After all this time, my board is finished

[Jared Lash]

Ooh, which phasers? I'm looking for a phaser myself to replace my Phase 90 (which I'm gona sell soon) so I'll look forward to hearing your opinion.

I'd second dannybuoy's recommendation of the Small Stone. By far my favorite lower priced phaser. As for the two I'm getting, they are the Grand Orbiter and the Whetstone. They are based on phasers I know I like (Ross/DOD 490 and Small Stone respectively) so I'm sure I'll dig them both. I may or may not have an HBE Frostbite coming too, I should find out soon.

IMO (and I'm going to get decked for this) phasers just don't work too well on bass. I tried a few (Phase 90, Small Stone, DOD 490) and each one just made me plummet out of the mix.

I think flangers are better suited, myself.

I think you're right that flangers cut through a mix a lot better. And a lot of the "sparkle and wash" of phasers aren't apparent on bass, especially in the low register. That said, I just like the sound a lot more. It just becomes a matter of knowing where and when to use a phaser.

This thread has 14 posts, several are by BigO and none of which contain pics.

That's cause for violence in some cultures.

If I'd posted this from home I would have had a picture to begin with. But I still don't have internet at my house while I wait for AT&T to ship me yet another crappy DSL modem after the last one burnt out. I can take a picture tonight and post it tomorrow, but part of the point was that I've really gotten down to a meat and potatoes approach so I'm not sure how interesting a picture would be.

I'm right there with you O. I got it down to the effect types i use and have gone from there. have tried tons and tons of pedals and am getting close to finalizing the board.

gotta love it

Yep, that's exactly what I mean. There are things I have a lot of fun with and then there are the things I actually use. I've built a board of just the things I'll use and any tweaking will pretty much be swapping a fuzz for a fuzz or an octaver for an octaver etc.

 

[gnasher1993]

I'd second dannybuoy's recommendation of the Small Stone. By far my favorite lower priced phaser. As for the two I'm getting, they are the Grand Orbiter and the Whetstone. They are based on phasers I know I like (Ross/DOD 490 and Small Stone respectively) so I'm sure I'll dig them both. I may or may not have an HBE Frostbite coming too, I should find out soon.

Wow...could you let me know what you think of the phasers/flangers you get. PM if you want. I might go with the Small Stone for the time being. I should get some money back from my Phase 90 if I buy the small stone. Which I'll probably spend on a, actually I don't know.

 

[Unrepresented]

If I'd posted this from home I would have had a picture to begin with. But I still don't have internet at my house while I wait for AT&T to ship me yet another crappy DSL modem after the last one burnt out. I can take a picture tonight and post it tomorrow, but part of the point was that I've really gotten down to a meat and potatoes approach so I'm not sure how interesting a picture would be.

1) Ball busting is part of (what I perceive to be) my charm.

2) You don't have cable internet available? DSL doesn't seem to have nearly the same satisfaction levels.

3) A well planned out board is a thing of beauty regardless of size. I equate a small, effective, meat and potatoes board to a zen garden.

 

[bongomania]

Wow...could you let me know what you think of the phasers/flangers you get. PM if you want. I might go with the Small Stone for the time being.

Gnasher, since it appears you may not know yet, BigO has done a holy metric buttload of discussion and reviewing of phaser pedals here. I'm sure he'll be kind enough to help you individually, but you can also get a ton of useful info by searching for his past posts on the subject.

 

[warwick.hoy]

I've reached the point that I'm realizing all I really need is overdrive, fuzz, the OC-2 and a few utility pedals (compression, tuner...etc). I can't really find a use for my delay or my synth wah...(I want to replace that with a better tracking synth such as the EHX BMS), but they sound great with my MicroKORG...so I'm keeping them...they just aren't staying on my board. I like the idea of a the Bass MuRF but until I have it on my board...I couldn't say that it would be useful to me.

 

[Jared Lash]

1) Ball busting is part of (what I perceive to be) my charm.

2) You don't have cable internet available? DSL doesn't seem to have nearly the same satisfaction levels.

3) A well planned out board is a thing of beauty regardless of size. I equate a small, effective, meat and potatoes board to a zen garden.

(1) Personally I'm more of a chops buster than a ball buster, but different strokes . . .

(2) Nope, unlike my old place, neither cable internet or cable TV are available in my area. DSL and Dish instead, both of which suck by comparison. Slow internet and TV that seems to lose the satellite feed only when there's something I really am interested in watching. Consequently I watch even less TV than I did before.

(3) I'll try to remember to take a picture tonight during or after band practice. If not I may wait to see if either of the phasers I ordered finally kick the Maxon off my board.

Gnasher, since it appears you may not know yet, BigO has done a holy metric buttload of discussion and reviewing of phaser pedals here. I'm sure he'll be kind enough to help you individually, but you can also get a ton of useful info by searching for his past posts on the subject.

I'll definitely post reviews and clips of both phasers and the flanger. I've never really done formal pedal reviews until recently, but I figure I might as well, especially for phasers.

I don't have all that much experience with flangers so that one will have to be taken with a grain of salt. But I'm excited about the HBE.

 

[grovest]

BigO, have you thought about the Moogerfooger phaser? You could even lock the LPF to the phaser's oscillator....

 

[Jared Lash]

BigO, have you thought about the Moogerfooger phaser? You could even lock the LPF to the phaser's oscillator....

My phaser list

1. EHX Nano Small Stone
2. MXR Phase 90
3. MXR Phase 100
4. Maxon PT9+
5. Tonefactor/Mojo Hand Nebula
6. Pigtronix EP-1
7. Red Witch Moon Phaser
8. Maestro PS-1 (loaner)
9. Boss PH-2
10. Boss PH-3
11. DOD FX20 (original)
12. DOD 401 Phasor
13. DOD 490 Phasor
14. EHX Polyphase
15. George Dennis Phaser
16. Moog MF-103 6/12 Stage Phaser
17. Prophecy Sound Infinitphase (just borrowed this one)
18. Maxon PH-350 Rotary
19. Maestro Stage Phaser
20. Phaser H.B.E. Psilocybe
21. Subdecay Quasar
22. Toadworks Phantasm
23. Roland AP-2
24. Diamond Phaser
25. DOD Performer 595
26. Mutron Phasor II
27. Earthquaker Grand Orbiter (incoming)
28. Blackout Effectors Whetstone (incoming)
29. Unnamed Robot Factory phaser (whenever Mario builds it for me)

I liked the Moog. It was great for synthy sounds in 12 stage mode, which makes sense since it originated from a Moog synth module. Basically I didn't keep it because given its price and size I'd found others I liked better.

 

[dannybuoy]

You are the Bongomania of phasers! Now try and find a Catalinbread Phaeton and a Toneczar Halophase...

 

[Jared Lash]

You are the Bongomania of phasers! Now try and find a Catalinbread Phaeton and a Toneczar Halophase...

I really had no intention of going through so many phasers. If I had known I was going to I would have done reviews/clips for each which would have made the whole process a lot more useful to other TBers. Ob la di.

As for those two phasers, I'm interested but I'm not.

I've got to the point where I can tell from guitar clips with pretty good reliability whether I'll like a phaser on bass or not. I get the feeling the Halophaze wouldn't be up my alley. That's just personal preference - and of course, without me actually trying it. Still, I think it sounds absolutely amazing on guitar. And the LFO glide is one of my favorite control features on phasers, something the Toneczar does better than any of the others that have it. That said, if someone gave me a Halophaze to try out I'd jump at the chance.

As for the Phaeton, it seems to have a really interesting character to it: siren like, pulsing and almost auto-wah in nature. I'd love to try it, but I can't imagine it being my primary phaser. More like a cool effect. I wonder if they'd be easier to build in the larger enclosure - personally I don't like those tiny boxes anyway. But without new ones being built I don't see me trying to track one down considering how ultra-rare and probably very expensive it would be.

 

[jucas]

I've reached that point, and even kept the same pedals for about a year... they just worked really well together.

I'm pretty happy with a fuzz, compressor, boost, and overdrive. I debate getting rid of the compressor for an envelope filter now and then, but really, the compressor is probably more usefull.

And, right now I'm in transition... sold my fuzz and comp to think about building 'em myself. But, after some thought I'm not even sure what to use for a fuzz anymore. I have an new overdrive on the way and have some thoughts on building another. So, I'll go back to the same kind of pedals, but my boost and tuner are looking like they're the only ones that will stay exactly the same. I'm in a sad, boardless state.

After trying at least one of most types of effect, I realize that much as I have fun with lots of crazy pedals, I should leave delays, and oscillating fuzzboxes, and all that to other people.

 

[rnilson]

Yep, I'm one pedal away from done.
All I have a desire for is a custom HP/LP/BP filter and that is it.
I guess I would buy a Moog Freqbox if I got a good deal, but I don't lust after it.
I got what I need and it sounds good!

 

[Stickk]

Yes, all the time.

+1.

 

[Jared Lash]

So my board is just about "done".

It's going to be an eight pedal board with:

Octaver
Fuzz
Filter
Moog Low Pass
Phaser
and
Tremolo

The last two slots are going to be some combination of overdrive/preamp, wah, flanger, compressor or tuner.

I've got a VT Bass, Wilson Bass QWah and HBE Frostbite flanger coming and I'll take two of those three (likely the Tech 21 and wah) to finish things for now.

I also have a three way phase battle with the Maxon PH-350, Grand Orbiter and Whetstone. Well, a two way battle I guess since I like the Earthquaker but not as much as the Maxon.

 

[theunknowndude]

my board is 'done',...

I still have a few fun pedals I keep at home for noisemaking but my band board that will stay this way for quite some time is this chain:

Boss TU-2, PS-3, guyatone TZ-2, Ibby PD7, Boss BF-3, MXR carbon copy, Ibby weeping demon,...

it all fits onto a gator pedal tote board, it has everything I want (I tend to keep the one tone on my bass/amp and I don't slap) and can be combined to create very interesting sounds when some of those effects are combined,... I would still like to have the noisebox in there if possible but don't see it happening in my band setting

putting the TZ-2 into the PD7 actually greats a very interesting dirt,... and almost funky when using the weeping demon as well,...

my other favourite thing to do is combine PS-3, PD7 and carbon copy to create creepy organ tones on the D and G strings...

I'm pretty happy and focusing on getting a better amp and better fretless so my pedals will stay as they are for now

 

[Slim Louis]

I have a Boss Compressor/Sustain and a Boss tuner. I never use the Compressor anymore, so I replaced it with a Walmart digital clock.

 

[theunknowndude]

I have a Boss Compressor/Sustain and a Boss tuner. I never use the Compressor anymore, so I replaced it with a Walmart digital clock.

hahahhaa, I like your style!!!!

 

[H2ODog]

I have a Boss Compressor/Sustain and a Boss tuner. I never use the Compressor anymore, so I replaced it with a Walmart digital clock.

LOL, good one. I'm going to put a sand clock on mine!

 

[RickenBoogie]

I think I'm at the point of "done", but I've been here before, and everything changed. Got two seperate boards now, one for actually gigging with, and one (bigger) that stays at home. I'm on hiatus for now, and don't have extra money to be spending, or I might want to try something new, like I always do.

 

[Jared Lash]

I think I'm at the point of "done", but I've been here before, and everything changed. Got two seperate boards now, one for actually gigging with, and one (bigger) that stays at home. I'm on hiatus for now, and don't have extra money to be spending, or I might want to try something new, like I always do.

I'm sure I'll still make changes (swap one phaser/fuzz/octave for another brand etc) to the board, but it's pretty much set now. I just have to figure out whether I want a flanger or a wah as my last pedal.

It will give me all the sounds I ever really use for gigging/jamming etc. And I'm sure I'll still buy some other pedals to play around with, maybe make a second "fun" board or finish my "fretless" board but my main board is more or less done. I still have massive GAS for the Pitchfactor but it's not a practical purchase for me.

And while I love delay, I know that I don't use it enough in band contexts to bother buying one for my board. Besides, I've got an Akai Headrush 2 which I can always hook up if needed. Great simple looper, but also an underrated tap tempo delay pedal.