What a great topic!
Strangest? In a word "SCAMP".
Terry, seems you're into modulation devices. Excellent. Here's some of the oddities around our place.
How about a Countryman Phase Shifter? I think its Type 96, not the 968. Its over a half rack width and more than a rack space high. Corny, but cool.
Of course the Eventide Instant Phaser (have two!). Use it all the time: vox, gts, highhats (think Kashmir). LFO based, envelope triggered, manual and remote control of the sweep. Lush!
We also have the rackmount of the Moog 12-Stage Phaser (not the moogerfooger!). Any phaser with a switch that says "motor start" is good in my book.
We also have the reverred Mutron Bi-Phase with Opti-Pedal. The most flexible dual phaser. Use it as two, use it in stereo, chain one into another. Control of almost any parameter via the rocker pedal. Devine.
A really old phaser from Systech (4000B?). Can't remember the number off hand, foot pedal control of the sweep, plus remote on/off.
We also use the Eventide Instant Flanger (have two).
The most "otherworldy" piece of kit is the FREQue from DACs. A stereo ringmodulator that has a special mode (FREQ Mode). Quite unlike anything you have heard before, I'm certain. Good for percussion and guitar solos.
I also use a bizzare EchoPlex called the Groupmaster (its in my Avatar). A four-channel mixer with a tape loop to boot. Intended as a PA head with delay? I can't even imagine. I like to use the sound-on-sound feature, but of course tape delay of any sort is pretty neat! Noisy as hell but one of a kind sound. The largest VU meter in the place.
An original Boss CE-1 and DM-1 - thanks Roland for getting this effect thing off the ground. Also have a strange Leslie simulator called a Revo-30 from Roland - good luck finding one!
Let's see, the Yamaha E1010 analog delay, a couple Effectrons from Deltalabs and a 4 second version called Echotron.
Anybody remember UREI LA-5s? I love a device that says Audio Leveler right on the front panel. Agressive but sooooo important to have around.
What else? Oh yeah - The LevelLock from Shure. Seems everytime engineers come in and look at the dynamics rack (over 40 spaces!) they always call that one out - strange for certain.
We got plenty of synths to run your audio through if you're into that. Oberheim SEMs (total of four), MiniMoog Model-D and even a pair (!) of Korg MS-50s.
Y'all make fun of the Cooper Time Cube, but there was a time when that was the best stereo piano sound available. Primitive, sure, but pretty inventive.
I found this neat site you may not be aware of regarding effects devices some very rare and unworldly:
http://www.modezero.com/and also this extensive, yet incomplete:
http://www.effectsdatabase.com/index.htmlEnjoy!
Hey what about mics or speakers? Anybody got somethin' wierd goin' on there??
Osci-later,
Thom "Fig" Fiegle