Electro-Harmonix Frequency Analyzer

if you know how a ring modulator works this is pretty easy to use. set your frequency and mix and start playing. the filter switch is a really nice touch...it doubles that amount of sounds.

using this with an arion sad-1 and mxr micro amp thru a epi valve junior...sounds really great with very little noise (only with the frequency turned high and the effect switched on). their are so many sound available it awesome. the only drawback is certain notes can be much louder/softer than others due to what frequencies are being played. the sound is extremely smooth, compared to the ring mod on my korg ax1g the eh5000 is much better. the only thing i wish it was capable of would be to do trem sounds (the oscillator does not go this low)

i have only had it a week or so, but it seems to be built well, and i dont abuse my gear so i think it will last.

havent dealt with ehx

for the money and sound quality, this pedal cannot be beat. if i had had the money to spend, i would have gone for the moog. however, this pedal is insane and makes incredible noises. from psuedo-octave effects to rayguns and buzzy synth sounds...its capable of almost anything...

it's easy if you understand what it does. also pretty easy to figure out

sounds very good. i love to use it on vocals for a robot voice and an easy filer sweep type sound by blowing into the mic and turning a knob. also on guitar, it can add some sweet beefiness or harmonics to your guitar tone. works great with single notes, much like an octave divider.

seems pretty tough

they answered my email

overall i am glad i own it, but i might not replace it if it were lost because it's something of an extravagance rather than a necessity. i play lots of rock, space, metal, weird, noise etc. it has somewhat limited uses, but what it does it does quite well. a very cool pedal. awesome for robot vocals, and i bet it can blow minds when used with a wind instrument. when i run it through a mic on stage it will also effect the drums and bass which can be pretty cool. my old drummer would hear it and think something broke on his drums because it adds this weird buzzy sound. i think it sounds great when subtly applied to drums or bass. i like to have it somewhere within armreach while standing so i can easily and spontaneously add the occasional dynamic sweep with a twist of a knob.

You sort of have to understand ring modulation to understand what it does, but it is easy to get cool sounds out of it.

japanese/korean guitars> boss BD-2 Blues Driver> Dano Chili Dog> EHX Frequency Analyzer > Johnson SC-2 Chorus > Dano Tuna Melt > Arion SAD-3 Analog Delay.

Effect sounds great, the filter switch is infinitely more useful than people think as well. There is some bleed from the Voltage Controlled Oscillator, but that is normal in all ring modulators.

I use this effect for experimental music, noise, and having fun with the mix up. I don't write songs with the mix all the way up, mainly because I don't want to write down the fine tune and frequency settings for every song I write. You can get some really crazy sounds. Devo mechanical man, or with other effects it is even crazier (octave plus noisy strumming = sick solos)

I use it with the mix down so my clean guitar has either a nice chimy back drop, a metallic backdrop, or even a noisy backdrop to it. The modulation effects later in the chain help that even more.

You can technically put it in key with the chords you are playing, and that is where it really shines. It only works for a few chords at a time, but (especially with the more muddy filter off setting) you can get some amazing sounds with lower and higher harmonics that sound great in a My Bloody Valentine "Loveless" sort of way. The way you do this is by playing a chord (power chords work best, and using the other strings as drones works well) and at the same time using the bottom pot until it sounds in tune. Then you can see what other chords work good with it and write a song around that.

The switch is a little iffy sometimes, if you don't stomp on it hard enough , it will go "half on" with reduced volume. It is easy to avoid that, and I am sure easy to replace the switch, but I don't find that neccessary at the moment.

I'd gig with it without backup. I wouldn't throw it against a wall, but I don't think anything is going to happen to it's fine sheet metal body. The paint comes off, but who cares about that?

Never dealed with them, I would assume they are great.

I play a mix of shoegazer/gothic/post-hardcore/post punk. You can get useful sounds for any of those out of this box. Just be conservative with the mix and mindful of what settings you use for each song. The knobs are huge and you can manipulate them with your foot mid song if needed, which I do occasionally do.

There are two simple features I really wish they would have included- being able to patch a different sound over the oscillator, and having an expression pedal on the VCO. That is why I am not giving this a 10, despite the excellence.

This is a GREAT ring mod to get as your first ring mod. If you already have a ring mod, save your money for a moogerfooger or a Zachary Vex Ringtone.

I plan on eventually getting a moogerfooger ring modulator just because it is so much more versatile. For example- I could plug an midi controlled analog sequencer into it, hook it up with my drum machine, and the settings would change to fit every chord I play.

I mentioned the ringtone, which is a new pedal coming out by Zachary Vex, it is a ring modulator with a built in sequencer, but I would not want to get it because of lack of the huge possibilites that the Moogerfooger possesses over it.

Still, if this was lost or stolen, I would probably replace it because of my affection for this pedal. Even if I get a moogerfooger, this will still be on my board.

When I initially purchased this pedal, I was moderately disappointed by the fact I couldn't get those highly oscillated "raygun" noises like I got with a Moogerfooger Ring Mod I tried. However, I sat with it and used it more and discovered that the pedal was capable of broadly expanding my tonal palette. I find the filter switch and blend knob to be particularly useful, allowing me to mix the wet and dry signal quite a bit to get even more tones and sounds out of it, and make the sounds somewhat more palatable and useful for a guitar. The fine and shift knobs can be very finicky, with just a tiny twist the box is making a totally different sound. It takes some getting used to, but overall the pedal is pretty easy to use.

Where to even begin? This kind of pedal is the abstract art pedal I think. You can coerce such a broad range of sounds that most people will say "Well I think it sounds like..."
I use this pedal in conjunction with a Boss DS-1 Distortion through a single-channel Sunn Concert Lead head and a Carvin 4x12, also through a little Vox 1x8" combo on occasion. I must say that through a loud amp, some of the settings can become quite painful. I've run just about any instrument I own that has a 1/4" jack, mainly my Guild S-100 guitar, but I've tried it with a Jazz bass, and lots of other found objects we hooked up contact mics to. Percussion sounds great when run through this pedal, but nothing that has the danger of feedbacking; my drummer and I nearly died when we ran his cymbal into the pedal! The most impressive instrument we tried was a Didgeridoo, which with the blend knob high and the shift low sounded like an erupting volcano!
Although focusing on guitar, you can get so many sounds and tones from the pedal, it's hard to imagine, so I'll just throw out some random things I think it reminds me of. Robots speaking, insect swarms, radio static, ham radios tuning, buzz saws, power drills, heart rythms, clock chimes, huge bells, vintage synths, etc. etc.
This is the pedal that Devo really made famous, using it for almost everything, including vocals, guitar, bass, synth, drums, and so on. Another user of ring mods is Alexander Hacke from Einsturzende Neubauten, who used the effect extensively on 'Die Interimsliebenden' and 'Headcleaner', also on the documentary 'Liebslieder' he used it on the piece 'DNS-Dream' quite obviously. It's not really hard to get the sounds most other people have used ring mods with unless their gear is radically different. The sound quality isn't pristine, and it's a noisy effect, but that's just as God intended it. True bypass is nice though.

The adaptor is flimsy and not worth a shit, but it seems to be the only 40v adaptor in existence. I broke the first one I got with the pedal, so now I'll be a little more careful with this one. I plan on mounting it safely to a pedalboard once I get another pedal or two anyway. You can't use it with a battery either. Bizarre.

Worthless. I e-mailed EH about getting a new adaptor, and asked what kind it needed, and they said "We don't know, ask Sam Ash."

It is a very very good pedal, but probably only for radical music anyway. I play alot of avant garde, noise, and psychadelic guitar in a pretty violent way. I've been playing for about 3 years at this point. I love the sounds and looks of the piece, but I hate it's bizarre power supply and flimsy adaptor. Everything else is great. If it were lost or stolen (doubtful) I would definitely buy another ring mod, maybe a Moogerfooger next time though. For now I'm really happy with the pedal and it's myriad of uses. You can play as aggressively as you want, or be very quiet and subdued, and the unit will still suprise you with it's tones. An excellent value at $100.

Its easy to use. Three knobs and one switch.

I think the soudn quality for this is amazing. It sounds more like a sythesizer to me. As for versatilty there is none in my opinion. But thats not bad because they sound amazing. I say this because the manual included says that it is very versitle and will keep you getting new sounds out of it for years to come. Theres basically two sounds worth using this effect alone. Having all control knobs turned up to three. The second being turning all the control knobs up to eight. But using this effect with an envelope filter, phase, delay, and good reverb really makes for some interesting possibilities.
It can make sounds similiar to an octave divider ( in which part of the signal proccess is octavating) but with a phase sound to it. Thats having the controls on lightly. It goes from that up to the sound of deep brass bells! Sounding like a scene from star wars or something. If you like space music, say the Grateful Deads second set extravaganza of earthly tribelic new aged spiritual music. Then you will love this.

Im not sure I would "gig" with this effect. I play music to make people as well as myself happy. If I used this effect I would end up scaring the crap out of everyone I think.
I have less then 3 hours of time using this. So I have no idea how reliably it is. There are no photoelectric sensors such as on the q tron so I just cant see what part on it could break. Its almost impossible unless you use improper input levels. Like running a power amp signal into it or some other idiotic idea.
A backup lol I barely have a onstage set of gear to use. Backup lol Man perhaps when I join a big hair band and use hair spray to frow out my hair and change my name to Johhny Cool and wear sparkely robes with crown hats and become a lush.

I cant see it being broken.
I cant see them not fixing it.

If you like new aged spiritual music. Or making your guitar sound like a loud vibrating gong. Or a wierd flange noise then this is the effect for you.

Three knobs, two switches. Very easy to use right away if you are a seasoned pedal head.

Whoooa! This thing is an alien's pedal. If you need a pedal that will give you "The Day the Earth Stood Still" kind of vibe, here it is. Sounds much better than the Moog ring mod and costs half as much. A deeper, more resonant tone to be had here, and more expressive. I prefer a 'lower' pitch setting and the sound is like a giant bell of doom tolling. Use a clean tone preferably to get the maximum nuance and expression.

Made in NYC. Built solid. Kind of large in size.

Frikkin awesome. I have a bunch of other pedals that help with the otherworldly soundscape experience and this one fits perfectly. A special effects pedal par excellence this is. It would be unreasonable to expect you to use this all the time, unless you are a truly eccentric weirdo.

My only gripe is that if there should of been an expression pedal application for this. Maybe we here who post reviews get spoiled with what we have and want it all the time, so it's a minor drawback for something that sounds so cool.

I could imagine that this would sound great with a drum machine or other instrument.

It's kind of easy in the sense that once you get to know it, which doesn't take too long, you can get things done. But it does take a little tweaking and understanding of how this thing works in context. If you have a good ear pitchwise, it makes it a little bit easier. Manual is short and doesn't say much, but it's enough to getyou going.

I basically got this for the purpose of generating noise, and it does this well. ButI've actually found that you get better and goofier results when you actually try to set it the right way, rather than just twisting knobs until you hear sonic puke.

There are actually a lot of cool tonal options available, and they will change depending on what notes you play, since this thing is "key sensitive". You can pull out steel drum honks and metallic buzzes on some notes, and get a subtle vibrato and even a little bit of chorusing on others on one setting without changing a thing. The note you've tuned it to will almost sound unaffected sometimes. This is why I actually like tuning it to a note...you'll get different, bizarre results all over the neck without a whole lot of work. One thing about that: It doesn't necessarily tune to any E, B, C, G, whatever. If you tune it to, say the E played on the 12th fret of the 1st string, lower register Es will still sound a little weird. But that's pretty cool if you ask me. I prefer the filter on because the bass frequencies just seem to eat up the whole signal.

I've been pretty impressed with the recent EH products, and the FA has the solid jacks and pots that all my other EH pedals have, but the filter switch seems flimsy and chintzy and lacks the solid "clunk" and travel of the depth switch on my Small Clone. It doesn't feel like it would be very resistant to a whole lot of abuse. But the pedal itself looks and feels very well put together.

I like shoegaze, older country and blues, garagey rock, and the like. I've been playing for 15 years, and own a lot of stuff.

I really like this pedal. Mainly, I pair it with my MXR Blue Box and one of my couple of fuzzes to get weird sonic washes and clunks ala My Bloody Valentine. There's also a songI've demoed thatI've wanted to put a short, washed out church bell-like part on and this sounds like it'll fit wonderfully. It really is alot of fun to work with, and actually opens up the fretboard a little bit in a weird way. I find my self exploring new melodic ideas and often am able to find notes and tones which help change the mood of a song or inspire new parts. In a weird way, it helps bring to light different kinds of double stops and triads...a lot of cool things to work with. I wouldn't call it a learning tool, but it certainly freshens up the ears a bit and helps refresh how notes and harmonies work. And of course, it rules for flat out noise.

This post is in response to the last review....in response to your thoughts on your fine control needing callibration due to the fact that it doesn't do much until shift is near max...mine does the same so I think your ok there. Other than that it sounds like someone sold you a very used unit and claimed it to be new. Mine was used and all switches were tight. I purchased the worm new and it didn't have a scratch on it top or bottom. Did you not inspect the pedal before you bought it? Seeing as I'm from Canada too I'd like to know where you got yours so I can avoid shopping there. As for schematics I don't know a single pedal manufacturer that includes them with their product...(amps sometimes but never pedals). Search the net you will probably come up with something.

p.s. three reviews back was mine and yes I still think this pedal sucks.

Not hard to use. 3 knobs, 3 jacks, and 2 switches give me all the control I need while keeping the device simple and manageable. Doesn't complicate my life with useless bells and whistles (pun intended). I wouldn't change a thing.
I'm puzzled by the "Fine" control. It doesn't have much effect until the "Shift" knob is near maximum. Maybe my unit needs calibration?
The manual (one page) is spartan but adequate.
I wish a schematic had been included. If in 10 years this thing conks out, the company is nowhere to be found, and I ask a tech to take a look, a schematic sure would make things easier.

As far as I'm concerned, this is the best pedal Electro-Harmonix makes. I used to own the Big Briar "Moogerfooger" ring mod, which had more features and cost twice as much, and I prefer the Frequency Analyzer.
The Frequency Analyzer has a very deep, raw, penetrating sound compared to the Moog. The Moogerfooger had a squelch/gating circuit, which was very annoying. The Frequency Analyzer doesn't have one and your notes can really "ring" out instead of being abruptly cut off. I think the absence of a noise gate is 90% of why this device sounds better to me.
The voltage control options on the Moog looked good on paper, but in practice, I didn't find them all that useful. Sweeping a ring mod with a footpedal or an LFO tends to get old real fast, but maybe that's just me. The Frequency Analyzer sweeps nicely, as long as you're content to do it by hand.
One thing I do miss about the Moogerfooger is that it could do amplitude modulation, in addition to ring/frequency modulation. You could get a decent tremolo using its built-in LFO. You can't do tremolo on the Frequency Analyzer, not that tremolo is the reason anyone buys a ring modulator in the first place.

The unit I got was supposedly new, but had lots of blemishes straight out of the box (a few minor scratches in the metal, a few deeper ones in the plastic padding on the bottom). I'm still waiting for an explanation from the store I bought it from. I hope these pedals don't come from the factory looking like this.
The "Filter" switch on my unit was very loose. So loose, in fact, that I thought it might've been broken before applying power to the unit. The slide switch on another EH pedal I have "snaps" just like a switch is supposed to. Again, I'm not convinced I wasn't sold a display model as new, but if that's not the case... Tsk! Tsk! Quality control, folks, Q-U-A-L-I-T-Y C-O-N-T-R-O-L...
The 40VDC wall wart would be a real hassle to replace if it got lost or damaged, but I figure EH must've had their reasons for going with such a non-standard power supply. Maybe the higher voltage increases headroom and keeps noise down. This pedal is totally quiet and I don't hear any bleed from the internal oscillator.

Good stuff, but I am concerned about possible build quality issues.

The pedal has three knobs, one for wet/dry amount, one for tuning and one for fine tuning. There's also a switch to filter out the high note. As people have said it's impossible to get "moving harmonies" with this pedal as the advert suggests. However if you tune it to any major note and turn the mix knob down you can get a nice chiming chorus effect or a subtle octave type effect if you use the filter switch.
The other reviews spell it out: you play a note and tune the knobs accordingly. It's not that hard but there's more to it than a tubescreamer.

I use a Tele with a RAT, Blues Driver, MXR Blue Box, Boss DM2, the EH Frequency Analyser and a Volume pedal when I use guitars. I play lofi rock or I make noise with pedals at home by setting up loops and I also make all kinds of electronic music. This pedal is used to various degrees in all of them.

Ring modulation is rarely used in guitar music, and let's face it this thing is marketed to guitar players. There's Devo and the Paranoid solo and the guy from Incubus with his vile Gonkulator but not much more. A ring modulator takes two signals and adds two new notes (one above and one below) based on the sums and differences of the oiginal signals. This makes a bell-like chiming sound. When there is only one signal (from a guitar) the second signal is generated by an internal ossilator. You can tune the ossilator to any key and the pitch of the new notes changes, making harmonising possible in theory. But as we have already seen this thing is not good for harmonies. Things often sound out of tune and pretty horrible. Ring mods make a bell-like sound and bells contain very strong non harmonic elements. I have been able to get some simple harmonies out of this. Tune it to B and I play a simple riff using B G and E using roots and fifths only and it sounds great. It sounds like a metallic octaver, but it's not synthy like an octaver or digital like a pitchshifter and you can play chords too. The tracking is flawless and playing chords makes chaos but it always tracks all the notes perfectly.
Everything sounds very metallic which is part of it's charm. It's not a pristine sound but it's not supposed to be. Like fuzz pedals different ring mods have their own personality and each one will have their own fans. More expensive ring mods are often smoother sounding. It's a robotic sound. Use it on vocals and sound like a Darlek (or Cher).

This pedal is still a useful tool. The range is huge - you can shift the notes so low you can only just feel it as your amp and the floor rumbles or so high it's a painful feeling in your ears (A bit like Aphex Twin's Ventolin). The filter switch means you can go REALLY low at least 3 or 4 octaves down. You can get all kinds of anarchic noise, atonal sounds and all sorts. The noise player will love this pedal. Electronic musicians will find this pedal much more useful than guitarists because it lends its self much better to electonic music.
There's no noise at all and not really any loss of volume or tone. My pedal appears to be true bypass (The signal goes through when the pedal is switched off and the power is off. I can plug in the jacks the wrong way round and the signal still goes through). The mix knob means you can go from all ring modulated signal (two new notes only) through to just your original note.

It broke when I carried it through the snow to a gig in winter. It didn't like the cold. The case is steel but it's still no Boss pedal. I wouldn't like to drop it. The wall wart gives me concern.

Wonderful. The pedal broke and I emailed EH. They replied in three days and explained where to send it to get it fixed. It cost $15 dollars and it cost them $25 dollars to send the fixed pedal back to me. They made a loss to help me and it wasn't even in guarentee.

This pedal is a useful tool but it's not something you will use all the time. It is an extremely versitile pedal and most people will be able to find some use for it somwhere. Subtley is the key here. It's an atonal effect and you should only use the mix knob at about 9 OClock or it can sound like hell on toast. Unless you WANT atonal hell on toast of course, in which case you will love it.
I actually made someone feel sick when I was using this in a noise band. I was adding a scorching abrasive high pitched noise behind the distortion I was playing for a song and someone had to run out of the room. There's a point on the mix knob where it scorches your ears and it hurts. If you like the sound of that then you'll love this pedal. It has two outputs so you can set up feedback loops with fuzz pedals and then add some ring modulation to the noise you create. Great! I suppose you could also use two amps and have one atonal and one normal but I've never tried it.
I have some problems with this pedal:
It's HUGE and takes up the space of three boss pedals. For a pedal you'll only use once or twice in a set this is pretty stupid. Other EH pedals are pretty big but at least you use them quite a lot. The electronics are only the size of a boss pedal and the rest of the case is empty. How stupid is that? The wall wart is 40 volts and the cable is very thin and liable to break so it definately must be mounted on a pedal board. If the power goes then the pedal will be useless. You can order a new wall wart from the EH site though but it's more hassle.
There's no LED which is a pain. Every pedal should have a LED if you are playing live because you can't always hear yourself if the venue has poor monitors or a deaf soundman. With a potentially atonal effect like this one it's absolutely manditory or you might end up sounding really bad and not know it.
There's no way to use expression pedals. It's good fun to warp the pitch knob while you are playing and make theremin sounds (in fact a theremin works in a similar way to this pedal). The pitch knob is the bottom one and it's quite large so you can use your foot, but an expression pedal would be easier. Devo taped this pedal to their guitar and it proves my point.
The ring modulation effect is simple and has no LFO. Most ring modulators will have a tremolo as well as the new notes. This pedal sounds wonderful with a tremolo pedal on clean sounds, but that's two pedals to turn on and off so you'll need a line selector. I just don't bother.

Overall this pedal is a very versitile tool. It has a lot of diverse uses and I recommend it. It's not just for atonal noise, but that's the main focus. If you want to develop a weird sound (as Devo did) then you're laughing. If you are in a straight band than it may be hard to find a use for this pedal. Most useful settings are so subtle you might just as well not bother live. But lots of bands like Sonic Youth and Tool have used a ring mod to great effect.
This is the best budget ring mod available. I've tried or owned them all from frostwave to Lovetone and I chose this one for it's lack of expense and it's good sound. It's not as good as the Moogerfooger or Lovetone but they cost $100's more. (The absolute worst ring mod I've tried is the DOD Gonkulator BTW.) You can get a frequency analyser for $50 on ebay. This pedal gives a good sound and its very useful in the studio. It gives Colorsound and Black Cat ring mods a run for their money. Drums through this pedal sound great. More regular guitar use is a bit more limited unless you play in a very experimental band. It's not essential but it's still a lot of fun. I like this pedal and I'm sure you will too once you're played with it for a bit.

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.

The Frequency Analyzer, as a ring-mod, can really damp or enhance certain frequencies, and needs to be tuned to the pitch of the notes you're going to play through it. Not a pedal to use often (BUT I LOVE MINE, READ ON)

OK, here is the deal on the Frequency analyzer:
First, if you have ever seen the video for DEVO's 'can't get no satisfaction' cover, yes, that is the frequency analyzer duct-taped to the guitar. The first 5 or 6 guitar nores in that song are through this EH sick-unit.

NOW, my first band we ran VOCALS through it (female anarchist singer).
My second band we ran DRUMS through it, if you have a drum machine with an electronic sound to it (SStom, old roland, etc.) TRY THIS!!! There is NO electronic percussion so cool as when run through one of these tuned right. I may have been the only person to ever do this in a band called SICK APRIL in Cleveland in the early 1990's (at least I have never heard tape of anyone else doing it-it is a REALLY UNIQUE SOUND). Seriously, ELECTRONIC MUSIC FOLKS, TRY THIS! BTW, the ringmod is MUCH BETTER than the ringmod on the Zoom effect boxes (which is what E-Nuebaten guitar is run through on "interim lovers"). It is pretty flexible, so the sound you get will vary on the percussion you run through it.

Like all EH, replace the footswitch with an improved one and it should last another 40 years.

If you are into experimental music and see one for under 100$, get it!

Three knobs and a switch at the top. It adds two notes (one higher and one lower than the original note) to your first note. The blend knob raises and lowers the volume of the orignal note. The shift and fine knobs control the frequency of the effect. The bass switch takes out the top note. This thing is pretty simple to use. It just takes a few minutes of playing with the knobs to get a sound you like.

My current setup is as follows ESP LTD H-200 guitar ==> Digitech Whammy/Wah ==> Boss SD-1 Super overdrive ==> Boss MT-2 Metal Zone ==> Boss Bf-2 Flanger ==> The Frequency Analyzer ==> Marshall 8100 100 watt valvestate head ==> Marshall 1936 150 watt 2*12 cabinet. I have the reissue Frequency Analyzer and haven't had any of the problems that the others who posted reviews of the original have had with noise, signal loss etc. I guess that they did a pretty good job when they redid them. If you've never used or heard a ring modulator before you probably won't know what one sounds like until you have. With the bass switch on it makes farts. Without the bass switch on you can get sounds varying from bell-like tones to clanking metalic tones to R2D2 beeps to stuff that I still haven't found yet. Its a very strange, very versatile pedal. It sounds cool with the various other efects I use, particularly the Flanger. I give it an eight because its the only ring modulator that I have ever used but, then again most of the other ring modulators that you can get cost about twice what this unit did so really its the only good one that a musician on a budget (such as myself) could really afford.

I have only had it a couple of days so I can't really give a good opinion here but it seems to be fairly well constructed. It comes with its own wall wart and cannot be used with batteries. I haven't gigged with it yet (but when i do i'm gonna get some surprised looks :).

Never dealt with them.

I play in a Metal band and use this pedal just to get the insane wierd sounds (which it does well). I've been playing for 4 years and this is by far the strangest and one of the most versitile pedals that i've heard. If it was stolen i would cry like a little child and save up my money to buy another one. Like I said before this is probably the best ring modulator for the price. I bought it because most of the other types of pedals that you can get are just variations on the same old chorus, flange, and phasers. This pedal is truly original and would be almost indispensible for any type of experimental band (can be used on instruments other than guitar), but its probably not something that a blues or country guitarist would be very interested in.

It has three big knobs, "shift" "fine & "blend". The "shift" controls the pitch of the ring modulation (or the pitch of the nuts sounding shortwave-radio effect of this thing). The "fine" knob "fine-tunes" the pitch (which is helpful when you feel like sounding like a guitarist and not a space invader), and the "blend" knob controls the wet/dry mix which makes the pedal MUCH more useful. The pedal has a little switch that can act as a high-frequency filter. The pedal looks simple, but doesn't sound that way.

Well this pedal does color the signal on bypass(random radio interference, and soaks up high end), but it is worth it. As long as people look confused when I use it I don't mind the hiss.

I probably couldn't tell it something went wrong internally (unless it stopped completely, of course). It seems pretty safe in it's Buck Rogers sheetmetal box.

Electro-Harmonix doesn't exist. This pedal sounds like they all died of drug overdoses (happily and disoriented). So if it blows up, I'll just cry alot and hope God has pity on me.

This is "VERTIGIO-IN-A-BOX", it sounds like the world is ending. It has added a whole new level of nausea to my bands shows. If you see this lying around and you like people to look like they are having a near-death experience, then buy this pedal quickly before it is banned (or sold, this happened to me the first time I found one).

This box isn't really tough to understand. The "shift" knob roughly sets the internal frequency for the ring modulator, and the "fine" knob fine tunes that frequency. The blend knob lets you choose the wet/dry mix that you want. There is a little switch on the back between the jacks, but I don';t know what it does...

I give it an 8 because I have a noise gate. This box, like most Electro-Harmonix effects, is noisy. Oh well, it's worth it, because the Frequency Analyzer makes the strangest noises I've ever heard. It really has to be heard to be believed, so find one, hear it, and believe.

Well, EH stuff isn't the strongest, but I've had no problems with mine. I give it a 6 based on what I'v heard.

Never dealt with Electro Harmonix, cause they went out of business when I was five. You can get some kind of support through the Sovtek web page, though.

Find one of these, and grab it. You can't really use it on stage, because you don't know exactly what it's going to do at any given time but that's part of the fun. I would not recommend using it around anyone impaired in any way by some substance, because this thing really has the potential to scare you. Definitely the wildest effect ever. By the way, if you have no idea what ring modulation is, e-mail me and I'll tell you.