Another Night on the Town... (EHX Stereo Electric Mistress Review)

[JanusZarate]

Originally Posted by 98dvl

So, a question on this pedal...

What's the advantage of this pedal over let's say a Clone Theory and some other flanger (maybe a Boss-BF2)? Sure, you get one box, but you don't exactly have as much control. I guess you also get the filter matrix mode as well. Anything else? By having the effects in parallel with each other, it seems like the only benefit is that they are both "swishing" at the same rate... or is there something else going on?

I think you've misunderstood what's going on.

The Clone Theory is still my single favorite chorus pedal for its sound, but it's less versatile for my needs because of its voicing. All of EHX's chorus pedals have generally the same degree of control - Depth and Rate; as far as control is concerned, it's no different. Other chorus pedals have more knobs, but they're often parameters that I don't have a need to tweak. If you need more control in your chorus sound (high/low filters, gain boosting, EQ, etc.), or a really deep or bright chorus sound, then you should invest in a separate chorus pedal.

As for the Flanger... its controls are simpler than those of the Deluxe and original Electric Mistress, no doubt. But without the noise issues, immense size, dedicated power supplies, and volume drop issues that the vintage Electric Mistress pedals had, it has a significant advantage over its predecessors. I'm not sure how the current Deluxe Electric Mistress compares, but that runs on its own wall wart and is a HUGE pedal; this one's 9VDC and tiny.

In comparison to other flangers... nevermind the controls for a second. I wasn't arguing that this flanger was particularly tweakable (although I think that for so few controls, it's pretty versatile soundwise). What it narrows down to is the sound. The BF-2 sounds nothing like the Mistress - they're very different voicings of the same general effect. The BF-2 has some white noise, while the Mistress has none. The BF-2 seems less natural to me.

And regarding parallel... they do share a common rate, but that's not a result of putting the effects in parallel - that was a conscious choice on the part of EHX's circuit designers. By placing these effects in parallel, the Mistress is blending two different signal paths together. Rather than flanging the chorused bassline, or detuning/chorusing the flanged bassline, it runs both a chorused and flanged bassline side by side and blends them at the end, so that neither is coloring the other. Will you like it? Maybe. Will dislike it? Maybe. It's rare that musicians run chorus and flanger in parallel - usually, they run them in series. In that sense, it's unique.

Even if it isn't the jill-of-all-trades when it comes to flangers, or the world's deepest chorus pedal, it's just what I was looking for. I really love the Mistress because it's easy to get a good sound, and it's different.

[98dvl]

Originally Posted by MysticBoo

I think you've misunderstood what's going on.

The Clone Theory is still my single favorite chorus pedal for its sound, but it's less versatile for my needs because of its voicing. All of EHX's chorus pedals have generally the same degree of control - Depth and Rate; as far as control is concerned, it's no different. Other chorus pedals have more knobs, but they're often parameters that I don't have a need to tweak. If you need more control in your chorus sound (high/low filters, gain boosting, EQ, etc.), or a really deep or bright chorus sound, then you should invest in a separate chorus pedal.

As for the Flanger... its controls are simpler than those of the Deluxe and original Electric Mistress, no doubt. But without the noise issues, immense size, dedicated power supplies, and volume drop issues that the vintage Electric Mistress pedals had, it has a significant advantage over its predecessors. I'm not sure how the current Deluxe Electric Mistress compares, but that runs on its own wall wart and is a HUGE pedal; this one's 9VDC and tiny.

And regarding parallel... they do share a common rate, but that's not a result of putting the effects in parallel - that was a conscious choice on the part of EHX's circuit designers. By placing these effects in parallel, the Mistress is blending two different signal paths together. Rather than flanging the chorused bassline, or detuning/chorusing the flanged bassline, it runs both a chorused and flanged bassline side by side and blends them at the end, so that neither is coloring the other. Will you like it? Maybe. Will dislike it? Maybe. It's rare that musicians run chorus and flanger in parallel - usually, they run them in series. In that sense, it's unique.

Actually, you're right I mis-understood the controls on the EM... I didn't realize that there was a depth knob along with the rate knob... I was thinking for some reason that it was basically a chorus volume/blend knob, along with a flanger volume/blend knob, with a rate knob that was common to both... Now I understand.

I see how routing the signal in parallel works too now, makes sense to not flange your chorus signal or chorus your flanged signal.

As far as the sound differences between the EM and a stand alone flanger along with a stand alone chorus, that may just be something I have to play around with in a store somewhere. They'll be somewhat similar, but yet, totally different I imagine.

I'm only asking because I'm thinking of buying a chorus and flanger. I figure I can get one of each used, or for about the same price, pick up a new EM. I like the clips of the EM, so was just trying to get some more info on it.

[JanusZarate]

Ah... Hmm. I'd suggest trying out the usuals in a shop - a Boss CE-5, a Boss BF-3, and if you can find it, the Deluxe Electric Mistress (I've seen more shops with the older pedal than the new Stereo one). That way, you could familiarize yourself with the sounds and the series chains, and perhaps get a better idea of whether or not you'd want the Mistress instead.

[speak_onion]

Originally Posted by MysticBoo

jill-of-all-trades

Well played, Boo. Well played.

[JanusZarate]

I'm just trying to keep her anthropomorphism going.

[RickenBoogie]

Well, you got me going. Just ordered one from MF, should have it early next week. Now, I'll have to take something OFF my board, and the only obvious choice would be the Stereo Clone Theory. I read this thread with sound clips back a while, and held off, but now, see what you've done. I might end up needing another small pedal board, but damn, I likes me what I've heard of this Mistress. Thanks, Boo.

[JanusZarate]

You're taking the Clone Theory off?!?

Find something else to take off. Heck, if I wasn't set on getting a delay, I'd be all over my old Clone Theory!

Speaking of which... I gotta write up the results of stereo delay mini-shootout I did at a shop earlier this evening... I'll post it later.

[RickenBoogie]

Yeah, it's possibly the best chorus I've ever heard, but the Mistress has got me in her sway. Everything else on my board is too important or cool to remove. It's a tough situation, unless I do another small board, but that seems like overkill.

[sk8]

How does the streo electric mistress' chorus compare to the small clone? I've got the clone but i'm not toally happy with it and i just picked up a cheap flanger (£10)

I have just realised i love flangers and got rid of my nano small stone i wonder whether the mistress will fill the gap in my pedal board nicely

[JanusZarate]

Originally Posted by sk8

How does the streo electric mistress' chorus compare to the small clone? I've got the clone but i'm not toally happy with it and i just picked up a cheap flanger (£10)

Pretty different, IMO. The Mistress' chorus can be thick, but it's still warmer. It's not intent on altering your signal the way the Clone pedals do (which is what I've always loved about them, BTW).

I've been meaning to try a Polychorus if I can find one again... I still have an odd feeling that it has a lot in common with the chorus on the Mistress. I also want to pick up a Small Clone again, just for the sake of refreshing my memory and making a fair comparison - I haven't used one in a long time...

[sk8]

sounds like the mistress is for me then!

[Gashaponcito]

I need that pedal

[sk8]

i think i might have to buy one of these tonight

[andvari7]

Originally Posted by MysticBoo

Pretty different, IMO. The Mistress' chorus can be thick, but it's still warmer. It's not intent on altering your signal the way the Clone pedals do (which is what I've always loved about them, BTW).

I've been meaning to try a Polychorus if I can find one again... I still have an odd feeling that it has a lot in common with the chorus on the Mistress. I also want to pick up a Small Clone again, just for the sake of refreshing my memory and making a fair comparison - I haven't used one in a long time...

This is probably the most information that I have been able to find about the sound of the chorus effect of this elusive Polychorus. I think I might just go with the Stereo Electric Mistress, if, for no other reason than it costs about half as much ($118).

[dumbdrum]

MysticBoo,

About the Filter Matrix mode. I tried one out last night. I did recognize the different emphasis of the flanger harmonics when the rate knob was tweaked but the FM mode really thinned out the sound even on lower depth settings of flanging. Is this consistent with you experience? What setting do you do your samples on?

[JanusZarate]

Thinned out? The bass does drop a bit and boost a bit on some settings, and it does other weird things to your tone. But it's the nature of the beast. I had the Flanger Depth pretty high in general on those clips... I don't remember if I had set it to max.

It's been a while since I used my board. I'll play with FM mode again tonight and let you know; I have my rig back, so I'll be able to give you a pretty good idea of what I experience with it.

[dumbdrum]

Cool, looking forward to the report.

[bigchiefbc]

Originally Posted by dumbdrum

MysticBoo,

About the Filter Matrix mode. I tried one out last night. I did recognize the different emphasis of the flanger harmonics when the rate knob was tweaked but the FM mode really thinned out the sound even on lower depth settings of flanging. Is this consistent with you experience? What setting do you do your samples on?

I'm not Boo, but I have a SEM and I actually just used the FM mode for a recording, so I can at least contribute an opinion. I would say yes, at certain points on the rate knob, your tone will definitely thin out. That's because what you are doing with FM mode is you are freezing the flanger (which creates notches in your signal) and manually selecting where in your signal you want to the notches to go. So, at certain points on the knob, the notches may coincide with your main fundamental frequencies, and your bass will sound very hollow and volume-dropped. Does this make sense to anyone else other than me? Do you still hear it as thinned out, even when the depth is ALL the way down?

[JanusZarate]

Bigchief, your experiences echo mine with Filter Matrix mode.

With both Depth knobs at zero, there should be no effect at all - just a clean signal.

[bassman1185]

Very cool. I've been kind of thinking of getting a flanger recently.

On a semi-related note, my band played with some guys from LA called Sputnik Monroe, and their vocalist had a pedal board, which included the original Electric Mistress, which he would sing to and emulate weird string pads. It was amazing.