Help me choose a phaser!

[scotch]

My next purchase is likely going to be a phaser. I'll be using it for both bass ang guitar. I've narrowed it down to one of these two:

http://www.empresseffects.com/?page=phaser


http://www.subdecay.com/product.php?id=11


I own a bunch of Empress pedals & the sound quality is amazing! (I'm not looking for Lo-Fi). But, the Subdecay seems to have more stepped pattern flexibility.

What would you guys get? The $50-60 price difference is not really a factor.

[WaldoNova]

I don't think you could go wrong with either pedal. They both look like they have extreme flexibility. Might come down to what kind of space you have available on your board though the Subdecay link made no mention of the actual size.

[bassteban]

I've diddled w/a few phasers & actually love my cheap-arse-but-US-made-&-solid old DOD FX20C. I'm sure it's nowhere as flexible as either of these but if you bump into one you might give it a shot. $30-40 all over the bay.
I also had an EHX Wiggler that IIRC purported to be a rotary sim(I'm pretty sure it was a phaser)- either way, it has a couple of tubes and sounded great, but was way more than I needed. The DOD can get subtle, which is what I like.

[tigerbass]

Originally Posted by scotch

My next purchase is likely going to be a phaser. I'll be using it for both bass ang guitar. I've narrowed it down to one of these two:

http://www.empresseffects.com/?page=phaser


http://www.subdecay.com/product.php?id=11


I own a bunch of Empress pedals & the sound quality is amazing! (I'm not looking for Lo-Fi). But, the Subdecay seems to have more stepped pattern flexibility.

What would you guys get? The $50-60 price difference is not really a factor.

I personally think you'd get more flexibility out of the Quasar dlx having 4, 6, and 8 stages rather than the Empress only having 4. Qdlx also runs on standard 9v or 18 for more headroom. Not sure about the Empress?
The Qdlx is smaller than you would think too. Smaller than the EHX uPog for comparison. I also like the fact that it is a more vertical pedal than horizontal. Room for more goodies! Just my 2 Cents.

[Jared Lash]

Originally Posted by tigerbass

I personally think you'd get more flexibility out of the Quasar dlx having 4, 6, and 8 stages rather than the Empress only having 4. Qdlx also runs on standard 9v or 18 for more headroom. Not sure about the Empress?
The Qdlx is smaller than you would think too. Smaller than the EHX uPog for comparison. I also like the fact that it is a more vertical pedal than horizontal. Room for more goodies! Just my 2 Cents.

+1 on the switchable stages argument.

The Empress switches from 2 to 4 stages but I find 2 stage phasers too subtle on bass even though I dig them on guitar.

Of course, I'm biased since 6 stage phasers are my favorites.

Still, as high quality, feature packed phasers go, you can't go wrong. Both look (and sound from the clips/vids I've heard) amazing.

[Smurf-o-Deth]

I'm pretty sure the Empress doesn't have any way to shift the frequency center, so that's another major plus (in my book) for the QDLX.

[tigerbass]

Also from a customer service standpoint, Brian from Subdecay is a killer guy! One of the best.
Not a flake like some smaller builders can be.

[scotch]

I definitely like the less subtle bent of the Quasar DLX better... I do wish it had a gain or volume control, though... I'm pretty intolerant of odd volume differences in modulation effects!

That's probably the only thing preventing me from pulling the trigger on the Subdecay... whether or not theres going to be a noticeable enough volume difference. (And, no, having to use a compressor or gain pedal after it is not what I want to do! )