Phaser

sylnau · Post by **sylnau** » Sat Dec 28, 2013 3:18 pm

I just found a used Empress Phaser online for a very good price.
I was waiting for the Pi-Phaser to be available here in Canada.

Now I wonder if I should get the Empress Phaser.
It's overkill for what I want from a phaser... but the price is great and there is a blend knob.

Anybody tried both phaser?

Can the Empress Phaser has a kind of organic vintage sound?

Tristan · Post by **Tristan** » Sat Dec 28, 2013 4:13 pm

That's a tough one.
I tried the Empress but I wasn't completely happy with it, with my setup(s) it had a certain high midrange peak that I hear in lots of boutique phasers and that just doesn't gel with my (single note) playing.
Strange enough the only 4 stage phasers that don't have this stiff midrange sound are the classics, the Phase 90 and the Small Stone / Ross and the ones that are quite closely based on those (VFE Enterprise for instance).
The Pi-Phase / Bi-Phase are completely different beasts with much more stages, I generally don't like those and listening to clips from both these pedals I probably won't like them either, it's just a completely different style of phasing so if this ultimately what you're after I don't think you'll be satisfied with the Empress or any other 4 stage or lower phaser for that matter.

Doctor X · Post by **Doctor X** » Sat Dec 28, 2013 7:50 pm

i havent tried the empress.
one of the best 'vintage' style phasers is the retro-sonic, its mxr90 type with good headroom.
its sure to be cheaper than the empress, and different enough from the pi-phase that you can keep both

Tristan · Post by **Tristan** » Sat Dec 28, 2013 7:57 pm

That one doesn't have the blend though I guess?
The VFE Enterprise does have a mix control and it's also a Phase 90 derivate (pretty close) that is way more versatile than the Retro-Sonic, it has a great vibrato sound in there too (with the mix / blend control full up).

patrick · Post by **patrick** » Sun Dec 29, 2013 1:51 pm

I'd say go for the classics (90, Small Stone) or maybe an EQD Grand Orbiter (vintage sounds with a lot more control), seeing as those are available in Canada.

AngryGoldfish · Post by **AngryGoldfish** » Sun Dec 29, 2013 6:17 pm

The Empress has a little bit of grit and chewiness from the clips I've heard, so I'd say it can be vintage and organic. It's not sweet and syrupy like the Subdecay Quasar, which I consider a more modern phasing tone. I personally love my Quasar DLX, but I definitely would pick the Empress up if the right price came along, because $400 brand-new is a tough call for anyone. For that chewy phasing sound on a budget, I might pick up the Mr. Wire Xenon, a vintage Phase 90, or a reissue of the script logo '74 Vintage Phase 90. The new Skreddy Little Miss Sunshine (awesome name because it's an awesome film) seems pretty cool as well, but I don't think I like how much of a jump there is when the waveform switches from one phase to the other.

Tristan · Post by **Tristan** » Sun Dec 29, 2013 6:42 pm

I couldn't get any grit or chewiness out of the Empress Phaser, I tried the harmonics switch and the full blend switch and it made things a bit better but it didn't make that much of a difference, my verdict would be to not get the Empress Phaser if that's what you're after.
I'm still waiting for the Cusack Tap A Phase, the one I traded my Quasar DLX for, on some clips it seems to have this kind of chewiness and vintage organic vibe, I hope so.

AngryGoldfish · Post by **AngryGoldfish** » Sun Dec 29, 2013 7:21 pm

Must have been the clips I was listening to. I was hoping it had a little bit of grity and chewiness to it. I love that sound.

sylnau · Post by **sylnau** » Sun Dec 29, 2013 7:47 pm

Tristan wrote:I couldn't get any grit or chewiness out of the Empress Phaser, I tried the harmonics switch and the full blend switch and it made things a bit better but it didn't make that much of a difference, my verdict would be to not get the Empress Phaser if that's what you're after.
I'm still waiting for the Cusack Tap A Phase, the one I traded my Quasar DLX for, on some clips it seems to have this kind of chewiness and vintage organic vibe, I hope so.

Let us know.
I might wait for the Enterprise V2 to be available in store.
What you didn't like about the Quasar DLX?

On my side, I tried the Whetstone and the Faye Sing. The where not my thing.

Tristan · Post by **Tristan** » Mon Dec 30, 2013 4:46 am

Do they have a Enterprise V1 somewhere?
If so I'd go for that one, in my opinion there's not that much of a difference between the V1 and the V2 other than that the V1 probably sounds a little better, Peter is a great guy and I can recommend buying straight from him as well.

The Quasar DLX to me is the total opposite of vintage sounding, it was at the same time too extreme and too transparent sounding for me, I really didn't like the regular waveforms and phase sounds at all and I only used the vibrato (mix full up) and the staircase and random waveforms with it.

I'll let you know about the Tap A Phase.

sylnau · Post by **sylnau** » Mon Dec 30, 2013 6:19 pm

Enterprise V1 are no longer available.

Why would the V1 be better than the V2?

From the description V2 add a third mode phasing + vibe and has more range ont the rate and speed knobs.

Tristan · Post by **Tristan** » Mon Dec 30, 2013 8:11 pm

Full story is that at first Peter made a different version of the V2 with different caps than the V1, I had the V1 here but decided to go direct and buy the V2 from Peter himself, at the time I didn't know about the different caps he used.
I returned the V2 because I just didn't like it, especially not in hindsight comparison to the V1.
At the moment he switched back again to the caps as came stock in the V1 for the V2 so I guess the sound is more similar to the V1 again.
The V2 has more range on the center control (former depth control on the V1) but it's all in the higher range (the range I severely dislike and which is probably the actual problem with most boutique phasers, the range just doesn't go deep enough, it's too high pitched which gives this stiff and plastic like sounding stuff in the higher midrange).
Because of the custom pots allegedly it's easier to dial in quicker speeds more precisely however that was not my impression.
The third mode phasing + vibe didn't add much in my opinion either.
So in best I'd say the V2 will perform as good as the V1 only being a little bit harder to dial in because in my opinion there's less usable range on the center control of the V2 than there is on the depth control of the V1.
That's all my quirky personal preference though and as I said I can only recommend buying from Peter direct as he's a superb standup guy to deal with and if you ask him he'll probably offer you a refund if you don't like the pedal, just as he did with me.

sylnau · Post by **sylnau** » Mon Dec 30, 2013 8:40 pm

I had a Whetstone... wasn't for me and I'm not an EQD guy.

I'm in Quebec (Canada) returning a pedal when I ordered form USA is a pain.

sylnau · Post by **sylnau** » Mon Dec 30, 2013 9:25 pm

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGKuXzVoF54[/youtube]

I like the sound from this V2 demo.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gWUULr69zI[/youtube]

Like the slow resonance from the V1.

Do you know if the V2 can go slower than the V1?

AndyTran · Post by **AndyTran** » Mon Dec 30, 2013 10:27 pm

If you pay for shipping both ways, you can borrow my Empress Phaser. I live in Ontario.

ilovefuzz.com

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