FX70 Stereo Flanger

My favorite flanger sound prior to this was the van halen vintage mxr one.  I found this in two of the flangers I owned.  MXR microflanger, Ross 4 knob one.  I think the common ground here on this is they both used reticon ICs inside.  These are more lo-fi than panasonic ones used in 80s pedals have that more "platform shoes" flanger sound.  LOL  The DOD 870 had reticons in it too.  I didn't care for it too much don't buy it.  Dispite all the right parts I couldn't get a decent flange sound out of it.  What I like about the DOD fx70 is that it has a very mild, smooth, warm, analog flange that is very chorusy.  It sounds very "cure" or "police."  It really has that 1980-85 flanger sound and I love it.  I suppose you could play van halen stuff with it and I have.  It does a reasonable job with that but it does cure/police, Robert Plant "in the mood" sort of flange so much better.  I had like the 70s style flanger/van halen reticon type and I don't think I ever used it on anything.  It's a real pronounced, over the top flange like I said.  I call it the "platform shoes" flanger because really it's just good for "unchained" and "cradle will rock."  Robert Smith used mxr and I think Andy Summers Electric Mistress had the reticon chips so sounded similar.  To me the panasonic chips in the early 80s pedals (mn3007 and mn3101?) are just so quiet and usuable.  It's still a good sound today and though the supply on the panasonic chips are getting low and no longer in production they are still used in guyatone, maxon and EH pedals because they are just so good.  You can even sort of get "pagey" led zep sort of flanger out of this.  I think you get best results with this pedal with a low output pickup.  I use a strat copy with ceramic single coil pickups into a marshall type tube amp with webber ceramic speaker and the sound is heavenly.  Does all my favorite early 80s flanger sounds and just about anything else.  This works awesome with synths.  Very smooth and warms them up.  This is a "can't go wrong" pedal.  The most quiet flanger I've ever owned or used is the MIJ arion sfl-1 flanger.  It has more of that mxr/ross flange that is long and growly.  But it can get a little boxy and cartoony.  I like that quite a bit on synth where it actually works for it.  It's another good flanger I like just for that particular application-synth.  The DOD fx70 knob just sounds so warm, friendly, mild and records awesome.  Can use for so many different things.  It enhances whatever you use it on.  Really good flanger and I've had them all.  Not very noisy at all.  I record both digitally and analog and this pedal is far in acceptable noise levels.  Great.  

I had a vintage MXR flanger go out on me.  Very over rated stuff.  All pedals from the 70s and early 80s use the same box of cheap parts and ICs.  DOD and Peavey USA made is the most indestructible stuff ever made.  If you threw a old DOD pedal at a brick wall and ran over it with an 18 wheeler it would still probably work.  Don't do that though. 

Can't get a bad one out of it-that's how easy.  I've had all the great flangers in my life, vintage mxr microflanger, ross 4 knob, 1980s boss half rack one (worse sounding flanger I ever had) DOD 870 rack mount and MIJ arion sfl-1.  Of all these the DOD fx70 two knob is my favorite.  I own 2 of these.  One has a date inside of 1983

Dod has great support and will still answer questions on old pedals

Well, I've said all I have to say.  I've been holding back from posting here but now that I own 2 of these I guess it's okay.  if your searching for a flanger I'd get one of these.  I got both of mine for under $20.  If you bought something like today that's comparable you'd pay $150 and it wouldn't sound half as good.  These have the panasonic chips and sound great.  There starting to go up in price.  I've seen these go for around $40

I'm consistently impressed with the sound of this flanger.  It's not a complex effect, but it gives a great thick layer to guitar tone.  It's also a pretty good effect for vocals.  I think if this ever died, I'd break down and purchase an Electro-Harmonix Small Clone because this is very close to those sounds.

I don't know what to say about reliability.  When I bought the pedal it was 20 or so years old.  It hadn't been gently used.  I cleaned it up, put a new battery cover on it and plugged it in.  I was immediately very happy with it, and I remain so. 

I picked this pedal up used for about $20.  It's a mid-80's made in the USA DOD stompbox.  If you're looking for a lush, 80's metal flange sound, I have to say that this is the box for you.  The sound gets almost phasey with the speed down and the regeneration up, and rather chorus-like with the speed up and regen down.  I like pretty much the entire range of sounds this box will produce.  It's 20 years old and still kicking out some great tone.

When I bought the pedal it was missing a battery well cover.  I called DOD and, even though they've been bought out since this pedal was manufactured they were very helpful to me and sold me a replacement part very cheaply.  Now the $20 badly used effect is as good as new and, should I wish to sell it, people are getting $60-80 for this pedal on eBay.  I certainly have zero complaints about the folks at DOD.

At the price I found, if you happen to find one of these working, give it a listen.  I think you'll be pleasantly surprised with how good of a pedal DOD was making in the 80's.