Effects Bay

CONTEST IS CLOSED

Last week I posted the T-Rex Twister II Chorus/Flanger review. This is a absolutely great sounding pedal made by T-Rex. If you know anything about T-Rex, you know they make fantastic pedals. If you haven’t checked out the review/demo, you can view it here – “Review of the T-Rex Twister II Chorus / Flanger Pedal“.

For the quick run down on the pedal – here is the official pedal description from T-Rex:

Shimmering, rich, vibrant, swirling. There are lots of ways to describe the chorus effect, made famous in the 80s and used today by just about every guitarist on the planet. A chorus brings your sound to life, adding a dynamic vibrancy to the sonic texture of any song you use it on. T-Rex Engineering is proud to introduce the next generation of this legendary effect – Twister II, a chorus and flanger pedal for guitarists who demand nothing less than the best.

So, I was sitting here with this great pedal.. thinking of what to do with it. Why not give it away! Just like usual, this will be super easy to enter.  I’ll run this give away for two weeks (ends 4/29 12PM MST). This is a great give away, the T-Rex Twister 2 chorus / flanger normally lists for $369.00 and is usually available for $279.00. So this is a great opportunity to get a great pedal… for FREE. I would also like to take a moment and thanks the guys at T-Rex for sending the pedal our way and letting us give it away to a lucky EffectsBay.com reader. Please check out T-Rex at their website, on Twitter and on Facebook!

First, this is not a requirement, but you should ‘like’ EffectsBay on Facebook. It’s good way to keep in touch with new give aways and posts.

To enter fill out the form below, in two weeks  (April 29th) I’ll randomly pick 3 entries as finalists. I’ll email the 3 finalists and the first one out of the three that emails me back will be the winner.You must enter a ‘valid’ email address, bounce back emails will be rejected. One entry per person (seriously people.. one entry per person). After the winner has been notified and all is good (I’ve retrieved mailing address, etc), I’ll send out the pedal. Want to improve your odds? You can by joining the mailing list, you’ll have another chance to win. I’ll be pulling from the email list as well as these form submissions. If you’re already receiving the mailing list, you’re already in for the drawing! This give away is open to everyone.. yes.. international!

To enter the give away, please answer the following question: “What’s your favorite artist/band that uses modulation in a strong way? And what modulation effect do they use (chorus, phaser, flanger)?”

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A little while ago T-Rex sent us the new T-Rex Twister II Chorus / Flanger pedal to try out and review on the site. T-Rex makes some great guitar effects, quality and tone are always fantastic. The Twister II is a upgrade from the original T-Rex Twister pedal. They upgraded all software and hardware as well as improved some of the older features. The Twister II was designed to provide vintage sounds as well as modern chorus modulation tones.

Let me break down the controls and features.

First off, the pedal is a stereo pedal and for our demos below we recorded it in stereo. On the side (input side) there is a input level control. This allows you to control the input signal level to the pedal. This is a great way to keep the pedal clean.. or crank it to overdrive the circuit. There is a clip LED next to the pot, so you can easily see if your signal is hot. This knob can be depressed and be out of the way. So if you want… set it and forget it.

Depth. This handles the amount of modulation on the effect. Turn it down for subtle effect, but it up for more.
Rate. This handles the speed of the modulation
Level. Handles the pedal’s output level
Tone. Allows you to shave off high end frequencies
Regen. Regeneration used in flanger mode. This will control the feedback of the flange.
Chorus/Flanger toggle. This is how you switch between the two effects

The pedal is powered via 9v DC power supply. You can power with a 9v battery… but would not recommend it. On the back it states “Battery Power for Emergency Use Only”. We tried this, and it’ll eat the battery very quick (30-60 minutes of use). The draw is 85mA so it needs a good amount of juice.

Here is the official description of this pedal:

Shimmering, rich, vibrant, swirling. There are lots of ways to describe the chorus effect, made famous in the 80s and used today by just about every guitarist on the planet. A chorus brings your sound to life, adding a dynamic vibrancy to the sonic texture of any song you use it on. T-Rex Engineering is proud to introduce the next generation of this legendary effect – Twister II, a chorus and flanger pedal for guitarists who demand nothing less than the best.

My immediate reaction to this pedal.. classic T-Rex. The effect seems to be around your tone.. not your altered tone. I love that I can hear the guitar’s original tone in there. I’ve played a few T-Rex pedals now, and all of them had this behavior. I dig it!

For this review, I again enlisted the help of Jimmy Rolle. He did a couple of demos – a clean version and a distorted version. For this demo, he used his American Fender Stratocaster, played through two amps (Matchless DC-30 and Rivera Knucklehead) in stereo. Both amps were recorded with a Fathead SPII Ribbon and Shure SM57 microphones through a ART Pro MPAII PreAmp into the computer.

This first clip is the clean demo:

You can listen to the high quality MP3 clip via SoundCloud

Next is Jimmy playing the T-Rex Twister II through the gain channels:

You can listen to the high quality MP3 clip via SoundCloud

Overall, this is a great sounding pedal backed by the legendary quality of T-Rex. The T-Rex Twister II is a new product to the United States, and requires special ordering if you purchase from Musician’s Friend (at this time). The T-Rex Twister II Chorus / Flanger is available for $279.00 at Musician’s Friend.

If you’re liking the sound of this pedal, I’ll be giving this guy away very soon. To make sure you’re aware when this give away is happening, please sign up to the EffectsBay.com mailing list!

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I stumbled across a nice deal on the MXR M-117R Flanger at Music123. Normally this pedal lists for $273.42. It’s currently available at Musician’s Friend for $169.99, but is on sale at Music123 for only $122.26! Not a bad price for some classic flanger tones!

Here is the official description:

Back by popular demand, the MXR M-117R Flanger creates a variety of wild sounds from dynamic jet plane or cool space effects to short delay, chorus, and vibrato. You have complete control of the filter so you can sculpt the sound you want. Back off the Width setting to zero to disengage auto-sweep, then use the Manual knob to physically place the effect anywhere along the frequency spectrum! Use with guitar, bass, keyboards, and vocals. The M-117R effects pedal has 4 knobs and a footswitch. The footswitch toggles the flanger effect on/bypass (red LED indicates on). The Manual knob selects the frequency center of the effect when auto-sweep is disengaged. The Width knob at zero disengages auto-sweep, but when you rotate it clockwise, it increases the total phase sweep of the effect. The Speed knob modulates rate of effect. The Regen knob feeds the effect back onto itself at adjustable intensity, increasing the total phase effect. Powered by battery or included Dunlop ECB-004 AC adapter.

Here is a video by jimdunlopusa

Again, you can pick up the MXR M-117R Flanger for only $122.26 at Music123!

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Poking around Amazon.com, I found a good deal on the Boss BF-3 Flanger. Normally this flanger is available at Musician’s Friend for $129.00, but is available for only $104.43 at Amazon.com. $25 off is not too shabby at all. This pedal also ships for free.

Here are the details on the Boss BF-3 Flanger:

Building on the 20-year legacy of the famous BOSS BF-2, the new BF-3 Flanger pedal 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 stereo flanging with incredible depth-even Slicer-type effects and sounds that seem to “swirl” around the listener. An instant classic.

Features

* BOSS’ best flanging effects in a compact pedal
* New Ultra and Gate/Pan modes for ultra-fat flanging with very low noise
* Momentary mode turns flanging on instantly
* Tap tempo adjustable via pedal
* Independent Guitar and Bass inputs and stereo outputs
* BOSS 5-year warranty

I found this video by BOSSchannel with a demo of the Boss BF-3:

Again, the Boss BF-3 Flanger is available for only $104.43 at Amazon.com!

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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

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Since I’ve been on a flanger kick the last few days, thought I’d keep it going. Right now, there is a great sale on the Ibanez FL9 Flanger Reissue going on at Musician’s Friend. Normally, the MSRP is $216.65, and is usually available for $129.99, but is on sale for a crazy low price of $49.99! That’s 76% off of MSRP!

Here is the official description:

Same circuitry and coveted flanging effects of the original ’80s unit but constructed to closer tolerances for more consistency from unit to unit. If you’ve been hunting for an original but couldn’t find one, or couldn’t afford a high asking price, now’s your chance to bag this ’80s favorite. Might even be better than the original.

I found this video by supersonicmods

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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!

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Looking through some of my old gear pile I came to a interesting conclusion. There is definitely pieces of gear that I will not get rid of… yet never play or use. Scratching my head as to why, I decided simply it was due to the sentimental attachment. I thought that was kind of weird. I mean, I get it when you’re attached to something you play/use every day. Something that you connect to on a deeper level, but am I connecting to some of this gear?? I’m curious if any of you have a similar attachment.

For me, I think it’s about the ‘firsts’. Like your first love.. or first kiss. Doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the best or most memorable, but there is a place in your personal history that makes it… significant. I have three pieces of gear that I’ve carried with me (across multiple moves) . I’ve found myself contemplating get rid of this gear on multiple occasions, but instead, cursed under my breath on trying to find a appropriate place to stow it.

These three pieces of gear are my DOD FX75 Stereo Flanger, Sears 300G guitar amp, and my Epiphone Les Paul Custom (Black Beauty).

DOD FX75 Stereo Flanger – Here is my first effect pedal I ever bought. I have no idea that it works right now.. probably does. Back in the late 80s, early 90s I was really into the Cure and remembering cutting my teeth on some of the early classics like A Forest and In Your House. The flanger was a nice effect to have. I remember I bought it dirt cheap in a pawn shop in Ventura, CA.

Sears 300G Guitar Amp – Here is my first ever guitar amp. I remember getting my first guitar after graduating high school (which was not the Epi listed about) but I had no amp to play it through. I would play ‘dry’, just practicing the old 2 finger power chord, and a co-worker of mine said she had a amp and gave it to me. It sounds like shit, but it was wonderful. It’s pure solid state and weighs like 5 pounds, but it can make some crappy/farty sounds that are fun today. I actually still use this amp when I’m testing my pedal builds. Since it’s so small, I have it next to my bench to test if things are working (final build or on the bread board).

Epiphone Les Paul Custom - As I just said, this was not my first guitar.. but this was my first ‘real’ guitar. When I bought this I felt like I really bought something. I remember playing this guitar against other ‘real’ Gibsons around 1991 and I was blown away how this played and how it sounded. I remember going in there to buy a Gibson, and ended up walking away picking the black beauty. I played this guitar for years. At the time the Epiphone was perfect for the music I was playing, but when I started going towards amps with higher gain, the pickups were causing me problems. I changed the pickups but at the time I didn’t realize I was loosing the Les Paul tone until I started to play other Les Pauls. I play completely different guitars today, but I still keep that in the stack of cases.

So that’s my story… you have one for me? What gear do you have.. that you won’t get rid of because of sentimental attachment?

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Since, I’ve been on a slight modulation kick.. from chorus to flangers lately, I thought I’d bring up the MXR M152 Micro Flanger. DunlopUSA just put out a new demo video of this, and figured it would be a good time to post it here on EffectsBay.com! Side note, the MXR M152 Micro Flanger won the Guitar Player Magazine Editors’ pick in the August 2010 issue.

First, here are the details of the pedal:

Based on the benchmark sounds of the MXR M117 Flanger, the MXR Micro Flanger guitar pedal features many of the same flanging effects of its big brother, but in a smaller and more convenient size. Originally released in the ’80s, this faithful recreation features the same 2 critical controls—a Speed knob to control the rate of cycling, and a Regeneration knob to manage the overall intensity—and stays true to its 100% analog bucket brigade technology for the ultimate in warm and organic tone. The MXR Micro Flanger pedal has been updated with a true bypass switch so you don’t lose any tone during bypass. Go from jet plane like sweeps to cool outer space type effects with the MXR Micro Flanger guitar effect pedal.

The MXR Micro Flanger pedal can be powered by one 9V battery (accessed by removing the effect pedal’s bottom plate), a Dunlop DC810DC brick, or MC403 Power system (sold separately).

MXR M152 Micro Flanger Guitar Effects Pedal Features:

* True bypass with LED
* Rate knob
* Regeneration knob
* Footswitch for on/bypass
* All-analog circuitry with bucket brigade technology for warm analog tone

Here is the video demo by jimdunlopusa:

You can pick up the MXR M152 Micro Flanger for $89.99 at Musician’s Friend. At the time of this post, Musician’s Friend also includes a Dunlop ECD-003 Barrel 9-volt adapter for free with this purchase.

Remember, if you like reading about these pedals and seeing videos reviews from others, please subscribe to the RSS feed and get notified via email when there are new postings!

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Today I wanted to talk about the Electro-Harmonix Classics Flanger Hoax. This is a ‘flanger’, but it’s like no other flanger pedal I’ve seen (I guess that’s the ‘hoax’ part of the name). It has the ability to have frequency adjustable flanging. There are 2 separate phaser sections and you can have them interact together.  This thing can get crazy, or have a classic flanger effect.

Here is the official description of this pedal:

From shimmering static and active phasing to frequency-adjustable flanging, the Flanger Hoax gives you an exciting new palette of textures to create with. Familiar and advanced modulation controls and 3 outputs (direct, blended, effect) let you create endless variations that will do everything from subtly shade to wildly animate your music.

The Flanger Hoax is made up of 2 separate phaser sections-the Fixed Phaser and Swept Phaser-and their associated delay lines. The Fixed Phaser is similar to a traditional phaser, modulated by a low-frequency sine wave called the Modulator. Each phaser circuit is followed by its own analog delay line, each of which can also be independently swept by the Modulator. Each phaser section can be bypassed to access the delay lines without any phase shift. Feedback control allows you to send the wet output of the pedal or the output of the Swept Phaser back into the phaser circuits. 18V power supply included.

* Controls: BLEND knob: Mixes between the effect and the dry signal. The counter-clockwise position is all-dry, while the clockwise position is all effect. The result of the BLEND Control goes out the BLENDED OUTPUT jack
* DELAY MODE switch: Selects between different phase shift combinations for the modulating waveform that sweeps the Fixed Phaser Delay line and the Swept Phaser Delay.
* FEEDBACK knob: Sets the amount of signal that is fed back into both phase shift circuits. The counter-clocker-clockwise position gives you no feedback; the clockwise position yields maximum feedback.
* OFF toggle switch position: All Feedback is turned off, no matter where the FEEDBACK knob is set.
* RATE knob: Sets the frequency of the sine wave Modulator. The available frequency range is from 0.07 Hz (14 Seconds) to 220 Hz.
* SWPT toggle switch position: In the SWPT Position, the output of the Swept Phaser is fed back into Phaser circuits.
* WET toggler switch position: In the WET position, the wet signal (which is at the EFFECT OUTPUT Jack) is fed back to the phaser circuits.

I found this great video by EHX that shows what this can do:

You can pick up the Electro-Harmonix Classics Flanger Hoax for $209.25 at Musician’s Friend.

Remember, if you like reading about these pedals and seeing videos reviews from others, please subscribe to the RSS feed and get notified via email when there are new postings!

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