MXR Phase 90

One control, Speed. If you can't figure it out you are probably not a human.

Nice sound, works GREAT with keyboards or anything with a little more trebly sound. The effect can sometimes be buried in a mix, but this may be desireable. Note my review is of the ORIGINAL not the re-issue. I hear the original MXRs are all better than the re-issues. The effect does not color the sound too much (well it IS a phase shifter) and the level is balaced when it kicks in, can't even tell you turned it on, really. I use it sparingly on guitar because it takes over the sound, but it does do a great pseudo-Leslie-type effect a la Pink Floyd "Echoes" or track One of Beck's "Mutations" (though I think that's a wah, but you'll get the idea). The Phase 100 had more control I think but too bad there is no way to control the amount of phase. Again I really think this thing is MADE for keys; absolutely fabulous with my Rhodes (killer! - Don Fagen uses one live with his Wurlitzer - listen to Steely Dan "Royal Scam" or "Katy Lied" or see "Two Against Nature" live DVD), amazing with my Clavinet, and just phenomenal with any synthesizer, especially strings; makes any synth sound like an ARP. The slowest speed is like a slow whooosshhhh and the fast like a tremelo on the older Fender amps. Try varying the effect in real time for expressive vibrato effects on a solo (first add some white noise to your patch). Also works well with drum machines (remember to take the bass drum out of the mix). Not so good with vocals IMO as the effect is a little too wide I think. On the down side, when there is no signal and it is left on it will generate swish-swish noise, also the switch has a slight pop when activated, but nothing serious. Minus one for that.

MXRs pedals always kick ass for reliability. Does tend to eat batteries if you use it a lot.

no idea

Very useable and musical sounding pedal. I think for a better pedal you should try the Boss PH-2 Super Phaser (green). I hope to get one soon. I think I paid around $40 CDN originally, but I don't recall. Anyway it was in the early 80's.

Easy, one knob, well said below,

Running carvin guitars, morley bad horsey wah, digitech whammy2, phase 90, boss ph2, boss od3, into a fender deville, with a boomerang and digitech delay in the loop. I use this pedal for the vibe type phasing.

Looks good enough

I saw a local guitarist who had one of these, and he had turned the internal trim pot down so the crest of the phase was only barely above the bottom, and he had it going very slow, just enough to add a subtle vibe to his sound. I bought one the next day, and I think it's the key to that early fusion tone. I love it!

One knob. Pedal placement is everything--put it pre-distortion if you want a tone swirl, post distortion if you want a more or less typical phaser sound.

This is *THE* phaser that all other phasers sought to copy. It is more organic than anything else out there, although if you want really deep phasing go with the EH Small Stone.

I am running the following setup: guitar (Brian Moore i2) > Whirlwind Selector > Lab Series L5; channel A thru the selector is to a Small Clone Chorus, channel B runs to the Phase 90 and then to a DS-1. Simple setup, but good tone.

Solid chassis, but the on/off button is directly on the circuit board. Not too smart, but I'm sure a great cost cutting move.

A total classic. I love soloing thru this box, it makes everything just chaotic. Best phaser ever--period.

Very simple to use, no manual needed, many, many good sounds in it, despite only 1 knob!!

Using it with a Fender Strat, and Yamaha AES800, along with a Fender Silverface Fender Reverb, a Fender Champ, and an Epiphone Electar 10 (tube). It is not noisy at all, the effects are tremendous, warm, compelling, and usable. Very smooth phasing, I'm in love with this orange thing.

Seems very solidly built, thick metal casting, strong switch, solid knob, from reading about it, these things last for years, even with heavy usage.

Have no idea, haven't dealt with them.

Great pedal. I love this thing. Solidly built. Great, great tone. Really helps me be more creative in my playing. I have played on and off for about 5 years at this point. It made me wanna pick up my electrics again, after acoustic only for about a year. I thought of getting an Electro-Harmonix Small Stone, but this seems more solidly built; reviews of it were better than other phase pedals. I tried the Danelectro mini-phaser, and wasn't impressed. I highly, highly recommend this pedal. I don't remember thinking a pedal was this cool since I got my Big Muff, which also is tremendous.

1 knob, how hard could it be? Mine is the original late '70s Block logo, still in mint condition with box and stickers.

My set-up consist of the ffg-
PRS McCarty Rosewood>Teese RMC3 wah> Whirlwind A/B>Boss TU-12H(1)>Fulltone FD2 TR100/Klon Centaur>Crowther Hotcake/MXR Distortion+('70s>Phase 90/P.E. Vibe unit>Boss DD-5>Boss CE-5> Matchless Chieftain. Not noisy at all in all settings. The Phasing is the best
I've heard. Compared to the Dunlop Reissues, it's lush and thick sounding, without being harsh and thin. Similar to the original Script logo without the exorbitant price. Running it with the Distortion +, conjures up images of Eddie Van Halen. All settings are
very useable. Very easy to tweak.

It's from the '70s and it's now 2002, so I think it'll hold up for a few more years. The foam inside is still in good shape but it's getting there. My only worry is that the input/output jacks might get
static over the years just as in my Distortion +, but that is easily
fixed.

If you run into trouble with this thing, you better have some know-how
in Electronics, 'coz MXR, the company , is no longer in business.

I play anything from SRV-based blues to Classic '60s-'80s Rock. Been
doing so since I was 15. This pedal seems to complement some of my
early heroes like Hendrix, SRV, and most notably, EVH. I included the
first two artist, 'coz the effect you get with this pedal is similar
to a Univibe. In fact it is. I tried comparing it with my Vibeunit, which in itself is a great univibe clone, it reminds me of Hendrix
playing the Star-Spangled Banner at Woodstock. The sound is that close. And coupled with the Distortion+, you can get a sound reminiscent of Robin Trower. Did you say, Bridge of Sighs? At least,
that's what I hear when I play it through my Mesa Boogie or Matchless.
If this was lost or stolen, I'd be pretty bumbed out, 'coz I know I'll
have to shell out a couple of dollars to replace it. I love this pedal for what's it is intended for, classic 4-stage phasing. Compared
to its' two other brothers, the Phase 45 and the Phase 100, this is
what Phasing should sound like without going overboard.

Nothing to it - one knob twist it till it sounds good.

Very cool. It is very warm and chunky sounding. I run a Jackson Soloist through a boss compressor into a Line 6 Flextone head. The Phase 90 adds a little high end when you turn it on, but it sounds so damn cool you can't argue with it. The effect seems to be stronger when played on lower strings, while subtle on higher registers.

I wouldn't worry about it. It is a little brick house.

Never dealt with them

I play rock and metal with a bit of jazz. This pedal sounds good with a dirty sound playing jazz chords (reminds me of Steely Dan) and also for solos (think Dave Murray from Iron Maiden). Very warm sounding, simple to use, and versatile. Go get one. It is a great investment for any style.

Take a look at the picture-- one knob. And it's ALL YOU NEED. You don't need a manual.

Les Paul Standard/ Fender Telecaster/ Fender Mustang/ Fender Reissue Jaguar->MXR Dyna Comp->Thomas Organ Wah->Phase 90->Ibanez Tube Screamer->ProCo Rat->Electro Harmonix Big Muff Pi->Danelectro DanEcho->Reissue Fender Twin Reverb. It is somewhat noisy when on(makes swishing noise constantly), but if you don't like the noise, switch it off. Doesn't take away a lot of clarity at all. Sounds great with all the effects I'm using. Allows you to get a really cool psychadelic sound a la Hendrix (Machine Gun) and Page (Dazed and Confused). The warmest phaser out there-- sounds like there's a tube inside it. I was paranoid about what I thought would be a lack of flexibility, but you can actually get a lot of sounds out of it. If you want less intensity, you can just turn the volume on your guitar down and the amp volume up, or re-locate it in your effects chain.

Built like a tank. MXR pedals can take a beating and keep rocking.

I play blues and rock and hard indie and stuff. Been playing for five years now. Own a lot of pedals, this is one of my favorites. I'd definitely buy this pedal again if I lost it or it was stolen. I love the warmth. I tried my friend's boss phaser, and this is SO much better. Boss pedals just sound so cold and digital. Their phaser is really hard to get a good sound out of, and it doesn't even sound as good as this pedal. Go out and buy one.

oh my god i cant believe im anwsering this question

i am going thru a strat to : boss cromatic tuner -> morley a/b switch -> (channel A) boss noise supressor(send) ->j.everman fuzz drive -> tech 21 sansamp classic -> vintage ibanez eq (return) -> dunlop univibe -> phase 90 -> 2nd morley a/b....(channel b) boss turbo distortion -> boss eq -> 2nd morley a/b and out to a marshall vs100 head rocking a crate 4x12

this is a sweet pedal ,a must have

totally

never had to deal with the company

Piece of cake!

This was a Reissue which boosts the signal and distorts the sound. Therefore i sent it back for a Small Stone USA Reissue so we will see which is better. Its got to be better than this thing. It has a nice phase sound but the problems with it i cant overlook. I also have a Pt-999 Maxon Phase Tone Reissue and it kicks this pedals butt! I am going to buy a vintage Script Phase 90 soon and i sure i wont be disapointed and wont have these distortion and level boost problems. I would say BUY A VINTAGE ONE!!!!!!!!

Just look at the sound quality review. I tell no lie!!!

Simple as can be, a one-knob stomp box.

As has been noted, this is a very retro-sounding effect that has a lot of use in the experimentations of the blues-based so-called psychedelic guitar players from Britain and the US in the 1970s. Consequently, it has a bit of a period-based sound. Since the effect is mostly there to generate that sort of feel anyway, I give it a 9 since it does its job very well. Overall, it's quiet and cool. I use older Ibanez guitars or a Cort hollow-body and a Crate amplification setup (other effects vary greatly). Sound is pleasing.

I must be really hard on my stomp boxes; either that, or I got a bum model. After two months' use, the switch stopped working inexplicably. Being an engineer, I preferred taking it apart myself and fixing it to attempting to wrangle with customer support/warranty hassles. The switch was easy enough to fix, and might have just been a bad one. However, no less than a week later, the knob breaks off. I'm really starting to wonder about how "tough" these things are, though to be honest there was an accident involving stumbling around in the dark after a power outage which involved trampling the pedal in a slightly unusual manner (apparently, I stepped right on the knob part and broke it). Since a stomp box is intended to be, well, STOMPED, this annoyed me. Determining that the pot was broken, I obtained a new pot and put it in. Nothing. Zip, zilch, nada. In fact, the pedal sits, broken and lifeless, in my "spare parts" box. Maybe some day I'll attempt to fix it again, though for the life of me I can't imagine what happened. It was completely re-assembled in the precise way it was, but to no avail.

They tried to help me, but ultimately were unable to do so. It takes a while to filter through the multiple layers of sales people they use for customer support to get to a knowledgeable person, but once you get one they try hard to help. Given that they still couldn't fix it (their suggestion was to buy a new one, since I hadn't registered a warranty or anything and, in fact, had opened it once before, I must have broken it myself). I might eventually buy a new one, but I'm still bitter about losing this one after less than two months' performance.

Loved the effect and sound, hated its ultra-short lifetime. Might replace it and use the warranty card this time. Stomp boxes ain't really stomp-able like they used to be.