Electro-Harmonix Electric Mistress

The Electric Mistress is more of an advanced pedal to use since it has three knobs and unlimited combinations. There are many good sounds, just have to dial them in right.

This pedal is the absolute best chorus/flange you can get. This is the original electric mistress, no power cord. Yes, there is a volume drop, but the sound makes up for that because it is that good. Chorus is thick and lush, usually set rate 2 o'clock, depth 8, and color 8. For more subtle chorus lay back on the depth. Flange is nice, for slow flange set rate to 12 o'clock, depth to 3, color 10. Can can phase tones if depth and color are low. Also leslie style with depth all way down, and rate all the way up. This pedal is very versatile. Can get Andy Summers, David Gilmour, Eric Clapton(late 70's-80's) sounds. I love this pedal.

This pedal is very reliable. The case is very durable, no scratchy pots.

If you like lush analog chorus and flange, this is it. Does not get any better.

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As a follow-up to my previous review couple of days back - and having had time to experiment a little more - it would seem that the context of equipment this effect is in chain with can make quite dramatic alterations in the perceived character of this pedal(I have filter matrix version). This may be another contributing factor to such wide ranging reports on this unit. Feeding it a broader frequency spectrum - lower, more bass - and/or - higher, more treble - - pushes it towards further extremes - as does pushing the EQ levels at the amp (output) side of things - with in particular treble gain drawing more grain and edge from the unit, and emphasizing more (in flanger mode - or manually applied sweepings of the matrix) breadth and character of sweep. Perhaps not surprising since it is ultimately a frequency shifter - but it really is noticeable with this pedal how differently it behaves under different conditions external to itself. This also means that if like myself you favour a mellow relatively clean or mildly crumbling neck position and prefer to pick at the strings with fingers rather than a pick - then what you will get from this unit is a world of subtlety. If on the other hand you like to whack up the distortion and fly at it with an axe hacking at hi-output humbuckers - then the unit will follow you all the way and become more pronounced and gritty itself. If you can place any kind of filter before this unit (and I'm speaking in particular to sound scapists and loopers who can get their hands free of the guitar), then some fine terrains can be explored by adding increasing hi-pass (thinning out the sound) whilst turning up the rate knob on the mistress towards max when in flanger mode. I was trying this with the e-h stereo memory man (hazarai) throwing out a loop and applying play to the filter control on this same pedal (which sweeps as a lo-pass in reverse from 12 oclock, and as hi-pass other direction forwards from 12 oclock) - combined with tweakings on the mistress had my head spinning off in a cloud. nice! I've also read reports elsewhere that it behaves differently when plugged towards a tube amp or a transistor - matched with tube it becomes less noisy and shades slightly differently. Having said all this though - I do still think, as hinted at in my previous review, that there may be many different sounding examples of this unit out there - and that much in terms of character or tonal disposition may depend upon the unit you come across, as much as upon the context of different playing styles, prior tonal preferences and surrounding gear.

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And speaking of reading reports elsewhere - type in a search for 'electro harmonix DELUXE electric mistress' here on harmony-central, and you will find a further 60 or so reviews - including advice on mods and theories about those internal user configerable trim pots - theories as to what they tweak. (One of them, apparently, will fix the level drop problem so often mentioned in other reviews here).

I have just bought this old electro-harmonix unit after playing with it for an hour in a shop. I didn't even bother to haggle the price down because sometimes you've just gotta pay to show appreciation. I found nothing but great tones from it, and overall I found this particular example of the unit contains worlds of subtlety, which I prefer, as I don't do space tunes or robots. Reading the other reviews lined up here I am surprised by the wide range of different reports on this model - I guess it has something to do with it's age and widely morphing geneology, as well as units being in different states of set-up or repair. (Please note there are user configurable screw pots inside the unit - although I wouldn't touch them on the unit I have just found). I don't know how old mine is - but it's a Deluxe with green background and knob setting radials, black pointer knobs, black border and script. Front loaded dials with flange/matrix switch at back. Built in LED which from internal inspection shows itself as original and not mod - and a direct mains cable (transformer inside). With this particular example I have found it extremely easy to dial in good sounds.

It hardly seems relevant to discuss what equipment I am placing around, as it would seem performance depends upon the unit that has landed in your hands - however the example I have sounds great using a fender standard (any pick-up)through the clean sound of a Kustom Quad 100 DFX 2x12 combo. One of the beautiful things about vintage gear can often be the quirks, when they are not presenting themselves as outside flaws. I have to agree that the filter matrix on this unit sounds amazing - easy to find a lifting and singing harmonic or a sonically rich darkening of tone, and all the textures between which create wide sculpting possibilities to the tone of the string, including hammered oriental. With the Filter Matrix switch slid half way, some strange null point occurs between the two states of flanger-or-matrix, which yields a pleasing lo-fi hiss and a tone unlike the present settings for either, and still somehow reliant upon the colour knob, but none of the others. The flanger setting, which utilises all three controls, gives a very fluid, warm and smooth flange - and this particular unit yields nothing extreme until all controls set high - when it only becomes at most a springy, trebly warble, but still rounded and smooth.

Can't say. I've only had it for one day.

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I play lo-fi, experimental, with alot of finger-picking through strange open chords. I also use loops and soundscape building at times, and so this unit shall prove great once performing hands free of the guitar, and can manually sweep through those filter matrix vibes. Messing with the flange/matrix switch whilst sending loop material through gives strange, and in the context of what I do, useful effects. I had the opportunity of comparing this one with a similar(vintage-old)(direct mains cable) black and silver model with no LED that was being sold for less money at another store - when I tried it, straight away I realised it had a different, more nasally and robotic quality of tone, with a more extreme palette of modulations and then it started screaling some kind of warped midband feedback and wouldn't stop until the guy in the shop unplugged it and mumbled something about repair. So I've seen at first hand how different these old units can be. (I wonder again about the user adjustable trim pots inside, and how much set up is important in this respect). And by the way, the one I took is covered in pit marks and scratches to the paint, and areas of surface rust, and has not been cosmetically well looked after at all, so don't ever go on appearance...... If anyone can give me any pointers as to the age of unit, based on description above, and any information at all would be much appreciated; e-mail provided.

The actual quality of the effect produced is great. The EM has a somewhat unique tone and can double as a chorus. Rumour has it that this is the 'chorus' pedal favoured by Andy Summers in his stint with the Police, and with the Range past noon and the Color down it's easy to coax chorus like tones from this box. It can also do standard flanger sweeps but they're not as intense as some other units I've tried (eg MXR flanger). Compared to the deluxe electric mistress this battery version is supposedly more hi-band flanging with greater swirl.

The catch is, the standard Mistress is noisy as hell and suffers from the worst volume drop I've ever heard on a pedal. Rolling the Range past noon would bring on a sea of hiss at the bottom of the LFO that sounded like the surf crashing upon the beach and was really noticeable whilst playing. This really limited the useable sounds you could get out of the unit. When turn on, the pedal would cut you volume about in half. Mine was an earlier unit (not a blue one, but with no dashes in the circles around the knobs). It's possible it was a lemon or else later models improved somewhat, but at the cost these are going for (the Gilmour/Summers connection means they regularly sell for US$150-200) you're better investing your money in something else, unless you're comfortable changing all the resistors and caps to lower noise ones. The current reissue Deluxe Electric Mistress will get you close and doesn't have the noise and volume issues. Howard Davis can even mod it to the battery Mistress tone if you want.

A lot of cool tones ruined by noise and volume drop.

A lot of people complain about EHX's build quality, but there's a lot of near 30+ year old pedals still floating around in good working condition.

I've emailed EHX a few times and they've always been quick to respond and do so courteously. However, I emailed them about possibly fixing the volume drop on this unit and was told that they don't work on them as, apparently, they no longer have a copy of the schematic. I find that really hard to believe. Anyway, Howard Davis who was the Chief Designer at EHX in the 70s (most if not all the "Deluxe" pedals are his designs, including the deluxe electric mistress) will service it. When he retires who knows how you'll get them fixed...

Unless mine was a lemon, this pedal is more a vintage curiosity than a modern workhorse flanger. The tone of the effect is great, but the volume drop makes it useless for live performances unless you boost the input, and the noise makes it virtually useless for recording. For under $100 you can just laugh it off, but I paid $150 for mine and I've seen them sell for $200 regularly. Unless you're swimming in funds I'd suggest you invest the money into an Deluxe Electric Mistress, ADA Flanger, MXR Flanger or the FoxRox TZF instead. They don't have the same tone as the battery Mistress, but they'll be far more useable.

My mistress is the Non-Deluxe 18V version (the one in the big muff pi case). Blue labels, 1979 version, black knobs with red pointer, one of the rarest mistresses around (i think). I use it with a 18VDC supply (Tip positive polarity), but you can use any voltages up to 24VDC as suggested in the original EH schematic, since it's regulated down to 12DC by the 741 op-amp and the bjt inside the circuit.

I have corrected some "mistakes" in the circuit (i'm an EE) and now it sounds amazingly without any volume drop (wich is a plague in this pedal, as it is for the old Eh Small Stone Phaser). I've also added a true bypass switch with an High Brightness led.
Sound quality before the mod was a full 9. After the mod is a 10+++.
Very thick and a kind of "liquid" chorusy sound comes out of this box. Great with Single Coil pickups, incredible sound with a Tele (Listen to Floyd's Run Like Hell).

The original Singapore Reticon Sad1024 still works after 28 years. Just give a special attention to the power supply polarity (tip positive), since there's no incorrect polarity protection in the circuit. You'll burn the 741 and the bjt for sure.
Mechanical parts naturally need to be replaced after such a long time.

This is certainly the most beutiful sounding flanger in history, but you have to accept his little defects (hiss, volume drop, little tone suck...). Killer sound after a distortion and alone. It creates beutiful ethereal sounds. If you find one of the old ones just buy it.

Piece of cake. It's fun to tweak. The knobs are huge and if you're gentle it's easy to push them a little with your foot while giggling to hit that perfect sound if you're not quite there.

It takes a little bit to get used to though and I usually find that I'm always finding sounds I like more than the last.

I love the sound of this thing because it's so thick. I also own a reissue that I bought because my original was broken and I heard the chip was no longer available. Well now the chip is found and I'm getting it repaired ASAP.

I like to do a lot of expiremental noise and atmospheric stuff. This pedal is great. It just adds a beautiful liquid feel to the guitar.

My rig
1972 Tele custom -> Daddy--> Boomer 2 or sometimes cry baby wah --> DOD supra distortion --> Boss dd-5 --> boss dd-20 --> boss ce-3

The flanger gets moved around, sometimes I put it at the end or sometimes right after the wah. It complements the boomer 2 really well when I draw it back for those wide sounds.

it's broken down before. I think the chip went out because of a bad soldering job last time but I'm not sure. Before that it only ever had bad connections, but it was kept in horrible condition before I had it.

I'd trust it.

EH doesn't work on these anymore

I bought the deluxe electric mistress because I thought this one was out for good and I was disappointed. I love this pedal

I wish it had an indicator light, but we can't have it all sometimes.

I play a lot of atmospheric stuff (I really like bands like explosions in the sky, appleseedcast, mogwai)

This is easy to use, but it does have alot of different sounds so it might keep you going for quite awhile.

I'm not a flange connoiseur but I love the sounds this unit makes. Warm, organic flange, great faux-leslie, sweet chorus and some wacked out sounds. Sounds great with clean or distorted sounds. I think the filter matrix is great for special fx or, with color at a low setting, a neat whacked out eq.
I have an older unit that I bought off of EBay - it looks like the reissue but the knobs are bell shaped with ribs. Also, it has a built in 2 pronged plug. I don't know what year it is and when I e-mailed EH they couldn't help me.
I like reading reviews on pedals because sometimes you can learn stuff about units that you otherwise wouldn't know. Almost all the reviews complained about the unit being noisy and I hadn't experienced that. Then I thought, I haven't really played the thing except in my apartment, and I have to watch my volume due to living above the wicked witch of the west (I suppose I can't really blame her for being noise sensitive)!!!! When I cranked my late 70's Fender Princeton Reverb, sure enough, the pedal got real noisy.
I then compared it to the flange on my Vox Tonelab SE. The Tonelab flange was also noisy but less so. Still, the EM sounds much more natural, more like, well, a real flanger as opposed to some digital simulation. I've never really liked any flange fx from the various multi-fx units I've had over the years.
So, as I am not currently in a band and can't play loud in my apartment, the noise factor doesn't enter into the equation.

I haven't gigged out with the EM, so I really can't say how it would hold up under gigging conditions.

EH did respond within a day after I e-mailed them. I just wish they could've given me more info on the unit's date.

I've been playing for over 30 years (god!) and am primarily into 70's progressive rock. Despite the noise issue, I love this unit. It's just organic sounding (whatever the heck that means)!!!! Because of the noise, I probably wouldn't gig out with it without a noise gate, but frankly, I'd be a tad nervous gigging out with it just 'cause I'd be afraid of it getting stolen or moshed by some psycho. For me, it's fine for home use or recording. It's one of those effects that you can get lost in for hours.......
I'm including my e-mail address with the hope that somebody out there can give me a clue as to the age of this unit.

Bought it new about 3 years ago, very straightforward. I love the sturdy wooden box it comes with, great for travel. It would take quite a smash to penetrate the wooden box to do any damage. And it has it's own power supply, never have to worry about batteries.

Color, range, and rate controls, very simple. You can easily adjust the rate control to sound good with a wide range of music, it's so sensitive you can really customize it to your sound. Has input, and a separate direct and flanged output, which is convenient.

My only problem is that there is no LED! It has true bypass, but I have to remember whether the pedal is engaged or not. Maybe I'm missing something here but I've never seen an effects pedal without an LED or at least some sort of indicator which shows when the pedal is engaged. So I can only give it a 9 for that reason.

This is the best flanger around, period. keep all the controls at 9-10 o'clock and it makes any guitar sound fuller, no matter the style of rock. Keep the rate and color low, and it adds a very subtle but awesome sound to your acoustic guitar.

I agree with someone who commented that it almost sounds like a rotating speaker effect(Leslie). Turn all the knobs up to around 9 or 10 o'clock and you'll get a spaced-out, trippy sound that I LOVE. play this with moderate distortion, high color and 3/4 rate and you're playing 'Any Color you Like' from Dark Side of the Moon. This has got to be the flanger Gilmour used for that track. Will also give you the warm sound of Andy Summers/Police.

Worth every penny. An essential part of my rig, I add it to almost any lead guitar part i'm playing. Adds so much to a basic clean sound that i rarely turn it off. Don't like it for 95% of my loud distortion riffs, solos, although when added it does sound almost exactly like the distorion on Pink Floyd's "The Wall"***.

***with the definite exception of 'Comfortably Numb' and 'Another Brick in the Wall pt.II'---these songs have 2 completely unique sounds).

Bottom line, in my opinion best flanger around, and most versatile. I am only giving it a 9 because there is no damn LED - I don't get it. But this pedal rules nonetheless.

Very easy pedal. Like all stomp boxes, plug it in, mover around the knobs to where you like it and thats it. the knobs are very clearly marked. Its very straightforward.

im running this through furman board with all vintage effects to my boogie amp. ive got an echoplex, original doctor q, original mxr dyna comp, original phase 90, ce-2, boss dd-20 and the mistress with a bunch of other stuff(not in that order). Ive read rewiews saying that people get noise from it. This is a very quiet pedal. The older ones are very noisey (the ones in the big muff style casing). I am a huge Police fan. Andy Summers is by far my favorite guitarist. at first i tryed recreating his big sound with the boss bf-2 flanger and it wasnt happening. Stay away from that thing. It sounds like a pulse, not a sweep. Their new phase shifter is also horendous if you like warm effects. But this pedal with a vintage mxr dyna comp sounds amazing. Its like haveing Andy Summers tools at your feet, since this is exactly what he used. THis pedal also gets a cool leslie sound which surprised me!

i would definitely gig with this. I was sceptical about buying another ehx pedal since ive used the old 70's muff and doctor q because they were known to use very crappy parts on the vintage ones. This is very strong. Built like a tank

Ive never dealt with the company, yet.

i play mostly reggae and Police esque stuff. This is theee ONLY flanger to buy. ITs by far the best. Ive Been playing for five years but have alot of knowledge of vintage gear and music because my dad was a musician and im always learning and using his vintage efects he had as a kid. I would definitely buy a new one if it were stolen. The Filter Matrix is pretty cool but again, this with the OLD mxr dyna comp sounds amazing.(ive compared many old mxr pedals to newer dunlop-made mxr pedals and the new ones are pretty bad. dont try puting a new phase 90 through the send return of you amp) Ive compared this to the bf 2 and3, a bunch of other stuff but i always knew summers used this one and i had to buy it. THis is the best investment on an effect ive made ever, next to the echoplex.

Very versitle easy use though!

The most important right! I get a glassy tone with this jewel. It can be used as a chorus or flanger/phaser. I use it as flanger. Crisp and clear with no loss of tone (clean or distorted). True bypass! What more could you ask for. The only other flanger that I found to be better is that reissure dunlop flanger. That jewel has this regeneration knob that does some weird pych stuff (Think the cure ). I love my eh though . It's probably the only eh i wasn't dissapointed in. I would advise staying away from boss,dod,etc in a flanger.

no problems so far. Just don't do anything stupid.

pych rock. floyd, tool, the cure, my bloody valentine.
I use it in a few original songs. I've been playing about 12 years.

This is an update to my previous review: I got the pedal back from my tech last week, and it had benne broken since september.
The reason: I used it by mistake with the adapter and the batteries at the same time, so it took double voltage (instead of what happens on modern units, where the adapter switches the batteries off).
The result: a mixed frying pan of IC, op-amps, transistors and so on.
Thought I'd have to dump it.
Took eight months to find on ebay an SAD1024 (which is out of production) to get the pedal back to life.
This was the second time it happened: the first one, I fed it for a couple seconds with a reversed polarity, all fried.
Modern units simply don't turn on when bad polarity is given.
So, I learned a lesson: you can't treat vintage gear as if it was new.
You have to pay more than twice as much attention when using this stuff: a pinch for a new Boss unit can be a lethal stroke.
Other than that, it's still the best flanger I've ever heard.

Getting numerous classic sounds ranging from the borderline-cliched "jet plane" sound to a ton of useable things from chorus to what sounds like a gentle tremelo was not really tough at all. It's an original from the 70s; the knobs and a screw or two have been replaced. I got it off Ebay (a total steal i might add!) and no manual showed up at my door with it.

I use the EM inline; my setup goes American Std. Tele/Mexican Strat=>Dunlop Original Cry-Baby(blargh...)=>Beat-up old Green Sovtek Big Muff (Yay!)=> Boss Ds-1 => Reissue Fuzz-Face=>Mistress=>Dano Cool Cat(shamefully underrated box)=>Dano Reel Echo=>Fender HR Deluxe 1X12.
This unit features crackley pots, out of control flying-saucer feedback whenever you crank the color knob all the way up, and a "rate" pot that seems to be wired backwards. And it still produces sounds and textures that could only come out of a wet dream. The Mistress can do nearly anything; from "Nobody's Fault but Mine" to a beautiful mimic of the phaser on "Breathe." You can even squeeze some Kurt Cobain out of it if you're so inclined. In the end, you can ooh and ahh at this kind of stuff all you want but the real reward is in finding what you can use for your own material, and when you find it you'll never want to switch it off. When mixed with some smooth distortion and EQ'd correctly, the sound has been known to induce orgasms in most women standing within 500 yards. I can't really comment on the "filter matrix" mode, I just haven't found a real reason to use it yet. The only thing keeping this effect from a perfect rating in this category is the tear-jerking volume drop. I know there's mods and all to fix this but i'm sorta wary of tearing a vintage pedal apart, so the best cure for now is to just deal with it. The sound i get out of this effect makes it all worth it.

EHX has been manufacturing these tin-foil boxes of their's for the past few decades, and the number of vintage units still around and performing well speaks volumes for their construction quality. I don't stomp on my pedals, but they're going to get stepped on by accident now and then and this one hasn't croaked on me yet. My only bitch here is the fact that it uses two batteries and features a weird DC adapter input. Annoying for me, yet brilliant on the part of EHX for cornering the market in that way.

Can't say, never dealt with them but they seem like nice guys, I guess. They haven't tried to steal anything from me....?_? yet.

I've played for around 7 years and I'm 17 years old. Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Cream, The Doors, Black Sabbath....I love just about anything that isn't currently making the rounds on alternative rock radio, except for maybe Nirvana if I just feel like making noise. I like music. I'll leave it at that. And if you like this "music" concept I speak of you'll probably like the EM. One thing though: if you like Incubus and Creed flange sounds (aka BOSS/Digitech flanging), stay the hell away; you'll be disappointed to no end. What I love about it is the fact that it's a flange first and foremost, and beyond that, you can push it into being a pretty useful chorus or just about any other modulation effect. Some people might not like how watery and chorus-ey this effect is; to me it's what made it worth seeking out in the first place.

It takes some extended tinkering to fully explore all the tonal options.

In my world nothing gets a 10. I have tried out numerous chorus and flangers over the years and I keep coming back to my EM. I have been playing rock in its many variations since the early 60's through guitars and amps to numerous to name here. Now I am down to a Strat, a Tele and a LP through a Deville (my Marshall is finally put away) with a few variable stomp boxes. I decent chorus/flange is a staple for live work and my Electric Mistress has been at my feet for some 25 or so yrs. It has been modified several times though never repaired. It has that crackling chime and shimmer that seems to jump off the speakers. The new digital versions seem thin and flat by comparison. My only problem is that it is literally wearing out. You can only stomp, step on, trip over, plug-unplug and otherwise abuse any piece of equipment just so many times. At some point it just falls apart. So, I am in search of a replacement. Possibly the new version of same.

This thing has been under my feet, on stages, in suitcases, dropped on concrete floors, spilled on (or worse), left out in the weather and put away for long periods of time and still works like the day it was bought some time in the 70's. Tough? Ya think?

Never needed to use it.

I bought this when my band was doing a lot of Police covers. It really nailed that sound. But then I discovered all the other things this unit can do. The range of sweeps and rates is far beyond what other units have come up with. I have tried to find something better without success. I'm still looking for that perfect chorus tone that I only hear in my head, and still trying out new stompers, but till then the EM is still on my pedal board. When (not if ) this one goes I shall be forced to replace it with the new model or another brand. Not looking forward to that. If you are having a hard time finding a chorus that cuts thru and sparkles try to find an old Electric Mistress.

three knobs and filter matrix switch (on the back, someone should explain that), very clear apparent
when moving a knob just a little bit,so it takes a little tweaking to find suitable sounds, but this is the price to pay for versatility. requires either two 9v batteries (unscrewing needed for replacement) or a 12,5 AC adapter: of course I chose this second option.
and I almost forgot, it has no led.

this unit is original from the 70's, and sounds terribly good
and clearly defined: it reproduces an incredible range of modulations, from thin chorus to metallic robot sounds, from standard clean rhythm flanger (this is what I use it for the most) to the classic jet w/ distortion. at first you might think "what did I buy this for?", but when you get into it, it becomes your favourite.
don't listen to those who say it's noisy: if you want no noise at all, go get some digital and stay away from these analog babies, there will more left for us analog freaks.
Anyway, EH has always made absolutely great stuff, this is an apparent example. This device makes my '94 Strat sound as if it was from the Good Old Days (i.e. 70's): sometimes it reminds me of Pink Floyd in Animals, which I love.

As I said, it's from the 70's, period. But I won't say anything else: last time I did it, for a Guyatone PS005 Overdrive, it broke up one week later.

Never dealt.

I play a sort of psychedelic rock, very very 70's influenced, and this thing suits SOOOOOOO FINE with the sounds I want to achieve.
I own two more pedals from EH (Smallstone and Bigmuff), plus a Danelectro Daddy-O (which I think I'll sell quite soon: wanna move to a Vox Valvetone, or a Rat)a Danelectro Dan Echo (really nice instead) and a Boss Tr-2 (the warmest pedal among modern Boss, I think), running to a Fender 112 deluxe: EM is absolutely fantastic with the amp drive channel set at 11o'clock gain, it's really swooshing and it blows me away; incredibly spacey with delay.
I didn't compare it w/ anything else, this was too beautiful and cheap(such devices on the internet go for no less than 150 euros): as soon as I heard it at my trusty retailer in Bologna,Italy (www.scolopendra.it go there,it's a great place for vintage effects), I had to toss a coin with my friend I had gone there with, since we had both fallen for this unit,and fortunately I won.
There's no place I could be without you, honestly, my Electric Mistress...

This is a vintage model with the sweep cut-out on the front with 3 knobs and on/off on the top. 2 9V batteries or an 18 V adapter. Disassemble to change batteries. Seen an 18V on a pedal board lately? Kind of archiac design, not gig friendly. Had some trouble trying to dial in useable sounds. OK, it's vintage but a pain nonetheless. Plan on bending over alot. Has tuners on the inside, that's worth an extra point.

Not sure what sound I intended to get out of this effect. Gilmour? I think a CC2 is a better bet but I think it's correct that he used one of these. Flanger is cool, with sweep off its like dialing into different Wah positions. There are tuners on the inside and I look forward to playing with those - maybe there's magic hidden in those adjusters - kinda reminds me of a McCoy Wah Pedal. Put in line with delay and phaser and can achieve a unique sound. Very cool with drop tuning or baritone tuning. Sweeps OK, very 60s, 70s sound. Again, not sure where I'd use that. Agree with previous review you can get a nice chorus effect - though thin and compressed but with interesting chime almost an octave effect. And, in my set-up it is damn noisey. I guess it does sound very distinctive and it's analog. Maybe over time it works into my sound.

Mine looks 30 years old, works fine. The whole battery / adapter / noise thing makes me wonder if I'd ever gig with it.

I like analog effects so had to try this pedal. Right now I'd say this is least favorite on my pedal board - if it fit on my board. I'll admit I've got less than 4 hours experience with it. I think working in combination with a phaser and pitch pedal you can get a distinct and useable sound, but I don't know if it's worth the effort. Figure you've got to invest some experimental time with this thing, maybe play with it before and after your effects line and looped to find the sweet spot. The 18V pin adapter and control layout will continue to be an annoyance. A good toy. If I upgrade my opinion after more experience and adjustments I'll repost.

It's very simple and easy. This pedal have 3 knobs to control totally the flange.

1) Strat(single coil) or Les Paul(humb) > Electric Mistress > Clean Tube Amp
It's BEAUTIFUL with the strat, and little muddy with Humbuckers !!! This is the true vintage flanger. But pay attention: There is a little bit of noise, if your cables, power supplies and pick ups are suck, the noise is bigger.

2)Strat(single coil) or Les Paul(humb)> Fulltone 69 > Electric Mistress > Clean Tube Amp

It's GREAT, but the fuzz makes much noise, but with the right regulation this can be better.

ATTENTION: THIS FLANGER IS VERY BEAUTIFUL, BUT NOT TRUE BYPASS. WHEN YOU TURN ON THE FLANGER YOU LOST SIGNAL AND VOLUME. ELECTRIC MISTRESS IS NOT A "CLEAN" PEDAL, THIS BOX MAKES NOISE, BUT IN MY OPPINION, IS NOT MUCH, AND I LIKE IT. FOR IS A CHARM THAT ONLY THE OLDIES HAVE !!!

If you really care about noise and the lost of signal, but like the sound of this flanger... forget it... but you can make some adjustments that make this pedal the ulimate flanger. (makes a true bypass and correct the lost of signal and noise)

I correct the lost of signal with a friend who makes and fixes pedals, and the result is very nice !!! I'm living in Brazil, and the costumer support is not very helpfull!!!

I play rock 70's. This pedal is very cool. Works better with single coils, or decent humbuckers. Make the right adjustments in this box and you have a good surprise. (If you are a seriuos person in make adjustments in vintage pedals, forge it the little problems and enjoy it)

Great sound- easy to get, 3 knobs- note: tweaking these knobs just a little makes a BIG difference-

No Manual

Somewhat noisy- When activated the signal is slightly cut- but just a small fraction. The sound is always wonderful! I'm using this witha lot of other vintage and modern gear. This is THE flange sound of Alex Lifeson- the original Electric Mistress. I am an avid Alex Lifeson fanatic (I played in Rush tribute bands (Rushour and 2112)for years) You can also get the old Van Halen flange sounds- a la Cradle Will Rock, Unchained, etc.

Reliable so far- No backup

No need for support yet

I play Jazz/Prog Rock Fusion:

http://www.guitar9.com/fusia.html

The EH Electric Mistress is a great effect- and is part of "my sound".
I love everything about it.
(especially since it's the flanger Alex Lifeson used for years)
This box helps inspire me to keep playing!

Takes a little playing w/ and tweaking, but has sounds you don't get anywhere else. I guess Mr.Barr was it? thinks David Gilmore sux also. What a Maroon! Must be a TEXAS ATM grad. GO RED RAIDERS!

Sounds great w/ a good distortion in front of it ala TS-9. I like it w/ every amp I have, Boogies, Fenders, and Marshalls. If you like Gilmore, you'll love this pedal.

I shielded this sucker big time and it is pretty quiet now. Before it really did that sweeping thing, whether or not you were playing. As far as reliability goes, it looks rather questionable, but it's always worked for me (go figure).

NA

I'd give it an overall rating of 8, just because I had to do some stuff to it to make it more user friendly. Kicks the crap out of my old first run BF-2. Looks terrible, sounds great. It and the Deluxe EM are the only flangers I would have, thus far anyway.

Takes a little playing w/ and tweaking, but has sounds you don't get anywhere else. I guess Mr. Burns was it? thinks David Gilmore sux also. What a Maroon! Must be a TEXAS ATM grad. GO RED RAIDERS!

Sounds great w/ a good distortion in front of it ala TS-9. I like it w/ every amp I have, Boogies, Fenders, and Marshalls. If you like Gilmore, you'll love this pedal.

I shielded this sucker big time and it is pretty quiet now. Before it really did that sweeping thing, whether or not you were playing. As far as reliability goes, it looks rather questionable, but it's always worked for me (go figure).

NA

I'd give it an overall rating of 8, just because I had to do some stuff to it to make it more user friendly. Kicks the crap out of my old first run BF-2. Looks terrible, sounds great. It and the Deluxe EM are the only flangers I would have, thus far anyway.

Ok, so it takes a little while to work out the full range of sound available, but hey thats what makes it a great pedal, there's alwasys something new to explore.

A great flange tone. Ok some might find it a litle trebbley but it's vintage flange at it's finest. Combine it with a Big Muff and it sounds like your amps about to take off. You can seriously go over the top, but the subtle tones are also really useful. Overall a beautiful pedal, although some might want something a little more modern.

Hasn't broken yet, but Electro-Harmonix build their pedals to vintage specification so things can go wrong.

I play trippy seventies rock and this pedal is majorly important to my sound. When you really want to lose it then just press this on and dial everything to max, and if you want some more spaced out sounds, then just experiment. Possible one of the most important additions to my sound, and definitely the one that I have the most fun with. Electro-Harmonix have done it again. Eventually I'm going to get my Memory Man and then there's no stopping me.

This is an older version of the Electric Mistress...the writing is in green and all the controls are mounted at the top (not at the side, like the later "Deluxe Electric Mistress"). Quite simple to use...there's a rate control, which controls how fast the flange sweep goes, range, which controls the depth (and sweep positioning in filter matrix mode...more on that later), and then color, which is sort of a wet/dry mix or intensity control. There's also a slider type switch on the back of the unit to engage the filter matrix function and turn off the regular flange sweeping. The jacks are all clearly labeled.

The only problems with this unit:
1) battery change requires unscrewing the top half of the casing and removing it. this isn't going to be a problem once I get an AC adapter, but for now, it's a pain

and

2)it's beyond me why EH stuck the filter matrix switch on the back of the unit. I like changing settings with the my foot when I can, and it could've been mounted as a second stomp switch instead of a plastic slider on the back of unit.

Wow. I really hated flange until I heard this thing! This thing gives the classic airplane jet swoop-sound, though it doesn't get anywhere near as heavy as on newer flangers like the one Boss puts out (the trade-off there, of course, is that this sounds very warm, and stuff like the Boss sound very cold and processed). Like most EH stuff, this thing has a lot of useful sounds as well as a lot of musically useless but damn cool sounds as well. Using the color knob, you can make it really subtle, or really deep and disorienting. You can use the rate and range knobs to get really weird sounds that can make for interesting lead tones (think of what Adrian Belew did on King Crimson's "Elephant Talk"...you can do something similar with this, and it sounds a million times cooler 'cause it's ANALOG and not some Roland guitarsynth patch!). And of course there's all those useless freak-out noises.

But what's really interesting is the filter matrix. A lot of other people don't seem to enjoy this much, but I love it. Basically, by turning on the filter matrix option, you disconnect the LFO thing that does the flange sweeping, and then you use the range knob to manually pick a point at anywhere in that sweep. You can coax out some eastern-sounding precussive string stuff, as well as some neat metalic pings resembling everything from thumb pianos to playing from inside a tin can. This is a GREAT way to get an interesting tone from your guitar without resorting to convential distortion or modulation effects. It's also a nice change-up in lead playing...you can play something really beautiful that will get everyone going, "Wow..." and then make your guitar sound like it's on the verge of dying and then bring it back. It's a nice way to interject seeming chaos into a boring old pentatonic-minor based lead or what have you.

My only real gripe is that the unit gets very noisy when you max out the color knob. It's kind of cool because you can get a humming pseudo-feedback which you can alter the pitch of by moving the range knob in filter matrix mode, but it can be annoying at times, too.

The unit is pretty sound...the case is just stamped steel, but it's sturdy enough for regular use. I don't like the guts, though...they seem sort of...ancient. The batteries are held in place by a piece of friggin' styrofoam. Not good, not good. I'm going to be very careful.

EH is great! They always answer my emails within two or three days. They gave my Small Stone an out-of-warranty repair for fifteen bucks...I mailed it out and got it back in a little over a week. People frequently joke about some of EH's stuff now being done in Russia by Sovtek, but repairs for all their products can be done at EH/New Sensor right in New York. They're a great, great company, and they've got the customer service thing down pat.

I play a wide array of music, and I always like interjecting some weird sounds as well as some more traditional modulation effects This is just the thing for me (this side of the EH MicroSynth or a ring modulator, anyway). I don't know how the reissues are, but I dig this box. I really wasn't interested in flange until I bought this (a guy on a newsgroup was hawking it for a mere $99...an old EH pedal for that cheap, just 'cause the case had some minor scratches and a small amount of corrosion where the name's painted on! I couldn't pass it up!). Anyone interested in investigating strange and useable guitar sounds and doesn't have something to change it all up should consider one of these.

Colour, Width and Depth knobs, and a Filter Matrix/Flanger switch. I once had a Boss BF-2, which took forever to get a decent sound out of because it had so many more knobs that went to much greater extremes than this one's do. The Electric Mistress is much easier to use, but the dowmnside is that it's not nearly as versatile, I'm not sure if it's fair trade-off.

It seems like every other time I plug it in, it buzzes horribly, but the rest of the time it sounds fine. No true bypass, and when it's on, you can hear the flange pretty strongly, even if you're not playing. It's trebbly as hell and kind of makes me nauseous. It doesn't sound very airy, but more like a really thick chorus, and I *hate* chorus pedals. I got this thing because I like effects from which you can get unique and bizzare sounds, and the filter matrix appealed to me, but it's really pretty useless. It can make funky robot sounds, but who needs that? Maybe someday I'll play some weird version of "Iron Man" and use it for some sound effects or something, but it's just so trebbly and noisy that it just doesn't seem worth it. This pedal can nail the Leslie sound, but I think that that sounds like crap on a guitar. I'm selling it.

Except for the occasional noise problem I mentioned above, it seems pretty reliable.

I hate this thing. It just sounds like a poor version of your run-of-the-mill flanger. Nothing very interesting (I don't even like Flangers) and basically just ugly sounding. I spent all weekend trying to get this thing to do something I like, and I couldn't. I geuss some people like traditional flangers and heavy chorusy-type effects, but I personally can't stand them.

Really easy to use, takes about 5 minutes to figure out what's up.

Sounds great, especialy with a distortion before it and some delay afterwards. The filter is fairly useless but interesting sounding. The flange effect is the best and easy to control.

When I first got it the red LED didn't work but I just opened it up and put in another one from radio shack, other than that it's a really strudy pedal that could last forever.

Great for adding crazy sounds when used with other pedals if you like to go noise crazy, works well with distortions and delays, can be subtle or in your face, both are cool, I would definately buy this again, you just have to try one to understand. EH makes great pedals, maybe the best.

yeah, it is easy to use BUT ... Actually I love it because it sits nice next to my V Twin, still...I don't find that I can get away with anything other than a very low rate setting as it is so effective. It sounds excellent for the solo in 'Made Of Stone'. I have mine through the FX loop on my Fender Twin and switching it in causes my volume to drop considerably. I have put this down to the fact that I am in the UK on a different voltage - the adapter supplied frightens electricians over here; 24V DC? na, you've got no chance of finding one of those!

No noise, but that might be because it gates my volume so drastically when I switch it on. Sound quality is very good, much better than the Boss BF2 which couldn't seem to cope with overdrive.

Very reliable, I have had to tape the adapter down to a shaver socket though because I cannot get a 24V DC adapter suitable for UK plug sockets -don't let anyone near the plug on gigs or it'll be halfway across the pub floor.

Very friendly at the distributor end but they couldn't solve my power supply problem either. However, they did dial a 1471 and call me back with some other ideas which was unprecedented!

Yeah it's good, but I bought mine just as they were being re-released over here so I went on a vague magazine recommendation and a demo in the shop. I would have liked to have heard the MXR model but they are even more impossible to find even in London, now that I have it it has a certain elegance and charm - sort of homemade looking!

Quite simple, with only three controls (rate, range[width or depth on other flangers] and color [feedback or resonance]) Later units had a "filter matrix" mode which essentially disconnects the LFO/sweep generator for metallic robot-like sounds. Easy to use, but don't expect it to automatically sound like the famous "van Halen" whoosh you're looking for...

A bit noisy, as most analog delay-based effects were in the 70's, but I think that's part of it's charm. The flanging effect itself is wonderful, though. Not so much the normal jet-plane effect that you would normally expect. Because this unit uses a triangle wave for an LFO (instead of a sine) it gets extremely detuned and warbly. Personally, I love this sound, especially because I get so bored with the predictable constant sweep of a normal flanger. The effect is very reminiscent of Andy Summers' Police work, or his pal, Robert Fripp. More chorusey than traditional flange, although it CAN do normal regeneration sweeps or vibrato. The only drawback is the lack of a "manual/delay time" control. It's fixed at a certain delay time which is longer than most flangers (hence the chorusey sound).

I've owned two, and had to fix them both. E-H was famous for way cool effects at rock botom prices. Warm up the soldering iron just in case.

I don't think Mike Matthews will pay the shipping to Russia.

I think for anyone into effects for cool sounds, not just utilitarian uses, you must have one of these. It sounds unlike any other flanger (except maybe the old DOD 670, which is also great).

Crank the color, set the others at about midway, and you've got the sweetest flanger ever. Mine is a 1975. Try turning the knobs full up in flanger mode, to get a crazy pitch-shifting warble (about a half-step shift)

I find all the vintage Electro-Harmonix pedals I have owned are a little noisy at times, off and on. But I could care less, because they fuckin' make up for it with amazing tones. Those are just the things we have to sacrifice for these luxuries in life. I think EH make some of the best pedals in history, period.

Hells ya' it's dependable. I wish I had enough of them to use as backups.

Never even though about calling. Never will.

I would buy it again. I love everything about it. I hate nothing about it. Nothing I have tried compares. This was my first and last choice in flangers! Anything I wish it had? Babies. I love the way it is so smooth and sweet, me and her totally flow together. Are we still talking about the pedal?

The EM is very easy to use - 3 Knobs Rate, Range, Color and it also has a sweep defeat switch to disable the sweep cycles. Runs on 2-9volt batteries, or external 18V supply

EM can be a little noisy, my EM is about 22? years old and I noticed that it will distort on a hot input signal, old caps? Although designed for flange it creates a great analog chorus. One of the nice things about the sweep is that it is a triangle wave so there is no detune anomalies. Walsh used on some earlier material, you can get great sounds if you know how to set it. Rate at about 2 O'clock, Range and Color at about 9 makes a good chorus. This in my opinion is still one of the better sounding Flange(chorus) sounds if you could eliminate some of the noise.

No Problems

Never Needed

Probably wouldn't buy it again. But it's cool to have around. My son is becoming a player now and he and his buddies think this old stuff is great.

10