Optical Phasing

[zRobertez]

I don't know what you really call the other phasers like the MXRs but I do know that I really like optical phasers. Or at least the ones labelled as optical that I've seen have an awesome sound. Normally I kinda hate phasing. It's dry and gimmicky to me, but pedals like Subdecay's Quasars and the Faye Sing are beautiful. They made me fall in love with phasing. It seems like the optical ones have a brighter, watery, and rounder tone to them that I really like. Every time I listen to a demo of them, I get this beautiful queasy feeling in my stomach... or brain... or something that only an optical phaser can produce. I had Quasar at one point and I'm really feeling getting another.

What type of phaser do you like? Are there more than two types? Can anyone explain the difference? I'm assuming they use some sort of light to control the phasing...
Any love for the optical guys???

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JD9ITUjkPbE[/youtube]
Right around 2:50 here always gives me that queasy feeling but it's not really full on phaser but still.

[Chankgeez]

I like all kinds of phasers.

Excellent R.G. Keen article on the subject:

http://www.geofex.com/article_folders/p ... phase.html

[zRobertez]

I like all kinds of phasers.

Excellent R.G. Keen article on the subject:

http://www.geofex.com/article_folders/p ... phase.html

Thanks! That was an awesome article. I've always loved flangers too.

[Chankgeez]

You're welcome.

Yep, phasers & flangers, two sides of the same coin. Love 'em both.

One of my favorites is the Pearl PH-03 (or even better, the PH-44).

[bigchiefbc]

Pretty much my favorite phaser of all time is an old Morley Deluxe Phaser from the early 80s, which is in this die-cast housing that weighs a metric shit-ton. It is a 6-stage optical phaser, and it's just so fucking lush. I ended up selling it to jrmy because I needed a more standard-sounding 4-stager for my covers band. I ended up with a Whetstone, which is the most insanely versatile phaser I've ever heard, it just has an absurd amount of modes and sounds you can get out of it. But it'll never touch the lush, liquidy sound you can get out of the Morley.

[Chankgeez]

I was just listening to this:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hwHy_e92uQ[/youtube]

Not a subtle use of phaser, but I love it.

[Ghost Hip]

My favorite phaser is the Ibanez Phase Modulator. I don't know what kind of phasing it is, I just know I get what I want out of it. I put it before dirt and get that round lush phase tone I want to create a nice textural sound.

[jrmy]

I love just about all phasers as well. Right now, my live phaser is a Subdecay Baby Quasar - I'm using it on bass, and the tonal options it offers are just perfect in my view. It does have sort of a more "chewy" "vowel-y" attack than a "whooshy" phaser, but I really dig it.

As bigchiefbc mentioned, I do indeed have his old Morley Deluxe Phaser, and I think it may be my favorite phaser to use with distortion. It's frickin' unbelievable. I used it on this track: http://crotchthrottle.bandcamp.com/track/repetepetition and you can hear it kick in around 0:47. Paired with a gated fuzz, it's the most amazingly awesome lead-synth-esque sound I've been able to generate yet.

I've tried the Blackout Whetstone, and it's completely gorgeous. I wanted to not like it (because I've got enough GAS already), but they really managed to cram so many amazing sounds in that box, it's nuts.

I've also tried the Frequency Central Sonic Death Ray, and that's got some crazygonuts options - with the odd/even switching and other stuff, you can add some really interesting pulses to the phase.

I really really really want to try the Blackout Effectors Sibling Phaser once it's released. Looks like it could be an interesting small-box alternative to the Whetstone if you don't need quite as many features.

Also, I do kinda regret letting my big-box Green Russian Small Stone go... but we've all gotta have a couple of "the ones that got away," right?

[Dr. Sherman Sticks M.D.]

i thought i heard that the faye sing was based on the mutron phaser? (which would make the mutron an optical?)

the mutron sounds amaze

[jrmy]

i thought i heard that the faye sing was based on the mutron phaser? (which would make the mutron an optical?)

the mutron sounds amaze

Yeah, I really want to try both of Infanem's phasers and the Mutron.

[Dr. Sherman Sticks M.D.]

i picked up the mutron locally awhile back. i didnt know anything about the science behind it, but it is indeeeedd super lush. not tin-y or harsh like some other phasers ive tried can get when u crank them. just super full and lush. never tried the infanems faye's lineup but i bet its just as awesome, maybe awesomer

[kbit]

My favorite phaser is the Ibanez Phase Modulator. I don't know what kind of phasing it is, I just know I get what I want out of it. I put it before dirt and get that round lush phase tone I want to create a nice textural sound.

Right there with you, dude
I've heard some phasers that sound better (like Dr. Sherm's Mutron) but with all the stuff you can do with the Phase Modulator is pretty awesome.

[jrmy]

My favorite phaser is the Ibanez Phase Modulator. I don't know what kind of phasing it is, I just know I get what I want out of it. I put it before dirt and get that round lush phase tone I want to create a nice textural sound.

Right there with you, dude
I've heard some phasers that sound better (like Dr. Sherm's Mutron) but with all the stuff you can do with the Phase Modulator is pretty awesome.

Yeah, I had a PM-7 and regret selling that one, too. I can't remember if PP has mine, or if I traded it to Devi. Or maybe I got one from PP and traded it... oh, what a dirty, incestuous world B/S/T is...

[Dr. Sherman Sticks M.D.]

yea the phase modulator is face melting!!! OMGGGGGGGGGG

[skullservant]

I started out with a Phase 90 from my wife. I thought it was a little too subtle, but this was when I was in to only really playing noise and it got burried alot.

Then I moved to the Fayes Her, which I thought sounded a little vowel-ish, but still beautiful. Sold that to fund other things, but dat chrome.

Then I got Nieh's old Ibanez Phase Tone II which sounds TITS on everything and has a really really decent amount of low end and no volume drop.

Lastly I had the Whetstone which was AWESOME. AWESOME AWESOME. But I don't use phase enough for that caliber of awesome. So I sold it.