Flangers are an odd breed of effect. Is it a chorus? Vibe clone? Phaser with funkadelic tendencies? All of the above? Yes, yes, and uh-huh. The flanging effect that is prominent today is really just a loose digital interpretation of actual tape ‘flanging’ that happened in the early days of multitracking. Essentially it’s when two identical tracks are played together and one of the tracks is slowed down very slightly by physically pressing on the tape flange to create the slightly delayed doubling sound. The sound of a tape flanger is much more organic and warm, adding a layer of ethereal dimension to your playing. A digital flanger, like the Boss BF-3, is the candy kid equivalent of the analog version’s hippie. It still has spirit, but the digital version is a little more out there. It’s got a very metallic sound to it. Think The Cure ‘Primary’ for a good example. It does the crazy warbley psychedelic sound as well as the slow sweeping jet plane swoosh. With the four different modes the pedal can be versatile, but, as it is a flanger, it’s also kind of a one trick pony. It can be tweaked, but it’s always only going to sound like a flanger. Which is good! You wanted a flanger, you got a flanger, not a Swiss army effect. Is it the best sounding flanger out there? In my opinion, no. That honor goes to the A/DA Flanger. But the A/DA is massive and it needs to be plugged via an Edison plug (they did reissue the OG version in 2009 with a detachable wall wort, but it’s still 18 volts and getting… read more very pricey. There is a pedalboard friendly reissue as well called the A/DA PBF Flanger, but it doesn’t sound nearly as good). This is my third version of this pedal. I get rid of it, try something different, but end up coming back to this flanger. It’s familiar, easy to use, sounds pretty good, and it’s a cool shade of purple. The momentary switch is genius and the gate/pan effect is virtually identical to the Boss Slicer. It also has stereo ins AND outs. It’s not for everyone, but this is a very versatile flanger (or at least as versatile a flanger can be) and the sound is very usable. Get one and get flanging!

Musical Background:
Old Guy

Musical Style:
If it sounds good, it is good. read less