Recommend me a filthy flanger

[Snufkino]

I had a boss flanger when I first started playing guitar and thought "that's cool, I can sound like the Cocteau Twins", then I got bored with it and sold it. And now over a decade later with no flangers since then I'm thinking "hey, I want to sound like the Cocteau Twins".

So what's nice and chewy and flangy without being stupid elaborate and/or expensive? The EHX mistress thingbob crops up every now and again as being pretty good, and I know there's the hartman clone of it that Gilmour fanatics probably cream their cargo pants over but is that going to get 80's dream-pop toanz?

[sylnau]

SubDecay Starlight MkII

[repoman]

What about just getting a lowly boss bf2 of hf2 again?

They are stupid cheap on reverb and sound awesome. EHX has a new electric mistress that looks nice, its 150. You can get the older stereo EM for like 50 bucks used.

[Chankgeez]

... but is that going to get 80's dream-pop toanz?

What better to achieve '80s dream-pop tarts than '80s cheap-ass flangers?

Get one with four knobs!

[Jero]

You should get that big over the top rocktron one

[SoaringTortoise]

... but is that going to get 80's dream-pop toanz?

What better to achieve '80s dream-pop tarts than '80s cheap-ass flangers?

Get one with four knobs!

I agree. Get a vintage 4 knob MXR with the hard-wired power cord.

[coupleonapkins]

The new/green Deluxe Electric Mistress XO's first run had a lot of duds, but similarly you might be better off with the Moor ElecLady or the even cheaper Donner Jet Convolution (deep review here), unless you are against their ethics on the whole. I haven't tried it, but the Line 6 Liqua Flange (or it's clone, the Behringer's Flanger Machine) seem to have a ridiculous amount of features for the $50 they're currently going for

Most of the old DOD Flangers are stereo & usually about $30 or less & have 4 knobs, soooooooo....

[friendship]

The new/green Deluxe Electric Mistress XO's first run had a lot of duds

How so? I was looking into these and don't want to get dudded

Yeah Snuf I would go with a good ol' BF-2. Or an Arion SFL-1, allegedly pretty gnarly sounding.

[JonnyAngle]

BF-2's are the titz!

Subdecay Starlight v2 will get you into weird territory
Spectre will knock your balls off
Bitquest is going to get you there plus more cool gizmos
ADA Flanger is a good option with the new pedalboard friendly version.

I have a BF-2, Bitquest, Spectre, Starlight V2, and a Line6 M5 (actually not too bad either). BF-2 is my grab and go "in a pinch" Flanger. It just sounds so perdy ALL THE FUCKING TIME!!!!!!

[Snufkino]

I agree. Get a vintage 4 knob MXR with the hard-wired power cord.

I totally forgot I've tried that one. Or at least the reissue and not an actual original. I think it's the one that Steve Severin (?) used (Siouxsie & the Banshees). I might have tried the yellow MXR flanger aswell. Can't remember much about either of them.

Will definitely look back into the Boss offerings.

[backwardsvoyager]

... but is that going to get 80's dream-pop toanz?

What better to achieve '80s dream-pop tarts than '80s cheap-ass flangers?

Get one with four knobs!

Chank knows what's up. Remember to get a purple one though, purpleness is directly proportional to toan in this regard. Blue can be passable as it is close to purple but avoid green flangers as they are actually phasers in disguise, and phasers are just incorrect flangers. Guyatone, yamaha, boss, and many others are gonna be potentially awesome value, just make sure to check the noise floor as some of the ones that were cheap when they came out can be a little noisy, but there are lots that were quality pedals at the time that can be had cheap now.

I am very much partial to the A/DA flanger and anything derived from it but there's less there in the cheaper range and it's potentially not as suitable as the above for 80s dream-pop. But i have to say it anyway because its awesome.

[Snufkino]

I just checked out the subdecay starlight v2 and thought the only thing it needed was more purple like the v1.

[doommeow]

The new/green Deluxe Electric Mistress XO's first run had a lot of duds, but similarly you might be better off with the Moor ElecLady or the even cheaper Donner Jet Convolution (deep review here), unless you are against their ethics on the whole. I haven't tried it, but the Line 6 Liqua Flange (or it's clone, the Behringer's Flanger Machine) seem to have a ridiculous amount of features for the $50 they're currently going for

Most of the old DOD Flangers are stereo & usually about $30 or less & have 4 knobs, soooooooo....

The Donner is very nice. I gave one as a gift for SS 2014 and spent some time playing with it. Great oscillation source. While I'm not hip to dream pop, seemed like it would be a perfect fit for post punk - instant Savages, Disappears kinda thing. Still tempted to pick one up.

[lordgalvar]

I like my Amdek a lot. It's an 80s 4-knob with the Reticon SAD chip. The overall sweep is subtle, but the resonance is awesome.

The Morley AC one is kinda like an 80s 4-knob, just with one knob being a treadle (and I don't know how many, if any, they made for 220v countries).

The old Estradin Flanger is a dirty mess (Russian made during the Soviet Era). (I have one, have never played it...fuze was broke in shipping and never got around to getting a 120v-220v converter).
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0GwQRJwsvU[/youtube]

My big box 24v Electric mistress is alright...pretty dirty and kinda lo-fi. I dunno...

Maxon/Ibanez Vintage Jet Riser is another option with two styles of flange (might be a little over the top though). Starlight v2 is the one that interests me the most though (and of course A/DA)

Tokai might be another one to look at. I think the DOD FX-747 sounds good too.

[echorec]

Maxon/Ibanez Vintage Jet Riser is another option with two styles of flange (might be a little over the top though).

I was about to suggest this one. IMO it would fit the bill as the filthiest. It has a 'Jet' pot for turning up this whale-like groan in the background. Used I would expect someone to pay $180-220 (they're $299 new outside of sale weekends). For the same price you could get a lot more variety, but you'd be losing out on the grit and aggressiveness of the Maxon.

After that the Mr. Black Shepard's End would deliver pleasing, but straightforward textures. The Starlight MKII is warm, chewy, and it does a lot of stuttery hiccups for someone also desiring pseudo-phase tones. Then you'd have the Alexander F.13 to consider for wide, glassy modern layering.

I own the VJR9 Jet Riser by Maxon, MF-108M, Dano Psycho Flange, an Empress Nebulus, and others. The Nebulus is another nice flanger, which does a lot more than flanging, but would probably run $180-235 in used condition. I hope that's helpful.