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I keep coming back to this question but never settling on what to get. I used to have a BF-2 that I liked. Right now I'm just using the M-series flanger models in a POD HD, and DAW plugins, but I'd like to have a pedal. I'm much more interested in lots of character and personality than clean, standard flanging. Ideally I'd like to be able to get both mild chorus and ear-confusing malström suck. I do not care whether it's digital or analog. Pedals I'm looking at:

Normal stuff:
Mooer Eleclady: I like the sound of an Electric Mistress but maybe this territory is too well-trod by the guitartriarchy?
DOD FX-75B/FX72: I keep hearing these are cool, though I don't know why. I expect the bass version retains some low end?
Boss BF-2: I mean it's pretty solid.

Fancy stuff:
Moog Minifooger Flange: I really like that it has a -/+ switch and Moog's quality is very chef's kiss.
Digitech Nautila: 4-voice flanger plus it has chorus plus it has momentary ramping which is fun.
Mr. Black Tunnel Worm: Its TZF sounds amazing in the clips.
Flanger Hoax: Shit looks complicated.

I'm very open to any suggestions or info that can help me narrow this down.

Dude, viewtopic.php?f=149&t=53536.

Can't recommend it enough!

You may know this already, but the Tunnel Worm was recently discontinued. They're sold out on the home store. I don't really expect it to influence used prices too much. I imagine they'll stay in the $100-140 range, since there's greater demand for other flangers.

The Mr. Black store is now stocking the Sub Zero circuit again (last year's holiday edition of 10?). I'd really like to try one of those personally.

http://mrblackpedals.com/products/shepards-end-sub-zero

I can't weigh in on the Nautila, since mine's been on pre-order for about 2 months. I hated the Hoax. Many of the pots did little to bring about any noteworthy differences. Maybe mine was a dud, but I sold it in no time. That's definitely in the top-5 biggest pedal disappointments for me.

I really like the Empress Nebulus for slow, Krautrock textures on synth sweeps, but it won't get as weird as pedals like the F.13, the Cluster Flux, et cetera. I also have a Stoned Hz, which provides tremolo and other modulation variations. You can score a secondhand one for $180-220.

friendship wrote: DOD FX72: I keep hearing these are cool, though I don't know why. I expect the bass version retains some low end?

Because it has "lots of character and personality" and does both "mild chorus and ear-confusing malström suck."

First pedal I ever bought (the 72-B). Still own it. Still love it. Wish the bypass was better, though.

CBA Spectre. Super easy to get it off the ground and if you dig into it you'll get even crazier shit. Honestly if you want a forever flange it's this.

The ADA in the 1590B definitely looks like a good option if you don't want to drop that much money though.

friendship wrote: I like the sound of an Electric Mistress but maybe this territory is too well-trod by the guitartriarchy?

I avoided getting a flange until feeling out other mainstay/cornerstones. Esp dirt. An '82 PolyFlange then became the right fit for me.
The EHX satisfies me with both clean & fuzz-stacked signals; different pedals I tried only seem to excel at one or the other.
I recommend getting what you like. Seems like DUH advice right? Find the sound (and response) you like and go from there.

The frontier days of your instrument are over. The electric guitar is about 4/5 of a century old.
You're likelier to enjoy yourself more if you do what you think sounds good instead of what you think sounds original. The prospect of finding untapped potential in well worn effects can also be an exciting challenge in itself.

Rusty I just want to sit down and have a conversation with you and record the whole thing so I can listen back on it whenever I need inspiration / fresh perspective.

Flanger Hoax is one that I could never get to even flange! LOL!!!

The BF2 or BF3 are my favorites. I haven't found anything that can beat them and I've tried.

I have Chase Bliss Spectre if you're in the market for that.

kbit wrote:Rusty I just want to sit down and have a conversation with you and record the whole thing so I can listen back on it whenever I need inspiration / fresh perspective.

Highest of compliments. Someday... Until then, my post history is easily searched.
I should probably credit a lot to the wisdom of Bill Watterson; growing up with Calvin & Hobbes.
The comics obv, but simple titles like It's A Magical World and There's Treasure Everywhere were profoundly influential to my approach.

Rusty with the refreshing perspective as always. PolyFlange looks awesome, I've only seen the PolyChorus iteration.

I'll have to exclude $200+ flangers, which is unfortunate because the Cluster Flux & Spectre and Nebula all look righteous.

I keep coming back to listening to the Tunnelworm. Its sweep is so cool and it doesn't seem to do that obvious LFO-taking-over-your-signal thing I'm not a huge fan of that a lot of flangers do when when pushed 2 the Xtreme. That said, I'd still like to get traditional but interesting flanging sounds. Is the answer two flangers? This is ILF so I'm assuming yes. Used Tunnelworm and FX-72?

PolyFlange, PolyChorus & Echoflanger are all the same internally. They were some of the last pedals released around 1982-84 before the bankruptcy. IDK the "whys" behind it but options are nice

Tunnelworm has been on my list of things to try for some time now. Would give it a go if opportunity presents itself...and I wasn't gear-poor.
Good luck finding what you seek, remember it's a journey that doesn't have to end when reaching your destination!

rustywire wrote:

friendship wrote: I like the sound of an Electric Mistress but maybe this territory is too well-trod by the guitartriarchy?

I avoided getting a flange until feeling out other mainstay/cornerstones. Esp dirt. An '82 PolyFlange then became the right fit for me.
The EHX satisfies me with both clean & fuzz-stacked signals; different pedals I tried only seem to excel at one or the other.
I recommend getting what you like. Seems like DUH advice right? Find the sound (and response) you like and go from there.

The frontier days of your instrument are over. The electric guitar is about 4/5 of a century old.
You're likelier to enjoy yourself more if you do what you think sounds good instead of what you think sounds original. The prospect of finding untapped potential in well worn effects can also be an exciting challenge in itself.

Well said.

for what its worth, as someone who hasn't given flanger the time of day until recently. I have a Boss BF-2 that I surprisingly enjoy on both guitar and bass. Currently using it more as a lush chorus and putting it before one of the more conventional settings on my DBA apocolypse sounds super dreamy. I enjoy its simplicity. I recall having a DOD flanger for a minute during my early pedal collecting days and remember plugging it in and thinking "oh wow a flanger can do way more than just wooooooshhhh." Definitely a cool pedal and I'd like to try one again now that I am older for kicks to see if I would dig it.

Slightly unrelated note, I currently use my flanger as a chorus, my chorus as a vibrato, my digital delays as sampler/noise makers, why can I not accept my pedals for what they are? am I a bad pedal dad?

Sounds to me like you're the best kind of pedal dad. Not only do you accept the gear for what it is, you make the most of what you have and find unorthodox ways for it to thrive.

rustywire wrote:Sounds to me like you're the best kind of pedal dad. Not only do you accept the gear for what it is, you make the most of what you have and find unorthodox ways for it to thrive.

I love coming to these Pedal Parents Anonymous meetings, thank you rusty.

The ADA PBF Flanger!!

The sounds range from subtle to far out to UFO invasion. The manual knob is sick, and lets you dial in some weird hollow/metallic static tones (no sweep). The harmonics switch is great also, you can get a totally different flange sound just by using that, goes from that hollow, sucking the air out of the room sound to a fat and lush modulation.