OT what happens if you put two phasers/flangers in series?

[lightningfingers]

:?: The thought never occurred to me before.
Anyone tried this?

[Mark Hammer]

Of COURSE I've tried it! :twisted:

The outcome depends on how they are set, of course.  First off, you do not necessarily get a "thicker" or more intense version of either.  Bear in mind that plugging one into another means that the dry and wet paths are not isolated until the output of the second (although some pedals would allow you to do that - see below).

The most noticeable outcome of plugging a pair in series is that the sound will be less periodic in nature.  That is, it will sweep but not in any in-your-face up-and-down way.  In many respects this makes it a more tolerable effect, and something you actually don't mind leaving on a little longer.  Not because it is mesmerizing, but because it is less distracting.

In general, plugging one modulation device into another (a phaser into a flanger, chorus into flanger, phaser into chorus, chorus into chorus, etc.) tends to sound pleasing.  I imagine a little taste of distortion livens things up even more.

What you do need to be wary of is that both phasers and flangers tend to have limited dynamic range.  What this means is that if you crank the regen on both, you are likely to get ugly bits showing up a little too frequently.  Some designs have ways of preventing this, but not enough of them.

Some pedals, like the Electric Mistress to name one, allow you to have separate wet and dry outputs.  If you plug the wet output of the first one into the second, and have the dry output go around the 2nd unit to be mixed together with wet at the end, you'll get a somewhat different sound than you would with plugging one fully formed flanging effect into a second.

Finally, I will just note that some of the nicest effects are produced by use of medium slow sweeps on each pedal, somewhere in the range of slow Leslie speeds.  With two non-synchronous LFOs it sounds wonderful.

[petemoore]

You get a great 'Rainy Day' sound!!!  ...Phaze 90 set fairly fast, into a SS set fairly slow rendered a very fun to play phaze sound, your choice of cleans or Fuzz, quite the "Experience".

[Fret Wire]

If you have two amps, mixing modulation pedals in stereo is fun too. I take an Arion SD-1 strereo delay, and put a phase-90 on the main amp out, and a CE-2 on the stereo amp out. I also throw a micro-flanger in too, then mix up the combinations. Endless interesting sounds. With alot of delay, a wah sounds cool on the stereo amp. The next thing I'm gonna try is putting my second SD-1 on the stereo out of the first SD-1. A total of three amps, plus three places to add more effects. Just the delays alone should sound interesting.

Speaking of phasers, Musician's Friend has the Arion Stereo Phaser for $14.99. One phaser, with other effects on the stereo out. Or, two phasers, three amps, and effects on three different lines. Hell, you could even put effects on the patch between the stereo out of the first, and the input of the 2nd.
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/sid=040628131051069166038194860437/g=guitar/s=effects/search/detail/base_pid/150503/

[StephenGiles]

I'm sure Robin Trower used 2 flangers in series on some early recordings. From memory, and I can't confirm it now because my wife is working near the record player, a track called "Somebody Calling" on his Victims of the Fury Album had such a sound. It can sound both great and bloody awful, depending on your settings.

[Somicide]

The most interesting noises I've gotten from a flanger a single flanger, is if the speed is set at max, depth is at zero, and regen is at max.  This is a DOD Flanger, BTW, and at this setting it makes weird bell noises.  It's fun.