Electro-Harmonix Stereo Electric Mistress Flanger Pedal
EHX's Electric Mistress pedal delivers true stereo flanging for Hendrix-like textures. Dial in adjustable rate and depth, plus chorus for layered richness.
Overall User Ratings (based on 6 ratings)
Submitted February 20, 2023 by Dean Allen in Alameda, CA
"Flange and Chorus together doesn't explain it."
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This pedal has a great flanger in it and what I guess is a good chorus, which I generally don't like. This is about my "set and forget" setting: Rate, 1:00, Flange and chorus at 8:30 or 9:00. Anyway, put these two together and you get a beautiful sound without the things some people don't like about flange or chorus. No overly scooped tone or artificial robot sounds from the flanger, and no cheesy "Nike, shoulder pads and Mullet" chorus sounds. The chorus and flange seem to be filling in gaps in the sweep or frequency range of the other, I'm not sure, but what you get is a very sweet, very colorful and musical, not overly lush or thin rotation a bit more like a slow Leslie than a typical pedal. Very organic yet it's a digital pedal; no need for analog here. Seperately the Flanger is great in that with one knob labeled "Flanger Depth", you're there. No endless fiddling with four mysteriously named controls that just make things worse. Just one mix control with everything perfectly preset except the speed ("rate"), same for the chorus. I generally do not like chorus but even I can appreciate this one, it's actually quite nice and doesn't recall too many '80s clichés. Too bad it's not programmable, there are so many good sounds to be had. but as a regular "set and forget" pedal it's fantastic. Also it's very quiet and is true bypass.
Musical Background:
Gigging since childhood, have owned and dumped many pedals.
Musical Style:
Rock, Blues, Americana, Country
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Submitted July 12, 2012 by Paul Rubino in Belmont, CA
"Electric Mistress"
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I bought this pedal several years back and now, after a few years of use, can honestly say it's da bomb.
If you're looking for an analog chorus or flanger, it does both. It's really neat to have them both in the same pedal because you can combine the two effects with different levels of each one, depending on the sound you're looking for. So if you're trying to get a "different" sound, it's easy to dial one up.
The chorus is very warm. If you want to soften your sound, this pedal does the trick. On the flip side, the flanger effect is a little bit heavier. I usually have the chorus near 10 with the flanger near 3 or 4. That's just me though. You'll want to play around with it to get your own sounds.
The only thing I'm not marking at 5 stars is "Ease of Use" and it's nothing against the pedal. It's more you're going to have to spend some time with it before getting a sound you like.
Musical Background:
Guitar, Piano
Musical Style:
Metal
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Submitted December 12, 2013 by Alan K in Montgomery, AL
"Jetsons"
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This pedal combines two sought after effects to make one ripping pedal. What I didn't realize is that it is part of a new generation of EHX pedals that rely more on integrated circuits and less on old style semiconductors. So, when I asked the company how to find an internal trim pot to slow down the swirl on the chorus side, they must have thought I was way behind the curve. I finally looked in there, and as the saying goes, there are no user serviceable parts inside. You get what you get. I've used the flanger with two different other chorus effects that could be slowed down more, and it can be a little better that way, but not enough to forego the combined effect on this pedal. I run it now with the flanger at 10:00 and the chorus straight up at noon. All is well!
Musical Background:
Lifetime player, acoustic and electric.
Musical Style:
Bluegrass, rock, blues.
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Submitted December 11, 2009 by a customer from yahoo.com
"Not really a flanger, but interesting none the less"
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I enjoy owning this pedal , but it did not earn itself a permanent home on my board. It's just something tweak when trying to find the right ambient background effect or trying to simulate a cocked-wah sound with a fuzz pedal when you can get fuzz and wah to play nice together. Things like that. If you are looking to get a smaller footprint version of the Deluxe Electric Mistress, you are barking up the wrong tree.
Highly recommended for members of the National Audubon Society.
Sound
This is more of a chorus pedal then a flanger. The flange only comes through when you have the depth cranks and there are lots of tinny, metallic artifacts. It doesn't behave or sound even similar to a deluxe electric mistress. The semi-hidden filter matrix mode is fun to play with. It's a bit extreme at most settings, but you can dial in some pretty unique sounds with it. The chorus side, while not amazing sounding, is usable throughout the full sweep of the knob.
If this were marketed as a chorus pedal and the flanger depth knob was labeled "weirdness", it would score higher marks here. It's not really much of a flanger. It's more of a chorus that crosses over into ring modulator territory when you turn down the rate knob.
Features
At least on paper, this has the goods. An small footprint version of the electric mistress plus a chorus section to blend in. If the flanger portion actually worked, the concept is a home run. Kinda of like a fulltone choral flange for 40% of the price.
Ease of Use
This is not an easy pedal to dial in. The filter matrix mode kicks in somewhere between 10 and 12 O'clock on the rate knob, depending on how the other knobs are set and what kind of signal is driving the pedal. This is not what is said in the manual, but is the way the pedal actually operates. I've had the filter mode kick when changing the volume on my guitar. This makes getting slow chorus and flange tones is very tricky...impossible some might say; flange sounds are pretty much non-existent at rates below 3 O'clock.
Once you get past the fact that it's not much of a flanger, a whole world of possibilities open up with this pedal. Taking the time to explore the filter matrix mode and figuring out how to dial out some of the metallic pinging sounds can reward you with some pretty unique effects.
In the interest of full disclosure, you can make this sound like a flanger: Rate 4 O'clock, Flanger Depth maxed, Chorus Depth zeroed.
Even more disclosure: 95% of the sounds you dial in with this are useless...especially for recording. I'm pretty much as experimental as one can get in terms of guitar tones, but most of the sounds out of this pedal are waaaaaaay to bright and metallic sounding. Most settings result in it sounding like a shallow chorus effect with birds chirping over the top of it. Adjusting the knobs adjusts the pitch of the chirps and not much else. It takes real effort to squeeze something good out of this pedal. Definitely not for everyone.
Quality
Until proven otherwise, EHX gets a 7 from me. The effects will last forever, as long as you are willing to re-solder the input/output jacks every few years.
Value
Again, this is not a bad pedal, it's just not a much of a flanger. It can produce some pretty wild and unique tones. If you are looking for a chorus pedal that can produce some pseudo ring modulator tones, the price is right on this one.
Musical Background:
Hobbyist
Musical Style:
Alt-Opera
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