Published on this page in the GuitarFella archive — what our editors chose at the time, not a lab test.
Last Updated Nov-14-2018.
Flangers are among the most overt and arguably most intimidating guitar effects we have today. With that said, a decent pedal can really change the way you experience guitar tone. This effect has the power to alter your tone to a point where it is almost psychedelic in nature.
Today we are going to show you what we think are some great effects pedals from this category. Later on, we will talk about flangers in detail and try to explain this effect in a most objective way possible. Considering how much misinformation is circulating about this effect, this is almost necessary.
Top 7 Flanger Pedals
What Is A Flanger Pedal?
Flangers are by far one of the most
unique guitar effects you can get. The way they work is by adding small amounts of delay to the source signal, all while altering the delay time as you play. The result is this sweeping, jet engine type effect we associate with flanging. The story behind how flangers came into existence is very interesting. Modern pedals have appeared relatively recently, at least compared to other guitar effects.
Original flanging was achieved by running a tape from one spool to the other and slowly desyncing during this process. Naturally, modern flangers don't utilize this method as it would be extremely inefficient. Instead, a good majority of modern models rely on digital technologies to achieve the same. Another attribute of them is their high versatility. They can be forced to sound like other effects, such as a phaser or a
chorus. As you could imagine, this has caused quite a bit of confusion among guitar players, especially those who are just getting into guitar effects. If you would like to know more about phasers, check out our dedicated guide for this effect. Despite their chameleon like nature, the most common way flangers are used is to create that psychedelic sweeping effect.
Functions Of A Flanger Pedal
Every type of effects pedals has a more or less specific set of controls. When it comes to flangers, things are fairly simple. There are four main control knobs you will find on almost every pedal from this category. You have the Rate, Depth, Resonance and Manual. Additionally, some pedals offer various modes like the Boss BF-3 we have mentioned above. Let's discuss what each of these knobs does and how they affect your tone respectively.
Rate
If we were to represent the sweeping of a flanger as a wave on a graph, rate knob would define the frequency of that wave. Increase in rate leads to much quicker sweeps. This might not be the completely accurate method of representation considering that these sweeps aren't symmetrical, but you get the point. One cool thing about adjusting rate is that it allows you to make your flange really subtle. Since there is definitely such a thing as too much of any effect, mastering the flanger in its most subtle presence is a skill that takes time to develop.
Depth
Depth can be the deceptive one out of all available control knobs. What it does is control how intense the flanger will be in your tone. As you add more depth, you will notice several different stages of flanging. From zero to about one third, depending on the pedal, your flanger will sound organic and almost natural. As you increase the depth, it starts to transform into a more synthetic effect with a prominent metallic vibe to it. How much depth you are going to add depends on what kind of music you are playing and naturally, your own taste.
Resonance
Resonance is a pretty important control on a flanger as it determines how high the sweep is going to go. Together with depth, resonance tends to define the flanger effect. Additionally, almost every pedal has a different sets of values attributed to this control. Some feature a relatively mild range of resonance, while others tend to go pretty wild in this regard. Again, the genre of music you play is often the defining factor when it comes to finding the right resonance value.
Manual
Lastly, we have the manual knob. On some pedals it isn't even a knob, but rather a built in function of resonance. What manual control does is to determine the center of the sweep. High manual values tend to be more aggressive and can really deform the tone of your guitar. Lower manual values are far more subtle in this regard, but shift the entire effect of flanging much lower.
What Music Genres Are Best For Flanger Use?
One of the unwritten rules of guitar effects is that just about any effect can be used in just about any genre of music. With that said, some genres work better with certain effects. For flangers, those optimal genres are easily rock and metal. You can find countless examples out there. However, you don't need
distortion and face melting riffs to accommodated a good flanger. If you want to check out of the most mind blowing examples being used, check out Small Faces by Itchycoo Park. This song was recorded back in late '60s using that whole desynced tape method we were talking about earlier.
In essence, flangers can be useful anywhere if you use them right. They set to a rather subtle setting won't be noticeable beyond adding a new dimension of sound to your music. Interestingly enough, rarely will you find a song where someone squeezed a flanger for all its worth. Actually, you probably can find a few examples but chances are that none of them will be good. In other words, moderation is the key with this guitar effect.
How To Properly Use A Flanger?
These pedals are a delicate tool that requires some consideration if you want to get the best results. Starting with the placement of the pedal in a signal chain, it is best to chain them near the very end. Usually guitar players put flangers before delay. Attaching a one at the beginning or near the beginning of the chain can have negative effects on the rest of the pedals in the chain.
One reason why you don't see to many new guitar players using flangers these days, is due to the volatile nature of this effect. It is extremely easy to go overboard with it, which can totally ruin the remainder of the mix. Flangers are by far some of the most imposing modulation effects in existence. One notch too far and it no longer complements the tone, but starts to dominate it. Best way to start using this effect is to begin with really subtle increments. As you progress and learn how your pedal reacts, you will find that middle ground fairly quickly.
Understanding The Potential
So far, we might have given you an impression that flangers are like dangerous in some ways. While everything above still stands, you need to understand the value and potential this type of effect brings to the table. We are talking about areal force multiplier here. One that can add a whole lot of range to both your tone and your inspiration. If you read our article carefully, you have probably noticed that we used the world psychedelic a couple of times. As cliche as that might sound, it is the perfect word to describe what flangers can do.
Despite them being characterized as guitar effects most of the time, flangers have found a massive fan base among vocalists and bass guitar players as well. In case of the former, a good flanger can change the tone of a song in a number of ways. Bass guitar applications are every bit as interesting too. Since bass is most often a background instrument in a sense that it doesn't dominate the mix, you can be more aggressive with flanging. The result is underlying heat in a song that otherwise sounds fairly normal.
They key thing to remember about flanger pedals is that experimentation is the key. Every pedal is different in its own way, even though most of them offer similar results. Truly mastering the pedal you have can unlock doors you never knew were there in the first place.
Conclusion
Flanger is by far one of the most unique and interesting effects you can have on your pedalboard. The sheer versatility it brings to the table is too good and important to ignore. Models we have listed above are among the best you can get, but also representative of how the quality of this effect changes as you increase the price tag. Interestingly enough, even the cheapest flangers pack a lot of heat. If you are familiar with modulation effects and want something new and exciting for your pedalboard, do yourself a favor and check out flangers. They're worth it.