Phaser suggestion

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YMI5150?
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Re: Phaser suggestion

Post by YMI5150? » Fri Aug 23, 2013 10:54 am

Vintage stuff are crap shoots at best. I'm trying to find a solution that uses new parts, is reliable and cheaper.

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garbeaj
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Re: Phaser suggestion

Post by garbeaj » Fri Aug 23, 2013 3:15 pm

I bought my circa '73 (pot codes '73 anyway) "Bud box" MXR Phase 90 for $20 at a pawn shop in 1987. Only needed some fresh wire and a new cap on the battery attachment then. I used it continuously without fail until last year when stuff disintegrated and it needed an overhaul. I spent $150 to send it to CAE in California to get fixed. Sounds exactly the same. I would imagine I can get at least another 20 plus years out of it.

To each their own, but it just puzzles me why anyone WOULDN'T buy a vintage Phase 90. I've played through and listened to a lot (at least 8 or 9) vintage Phase 90s over the last 20 odd years and they all sound consistently the same. This is one of two pieces of Ed oriented equipment that has absolutely no mystery to it, the other being the late 70s MXR Flanger (I have one of those too).

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Lefty Lou
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Re: Phaser suggestion

Post by Lefty Lou » Sun Aug 25, 2013 3:36 pm

As David Gilmour can attest, the Maestro Phaser was just as good if not better than the MXR Phase 90, and if a person desired to go the vintage 70's foot pedal route then the Maestro (was/still is) a very good choice.


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Re: Phaser suggestion

Post by garbeaj » Sun Aug 25, 2013 7:39 pm

Lefty Lou wrote:As David Gilmour can attest, the Maestro Phaser was just as good if not better than the MXR Phase 90, and if a person desired to go the vintage 70's foot pedal route then the Maestro (was/still is) a very good choice.


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I haven't heard that Gilmour used this Maestro phaser...which recordings did he use it on or did he just use it live at some point?

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Lefty Lou
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Re: Phaser suggestion

Post by Lefty Lou » Sun Aug 25, 2013 8:46 pm

garbeaj wrote:
Lefty Lou wrote:As David Gilmour can attest, the Maestro Phaser was just as good if not better than the MXR Phase 90, and if a person desired to go the vintage 70's foot pedal route then the Maestro (was/still is) a very good choice.


Image
I haven't heard that Gilmour used this Maestro phaser...which recordings did he use it on or did he just use it live at some point?
http://www.gilmourish.com/?page_id=205" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

"Seek and ye shall find".

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garbeaj
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Re: Phaser suggestion

Post by garbeaj » Mon Aug 26, 2013 9:37 am

Lefty Lou wrote:
garbeaj wrote:
Lefty Lou wrote:As David Gilmour can attest, the Maestro Phaser was just as good if not better than the MXR Phase 90, and if a person desired to go the vintage 70's foot pedal route then the Maestro (was/still is) a very good choice.


Image
I haven't heard that Gilmour used this Maestro phaser...which recordings did he use it on or did he just use it live at some point?
http://www.gilmourish.com/?page_id=205" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

"Seek and ye shall find".
I had searched Gilmourish when you made that post and I couldn't find a reference to that phaser...this link just took me to the main page.

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YMI5150?
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Re: Phaser suggestion

Post by YMI5150? » Mon Aug 26, 2013 1:21 pm

swapped the bypass resistor for a trim pot. will allow variable blend of effect into the signal and mellow it out or make it more pronounced.

:rockon:
phase 90 board resistor forum.jpg
phase 90 board resistor forum.jpg (123.31 KiB) Viewed 2515 times
phase 90 board trim pot forum.jpg
phase 90 board trim pot forum.jpg (93.98 KiB) Viewed 2515 times

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Lefty Lou
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Re: Phaser suggestion

Post by Lefty Lou » Mon Aug 26, 2013 2:12 pm

I searched later and couldn't find the Maestro mentioned, so: 1) I know the guy at Gilmourish is not truly up on Gilmour's equipment. 2) This is why a person should not trust everything they read on the net.

I'm currently 53 (about to turn 54) and I was 15 when "Wish You Were Here" came out. I owned the phaser shown in the pic, and remember all sorts of ads in the guitar mags that specifically referred to Gilmour using the Maestro Stage Phaser (different model) BUT this particular Phaser is still not mentioned under Gilmourish, so that website owner's information is incomplete and lacking.

Same thing happened when I went to look for info on a concert by Ozzy in Norman, Okla in the 80's where a flash pot went off too close to (Randy Rhoads, or Jake E. Lee) which stopped the concert. NEVER FOUND a reference to that incident ever online. Talk about your Errors and Ommissions.

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Re: Phaser suggestion

Post by garbeaj » Mon Aug 26, 2013 2:59 pm

I tend to believe the MXR Phase 90 was the main phase effect heard on the Wish You Were Here album along with the Leslie. I also think that the Gilmourish site is really believable...one would be hard pressed to find anyone that has put the research in that Bjorn has...

But I wouldn't be surprised if Gilmour had used this particular Maestro phaser...he certainly had access to every pedal and effect under the sun back then, as he does now.

Sorry for the detour...now back to the regularly scheduled O.P.

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Lefty Lou
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Re: Phaser suggestion

Post by Lefty Lou » Mon Aug 26, 2013 6:09 pm

I'll say this much, even though my memory isn't that great for some things. I DISTINCTLY recall articles and ads in guitar magazines in the 70's that made mention of David Gilmour using a Maestro Stage Phaser. It doesn't surprise me one bit about the "internet" slurring facts, ommitting facts, and even changing facts. It's like a 20 year old telling you how things used to be when you were young because he got "the lowdown" from your friends. That only works if the young guy gets a general concensus from all the people who knew you, and they all agreed on what really happened.

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Re: Phaser suggestion

Post by Tone Slinger » Tue Aug 27, 2013 12:57 am

I think Ernie Isley used a Maestro phase tone on "That Lady'. I can get fairly close with my Jet Phaser.

I like Ace Frehley's Phase sound on the "Strange Ways" solo on 'Hotter Than Hell". Killer sound and vibe.I Love that solo :rock: . He used a very similar sound on the 'I gotta Get Away' solo on 'Dressed To Kill' as well as 'Mr. Blackwell' on 'Music From The Elder'. I think it was a Mutron of some sort.

Back to OP. I actually like the aggressiveness of my 1996 Blocklogo MXR Phase 90. It can sound very much like Hendrix's sound on Woodstocks 'Izabella' (though I know that was a Univibe). Early Dave Murry is also a blocklogo. I have better luck with getting these newer phase 90's to sound like early Ed by turning them to around 10 or 11. If I set them at the 8 or 9 oclock spot like Ed did, they have that dull mid honk thing. I think that Kev's mod might do the trick,but only if you have the speed at that point where the phases eq is right,like at 10 or 11.
Rip Ben Wise (StuntDouble) & Mark Abrahamian (Rockstah)

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Lefty Lou
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Re: Phaser suggestion

Post by Lefty Lou » Tue Aug 27, 2013 1:18 am

Somewhere today on the web I ran across an excerpt from Eddie regarding the MXR Phase 90 where he said something to the effect that he typically ran his MXR Phase 90 at a slower speed which helped the peaks in his guitar sound to cut through the mix which especially makes sense with Alex Van Halen drumming.


FWIW and to concur, I did find (from several sources) that Ernie Isley did use a Maestro Phaser for the classic Isley Brothers tune, "Who's That Lady".

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Lefty Lou
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Re: Phaser suggestion

Post by Lefty Lou » Tue Aug 27, 2013 1:26 am

I have but one phaser, the Effectrode Phaseomatic which I'll hold on to and forget about ever replacing.

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Re: Phaser suggestion

Post by garbeaj » Tue Aug 27, 2013 11:58 am

Lefty Lou wrote:FWIW and to concur, I did find (from several sources) that Ernie Isley did use a Maestro Phaser for the classic Isley Brothers tune, "Who's That Lady".
That's true, but it wasn't the model you have pictured...it was the 6-stage FET one with the colored rocker switches that John Paul Jones used on the live versions of "No Quarter".
Last edited by garbeaj on Tue Aug 27, 2013 12:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Phaser suggestion

Post by garbeaj » Tue Aug 27, 2013 12:03 pm

Lefty Lou wrote:I'll say this much, even though my memory isn't that great for some things. I DISTINCTLY recall articles and ads in guitar magazines in the 70's that made mention of David Gilmour using a Maestro Stage Phaser. It doesn't surprise me one bit about the "internet" slurring facts, ommitting facts, and even changing facts. It's like a 20 year old telling you how things used to be when you were young because he got "the lowdown" from your friends. That only works if the young guy gets a general concensus from all the people who knew you, and they all agreed on what really happened.
One caveat to bear in mind is that many ads in guitar magazines in the 70s and 80s claimed that thus and such famous player used their product. Back then there really wasn't that much litigation behind things like that and companies would often claim that an artist used their product. Some artists even endorsed products that they never used-like Eddie Van Halen for instance. He never actually used a production model Kramer live or in the studio. Famously, Grover Jackson put Eddie's name on the black and yellow striped Charvel guitars and Eddie never used it...this pissed Eddie off and he broke ties with the company (though he can be seen playing a black and yellow production model Charvel in the 1981 Entertainment Tonight profile of Valerie Bertinelli and Ed). Same thing when Seymour Duncan tried to market a "Van Halen" model pickup. This pissed Eddie off too and he had to start calling it the "78".

I would take whatever guitar magazine ads you speak of from your memory with a grain of salt. I'm 41 and I have been playing guitar since I was 8 years old and I've been involved with vintage guitars, amplifiers and effects since I can remember.

The internet has a lot of bullshit out there, but Bjorn Rijs is one of the guys out there that has done an enormous amount of research and application of eberything under the sun relating to Gilmour's various tones...probably more than anyone on the planet. I don't take everything he or anyone else (in life or on the internet) says as 100% gospel all the time in every situation, but I do trust his research in general.

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