- All analog flanging based on bucket brigade technology. (MN3207)
- 6 synth inspired LFO shapes.
- Redesigned for more headroom & warmer tone ranging from nearly transparent to over the top.
- Manual and Depth control add new versatility.
- No volume drop
Starlight – Flanger v2
Out of stock
- About the Starlight
- SPECtacular specifications.
- Audio and Control Architecture
- Notes from the designer
- Using / Sample settings
Vintage Flanger tone, modern versatility.
With six tantalizing LFO shapes, added control and an revamped internal design the Starlight flanger is crafted to satisfy noise connoisseurs and traditionalists alike. The triangle and sine shape gives you all the classic tones from jet plane sweep to chorus/vibrato like warbles. Try random sample/hold for teleported cyborg babble. let chords ring out with the disorientation of the Square/Triangle mix shape. There are so many possibilities you just have to try it to find them all.
Powerful Controls.
Many of the controls go beyond the range you might expect. The manual knob turns the flanger sweep down super low for nasally sitarish drone. The regen knob allows for near oscillation (and can be tuned for self oscillation via an internal trimmer.) The range of the depth knob can be overbearing paired with fast modulation speeds. Maybe that’s what you want. We’ve left the power in your hands.
From Subtle to bold.
The effect has been completely redesigned with warmer tone, more transparency and a dramatic improvement in headroom and dynamics. The depth and regen controls allow for near transparent warbles to flanging excesses brazen enough to make the 1980s collectively blush. You’ll never experience a volume drop when with the effect engaged. Deliberately created to deliver a full range effect without compromising dynamics or tone. And of course true bypass switching means it will never color your tone when off.
Still compact and easy to use.
In spite of the added versatility we managed to squeeze it all in a small package. It won’t cramp your pedal board. There are more feature laden brands out there, but too many are physically huge and include features you’ll never use. Even with the option heavy redesign it’s still intuitive and easy to use. The controls perform the way you’d expect. You won’t simply touch a knob and be alarmed by unexpected results. You won’t feel the anxiety that a sound is lost forever. No other flanger matches tone and features you’ll actually want to use in such a small footprint.
All analog signal path with digital control.
The Starlight never never never digitizes your guitar tone. Only the wonderful LFO shapes are generated digitally. Everything else has been kept as analog as possible. The shape and speed knobs control the LFO. From there everything including the depth, manual and regen knobs are all part of the analog circuit.
Credits:
Analog Design & artwork: Brian Marshall
Demos and soundclips
Knob demo: Full range of the Starlight Flanger
Song Demo: In the mix. Sean uses the Starlight Flanger in a full mix.
Andy from PGS takes a look at the Starlight flanger.
The more you know!!! Spectacularly boring information
- Powered by a regulated 9VDC adaptor with a negative center 2.1mm barrel style plug.POWER SHOULD NEVER EXCEED 10 VOLTS DC! Can not be powered by a battery.
- If using a “daisy chain” power supply, all other pedals MUST be negative ground.
- Current draw is less than 25mA.
- Length 4.4″ X Width 2.3″ X Height 1.0″
- Input impedance- 1M.
- Output impedance- Less than 1K.
- Designed and handcrafted in Oregon.
- Die-cast metal enclosures for durability.
- Red LED indicator.
- Three-year limited warranty.
Starlight flanger architecture
Complete redesign
This is not the flanger I intended to make. The original Starlight Quantum was meant to be a super simple and easy to use. Simplicity is appealing for anyone wanting easy to dial in tones or even set and forget functionality. I wanted to stick with the same ethos. I wanted to improve the delay line filtering, but this required some additional components. Even in the original fitting everything inside the box was a challenge.
I built a few prototypes and ended up listening a lot while testing them out. It sounded better. It was more transparent, but had a girthy resonance with the regen cranked. There was more headroom, better dynamics, way more clarity… But after a while I couldn’t help feeling completely bored.
Those 6 LFO shapes were cool and all, but it just wasn’t fun. After messing around with an old 117 (and even kind of longing for the old Pearl flanger I seem to have lost) I ended up hacking depth and manual controls into the circuit and changed the delay line IC for more range. It was already a cramped design, but i decided right then that the extra controls were absolutely necessary. If the fun wouldn’t fit in the box I wasn’t even going to bother. Simplicity has it’s place, but I’ve never been really drawn to simple pedals like single knob modulators. I like options, so long as there’s not a lot of confusion that goes along with them.
I actually gave up on it several times. It sat on the prototype bench, but I never put it away. I’d come back to it occasionally. Then I’d remember how it seemed impossible to make it work in a compact pedal. It needed to sound phenomenal over a wide range. It needed to fit in our standard pedal enclosure. It really didn’t seem possible.
Eventually I decided I needed to just finish it or put it up on the shelf and forget about it. I gave myself a week and locked myself away in the prototype dungeon and ignored all the distractions. Persistence paid off. I was able to check off all the boxes with a new pedal I’m really proud of. It’s the most excited I’ve been about a new design since the Prometheus DLX.
We are still absorbing the wonderment of this new creation… And maybe absorbing beer too.
check back soon for awesome sample settings.
