PHASE AND FLANGE

SPECTRUM001 · July 2023

Hello chaps - hoping for some advice on Phaser and Flanger use.

I am keen to dial in either phase or flange into a 'just breaking up' tone - often within rhythm playing and a slow sweep.

However when the sweep reaches its high end, I get quite a horrible thin, ice picky bite. And this is on an MXR Script, an EHX Small Stone, and now a Catalinbread STS 88.

Is this just the nature of these pedals (ie they designed to use with a quicker rotation in time with note and chord changes (whereby the high bite has been and gone before offending), or is it a quality issue ?

My old MusicMan valve amp had a built in phaser that was far smoother and never got that extreme. What an amp...

On a separate note, I really like the mix option with the STS 88 - whereby I am able to tailor how much of the flange is in the sound, and have a more subtle effect. That has worked really well and definitely adds what I want (or doesn't add too much !).

Any steering greatly appreciated...

dindude · July 2023

Where do you place it your chain? Phaser before any drive (even low gainers) has always worked for me as you don’t get weird volume boosts and the gain keeps the top end in check.

Majorscale · July 2023

I always place phasers and flangers before my drives. Works for me. Where in the chain are yours?

TJT1979 · August 2023

Ditto… any drives after phase/flange will help even out the harshness. But to be honest that’s an inherent part of these effects.

SPECTRUM001 · August 2023

Thanks for the tips - I gave that a try, and it did help (strange that online platforms all seem to advise to place gain at the start of the pedal chain) !

There's also quite a difference between my transistor and tube amps.

And I'm adjusting my playing to slightly move away from the high strings when hitting the top of the treble sweep.

EricTheWeary · August 2023

Depends on the sound in your head but if you think about Van Halen or solos on Bob Marley records or something it's primarily drive from an amp so phase, flange, delay would have all been pre drive. I don't know when drive-mods-reverb/delay became the orthodoxy.

Keefy · August 2023

EricTheWeary said:

Depends on the sound in your head but if you think about Van Halen or solos on Bob Marley records or something it's primarily drive from an amp so phase, flange, delay would have all been pre drive. I don't know when drive-mods-reverb/delay became the orthodoxy.

I wonder if it took off with early multi-fx units that had fixed pedal order?

Also I remember that in the 80s I was very keen to reduce noise in my guitar signal chain, and the ‘standard’ pedal order sought to do the same.

roberty · August 2023

I got a Hiwatt Tube Phaser recently and it has none of the harshness. Close to a univibe sort of sound. You may prefer a univibe style pedal, now that I think of it

Keefy · August 2023

roberty said:

I got a Hiwatt Tube Phaser recently and it has none of the harshness. Close to a univibe sort of sound. You may prefer a univibe style pedal, now that I think of it

Good point, there’s a huge range of sounds available from 4-stage phasers alone. Personally I’m not keen on large amounts of feedback/resonance that create a very ‘peaky’ response - that too could be part of the OP’s issue.

EricTheWeary · August 2023

Keefy said:

EricTheWeary said:

Depends on the sound in your head but if you think about Van Halen or solos on Bob Marley records or something it's primarily drive from an amp so phase, flange, delay would have all been pre drive. I don't know when drive-mods-reverb/delay became the orthodoxy.

I wonder if it took off with early multi-fx units that had fixed pedal order?

Also I remember that in the 80s I was very keen to reduce noise in my guitar signal chain, and the ‘standard’ pedal order sought to do the same.

I remember Andy Summers had a compressor at the end of his pedals and people scream NO! now because of noise but maybe a certain level of noise was more accepted then.

roberty · August 2023

Keefy said:

roberty said:

I got a Hiwatt Tube Phaser recently and it has none of the harshness. Close to a univibe sort of sound. You may prefer a univibe style pedal, now that I think of it

Good point, there’s a huge range of sounds available from 4-stage phasers alone. Personally I’m not keen on large amounts of feedback/resonance that create a very ‘peaky’ response - that too could be part of the OP’s issue.

I always thought the block Phase 90 sounded awful at home but amazing in a band context. I could never work that one out. Maybe the harshness is smeared into the cymbals, or maybe just sheer volume

dano · August 2023

I've got a few phasers i use, MXR EVH phase 90, MXR Hendrix Univibe and a Boss PH-1R.

I tend to go with the EVH at a slowish speed, knob between 10 and 11, great for rhythm-y stuff, and run it into a Trex Mudhoney (a fancy Rat).

My favourite phaser those in the Boss PH-1R, the resonance control is so sweet, adds just enough feedback to get a great sound.

Keefy · August 2023

dano said:

I've got a few phasers i use, MXR EVH phase 90, MXR Hendrix Univibe and a Boss PH-1R.

I tend to go with the EVH at a slowish speed, knob between 10 and 11, great for rhythm-y stuff, and run it into a Trex Mudhoney (a fancy Rat).

My favourite phaser those in the Boss PH-1R, the resonance control is so sweet, adds just enough feedback to get a great sound.

A friend of mine has the older Boss PH-1, absolutely classic phaser effect.

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