Home Articles Comparisons Forum SHOP Contact Links

Phaser pedals compared



This page contains audio samples and brief description of random phaser pedals. This page is still under construction and I will try to update the informations on each phaser and add new phasers and samples whenever I get to it. This comparison is not intended to be a thorough and deep analysis of each of these pedals, but might help you get a overall view of what different pedals sound like in the same environment with the same input sample. The samples are recorded straight through a Line6 Pod XT, so no amplifiers, microphones or studios were used. Therefore, the samples will not give a very good picture of the sounds that can be achieved from each of these pedals, but since all are in the same environment a comparison can be made.

Boss - PH-1r
Boss PH-1r Phaser Pedal
Follower of the PH-1 with an added control for resonance (adjustable feedback), made in Japan and sold from October 1980 to May 1985. This phaser is based on a 4-stage phaser, similar to the MXR phase 90. It has very large rate control from 100ms to 16s. Versatile and sweet sounding pedal.
IMAGES
Boss PH-1r Phaser Pedal    Boss PH-1r Phaser Pedal   
Coron Phase 55
Coron Phase 55 Pedal
Coron effects were build in Japan during the mid-seventies and eighties (most likely by Maxon). The Phaser 55 features Speed and Depth-control.
IMAGES
Coron Phase 55 Pedal    Coron Phase 55 Pedal    Coron Phase 55 Circuit Board    Coron Phase 55 Circuit Board
DeArmond - Pedal Phaser Model 1900
DeArmond Pedal Phaser 1900
Treadle shaped phaser, produced from 1974-1979. This phaser has two modes - the first is a traditional LFO mode in which the pedal is used to control the rate of the LFO. The second mode is a static mode, in which the LFO is disabled and the pedal is used to manually sweep the phasing. The pedal has two switches under the treadle - the toe switch toggles the effect ON and OFF, the heel switch switches between the two modes.
IMAGES
DeArmond Pedal Phaser 1900   DeArmond Pedal Phaser 1900 Pedal   DeArmond Pedal Phaser 1900   DeArmond Pedal Phaser 1900   DeArmond Pedal Phaser 1900 Circuit Board
Dod FX20
Dod FX20 Phaser
Very sweet and smooth sounding phaser from the early 80's, based on a similar circuit than EH Small Stone, uses CA3094E OTAs.
IMAGES
Dod FX20 Phaser    Dod FX20 Phaser Circuit Board   Dod FX20 Phaser Circuit Board   Dod FX20 Phaser Circuit Board
Electro-Harmonix Bad Stone
Electro-Harmonix Bad Stone
The Bad Stone was released 1975 and produced until 1981. It was designed by Bob Bednarz and it was the first phase shifter to employ feedback in the circuitry. It compasses 6 stages of phases shifting with variable feedback. One speciality of this phaser is the manual mode, which lets you dial in the phase shift manually instead of using the LFO (low frequency oscillator). This enables a whole new dimension of sounds achievable, although no sweeping will occur in the manual mode.
IMAGES
Electro-Harmonix Bad Stone    Electro-Harmonix Bad Stone Circuit Board    Electro-Harmonix Bad Stone Circuit Board
Electro-Harmonix Small Stone
Electro-Harmonix Small Stone
The origin of the Small Stone dates back to 1974, when Electro Harmonix president Mike Matthews hired former EMS engineer David Cockerell, whos first design for EH was the Small Stone phaser. The design was based on Davids previous work on the EMS Synthi Hi-Fli from 1971 - it is a rather unique design in that it uses Operational Transconductance Amplifiers (OTA) instead of operational amplifiers with variable resistors. It is a 4 stage phase shifter with one additional stage for feedback, which can be activated using the "Color" switch.
There are several different versions of the Small Stone, a more thorough analysis and comparison can be found in the article section.
IMAGES
Electro-Harmonix Small Stone USA v2   Electro-Harmonix Small Stone   Electro-Harmonix Small Stone Circuit Board   Electro-Harmonix Small Stone Circuit Board
Ibanez PT-999 PhaseTone
Ibanez PT-999 PhaseTone Pedal
The PT-999 is from the early Ibanez series and was manufactured by Maxon in Japan during 1974-1978. It has one control for the speed/rate of the LFO wave and is based on a four-stage phasing circuit (offering 720 degrees of phasing sweep variable from .2 to 14 Hz) with negative feedback of the signal to each phase-shifting FET for less distortion.
IMAGES
Ibanez PT999 PhaseTone Pedal    Ibanez PT999 PhaseTone Pedal    Ibanez PT999 PhaseTone Circuit Board    Ibanez PT999 PhaseTone Circuit Board
Ibanez PT9
Ibanez PT9
Phaser pedal from the Ibanez 9-series, manufactured 1982-1984 in Japan. Soft and sparkling sounding phaser with controls for speed, width and feedback.
IMAGES
Ibanez PT9 pedal    Ibanez PT9 pedal    Ibanez PT9 Circuit Board    Ibanez PT9 Circuit Board
Ibanez BPL Bi-Stage Phaser
Ibanez BPL
This phaser is from the Master series (between the 9 and 10-series) from the year 1985. Very versatile and sweet sounding phaser which lets you choose between 6 and 10 phasing stages, which corresponds to 3 and 5 notches in the frequency spectrum, respectively.
IMAGES
Ibanez BPL    Ibanez BPL    Ibanez BPL
Jen KPS 900 Phaser
Jen KPS 900 Phaser Pedal
Jen Elettronica from Pescara, Italy, was the biggest OEM manufacturer in the western world throughout the seventies. The KPS 900 phaser uses the same housing as the famous Tone Bender and features controls for the intensity (controls the depth/amplitude of the modulation) and speed of the LFO wave that controls the effect.
IMAGES
Jen KPS 900 Phaser Pedal    Jen KPS 900 Phaser Pedal    Jen KPS 900 Phaser Pedal    Jen KPS 900 Phaser Circuit Board
Locobox Rotophase Phase Shifter
Locobox Rotophase Phase Shifter Pedal
LocoBox offered a line of pedals produced in the late seventies in Japan. Later in the mid-eighties, the LocoBox name was used on a series of generic Japanese effects, which were also sold by Aria, Guyatone and others.
The Rotophase is a rare and sweet sounding phaser from the earlier production line and has controls for the speed and the intensity of the sweep.
IMAGES
Locobox Rotophase Phase Shifter Pedal    Locobox Rotophase Phase Shifter Pedal    Locobox Rotophase Phase Shifter Pedal    Locobox Rotophase Phase Shifter    Locobox Rotophase Phase Shifter Circuit Board
Maestro - MPP-1 Stage Phaser
Maestro - MPP-1 Stage Phaser
Designed by Bob Moog in the mid 70's. OTA based circuit, similar to the EH Small Stone. Extremely deep and strong phasing, very organic sound.
IMAGES
Maestro - MPP-1 Stage Phaser    Maestro - MPP-1 Stage Phaser
MXR PHASE 45
MXR PHASE 45
The little sister of the Phase 90 pedal. Uses 2-stage phasing (instead of 4 as in the Phase 90) for a milder and softer phasing, yet remaining very musical and organic sounding. Uses the same 2N5952 transistors as variable resistances as the Phase 90.
IMAGES
MXR Phase 45 Pedal    MXR Phase 45 Pedal    MXR Phase 45 Circuit Board    MXR Phase 45 Circuit Board
MXR PHASE 90
MXR PHASE 90
Very popular 4-stage phaser, using 2N5952 JFET transistors as variable resistances in combination with opamp stages to create the phase shifting. Sweet, rich sound with nice warm second harmonic distortion.
IMAGES
MXR Phase 90 Pedal    MXR Phase 90 Circuit Board    MXR Phase 90 Circuit Board
MXR PHASE 100
MXR PHASE 100
The MXR Phase 100 was initially introduced 1974 and manufactured until 1982 (script logo from 1974-77, block logo from 1978-82), then reissued by Jim Dunlop around 1987. It is based on a 6-stage phase shifter and offers controls for speed and intensity and provides a versatile soundscape with warm and strong phasing.
IMAGES
MXR Phase 100 Pedal    MXR Phase 100 Circuit Board    MXR Phase 100 Circuit Board
Pearl Model F-601 Phaser
Pearl Model F-601 Phaser Pedal
Although better known for manufacturing drums, Pearl offered several lines of guitar effects in the 1980s. These were manufactured in Japan and mostly designed by former Elk engineer Mr. Ito. This pedal is from the F-600 series, which predates the Pearl Sound Spice series (see Pearl FG-01 on the flanger page) and the Sound Choice series. It offers control for speed and intensity.
IMAGES
Pearl Model F-601 Phaser Pedal    Pearl Model F-601 Phaser Pedal    Pearl Model F-601 Circuit Board    Pearl Model F-601 Circuit Board
Pigtronix EP-1 Envelope Phaser
Pigtronix EP-1
This pedal offers both a traditional phaser (LFO) as well as envelope tracking (EF) phaser. This portion covers only the traditional phaser, the envelope tracking part can be found in the envelope filter section.
This phaser is based on an opto-electronic circuitry with lots of extra features (i.e. invert control for subtractive or additive phasing, possibility of the use of expression pedals and external audio sources to control the LFO/EF etc...) making this pedal a very versatile and unique unit.
IMAGES
Pigtronix EP-1    Pigtronix EP-1    Pigtronix EP1
Roland - AP-2
Roland - AP-2 Phaser
Mid 1970's phaser by Roland (pre-Boss era), uses LM2902N Quad Opamps and transistors as variable resistances.
IMAGES
Roland - AP-2 Phaser    Roland - AP-2   Roland - AP-2 Circuit Board   Roland - AP-2 Circuit Board
Roland - AP-5
Roland - AP-5 Phaser
Mid 1970's phaser by Roland (pre-Boss era) with two operational modes. A regular low frequency oscillator (LFO) based phasing mode and a dynamic mode, where the rate of the phasing is dependant on the signal strenght. Cool and versatile vintage pedal.
IMAGES
Roland - AP-5 Phaser    Roland - AP-5
Schaller Phaser
Schaller Phaser Pedal
Treadle shaped phaser pedal made in Germany, presumably in the mid 80's. Very nice sounding phaser with easily adjustable speed control and two different speed settings.
IMAGES
Schaller Phaser Pedal    Schaller Phaser Pedal    Schaller Phaser Circuit Board
Washburn PX:8
Washburn PX:8 Phaser
Washburn offered a series of pedals from around 1983-1989. The phaser of this series has controls for Speed, Depth and Color and offers a soft and sweet sound with lots of spaceousness and warmth.
IMAGES
Washburn PX:8 Pedal    Washburn PX:8 Circuit Board    Washburn PX:8 Circuit Board
© 2009 Pedalarea. All rights reserved