The Glou-Glou Flancher FL9 is an analog stereo modulation pedal from Glou-Glou. Guitar Pedal X describes it as covering "Chorus, Flanger, Vibrato, and sort of Ring Modulation", all from one analog bucket-brigade circuit built on 2 x Xvive MN3009 245 Stage BBD chips with a 0.4ms > 9ms delay time range1. It sits alongside the Flancher FL7 as one of the two modulation models in the Flancher line, and Guitar Pedal X reports both priced at $620 a piece1.
Guitar Pedal X identifies the BBD chips as 2 x Xvive MN3009 245 Stage parts1.
How it works and how it is controlled
The FL9 is built on two Xvive MN3009 bucket-brigade delay (BBD) chips, the analog delay lines that chorus and flanger pedals use to create a shifted copy of the input signal, with a delay time range of 0.4ms to 9ms1. At those short delay times, blending the delayed signal back against the dry signal produces chorus, flanger and vibrato effects depending on depth, feedback and phase.
One named control is documented: the first Dry± control sets whether the Dry and Wet signals are in or out of phase1. Beyond the front panel, the pedal carries eleven Control Voltage ports, which let you patch control signals into its parameters:
- Tri/Sine
- Phase
- Speed
- Depth L
- Time L
- Depth R
- Time R
- Dry
- Wet
- Feedback
- 5V EXP.
That patchable, voltage-controlled approach is what separates the Flancher series from a conventional flanger: parameters such as speed, depth, delay time and feedback can be driven externally rather than set only by knobs1.
Where the FL9 name comes from
Guitar Pedal X framed Glou-Glou's release as a set of millisecond-range Flancher variants of the voltage-controlled analog BBD modulation idea, with the FL9 as the modulation model of the line1.
Gretchen Menn is named by Godlyke Distributing, Maxon's distributor, as using the Maxon FL-92.
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Stephen Beyer
Questions
What effects can the Flancher FL9 do?
Guitar Pedal X describes the FL9 as covering Chorus, Flanger, Vibrato, and sort of Ring Modulation. It is a voltage-controlled stereo analog modulation device built on two Xvive MN3009 bucket-brigade delay chips with a delay time range of 0.4ms to 9ms, and its Dry± control sets whether the dry and wet signals are in or out of phase, which is what shapes the flanger and chorus characters.
What are the Control Voltage ports for?
The FL9 carries eleven Control Voltage ports: Tri/Sine, Phase, Speed, Depth L, Time L, Depth R, Time R, Dry, Wet, Feedback and 5V EXP. These let you patch control signals into the pedal's parameters, so its modulation can be driven or re-routed from external sources rather than only from its own front-panel settings.
Where does the FL9 name come from?
The name points back to the Ibanez FL9 Flanger from Ibanez's 9 Series, which Maxon also made as the FL-9 Flanger. Guitar Pedal X reported Glou-Glou's Flancher range as millisecond-range variants of that style of voltage-controlled analog BBD modulation pedal.
Sources (2)
- Guitar Pedal X, Guitar Pedal X, 2024-06-10
- FLANGER (FL-9), Godlyke Distributing, Inc.
