Flanger

First, 1) I have the reissue which does NOT have a walwart (standard two-prong AC) 2) my signal chain is VERY quiet by design. It's as follows: heavily modified Gibson LP Custom to Buddha wah to VHT (Fryette) Pittbull CL50. Effects loop: Analogman bi-chorus (rules) to A/DA flanger to Boss FV500 volume pedal (alt. out to tuner) to MXR carbon copy (analog delay) to Boss DD-20 Gigadelay to BBE sonic stomp (a must-have, IMO). Power supplied by BBE Supa-Charger. The A/DA flanger adds ZERO noise to my rig - therefore, if you read in other reviews that it is noisy, the cause lies elsewhere. Also note that I have no noise suppression. If you require this, you should check your chain, amp, and pickup grounding, connections, etc. Noise suppressors dampen your signal, thus affecting your tone. I've been playing for 34 years... I know these things :) 3) I could not be happier with the A/DA flanger. It boosts the signal a bit, which for live playing could be a problem. However it is smooth, clean, noise free, and the sweep is soothing and crisp. Honestly, it puts to shame every other flanger effect (pedal or rack) I've ever had or played with. This thing is THE benchmark for all others. Without a doubt.

I understand the A/DA flangers have been around for 30+ years. That is testament to their reliability. Mine is built like a brick - VERY solid, heavy, and sound.

Very simple, but takes some experimentation. Five knobs, one switch, and you're off and running. The manual gives useful presets, which will give you an idea of how this box can flex its muscle.

No idea .....

In a nutshell, this unit is the gold standard for all flangers. I have never heard or played through it's better.

Best sounding flanger unit ever made, hands down. Nothing compares to it. It is extremely versatile and usable in any situation, as it can run anywhere from extremely gentle to way over the top. It also has an input for foot control, as it is voltage controlled. It is a tad noisy, but most flanger units are due to the nature of the effect. Chorus and phaser units have the same issues due to the sweep of the filter and amplification in the region of the Q.

**** yeah it's reliable. Mine is god knows how old, but still in mint condition. Never has given me any trouble. Come to think of it, this is the ONLY pedal I've owned that hasn't given me some sort of mechanical issue. And considering the age, that just goes to show the care that went into making these.

Easy to use. Excellent tweakability. You can go anywhere from subtle to way over the top with the enhance knob.

No longer exists, but unnecessary.

I play a range of styles, mostly indie rock. It works great for what I do, but I could see it being very useful in a number of situations and genres. I've been playing for over 15 years, and own a considerable amount of gear. I'm a bit of a pedal geek, and have hand built many of my own. This blows anything made by any other company out of the water. I wish that ADA had continued, as they are top of the line.

I dunno what it is but I always seem to get a better or maybe more useable sound with this pedal in the studio than live.  Maybe because it requires some serious tweaking to get certain sounds (which I think is actually a positive opposed to a negative).  I should state that I'm not a big fan of the flange effect and even less of a fan of the chorus effect (which is rather similar to flanging). However, as far as flangers go, this is the best there is (although I have not been able to try the lovetone flange with no name or the foxrox flanger-both of which I've heard very good things about).  What's great about the ADA flanger is that it has this knob called enhance which will really bring out some freaky-ass sounds...I love cranking this knob and feeding my moogerfooger ring modulator into the flanger-it sounds very freaky and synth like.  This pedal is also capable of some very tasty, understated, sounds like a nice rotary speaker sound, and soome very funky John Frusciante-style chorus sounds (which sound better than ANY chorus I've ever used fo sho!) and some cool expressive sounds using the threshold knob, which allows one to activate the effect with pick attack.  However, when using this pedal live, I've had some problems which in the studio can sometimes be an advantage: honestly this pedal is almost too thick sounding!  It's so warm and jucy that it can really muddy things up and smear any sort of definition.  Also the footswitch has, at times, gone out on me and completely cut out any sound (which I have aleviated by toggeling the switch in and out several times and everything goes back to normal).  It's worth noting that I have a reissue ADA, however I got it after using my roommate's original ADA for quite some time so I am familiar with both units.  I'd say the original's enhance knob can go a little further into insane territory but other than that the two pedals are very close in sound, you couldn't go wrong with either of them.

Well, I don't really use this live because of the dodgey footswitch and the fact that it is just so thick sounding.  Plus, I own a moogerfooger phaser which, on it's 12 stage setting, will get some very similar (although definately not identical) sounds to the ADA, and I just can't warrant using both onstage.  However, I have no intention of selling this pedal and I think it is invalueable in the studio.  Plus, even the reissues have been discontinued several years ago and this is somewhat of a rare pedal-and it's certianly a classic.

Not the easiest pedal to use.  It has quite a few knobs and even more available sounds.  However, with a little practice, one could find just about every modulation sound possible for this thing...but it definately takes some time and the controls are pretty interactive in very subtle ways so you may find it difficult using it onstage if you're one of those types who wants the same precise sound you were getting in rehersal or in the studio, however if you like throwing a little suprise into your performance with a pedal with somewhat unpredictable sounds, this pedal may be for you.

no idea.  do they even have a website?

Great great great flanger and also the BEST chorus I've ever used.  There are some other options such as the lovetone and the foxrox flangers but I think this one certainly does a lot and is much better than any other flanger I've ever tried...and not too expensive like a lot of boutique units (although to the best of my knowledge ADA is somewhat of a boutique company).  However, it's not the most reliable or useful pedal out there and unless you use flanger all the time, I'd doubt you'd really use this thing all that much on say a live stage.  However, in the studio it can be an invaluable item.  I gotta say anyone looking for a chorus pedal should mos def check one of these out.  The only thing better is the original boss (the big one) chorus but this pedal is WAAAYYYY more versatile.