cant find any use for my phaser!

varunkapahi · #1 07-02-2009, 02:47 AM

i got a EHX nano small stone a little more than a month back and now am thinking about getting rid of it. i really cant find any use for it. i have placed it after my fuzz (BBM) and before the preamp (vt bass) on my board. the color up only sounds like volume going up and down in a heavy band mix and the color down mode is hard to hear unless the fuzz is on before it.

in any case it doesnt stand out like a wah or flanger. are there any songs (not drum and bass stuff like in Larry grahams video, i cant get that sound anyway) where i can take inspiration from or something? i have heard the thin lizzy song (cant remember the name atm) where they probably have a phaser on bass but that doesnt really do any good too

when playing alone the phaser sounds really cool but am no solo artist! a friend of mine really wants to take it off me so this way i can have the money for a looper i want.

i even remember hearing a song by a tb'er where he used the EHX small stone nano but i could hardly hear it on bass. i like my bass effects to be in your face! maybe this one's not for me?

and then another question would be, whats a more in your face rich sounding phaser? like the jet phaser!?

nad · #2 07-02-2009, 03:09 AM

Whenever I use my HBE Psilocybe in a mix it definitely stands out, especially with fuzz in front of it, such as heard here.

I suppose it helps that the bass is loud as fook in that example, and no, I didn't master that one.

dannybuoy · #3 07-02-2009, 06:07 AM

Try Heartbreaker by Led Zep. That's rotating Leslie speaker, not a phaser, but the Small Stone can get in the ballpark. It's a good way to use a phaser fast and warbly instead of the usual slow deep sweep.

#4 07-02-2009, 06:11 AM

Kepp the phaser. It'll come in handy one day. Trust me.

cheapbasslovin · #5 07-02-2009, 06:11 AM

Like nad said, you put a dirt pedal in front of it and it should be anything but subtle. With that Nano Stone there is also a sweet spot where you can get some really fast phasing sounds that come off as percussive without getting muddy.

It's also possible that you just aren't a phaser guy. If that is the case, sell it and don't look back.

kevteop · #6 07-02-2009, 07:22 AM

I used to use phasers in the following situations:

1) Where nobody else was playing.

2) When I wanted to drop out of the mix completely at regular intervals.

To be honest #1 rarely happened, and I never found an instance of #2, so I don't have a phaser on my board any more.

varunkapahi · #7 07-02-2009, 07:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kevteop

I used to use phasers in the following situations:

1) Where nobody else was playing.

2) When I wanted to drop out of the mix completely at regular intervals.

To be honest #1 rarely happened, and I never found an instance of #2, so I don't have a phaser on my board any more.

woah! thats exactly how i've been feeling. there is #3 too,

3. when you have it on but you can hardly make out there anything going on!

RCCollins · #8 07-02-2009, 08:01 AM

I use the ehx stereo polyphase, and it's quite easy to maintain bottom while still getting a dramatic phase sweep effect, just by setting the start and stop/frequency controls .

Toasted · #9 07-02-2009, 08:12 AM

. . . sounds like you don't really need a phaser then.

JohnDavisNYC · #10 07-02-2009, 08:45 AM

one thing to consider that many people often overlook is that although you may notice little difference in tone when your bass cabinet is shooting sound into the back of your knees and you're on a boomy stage and a few beers deep, subtle effects can have a dramatic affect on the audiences perception of the music... people may not necessarily know that they are hearing it from the bass, but adding slight color here and there can really shape the overall presentation of a song, even if the effect isn't noticeable or exciting to you where you are standing.

john

dannybuoy · #11 07-02-2009, 08:49 AM

That's why I love the Option 5 Destination Rotation Single, which incidentally I bought to replace my Small Stone. On slow speeds it's barely noticeable, but when you ramp up the speed it turns my bass into a rampaging organ! So to speak...

RCCollins · #12 07-02-2009, 09:21 AM

but dude, without a phaser how are you gonna play "stranglehold"?

MEKer · #13 07-02-2009, 09:31 AM

keep trying different configurations. Remember, for instance, if the phaser has a dirt pedal in front of it, your are phasing the dirt signal. If the phaser comes first + then the dirt second, then you are dirtying the phaser signal. Big difference. For me, with Phaser (the venerable MXR 90)at 12 o'clock and before a Boss Flanger set low, I get a wonderful sound that's not too modulated but strong, cutting, interesting and can easily be a cool bass thing in almost any song.

Vic Winters · #14 07-02-2009, 10:52 AM

Phasers always sound better with dirt before them IMO.

Pilgrim · #15 07-02-2009, 10:55 AM

"cant find any use for my phaser!"

How about zapping Romulans?

Hey, there had to be one response like that.

newbold · #16 07-02-2009, 12:01 PM

'stand out'??

Well think of it like THIS:

A phaser helps your other effects stand out by finding the room for them to fit into the spaces that you're used to them blanketing previously.

Mod effects used 'over the top' can't really be left on and turned into tone for long passages as easily as, say, a quacky envelope filter or techy flanger, fat reverb, or volume sweeping echo.

I suggest getting a more tweakable phaser if you're not into the small stone.

I use mine like a wah pedal/notched filter more often than I expected to (even after talking about it ad nauseum to myself for 3 months). It really pumps grindy fuzz/drive for me.

Go to a store and try an EH Worm. That's a great start, especially with tghe tremolo/vibrato/mod.wah (now that's over the top, buddy) that it also has. Add an expression pedal and you have a fairly simple keystone box that you'll probably be glad to have tried.

Try it deep and slow, especially after a fat fuzz or octave. great.big.huge.space.