Bass flangers any suggestions?

[bludog]

Originally Posted by ZaneBWhite

The vintage A/DA Flanger's are amazing.

Anyone have experience with the reissued A/DA flangers? They're supposed to built exactly to spec, without the hardwired power.

[rickenbaker]

Originally Posted by rsmith601

Does a flanger need to be specifically "voiced" for bass?

Are there any bass-specific controls required?

I am sure that Bob Chidlwaw has his views, but I am also curious for the TB take on it.

We have had a handful of bass fans of our old Tri-Mod Flanger (Dan Kurtz, for instance), but not many and I sometimes wonder why.

For me I like a chorusy-type flange sound and from the demos I've heard the tri-mod flanger has a hard time of doing that mostly because it doesn't have a regen control. Low end retention is important but I've found that a lot of digital flanger have somewhat of a problem getting the character of flange that I like. I know you guys are working on the multi-modulator right now and I really like the idea as I have a phaser and am looking for both a chorus and flanger but I feel a regen control (at least for the flanger) would be important. I love what you guys do at source audio (even though I don't own one your pedals...yet. the joys of being a college student) and hope you don't see this as a criticism. merely a suggestion

[ZaneBWhite]

Originally Posted by bludog

Anyone have experience with the reissued A/DA flangers? They're supposed to built exactly to spec, without the hardwired power.

Yeah. The reissues seem to are a little "darker" sounding but they are still great.

[matante]

Originally Posted by rsmith601

Does a flanger need to be specifically "voiced" for bass?

Are there any bass-specific controls required?

I am sure that Bob Chidlwaw has his views, but I am also curious for the TB take on it.

We have had a handful of bass fans of our old Tri-Mod Flanger (Dan Kurtz, for instance), but not many and I sometimes wonder why.

Let me start by saying I've never considered your Tri-Mod Flanger because I didn't know it existed and until very recently had never heard of your company.

As to your question, in my opinion the most bass-specific control on a modulation pedal is a low pass filter, especially an adjustable one. Many bassists are content with a MIX knob, and as you can tell from the replies in this thread, many of us don't even require that much.

To me, though, for a mod pedal to really claim to be aimed at bassists it needs a variable filter like the one on the Iron Ether Nimbus. The MXR Stereo Chorus gives you a filter at the push of a button and the EBS UniChorus gives you a filter by default. The MarkBass Chorus/Flanger also has this filter and is adjustable via software. Without this filter it's a guitar pedal.

[djaxup]

Originally Posted by lijazz

I have been struggling with finding one pedal to have both flange and chorus effect. Would rather not have to buy two pedals. I also hear that the MXR M117 can replicate some chorus sounds also. Other than the EBS and the MXR are there any other Flangers that have a decent amount of chorus characteristic? I am building a small pedalboard and real estate spaceis limited.

I tried the EBS UniChorus for that exact reason, and it has its problems sadly. The chorus sound is superb really, the pedal looks and feels nice, very well build. But my active basses very easily clipped it, even the precision bass when played hard would clip it and give unpleasant sounds.

The flanger mode sound is nice, but not what you expect from a flanger imo. That rotary, hollow and metallic jet sound is not achievable with the unichorus. It is a nice sound though and different from the chorus sound.

Liked the pedal for the outstanding chorus sound, but the clipping was not bearable.


Edit: i'd like to second matante. A bass flanger should have the option to leave the lower frequencies alone and only add the shimmer to the higher frequencies.

[jettrail]

Originally Posted by Feral Feline

@ the OP...

Did you do a TB Search?





TC Electronic Stereo Chorus Flanger would be a good one – some debate over the new ones versus vintage, the latter said to be better.

Moog Clusterflux is a pricey one.

EHX Stereo PolyChorus, yeah well it turned up. No idea what it sounds like.

Jack Deville Mod Zero sounds pretty sweet!




You can find the 1590a (and other tiny pedals) thread here.

t.c. electronic sc+f (vintage 1994). been on my board since. I mostly use the flanger though. although the chorus and pitch modulator sound pretty good too. not a big call for chorus on the bass these days..I miss duran duran. lol

[Chaddycakes]

I find that the single most important function on my Bf-3 is the momentary function. I use the flange to put a little bass out and highlight the melody during chords in the low register, and that momentary is essential. Also, +1 on the resonance filter being very important for sculpting a bass tone. A flanger is not a plug-and-play pedal; one must tailor your tone to the instrument.

[fleizenkruz]

Boss BF-2B for me, still happy now

[4Mal]

Vintage a/d/a or a Fulltone ChoralFlange. They just rock.

[fasto]

Is it just me? My Boss BF-3 has a very noticeable volume spike ... the reason for selling that pedal sooner or later.

fyi: the very new MXR "Bass Chorus Deluxe" has a flanger-function: http://www.jimdunlop.com/product/bass-chorus-deluxe

[jg42]

Maxon FL-9 here.

[HolmeBass]

Originally Posted by fasto

Is it just me? My Boss BF-3 has a very noticeable volume spike ... the reason for selling that pedal sooner or later.

fyi: the very new MXR "Bass Chorus Deluxe" has a flanger-function: http://www.jimdunlop.com/product/bass-chorus-deluxe

No, it's not just you. It definitely has a volume spike. I personally find it necessary when using it solo or the bass drops out too much, but it can be an issue when stacking, especially with envelope filters where the EF's resonance and the flanger's resonance line up it's too spikey and unpleasant.

[millahh]

Love my BF-2B.

[Chaddycakes]

Originally Posted by HolmeBass

No, it's not just you. It definitely has a volume spike. I personally find it necessary when using it solo or the bass drops out too much, but it can be an issue when stacking, especially with envelope filters where the EF's resonance and the flanger's resonance line up it's too spikey and unpleasant.

I find the volume spike to be a response to the EQ of the pedal. It seems to naturally put some bass out, and they compensated by adding a bit of volume. As I mentioned before, I find it useful for making melody notes stick out during chord melody playing in the lower register on my extended range instruments. I do wish it had a
Volume knob or at least some internal dips or something.

[Massimo636]

I use a BF-2 and it has a great sound, but there is way too much of a volume boost when engaged.

[Floyd Eye]

My two favorites

Vintage Ibanez FL-9
BF-2

[Chamber]

Originally Posted by Bassmike62

MXR micro-flanger: great sound, but I couldn't deal with the volume spikes.

I sent mine to Dunlop and they modded this problem for free (within warranty). great pedal

[Laurent]

Originally Posted by bludog

Anyone have experience with the reissued A/DA flangers? They're supposed to built exactly to spec, without the hardwired power.

I have one and they are fantastic. It has a different tone than my Boss BF-2 but it's the most powerful flanger ever built.
Note that they do saturate a bit with very hot pickups (Dimarzio P for example). Turning down the volume on my bass fixes the problem.
No issue with Fender or Seymour Duncan pickups.

I like the BF-2 better than the BF-2B and I have had them side by side. Both are good that being said, it's just a tonal preference.

[Chaddycakes]

I know I should answer this question myself, since I own the pedal, but it is the holiday, and my board is currently thousands of miles away. Has anybody experienced any difference in the
volume spike when plugged into the guitar input of the Boss Bf-2?

[micahturner]

I'm using the Digitech PDS Multiplay