Boss PH-3 Phase Shifter

Very easy to get VERY cool sounds. It gets an 8 though because even though it makes cool sounds almost anywhere you put the dials, it is hard to find a really usable sound.

I play an Fender American Fat-Strat Texas Special through a Bud-Wah, a TS-9, a boss octave (cool pedal, but got stolen) a PH-3 (crapped out), a DD-3 and into a Fender Twin-amp. Although a lot of people dislike the sound of this pedal, i really liked it because it doesn't really sound "normal phasers". It helped me make really original tones when it still worked. Sounds really swirly and mid-rangey. Rise, Fall, and Step modes are all sweet.

Holy smokes, a boss pedal broke! I had this pedal for about 2 weeks, played 2 gigs, and in the middle of the second it farted out and i had to take it out of my chain in the middle of the show because it was making this crackeling sound. I thought replacing the batteries would make it stop. Replaced the batteries, still wouldn't work. Waited a week, figured i'd try it again, wouldn't even turn on. I was dissappointed. Boss is usually really high quality.

Haven't dealt with them... yet.

Sounded really cool while it worked, cool for psychadelic and funk music. I play in a real eclectic band that jams out a lot and this pedal made for really expansive and interesting improvisations. I'd buy it again if it were lost. I'd recomend it to people who are looking for trippy sounds, not for Van-Halenesque phasing.

4 knobs. Twiddle till you get what you want. Also has an input for expression pedal. Rock till you get the speed you want. Features:
I did a head-to-head comparison with a PH2. The PH3 has a wider range for all standard controls but boasts an expanded mode section: You can stack to filter with 4- 8- 10 or 12- pole which increases the amount of effect adjusted with the other controls. There is also a Rise and a Fall mode, which is usueful if you don't want it going up and down all the time. There is also the Step mode, which is interesting as well, kind of a sample-and-hold effect (listen to Black Napkins by Frank Zappa on Zoot Allures to hear something similar). Finally, there is an input for an expression pedal (ie EV-5) which can be used to adjust the speed without bending down all the time. Very cool.

I think it sounds pretty good, not as pervasive as the Phase 90 I have, which to me is good, I didn't want another overpowering effect. On my strat running clean it is very nice, brings the sound up out of the mix without taking over. Since it is not a swooshy analog-sounding phaser it gets an 8, but it's a good-sounding effect, not very noisy at all when running a clean signal. Great for arpeggios and to add interest to solos.

Solid.

I bought used but the store honours the warranty.

Good deal and sound, nice green colour. Given a choice between PH2 and PH3 I choose the PH3.

has more knobs and options than most effects pedals...but it's a no-brainer to figure out.

yes, this pedal has many different sounds...some of which other phasers can't do. however, msuically i don't think it's all too great. i think it changes your tone a little too much. when i step on it to turn it on, it almost seems as if my signal had a "hickup" for a split second...and after that, the tone is different. this is my main complaint. however, the rise, fall, and step modes are pretty neat. but still, in these modes the same problem with tone occurs. i just got an ibanez ph-7 (tone lok series)...this is a great phaser...get this if you are shopping for one.

very strong...like all boss pedals

this pedal is "alright"...

4 knob set up, rate depth res. and mode. Just set the first 3 and select a mode 4,8,10,12 stage, rise, fall and step seven in all plus you can use tap mode to tap in the rate thats it.

You can get so many sounds out of it. I think it is the best phaser out there right now. Great for funk,classic rock,metal,blues and wierd music. Not real noisy but, is great with a compressor

It will never break

?

One of my best pedal's I love it but, you might want 2 try it befor you buy it.

Its not too hard to use, i still dont fully understand some of the knobs, but i can get a good phase sound pretty easily. Its tough to tweak the perfect tone however. OH well its like that with most things anyway.

This pedal is realllllllllllllly dry sounding. IT sucks the life out of any tone. When im playing clean out of my Crate Blue Voodoo, i get a great low end fat tone, but as soon as i hit the phaser, my low end dissapears and all i have is ear-painful high end phasing. However, if thats what you like, then all the power to ya. Through distortion it sounds pretty damn awesome though, i dont have any beef with that. I play a PRS CE-22 bolt on by the way ( i like to brag)

pshah what a silly question for a boss product

same as above

Its a great pedal to play single notes and overlying solos, but for strumming chords and such, stick with an MXR phase 90. I like it but i kinda wish it had more warmth and low end

It's rather easy.

i play a gibson sg and a Marschall 100 SLP. This is a great pedal thta doesn't colour your sound at all. It doesn't make my hard earned set up sound like a shitty gordon-smith sg custome plugged into a solid state carlsbro 50 top. absolutely wonderful!!

It's a Boss.

It's a boss.

boss make great pedals, and this is no exception. it was time to replace that teribe ph-2 with this gem!! go for it and don't get that vintage crap (ross, a small stone, phase 45/90/100) !

four knobs, but easy enough to figure out. just turn 'em!

i play a gordon-smith sg custom - pro co rat - ross phaser - carlsbro 50 top. this thing was in my chain for about 5 minutes. i like heavy old-skool metal, stuff like metallica/sabbath/captain beyond. i like my gear to sound warm and heavy (who doesnt?!), and this pedal doesnt cut it at all. horribly "digital" sounding thin phase. it's got a real metally sound to it (just like the boss flanger) and colours your tone beyond recognition. i know its a modulation pedal, but it makes my hard earned set up sound like a shitty epiphone plugged into a solid state practice amp. absolutely awful!!

of course. it is a boss after all!

boss make great pedals, but this isnt one of them. why they replaced the awesome phr1 with this crap is beyond me!! go for a ross (the king), a small stone, phase 45/90/100, even a danelectro before throwing your cash away on this. just terrible!

Got it second hand in mint condition but no intructions! never mind cause i plugged it in, spun through each mode & thats all it took.

Play with a Jackson RR1 'V' into: Dunlop crybaby, digitech whammy, Boss DD5, into the PH3.through a laney reverb 50
this gets the best control & no noise!
Sounds great, i only got this pedal cause it was cheap & they didnt have a flanger.... but so glad i got this! I didnt really know what to expect from a phaser but the stage settings r great, 4 & 8 are good and go well with the wah wah. 10 & 12 sound really deep. The rise/fall are handy just cause u get more control & the step setting sounds really cool & tingly! u can speed up the rate in real-time which can sound pretty crazy & the depth&res control mean i dont need a flanger. Sounds perfect with no distortion & if its set right (low gain on the amp) sounds great with.
Damn good!

Im gentle with em anyway but iv seen the way some guys stomp on the buggers & they keep on goin... the metal case seems rock solid & with a battery in it in case the power went would definatly use it live.

Love just playing any rock/pop/anything original goes well with anything & could sound good if used with drums! If it was lost id find it, stolen id get it back or replace it. The 4-8 stages are best for a classic phaser sound. 10 - 12 add more. Rise/fall just give more control & can make depressing sounds or uplifting tones. The step feature just adds a spacey phase effect. U can basically get anything from a splashy watery noise to a laser gun & any phase effect u want in between. the res and depth are essential. It helps when its needed & shuts up when u dont want it. A wicked effect!

i seriously took itout the box and plugged it in and it sounded great. it is easy to get new sounds out of it. and i even let my friend who knows absoulutely nothing about guitar fiddle with it and within 5 minutes she had mastered it she knew what everything did and nailed 4 different usable sounds she like...and man is she picky. its soo easy. the manual was actually helpfull too

i really like the comment below me as i totally disagree with it which makes life more interesting i say the rise and fall are the best but the stages are useless (for me) which just goes to show that opinions differ.


to the guy who said it raised your volume and feedback..buy a decent guitar im sorry but you play with a squire strat..i have played a squire through my set up and experienced the same problems so i removed the bad guitar. you should look into it rather than destroying the reviews of a good pedal

i can nail mike from incubus's sound (he uses the same peal just an older one) i am very picky so i use only two sounds really but a lot of people flaw this pedal saying there isnt enough variety but if there was enuff variety people would moan there are too many bad sounds so you cant win. right this pedal was developed to give a great sound quality always and it does that. no matter how you set it it sounds pristine clear and there is no feedback or buzz no matter what you do...there is a slight noise when engaging the pedal but that is desired for me and it sounds great. i use this pedal in conjunction with other effects but the best is the bodd delay although this may be too unorganic for some. i use it with every effect you can name and it shines through. i dont use it with distortion because thats just stupid lol although i know those that do. if there is a volume problem turn down the depth. or buy an eq..sorts it immediatly. i play in a very swirly heady style using full chrds and single picking..i love the clarity of this beast its great and hard to go wrong

its a boss

lol

the only problem is that it may be hard to switch modes but not really its just turning knobs. it helps m make music especially wehen combined with other effects i love the really reliable sound quality and the manual was very helpful..i like the fact that this pedal covers vintage and modern phaser effects and that it can simulate a talk box lol....it also sounds good on bass and vocals.

Easy to use: Rate, Depth, Resonance and the Stage-Knob, where the filter stages are set (4, 8, 10 and 12 filters, plus fall, rise and step).

I tested this with a Gibson SG and a Fender Strat through a Twin RI and a Marshall 100 SLP.

There is a very slight hiss that gets modulated with the filter stages. Besides that, it's dead quiet. This unit is less noisy than any other phasor I've heard so far.

How does it sound? The filter stages 4 and 8 give a vintage phase-shifting sound, stage 10 is a full chorusy sounding thing and stage 12 is very processed and flangy. With the higher stage settings, the amount of bass is increased. Stage 12 is too bassy, stage 10 is almost perfect to my ears, stage 8 is too thin and stage 4 has little high end.
This problem can be readjusted with the Depth knob to some extend. Turn up the Depth and you get more bass, turn it down and it cleans up a bit.
So the amount of usable settings is limited. I've found settings that I like and are usable in a band context with 4, 8 and 10 filters. The 12 filter setting was too much for my liking, the rise and fall settings are unusable IMO. The step setting is nice, similar to a ring- modulator, I use it for arpeggios and slow finger picking stuff.

If you set it up correctly it works fine clean or distorted. Most of the time, I turn the Resonance knob all the way down, so I don't get any unwanted feedback on the high notes.

I know you don't want to hear it, but it's a boss...

Because it's a boss, you don't need any customer support, see above...

I've been playing for more than 30 years now, have had it all.
This is a good phaser, but not perfect. Anyone who can't find a setting that he likes with this thing either doesn't like phasers at all or doesn't know anything about gear. This is one of the most versatile phasers ever made, it's quiet and easy to use, so what do you want?

This thing is a little more complicated than your average two knobber and needs some tweaking at the start.

I would buy it again, because there isn't any alternative.

I would give it a ten if the tone and volume changes between different settings were optimized and the overall sound would't change that much on some settings (stage 8 has much highs and little lows for example,vou have to turn the depth knob on max to make the sound usable).