MXR Phase 90

One knob, one stomp/bypass-switch. Without that knob it would be boring and almost worthless, and without that bypass switch it would be a complete disaster. Just in case you wanna know... So yes, it's easy to use :-) To access the battery connection, you'll have to remove the whole bottom plate by screwing up four screws and the battery barely fits in that little box... it's not difficult, just a bit annoying. But it's designs from the 70's, it just means that the reissue is more faithful to the original.

This is the Jim Dunlop reissue with block logo and LED. Currently I use it with my Swedish Levin amp and dad's Fuzz Face. I haven't been able to try any other phasers, but I definitely like this one. The sound quality is great -- no noise or anything like that. It boosts the volume up a little bit, but thats no big deal. On the fastest speed it's a bit icky, though. Maybe that's good for a few psychadelic passages in the middle of a 15-minute song or somethin'...

It's heavy metal (the casing, not the sound). Very good quality. The robust design is as classic as the sound. I don't know if the circuits can funk up someday, though, but they haven't so far... I don't have a backup, but I wouldn't use one anyway.

I definitely don't wanna deal with Jim Dunlop, but if it breaks down, I'll go to the store where I bought it. They're very helpful, skilled and friendly, so they'll fix it if I can't do it by myself. Also, the warranty is taken care of by them, so there's no problem here...

I love the sounds, the design and everything. It would be nice with some kind of "depth" control or something (if that's possible on phasers), because sometimes I find it too intense, but 90% of the time it's perfect. Listen to early Van Halen, Led Zep's "Nobody's Fault But Mine" and "Achille's Last Stand" (on Presence, 1976), and Rolling Stones' "Imagination" and "Some Girls" (on Some Girls, 1978) and of course Mick Jagger's voice on one occasion on "Rocks Off" for some phasing examples. If it were stolen, I'd buy this if I'd buy a phaser again. However, I have no other phaser to compare it with.

Very Easy to use, only one knob (SPEED) on it so it is very easy to coax a good sound out of it.

The sound is very lush, with a nice sweep, similar to the phaser on Curmudgeon by Nirvana. My Phase 90 is really old, it has script writing on it an the paint is coming off. The switch is noisy turning on or off, but I don't know what a new reissue would be like. Sounds best after my Big Muff and before my cry baby, and it has a more pronounced effect than my old DOD phaser from the 60's.

Reliable, eats batteries though, gig without a backup but take spare batteries.

Nah, its from the 60's

The pedal is very good, I haven't a close what the reissues are like, but this one is really good. I can get "Angel" by Jimi Hendrix right down, that is what it sounds like. My only quarrel is that it is noisy when you turn it on. Otherwise it is a good phaser, better than a BOSS anyway, no harm to BOSS. Its on equal terms with a Small Stone.

One knob: 1. Phase
Turn it to the right and you get faster phase

The phase is very smooth. It doesn't go too deep, and it doesn't go too high.

Thick metal = Reliability

don't deal with it

I can't believe I made that much, but it was my first pedal. It's not worth over $70, seeing as you could find it used for $15. Nice sound for distorted and clean leads.

Jim Dunlop reissue MXR phase 90. It's incredibly easy to use- unless one knob confuses you (and I know people with this problem). Turn the knob for a faster rate.

The MXR has a nice sound; it's quite lush. I rean into a problem with mine though- it would distort slightly. I'm using a Gibson LP Standard through a rocket 10w 1x12 tube amp. Even when this phaser was the only box in between the guitar and amp, i could hear a slight distortion under the phasing. Not a lot, but it was noticible. I really need that dead quiet phase (for Radiohead, don't ya know), and this wasn't quite it. I'll bet the distorting could be used well in other places though.

It worked every time I turned it on- 'tis a good thing Jim Dunlop put a LED in there.

I play that stuff that was popular 6-7 years ago (Nirvana, Soundgarden) and even further back (Pixies); i'm also into trippy 6 minute soundscapes (Praxis, Radiohead, Remy Zero {check out Remy Zero if you like Radiohead, esp. the album Villa Elaine}). A phaser is a must have for that type of music. This is a good phaser, I just wasn't able to get the "phase only" sound I wanted. I traded this in on a BOSS PH-2 super phaser, and got the sound I wanted.

One knob, one switch, couldn't be easier. Behind a crybaby wah I'd say this is brobably one of the easiest pedals to use.

This pedal is awesome ! You can nail Van Halen's first record with this pedal. I've heard rumors that this pedal is noisy, but this pedal isn't noisy at all. I tried putting it in front of the distortion but it sounded weak and it poped everytime I switched it on. But then I put it behind the distortion and this thing wails ! When it's behind the distortion it clicks on silently and every sweep is detectable. The sweep varies from about 10 seconds to warp speed. Thing that sets this appart form the Boss phaser is that when you speed up the phase on the MXR, it loses the backround sweep and sounds almost like a rotary speaker or a chorus effect. When I tried speeding up the vibrato on the Boss phaser, the backround sweep kept going at the same speed and it got very cluttered and very noisy. THe MXR has a much more subtle sound. It was exactly what I was looking for, and it was relatively cheap too.

Haven't had any problems with it so far.

This pedal is a must have. Sounds great clean and w/distortion. If this were stolen I'd by another emediately. I prefer this to the Boss phaser and the phase 100. THe phase 100 sounds good, but the addition of the depth control makes it harder to find "that sound." The phase 90 sounds great at any speed. I have found a way to use this thing in almost every song I play ( rock, metal, & Blues ). Killer for leads, great for clean slow songs. A very versitile, great sounding pedal. Every EVH fan and everyone that's looking for a great sounding phaser should have one of these.

This is the ideal analogue phaser. Easy to use, great quality.I love MXR vintage stuff.

great, wet phasing quality for all applications..... Love it with a Fender Rhodes too !!!!

So reliable that two have been stolen...(Better bring a back-up...perhaps cross out MXR and put DOD on it...noone will take it)

eh ?

Hang on to your vintage MXR stuff....or sell it to me :) Naturally in todays "exploited market" they sell for top dollar. THe reissues can be "had" for as little as $68.00, or as much as $140.00. LOOK and COMPARE

Guitar pedals dont get much easier than this, just one knob and the bypass stompswitch. Just about any setting sounds good. used before or after distortion will give different sounds. The only reason I give it a 9 for ease of use is because it has a very wide range of speeds. one thing I like using phasers for is setting it to the tempo of the song, so it is in time. this can be somewhat difficult with the phase 90 because it has such wide range, but for anything else this wide range of speeds is an advantave. this is the dunlop reissue, and it came with the manual for the dunlop crybaby. Not that one would be needed anyway though.

This is the best sounding phaser that I have ever heard, and that includes the original MXR phase 90s, and also the phase 100 and 45. this beats them all, dunlop really got it right with this one. I have even tried that $500 Mutron Biphase, and though it sounds very cool I still prefer the phase 90. I am using this with a fender US Lone Star Strat and a Fender Jazzmaster into a Marshall JCM 800 2553 head with a unicord 412 cab. Also using it with many other pedals, usually a univox superfuzz, Electro harmonix memory man, electric mistress, boss ce-2 chorus, proco rat, big muff, and others. The effect is very strong, for a softer univibe type phase sound you should try the phase 45. I do not care about getting the sounds of my favorite artist, all though my favorite band sonic youth does use it, I found that out after buying the pedal. It is also used by van halen. This is the only phaser I've tried that can actually thicken the sound somewhat. It does sound similar to the Electro Harmonix small stone phaser, but in my opinion its a little better. my favorite settings are rate all the way down in front of a fuzz, to thicken it out for leads, rate at about 12 o clock position for classic phasing sounds, or rate at about 3o clock position set to the tempo of some of my faster songs. there is a soft click at the top of the sweep when you are not playing. the small stone does this also.

try this pedal out before buying if you are getting the reissue model. Mine sounds great but from what I hear they vary quite a bit between units due to bad quality control. But like all MXR pedals, original or reissue, they are about twice as reliable as any other effect pedal, even the boss pedals.

I've e-mailed them once about the MXR blue box reissue and they responded very quickly, within a few days. can't really say for sure though.

I just about any type of rock music, and write my own songs. it works really good for what I play. I have been playing for 5 years, and own about 15 other pedals. if It were stolen or lost I would consider getting an original instead, or if not then I'd just buy another reissue. The only other phaser I would consider getting would be the electro harmonix small stone. I compared it to the small stone, biphase, and boss super phaser, as well as the other MXR phaers. the boss was just very thin and sounded really bad. the biphase was 5x the price, and was not as strong of an effect. it also did not work as well with distortion. the small stone is very close, plus has an extra switch for color. but the small stone is not as reliable, is noisier, and does not work well when placed after a distortion, it cuts the gain level. The phase 100 had more sounds possible with the second control, but did not have as good of a sound. may be better on bass though. the phase 45 was very good but it was more of a light phase sound like a univibe. It helps me make music. of all my pedals it is probably my second most used one, after my univox superfuzz and electro harmonix electric mistress flanger. Also there is an internal trim pot inside the unit, which is set at the factory. I wouldnt suggest messing with it though, it makes it sound really bad if not set right. this could explain the variations between the reissues, they may not all be set right. when trying it out keep in mind that there is not much control over the sound, so if you dont like it then this is probably not the phaser for you.

Besides the bypass switch, there's only a Rate knob. So it doesn't have control over all the parameters, but they picked the right fixed values for the ones you can't adjust. I do wish Fulltone, Voodoo Labs or one of the other boutique makers would do a reissue that also had a wet/dry blend knob, as well as being *really* faithful to the original sound (see Sound Quality below).
The reissue has an active light and an AC adapter jack, which the original didn't have.

It does the classic, warm, swirly analog phasing that seems to envelop the listener. THE phase sound, IMHO. But it also emphasizes the brittle frequencies, accentuating finger squeak. I don't remember the original Phase 90s that I played years ago doing that. I wish the reissue didn't, though it does add some additional clarity to combat the bit of lost clarity caused by the phasing. But still it's hard on the ears.

Looks solidly built; most of the originals from the 1970s are still working, I think, so the reissues probably will last a long time too.

The original Phase 90 is the classic phasing sound, one of the best phasers ever made without question. If I could find an original, I'd get it. The reissue sounds almost as good, except for the added brittleness that I don't remember the originals having.

You need no brain to use this classic stomp box, just one dial (speed) and one knob (bypass)

I use the Phase 90 with my 60's Fender Jazz Bass and an Ampeg B1 Amp. To get a nice phasing sound with the bass, you have to kick the highs at the amp. Then it's ok, even with the low E. One thing that's great on the MXR is the low noise level (at least with a bass amp). The sound is greatest when the speed is pretty slow, full speed sounds like a SciFi movie, but that's pretty nice for some scary noises, too. The only problem I see with the sound is that the Ph90 sounded better with my friends guitar (TeleCustom through MusicMan) than with my bass.

I don't have this long and played only one gig with it yet.

Didn't deal with them.

The band I play in plays "Retro Noise", that means classic 70's rock mixed with a lot of noise. We use lot of effects (delay, phaser,falnger..) and the MXR is a good match to our sound. I love the simple design and the ease of use and the classic sound. I compared it to a Nobels Phaser (cheap shit with too much dial) and Fulltone deja vibe (too expensive for me, but great). If I loose it, I will buy an Phase 100, I think.

Every sound thru this phaser is nice. Easy to use with only one knob.

I use a US strat plus thru a HOT ROD Deville, and the sound quality is wonderful. I have used dod and boss phasers, they seem to simply send your signal thru a phase sounding loop whereas the phase 90 phases your tone, its hard to explain but the bottom line is: This phaser kicks ass. I get absolutly no noise from this pedal alone, sometimes with my BIG MUFF i can hear the phaser only if I am not playing. I imensely enjoy the muff and the phase 90 together. I saw Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth) using one of these at a recent concert.

I have NEVER had a footpedal fail me, and if so I wouldn't be too worried. Im sure I can depend on this unit.

My music is very innovative. Creating new tunnings is often a part of it. I feel that the Phase 90 is perfect for me. I knew the Phase 100 would probably be cooler with some options, but Guitar Center only had the 90 and I really wanted it. My co-guitarist in my band will most likely get a phase 100 so I don't really feel a loss.