Electro-Harmonix Flanger Hoax

This was the hardest pedal to learn to use and the instructions are useless. Spend some time online reading about other peoples settings then go from there.

First off I use it to run my drum machines and synths through and let me tell you this thing is unbelievable I can get all kinds of freaky noises and NIN Year Zero squelches out of this little box like no other pedal and I have a bunch! There is NOTHING else like this its almost hold up to Metasonix stuff in terms of insane noises.

As with most EH stuff its not going to break unless you drop a rock on it.

Never had to use them yet.

I would absolutely buy another if something happened to it. I wanted to write a review cause this thing is awesome and all the other people who trash it in reviews just were not smart or patient enough to learn how to use it. There is nothing else like this and if you do electronic music you need one of these.
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I'm predominantly a guitarist but also play several other instruments. I use this pedal in several settings. It gets most of its use in the studio with a number of instruments and in a number of setups. I also use it live with one band where I am playing keyboard. No amp used, just Roland JX-305 to Flanger Hoax to PA/Monitors.

The manual gives you no more than the bare bones - I really feel it's poor and they should go back and put some effort into it in future. EHX are relying on users spending a long time getting the hang of this pedal or having a very high pre-existing level of knowledge about effects and how they are generated.

With that said, getting useable sounds out of this pedal I found to be relatively straightforward. After an initial period of fiddling with the settings I found a number of interesting and useable sounds.

HOWEVER, more than 6 months later I still haven't got to the point where I really understand this pedal well enough to be able to dial in sounds on the fly - I have to remember my settings (I write them down) and creating new sounds is a process of trial and error. I find it charming and enjoyable, several times I have stumbled across new and interesting things by mistake, however if you're taking this into a studio and you're going to be watching the clock, be prepared that unless you really know the pedal intimately, it can be hard to set it up precisely for the sound you want.

In terms of the way the pedal is laid out, it is fairly intuitive and logical.

The quality of the effect, the things this pedal can do is a 10. I've not really seen anything else like it in terms of the amount of different, useable and interesting sounds you can get out of it. In typical EHX fashion this pedal has extreme settings that can make things very interesting. Slow, subtle sweeps to lively bumps and twitches to full on intense crazy modulation. It's all analog and it adds a wonderful character to your sound. You can use it to add subtle character to things or you can use it as an effect that completely defines your sound. It's almost an instrument in its own right. (BTW I agree with the comments that this isn't a replacement for your traditional flanging requirements; seeing it as a phaser or a flanger is misunderstanding this pedal and selling it a long way short).

So, why only the rating of 8? As others have said, noise. It is a very noisy pedal in operation, perhaps the noisiest I own. It's fairly noisy even at modest settings but when you pour the delayed signal on it gets audibly worse.

You won't notice it in a band setting other than if it's on between songs, if you want to use it for recording then the noise is something you have to be prepared to live with.

The volume drop problem that some people are having - for me it isn't really a problem. It's only a very slight volume drop on the vast majority of settings, and I can easily compensate with the volume pot on my keyboard. In the studio obviously this isn't a problem.

Why haven't EHX added a volume knob? Because the problem with noise is bad enough as it is! Having a knob that boosted the output would make the noise problem intolerable and I'm sure the comments would reflect that if there was such an option. If the volume drop bothers you, a clean boost before it will sort it out. But this is a 'problem' with about 95% plus of modulation effects in my experience. It doesn't bother me personally.

It seems pretty sturdy, although by no means indestructible. I echo the comments that the paint job could be a LOT better, but then I guess you get what you pay for there. As much as I love the look of my Z-Vex pedals, I'd rather have simple finishes on them and the extra cash in my pocket. My experience with EHX in the past has been pretty solid. Their gear isn't the sturdiest you'll ever see but then things like weight are a factor for most of us here and in my opinion they get the balance about right. 'Built like a tank' is all well and good until you have to lug your 'tanks' to a load of gigs. I think this pedal will last a long time unless it gets abused.

Not the best ever, but I've always found them to be prompt, polite and generally useful.

It's a pretty unique piece of kit that I'm very pleased to own. I would definitely get it again. It's not without it's little foibles by any means but if you can live with them then this pedal lets you into a wonderful world of sonic possibilities.

If you want basic flanging, phasing or other modulation, my advice would be to look elsewhere. This is not a Swiss Army Knife of modulation, it has not replaced the other modulation pedals I own. If you buy this, be prepared to explore, be prepared to be patient, but above all be prepared to get some great unique sounds that can help set you apart.

okay, nine knobs and four toggle switches are not so easy to handle at the beginning. to understand this thing you have to know how REAL flanging with two tape machines in the studio works! and then it??s usage is very clear. take a look in the small manual and consider about the block-diagram for a while...

I love it! the FH can deliver classic chorus, flanger, phaser sounds, and goes much further to real good univibe, octaver, ringmodulator, tremolo and filter sounds - and everything in between!
I made a recall sheet to "store" my sounds, because the settings are almost endless and difficult to remember. on some settings it can be noisy, but hey: the FH is analog and works with BBDs, so what!?
it would be much more flexible when the LFO would offer more waveforms. it is a mono device, but in the studio you can create a pseudo-stereo effect with the two outputs. it sounds different with guitar- or line-level signals. as with the sounds, you simply have get some experience with it to know how to use it. i own it for six month now, and still discover new things with it.

switches and knobs feel reliable, but as always with EHX gear the enclosure is made out of a thin plate and the painting is not the best. the way they mounted the two PCBs inside is not very professional, because the PCBs are bended - I modified this! I hope the SMD components will last.

EHX support is fast and friendly. when I asked them about the BBD noise they answered "noise is part of the experience!" :-) nice.

an outstanding effect! it is a kind of "ultimate modulation device" but it could be done more professional, but thats EHX! I like it very much and will never sell it. if you feel boring with your standard chorus or phaser give it a try. but it needs love, understanding and time!

This pedal takes some getting used to. No presets, no "example sound diagrams" suggested in the little two page manual. but - invest a little time and you will come up with something very unique. I don;t understand all the mathematics - but I can twist knobs and thats the fun of it. I don't know how it does what it does but I like the results.

I love the sound of this thing - but it didn't end up sounding like I thought it would. I used to have an Electric Mistress and the Flanger Hoax has a much different character. I will certainly keep my Pigtronix analog phaser and my Eventide ModPro - but the Flanger Hoax can do things these other pedals can't. I use this in my studio only - mostly for guitar but I will run synths thru it as well.

If you are looking for a typical fat flanger sound I don't think this is the pedal for you. The Flanger Hoax is awesome for over the top modulations. It also does amazing phasing but it has its own "sound." Its analog so it can get a little hissy at certain settings. I actually get the best results when I run the dry output along with the wet instead of just using the blended out. You can pan the two and get a really sweet stereo field.

Built in the USA!

Haven't had to use it yet.

My first 30 minutes with the Flanger Hoax were a disappointment. I bought it on Ebay and thought I was going to put it back up for auction. I held on to it and I'm glad I did. If you are looking for the sound of the MXR Eddie Van Halen Flanger then you need to go with the MXR. This box has a lot of knobs and takes some time to get to know. Its analog and I like that. Small adjustments in the knob positions can really alter the sound - there are so many parameters (amounts, feedback, degrees and delays, etc.)

I play a lot of ambient electronic/experimental stuff and this pedal has now found a home in my setup. Just be prepared to spend some time figuring it out.

This thing is actually only middling in complexity. It is much easier to control than the Jo-Mox M-Resonator, for example. It is a knob-twiddler's dream. If you want something you don't have to explore, you want a different pedal.

The noise factor on this pedal is not bad, as long as you remember it is set up for line level signal levels. I use it with an insert cable plugged into a mixer channel.

For guitars it would be important to buffer the signal before it hits this pedal.
Of course it is not an everything pedal. Do not think this can immitate other pedals (even other flangers), it cannot.

It is a very cool flanger, with phasing added like a condiment. There are two ways to pour on the phaser, either directly or with feedback (or both). There are two kinds of feedback, and you can get noise from this pedal only if you bring the feedback up. It gets noisy with feedback, get over it. Want quiet feedback? Go digital. This is an analog monster.

It is also possible to disengage the oscilation, allowing you to use this as a bizzaro-land tone pedal. Want to sound like you are playing in a tunnel? Pick your tunnel. Manipulate the flanges (the virtual ones, ie the two delay lines) by hand, by oscilator or a combination of both.

If you know calculous I'm sure this pedal will not be such a mystery. But really to learn to use it you've just got to use it.

If you want a thick sound, steer clear. This thing is as glassy sounding as a Q-Tron. That having been said, I've never used a flanger to fatten something up, so it isn't like this is a problem for me in application.

I don't gig, and I take care of my gear. If I were to suggest a flanger for a gigging musician, I would recommend the MXR (with or without van-halen-promotion your choice).

This Electro-Harmonix pedal is a studio beast. Once you learn how to use it, it is powerful and capable of real-time hands-on expression. A gigging musician would probably find that they could only barely tap the capabilities of this pedal. On the other hand, If you must have thru-zero flanging, this one will do it (use the fx only output, or turn the blend up to full for thru zero flanging sounds, and yes it is different, think 1960's, in sound from a flanger that can't do this (think most of them)).
Thru zero means that you will have no non-delayed signal coming thru. This is an option here, but using the main output and the blend knob you can thicken the sound,and defeat the Thru-Zero effect.

I have never had occasion to use customer support.

I like the pedal, though I kind of think I should have got a Micro-Pog instead. It sounds amazing in the right application. In the wrong application, you've got a fizz machine.

At first it seems intimidating and not fully intuitive... a lot of knobs and switches. But after sitting with it for about 5 minutes or so, you get the idea of how it works - it's just a really complex phaser (hence the name).

I started how I generally start when I try pedals. Initially, I put all the knobs (except the blend/effect volume knob) on their respective 0 positions. From there, I started from left to right turning 1 knob at a time to 10 and seeing what that influenced. After that, the knob goes back to 0 then on to the next.

With an idea of what knob does what, it's easy to decide what probably sounds good with what...

The manual was easy to follow but didn't really look at it until after I'd already gotten the hang of it.

The PCB indicates that this is model EC1500 Rev. A -- whether that's old or new, I have no idea.

I play guitar synth and favor electronic music (NiN, KMFDM, Dark Soho, Orgy, etc...). This pedal is a nice compliment for my set-up and I can get rid of 2 pedals with this pedal (Phase 90 w/ mods, Ibanez FL9).

The phases are very analog and not compressed. I read about the hum and hiss issue with this pedal and found that, yes there is a small amount of noise, but no more than you'd expect from a standard phaser or flanger. Depending on your settings, it can drop or increase your signal volume but, again, that's a common characteristic of signal modulation.

My setup includes a Roland GR700 & GR30, Zvex Seek Trem, Big Muff PI (Russian w/ mods), Ibanez AD9, Boss MD2, Akai H2 headrush and now - the FH. All the signal is going through 2 x Roland JC120 combo amps and a Roland CB100 bass amp. Overall, it sounds very rich and warm when other effects are going through it.

Also, newer strings really make a difference

Solid stainless steel, US made, solid footswitch, clean PCB layout -- seemingly very rugged and reliable.

Most likely gig worthy without a second one for back up.

The only contact I've made was checking out their website (http://.ehx.com) for more information on the FH

Music Style : Industrial/EBM/electronica/rock
Playing for : collectively bass/guitar for 10 years but guitar-synthesis for about a year or so

Overall Rating:
If this was lost or stolen, I would definitely get a new one. Aside from a rackmount Moog phaser I owned, this is probably the best piece of modulation hardware I've played in a long time. I worked at 4 different Guitar Centers in 3.5 years and was able to try out a lot of different pedals over that span of time (as I was in accessories). There's not really any other analog pedal like it.

If you like sonic textures, experimentation, and making your guitar sound not like a guitar, this is a great pedal to have in your collection. However, if you're more of a traditional, rock/jazz, bluesy, guitar-amp-cable kind of player, its more than likely overkill and are better off with a Phase90.

Cons: 4 jacks, 5 switches, and 9 knobs. There is a learning curve to using it, especially for beginners in sound synthesis who might not understand labels like LIN, LOG, or 270 degrees phase difference. The device is all analog, so there is no way to save settings electronically - just old fashioned paper or brain cells. This makes the Flanger Hoax somewhat difficult to use for live performance, unless you have the luxury of time for dialing in the settings on stage. The manual offers a diagram to show the signal flow, but it does not offer any suggested settings.

Pros: 4 jacks, 5 switches, and 9 knobs. For musicians who love getting lost in the possibilities of sound synthesis, this box is one of the most exciting inventions ever created for less than $200. There is a lot of territory to discover in those controls - some of it frustrating and confusing, but all of it entertaining and often suprising. As a tool for experimentation and studio use, it is awe-inspiring.

Cons: Being an all analog effect, you can expect a lot of extraneous noise and hiss, especially when the blend, feedback, and amount knobs are in the higher levels. If you are hoping to dial in famous EHX modulation sounds such as the Electric Mistress or the Small Clone, you will be very disappointed. Depending on your settings, you might also experience some volume drop when intiating.

Pros: Being an all analog effect, you can expect some very exciting and alive sounds full of unpredictability and chaos. I've had the FH since 12/2007, and 6 months later I've discovered settings for chorus, phaser, wah, tremelo, vibrato, ring modulator, self-oscillation, and of course, a dozen varieties of flanger.

No problems so far. The paint-job scratches easily, as with all EHX steel-box units. It requires an 18 VOC/500 mA power supply (wall wart). I would gig with it, but I'd want to be very careful.

I've never tried contacting EHX.

For less than $200, you rarely find a better value. The Flanger Hoax is, in my humble opinion, a work of sonic genius. I play my own music which has leanings toward classic British Rock (from Beatles to Radiohead and everything in between). The FH is perfectly suited with my style and my rig. If lost, I would cry and immediately buy another one. My favorite feature is getting lost in its maze of possibilities. Every time I approach the FH, it feels fresh and inspiring. In this way, I would compare it to the EHX MicroSynth. Tonally, it is unique from other EHX products. It sound nothing like EHX's other modulators. I wish it had: 1) real stereo separation, and 2) expression pedal capability.

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I didn't find it too hard at all to find usuable sounds in this unit, but I don't presume to have discovered all its capabilities. I'm pretty confident in Delay Mode "DC" and "3", but the other modes are still a bit of a mystery to come up with musical sounds, due to the multiple TZF going on. Still, keeps things interesting.

This is a special effects box - one of only two analog flangers I know of that will do the through-zero flange effect. It doesn't sound like an MXR or an Electric Mistress. It's a replication of the original flange effect, done on tape, only in real time. As the flanger sweep rises the volume falls as the frequencies of the two two delay lines cancel eachout out, reaching a point where there's no sound at all, before coming back down again, gaining volume. It's a pretty cool effect, best heard with a gain pedal pushing the front of the Hoax.

There's a fixed phaser on one delay line and a swpt phaser on the other, which you can use to accent the flanger effect or to get stand-alone fast phaser sounds. There's univibe type sounds and hi-res phaser sounds when the rate is set relatively fast, but, at the moment anyway, I won't be getting rid of my normal phaser as I've yet to find a smooth LFO in the Hoax that can replicate normal phase sounds at slower rates.

The Hoax has two main problems. First, it's very noisy. My unit is pretty much unuseable in delay modes "1-4" when playing clean, because even with the guitar volume maxed I can hear the hiss at the bottom of the LFO sweep over my playing. It's possible I could eliminate this problem by boosting the signal volume with a clean volume booster before the Hoax, but I've not yet investigated it. Cutting some of the highs after the Hoax with an EQ or low pass filter may help also, but then you're sacrificing some of your tone. That said, even with the feedback maxed the fange effect is very weak when playing clean, so it's not a huge loss not to be able to use it on clean. I doubt an uninterested audience could distinguish it from a volume pedal. You need the harmonics provided by a distortion pedal to get the sweep happening, unless you mix in some phase to accent it. With a distortion, the hiss is inaudiable. Virtually noiseless operation for clean can be had in "DC" mode if you set the delay times above the hissy ares, but the best TZF isn't found in this mode.

The second problem is the volume drop. Most settings have it, but I've stumbled on a few (particularly when set to LIN) where the volume increases. This could be rectified by simply running a clean volume booster before the Hoax.

The unit appears solid and I've had no problems thus far, but the paint scratches off very easy. There's quite a bit of scratching around the feedback switch, and I have short fingernails and have only had it a week.

I sent an email to EHX about the noise asking whether it was possible one of the trimpots were misaligned. They responded quickly and were kind, but were a bit dismissive of the problem, saying it was the price you have to pay for the effect and would be inaudiable in a band sitation.

Ultimately, you're buying this pedal for the TZF. The only other analog pedal that will do it is the Foxrox Paradox, which is about US$150 more expensive. The Hoax may be more flexible in that both its delay lines can be modulated (the Foxrox only one can be) and it has the phasers, but the Foxrox has no noise issues or volume drop by reports. If money is no object, the Foxrox may be the better choice. That said, I don't regret my purchase of the Hoax. Sure it has issues, but it's the only place you can get analog TZF apart from the the Foxrox. It's much more fun than the vintage Electric Mistress I had before.

There is a steep learning curve. Good knowledge of how modulation effects work is helpful in understanding the controls. It has the worst instruction maual ever.

This pedal has a seemingly limitless array of sounds at your disposal. It is only a matter of finding them and taking note of them because with nine knobs and four toggle switches it is hard to remember settings. With certain settings the pedal will oscillate a tiny bit even if the unit is in bypass but I could care less because I have come to terms with my noisy chain. I found a really cool rotary-vibe type effect, that I use for Robin Trower impersonations.

No problems so far.

EHX have always been good to me.

I play shoe-gaze and post rock and this pedal is an invaluable part of my rig. I don't understand all of the harsh reviews. I think some people may be a little too hasty in their judgement of this pedal.

many knobs.. not easy but fun!

that's the reason i am posting here a review. i've seen many people giving this unit a 10 and that's just not "real".

why?

i have owned it and i loved the sounds i got from it. so if everything were perfect i would give it a 10, too. but there are 2 bad things that should be mentioned that really degrades the pedal.

1) it has a small volume drop. that's something that many modulation pedals do. but that's no reason to ignore it. ehx brought the flanger hoax in 2005 on the market. why not put a volume knob into it?? maybe nothing bad about it if you play alone, but in a band i got completely lost when i engaged it.. (on clean notes,.. is better when distorted but still i am going a little into the backyard of the music with it)

2) if you use this pedal only for mad and/or distorted sounds, no problem with hiss.. because your setup is hissy by itself enough. but i wanted to use it in clean verses or something like that and i was totally annoyed by the it. once again i think any audience wouldn't bother.. but i do.

if those 2 things would be better: less hiss and a volume knob or a volume boost switch like on the q-tron,.. well this unit would deserve a 10 easily... i really liked that wacked out sounds i got out of that unit. but i sold it.

maybe i buy it again one day and put it in a loop with a clean boost.. but i will take 1 point off the rating for each "bad" thing it does.

so a 8 seems quite exactly what it is IMO.
a 10 should be perfect.

never had issues.

never dealt with them...

great sounds!! not your average flanger/phaser/oscillator/noise maker... so if you want just flanging or phasing look elsewhere.

2 bad points i listed in the sound quality did make it unusuable for me, though...