Showing posts with label MXR Phase 90. Show all posts
Showing posts with label MXR Phase 90. Show all posts

Monday, January 05, 2009

MXR Phase 90


I've had this pedal for a while now and have fallen in and out of love with it and back again. I tried it just about everywhere in my effects chain until I settled on keeping it towards the front end. This pedal sounds magnificent when it drives a good distortion or overdrive and has enough kick to shine through a compressor, as it adds a discernible boost in the treble frequencies when turned on. This is also great for clean parts because it lifts the guitar out of the mix. Anyone who, like me, has to fight for sonic territory with another guitarist and a keyboard player in the band will appreciate this. (By the way, I found that it's this boost that is the most notable difference between this 'block logo' version and the vintage '74 reissue.) Operating the pedal is easy, the only knob regulates the speed of the phasing effect, ranging from a slow wash to a whacked out wobble. Despite it's simplicity, this orange box ended up covering a lot of bases for me. With it, I can get pretty close to a wah-wah effect but the Phase 90 also produces a convincing rotary/Univibe swirl (about halfway on the dial) and has also worked decently as a replacement for a flanger, where a similar effect is needed.

Monday, March 26, 2007

Pedalboard In Action

Since I recently posted about my pedalboard, it's only fair that I show you what it actually sounds like. This is an outtake from a 10 minute recording I made by mic'ing up my Park G10 practice amp (basically, a Korean made solid state Marshall). On this piece, you'll hear my Les Paul Double Cutaway guitar (check it out here) using the rythm (neck) pickup, playing through the Boss overdrive and delay units (set to a slight slapback). I'm kicking in the Phase 90 at about a third of the way through the track with an extreme, Leslie-speaker type setting, then roll it back for a slower phasing effect. Check out the crunch this latter setting adds to my tone, I just love it... Oh yeah, the backing track is played on the Boss RC-2 Loop Station (this loop came stock with the pedal). Enjoy!

Live Guitar 1.mp3