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Looking for a phaser

#21
Was a big fan of the Earthquakes Grand Orbiter, MXR Phase 100 and EHX Bad Stone when I owned them.

EQD has top jacks, readily available and the best option of these IMHO.

My favorite phaser these days is the phaser options of the Subdecay Prometheus 3. It has top jacks, but is t cheap and has many more options. Amazing filter based on the Korg MS-20
 
#23
The MXR Phase 95 is nice and I use it in the send-return of a Superego because of it's small size and it's simple, all I need there. But on the board is a Catalinbread Many Worlds because it also has up or down envelope phase that sounds peachy. Phaser was my first pedal, a small stone. First time I heard one was seeing Miles Davis in 1974, rhythm guitarist Reggie Lucas had a big Morley and it blew my little mind.
I'm gonna go eat a peach now.
 
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#28
I don't know how you people use phasers, because I love the effect but I find it very difficult to use with bass. It either gets too wobbly in the low frequencies or it disappears in the mix. Tried many. I have the Grand Orbiter right now and I can barely say if it's on, even when used with distortion. Maybe they won't work when the mix is dense (?)
 
#29
triviani said:
Maybe they won't work when the mix is dense (?)
Click to expand...
This - got some truth there - the phaser is basically a variable comb filter, and a dense mix is going to mask the subtleties of the shifting frequency notches.

It can work - Thin Lizzy's "Dancing In The Moonlight" is a prime example - but yeah, it needs a little "room to breathe" or the effect gets lost in the sauce.
 
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#30
This thread has inspired me to rehabilitate my Mu-Tron Bi-Phase II - it had a broken switch on the sweep generator one waveform switch - it was stuck between square wave (which I hate) and no sweep at all, with the sine wave disabled, because the switch was broken. So I took it all apart removed the body of the switch leaving just the contacts and hard-wired it to the sine wave position, because that's the only one I ever use, and then covered the hole with duct tape. Fancy high class fix!

So that led me to get into a little weird phaser science this morning:

1000013870.jpg


The EP-2 is just for show, it's not hooked up, yet.


... and I have to say - listening to television or say classical harp music through the Bi-Phase with it in reverse sync stereo is pretty bizarre! 😲 😎
 
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#32
bholder said:
This thread has inspired me to rehabilitate my Mu-Tron Bi-Phase II - it had a broken switch on the sweep generator one waveform switch - it was stuck between square wave (which I hate) and no sweep at all, with the sine wave disabled, because the switch was broken. So I took it all apart removed the body of the switch leaving just the contacts and hard-wired it to the sine wave position, because that's the only one I ever use, and then covered the hole with duct tape. Fancy high class fix!

So that led me to get into a little weird phaser science this morning:

View attachment 7315258

The EP-2 is just for show, it's not hooked up, yet.


... and I have to say - listening to television or say classical harp music through the Bi-Phase with it in reverse sync stereo is pretty bizarre! 😲 😎
Click to expand...
So how does the BiPhase II compare with the original BiPhase? I can't justify spending $500-$600 for a BiPhase II (certainly not $2k-$3k for the original BiPhase), but the Behringer clone looks real tempting at $119.
 
#33
A lot of great options these days for sure, but I use (and recommend) the MXR Phase 95. Compact, doesn't volume drop, and the ability to get the variety of phase (45/90 Script/90 Block) is great. At least for my needs, which is sparse. It's never always on. I just use it to add some modulation and character when needed. I used to have a regular sized MXR Script pedal and I compared to the 95 and it was darn near identical. I kept the 95 and gave the Script to my son.
 
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#34
rodak said:
So how does the BiPhase II compare with the original BiPhase? I can't justify spending $500-$600 for a BiPhase II (certainly not $2k-$3k for the original BiPhase), but the Behringer clone looks real tempting at $119.
Click to expand...
The BiPhase II has all the function of the original, and then some. Very impressive.

As I understand it, the Behringer does not. I've read bad things about it. Probably ok for the price, but you get what you pay for - apparently compares poorly to the real ones.
 
#35
CheckBass said:
Which phaser would you recommend me?

My requirements:
- must fit on my crowded board (mini pedal or top jack mounted)
- no low end loss
- no volume drop or bum
- available (no discontinued or impossible to get pedals)

On my radar:
MXR M290 Phase 95
MXR Deep Phase
Aguilar Grape Phaser v2

Any tips, recommendations?
Click to expand...
1757083625766.png


I know it's not top jack, but if what you want is a versatile, bass-friendly phaser, the Cyclone is the one I would use. The extra 1/2'' or whatever that you gain from the side jacks is a worthy trade just from the level of useful control you get. I've seen other phasers with a greater level of control, but they're all bigger, more expensive, and generally more oriented toward experimental sounds. I cannot emphasize enough that if you were to overlook side jacks on any pedal, this would be it.

1757083798497.png


The Utility Knife probably doesn't meet the criteria for availability, but this is generally what I use now. But, I'm usually going for other modulation effects other than phaser. As a phaser it's still solid.

1757083983165.png


The Carina again probably doesn't tick the box for availability. They come up secondhand somewhat often. I have one and it's a sweet phaser, though the "Sweep" control is controversial-- it sounds like a depth control, but it's actually more like a filtering tone control, designed to adjust the phaser to different instruments like bass, guitar, keys, etc. When turned clockwise this can take out your low end, but the low end returns if you turn CCW. Treat it like a frequency knob-- if you're playing bass, you generally want it in the lower range.
 
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#36
bholder said:
The BiPhase II has all the function of the original, and then some. Very impressive.

As I understand it, the Behringer does not. I've read bad things about it. Probably ok for the price, but you get what you pay for - apparently compares poorly to the real ones.
Click to expand...
Thanks. I may try the Behringer - maybe if I were a gigging bassist who had a serious need for the original, I might spring for a used Bi-Phase II, but I'm not and I don't. I have a bunch of Behringer gear, all of it first-rate (well the pedals sound great, the housings I wouldn't recommend for heavy gigging). The Model D, 2600 and Solina synths are awesome, and so much like the originals, it's scary. Reviews of the Dual-Phase I've seen are uniformly very positive.
Also, I've never used either MuTron, so I have no point of reference. I'm sure they sound awesome. I'm also sure the Behringer has some cool sounds, and lots of signal routing options, just like the original. May not be 100% faithful, but for $119, I'll give it a shot.
 
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#37
rodak said:
Thanks. I may try the Behringer - maybe if I were a gigging bassist who had a serious need for the original, I might spring for a used Bi-Phase II, but I'm not and I don't. I have a bunch of Behringer gear, all of it first-rate (well the pedals sound great, the housings I wouldn't recommend for heavy gigging). The Model D, 2600 and Solina synths are awesome, and so much like the originals, it's scary. Reviews of the Dual-Phase I've seen are uniformly very positive.
Also, I've never used either MuTron, so I have no point of reference. I'm sure they sound awesome. I'm also sure the Behringer has some cool sounds, and lots of signal routing options, just like the original. May not be 100% faithful, but for $119, I'll give it a shot.
Click to expand...
Let us know how it goes!
 
#38
bholder said:
This thread has inspired me to rehabilitate my Mu-Tron Bi-Phase II - it had a broken switch on the sweep generator one waveform switch - it was stuck between square wave (which I hate) and no sweep at all, with the sine wave disabled, because the switch was broken. So I took it all apart removed the body of the switch leaving just the contacts and hard-wired it to the sine wave position, because that's the only one I ever use, and then covered the hole with duct tape. Fancy high class fix!

So that led me to get into a little weird phaser science this morning:

View attachment 7315258

The EP-2 is just for show, it's not hooked up, yet.


... and I have to say - listening to television or say classical harp music through the Bi-Phase with it in reverse sync stereo is pretty bizarre! 😲 😎
Click to expand...
You seem to like big, weird phasers, so you would probably enjoy the EHX Flanger Hoax; I think the hoax is that it’s more phaser than flanger, but it’s very tweakable. It’s my favourite pedal that I rarely use. Meets none of the OP’s criteria, but we seem to have left those behind. :)
 
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#39
GrowlerBox said:
You seem to like big, weird phasers, so you would probably enjoy the EHX Flanger Hoax; I think the hoax is that it’s more phaser than flanger, but it’s very tweakable. It’s my favourite pedal that I rarely use. Meets none of the OP’s criteria, but we seem to have left those behind. :)
Click to expand...
I think I actually have one of those buried in storage somewhere I recall not liking it but I never gave it as much of a chance I'll have to dig it out... Ehx make some strange stuff...
 
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