Ms Pinky

Clean, fluid flanger inspired by classic flanger used by famous guitarists for decades

 

 

The Ms Pinky flanger rack effect module comes in configurations that compare to vintage EHX Electric Mistress and Deluxe Electric Mistress flangers.  We've updated the designs to use vintage Panasonic MN3007 BBD delay chips, as the Reticon chips used in the originals are simply not available.  The resulting configs are very similar to the original circuits, but we will not claim they sound identical.  But they do sound good and definitely sound closer to the Electric Mistress than other flangers.

 

Description

The EHX Electric Mistress and Deluxe Electric Mistress have been used by the likes of David Gilmour and Andy Summers to create some of the iconic guitar tones we all know and recognize instantly.  We're not sure if Zappa ever used an Electric Mistress, but he definitely used flangers.  He deserves props as a guitarist, composer, performer, and outspoken proponent of free speech worldwide, so we offer up Ms Pinky for your flanging pleasure.

There were about six versions of the vintage Electric Mistress, followed by about five versions of the Deluxe Electric Mistress, from around 1976 to the early 2000's.  The circuit underwent a few changes during that time, but all of them were designed around Reticon BBD chips.  The older Electric Mistress units fetch high prices in the used market, but they tend to be a bit noisy, in spite of their infamous lack of volume.  Those problems were addressed as the circuit was changed, particularly for the Deluxe Electric Mistress.  Some of the last Deluxe Electric Mistresses can be outstanding flangers - quiet, clean, watery.

Ms Pinky is inspired by the vintage Electric Mistress and Deluxe Electric Mistress flangers.  The design has been updated to use the MN3007 BBD, as the Reticon BBDs are not available.  Ms Pinky also includes some changes to reduce power noise and flanging noise.  We also correct the low volume problem in the earlier versions.  We offer versions that compare to the various versions of the original circuit, as described below.  The audio portions of the circuits are very similar to the originals.  However, we picked one version of the non-audio portion of the circuit that we liked best and use that to control the flanging in all of our configurations.  The differences between the dozen or so versions of the two pedals are of different types.  Some are cosmetic changes to the enclosure and graphics.  Others only impact the non-audio portion of the circuit and have no direct impact on the sound.  Others are due to the different Reticon BBDs used in different versions of the circuits.  Since we use a common circuit for the non-audio portion, and we use the same BBD in all our versions, and we aren't worried about cosmetic changes, the original circuit versions reduce to only a small number of circuit configurations for Ms Pinky.  The differences in our versions are all related to differences in the audio portions of the original circuits.

The resulting flangers still compare to the original circuits, but are slightly different.  The change in BBD seems to account for the difference.  The original Reticon-based circuits are both a little noisier and a little more liquid and fluid.  Ms Pinky is also fluid, but it tends to be a bit cleaner and less noisy.  It makes you want to plug in a clean guitar and play your favorite slow blues.  We've lost days fiddling with the internal trimmers to dial in different flanger tones.  We're thinking of making those trimmers into external controls, but it may be too much of a good thing.  Of course, as Mae West put it "Too much of a good thing can be wonderful."

 

Configurations

  • Ms Pinky - compares to original vintage versions of the EHX Electric Mistress.  Select the appropriate option to get the version you prefer.
  • Ms Pinky Deluxe - compares to original versions of the EHX Deluxe Electric Mistress, up to around 2005.  Select the appropriate option to get the version you prefer.

 

Options

  • Ms Pinky v6 - With the changes we noted above, he first five versions of the Electric Mistress become identical.  That is the default for Ms Pinky.  v6 of the Electric Mistress was a bit different, sort of a transitional step toward the Deluxe models.  The Ms Pinky v6 option changes a few components to become comparable to the v6 Electric Mistress.  Ms Pinky configuration required.
  • Ms Pinky Deluxe v3 - The first three versions of the Deluxe also become identical in Ms Pinky Deluxe.  That is the default for the Ms Pinky Deluxe configuration.  The Deluxe v3 includes a couple of noise filtering capacitors.  Otherwise v3 is the same as v1 and v2.  We recommend those capacitors, so if you want a v1 through v3 Deluxe, we recommend the Ms Pinky Deluxe v3 option.  Ms Pinky Deluxe configuration required.
  • Ms Pinky Deluxe v5 - The last two versions of the Deluxe were the same, except for how they were powered - v4 had an internal transformer, v5 required an external transformer.  Oddly, the v4/v5 circuit was changed to become almost identical to the first versions of the Electric Mistress, but with a correction for the volume issue of the early units.  This is our favorite version of all the Electric Mistress and Deluxe Electric Mistress original pedals.   Ms Pinky Deluxe configuration required.
  • Volume Control - By default, we include a fix for the volume loss problem encountered in some of the original circuits.  This fix includes an internal trimmer that is meant to be set one time for unity volume (or more or less volume, whatever you want).  This option makes that trimmer into an external Volume control.  If you choose to do this, the module width will go from 1.5" to 2".  Since there are generally multiple points of volume control in a typical signal chain, we wouldn't normally recommend adding this option and taking up the extra module space. 
  • Custom Op Amp - By default we use the same op amps as the original circuits used - CA1458 in Ms Pinky default configuration, RC4558 in Ms Pinky v6 and all Ms Pinky Deluxe.  You can select any pin-compatible replacement.
  • Components - We use metal film resistors and a selection of capacitors that provide good tone and low noise. 

 

Front Panel

  • On/Off indicator LED
  • Color
  • Rate
  • Range
  • Filter Matrix switch
  • (optional) Volume control

 

Rear Panel

  • Audio In
  • Audio Out
  • On/Off Footswitch
  • On/Off Override
  • DC Power
  • DC Power LED

 

Module Width

  • 1.5" standard
  • 2.0" with Volume option
  • 2" left wing available for 4-control configurations
  • 1.5" right wing available for 4-control configurations

 

Power Consumption (aprox)

25 - 40mA

 

Base Configurations

Part # Description List Price
MOD-MSP Ms Pinky module $245
MOD-MSPDLX Ms Pinky Deluxe module $245

 

Options

Part # Description List Price
MOPT-MSP-V6 Ms Pinky v6 $0 - TBD
MOPT-MSP-DLXV3 Ms Pinky Deluxe v3 $0
MOPT-MSP-DLXV5 Ms Pinky Deluxe v5 $0
MOPT-MSP-VOL Volume Control $19
MOPT-MSP-OPA Custom Op Amp $0 - TBD
MOPT-MSP-CC Component Changes $0 - TBD