Skip to content

a blog on effects

Menu
  • Home
  • collection (486)
  • Ibanez (111)
  • Danelectro (53)
  • DOD, Digitech (51)
  • Electro-Harmonix (40)
  • Boss (54)
  • Other Brands (177)
Menu

Ibanez DFL Digital Flanger

Posted on 2/03/2014 by mirosol

DFL

What is it?
Ibanez DFL Digital Flanger from Master Series. Made in japan in mid 80’s. Missing the type plate sticker, but otherwise in very good condition.

Now, for real, get ready for running in the guts of the iron worm. The basis for all the metal worm psychedelic action is MC4101F. There’s also a schematic available for download at Schematics Unlimited. Must be one of the most complex pedal designs i’ve seen so far. Just look at the solder joints. The board is so full that it’s simply amazing.

DFL-guts1

The amount of usable controls are  also notable. There’s your standard Speed and Width. And Delay Time and Regeneration. Plus a three position switch for delay time range from 0.5-4ms to 1-8ms and finally to 2-16ms. Those ranges offer pretty much every usable delay times that are needed for flange effect. There are scans of user’s manual up on Tone Home.

DFL-guts3

With wide range of  controls, it is very usable and well made flanger. Even i don’t consider myself as a huge flanger fan or big time user, this unit still impresses me. And for the complexity.. There’s really not much for me to go on about with my puny understanding that is all based on simple analog circuits.

There are rumours around the internet that these units are ultimately rare and the number produced is very low. I don’t believe either of those claims are true as at the time of writing there are five different units for sale on ebay.

How does it sound?
In the guts of a iron worm. Metallic and cold. Simply beautiful sound. And over the pot at the same time. If you’re after a soft sounding airplane sweeper, you should pass this one completely. It offers harsh, deep flange that’ll melt your brains. Just beautiful.

9 thoughts on “Ibanez DFL Digital Flanger”

  1. Shaun Miller says:
    26/12/2014 at 01:31

    Hi. I just got one of these and haven’t been very happy with the sound. It sounds like a nnormal airplane flange. I’ve opened it up, and the boboard looks very different from the DFL you pictured. It also has no markings on the board at all. Nothing that says “DFL” or anything. Is there a chance mine has been tampered with? It’s very troubling.

    Reply
    1. mirosol says:
      26/12/2014 at 01:39

      Hi Shaun.
      Sounds pretty weird. If your board doesn’t look anything like the photos there must be something off. There’s not much chance of there being different boards or even revisions for a unit that was manufactured for a very short time. Could you possibly snap a few photos and post them up to some image sharing site? Or you could possibly email me too. I’d be interested to see what’s going on…
      +m

      Reply
  2. Shaun Miller says:
    26/12/2014 at 01:44

    Thank you for the reply! How can I get ahold of you?

    Reply
    1. mirosol says:
      26/12/2014 at 01:51

      My email address is listed on the “infobox” at the front page of this blog. It’s mirosol at kapsi dot fi.
      +m

      Reply
  3. Shaun Miller says:
    26/12/2014 at 01:50

    Here is a link to several photos of the guts of my pedal.

    http://imgur.com/a/k9GQs

    Nowhere on the board does it say “DFL” or anything.
    This is worrying me as I’ve wanted this pedal for so long.

    Reply
    1. mirosol says:
      26/12/2014 at 02:03

      Ok. Thanks for the photos.

      Sadly, i’m pretty certain that is not the same DFL board that’s in mine. Can’t say for sure, but those off board connections do not look like they are factory made. I’d guess there’s something “fixed” or modded in yours. But since i’m not sure (although i have not seen a board like that before), i’d suggest taking the photos Freestompboxes.org forum or send an email to world’s renowned Ibanez pedal expert, Dirk Hendrik. If there is a chance that your board is in fact a factory modded board, he’s the one who knows if it is so. http://www.dirk-hendrik.com/

      There have been that kind of discrepancies in some Ibanez pedals, but i’m not aware this being the case with DFL. Dirk has posted on his page about some DL5 and EM5 pedals sharing the same board with crude factory made mods resulting in the pedal sounding completely different than it’s supposed to. But again, that’s for the Daphon made 5-series, not japanese L-series.
      +m

      Reply
  4. Shaun Miller says:
    26/12/2014 at 02:06

    Thank you.

    Reply
    1. mirosol says:
      26/12/2014 at 02:10

      Sorry i couldn’t be more of a help.
      +m

      Reply
  5. Pasha says:
    8/01/2017 at 17:56

    Hi! It needed a photo position trimmers. You could send me an email? please!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

/usr/bin/locate

/usr/bin/whoami

here used to be a short description of me. however, it wasn't exactly accurate anymore. so i'm replacing it with this placeholder for now. and yes. it's been a long time since my last post. but let me assure you. i'm very much still alive.

Found an error? One of my assumptions is dead wrong? Something else is just not right? Let me know! Leave a comment to a post, or drop a line to mirosol at kapsi dot fi.

I do mods, repairs and custom builds too. For inquiries, use the email address above.

/var/lib/collection

  • Electro-Harmonix (40)
  • DOD, Digitech (51)
  • Other Brands (177)
  • Boss (54)
  • Danelectro (53)
  • Ibanez (111)

/var/lib/tags

Amp Autowah Bass Boost Booster Chorus Compressor Delay Distortion Echo Envelope Filter EQ Filter Flanger Fuzz Harmony Loop Modulation Noise Gate Octave Overdrive Phaser Pitch Power Preamp Reverb Special/Multi Synthesizer Tremolo Tuner Utility Vibe Vibrato Wah

/usr/lib/comments_recent

  • zix on DOD FX55-B Supra Distortion
  • Ali Imran on Ibanez MF5 Modern Fusion
  • Ali Imran on Ibanez MF5 Modern Fusion
  • Schlunzo on Ibanez MS10 Metal Charger
  • Jefferson on Ibanez MS10 Metal Charger

/var/lib/archives

  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • September 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
© 2025 | Powered by Superbs Personal Blog theme