Trying to pick the best flanger pedal for your tone can be a challenge because there are so many great flange guitar effects out there. Some are over the top psychedelic while others are a little more muted.
In order to find the right one for your style, you need to understand flanger controls.
- Rate: controls the sweeping effect. Higher rate equals faster sweeps.
- Depth: controls the degree of the sweep. More depth makes more intense sweeps.
- Resonance: controls the height of the sweep.
- Manual: controls the sweep center point.
Now that you understand the basic controls, let’s compare and review the top-rated flanger pedals on the market, so you can figure out which one is right for your sound.
Click Below to Compare the Top Flanger Guitar Pedals in 2020
Contents
- 1 Click Below to Compare the Top Flanger Guitar Pedals in 2020
- 2 What We Recommend and Why
Here is a list of the best flanger effect pedals that you should add to your pedalboard in 2020.
- Electro-Harmonix Stereo Electric Mistress Chorus/Flanger Pedal
- MXR EVH117 Flanger Guitar Effects Pedal
- MXR M117R Flanger
- TC Electronic Vortex Flanger Pedal
- Boss BF-3 Flanger Guitar Effects Pedal
- MXR M152 Micro Flanger
- Mooer Eleclady Classic Analog Flanger pedal
- JOYO JF-07
Electro-Harmonix Stereo Electric Mistress Chorus/Flanger Pedal
Specs, features, and benefits
The Electric Mistress by Electro-Harmonix is one of the best flanger pedals on the market these days, and it offers chorus too! The pedal is sturdy-built and although it’s a digital pedal it is very easy to use. The pedal has three control knobs: Rate, Flanger Depth, and Chorus Depth.
You can engage the two effects at the same time, which will give you a whole new world of modulation effects – you can explore.
When you reach the 10 o’clock position on the rate knob, you will activate the “filter matrix”, which is actually going to freeze the flanger. This will give you a warm and subtle flanger effect.
The pedal has stereo outputs, for the ultimate flanger and chorus experience, and can be powered with a 9V AC power adaptor only.
Pros and Highlights
- Great sound quality – The pedal sounds great. Warm and thick! The fact that is digital does not affect the sound of this unit!
- Versatile – This unit will let you explore a great deal of the modulation effects world;
- Sturdy and compact – The pedal is built very sturdy, and the compact design and small layout of controls make this pedal very good fit for a pedalboard;
Cons and Potential Flaws
- It might not be what you are looking for – If you are looking for that classic Andy Summers sound from the 80′, you will probably see this pedal as a bit dark. It also sucks a bit of your tone. Try it before you buy it, kids!
Bottom line
The Electric Mistress by Electro-Harmonix is a nice flanger/chorus pedal. It has a good amount of versatility, it’s sturdily built, and the overall sound is good. However, you should try it before you buy it. Many people went for this unit, and then they were left disappointed when they found out that this pedal doesn’t sound like they wanted to.
Overall, this is a nice pedal!
MXR EVH117 Flanger Guitar Effects Pedal
Specs, features, and benefits
MXR is the company that became famous for the modulation effects in the seventies with guys like Eddie Van Halen who used their products over and over again.
The EVH117 is actually designed by Eddie Van Halen based on his old MXR flanger that he used on all the records that made him a world-famous artist.
The pedal has four control knobs: Manual, Width, Speed, and Regeneration.
It also has an “EVH” pushbutton that will instantly set the pedal in the “Unchained” guitar sound.
The pedal can be powered by an 18V adaptor or two 9V batteries.
Pros and Highlights
- Excellent sound quality! – The pedal sounds great due to the all-analog circuit. If you either want to sound like EVH, or you want to sculpt your own sound, the 117 will serve you best!
- Versatile – The pedal has a really wide range of flanger sounds, just tweak around the knobs!
- Sturdily built, great design – The pedal is built like a tank, and the graphics are the famous Eddie Van Halen’s “Frankenstein”;
Cons and Potential Flaws
- It eats up the batteries very fast – Yeah, so use the adaptor!
Bottom line
Whether you are a die-hard Eddie Van Halen fan, or you just want to have a great flanger pedal, the EVH117 is a great choice. It’s a high-quality pedal, with warm, natural sound.
No-brainer, if you ask me!
MXR M117R Flanger
Specs, features, and benefits
The MXR117R is a great classic flanger pedal that works great not just with guitar – it works great with bass, keyboard, vocals, and basically anything you plug into it. The pedal has four controls: Manual, Width, Speed, and Regeneration. And a bypass footswitch. That’s it.
You can tweak the knobs, and get even more than just a flanger; you can get chorus, vibrato, and even short delay! Sturdy built flanger pedal that works with an 18V adaptor, or two 9V batteries.
Pros and Highlights
- The classic sound – The sound you’ll get with this pedal, due to the all-analog circuit is the classic and warm flanger sound from the seventies;
- High-quality built – The M117R will last a long, long time, and it will take the beatings without crying;
- Versatile – You can enter the colorful world of modulation effects with this unit, and fall in love with it.
Cons and Potential Flaws
- No cons!
Bottom line
The classic flanger sounds from the seventies. How cool is that? All-analog circuitry, high-quality sounding, versatile, and built like a tank flanger pedal! Great pedal!
TC Electronic Vortex Flanger Pedal
Specs, features, and benefits
The Vortex Flanger pedal by TC Electronic is a modern-day, versatile guitar pedal.
It has:
- Four control knobs: Speed, Depth, Feedback, and Delay Time.
- Three-way mode switch with Flanger, Toneprint, and Tape mode available
- Stereo inputs and outputs; True/buffered bypass switch, and Kill/Dry switch
The Flanger and the Tape modes are the classic flangers that you heard in the sixties and seventies rock music. The Toneprint mode allows you to design your own flanger presets with the Toneprint software. You can put this preset on your pedal with a USB cable with your MAC/PC, or beam it on with your phone.
The pedal can be powered by a 9V battery or by a power adaptor.
Pros and Highlights
- Versatile – The three modes, the four knobs, the stereo inputs/outputs, and the switches, give you plenty of room to work on your flanger sound with this unit.
- Great tone – The Vortex has a great sound, true to the old fashioned flanger fans and the modern ones;
- Compact – The pedal is a small-footprint one – it will save you a lot of space on your pedalboard;
Cons and Potential Flaws
- Digital – Although this might not be a con, and the pedal passes the effect only, some people still tend to go for the holy analog circuits. For example, if you ask me, I can always tell if the pedal is analog or digital, just by the sound. I like the analog better;
Bottom line
The Vortex Flanger pedal by TC Electronic is a compact and versatile modern guitar pedal. Even if you don’t like the Flanger and the Tape modes, you still have the Toneprint mode, with which you can design your own flanger using the software. The pedal comes for a very reasonable price, and it sounds great. If you don’t like digital stuff, stay away from buying this unit. If you don’t have this kind of problem, just go and buy it. But always, always remember – trying before buying saves you money and stress!
Boss BF-3 Flanger Guitar Effects Pedal
Specs, features, and benefits
The Boss BF-3 is a versatile flanger pedal, built in the standard Boss box, with the standard quality of Boss products.
The pedal has four modes: Ultra, Standard, Gate, and Momentary.
And four control knobs: Manual, Resonance (the Resonance knob is on top of the Manual one), Depth, and Rate.
This unit also offers a tap-tempo feature – you can engage it with holding down the footswitch for two seconds. The pedal has stereo outputs and separate inputs for guitar and bass guitar. The Boss BF-3 is a very easy-to-use pedal. It can be powered by the Boss adaptor, or by a 9V battery.
Pros and Highlights
- Versatile – The pedal has a lot to offer! It has a lot of different flanger sounds to offer, and it has dedicated input for bass guitar too!
- Great sound – The pedal sounds great… Boss really put their effort -in this one!
- Sturdy, compact – This is not strange for Boss products. The pedal is pedalboard-friendly and will last a long time.
Cons and Potential Flaws
- No cons! – Well, there are better sounding flanger pedals for a higher price for sure, but with this one, you’ll get high-quality sound and performance, and durability that are really hard to beat!
Bottom line
If you are looking for a versatile flanger pedal, that sounds great and is sturdy, you should probably try out the Boss BF-3. Many players love it and are keeping it on their pedalboard all the time. The compact, versatile, sturdy flanger pedal with a good price – the Boss BF-3!
MXR M152 Micro Flanger
Specs, features, and benefits
This is one of the most compact, affordable, and easy to use flanger pedals on the market. The MXR M152 Micro Flanger is a pedal that will fit every pedalboard in the world and will satisfy the most perfectionist guitar player with its sound.
The pedal has only two control knobs: Rate, and Regeneration.
The pedal is true bypass, and it can be powered by either a 9V battery or by power adaptor. MXR M152’s circuit is an all-analog one, and the chassis of the pedal is bulletproof.
Pros and Highlights
- Easy-to-use pedal – It has only two control knobs! How hard can be to set this pedal?
- Affordable – Would it matter if I said “cheap”?
- High quality – Compact and sturdy, versatile and great sounding, with a bullet-proof chassis guitar pedal!
Cons and Potential Flaws
- Not subtle – You can’t set a subtle flanger effect with this one if you wanted just that – keep looking for the right fit. This is not for you.
Bottom line
The MXR M152 is a great sounding, sturdy, compact, versatile, and easy to use flanger pedal. The circuit of this pedal is an all-analog one, and it provides you with a warm and beautiful sound. It has only two controls, so it is very easy to use one. The only flaw of this thing is that it can’t produce very subtle flanger effect. Many players are not going for that, so if you are interested in buying a flanger pedal, you should give this little monster a try!
Mooer Eleclady Classic Analog Flanger pedal
Specs, features, and benefits
The Mooer Eleclady is a small-footprint, easy-to-use, sturdy flanger pedal that comes for a very low price.
The pedal has two modes: Normal, and Filter.
It has three control knobs. The big one in the center is the Rate of the effect, and the small ones are Color and Range.
The pedal is true bypass, and the circuitry inside is an all-analog one. It powers up with a 9V DC adaptor only.
Pros and Highlights
- Cheap! – The Mooer Eleclady is one of the cheapest flanger pedals on the market;
- Versatile – With this unit, you can achieve a wide pallet of flanger sounds;
- Compact – The small footprint is a great thing for a crowded pedalboard. Also, you can carry the pedal in your pocket!
Cons and Potential Flaws
- Volume droppings – This is a problem, but it can be solved with powering the pedal with 12V DC adaptor. The pedal can stand that without setting a fire, so, there you go;
Bottom line
If you are a modulation-curious and you want to try flanger, the Mooer Eleclady is definitely a go to. The only con is the volume drop when the pedal is engaged, but still, this is a solvable problem. Sturdy built, great sounding, versatile and compact flanger pedal!
JOYO JF-07
Specs, features, and benefits
If you are on a budget, and still want to taste that sweet, sweet flanger with your guitar in hands, Joyo made a pedal especially for you.
The Joyo JF-07 comes for a very low price, but don’t let this fool you – Joyo really made their best with this pedal. The box of the pedal is very sturdy, with some cool graphics on it.
It has four control knobs: Regeneration, Delay Time, Width, and Speed.
The footswitch is true bypass, and the pedal can be powered by either a 9V battery or by 9V DC power adaptor.
Pros and Highlights
- Cheap – Don’t let the tight budget hold you back, you can still buy a flanger pedal!
- Sturdy – The pedal is built like a tank!
- Great quality – Having in mind the price of the pedal, it still has decent quality in sound!
Cons and Potential Flaws
- Short life, cheap made – Well, of course, this is not the greatest pedal! I mean, come on, this pedal is dirt cheap! And for the price you will pay, it is pretty decent! The bigger flaw of this pedal is that probably isn’t going to last a long time before it dies. If you are serious about these things, just save your money and get a proper flanger pedal.
Bottom line
If you are a beginner guitar player, and you want to enter the world of pedal effects, this flanger pedal is recommended. However, if you have a plan to be a professional musician, just save your money, and buy something better.
What We Recommend and Why
Our recommendation from this list is definitely the Electro-Harmonix Stereo Electric Mistress. Why? Because it’s one of the most versatile flanger pedals ever, it sounds great, and it will last you a long, long time.
There is really a wide pallet of flanger pedals on the market, and it’s hard to decide which one suits the best for you. This is why we chose the Electro-Harmonix because it will suit most of the guitar players.
Another option would be the MXR M152 if you are not interested in subtle flanger.
