Aside from an Electric Mistress used briefly in 1997, flangers were one of the only effects absent from Ed’s pedalboards in the 90s and 2000s. So it was a bit of a surprise when Ed added an MXR Flanger to his first TheGigRig pedalboard in 2014. But things fall into place when you realize that was the first time Ed stopped using rack units altogether, most notably his old Korg A2. He was happy to explain himself in a MusicRadar interview: “Actually, the last two years is the first time I haven’t taken out the A2, because we’re playing so little stuff off The Bends, and with an MXR Flanger and a Whammy and distortion, I can fool it.” He also mentioned to Total Guitar in 1997 that almost all his tones on The Bends were processed with the Korg A2, giving them a “synthesized” tone. Combine those comments, and it becomes clear that if was using flanging so often without us noticing, it must’ve been subtle. Rather than resonant “airplane” noises, Ed seems to use gentle flanging to both fatten and smear his distorted tones. In fact, it’s what makes his rhythm playing on The Bends blend so well with the rest of the band.
A photo of Ed with his first TheGigRig pedalboard in 2014.
It’s one of those things that’s hard to notice until you try playing the same parts, and they sound a bit thin. The left-panned guitar during the second verse of Bones is a good example. It sounds filtered, but there’s still enough mids and highs that it can’t be an envelope filter or fixed wah. And there’s just a bit of movement. It’s there in the chorus too, though it’s even harder to identify. But if you listen to live versions where the guitars are hard panned, you can start to hear it in contrast to Jonny. Compared to Jonny super-focused Shredmaster-into-Solid-State tone, Ed’s sound really has that 80s blur to it — that’s probably why they sound so good together. Even though Jonny is the big Magazine fan in Radiohead, Ed’s tone is definitely closer to John McGeoch! Though Jonny sometimes uses a subtle setting of his Small Stone phasor for a similar gently blurred sound, even as early as the studio version of Prove Yourself.
Ed during Radiohead’s Jools Holland performance of Paranoid Android in 1997. His rack setup can be seen to the left, with a Yamaha FX500, two Boss RDD-20 half rack delays, an unknown unit, and two Korg A2 multi-effects.
Flanging on The Bends
The most obvious flanging on The Bends is during the build-ups at 2:07-2:12 and 3:02-3:07 on the title track — listen to the guitar panned hard-right. Live performances confirm that it’s Ed. In video from The Astoria in 1994, the flanging on The Bends is particularly noticeable, and the effect can be heard during the most chaotic moments of My Iron Lung as well (more info on Ed’s Astoria setup here). There’s probably also flanging on Ed’s distorted guitar during songs like Just and Black Star, but his playing blends so well behind Jonny’s that it’s difficult to say for sure.
Ed rocking out during Anyone Can Play Guitar at the 1994 Rock Am Ring festival. His Korg A2 and Yamaha FX500 can be seen in the rack to the left of his amps. Worth noting that Ed can be seen adjusting the A2 after the band finished playing Creep (youtube), just before playing The Bends.
Flanging on Pablo Honey
There’s also some flanging on Ed’s guitar parts on Pablo Honey, but Ed didn’t have his Korg A2 at the time. Instead, his main source of modulation was his Yamaha FX500, which was most notably used for the dramatic reverse reverb sound on Blow Out. The FX500 was probably also used as a chorus effect for the Johnny Marr-style solo at 1:33-1:52 on Thinking About You - we don’t know for sure if that’s Ed, but it seems likely since Jonny’s busy playing organ. But it’s likely that some of the flanging was applied by the album’s producers during mixing, especially since Ed didn’t use much flanging at early-90s live shows. For example, the airplane flanging during the intro to Anyone Can Play Guitar was almost definitely added during mixing, since it seems to be applied to the entire mix.
Ed stomping on his Marshall Guvnor pedal during Anyone Can Play Guitar at the MTV Beach House in 1993. The MIDI footswitches for his Yamaha FX500 can be seen on the floor just to the right of his pedalboard. The FX500 itself is resting on a flight case just behind Ed, to the left of his Mesa Boogie amp.