Electric Mistress

The Electric Mistress is an analog flanger introduced by Electro-Harmonix in 1976, with a Deluxe version following two years later¹. What set it apart from other flangers of its era was a sweep wide and slow enough to reach into chorus territory, a character that later makers describe as "chorusy flanging"², and a Filter Matrix mode that stops the sweep entirely and turns the pedal into a fixed, hand-set filter³²⁴. The original and Deluxe versions are long out of production, but the circuit has been reissued, shrunk and cloned by Electro-Harmonix itself and by a string of independent builders.

The pedal found its way onto a large number of records. PastFx notes it was "popularised through its legendary use in countless recordings since it first arrived on the scene in the mid-1970s"⁵, and its best documented user is Andy Summers, whose signature modulation with The Police, according to Voodoo Lab, "came from an Electro-Harmonix Electric Mistress"⁶.

Where the Electric Mistress came from

Electro-Harmonix introduced the original Electric Mistress in 1976, and the Deluxe version followed two years later¹. Like other Electro-Harmonix effects of the period it was an analog, bucket-brigade design, and it arrived at a moment when flanging was moving from a studio-only tape trick into a stompbox a player could carry to a gig.

The version most builders point back to is not the first one but the revision. PastFx describes its Elastic Mattress as "an original take on the classic 1970s 18-volt 'V2' EHX Electric Mistress flanger"⁹, and elsewhere calls it "the famed 'V2' version of the Electric Mistress pedal made by Electro-Harmonix in the mid to late 1970s"⁹. That 18V V2 is the circuit that later makers treat as the reference: Retro-Sonic built its flanger to capture "the distinctive liquidy character and chorusy flanging of the late seventies '18V Electric Mistress'"², and PastFx says the V2 was "used on recordings from the late 70's to the early 90's"⁹.

The pedal's reputation has kept clone builders busy for decades. Jeds Peds' Black Pearl takes "inspiration from the good old classic Electric Mistress"¹⁰, Lectric-fx's Old Chap is "our take on the vintage Deluxe Electric Mistress"¹¹, and JHS describes the Electric Mistress as one of "the classic (and absurdly expensive) analog flangers of the past" alongside the Tycobrahe Pedalflanger and MXR M117, which its 3 Series Flanger draws on¹².

How the circuit works: a flanger that reaches into chorus

A flanger mixes a delayed copy of the signal back with the original, with the delay time swept up and down by a low-frequency oscillator (LFO). Because the delay is very short, the two copies cancel and reinforce each other across the frequency spectrum, producing the characteristic comb-filter sweep. The Electric Mistress uses a bucket-brigade device (BBD) chip to create that delay; GuitarPCB's technical pages note the MN3007 family of BBDs and identify the 4013 CMOS chip as "used in Electric Mistress"¹³¹⁴. Parasit Studio's Ladder to the Moon, a pedal in the same family of CMOS-based filter designs, shows how closely related these clocked-filter circuits are¹⁵.

What distinguishes the Mistress from a straightforward flanger is how far its sweep reaches. Electro-Harmonix itself lists the Stereo Electric Mistress as "Flanger / Chorus"⁷, and the pedal carries separate depth controls for each: a FLANGER DEPTH knob that "controls the amount of Flange that is mixed with the direct signal" and a CHORUS DEPTH knob that "controls the amount of the sweet chorus sound"⁷. Retro-Sonic's summary of the late-seventies 18V circuit, "chorusy flanging," captures the same idea from the builder's side².

The circuit's DNA has spread well beyond dedicated flanger pedals:

• The Electro-Harmonix Superego+ includes a FLANGE effect described as "Electric Mistress style w/filter matrix, rate and feedback," with an expression pedal controlling rate¹⁶.
• The Electro-Harmonix MOD 11 multi-effects pedal carries Filter Matrix behavior into its RATE knob: "In some mod types, turning this knob to minimum enters Filter Matrix Mode"¹⁷.
• Madbean's CurrentLover24 DIY project is "Based On: EHX® Electric Mistress™"¹⁸.
• Harley Benton's MiniStomp Fast Lane is "inspired by the Electric Mistress pedal"¹⁹.

The controls and Filter Matrix mode

On the current Stereo Electric Mistress, Electro-Harmonix gives each modulation its own depth control, so flange and chorus can be blended rather than chosen between⁷. The pedal also keeps the feature the original is best remembered for: Filter Matrix mode.

Filter Matrix is the Electric Mistress's second personality. Electro-Harmonix describes it on the Stereo model as a way to "manually flange your sound or select a flange point allowing musically frozen tonalities"⁷. On the Neo Mistress, the company says Filter Matrix Mode "freezes the sweep of the flanger allowing manual control of the flanger setting"⁸. The Andy Summers signature pedal spells out the mechanism: the FILTER MATRIX switch "disengages the LFO from the flanger circuit, freezing the flanger giving a fixed filter effect"²⁰.

With the LFO disconnected, the pedal stops being a moving modulation and becomes a static resonant filter whose position you set by hand. Players use it for vowel-like fixed tones, for a flange point parked at one spot in the sweep, and for manual filter sweeps played with the knob⁴²⁰⁸.

PastFx's Deluxe Elastic Mattress adds a wrinkle on the original Deluxe that shows how the filtering itself changed across versions: a 70's / 80's switch that "changes between the two different audio filtering designs used in the circuit, the early darker circuit and the lighter filtering of the classic 'green' deluxe mistress"²¹.

The 18V V2 and the later versions

The V2's 18-volt operation is part of why players chase that specific revision. Running a modulation circuit at higher voltage generally means more headroom before the swept signal compresses or clips, and builders of modern pedals make the same trade explicit: CopperSound notes its Foxcatcher V2 can "run it at 18V for expansive headroom and dynamic response, or stick to standard 9V for familiar compression"²²⁹, and Crazy Tube Circuits' Phi V2 offers an "18V setting for increased headroom and enhanced compression characteristics"²³. The V2 Mistress ran at 18V from the factory⁹, which is one reason the late-seventies units are held up as the circuit's high-water mark.

Electro-Harmonix's own later history with the pedal runs through several formats:

The Neo Mistress is the compact, battery-powered descendant. Electro-Harmonix says it stays "true to the classic Mistress" and that "the Neo's design adjusts the harmonic sweep to present the varied tonal density that flanging brings to musical performance"⁸. It keeps Filter Matrix Mode⁸, so the frozen-sweep trick survives even in the smallest version.

Stereo, Deluxe and Neo Mistress

The Stereo Electric Mistress, released in 2007⁷, is the version most players will encounter new today. It pairs the flanger and chorus depth controls with a stereo output: the pedal has a 1/4" INPUT JACK for the audio input, a MAIN OUT JACK as the main effect output, and a STEREO OUT JACK as the stereo effect output⁷. Electro-Harmonix describes the result as "lush stereo flange and chorus work together for the richest modulations that undulate and flow over any stage or recording," in a "tough and compact die-cast chassis"⁷. It lists at $150.60 USD and ships with its 9.6VDC-200mA power adapter⁷.

The Deluxe Electric Mistress, which followed the original two years after 1976¹, was discontinued in 2023¹. It ran on the same 9.6VDC-200mA adapter, included, with an optional 9V battery not included¹. Its circuit lives on in clones such as the Lectric-fx Old Chap¹¹ and the PastFx Deluxe Elastic Mattress with its 70's / 80's filtering switch²¹.

The Neo Mistress is the battery-first option: a 9V battery comes in the box, and the 9.6VDC-200mA adapter is optional and not included⁸.

Pedals based on the V2 circuit

The V2 circuit has a second life among small builders, several of whom build explicit recreations or adaptations⁹²⁴¹⁴:

• PastFx Elastic Mattress: "our original spin on the famed 'V2' version of the Electric Mistress pedal," described by RockBoard as "characterised by liquidy, gracefully modulated tones, and equipped with unprecedented control over shaping the effect's sonic signature"⁹²⁵.
• Retro-Sonic Flanger: built to reproduce "the distinctive liquidy character and chorusy flanging of the late seventies '18V Electric Mistress'"².
• Jeds Peds Black Pearl: "taking inspiration from the good old classic Electric Mistress"¹⁰.
• Lectric-fx Old Chap Flanger: "our take on the vintage Deluxe Electric Mistress"¹¹.
• JHS 3 Series Flanger: inspired by the Electric Mistress alongside the Tycobrahe Pedalflanger and MXR M117¹².
• Harley Benton MiniStomp Fast Lane: "inspired by the Electric Mistress pedal"¹⁹.
• Madbean CurrentLover24: a DIY project "based on: EHX® Electric Mistress™"¹⁸.

Andy Summers and Walking on the Moon

The Electric Mistress's most famous documented user is Andy Summers. Voodoo Lab states that "his signature modulation came from an Electro-Harmonix Electric Mistress"⁶, and the pedal's frozen-sweep sound is part of the story: RockBoard lists the Walking on the Moon pedal as "Andy Summers' signature analog flanger effect pedal"²⁶.

Electro-Harmonix now makes that association official with the Walking on the Moon signature pedal, which includes the FILTER MATRIX switch that "disengages the LFO from the flanger circuit, freezing the flanger giving a fixed filter effect"²⁰. Summers' later gear choices show his ears stayed in the same territory: Red Witch's Ben Fulton recalls that "when Andy Summers elected to use our Empress Chorus Vibrato as his sole chorus pedal for the Police reunion world tour" the company took it as a mark of the pedal's standing²⁷.

Pedals on this page

Electro-Harmonix Electric Mistress

Electro-Harmonix · Flanger

$150.6 list price

Electro-Harmonix Mod 11

Electro-Harmonix · Chorus

$176 list price

Harley Benton MiniStomp Fast Lane

Harley Benton · Flanger

Electro-Harmonix Neo Mistress

Electro-Harmonix · Flanger

$94.3 list price

Crazy Tube Circuits Phi V2

Crazy Tube Circuits · Compressor

Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Electric Mistress

Electro-Harmonix · Flanger

$150.6 list price

PastFx Deluxe Elastic Mattress

PastFx · Flanger

$207 list price

Retro-Sonic Flanger

Retro-Sonic · Flanger

$199 list price

JHS Pedals JHS 3 Series Flanger

JHS Pedals · Flanger

$99 list price

Electro-Harmonix Walking on the Moon

Electro-Harmonix · Flanger

$129 list price

Electro-Harmonix Andy Summers Walking On The Moon

Electro-Harmonix · Flanger

$129 list price

Red Witch Empress

Red Witch Pedals · Chorus

$379.95 list price

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