Ok, so ive been hunting on the web for sound clips and reviews for phasers of all sorts. Ive narrowed it down to: Boss PH-3 Red Witch Deluxe Moon Phaser SubDecay Quasar Im looking for something that can do a really sloow epic sweep type sound. So far the quasar is still at the top o' the list.... Which one keeps the low end the best? Which is the most versitile?
Of those three, it sounds like the Quasar is your beast. I love my PH-3, but it does drop some low end (which is why I keep it in the loop of a blender) as well as sounding a bit digital for many people's tastes and the Red Witch sounds great on guitar but I found it too subtle on bass. I wouldn't discount the EHX Nano Small Stone. I sold it (to James Hart I believe, who has since gone to the Maxon) but it would fit easily on your small board and sounds great. It isn't super tweakable but to be honest, how much more do you need than a rate control if it sounds good to begin with?
SubDecay Quasar or the Red Witch Deluxe Moon Phaser sound like they would be cool. The Quasar seems to be the favorite on here right now. Also the Moog is very versatile, keeps lows and will go slower than slow, also the old green Sovtek smallstones keep lows and will do real slow but have no versatility at all Also they are about the size and weight of a brick.
I personally haven't tried it but based off of the clips of the Quasar I'd say go with that one. If that's not enough just discount my vote then.
In my very biased opinion, the Pigtronix EP-1 Envelope Phaser is the ONLY answer. Great slow speed swooosh, as well as all your other favorite phaser sounds plus the switch to go from standard LFO to envelope follower mode, adding different types of phase, as well as sweet responsive filter sweeps, and reverse to boot.
Of those listed I've only played the PH-3. However, I can tell you that the EHX Stereo Polyphase is every bit as versatile as those listed. You can select the start and stop freq's of the sweep, so you can keep all the low end you want. Also, it lets you manually sweep the phaser with an exp pedal, which is quite cool
seems like the Quasar is winning like crazy! Popular! Is it the usual 4.7"x3.7" hammond case, just turned 90 degrees?
I think you should consider a Maxon PH-350. You can get them for about $180 off ebay and it does a great Jet Phase simulation when combined with a fuzz (I used to own a Jet Phase) because of the 10 stage setting. It also has these huge sweep you describe. I recommend trying one out .