MXR Phase 90

Two jacks. One knob. Easy.

I use this with an SG and a Hotcake pedal through an old 70's Ampeg and I love the sound I get with it.
Admittedly, it's the only phase pedal I've ever used, but I think it's amazing. It never screws up my guitar's tone adversely, and if it weren't for the fact that it would sound silly, I would leave it on all the time.
I leave it on the lowest setting always and it doesn't do the typical HUGE sweeps that make phasers often sound stupid.

It's an MXR... steel case with one big rubber knob. These things would survive a nuclear blast.

I remember spending a lot on this pedal, but I will forever keep in in my effects chain.

Very easy. Mainly Because it only has one knob and a footswitch. You need a screwdriver to reach the battery, and the power input is awkwardly placed.

"It sounds terrible". I've used this pedal with a variety of guitars, and the single coils understandably suffer less than the higher output pickups. Hit your strings too hard on a guitar with humbuckers and the thing will distort your signal to shit. I'm not talking about about thrashing away at the strings, I mean anything above gentle picking. I tried this in the store beforehand with some old telecaster with low output pickups and didn't notice anything then. I haven't read the the rest of these reviews so I don't know if someone has mentioned it, but it's not a one off - I made a post on a guitar forum about this, and everyone who replied acknowledged the same issue with their own phase 90s. People who didn't notice this either don't have very sharp ears, or are playing through a shit amp/guitar anyway. Either that or MXR are extremley inconsistent.

One more important thing, is that when the effect is switched off, it will still alter your signal, distorting it in a way similar to when it's on but with a less noticable effect.

When it's not distorting your signal it souns pretty nice clean, not so good distorted.

I can't, or see how anyone else can, use this pedal.

If you have trouble getting "your" sound out of this thing you might want hang up your guitar and try the drums or something! One knob, easy as pie! The manual,like anything you buy from Dunlop is for a wah wether you buy a wah or not! Not needed with pedal anyway...

I'm using this with a silverface Twin Reverb (135watt) first into a Boss TU-2 tuner, Ibanez TS-9, Boss CE-5, MXR phase 90 and Boss DD-3, Finally (sometimes)into my Crybaby wah. Ultimtaely my tone comes from either a Les Paul studio or '72 telecaster deluxe. Okay with that said lets review this sucker: The phase is great,very warm and lush from really slow to fast modulation, however if you play percussive like I do,(reggae) your gonna hate this thing.I play mostly clean and do NOT want any extra distotion coming from anything but my tubescreamer! This thing breaks up (clips) like you wouldn't believe...stay away from this if you want maximum clean headroom...

Its brand new and its Dunlop so I'm sure its reliable and its built to last, just not for me!

N/A

Like I said I play reggae music and this pedal would be great for someone that plays dirty (distortion). For me I like to maintain tha max clean headroom I can i.e 135 watt Twin (no tube break-up) and this one aint for me. I read the reviews and shoulda listened...I'll stick with my PH-3 I guess

Classic MXR, easy to use pedal

I use a valve amp and humbucking guitar. Extremely warm tone.

Ive had mine for about 3 years, had problems with my boss delay and small clone and the phaser has outdone them all. Built in very solid casing, very very reliable pedal.

no need

versatile pedal for rock blues, cheap way to get an authentic van halen sound.

incredibly simple ....one knob!
s

I use very few effects, in addition to the phase 90 , I use only a crybaby.
I find the sound when playing clean to be extremely soothing, very well balanced.
When playing with heavy distortion the classic EVH sound can be recreated. rub a palm to the strings and you're the atomic punk!

Built solid!
I can't imagine any probs

never needed

I've been playing about 20 years.
works great with my strat and/or my vintage gibson sg
been using the pedal through a series of marshall amps from a valvestate up to a vint. plexi with mesa cabs
mostly play hard rock to a rock/blues mix

I love this pedal, and would replace in a second if stolen!
Don't even question buying it...just dig into yer wallet and git it done!!!!!

real easy. i got it used on ebay for 50 bucks without the manual and was able to get a good sound out of it just by adjusting the knob. since there's only one, you dont have to worry about combination and permutation. ;)

i have an epiphone SG-400 go into an MXR dyna comp, Maxon SD-9, this Phase 90 and then into a Vox Pathfinder (bedroom practice amp) and it sounds great. i usually have it on with distortion since the SD-9 is so cool i play almost everything with it on and i dont notice any extra "noise"

i think its sounds great. only complaint is that i wish it had a "level" knob to control the amount of phase effect comes out of it. In other words, I wish I could add a more subtle phaser sound (perfect for bridges in a song!). This was mentioned in another review when the person said it seems to "take over" the sound a bit.

otherwise, its awesome!

it feels solid...but i dont really do gigs. i jam with friends and so i'm not really in a position to rate this category.

never dealth.

if you can get a good deal on it, get it! even at 69.99 from music123.com (free shipping!) its a great deal.

I Don't think any pedal is easier to use. Plug in, turn the knob to adjust the speed. One knob that's it. Really there isn't much to say other than it's idiot proof.

I use this with bass. I Run Ibanez 5 string(Sxr505 and EDA905)>Tech 21 sansamp>a variety of pedals>Peavey T-Max head>Ampeg 8x10. Sounds great...nothing to adjust in way of tone or level controls, which sometimes could be a headache but with this pedal it's not an issue as it sounds great out of the box. One of my favourite pedals, however....

....The thing stopped working for no reason whatsoever. I used it one day it was fine, came back the next day plugged in and...nothing. I didnt drop it or do anything to it. I haven't taken it in to see what the problem is yet, but irregardless it's quite frustrating.

I'll tell ya when i get this thing repaired

When it was working it was one of my favourite pedals. And im sure when i get it repaired it will be back near the top. It's possible that mine just has a defect as i've seen alot of reviews saying these things are very reliable.

It's great for either a nice slow warm phase sound to fill out your sound or a fast "trippy" phase. I play Prog Rock so i need pedals that can work with a wide range of musical styles and this definately is one of those pedals.

No comment !

for clean stuff it can work but in mild overdrive or distrtion forget it the hights get to sharp, it boost6 your signal and compress the tone, very dissapoinnted with this..

I test it with my Strats, Paulas and Accustics, Marshall, Engl Amps,
2x12 and 4x12 caps.

!! I try the mod, play with the trim pot inside and nothing helps.
You want buy it ?? call me I sell it.

fat metal.

????

I play since 20 years, the last ten as Studio, session and pro player. Jazz, Blues,Country, Funk, Reagge, Rock, Metal, Alternative, Ethno....anything.

And I m not lucky with this one, maybe a volume knop can help but use it only in studio if i must.

Easiest pedal ever. This one didn't even have the intimidating AC jack or one of those creepy and power-draining Status LEDs. If you hear a swoosh it's on, if not step on the pedal; turn knob to adjust speed; play the hottest licks ever!

I'm writing this just months after modding my own 1992 model with the R28 pull. I'm reviewing my friend's script logo model that his dad bought and used for his band in the seventies. Sounds about a million light years from my Dunlop. Sound is "glassier" and more "liquid" whereas the reissue sounds "spacey" and "raygun-like". I attribute this to the ceramic caps in the original vs. the polyester-looking ones in mine, as well as those wonderful 741 opamps. Also much slower speed than mine. At it's highest setting it sounds like mine at about 2/3 up; the slowest setting yields nearly subliminal phasing, more like a vintage wah sitting in the sweet spot and moving so slow you don't notice, but sure as hell would if it was missing. Not any noticably noisier through the solid-state Fender amp I was testing through. Phasing effect was less deep but noticably sweeter, and would probably cause pants-wetness through the right tube amp.

This one has been in use since the seventies, first by it's orignal owner, second by his son. It's been kicked around onstage, is missing three screws, and has only three very small scuffs on the face to show for it. I don't know if it's been repaired but all the flying leads looked like they had their original (or professionally repaired) solder joints. My dunlop has had the switch and output jack replaced, and the cheaper and lighter paint is scraped consistantly around the edges. Bud box is lighter but seems as durable as the heavier MXR Innovations box.

That MXR has been out of business since '79 right? Customer support = own a soldering gun. Not my pedal though, don't know what company was like back then.

I try to play my guitar like a keyboard. Mainly fingerstyle, almost always rock. This pedal would suit my style if my wife would let me buy it. Alas, my friend would like to sell it now that he knows what it's worth. I shouldn't have told him! He likes it to get that "Lightning Crashes" sound, but would be just as happy with a newer or just plain other phaser. I will have dreams about this sound, and will probably try to build a 741-equipped clone into a homebrew multi-effects someday, but will settle for my dual-opamps for now. Any inquiries or requests of pictures can be directed to my email!

This is the simplest pedal in the world.
Just turn the knob as desired

:)


easy

See my Big Muff USA reissue review for full gear setup.

Basically i use a Strat plus(EMG DG20 pickups)into my effects chain, this sits after my Electric Mistress.

I use it for a number of different effects - on cleaner tones to get that uni-vibe effect (think "Breathe" from Dark side of the moon, or Have a cigar from Wish you were here).
I also use it with the Big Muff or overdrive, with no delay, to get a nice, warm pahse tone to my lead sounds.

I wouldnt say it was noisy, but it is loud, the effect overtakes a little, so you have to roll back the volume a little and control it. Otherwise you could experiment with it's placing in your effects chain.

The overall sound of this is great though, it's warm and squelchy and sticky and melty (!) and just sounds soooooo good.

seems to be pretty solid.

dont know

This is a great addition to my collection of Pink Floyd-a-like pedals. It has a really enjoyable sound and is unlike any other phaser i've used.

My only negative is that it is pretty dominant, and i sometimes wish i could lower the level of it a little. However, if you take time to place it correctly, set up your levels overall and use it effectively then this will become one of the best pedals you've ever used.
I havent done the mod thing, i think i like the slightly distorted effect, if you listen to a leslie rotating speaker in use, then that sounds a little distorted too (due to the volume fluctuations). Also, most of the time i use this i feel the added distortion (however slight) is what gives this it's unique tone, and makes it so much fun to mess with......... my only thought is that modding it may fix my volume concern.

Anyway....... i love it :)

oh.... and this doesn't sound particularly different from the original script versions, the old ones are a little bit mellower but that could be an effect of ageing on those old components, and if you EQ this a little i think they sound pretty much identical.