What am I supposed to do with a phaser?

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Caleb
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Re: What am I supposed to do with a phaser?

Post by Caleb » Tue Mar 13, 2012 4:21 pm

Phasers are one of those things that sound so bad and fake on their own that I think you need a mystical vision of how a song will turn out to use them well. Not for everyone (or even everyone who thinks it's for them :whistle: )

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Re: What am I supposed to do with a phaser?

Post by Empty Hills » Tue Mar 13, 2012 4:37 pm

Just listen to Wooden Shjips and Moon Duo. Take notes.

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Re: What am I supposed to do with a phaser?

Post by ice9 » Tue Mar 13, 2012 5:11 pm

i really like the psychedelic vibe of a slow phaser. great with fuzzy riffs or delayed lines. i like chopping up a simple chord progression with a square wave trem and a slow phase running underneath in tempo
chorus and flange are the ones i cant seem to get into.
i guess it depends on your influences and the type of music you play.

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Re: What am I supposed to do with a phaser?

Post by chase » Tue Mar 13, 2012 5:56 pm

Bakesalee wrote:What the hell am I supposed to do with a phaser?
Set it on stun, of course. I thought everyone knew that.

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Re: What am I supposed to do with a phaser?

Post by PorkyPrimeCut » Wed Mar 14, 2012 5:27 am

astricii wrote:
Johnnyseven wrote:
PorkyPrimeCut wrote:Dinosaur Jr - Forget The Swan

Jump to 2:04.
I'm pretty sure that's a flanger, probably an Electric Mistress.
Truth!
I bow down to your superior Dinosaur Jr knowledge.

Daft really, I played around with an Electric Mistress a while ago & hated it.
Also, I copied that solo part from Forget The Swan the other day using my Phaser & Swollen Pickle. Sounded spot on.
You think you can't, you wish you could, I know you can, I wish you would. Slip inside this house as you pass by.

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Re: What am I supposed to do with a phaser?

Post by quarterpound » Wed Mar 14, 2012 8:29 am

yeah, phaser "the concept" is fucking wonderful, and rare is the synth sound that cannot benefit from it. phaser "the guitar pedal" is usually underwhelming. unless youre trying for some intense pop or space sounds, i recommend leaving "res" almost off. leave it as short as possible in general and the phase will give a nice fattening effect. ofc, if you cant hear a setting you like, screw it, ditch it and try something else. maybe a difft phaser even. the proguitarshop demos seem like something whicg may inspire you. good luck! :)

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Re: What am I supposed to do with a phaser?

Post by noisepunk » Wed Mar 14, 2012 10:48 am

Wisdom as always. One thing I do with mine sometimes is dial it so it's basically a lo-fi cocked-wah fuzz type effect- turning the feedback all the way up, and the speed and depth all the way down- I've yet to actually use it in a song, partly because I like to just put the knobs where they go and just worry about playing, but it's a pretty cool sound I've never really heard before.

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Re: What am I supposed to do with a phaser?

Post by RuffiansFC » Wed Mar 14, 2012 11:03 am

i use my small stone for a univibe/leslie effect and it sounds gorgeous. i guess it is technically a vibrato effect, which gets lumped in with phasers like the phase 90 despite being a different beast. if you mess around with an effect long enough, you'll find a way to use it.

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Re: What am I supposed to do with a phaser?

Post by Spit on a Stranger » Wed Mar 14, 2012 2:06 pm

I've never been able to get along with modulation, outside of maybe Tremolo or even Vibrato, neither of which I have a whole lot of experience with, in spite of owning a Super Reverb. That said, I've been toying with the idea of picking up a phaser for maybe some subtle, atmospheric warbles and sweeps. But if I'm going to try another dirge into Modulation-land, I think a Tremolo pedal takes priority.

It's weird, because I really dig whacky, effects-laden players like Kevin Shields and Ronald Jones, but I just can't make it work for me. I love pedals, like genuinely LOVE them, but all I can really do is varying levels of dirt, delay (my favorite), and occasional use of a Wah, when I really want to spruce it up. I used to be into really wet, cavernous reverb sounds too, but ever since I got the Super Reverb, I just stick with the natural spring reverb, which is laughably tame compared to some of the stuff you can do with digital reverb pedals.

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Re: What am I supposed to do with a phaser?

Post by Bakesalee » Thu Mar 15, 2012 12:22 am

Spit on a Stranger wrote:I've never been able to get along with modulation, outside of maybe Tremolo or even Vibrato
I feel the same way. Everything I listen to uses an effect of some kind or another. But it seems all the pedals I have, I bought to play along with albums.

Anyways, I just wanted to thank everyone for their input.

And also, to the dude who recommended Real Estate, and their album "Days" a page back, I've had it on repeat for 24 hours now.

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Re: What am I supposed to do with a phaser?

Post by Spit on a Stranger » Thu Mar 15, 2012 2:16 pm

Bakesalee wrote:And also, to the dude who recommended Real Estate, and their album "Days" a page back, I've had it on repeat for 24 hours now.
They're great, and they showcase how awesome the RE-20 is... that's like, 90% of their guitar sound I feel. Check out their first album, it's all sorts of amazing.

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Re: What am I supposed to do with a phaser?

Post by astricii » Thu Mar 15, 2012 7:47 pm

Bakesalee wrote:
astricii wrote:
Bakesalee wrote:What on OK Computer uses a phaser? Never realized that. Maybe you could point me to some examples?

Also, those saying "make sure it's never turned on" are agreeing that it sounds pretty gimicky?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1tQFX_9ct0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Whammy and Phaser on 90% of the guitar in Subterranean Home Sick Alien

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rF8khJ7P" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... re=related
all over the leads on Paranoid Android.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Z_NvVMU" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... re=related
Layerd in the backing melodies of Let Down

Probably more but you get the idea
Thats awesome because believe it or not, I am sitting down with the OK Computer tab book learning 'Homesick Alien' right now anyways. Fuck yeah! Phaser plugged in.

Any recommended settings for "Rate", "depth", and "res"?
Hmm for that Subterranean vibe I'd proably set to a real slow rate set the res way high so you can hear it well then play with different depth settings til you find the area that just gives emphasis to the notes/frequency range you want. the back off the res all the way and just add in a little at a time until it sounds good to your ears. I find the real trick with phase is dialing it in to where you don't really notice it's there until you get rid of it. My ibanez has a square wave function that I use like a choppy tremolo type effect I'll run that into another delay then a barberpoll phaser. (you only hear one direction of the sweep so it sounds like it's constantly going up or down) then a multi tap delay all of them set very subtle and dry so the whole effect is blended as one larger type of effect with the dry guitar.
I have too many jags.

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Re: What am I supposed to do with a phaser?

Post by dc » Thu Mar 15, 2012 10:22 pm

this. 8)

and i think this -- i believe Sean Eden has a slow phase going on for his solo from the 4:20 point. i remember reading he had an Ibanez PT-9 on his board in those days. bonus: extreme Jazzmaster content:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8KtTBX-Kjg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
in the coldest night / huddled 'round the dying embers

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Re: What am I supposed to do with a phaser?

Post by astricii » Fri Mar 16, 2012 7:09 pm

dc wrote:
øøøøøøø wrote:Happened across another cool phaser-moment today: Ballad of El Goodo by Big Star.
this.

and i think this -- i believe Sean Eden has a slow phase going on for his solo from the 4:20 point. i remember reading he had an Ibanez PT-9 on his board in those days. bonus: extreme Jazzmaster content:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8KtTBX-Kjg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
indeed. Pitch vibrato on the swells in the parts before and subtle phase on the solo. the best kind of phase. :)
I have too many jags.

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Re: What am I supposed to do with a phaser?

Post by quarterpound » Sat Mar 24, 2012 10:16 am

sorry if im beating this into the ground, but, just by coincidence, someone on the forum is selling a phaser, so i looked it up on youtube. I think it pretty well answers what to do with a phaser.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gs3TmGr ... ata_player" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

...of course the phaser in this demo is not your average phaser...

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