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Which Phaser?

M

Megazap63

Apr 12, 2009
206
0
London, UK
#1
Hi all,

Looking around for a phaser at the moment to add to my board. I've been considering the following and would be grateful for any advice, particularly from current users:

EBS DPhaser - new release and this is on the list mainly because its a dedicated bass pedal (also, I love EBS pedals and currently have five, a Multicomp, Octabass, Dynaverb, Bass IQ and Unichorus);

Subdecay Baby Quasar - great samples on the website, looks cool and if the Subdecay Prometheus is anything to go by its probably worth a look;

Retro-Sonic Phaser - great sounding samples, cool looks, nice and compact;

Red Witch Moon Phaser - again, great sounding samples and supposedly different from most phasers since it can be blended with a tremolo effect.

So, any views?? What I'm looking for is rich, organic tone with no loss of bottom end.

Also, I know I've not mentioned one that a lot of people rave about - MXR Phase 90 - so any advice on MXR Phasers and alternative suggestions would be welcome.

Cheers and looking forward to your sagely views!!

Chris
 
#11
XXL said:
You just described the Pigtronix EP-2.
Click to expand...

I just purchased one of these last week. I would not consider this a true phaser. Nor a true envelope filter, for that matter. But what it does is give you something fresh and quite funky, swirly, sloppy, regurgitating and a rubberbandy type of sound. More responsive to fingerstyle than slap. Very interesting pedal....I like it. But it may be just what the OP wants.
 
#17
Guys, many thanks for the words of advice....

Hadn't considered (or even heard of) the Option 5 before but, having now listened to some samples, will add it to the 'shortlist'. Only slight concern with this pedal is size and how to fit it into a small-ish space.

While I think EHX make some fairly decent effects for guitar, I've never been happy with the ones I've owned previously as bass pedals. To my ear, they all sounded kind of thin and harsh. So I'll probably pass on checking out anything by EHX.

At the moment - at least going by sound clips and user reviews - I'll most likely end up withy either the Retro-Sonic or Subdecay. EBS sounds excellent as well, but since I already have 5 other EBS pedals on board something different might be in order.

Thanks again and will post a review of whatever I end up purchasing.

Cheers, Chris
 
#18
Megazap63 said:
Guys, many thanks for the words of advice....

At the moment - at least going by sound clips and user reviews - I'll most likely end up withy either the Retro-Sonic or Subdecay. EBS sounds excellent as well, but since I already have 5 other EBS pedals on board something different might be in order.

Thanks again and will post a review of whatever I end up purchasing.

Cheers, Chris
Click to expand...

*shameless plug* I happen to have a like new Baby Quasar in the classifieds. It's really warm and organic sounding. I had the original quasar at one point and like this one better. I'd keep it but I like a more wild, resonant phaser.
 
#19
Megazap63 said:
Hi all,

Looking around for a phaser at the moment to add to my board. I've been considering the following and would be grateful for any advice, particularly from current users:

EBS DPhaser - new release and this is on the list mainly because its a dedicated bass pedal (also, I love EBS pedals and currently have five, a Multicomp, Octabass, Dynaverb, Bass IQ and Unichorus);

Subdecay Baby Quasar - great samples on the website, looks cool and if the Subdecay Prometheus is anything to go by its probably worth a look;

Retro-Sonic Phaser - great sounding samples, cool looks, nice and compact;

Red Witch Moon Phaser - again, great sounding samples and supposedly different from most phasers since it can be blended with a tremolo effect.

So, any views?? What I'm looking for is rich, organic tone with no loss of bottom end.

Also, I know I've not mentioned one that a lot of people rave about - MXR Phase 90 - so any advice on MXR Phasers and alternative suggestions would be welcome.

Cheers and looking forward to your sagely views!!

Chris
Click to expand...

The EBS looks nice and is bass specific (though generally there's no issue with bass and phasers) but it is digital if that makes a difference to you. Phaser is one effect where I definitely prefer analog. But if you are considering digitial, I would think the Source Audio phaser would be a contender as well.

I personally don't like MXR phasers but there are a LOT of boutique phasers based on that circuit. The Retro-Sonic you mentioned is one of the better ones. The Wounded Paw P90 is another one and it has added bass response.

The Red Witch is nice though I wanted something a bit more pronounced.

At a lower price point I like the EHX Nano Small Stone.

For a more expensive phaser I currently love the Keeley Phaser.

droskobass said:
Don't over look the Option 5 destination phase.
Click to expand...

A solid choice. It really does sound like a mixture of the Small Stone and Phase 90. Personally I like the plain Small Stone a bit more, but that's just my preference.

droskobass said:
HBE Psilocybe is great too
Click to expand...

Agreed. Very good on bass and sounds great with dirt too.

superhand said:
What about the EH Small Stone? I have an old Russian made model that sounds great. There might be some loss of low end but not enough to bother me.
Click to expand...

Jim C said:
Recently sold an older but new MXR Phase 100 as I felt it muddied the tone of a clean sounding bass
I think othere here may disagree though
Click to expand...

I didn't like the Phase 100 either and my preference is normally for six stage phasers.

dj150888 said:
Never had any trouble with my Phase 90, covers all the range I need and I don't tink it muddys up my tone at all
Click to expand...

If it's a Phase 90 tone you want I'd go for the Retro-Sonic. It's one of the best script circuit phasers on the market, especially for bass.

XXL said:
You just described the Pigtronix EP-2.
Click to expand...

Funkinthetrunk said:
I just purchased one of these last week. I would not consider this a true phaser. Nor a true envelope filter, for that matter. But what it does is give you something fresh and quite funky, swirly, sloppy, regurgitating and a rubberbandy type of sound. More responsive to fingerstyle than slap. Very interesting pedal....I like it. But it may be just what the OP wants.
Click to expand...

It's a Uni-vibe tone rather than a normal phaser so if you like big "pulsy" sounding phasing rather than "sparkly" or "swirly" phasing it's a good choice. The envelope phasing is very fat sounding and cool IMO.

faceinbass said:
maestro.
Click to expand...

If going vintage I like the Mutron Phasor II more. Or even the Maestro Stage Phaser (super deep for bass) rather than the original three switch Maestro.

tigerbass said:
To me the original Subdecay Quasar is as good as it gets!!!
Click to expand...

The original Quasar sounds great and is very flexible. I haven't tried the Baby Quasar.
 

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