MXR Phase 100 should arrive next week. I really love how it sounds based on clips of it on bass. Juan Alderete is a great example. It doesn't seem to be as chewy as Phase 90 which was a bit too much for me. Seems very liquidy and more mid range based than Grand Orbiter that I used to have (was too dark for my tastes).
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Best phaser for bass
- Thread starter Tristan
- Start date
Subdecay Quasar (or Baby Quasar if you don't need all the bells and whistles). No low end degradation, and a really usable tone for bass.
red witch moon phaser treated me very, very good. it was subtle but very musical and warm sounding.
I got it and checked that it worked. It sounds good, but I'm going to have to use the manual to figure out what all the knob combinations do... For a little pedal it has a frightening number of options...
Initial impression is that it may not sound quite as chewy as the Phase 90. But for me the tweakability should more than make up for that (if it's even true). I'll report back in a few days when I have some time with it.
One thing I can say about the Orbital Modulator is that I haven't been able to clip it yet. I saw someone say the Phase 90 can be clipped with an active bass if you're digging in, and I have an active bass and I frequently dig in when playing.
Overall Orbital Modulator seems to add a "tinny" tone to your sound, which is a problem for me with the chorus/flanger side, but for some reason doesn't seem to bother me as much with the phaser side.
For all effects I pretty much use the lo-retain at noon, which as far as I can tell preserves your low end, but allows for enough of the effect to get through. I'm finding if you go higher than noon, in general the effect seems to be lost or too subtle even on higher strings.
Feedback will really increase the effect, but it also seems to add more of that tinny sound. Hard to find the right balance. I have a Bass Boost Chorus on the way, I'm just wondering if I like the phaser side of the OM enough to keep it just for that.
Overall Orbital Modulator seems to add a "tinny" tone to your sound, which is a problem for me with the chorus/flanger side, but for some reason doesn't seem to bother me as much with the phaser side.
For all effects I pretty much use the lo-retain at noon, which as far as I can tell preserves your low end, but allows for enough of the effect to get through. I'm finding if you go higher than noon, in general the effect seems to be lost or too subtle even on higher strings.
Feedback will really increase the effect, but it also seems to add more of that tinny sound. Hard to find the right balance. I have a Bass Boost Chorus on the way, I'm just wondering if I like the phaser side of the OM enough to keep it just for that.
Yeah, I'm looking for a phaser, anything else is nice but in general I don't care for chorus or flanging except as pushed to the limit as a momentary wacky special effect.
Is it possible to get a pure tremolo effect out of the Orbital?
Is it possible to get a pure tremolo effect out of the Orbital?
Not sure, the tremolo knob doesn't seem to do a whole lot for most things. I'm sure it does in some cases but I can't remember how. The SA website has a PDF that has the default settings for all effects, plus a few recommended settings. I would suggest printing that off and using the default settings as a starting point for tweaking the sounds. I think there's recommended settings for a temolo in there...
Sorry for the thread hijack... But, did you notice that when you toggle the Orbital off and then back on that the modulation speed gets reset? That seems bad...
It's not that the pedal is resetting anything necessarily: you just have to save your changes by holding the footswitch down until it blinks a few times. If you tweak something and then hit the footswitch off, and then back on, it goes back to whatever was last saved. So if you're going to be switching the effects off and on a lot, be sure to save every time before you turn off, or hit the other footswitch.
Do you have the manual? If so, you should read the sections that are relevant to you. It's a complicated pedal, but you get used to it. I don't find it convenient by any means, it's a bit too complicated (good luck remembering your settings for any effect you tweak, you pretty much have to write everything down). You should be able to get a phaser that sounds pretty cool with some trial and error though. I just wish I had another phaser to compare it to.
Do you have the manual? If so, you should read the sections that are relevant to you. It's a complicated pedal, but you get used to it. I don't find it convenient by any means, it's a bit too complicated (good luck remembering your settings for any effect you tweak, you pretty much have to write everything down). You should be able to get a phaser that sounds pretty cool with some trial and error though. I just wish I had another phaser to compare it to.
Got it! Played a bit with it and I love it!
I doesn't sound as chewy and doesn't seem to phase my low end like Phase 90 (or uber dark Grand Orbiter) did, seems to phase around the mid range, which really gives it a nice character. I'm super happy with the simplicity and the tone of this thing. It's pretty much it for me as far as phasers go. The wave/depth selection is also useful as I can coax a more subtle setting as well. This thing rocks on bass!
My entire pedalboard is powered up by 1Spot:
- Boss OC2
- W&C Tall Font Russian (soon to be replaced by Phat Phuk B)
- Crybaby 105Q
- Darkglass VMT
- Phase 100
- TC Repeater (with Godlyke ISO Pump set to 12V)
- TC Polytune mini
- TC Ditto
No noise issues at all. Simple and effective!
I'm digging what I hear of the phase 100 on bass. Seems a bit subtle, but I also would want to pair a phaser with my Bass Boost Chorus. So question #1: Anyone have any thoughts on how the two might sound together?
Also it seems the phase 90 can clip if you have an active bass (which I do) and the volume is most always at maximum. Question #2: Is the phase 100 as susceptible to clipping as the 90 is?
Also it seems the phase 90 can clip if you have an active bass (which I do) and the volume is most always at maximum. Question #2: Is the phase 100 as susceptible to clipping as the 90 is?
I hear less clipping with Phase 100 although I use a passive jazz and I haven't really had any particular clipping problem with Phase 90. I'm still waiting for my Phat Phuk B to see how it will handle a hotter signal. It doesn't sound too subtle on the first setting (biggest wave/depth) IMO since it's not a dark sounding phaser like say Grand Orbiter which just went way too deep for my taste. Not too many good clips of Phase 100 on bass on the Internet besides Juan's short clip and one clip I found of a guy testing it against a digital multieffect (not sure which one). Aram Bedrosian did a clip but it sounds way too subtle (he set it on the most subtle setting). Honestly, I like both Phase 90 and 100, preffering the 100 tone but I for one found out I don't need a phaser with all the bells and whistles and tons of control. If I like the inherit tone, that's it for me. Phase 100 is exactly that IME.
