Ibanez FL9 or Boss BF3 or MXR Flange ?

[Rock Fella]

out of the three flanges i list in the thread title, which is the most transparent , non-tone sucking and musical ?

I adore flange when it is used very sparingly as it can add such awesome sounds to crunching rhythm gtrs and solo tones, as well as bluesy clean sounds also.

how do you rate the flanges ive listed , can you think of any better?

jimmy

 

[dosmun]

I think the old AC powered MXR Flanges fit in with your guitar signal better than the other 2. The other 2 are cool but sound more like and an effect and don't mesh with the sound as well as the old MXR. I am not sure what the newer MXR's sound like. The FL9 is pretty versatile and you can also get some chorusy type sounds out of it.

 

[John Phillips]

Stay away from the Boss BF-3.

It's an all-digital pedal that digitizes the dry signal too (completely tone-destroying, IMO). If you want a Boss flanger, go for the older BF-2 - cheap and easy to find, even the earlier Made In Japan ones are not expensive - or the rarer but IMO better-sounding HF-2 Hi-Band Flanger... which is not as de-tuned sounding or metallic. Unless you want a very heavy effect, in which case you do want the BF-2 .

You may not like the MXR, since it's quite noisy, but I agree that it's more organic-sounding than the others.

 

[Rock Fella]

john

y`know what mate, im currently using an Arion Stereo Flanger same as this

i sniped a dude (2mb connection has its advantages ) on Ebay and got this pedal for £7.00 !! , thats $12.50 to U.S brethren and its bloody good , i mean its really really good, some of those Arion units despite being inexpensive IMO offer outstanding value for money.

if higher spec pedals can outdo the Arion then they must be simply astonishing.

I dont like a lot of flange, just a little , for soloing the tones can be simply glorious and rhythm crunch is just seismic.

Gotta say the FL9 is the one ive most interest in, but its that switch that bothers me, temperemental bleeders they are.

 

[TheGrooveking]

I can't speak for the Ibanez FL9, reissue or older version. Now the Maxon FL9 is one of my favorites. It is a keeper by all means. I love my ADA flangers, but the smaller footprint and great tone earned it a spot on the main pedalboard. The ADA was moved to the rack setup to be usd with a switcher.

TheGrooveking

 

[Rock Fella]

Originally posted by TheGrooveking
I can't speak for the Ibanez FL9, reissue or older version. Now the Maxon FL9 is one of my favorites. It is a keeper by all means. I love my ADA flangers, but the smaller footprint and great tone earned it a spot on the main pedalboard. The ADA was moved to the rack setup to be usd with a switcher.

TheGrooveking

would the maxon FL9 be a very similar unit to the ibanez FL9 ?

 

[TheGrooveking]

Well yes it may be similiar to the older Ibanesz FL9, which was made by Maxon originally. But on the newer Maxon they now have True Bypass switching. The newer Ibanez FL9 reissues are made by Ibanez, not Maxon, so there may be a difference. The Maxon is almost twice the price of the reissue Ibanez, I would hope the extra dollars equated to something in the tone department.

TheGrooveking

 

[Rock Fella]

Originally posted by TheGrooveking
Well yes it may be similiar to the older Ibanesz FL9, which was made by Maxon originally. But on the newer Maxon they now have True Bypass switching. The newer Ibanez FL9 reissues are made by Ibanez, not Maxon, so there may be a difference. The Maxon is almost twice the price of the reissue Ibanez, I would hope the extra dollars equated to something in the tone department.

TheGrooveking

Am i correct in thinking the maxon fl9 is analog ?

 

[TheGrooveking]

Yes.

 

[Rock Fella]

must check it out, ta for your help, know where any sound clips can be found ?

i take it suffers from no signs of nasally metallic sounds ?

 

[TheGrooveking]

Actually that is the reasons it bumped the ADA off of my board, doesn''t seem to be very metallic sounding. You can get them if you try, but at the extremes.

TheGrooveking

 

[Mystik Spiral]

out of the three flanges i list in the thread title, which is the most transparent , non-tone sucking and musical ?

I adore flange when it is used very sparingly as it can add such awesome sounds to crunching rhythm gtrs and solo tones, as well as bluesy clean sounds also.

how do you rate the flanges ive listed , can you think of any better?

jimmy

The HF-2 is pretty good, just does the higher band so seems a bit more transparent.

 

[OotMagroot]

Been checking out all 3 of those. I have the MXR and it is the most musical, organic, and transparent. I don't think it's noisy at all. BUT, the volume boost is really getting on my nerves. I run it before my dirt, so when my overdrives are on it's just fine. But, if I want to use it with my squeaky clean tone it boost the volume too much - thus, I have to turn the volume down on the guitar and I lose all of my mojo, HA!

I think the BF-3 sounds just fine. I didn't hear any tone destruction. Although I like the PH-3 phaser too and most people hate that pedal, so YMMV. I love the latch feature on the BF-3! Great for when you want to add an accent here or there. I will agree the HF-2 sounds the best out of the BOSS Flangers and I will kill to find a good deal on one of those.

 

[Mystik Spiral]

Been checking out all 3 of those. I have the MXR and it is the most musical, organic, and transparent. I don't think it's noisy at all. BUT, the volume boost is really getting on my nerves. I run it before my dirt, so when my overdrives are on it's just fine. But, if I want to use it with my squeaky clean tone it boost the volume too much - thus, I have to turn the volume down on the guitar and I lose all of my mojo, HA!

I think the BF-3 sounds just fine. I didn't hear any tone destruction. Although I like the PH-3 phaser too and most people hate that pedal, so YMMV. I love the latch feature on the BF-3! Great for when you want to add an accent here or there. I will agree the HF-2 sounds the best out of the BOSS Flangers and I will kill to find a good deal on one of those.

I had the EvH flanger before the HF-2

And I'll be darned the MXR had a volume drop, clean or with drives.... sounded brilliant though. Just couldn't justify the 18v juice for a volume dropping pedal on the working board.

 

[Bucksears]

I'll throw in a couple of alternates:

Ibanez FL99 - I've got an FL9 as well, but the FL99 is in a different league. They're on ebay now and again, and not cheap (average $180-200). But it runs on 9V and anyone who has played them will testify regarding the quality in that box. It's not a 'jet plane', but does a sweet clean flange and handles overdrive really well.

MXR Micro Flanger - This does have a bit of a volume boost, but the mod to fix that is documented on this forum. That being said, it does the total 'rock jet plane' effect, and sounds good clean as well. Nice small footprint, too.

If I had to have one flanger, end-all/be-all, it would be the FL99. If I had to get two flangers, I'd get the MXR Micro and either an EHX Electric Mistress (new small/XO version looks cool) or an Ibanez FL-301DX (very sweet sounding flange; again, not as jet plane as the MXR, but a quality sound).

 

[OotMagroot]

If I had to have one flanger, end-all/be-all, it would be the FL99. If I had to get two flangers, I'd get the MXR Micro and either an EHX Electric Mistress (new small/XO version looks cool) or an Ibanez FL-301DX (very sweet sounding flange; again, not as jet plane as the MXR, but a quality sound).

I would absolutely kill to get an FL99. My main delay is the AD99, so it would be cool to have a matching Flanger.

I'v never played through one, but I've heard one in person and have watched numerous Youtube vids, and it sounds stellar everytime.

 

[John 14:6]

I just got a made in Japan Boss BF-2 and it sounds fantastic. My perfect Flanger search is over.

 

[Revelation]

Stay away from the Boss BF-3.

It's an all-digital pedal that digitizes the dry signal too (completely tone-destroying, IMO). If you want a Boss flanger, go for the older BF-2 - cheap and easy to find, even the earlier Made In Japan ones are not expensive - or the rarer but IMO better-sounding HF-2 Hi-Band Flanger... which is not as de-tuned sounding or metallic. Unless you want a very heavy effect, in which case you do want the BF-2 .

You may not like the MXR, since it's quite noisy, but I agree that it's more organic-sounding than the others.

I was seriously looking at the Boss BF3 flanger, but once I found out it was digital, I decided I will wait for the Seymour Duncan Flanger pedal coming out. I am sure it will be analog and the same quality as their chorus pedal.

 

[thomas4th]

If you're looking for a nice flanger on the subtle side, the FL9 is lovely. I have an old one and it sounds great.