Electro Harmonix Deluxe Electric Mistress

Whenever we have an email with the "Electric Mistress" in the title there may as well be one word in the email: Volume! The Electric Mistress is a classic flanger and works great on a variety of instruments, but most artists notice that the volume drops slightly when activated. We have a few ways to address this problem.

The Enhance modification tweaks the pedal for a bit more volume by boosting the bass and treble. This will absolutely change the sound of the pedal. You can listen to the clip below to hear if this is for you. The toggle switch option lets you turn it off in case you would like to switch between the stock sound or the enhanced tone.

Your second option is to have a small boost circuit installed inside of the pedal. This will amplify the signal slightly and leave the tone 100% unchanged. The only side effect will be a slight boost in noise since the boost circuit will amplify whatever signal it is given. But let's be honest here; If you're using the Electric Mistress you're already accustomed to noise.

If you have a Deluxe Electric Mistress one of the best sonic improvements that is unrelated to volume is to upgrade the input op-amp. The stock op-amp is a JRC4558 (most commonly associated with the Ibanez Tubescreamer) and when upgraded to a TL072 offers a slightly cleaner tone. It's a small change, but it's completely free of charge with any other modification if your pedal is a reissue with socketed ICs. For vintage models it can be replaced for $20. The TL072 is going to be a lower noise chip as well, but the noise produced from the input op-amp pales in comparison to the noise from the Bucket Brigade Device (BBD) which creates the flanging effect.