Electro-Harmonix Frequency Analyzer

I picked this up used and so it was without the manual but I've heard that EH doesn't really give much info in their manuals and the one that came with The Worm which I also have supports that theory. Three knobs, one filter switch doesn't really leave much to question. I guess I'll give a low grade, not because its hard to use but its hard to find a use for.

Buy this pedal and most likely your band will hate you for it. The guy working at the music shop couldn't believe someone would actually buy this. The reason I got this in the first place cus a few years back I picked up a microsynth at a garage sale (for only two dollars!) and stupidly traded it away for a pair of crap guitars. I was expecting this to be able to produce some of the amazing sounds that a microsynth is capable. I should have realized at the shop that with just three knobs I should be able to find a few usable tones without a week of experimenting. This thing sounds like a five dollar phone from radio shack and thats the most usuable sounds I could get out of it. The only real fun you can get out of it is if you manipulate the shift knob with your foot while you play maybe a breakdown at the end of a song where crazy noise is all you want. Luckily that knob is the bottom one so that is easy to do. I've used it with my Dearmond Starfire (semi hollowbody), Yamaha Pacifica (solid body) in solid state as well as tube amps. The tone is harsh and the distorted tones are not kind to your ears. One way to make it more listenable is using it with The Worm Pedal on the tremolo setting. So try it out with a tremolo if you have it but don't go and buy both pedals just for that cus it will cost you a bloody fortune.

would anybody really use this enough for it to break down? I can't see someone needing it that much or being suckerd into buying another one so for its aplication if any it has been reilable and it was second hand. I hate the idea of the adapter because thoes can only take so much abuse and the fact that its 40 watts means your not going to be using this with a power supply pedal. No options for batteries as back up makes me feel its badly designed. If your gonna gig with it I strongly recommend making a pedal board for the sake of the adapter.

haven't dealt with them but I can't picture any company wanting to hire a large tech department to find problems and fix them in products that are that cheap to build. The money that you'd pay someone for the time it takes to locate the problems half the time (beyond lose wires) would be more than it takes to produce a pedal.

I like most things that make strange noises but messing around with this gets old real quick. To buy one new costs a small fortune which could be much much much better spent. The selling point is supposed to be that Devo used it and I love Devo but man they used alot of better stuff to cover up the sounds of this. Its the first EH pedal that I've tried that I hate. If it was fifty bucks new I'd give it a much better review because I could see the novelty of getting it then but at $129 used I feel ripped off. Spend your hard earned money on something else. I'm guessing that the ones here who gave a good review have more money than they need and have played for so long that they just want a sound that they haven't heard before.

Easy to use poorly.

Difficult to use well/effectively. (Although, frankly, the difference between the two may be solely in the ear of the beholder.)

As the other reviewers have said, this ring mod. is almost impossible to use to add harmony parts or other complementary overtones. If harmonies are what you're after, the best you can hope for is to dial it in to a particular frequency (i.e., the root note) and play only the root or perfect fifths.... Otherwise you'll just get noise. Sweet, sweet noise.

That's what I use mine for, anyway. I put mine after my entire FX chain (Reverend RUmblefish bass --> absurdly long FX chain --> Frequency Analyzer sitting on top of SVT stack) and manipulate the controls (mix and frequency) by hand to make ungodly rackets. I'm especially fond of sweeping the freq. control from low to high with filters and distortion on for heinous noises. Good times!

Doesn't seem to introduce any noise.

ALthough I've never had problems w/ any of my EH pedals (bass microsynth, FA, and Bassballs, all U.S. reissues), they still worry me. Those big stamped metal boxes with sliders and chicken-head knobs...i'm just waiting for the day that i open my FX case and see all the sliders busted off my microsynth....

I'd gig without a backup, as this particluar pedal doesn't have the aforementioned sliders, and my live show wouldn't suffer terribly without it.

No experience w/ the new ehx folks.

When I got this pedal, I was hoping I'd be able to use it to add harmonic-type overtones a la synthesizer ring mods, but that was not to be.

I got over my disappointment quickly, though, once I discovered some of the amazing noises it could make. As other folks have said, you can't use it often, but when you do, it makes a hell of an impact!

For the price, it's definitely the best ring mod out there, and I'd absolutely get another one if this one died or disappeared.

There is no wrong way of using this baby. It's just sometimes other people don't understand....

I have used this on every instrument going. Sounds awesome on harmonica if you pitch the modulation to a note about a third below the key you're playing. I'd give it 10/10, but that's not the point. It's not a 'pristine sound' and you shouldn't buy it for that.

It seems solid enough. I have used it live, but the variability of the pitch differential means I have to keep abn eye out that no-one nudges the knobs.

Never needed

This is instant gratification for those bored with the same old sound. Often good to have someone else messing with it while you play.

I already knew how to use it from the reviews in here. fairly simple just tune it to your guitar and set the mix.

use it in a rack setup. But I also tried it with a marshall head. sounds good with both. Its a little noisy but you'd almost expect it from this type of effect. The only people I've heard use a ring mod are black sabbath (paranoid-solo) and aperfect circle (the hollow-verses) I can get both of these sounds easily.

This is where EH almost always screws up. Mine was messed up from day one. One of the jacks has a bad connection. When you touch it, the modulated note goes away. Mine is rack mounted so I haven't dealt with it yet. Still for the price there should be a little better quality control. Don't buy an EH product unless you are ready to have some repairs done to it.

This pedal is cool to experiment with. Don't know if I'll use that much but I love the modulated sound. I wish it had three or four presets so that you wouldn't have to tweek it every time you played in a different key. but that's probably asking too much. overall its a good pedal

Well this is pretty hard but at the same time esay to use. The "manual" is basically just telling you what the pedal does but doesn't really do anything more. It takes some time but after a while you can get some crazy sounds from it. Limitless possibilities just like most EH pedals.

I use this with an I banes S7420 and a PRS CE Bolt-On 24 through a mesa tripple rectifier. I havn't heard too much noise when it's on and off I don't think I have heard any noise. I also own a micro synthesizer and these two are simply not compatible it just makes noise and not interesting noise just annoying, but it works well with other effects. Sometimes the signal should be a little more hot but mostly it's not a problem. Overall I really love this pedal it's a amazing what you can do with it.

can't say only had it for a week

never worked with them yet

Overall I give this a 10 because it rocks. It's definetley a cool little device and I recomend it to anyone who is experamental.

Three knobs- easy to tweak, sometimes takes a little time to find the sound you want. But overall very easy.

It's noisy as it should be. This if for FUCKED UP sounds, so the "quality" is bad which is good. Does that make sense?? I love ring modulation, especially on non-pitched tones like percussion or my singing (ha!).

I bought this after seeing the local band Hot Dog Sandwich use one at a show in the Idaho desert. If it will survive them, I think I'm safe.

don't know.

Sometimes I prefer this, sometimes I prefer the ring modulation on my Boss Dr. Sample SP-202, which is easier to use and sounds more like the droids in Star Wars. Still, if you are a DEVO fan and you have a studio, you MUST buy this tool.

okay--here's the deal: its never gonna sound "good." if you buy one of these for harmony guitar like applications--you're not gonna get it. the "manual" is really of no help, and things always sound out of tune and sometimes downright horrible. thats why its got the 5--its very difficult to use or....

you can take this pedal for what it is (an anarchistic noisebox) and fall in love with it the way i did. the knobs are big and foot friendly, and i hardly ever keep them in the samr place--that's the fun of this thing--hitting a note and warping it with the controls. i run my tele through this baby (as well as many other effects, but there's always a big muff, tubescreamer, phase 90, and a Qtron in there--sometines delay, sometimes a flange) into a fender twin. the sound is incredible. but thats not the only application. i run my theremin through this, and its talking robot noises time. all of this tonal madness comes in very handy with the music i play--experimental jazz funk (think headhunters meet sonic youth)this baby ain't for wedding bands--unless the dig devo...just a little hissy--so the 9.

electro harmonix effects made in the USA are pretty reliable--i've had the QTRON for a while and no problems--but it feels a bit fragile to me--not like the phase 90, which i could toss of a roof and it would still work. the power supply's a bit scary too (40v) that baby goes down, and there's no swapping from other pedals. i'll gig without a backup though, because i can't afford one (what working musician can?) and i baby my pedals. i also keep it on a stand with the QTROn and theremin, so i can tweak while i play--so i'm never really stomping on it.

never had to deal with them--but at least they're in the states.

this pedal does what it does well. cheap ring modulators are just that, they often have tracking problems and sound tinny. good modulators are often expensive--ala lovetone, moogerfooger, or vintage stuff. this baby does a lot--with only three knobs and a switch to boot. it fits my style like a glove. i hate the wall wart--but what can you do? the value is worth it, and if you're a little off your rocker (and i'll admit i am) you'll love one of these

Okay, this is both easy and difficult to use, depending on how you work it. I found that the easiest way to "tune" it is to pick one note and adjust the knobs until you only have one pitch sounding. I started with mine in D and it has sounded very Incubus-esque. Now something to keep in mind...This can be different almost anywhere on the dial! One day your tune and fine knobs are in one place, the next day in another, but it is the same pitch. It takes a little getting use to the change of tones, since what you play on the fretboard isnt the same note it use to be. Complicated till you try it, but very simple once you understand it.

I currently vary my setup, but for this I have reduced the complications to help creating a new sound. First, I love this pedal! I started out just clean through it, and tried various "tunings" of the pedal. D and G so far really caught me. Just clean this effect sounds great! When just clean, there is very little noise. On distortion, however, there is a lot of hiss through it. Still sounds cool, especially if you are looking for a dissonance sounding chord with one note. Mine sounds great, no problems there. I run through a Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier, and I put it before the amp, not in the effects loop. It sounded weird that way. The only band that I really listen to that I have heard this in is Incubus. Which is my favorite band, so it works out well! Delay after it also sounded very cool, and very fun to play with voicings on.

I have had no problems with this unit, and I have found as long as you can tune a guitar, you can tune this. Now as far as a gig...I will say yes, however, I would have a backup setlist for the songs that use it since there is no way to possible pretend your way through it without it. It sounds a LOT different.

I have never dealt with the company, so I am not much use here...I'll say good though in case I have to call them and they'll see here how much I like it

Well, I play all kinds of styles, but most of it sticks around rock. I love this pedal as an addition to my setup, plus, for those that get stuck in a playing rut, this helps to make you relearn the fretboard. Ive been playing for about 6 years now, and doing everything from playing in a band to producing to running a recording studio. Among the many things I own,other than my Eventide Harmonizer (Or maybe equal to), this is the most original one I have used. I would definately make sure that if this one disappeared, Id have a new replacement. Hey, how many pedals can help you write circus music while only playing one part? An LED light when it is on would be nice, but really, if its on and you cant tell, music isnt your thing.
A definate must have for anyone experimenting with their sound or just wanting something new to break a writing rut.

The ease of use of the Frequency Analyzer is something that is almost contrary to its function; to be able to produce such a wide range of oddities, the unit is almost too versatile in regards to what type of ringing and clanging and space noises it wil produce, particularly in conjunction with some delay, phase, or other filters.

That said, Electro-Harmonix didn't seem to spend more than a few minutes writing the half-sheet "manual" that accompanies the product; one would think that they would have at least provided a couple example settings as starting points.

The effect adds no unwanted noise to the chain when bypassed, which is a major plus; the 40-volt wall wart included with the reissue is surprisingly quiet. The only time I am able to produce noise on the unit (and it seems to be a feature of the ring modulator sweep rather than a flaw in the unit) is if I crank all the knobs to 100%.

It seems to react much better with my Strats than with my Les Paul copy; ultimately, this effect doesn't seem to like the humbuckers I have laying around. That isn't a fault of EH, but just something to be noted. Hitting the pickup switch or mix on a particular guitar will elicit a wide range of altered sounds, and I haven't exhausted the various noises that this unit will produce.

It works particularly well with the Bassballs and Small Stone, and adds a depth and dimension to sounds ranging from subtle to radical. When combined with an eBow, the thing really does shine, adding a depth of sound to the effect and the eBow itself. There is definitely a lot more depth here than I expected out of a ring modulator.

The unit is relatively solid and the circuit board and related components are vastly superior to the Russian-made Small Stone that gave me no end of problems the same day I purchased it. My only fear on using this thing on a gig is the fact that it uses such a bizarre power supply, and if that goes out, no more Frequency Analyzer. It's not as if I can suddenly cannibalize one off another pedal here; the high voltage requirement makes it pretty much impossible to even consider something as a stopgap.

I've kicked it and dropped it, but it still seems fairly solid.

EH customer support is a crap-shoot; I've had both good and bad experiences with them, and as such, can't really give an opinion save "hope, just hope" you get lucky.

For adding ethereal and metalic sounds to my experimental looping and making noise, the Frequency Analyzer is a definite must-have in my effects chain. That said, for $150 a pedal and up, there are a few features it is sorely lacking in the reissue (you'd think there would be more improvements), including:

(1) LED for on-off status (although you're not likely to wonder if the effect is on or off after the first note you hit)
(2) Port(s) for expression pedal(s) to control the fine tuning of the modulator.
(3) An adaptor that isn't a wall wart.
(4) Better instructions and included information for those just getting started.
(5) Better quality control on the paint and finish of the pedal; mine had some very odd plastic residue on the back, not that I really care functionally, but at that price I'd like some constency.
(6) Footswitch for the "filter on/off" switch instead of a slider on the back; there is more than enough unused real estate on the pedal to facilitate this.

These caveats aside, there isn't a better ring modulator available for the money in terms of features and sound quality. It just would be nice to see a few other choices, notably so it was possible to improve what could be one of the best effects in my rack (and I have far, far too many now).

It won't help most people make music, as this thing is chaos in a shiny metal box, but for those looking for an edge or in developing a signature sound, the Frequency Analyzer is a potential weapon in the arsenal of any odd musician.

Overall, I have to give the unit a "7" for overall value, instead of the 9 or so it would otherwise gather if an LED or other options were included in the price. If somebody is going to charge me $150 for a pedal, an LED isn't asking too much, is it?

Can be a tad tricky to use. You have to use the Tune and Fine controls to get the unit in the same key as what you are playing. The manual is not too helpful, no example sounds, but it doesn't take too long to figure out how to use it.

My setup is Fender Jaguar or Stratocaster==>Z.Vex fuzz factory==>Dunlop Crybaby==>Boss S.D-1==>Big Muff Pi==>Boss GE-7==>E-H Frequency Analyzer==>Schaller Tremolo==>E-H Memory Man==>Marshall DSL-401. Sounds amazing with the Fuzz Factory and Memory Man. Space leads!! I usually use in the bass cut mode, which cuts out the lower note of the two produced. You can get a fantastic shimmering effect when you crank the Tune nearly all the way up. The advert said you could get "moving harmonies" with this thing. I have only discovered a one note droning what ever note I play. Is this right?

Well I've just got it so I have not giged it yet. I'm going to have to change the footswitch though as it was broken when I got it. It doesn't bypass the effect properly. Does anybody else have any of these problems with theirs or is it just my pedal. Please reply... I probably will be able to gig with it as soon as I change the switch. I opened the pedal up and you could see that the switch had been fooled around with. It had been first souldered from one side and then the the other and the plasti parts have melted. I don't know... c'mon E-H!

Our band Daisy plays pop-music heavily influenced by analogue synths. The frequency analyzer will most likely be most used in our studio on the synths and guitar leads. I don't know if it will be worth the hassle to include it in the f-x chain for gigs though. It will be used so rarely. I got it for the good ring modulator sounds, which it does. I did not compare it with other products, which could have been a mistake. It was still half the price of Bob Moogs ring modulator which I reckon is the frequency analyzers closest rival. I bought mine online but remember to try out the specific pedal you want before you buy, otherwise you may get a faylty one.