4ms Phaseur Fleur

quite easy to use, lots of controls for all parameters

very good quality sounds, and good "thru" sound too, not too much coloration

i worry a LITTLE about the footswitches, but i'm REALLY hard on these things....i would use it on a gig no problem (already am!)

dan is the GREATEST, he will do ANY sort of modification you want or need. top rating here!

3Ms effects....you may have checked out their website at: http://homepage.interaccess.com/~green/3ms/
or you may have read something about them on the newsgroups. custom handmade effects bu dan green at unbelievable prices. well, i decided to take the plunge and order a few of the interesting units, and here's my full report. i have used the pedals on both studio sessions and live doing gigs with my band down here in good ol' florida.
first impressions: they are quite unusual looking, i always have people coming up to ask "what the heck are those things?". dan has housed his effects in electric junction boxes, and they plain look weird at first. i have mixed emotions about these, but i know they keep the prices down to the end user. they are painted in various colors. the parts used are of high quality, but the stomp switches seem a bit delicate. i haven't broken one yet though.
i have tested and used the duo distortor, the tremelus lune, the fuzz jade, and the phaser fleur so far. my fave is the duo distortor pedal, it combines the fuzz jade and the distortion granite into one pedal. it's kind of like having a tube screamer and a fuzzface in one pedal, pretty cool. i REALLY like the fuzz, it reminds me of how fat and dynamic my FOXX tone machine is-and that's no small compliment! i can leave my precious tone machine at home and take the duo to gigs now instead and not have to worry about my drunken bass player stomping on it or someone spilling beer on it from the dancefloor. YES! the distortion granite side of the duo (both pedals are avaliable as separate units) is very much like a tube csreamer, but with a LOT more gain, and a bit more "bite", or top end. i really like using mine with a "real" tube screamer, the combination is really cool. i love having both pedals in one box, and for only $95, it's pretty cool. dan has also recently added a "rectifer" control, that adds a bit of "sag" to the signal like a tube recitifer does, and i use a little of that too. both of these pedals, or the combo, are winners!
the tremelus lune is wonderful! mine has five knobs, you can control all sorts of stuff. i like mine VERY much, it does a great chop, or it can be as smooth as silk. there are two speed controls, rough and fine, and these can go from achingly slow to hyperactively fast. and the cool little green light pulses in tempo with the tremelo, nice touch! this is only a $50 pedal, and worth every penny. this one is becoming part of my "rig" for sure!
the phaseur fleur is a great pedal, dan even put in a few extra mods for me, like a "ring" control to add in some ring modulation effects...but my partner saw this when i opened the box, and he TOOK IT! i will report on this pedal as soon as i can pry it from his hands, he always steals all my cool effects pedals so he can process drum loops, voices, ambient sounds, etc. i'm not sure if the phaser fleur will replace my vintage small stone, but it has five knobs of control as compared to the lone "rate" knob on my small stone, and that's a plus for a control freak like me!
all in all, you owe it to yourself to check out these pedals. they are nothing like factory made BOSS or DOD pedals, so don't expect fancy packaging all all that nonsense...but they do indeed sound GOOD, and are different. i know that there won't be 10 other guitarists around here with the same pedals i use, getting the same tones. support your custom effects makers out there, they can make a big difference in your sound! :-) bobby devito----LVX NOVA http://www.sar.usf.edu/~devito

The pedal is pretty easy to use, though it does have more knobs than most phasers (speed, depth, blend, movement) and the knobs are sort of inconsistent. Some settings sound good and some don't and you just have to spend some time experimenting to find out which is which.
Additionally, the knobs don't work in the way you would expect. You turn them left to turn UP the settings (the opposite of most boxes).

It's pretty noisy, but most phasers are. This pedal also has a sort of vibrato setting (the blend knob controls the mix of vibrato and phase) that is really noisy. The phaser is not so bad.
The phase can sound really good or kind of cheesy, depending on the settings.
But it does have more flexibility than most phasers I've seen. Has more control over the amount of phase shifting (it can sweep up to 1080 degrees according to the specs at the web site) and has the added bonus of a pseudo-vibrato that no other phaser has (that I know of).
It does have a noticeable thump when switching in and out. This may be a symptom of the DPDT true bypass switch (which is an available option which does not cost extra). Additionally, even with the effect switched out with the true bypass, there is a very very low level clicking in time with the phasers speed (this might be much worse without the true bypass).
Another strange fact about this pedal...when using it with my Marshall JCM 800 the signal level seems to drop a bit when the Phaseur is on, bu when using it with my Carvin SX200 the signal seems to be boosted! It must be a symptom of the frequency response of the different amps reacting differently to the output of the pedal. But this really isn't much of a problem...just an interesting fact.

So far I've had no problems with it (about 3 weeks of heavy use). It does seem to be pretty hard on batteries (it's beginning to sound like it needs a new battery). Figure on replacing the battery about once a month.
The construction seems relatively solid, though it is obviously handmade and has the inconsistencies that come with the territory,

Dan Green (the guy who makes these pedals) is a very nice guy and I liked dealing with him. He was very helpful via email when I asked for information and such. I will probably buy from him again in the future, because of his excellent prices and good service.

I don't know that I would buy this particular pedal again. But I probably would. It is certainly the only phaser in this price range with this many features. It sounds pretty good. Dan is a nice guy. I've heard better sounding phasers, but this one has a certain character that I've come to like. In short if you're in a 'radio rock' kind of band and you want a really super smooth phase sound then this probably isn't the pedal for you, but if you like the inconsistencies that are inherent in older analog gear give 3ms a try. And all of his pedals are cheap. Oh, yeah...All of his pedals are contained in electrical boxes like they use in the wiring in houses! Very cool...and it always gets kudos from other musos on the basis of appearance alone. I will probably be buying some kind of tremolo from him in the future.