite dear for that type of use and there aren't many around in general. Are they just novelty pedals? Would it just be a waste of time and money or are they worth experimenting with?

I can only see me using it for learning some VH and some stuff by the likes of the Cult, but generally speaking I am learning stuff that's more along the lines of Led Zep or AC/DC or something, so it's probably only going to get limited use. A recent foray into the world of delay pedals has opened my mind though so I'm now thinking of adding a Flanger to see what happens. Is there much difference between the likes of the Boss or the TC models?

Cheers,

Andy

zepp76

Get a Mooer E-Lady, best bang for buck flanger on the market.

andyp

Thanks, I'll go and check one out. That's more like my thinking I reckon, if I love using it then maybe I can upgrade later.

andyp

@zepp76 Are the E Lady and the Elec Lady the same pedal?

UnclePsychosis

If you want to sound like EVH don't get a Mooer. The E-Lady is a copy of the EHX Electric Mistress which is great for those Andy Summers Police almost-chorus tones but not EVH.

For Van Halen you'd be much better getting something by MXR.

andyp

Hmmm, ok thanks. This is the type of thing I was wondering about.

Whether I'll ever sound anything like EVH is highly doubtful but it's that sort of thing I'm after, for sure. I was in GG Glasgow once and the big guy with the ponytail (Bobby?) was playing EVH stuff on the new (at the time) MXR EVH flanger pedal... it sounded incredible! But, it's £150-200. I guess I could give that type of thing a go but only because it would hopefully fetch most of that back if I sold it on.

For home use at my level (3 yrs and a bit learning) it's probably overkill, but at the same time there's no point in buying something that doesn't get the sound I'm after. Would the likes of the MXR do the Police style stuff to? I am pretty interested in learning some of that as well. Sorry if a lot of this is daft, but I know bugger all about modulation type effects.

andyp

I think the £150 for the EVH pedal is too much to gamble on, but even the likes of the Boss BF3 seems to be £130 or so... What is the TC Vortex like? A mini one of those is more like £75, but again, maybe that's pointless if it doesn't do the sound.

VJIves

It's not daft at all! Always worth buying a cheap clone of something you're familiar with.

EricTheWeary

The Vortex mini will do a range of sounds as it uses tone prints. Just might take a bit of faffing around to get the sound you want rather than straight out the box but as long as you have a phone or tablet that you can have the TonePrint app on it isn’t difficult. 

JezWynd

The best flanger I've found is the Maxon FL-9, also available with an Ibanez badge. It covers everything from a faux-phase to chorus type sound. They can be picked up used for reasonable price. Also good - the Mooer and the Boss HF-2 Hi Band. The Boss HF-2 does a lighter, spacier, airy flange sound, excellent for 80's production sound.

andyp

A bit of lunchtime browsing shows the following... (new prices)

Mooer £55ish
TC Vortex Mini £80ish
TC Vortex Full Size £100
MXR EVH can be had for £150 but is also out there for £200ish!

Of those, the full size Vortex might be the best compromise, but again... only if it  sounds like I'm looking for. I can't really test drive these against each other though. What I do know though is the EVH sounded amazing and is the sound I'm after... but it'll take me a lot of practice to get the playing part up to scratch.

If it's more Hendrix than EVH, then I think I'm going to discount the Electric Mistress (which looks to be about £140ish).

Dopesick

andyp said:

I think the £150 for the EVH pedal is too much to gamble on, but even the likes of the Boss BF3 seems to be £130 or so... What is the TC Vortex like? A mini one of those is more like £75, but again, maybe that's pointless if it doesn't do the sound.

£130??? Haha jeez where are you looking?

I got my Boss BF3 a few months back off eBay for £45, and that's about the going rate for s/h as far as I can see (quite a few of them floating around). It's not the best flanger out there but it absolutely does the job for me and has a cool tremolo/stutter feature on it for added weirdness.

andyp

Well, maybe I was mis-remembering but Andertons, GAK and GG are all saying it's £115. eBay they're all about that too it seems. Used ones don't seem to be around on there just now.

jpttaylor

Might be worth looking at the TC Electronic Thunderstorm - price seems to be around £50. It doesn't do anything unique, but it has the jet plane taking off sound and sounds pretty good with gain.

steamabacus

A secondhand TC Vortex seems to be a good bet. It has the tweakability and variation to get what you want and more.

This Soren Andersen toneprint is supposed to be 'the Van Halen sound'.

Corvus

If you fancy the Mooer / Mistress end of things, the Donner "Jet Convolution" (whatever one o'them is..) is a re-brand of the Mooer and only about 21 of your Earth Pounds delivered.

impmann

Yes, there are two distinct Flanger sounds... the Electric Mistress and Everything Else, pretty much.

The Elec Lady (or E-Lady) will do the jet plane thing, like Van Halen used, but not quite in the same way or frequency range.

TBH, if you want that sound... I'd go for the Boss. Cheap as chips - and if you don't mind a cosmetically challenged one you'll find one even cheaper. Oh, and don't bother with the BS about where its made affecting the price... they all sound ball park the same. The older ones may have a bit more 'drift' in the values of some of the internal components, but otherwise...

andyp

Thanks guys, quite a bit to go on here! I'll keep my eyes open on the used market and see what comes up. I think the Boss or the TC seem to be the sort of safe bets at decent money.

Much as I would love that EVH pedal, I just can't justify the money for one.

UnclePsychosis

You don't need to get the MXR EVH flanger.

The MXR Micro Flanger is very nice and is available for £50 s/h all day long.

If I were you I'd probably pick up either the MXR Micro or one of the Boss offerings - preferably a BF-2 but the BF-3 will be decent enough. 

The Boss pedals are more versatile than the MXR but equally the MXR is very easy to get sounding good. 

JezWynd

The mxr micro flanger has a noticeable volume increase when engaged. But agreed, it does sound very nice.

andyp

Ah, thanks @UnclePsychosis that sounds ideal. I hadn’t seen those yet, more googling required.