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
Comments
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.
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.
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).
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.
This Soren Andersen toneprint is supposed to be 'the Van Halen sound'.
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...
Much as I would love that EVH pedal, I just can't justify the money for one.
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.