Effects Bay

After just posting my give away on the T-Rex Twister 2 Chorus/Flanger (if you don’t know about this give away – click that link and enter!), I noticed that there is a good deal on the Boss BF-3 Flanger happening on Amazon right now. Normally, the Boss BF-3 lists for $202.50, and is usually available for $129.00. But at Amazon, it’s on sale for $104.43. That is 48% off list price!

Here is the official description of the Boss BF-3:

The Boss BF-3 Flanger gives guitarists and bassists an updated version of the classic BOSS flanger with the thickest stereo flanging sounds ever. Two new modes (Ultra and Gate/Pan) create flanging with incredible depth-—plus slicer-type effects and sounds that seem to swirl around you.

The Boss BF flanger has been used quite a bit, but some feel that the newly improved BF-3 has a different tone than the older BF-2. So if you’re looking for a classic tone that was created with a older Boss Flanger, you may want to search for a good deal on a Boss BF-2 Flanger.  PedalNerd.com is a good place to find deals on vintage or discontinued pedals – as well as stellar deals on new modern pedals.

So to recap, the Boss BF-3 Flanger is available at Amazon. com for a low price of $104.43!

Popularity: 3%

Incoming search terms for EffectsBay.com:

• boss flanger price
• Boss BF-2
• pedaltrain 2
• boss flanger for sale
• Robert smith effect board
• promotional code bf3
• www bf bay com
• bf3 promo codes
• laura pleasants musket
• GUYATONE】DIGITAL DELAY DD-1

Hello everyone! I first want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. I’m hoping you guitarists/bassists/musicians out there got some sweet gear from the fat man. It’s definitely a fun time of year!

Okay, today I saw there are some good deals on the Boss BF-3 Flanger on Amazon through various Amazon stores. The BF-3 is the *upgrade* to the Boss BF-2 which is still a very sought after pedal. Normally this pedal sells for $130, but I found two stores …

Ace Stores has it on sale for $104.43 with Free shipping.
Capitron has it on sale for $115.00 with Free shipping.

Here is the official description of the pedal:

The Boss BF-3 Flanger gives guitarists and bassists an updated version of the classic BOSS flanger with the thickest stereo flanging sounds ever. Two new modes (Ultra and Gate/Pan) create flanging with incredible depth-—plus slicer-type effects and sounds that seem to swirl around you.

Boss BF-3 Flanger Features:

* The best flanging effects in a compact pedal
* New Ultra and Gate/Pan modes for ultrafat flanging with very low noise
* Momentary mode turns flanging on instantly
* Tap tempo adjustable via pedal
* Independent guitar and bass inputs and stereo outputs
* 5-year warranty

Popularity: 10%

Incoming search terms for EffectsBay.com:

• bf3 promo code
• bf3 discount code
• bf3 promotion code
• bf3 coupon code
• discount code bf3
• amazon bf3 $40
• the bf-3 flanger gives guitarists and bassists an updated version
• promotion code bf3
• Dr Pepper Codes BF3
• bf3 promotion

I had a chance to check out Kylesa about a year ago. I actually went to the show to see Red Fang, who I’m very partial to, but Kylesa was the headliner… and they were great. Those that know me, know I’m into aluminum necks, and I was psyched to see Laura Pleasants playing a EGC (Electrical Guitar Company) guitar on stage.

I thought it would be cool to break down her pedalboard this morning. Doing some quick looking I saw a ToneFactor blog post with a great interview.

There, they did break down the board, but thought it was interesting it didn’t quite match up with the photo there. First, here is the photo:

TF: Please tell us a little bit about your live rig.
LP: Hmmm. it seems to be changing all the time!!! For our upcoming European tour, I will be playing my Les Paul Gold Top through an Orange Thunderverb and Rockerverb head. I am taking the following pedals: Tech 21 Boost DLA Delay, Line 6 DL4, Retro Vibe Chorus, Boss Flanger (an older one), MXR Phase 90, Fulltone OCD, Musket Fuzz, Buddha Wah, Volume pedal, Boss Tuner.

I don’t see the Tech 21 Boost DLA, and teh wah appears to be a Teese Picture Wah.. also no Blackout Effectors Musket Fuzz. I also think that is a Retro-Sonic Chorus vs. Retro Vibe.. could be wrong. She mentions older Boss Flanger, which I’ll assume is the Boss BF-2.

I went over to their myspace page to see if I could get a few more shots, and I did..

Here is a shot that looks like a MXR Carbon Copy Delay where the Line 6 normally is. I’m not sure what wah is here (might be a MXR MC404 CAE Crybaby Dual Inductor Wah), and possibly a Boss Chorus of some type. I’m assuming that is the MXR Phase 90, but could be MXR Micro Amp by the color (stage lighting might be making the orange look that way).

Here is a great shot of her working the Budda.

Looks like everything (exception of the Boss TU-2 and Ernie Ball Volume Pedal) are on a Pedaltrain PT-2 pedal board and powered by VoodooLab Pedal Power 2+.

Everyone knows that board is ever-evolving, changing. Due to improvements. Due to repairs. Due to experimentation.

Popularity: 9%

Incoming search terms for EffectsBay.com:

• kylesa pedalboard
• kylesa gear
• laura pleasants pedalboard
• laura pleasants gear
• kylesa guitar gear
• laura pleasants
• kylesa guitar rig
• kylesa pedal board
• line 6 pedalboard
• kylesa pedals

I recently just ordered a Boss BF-2 Flanger for a project. I already have an ancient DOD FX75 Flanger.. that sounds pretty crappy, so I wanted to get this older Boss BF-2 which I’ve been hearing good things. The bottom line, I have used a flanger in about 20 years. Never been to big on modulation in general. There was a time in the late 90s I was playing a Phase 100, but that’s really about it.

While I was messing around with the DOD FX75 flanger, I wanted to learn more about ‘flanging’ so did a little digging. When I hear a flanger vs. phaser, they both appear to sound similar. The flanger definitely has more of a metallic harmonic as it sweeps and the phaser has a deeper richer sweep. But what is it all about??

While doing my research I was pretty impressed what I found.. specifically the history of the flanger. The term ‘flang’ references the tape reel’s rim. The original technique of ‘flanging’ was to send a signal to two tapes and slowing down one tape so it becomes out of sync. The engineer operating the tape reels would literally put a finger on the reels to produce the sweeping effect.

This is where a flanger and phaser differs. The reference pages I was reading would use a ‘comb’ analogy. Basically a phaser uses the dual signal similar to the flanger but when combined it would go in and out of phase.. creating peaks and valleys that do not occur in harmonic series. So the comb comparison… flanger has evenly spaced comb filter spacing with even spacing where a phaser has un-even spacing.

I also thought the origin of the flanger was really cool. Apparently it was first used by Ken Townsend of Abbey Road studio in 1966. John Lennon of the Beatles as tired of re-recording dual vocal tracks and wanted a way to double track the vocals without actually singing the parts. Ken Townsend then  did the double track with flang. John Lennon apparently coined the phrase ‘flanging’ while explaining it to George Martin.. and referred to it as ‘Ken’s Flanger’.

The first Beatles song double tracked with the flanger was “Tomorrow Never Knows” from Revolver.

The best thorough article I found was at Wikipedia.

Sorry about going on a little nerd tangent, but I thought it was interesting… and maybe you will too!

Popularity: 4%

Incoming search terms for EffectsBay.com:

• history of flanging
• history of flanger
• history of the flanger
• john lennon effect pedal
• origin of flanging
• origins of the flanging effect
• phaser used by the beatles
• the history of flanging
• tomorrow never knows flanger on lennon voice
• what is a flanger

Back in the late 80s and 90s I was a huge Cure fan. Loved the textures that band was able to put together. I started to move on after the Wish album, but recently starting to get back into them again. I just picked up the Disintegration re-issue box set, and that is absolutely amazing. Now all I’m thinking about is buying a Fender Bass VI (if that’s even possible) and working out some fun melodic lead lines. Love that sound.. and especially the mood of Robert’s playing style and tone.

I was curious what exactly he used or uses today, and it’s surprisingly not that well know. I figured there would be tons of sites or photos of his pedal board. I always remembered he used Boss pedals (especially in those 80-90 years). I was able to find some of the older Boss pedals he used. Please, if you know more.. please let me know.

Boss GE-7 Equalizer
Boss Chorus CE-3
Boss Overdrive OD-1
Boss Flanger BF-2

Apparently he used Boss DM-2, Boss DD-2 and Boss DD-3 for delays at different points.

I found a great page at Guitar Tone Overload which talks about replicating some of Robert Smith’s tone. You can read it here.

I also found a couple of fairly recent photos of Robert with his gear. Let’s see if we can name these pedals in the comments below.

Going down this memory-lane has been fun!

Popularity: 17%

Incoming search terms for EffectsBay.com:

• robert smith gear
• robert smith guitar effects
• Robert Smith guitar gear
• robert smith effects
• robert smith pedals
• robert smith guitars
• robert smith guitar
• robert smith effect pedals
• robert smith equipment
• PEDALBOARD ROBERT SMITH