MXR M-117R Flanger

This flanger is a must have for anyone who loves modulation. So many other flangers get stuck in the jetsound and don't have the capability to go subtle. The MXR M-117 has the regen knob, that when you turn it low, you go into chorus territory (but better). The manual knob sets the center of the LFO sweep, and when you turn depth and speed low, the manual knob acts sort of like an EQ, emphazising certain frequencies of your guitar sound. A very cool way to sculpture your sound. The speed knob goes from complete stop to very fast speed, and at the higher settings you get an otherworldly leslie effect. Don't forget the placement in your pedal chain. The classic position would be after dirt. Alternatives would be last of everything to sweep trails from reverbs and delays (after all this was originally an effect created with the studio tape recording machines). I choose to place it before dirt, which gives it a more mellow sound that post dirt. It sounds so good that it is a great candidate for "always on" pedal. And I hate other flangers. The only other option with this much control would be the discontinued Ibanez FL9 which I owned in the past. But this one stand head and shoulders above all competition. Try it. Even if you hate flangers. This is the one to get.

Beautifull analog tone ! The only little con is the voltage and separate power supply. This flanger can go deep, can get special tones, but never gets digital weird, hard. Always warm. Although it has fore knobs, it is very useable and doesn't derail. You always get a nice sound with every possible combination of knobs !!!!! There are quite some analog flangers on the market. But this one is certainly a good buy. If you leave the first two knobs at the middle, you have the same as the micro flanger (says youtube). First I regretted that I didn't got a mxr micro flanger instead because I didn't understand those weird parameters. But now I flanged a lot and finally understand them so at the end I am glad with this one. A lot of people would be better off with a micro version, I think.
Compared to the Boss bf-2 I have the impression that MXR has some slight compression. This makes the tone smoother; less cliiping sensitive. It is also a possible reason why it can hande a lot of dirt. The Boss BF-2 at the other hand has a wider, more pronounced sweep. But at the moment MXR micro or Ibanez mini seem to be the best affordable flangers. Boss BF-2 waza will not be out soon I think.