It's synonymous with the likes of Gilmour, Hendrix, and Van Halen—to name just a few. The addition of a phaser to a 'board is almost guaranteed to step up one's game in the hypnotic tone department. Here, we've gathered 10 phaser pedals for subtle to space-age modulation experimentation.
WAY HUGE
Atreides
Inspired by a 1980s mini-synthesizer, this "Analog Weirding Module" was designed to deliver growly sub-octave, expressive vocal envelope, swooshing phase, and gnarly fuzz sounds.
$199 street
jimdunlop.com
IBANEZ
Phaser MINI
Offering a variety of sounds, from subtle texture to deep saturation, this analog Phaser was dreamt up to retain the clarity of dry signal, even when set to the highest effect intensity.
$119 street
ibanez.com
PIGTRONIX
Moon Pool
This 4-stage analog phase shifter and tremolo has independent speed controls that change the rate of one or both of the effects in either direction, corresponding to how hard you play.
$179 street
pigtronix.com
MSL
Night Witch
This combo fuzz and ramping phaser is the company's take on the Roland AP-7 Jet Phaser, housing a circuit that's been modified and updated for today's pedalboards.
$300 street
mslpedals.com
WARM AUDIO
Jet Phaser
Boasting the same control set as the like-named original from the '70s, this phaser was created to drum up gentle modulation to distorted phase-drenched cacophony.
$199 street
warmaudio.com
MXR
Phase 90
From delicate, spatial shimmer to full-on high-velocity swooshing, this well-known orange box has been a mainstay for many thanks to its distinctively warm modulation.
$79 street
jimdunlop.com
SVI SOUND
Techno-FA
This mini-sized optical phaser can be switched between 2- and 4-stage phasing, while its four controls (frequency, range, depth, and bright) fine-tune modulation that ranges from vintage to modern shift sounds.
$169 street
svisound.com
ELECTRO-HARMONIX
Small Stone
Whether you're after a rotating speaker effect for blues, adding seasoning to your chicken pickin', or a jet-plane swoosh for metal, this phaser was built for sweeping shifting with liquid transparency.
$71 street
ehx.com
WALRUS AUDIO
Lillian
This multi-stage pedal is packed with a wide array of analog-phaser goodness to dial in, from slight amounts of movement from your dry signal to all sorts of unheard phase/vibrato combinations.
$199 street
walrusaudio.com
SOURCE AUDIO
Lunar Phaser
Offering three styles of phase modulation (vibe, classic, and multi), this MIDI-compatible pedal also synchs with the company's Neuro mobile app for an extensive list of downloadable algorithms.
$149 street
sourceaudio.net
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The 2018 CCL Deco Custom, in all its Pelham blue glory.
Anyway, we became friends and I started working on him pretty early—my 40th birthday was approaching, and that meant it was time for us to start designing his first solidbody build. If you stopped on this page, it’s because the photo of the finished product caught your eye. Beautiful, right? The 2018 CCL Deco Custom: Never shall there be another.
Old National Glenwood guitars were my design inspiration, but I wanted a slim waist like a PRS and the like. We used a solid block of korina to start, routed like MacGyver to get the knobs and switches where I wanted them. Dale builds all his own lathes and machines (usually out of lumber, y’all), as the task requires. This beast took some creativity—it’s tight wiring under that custom-steel pickguard. Many were the preliminary sketches. Four coats of Pelham blue, 11 coats of nitro. Honduran mahogany neck, Madagascar ebony fretboard with Dale’s signature not-quite-Super-400 inlays. He designed the logo; I just said, “Make it art deco.”
We sourced all the bits and bobs from StewMac and Allparts and Reverb and the like, mostly to get that chrome look I so adore. Graph Tech Ratio tuners, Duesenberg Radiator trem (had to order that one from Germany), TonePros TP6R-C roller bridge. The pickups were a genius suggestion from the builder, Guitarfetish plug ’n’ play 1/8" solderless swappable, which means I have about 10 pickups in the case to choose from: rockabilly to metal. And both slots are tapped, with the tone knobs serving as single- to double-coil switches. I put the selector on the lower horn to accommodate my tendency to accidentally flip the thing on Les Pauls—definite lifesaver.
Reader and guitar enthusiast, Cody Lindsey.
Dale offered to chamber this monster, but I said what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. It weighs in at 11 pounds, if it’s an ounce. We carved the neck to match a ’60s SG, so it’s like the mini bat you get at the ballpark on little kids’ day. Easy peasy. 1 11/16" nut, 25" scale, jumbo frets, just 2 1/8" at the 12th fret.
Delivery in its lovely, hygrometer-equipped Cedar Creek case actually happened a month or two shy of my 41st, but hey, you can’t rush these things. We ended up with a studio Swiss Army knife; it does a bit of everything and does it effortlessly. A looker, too. Dale didn’t spend his career doing this kind of thing—he was in IT or some such—and I imagine he’s winding this “hobby” of his down these days, enjoying retirement with a bottle of Killian’s and a lawn chair at Duluth Blues Fest. But this guitar will live on as a marker of his skill and otherworldly patience. It sits at the head of the class in my practice room, welcoming any visitors and bringing a smile to my face every day. And Dale, my friend, I’ll be 50 before you know it....
Cody requested that Dale design an art deco logo for the guitar’s headstock.