Your favorite Phase project?

[mth5044]

Curious to see what everyones favorite phase build is. I've seen PCBs for the Phase 45, 90, 100 and the Small Stone,  but are there any more out there? Ones you like better? Worse? Reasons you like/dislike them? Complexity?

[Heemis]

+1 on this.  I was just about the post the same question, so I'll just bump.

I'm looking to build a phase next, and I want something with some versatility, but not over the top complex.  I want more than a Phase 45, or a phozer, but not something I'm gonna pull my hair out over.

[guitarman89]

I have a tonepad p90 modded and i'm building a new one with other mods. I like it, with that swirl which is very warm at any settings. I am thinking to build a bad theory mark 2. It sounds great too.

[MikeH]

I've built the 45 and the 90.  45 was far too subtle for my taste, 90 is cool.  Both are rife with modding opportunitites.  I tried to build a small stone but got a little impatient with it.  It is now in what I refer to as the "Pile of Failure", i.e., circuits I never got to work and now are just used to salvage parts from.

[Heemis]

Anyone else want to chime in on this?

[MarcoMike]

this is the right topic at the right moment...

this morning I decided I'm gonna build a Morley PFA!!!!
after months of tweaking of my ross phaser, I'm just not  able to reach that level of control and madness as with the PFA... no chance! there were few flaws in the PFA I think I can fix, some which look quite difficoult, as no layout available, 5 or more trimpots which have to be set by ear/luck and dual/dual supply: 20,0V and +12,0,-12V... and also the problem to find the correct photocells, as the res values shown on the schem don't match with what is sold as "morley replacement photocells"

So, if anybody is interested in this plan, with no certainty and lots of obstacles... please let me know, then we could share the price!

[petemoore]

  Jfets...gotta mess with picking them out [Jfet matching fixture...many Jfets].
  Opto...gotta mess with the right ones etc.
  CA3080 or similar...have to find one.
  Vibes can be luscious and tasty, Ph90-Jfets are sweet sound, Small Stone could use a mix or depth knob, or to be used on 'one side' of dual-mono, otherwise it's a nice, 'dense' phase tone, seems like it's easily swamped by hotter input signals, the output needs 'balanced' to just enough under unity to be stable and sound like unity, I put a booster there though..
  Phase 45 is J-fet sweet, has a really nice 'through the phase tone' tone, even though it has a 'mild' sweep to it, the circuit can be whipped up ['careful' selection from Jfets...whew] with 'Jfets' [required matched pair can work...if you swap enough of them to find the 'two'].
  Then there's the ROSS, which Mr. Hammer has dissected, inspected, redirected, and says it has lots of useful control modification and modification possibilities.

[shredgd]

Phase 90 all the way!

[DougH]

I built a Phase 90 and love it.

Do it the easy way-

- Get the pcb from Tonepad (saves a lot of headaches)
- Order a bunch of JFETs and set up a simple tester on the breadboard to sort them, all you need are 4 matches

Then just follow the directions... It's a great phaser.

[Mark Hammer]

The Ross Phaser (Ropez project at www.tonepad.com) is a good 4-stage phaser that can be modified in lots of interesting and useful ways. Best of all, the LM13600 chips it uses require NO MATCHING or testing.

[Heemis]

Well, I've looked over the tonepad ROSS phaser project, and I think i'm gonna go with that!   Thanks for all the suggestions, and thanks to the OP for letting me jump on his thread.

[MarcoMike]

If you happen to be in Italy you can have mine...

[SISKO]

Did anyone ever tried a Bad stone from EHX?

[Heemis]

Are you really that dissatisfied with it Marco?  Listening to the sound samples, it sounds like just what I'm looking for.  Also the difficulty level is just right.  Not to mention the real fun starts when you start to play around and mod the circuit.  You can send me your Ross Marco, but only if you take it completely apart first, so I can build it again, that's half the fun!

[MarcoMike]

well, I'm not REALLY disappointed, just not happy enough!

it is not bad sounding phaser at all!! and I really like it in univibe mode... with only wet signal passing... that's fun!! but of course we all are not looking for the same kind of effect... and this time I was looking for something more versatile, and extreme if needed...

probably I'm just still in love with the PFA  ... by the way... would it be a problem using 2 tl074 instead of 8 lm741? or is that extra mojo needed?

[mth5044]

Hmm sounds like the Ross Phaser is pretty good. I wouldn't mind doing the vibrato mod and the phase filter mods. I also see that there are two values for the univibe mod. Would it be worth while to make all the caps have different switchs? Or just the two univibe caps on one switch, then two separate switches for each phase filter cap? Or all 4 caps on switch?

Also, the extra phase stages looks really cool. I assume they are able to be switchable? So you could go from 4 to 8 stages with a switch, then 8 to 12 with another switch. It's still possible to do this with the vibrato mod right?

Another thing i was thinking, someone mentioned you can't do the extra stages and the filter switch mods... what if you just make sure you are back at four stages (the other board(s) for the stages are switched out)? Then they will work right?

Finally... 16 stage phaser??? would it be worth it?

This is going to be one massive switching/phasing machine 

Thanks to all who responded, i really appreciate your input.

Heemis - it's your thread as much as it is mine 

[Mark Hammer]

1) The Ross/Ropez is so easy and cheap to build that it simply makes no sense to futz around with all the wiring and changes that would need to be made to Uni-Vibe it.  Just buy/make another board, stick in the right caps, install a vibrato switch and be done with it.  I hasten to remind you that  a) Uni-Vibes sound like crap with any regeneration, and b) the range of speeds and sweep widths you'll want for a Uni-Vibe are different than what you'll want for a phaser.  So just let the Uni-Vibed Ropez be itself, and let the phaser do what it does best.  Yes, it's two boards and two builds, but soooooo many fewer headaches.

2) You can use a 50k pot for the Speed control on the Uni-Vibe version.  Nobody can hear any effect with them when the rate gets much slower than maybe one sweep every 2 seconds.  Remove the Regen pot, and the pair of 1uf caps and 27k resistors associated with it.  You won't need 'em.  Run a 47uf cap from the OTA side of the 10k resistor (where the drawing says "LFO") to ground.  That will smooth out the sweep as you turn up the speed.

3) There tends to be diminishing returns for more than 12 stages of phase shift unless you use it to process very harmonically rich wide-bandwidth signals, like the sort you might get playing synth pads or phasing a mixed-down track in post-production.  Guitars simply don't deliver in that regard, even when fuzzed up.

4) If you do go with more than 4 stages, consider tapping your phase-only signal for vibrato purposes from 2, 4, 6, or 8 stages.  The more phase-shift, the bigger the wobble.

[mth5044]

Thanks mark.

So, don't bother with the univibe switches. Don't bother with more then 12 stages for guitar. Only use vibrato on 2,4,6,8 stages on phaser. I think I got it. Can this thing do 2 and 6 stages? I thought it was bound to 4,8,12 with the boards?

Also, any comment on the phase filter switching? Is it correct to assume that if you have the two extra boards (for 8 and 12 stages) switched out, the filter switch mods will work as planned? Worth having a seperate switch per cap on those two, or just one switch for both?

Can this thing get the classic Phase 90 Time kind of sound?

Thanks 

[Mark Hammer]

1) The shape of the sweep is different than the P90, so while they are both 4 stages, it won't sound identical.

2) I'm not saying you HAVE to have vibrato after 2, 4, 6, etc. stages.  Rather, you may find the vibrato derived from les/more stages more to your liking, so don't assume it HAS to be 4 or nothing.

3) The boards come in groups of 4 stages, but nothing says you have to tap the phase-shifted signal after every 4th stage.  Feel free to tap it in the middle too.

4) Just make yourself a 4-stager to start with, and do the phase-filter thing for two stages just to see if you like.  I know I talk it up a lot, but you may not like it at all once you hear it.

Start small.  See what you like, and expand as necessary.

[RickL]

Did anyone ever tried a Bad stone from EHX?

I did and I'm surprised that more people haven't done this one. It uses common parts and it sounds good. It's also the only commonly available phaser with a manual option. i built mine into a standard box with the manual pot on the side with a big knob that I could operate with my foot (similar to the big Maestro wedge shaped boxes). Even cooler would be to put it in a old wah or volume pedal.

I built it using a layout I found on line somewhere, but don't ask me where.