Bleak District Electric significantly upgrades its already formidable Miraj 4-Stage Vibe Shifter

This V2 Edition moves on significantly from the previous V1 - going from 7 to 10 Controls - and introducing a whole load of more colour into the proceedings - both figuratively and literally.

The V1 Controls consisted of - Regen, Rate, Volume, Depth, Univibe / Phase 90 Switch, Phaser / Vibrato Switch, Waveshape : Ramp Up / Ramp Down / Square / Triangle / Sine / Lumps / Random / Stepped, On/Off Footswitch, Tap Tempo Footswitch.

While the V2 Controls are - Envelope, Rate, EXP Switch : Rate / Off / Depth, Depth, Regen / Feedback, Envelope Switch : Depth / Off / Rate, Manual On Switch, Waveshape : Ramp Up / Ramp Down / Square / Triangle / Sine / Lumps / Random / Stepped, Phaser/Vibrato Switch, More Throb ’On’ Switch, On/Off Footswitch, Tap Tempo Footswitch.

The Miraj’s very original brief was to deliver the best of Phase 90 and Uni-Vibe in the same circuit / enclosure. And much like with his recent Tapescape Ambient Delay, Phil has added a load more granularity and versatility into the format - as mentioned - going from 7 controls in the previous version to 10 in this one. There are 3 essential Mode switches at play - the upper central Expression Options one, the lower left Envelope Options one, and the lower right Phaser/Vibe one - which selects the core effect. Those 3 switches very much set the key focus of the pedal - which you then shape using the remaining knobs and switches.

The new version also gives you a ’Manual’ Mode - with more static phase tones- controlled by the Envelope or Expression Pedal. The Envelope itself is superb - how you can vary the Rate or Depth via your playing style and pick-attack - I have a couple of tremolos that do similar things to great effect. All together delivering a very lively and organic, almost sentient-like effect!

As Phil says :

"Whether you swirl or throb, or self oscillate in a frantic to-ing and fro-ing of phase shift annihilation? The Miraj has you covered. At its heart, a four stage, optical phase shifter, the Miraj utilises an all analog signal path and a similar LED/LDR mechanism as the fabled Univibe. This provides a wonderfully analog interface to the digitally controlled, tap tempo, multiple waveform LFO. Borrowing design elements from both the Univibe and Phase 90, the Miraj is able to shift between those well known tones whilst maintaining a sonic character all of its own."