Glou-Glou FL9

The Glou-Glou FL9 is a stereo analog modulation pedal from French builder Glou-Glou, part of the Flancher series of four voltage-controlled BBD pedals launched in December 2024¹. Where most flanger pedals do one thing, the FL9 is built to cover a spread of pitch modulation effects: Delicious Audio reported that the FL9 and its sibling FL7 are "designed for pitch modulation effects like chorus, flanger, vibrato, and quasi-ring modulation"². Guitar Pedal X called it a "Voltage-Controlled Stereo Analog Modulation Device"¹.

The name is a nod to the classic Ibanez FL9 flanger (also produced by Maxon as the FL-9), and the family resemblance is in the delay times: flanging lives at the very short end of the delay spectrum, and the Glou-Glou FL9's range of 0.4ms to 9ms sits squarely in that territory²¹³.

Flanger, chorus and vibrato from a 256-stage BBD

The FL9 is a flanger², and Glou-Glou describes the FL9 and FL7 as designed for pitch modulation effects like chorus, flanger, vibrato, and quasi-ring modulation¹². That range of sounds comes from bucket-brigade devices (BBDs), the analog delay chips that classic flangers and choruses were built around. A BBD passes your signal along a chain of capacitors one stage at a time, and modulating the clock that drives that chain changes the delay time, which is what produces the sweeping pitch movement of flanger, chorus and vibrato. Glou-Glou's Flancher FL9 covers the same ground, listed for chorus, flanger, vibrato, and sort of ring modulation¹. The MN3009 BBD used in these circuits is a 256-stage part; Jeds Peds describes it as "a 256-stage BBD that boasts a wide dynamic range and low distortion"⁵.

The delay range is what defines the pedal's character. Delicious Audio noted the FL9 offers "a delay range of 0.4ms to 9ms, ideal for flanger effects due to its ultra-short delay times"². In practice:

• 0.4ms and the shortest settings: flanger and ring-modulation territory, where the delay is short enough to comb-filter the signal
• Longer settings within the 9ms ceiling: chorus and vibrato sounds, as the modulated delay gets wide enough to thicken rather than sweep²¹

Guitar Pedal X summed up the range of sounds as "Chorus, Flanger, Vibrato, and sort of Ring Modulation"¹.

Power and practicalities

The FL9 runs on 9V DC, center negative, and draws 500mA⁴. That is a substantial draw for an analog pedal, comparable to many digital units, so it is worth planning around a dedicated power output rather than sharing a supply with several other pedals. The power supply is not included⁴.

Physically it is a substantial unit at 17 x 15 x 6 cm and 1 kg⁴, larger than a standard compact stompbox, which fits its role as a stereo, dual-BBD modulation device.

Where the FL9 name comes from

The FL9 name appears today on the Glou-Glou FL9, a pedal listed at 580,00 $ USD⁴. It is a compact unit, measuring 17 x 15 x 6 cm and weighing 1Kg⁴. Players comparing versions should note that the Glou-Glou FL9 is a hand-built boutique item from a small French maker, so availability can be intermittent when shopping for one.

Glou-Glou's FL9 borrows the model number and the short-delay flanger concept, but rebuilds it as a stereo, voltage-controlled device with two modern BBD chips and a wider modulation palette than the original's flanger-only design²¹. Players comparing analog flangers today can also look at the Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Electric Mistress, the MXR M117R Flanger or the broader flanger pedals category.

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