Home › Forums › Help/Technical Questions › Deluxe Electric Mistress XO – internal trimpots

Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 24 total)
1 2
  • Author
    Posts
  • April 7, 2015 at 10:18 pm #83902
    Gbratton
    Member

    Hi there,

    I was very excited about this pedal, but once I got my hands on it I’ve been pretty disappointed. In my experience, it doesn’t sound much like an Electric Mistress. It does swirly chorusy sounds, but the depth of the pitch modulation is too high and I can’t get it to self-modulate. It does a decent chorus, but no flange…

    There are four internal trimpots, and I would love a semi-official description of what they do…I’ve tweaked them a little and things have improved, but I’m still not getting what I want out of the pedal. So far, my Mooer ElecLady sounds a lot more like an electric mistress than my EHX Deluxe Electric Mistress XO. I’m hoping to figure out how to change that…otherwise, the DEMXO is going back and I’m keeping the Mooer

    Thanks,

    Gary Bratton

    April 25, 2015 at 4:05 pm #120659
    espinela
    Member

    I agree on the complaint and I support the need of an explanation of what are the 4 trim pots functions so that we can tweak them and get what we expect, the flanger goes far too down but not so high. Also the rate know immediately rates fast.

    Thanks

    April 28, 2015 at 6:20 pm #120662
    thed0ct0r
    Member

    Hi guys. And I thought I was the only one. Here’s another issue you may not have noticed.

    If you turn the range all the way up and the speed all the way down you’ll eventually get through a very wide sweep. However, after slowly adjusting the rate knob (it’s WAY too sensitive!) and you get to a more “musical setting” you’ll notice the high end of the sweep just disappears. Then if you turn the depth knob all the way down and back you’ll notice little to no difference at all.

    So there are DEFINITELY issues with these pedals. I’m curious about the trim pots you mentioned but I don’t want to void the warranty. If they do fix it it could be returned as defective.

    And FYI – I just sold my MOOER ElecLady a week a go. It sounded more like the DEM than this thing. I hope we get an explanation soon. I’ve been through so many flangers since selling off the toaster oven-sized DEM. So much money wasted. I wish I just kept the MOOER ElecLady and paired it with a MOOER Pure Boost. It can compensate for the volume drop and warm up the slightly harsh tone when used with distortion. Same size and price as the XO when you get down to it. VERY disappointed indeed.

    I find it amusing that I just noticed these problems and this post appeared on April 7 followed by a reply only three days ago. Let’s hope more people report this. I’m sending tech support an email. I’ll let you know if I hear anything.

    Cheers!

    April 28, 2015 at 6:44 pm #120663
    espinela
    Member

    I have indeed played a bit with the trimpots since the thing was not usable at all.

    I managed to increase a tad the high end and to make it close to self-oscillate when turning all the way up the color knob.

    Love the looks, the fact that runs on 9v but almost any flanger sounds better than this. The rate knob is almost unusable, just like it was with the last big DEM reissue.

    What a shame of a product, EHX. I may have compromised the warranty of the product but I guess that this is how EHX wanted it to sound like.

    The eleclady seems to be the way to go at this point, I am getting one tomorrow.

    April 28, 2015 at 7:03 pm #120664
    thed0ct0r
    Member

    Yeah. Such s shame. If I’m lucky I can get mine back.

    Are you buying the ElecLady locally or online? Donner sells the Jet Convolution flanger for $30.99 US with free shipping (from China though) but it’s more than half the price of an ElecLady. Same guts. Pair it with a Donner Boost Killer (an Xotic RC Boost clone another another half price savings) and you’ll have tonal control and a fix for the volume drop. I just spent the last hour looking for the cheapest clones. Those Donners are also available from the US on Ebay (same seller). The Jet Convolution flanger is the same price as from China. The booster is $10 more. I’m in Canada so there’s currency conversion and S+H to deal with. They’re so cheap that they go through customs without duty or taxes added! :)

    I hope EH doesn’t have a problem with us discussing alternatives to their products but they REALLY dropped the ball on this one. We’ve been waiting YEARS for this pedal to be issued and they pooched it.

    Let me know how things pan out.

    Cheers!

    P.S. I’m going to grab my ARTEC Vintage Flanger SE-FLG Two-Band Flanger out of the closet. Rather that than that green monster.

    May 17, 2015 at 12:32 pm #120689
    Rends
    Member

    Same here.
    It’s hard to get a useful tone out of this pedal.
    Have it since a few days now and i’m really disappointed.
    I can get a slow flange only at the rate set to 6.30-7.30 .
    Here is a sound example with Color and range at 10 and rate at 9 ( a typical Glimour sound on the Non XO version)
    https://soundcloud.com/rends-1/dem9clock

    And here with all knobs at 12 clock
    https://soundcloud.com/rends-1/dem12clock

    Sorry for audio quality but you get the idea of how it sounds.

    Will send it back tomorrow.

    May 17, 2015 at 2:44 pm #120692
    thed0ct0r
    Member

    Alas I waited too long so now I can’t return it to the store as it is “technically” not defective because all of the pedals function like this. Way to waste my money. Fix this problem now please, EH, and accept the first batch of pedals for an exchange.

    May 17, 2015 at 4:51 pm #120693
    Scruffie
    Member

    Could you post a gut shot? While I wouldn’t usually advise adjusting from factory set up, perhaps something can be done to tweak it once which trim is which is worked out.

    May 26, 2015 at 1:02 am #120704
    thed0ct0r
    Member

    I just ditched my XO for the previous DEM model. I’d rather have a big, bulky flanger that actually does what it’s supposed to without an LED or true bypass than this XO thing. Best of luck to you all.

    May 26, 2015 at 12:38 pm #120707
    Rends
    Member

    I already send mine back to the dealer and ordered a big silver Deluxe Mistress instead.
    Should be here tomorrow.
    Btw: there is now a third video about the XO version at youtube .
    Sound like whatever but not flanger.

    May 26, 2015 at 12:46 pm #120708
    thed0ct0r
    Member
    Quote:
    I already send mine back to the dealer and ordered a big silver Deluxe Mistress instead.
    Should be here tomorrow.
    Btw: there is now a third video about the XO version at youtube .
    Sound like whatever but not flanger.

    I just got mine in the mail yesterday evening. As soon as my migraine is gone I’ll be obeying my Mistress. ;)

    May 27, 2015 at 8:34 pm #120713
    Rends
    Member

    Got my big box Mistress today.
    Guys , what a difference. All knobs works like expected. The rate knobs increased very linear not small slow range and then fast to superfast on 3/4rd of the range i had with the XO version.
    Using the range knob you can hear the difference of which part of the sound signal will be flanged. Using the range knob on the XO version it sounded more out of tune on higher settings.
    Yes i miss the smaller box and the LED light and it might be ( can’t compare anymore) that the big box is a little noisier than the XO but i might be wrong because i was so focused on the bad sound of the XO version that i can’t remember this.

    May 28, 2015 at 3:49 pm #120715
    thed0ct0r
    Member

    Alright! Comparison time!

    I’m curious as to whether or not yours is new or used. I got one of the last new DEMs and although I agree it’s noticeably better than the XO it may have similar “knob sensitivity”. I’m not 100% sure but I know there have been several models of the DEM and it’s possible that mine, being brand new, doesn’t quite live up to the one I bought back in 2007. There’s a web page devoted to all of the Mistresses throughout the years so I’ll give that a close inspection.

    Of course the volume drop is an issue (the XO did NOT fix this which really ticked me off!) HOWEVER, there is a simple fix that I used on my previous version. Get yourself a used BOSS LS-2 line selector. The Mistress is placed in one of the two available loops and the return signal can be amplified so the output can be tailored to exactly what you want. Of course the pedal has the bonus of an LED so you’ll know whether it’s on or off. And because of the size of the DEM it fits nicely on top. :)

    On anothernote, The MOOER ElecLady (now just the E-Lady) is a ridiculously good clone of the DEM. It also has a volume drop but there’s another workaround. I used to pair it with a MOOER Pure Boost to compensate for the drop PLUS EQ the signal to make it a little less shrill. Now, because other clones are so cheap, I’ve ordered the Donner Convolution Jet Flanger (same guts as the ElecLady) and pairing it off with their “Boost Killer” (an Xotic-RC clone) for the same result at a FRACTION of the price. You can order it directly from China on their website for $30.99 each with free shipping (or take a careful look on Ebay for a very close price and faster delivery). $61.98 for a budget DEM clone is pretty amazing.

    Anyway, I’ll give my DEM a closer look so I can compare the control responses to yours. Perhaps we can trade MP3’s via private email to compare.

    Cheers, Rends!
    TheD0ct0r

    May 28, 2015 at 5:07 pm #120716
    Rends
    Member

    I got mine new from the dealer. Guess it’s a 2014/15 version but i don’t know how to check production date.
    PM me for email.

    May 28, 2015 at 5:23 pm #120717
    thed0ct0r
    Member
    Quote:
    I got mine new from the dealer. Guess it’s a 2014/15 version but i don’t know how to check production date.
    PM me for email.

    OK. We should have the same one. I’ll send you my email address. This should be very interesting.

    Let me know when you get it.
    Cheers!

  • Author
    Posts
Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 24 total)
1 2
  • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.