2021 Year of the Phaser - Release Roundup and Highlights

Controls - Amount, Manual, Shape : Triangle / Square, Feedback, Rate.

Synth specialists Dreadbox have produced an exceptionally flavoursome 8-Stage Phaser - with fairly simple controls, and CV Inputs for Manual, Rate and LFO Out. A little over-sized in format (larger than BB-enclosure) - so not exactly ideal for my preferences - while there's no doubting that excellent phasey output. This is particularly suitable for tabletop synth / modular synth types.

Controls - Voice : Phaser / Vibe, Shape : Ramp / Triangle / Sine / Square, Ramp : Momentary / Latch / Drift, Level, Feedback : High / Medium / None, Speed, On/Hold Footswitch, Tap Tempo / Ramp Footswitch.

This is one of the first Phasers I picked up this year - that combination of 4-Stage Phaser and Uni-Vibe in one unit is just genius - and I'm pretty used to the Flower Pedal format by now - as its Hosta Wah-Filter is mostly rooted to the pedal chain these days. Just a really smart and distinct execution - where everything pretty much works as expected. What with so many phasers arriving this year - this hasn't spent a whole lot of time on the board yet - I'm still finding new depths with the Strymon Zelzah - so that one's staying in the rotation for a while.

Controls - Effect Order : Fuzz>Phaser / Phaser>Fuzz, Fuzz : On/Off, Phase Volume, Phase Rate 1, Phase Rate 2, Fuzz Volume, Fuzz Tone, Engage Footswitch, Rate 1 / Rate 2 Footswitch.

This is another combination play and collaboration even with Nicholas Williams of Dunwich Amplification - the perfect combination of Phaser and Fuzz. As the Phaser has more controls - I am officially calling this a Fuzz-Phaser - rather than a Phaser-Fuzz - while of course it's both! It was sonically very much inspired by Roland's AP-7 Jet Phaser - while the circuit here is evolved along quite different lines. Fuzz and Phasing have always combined well - and to have the two of them so finely integrated into the same unit is special. As is the artwork on these - just glorious pedals - albeit a touch larger than I expected - slightly over-sized versus a typical BB-enclosure - so a touch more tricky to accommodate in the chain. Not really found a more permanent place for it yet - while it has taken a few spins on the periphery of the chain. I have the Axe and You Shall Receive limited Purple Sparkle edition - which matches my Canadian Dealers Special Li'l Fella Distortion - also by Fuzzrocious obviously!

Controls -  Depth, Feedback, Speed, Stage Button : 4 / 6.

I considered this quite heavily before I acquired the MXR Deep Phase 4/8-Stage Phaser. I have had the Phase 95 for the longest time and really rate that, and I do like symmetry and matching pairs - so of all the new Mini Phasers I went for the Deep Phase - While I still really like the Ibanez PHMINI - and the Pigtronix Moon Pool for that matter. Who knows - I may end up with all 3 eventually. It was symmetry and habituality which helped the MXR Deep Phase overt the line - while I should really have done more of a scientific head-to-head exercise. This is how the pedal game is - mostly rational thoughts and scientific methodology - but at other times just familiarity and sibling appreciation wins the day! The Ibanez PHMINI is for sure a great phaser any which way...

Controls - Blend, Rate, Width, Feedback.

It's cool to see Josh Scott continuing to do interesting things with his $99 3-Series Pedals. Deciding here to go not for the more typical 4-Stage Phase 90 type, but a different vintage 6-Stage phaser - more stages typically means more flavour! These are really simple and elegant - always 3 variable knobs and a 2-way Toggle Switch. For sure there are more creative Phasers out there - but for $99 you can't really quibble. Yes they are SMT constructed - but then so is every other mainstream pedal nowadays - and that lends itself to more reliability as well as quicker build rates. I still think that if you look closely enough you can probably get an equal or better pedal for the price. For $99 though you mostly feel it's not worth the quibble. I'm not sure the 3-Series wholesale appeals to me generally - but I would still quite like to get my hands on the Fuzz and Distortion varieties at some stage - those are really smartly engineered and well thought out pedals for sure!

Controls - Regen, Rate : Higher / LFO Off / Lower, Speed, Level, Mix, Sweep.

I was so taken by Magnetic Effects' Head Honcho Chris Livingstone's new album 'Eye to Eye' with his band - The Datsuns - that I just had to have this. I've not really identified exactly which tracks it is used on - but I'm pretty sure it's part of the sound of 'In Record Time' per the above! One of the cool aspects here is that you can Park the LFO (Rate Off) and then just use the pedal as a manual filter - for tone-shaping duties. Weirdly I've not come across any official demos for this pedal yet - so the final track of the recent album has to do!

Controls - 8 x Waveforms, Depth/Character, Rate/Speed, Bypass Footswitch, Tap Temp Footswitch.

I freely admit I was first and foremost rather taken by the plexi-front design of the enclosure - with the Red, Yellow and Blue knobs. It's design and styling sort of reminded me of Mondrian - and this was the last but one I Phaser acquired this year - just before the MXR Deep Phase. It hasn't had too much usage yet - but that elegant combination of 3 knobs and dual-footswitches works wonders. Beyond this being referenced as an Analog Phaser - there is no further distinction of type or number of Stages. The Digitally Controlled Waveforms make it sound pretty rich - and so it's hard to gauge what the guts are doing really. Most contemporary phasers tend to be 4-Stage - so in the absence of detail - that is the rough guess!

Controls - Speed, Depth, Colour.

A coolly textured 6-Stager based on the original Maestro Phaser. Weirdly Gibson threw a spanner in the works for the first named 'Mister-O' version - which Gibson accused of copyright infringement - saying that it was too close to 'Maestro' even though the Fonts were quite distinct - and as is the wording and meaning. Mister-O surely cannot be conflated with Maestro - which is a dormant brand nowadays in any case, and the way Gibson kicks up a fuss each time - really just harms itself. To me this will always be the Mister-O - not sure how I feel about Mr-O - I really don't see the point. Funnily Gibson has 0 Maestro Phasers out there in the market currently - and in fact not for several decades - so the whole thing is a little insane for me! The Mr-O is really rather well-calibrated yet simple Phaser!

Controls - Mode : I (4) / II (8), Speed, Feedback.

As I explained earlier - the Phase 95 has long been my favourite Mini Phaser - so I thought I must own its Deep Phase Sibling too - which has 4 and 8 Stage Phasing options, and an additional Feedback control versus the 95. I got impatient waiting for this to get into UK distribution and ordered one from the US - but it seems I erred in any case as this it taking forever to arrive! I really don't understand why it often takes pedals a fortnight just to leave the United States? There are obviously sill serious issues with internal mail. This is thicker, fatter and juicier than the Phase 95 - while I still only have remote experience of this pedal! Likely my last one to arrive for 2021 as I switch to Christmas mode at the end of this month! Also the Ibanez Mini Phaser and Pigtronix Moon Pool are just as good Minis really - and I will probably need to land those too!

Controls - Feedback/Resonance, Stages : 4/8, Sample & Hold Mode, Phase Level, Intensity, LPF Filters, Speed, Dry-Signal / Mix.

I really admire Mexican outfit Paradox Effects - and have long had their Futura Chorus, and Terran Overdrive on my wishlist - indeed for quite a while - they're just not readily available on this side of the pond. Paradox always do things slightly different - and their Sample & Hold / Envelope Follower phaser is another unique and distinct take on the genre. I of course typically prefer compact enclosure pedals - and for larger enclosures - expect dual footswitches - Paradox could have had a second Footswtich to switch either Stages or S&H mode really - rather than relying on two push-buttons. That said - it's a another great sounding and versatile fuzz - quite distinct from all these others - so well worth a look-in!

Controls - Speed, Stages : 6/10, Depth, Feedback, Mode : Manual/Auto, Range.

Australian outfit PastFX are masters of the vintage replicas - sourcing those super rare NOS components and replicating classics from the past in more elegant and compact formats. This is a fantastic rendition of the Foxx Foot Phaser which Brian May popularised in the 70's. This phaser includes rare hand-matched transistors which each make up the 10 Stages available here - which can be switched back to 6 Stages for more subtlety, or deployed with all 10 Stages for maximum texture. The 6 controls here give you ultimate tone-shaping over this phaser's output which obviously has a huge range of tones onboard. I've had my eye on this for a while - while I'm currently collecting PastFX's Spectrum Series of Buffalo FX style compact re-engineered editions. The Foot Phaser Deluxe is still on my wishlist, but currently not quite a top priory - maybe next year!

Controls - Phase Speed, Trem Speed, Depth, Sensitivity, Trem / Phase / Both toggle, Phaser Dynamics : Increase / No Change / Decrease, Trem Dynamics : Faster / No Change / Slower.

This is a really cool combination effect which mixes up Phasing with Tremolo - with some really cool envelope sensing dynamics for speed and intensity - a little like my Anasounds Ages does. Getting an Amplitude Tremolo and 4-Stage Phaser in the one tiny enclosure is just super handy! I will almost certainly add this to the collection at some stage!

Controls - Rate, Depth, Feedback, Symmetry, Wave Shape : Hypertriangular / Sine / Triangular, Stages : 4 / 5 / 6, Tap Tempo Footswitch, On/Bypass Footswitch.

Andy Sitek's Phasia Phase Shifter is one of my favourite Analog Phasers for sure - with superb aqueous and burbly textures - very aptly monikered 'Queen of the Waves'! It also has a lot of delicacy about it and is really easy to figure out and dial in. Moreover the enclosure sits so close to compact dimensions that it's effortless to slot in on your board. Just a really elegant watery phaser with some very distinct phasing textures in particular with Symmetry set to extremes on Hypertriangle and 6-Stages!

Controls - Speed / Barber Incline, Sweep : Classic / Barber / Envelope, Depth / Stereo Spread, Mix / MIDI Expression, 4-Stage On Footswitch, Resonance : Off / Mild / Strong, Speed / MIDI Sync, Voice : Phase > Time > Flange > Chorus / Output : Series / Parallel / Split, Depth / Stereo Spread, 6-Stage On Footswitch.

This is currently my current mainstay phaser - which is unusual for me as my favourite Phasers are typically analogue varieties. While Strymon has really knocked it out of the park with this one - capable of all kinds of modulation flavours including Chorus, Flanging, Rotary, Tremolo and even Uni-Vibe and Envelope Filtering. Just amazingly versatile - also in how you can combine the two sides for really thick and expansive syrupy textures. Just a brilliantly conceived and executed effect - and stereo output to boot - I think it's wonderful!

Controls - Enhance / Resonance, Manual / Frequency, Depth / Intensity. Blend / Mix, Phasing : Bi-Directional / Dual Phase, Mode : Inverted Phase / Pulse / Normal, Rate / Speed.

Probably my favourite Analog Phaser of all-time - which is about as versatile as a 4-Stage Phaser can get - with a fantastic range of tones onboard. Also despite what you may have read in other guitar magazines - this is noway near as complicated as it looks to some people! All those controls are beautifully calibrated for even taper and predictable onset. Finding tones here is really effortless - and we've given you a head-start with so many great presets, including a couple of my own. This for me does everything you might expect a phaser to do and more - it's incredible that this is an all-analogue construction - and it's a worthy heir to its Lovetone forebear. You can get fantastic Phasing, Tremolo and Vibrato tones here with ease - with all kinds of beautiful throbby and bubbly textures you just can't find elsewhere. This is a new classic for sure!