MXR Phase 90

The MXR (Dunlop, new) is a one-knobber that couldn't be easier. I'm writing about a unit modded by FX Doctor to incorporate the Script mod (no adjustment) as well as the Intensity and Blend mods, which are both adjustable. The stock settings are excellent; making adjustments via the mods is easy.

Great, great sound. The Dunlop MXRs are basically fine units; the Script mod (by FX Doctor) restores a softer liquid quality that is really beautiful. Making small adjustment via the Blend and Intensity mods allows exceptional fine-tuning to your guitar and rig, which is what you want. For crazy junk, get a flanger! Fabulous sound. The best.

Brick.

Can't speak for Dunlop/MXR; I doubt if they ever get much customer contact since their units are indestructible (even if the pots are now scrratchy and cheap). FX Doctor is instantly responsive and helpful. Really nice service, advice. I paid $59 for a new Phase 90, paid FX Doctor $70 for four mods: rate pulsing LED, script mod, blend mod, intensity mod. Result = custom pedal w/ great features for low dough.

I play all kinds of rock but no jazz or country. Have Fender Custom Shop Strat and McNaught G4, play through Klon, some Way Huge, other spiffy pedals as needed. Top Hat, Vox, and Orange amps. Nice rig. The Phase 90, especially modded and adjusted somewhat to be less "in your face," performs great w/ chimy clean tones right through full rage distortion.

One knob = perfect

Great

A little hard to get my jack in the side.

I play mostly Heavy Metal. I have had a dozen different effects pedals from Noise Compressors, Delay, Blues, Fuzz etc. This pedal creates a wave which helps give your sound that ALIVE feeling. I turn the single knob to the 9 oclock position and this gives it a heartbeat tempo. This has helped me stay on Tempo. This wave also creates tremollo effect. Playing heavy metal I pick the top string open and repeatedly for sometimes 20 seconds, the wave makes it sound like I'm moving my hand around just a little. Ever since I got this pedal 6 months ago I always turn it on for all of my music styles. It's as important to me as my EMG Zack Wylde pickups that are always on -- -- .

It's pretty rare these days to see a pedal with just one knob, but that's what the Phase 90 has. One knob for speed and a footswitch and that's it. The only reason I don't give it a ten is because the battery isn't easy to get to. Unlike some pedals with latches or that have the battery under the footswitch, you've gotta unscrew the back to get to it on this pedal.

AMAZING! But let me begin at the beginning. I guess you could consider me the keyboard player who wants as much attension and style as a guitar player while not wanting to actually play guitar. My solution is a Rhodes Stage 73 (elold-school electric-piano) into the Phase 90, then Boss CE-2 Chorus, then a Tubescreamer, and finally into a Fender Twin Reverb (silverface). The Phase 90 has this tubey, warm sound that even a Smallstone can't get. People complain about the overdrive at the low end, but you guys have to do some research. The R28 mod will fix this and it's not a hard mod to do yourself. I actually opted not to do the mod cause I LOVE that little crunch that just overflows warm vibes. Also, cause I'm using a Tubescreamer, you should be able to tell that I like a little drive once and a while. I use the phaser on almost every song of mine. Somebody else here mentioned that Donald Fagen (Steely Dan) uses one and this is absolutely true! On the last two albums, Two Against Nature and Everything Must Go, he uses it on every Rhodes track. Back in the day, he also used it once and a while on his Wurlitzer to great effect (listen to Black Friday or Dr. Wu). Stevie Wonder also used it a lot on his Rhodes and I think Wurlitzer too. In fact, I would say that this might be THE ultimate phaser. The phase 100 is nice, but it doesn't quite have the tubeyness that this one does.

It's a solid metal pedal and it's really simple electronically, so there's not much to go wrong. I've used it at countless gigs without a single problem, though as someone else said, it does really go through nine-volts, especially if you leave it plugged in by accident. The only worry I have is the protruding footswitch, but it hasn't snapped off yet, so I'm not too concerned about it. I'll give it a ten.

Well, dunlop is in charge of these pedals now and they're pretty good.

A spectacular pedal! I'd claim it's THE phaser for keyboardists of all kinds and I'd also recommend it to any guitarist looking for a good quality phaser. For those not wanting the really dirty tone it can produce, do the R28 mod and you'll love this pedal all over again. 10/10!

The speed range is very versatile, no comment here. I bought it new in 98, so it is the current model.

without mod the effect is good and the distortion you get can add some nice vibe if you only use single PUs. It is almost unusable with humbuckers as many already said.

I did two major mods to reduce the problem:

1) made an adjustable feedback resistor(the famous R28)
2) replace the internal trimmer with an external pot to adjust the sound a bit further (helps a lot to clarify and clean).

The R28 was very usefull but I still found myself coming back sometimes to the higher feedback value (i.e bigger sweep of the effect). The trimmer replaced was a very good idea as I can taylor my sound with ease according to my needs and combine both mods on the fly.

However, I don't think I took all distortion out with the mods, I just took it to a minimum, would it sound as rich or warm without it ?

Now, the basic sound is definitely rich and warm while keeping the clarity, this is what I like about this pedal. My small stone is a bit muddy on the bass, it is never the case with a Phase90.

So modded this unit would deserve a 9 or 10, unmodded I cannot give it more than 7.

No problem, the quality and construction are fair. This is not a boutique pedal but it is reliable.

I have to play wathever is asked of me and the Phase90 has been used several times on many styles.

If stolen or lost I would probably try a Phase100 or another boutique brand but might come back to this model and just mod it again.

The exagerated distortion is definitely not acceptable. MXR should correct their design. But I suspect they will keep it that way and hope the mod fashion just keep their product on the map ?!

Had one of the originals in the 70's. One knob...Simple.

Well, This one from Guitar Center was dead right out of the box....I have "memories" of what they sounded like.....

Well, Guitar Center when I returned it just gave me another one. I had them check it before I took it.....Wellll, all SIX that they had were defective right out of the box !!!!

Who the hell knows?????? If it don't work, return it, get your money back, and go to Sam Ash and get one that works..

I play blues/rock etc. I play mostly Gibson Firebirds, Strats, Teles, and 335's and I use Music Man Amps and 60's Twin Reverbs. MXR 'used" to be a sign of quality....guess not anymore.

It was pretty hard to get a decent sound out of it using humbuckers.
Then again, it only has one knob.

I wanted to like this. I play humbuckers. Not going to work. It
sounded like ass with my JB and HB-103 bridge pickups. The effect
would sieze up and just distort until the chord or note started to
fade out. It didn't happen as much with my '59 neck pickups, which
are lower output.

It doesn't freak out as much if you use palm-muting--I finally
figured out why Eddie VH palm muted the intro to "Ain't Talkin'
Bout Love..." ...because else the phaser won't work!

I didn't try it with single coils. I don't own a single coil
pickup. I have too much testosterone for that.

You can rely on it to suck with high-output humbuckers. Everyone
below says that the construction quality is shoddy.

I got an instruction sheet for a wah pedal in the box.

Uhhhh....yeah.

I returned it after owning it for about an hour. I've ordered
a Guyatone PS-3, hopefully that will be better. I also considered
the Maxon PT-999, but the effect sound was too subtle. I went
through a phase (ha ha ha) of serious pining for the Maxon PH-350,
but I don't use phasing enough to justify spending that much money
on it. I also tried the Digitech Hyper Phase, but that sounded
computer-y and thin. I've played with the Boss PH-3, but that sucked
even worse than this. If the Guyatone doesn't work out, maybe I'll
get a Voodoo Lab Microvibe, or just swear off phasing all together.

SOMEBODY BUILD A HIGH-OUTPUT HUMBUCKER-FRIENDLY PHASER!!!!

I wouldn't know, broken right out of the box !!!!

Broken right out of the box-have they ever heard of quality control ??? I recently tried, and returned, an MXR reissue Micro AMp as the switch was very flimsy.

I had a defective wah pedal last summer and they offered to repair it,NOT REPLACE, which took three-four weeks. If a product is defective right out of the box why should the customer be forced to wait while you do repairs on a NEW product !!!

Dunlop is gaining quite a reputation for low quality products. What sucks is MXR used to be thought of as a quality unit, at least back in the day BEFORE Dunlop took over the name, certainly not the quality. Maybe this is why most players hunt down the older units even if the price is much higher. They sound much better and they actually work.

Easy

Not intended for humbucking pickups IMHO. If you want to use this for clean through HB pickups, be prepared for squashed tone and solid state distortion edge to come along for the ride. There might be mods out there, but what a pain in the ass. I hate the idea of buying something with the intention of modding it because the engineers couldn't get it together in the first place. Would you buy any other good like this? ("I love this new car, but when I get it, the first thing I'll do is swap out the engine for one with more horsepower!" Huh?). Anyway, they say it sounds great with single coils - which doesn't help me much.

At low signal input, sounds great. Crank up the clean volume through a humbucking pickup (not a hot Super Distortion, just a medium output 'buckers) and you're in the squashed zone with distortion reminicent of a Crate SS amp cranked to 10 in the clean channel - ouch.

It's one knob!!! I like not having to twiddle 2 or 3 knobs to change settings. One quick twist and your ready to go!!

I did the R28 mod almost immediately. I use a les paul with dimarzio super distortion p-ups and an old marshall that you have to push the signal hard to get a good overdrive sound with, and the stock 90' just sounds like crap. It breaks up way to much. But once the mod is done it sounds great!!!!

I have to say I was disapointed with the hardware. the older mxr stuff had the switches and knobs wired to the circuit board. The reissues components are soldered right to the board...meaning if the footswitch nut comes loose and you step on it...ouch!! you're squashing the fragile circuit board. The same goes for the knobs, and the jacks too. The shafts on the new models are also plastic, and snap like twigs if you step on the knobs the wrong way.

Haven't called them, but probably should complain about the issues I mentioned in the reliability section. I know people that have had problems in the areas that I spoke of.

The quality issues are important to me,and I do think that MXR needs to find a happy medium with the whole midrange gain thing.You shouldn't have to mod these to make them sound nice. You can't deny the great phase sound you get either.It's really versatile and I've found that it sounds great with almost any genre. It's hard not to just leave it on all the time!!! But then like any effect, IF YOU OVER USE IT, IT CEASES TO BE AN EFFECT.

One knob....very easy

Very vintage and rather noisy.....you won't care

HOW TO TELL A ?SCRIPT? FROM A ?BLOCK? INTERNALLY.

Some of the mid ?70s ?block? logo stenciled MXR Phase 90 units contain the board and components of the most popular and expensive ?script? logo units. The change of the logo markings and the internal electronics did NOT happen at the same time.

But how can you tell the difference between the two internally?

By looking at the components:

The older ?script? used six (6) of the 741-style op amps (black, rectangular things with eight ?legs? connecting it to the board). This is the most popular, collectable and expensive vintage version.

Around 1975, the board was redesigned to the board you?d see in a typical ?block? logo vintage MXR Phase 90.

First versions of this new board were using Raytheon brand 4558 op amps. These had quality control problems. Only used for a short time.

So MXR then switched to Texas Instruments sourced op amps like the 4558 or TL062.

Because the newer version was now using dual op amps, you only find THREE (3) of them of the later version board in the ?block? logo units.

The easiest way to be sure is to count the number of op amps.

It's a classic in it's vintage form. Great with guitar and electric piano. Don't overlook the MXR Phase 45 if you find one....also a great underrated pedal.

huh? I do appreciate the cry-baby manual that came in the box

I'm having a great time with this thing. I've been playing guitar since before these were made and I can't believe I waited so long to get one. Slow learner. my gear: old strat with nice sweet low output pickups >>> Carl Martin Compressor >>> phase 90 >>> Budda phatman tube OD >>>> Keeley mod TS 10 >>>>> Guyatone MD 3 delay >>>> British version of Gibson goldtone GA 15RV. Most of this stuff I've had on my board for more than 5 years. I haven't added a new effect in a long time. I have a great time playing in a low paid and much appreciated old guy cover band. I've struggled with the guitar beast for 40 years and now I even teach. I've settled into a happy relationship with my old strat (lot's of different parts) - I found the magic of EL84s in class A at 6 watts cranked in a bar and have never looked at another amp or guitar. I play pop-rock, R+B, funk, rockabilly, - all covers. For a long time I used a Fulltone custom shop deja-vibe when I wanted that slow swirl - maybe 2 songs. Then I found this MXR at 1/5 the price and 10 times the sound. So the fulltone is history. this thingis not just another phaser. I've heard lots of phasers. This is a separate animal. I use it with speed all the way off - clean mostly because my amp gives me power tube distortion. I turn it to 9:00 for funk. That's it. Sometime I use the TS 10 for focused solos. It is not noisy ( you hear a little hiss swirl in the living room but not in a club. I just love it.

so far so good. No backup. If it breaks I can buy six more of these for the money I'll get for my fulltone vibe.

haven't needed it yet

It's divine. It has a 'woody' sounding swirl which is right for me. By comparison the swirl on the fulltone is metallic - but still ok - just no match for the MXR. The only thing the vibe is better for is copping the hammond sound ( faster speeds) But I don't do much of that. What is REALLY wonderful to my ears is this: as the swirl peaks you get this awesome transient midrange overdrive - totally organic - tubey sounding. I've never heard another phaser that does this. With my gear this spike in midrange drive is beautiful. It also boosts the level a bit when you kick it in which is perfect for me. I'm surprised that the sound is so "large" - you know what I mean. The boss and other phasers squish tone down. This has a big sound. When I looked over other reviews below I saw the strangest thing. People are digging inside these things and cutting legs of the little resistors - # 28 ( ouch!!) and digging out epoxy out of little holes and mucking around !! They are doing this because they want to GET RID OF THE AWESOME MIDRANGE DRIVE !!! and MAKE THEM SMOOTHER AND MORE QUIET !!! HUH!! they don't like this gorgeous sound ???? I trhink they do this because their IQ is 28 = yuch, yuch, ha, ha, te hee hee.... Seriously I know why they do it. I've made the same mistake. They judge their tone by how it sounds in their living room with the carpets and cloth furniture. This has nothing to do with the sound you get in a wooden bar with the sound bouncing around. They think it is too harsh in the living room so they do surgery and remove all the punch. Then in the club - it's washed out. Maybe if you are a recording person or play with a million dollar sound system you would want it tamed. I play straight into the air in the bar - no mics, no recording. Also maybe humbuckers (wich aren't right for my taste) make these overblown a bit. Do yourself a favor - buy one - use single coils and DON"T do surgery until after you hear it in a bar.

One Switch, One knob....tough

Using this with PRS Tremonti SE into Morley Pro wah into Marshall VS8100 100W head, with the Loop containing Phase 90 into Boss PS2 into Boss Turbo Distortion.

The Phase 90 sounds absolutely killer at all settings after you've done the R28 Mod (easy as pie). The sweep is just about right in depth for my likings, and at a fast rate it is great tremolo effect. Before the mod there was a disgusting gain spike clearly audible in the sweep, and a volume boost when switched....now they're both gone...there's no noise when switching at all either....one of my favorite pedals

Built like a brick shithouse....this thing aint going anywhere. Hardcore switches and metal plate design...tough as nails

Dunno...bought it second hand. Got an awesome deal too

Been playing for about 6 years...mainly alternative rock. Would i buy it again....you bet...as I said above....one of my favourite pedals...really helps mood up songs.

erm...one knob! and an on-off switch. The manual was about some certain wahwah pedal, so at first I was very confused because I couldn't find a pedal on mine. :-)

My setup: Rhodes Stage73 (harp direct) > Phase90 > TubeScreamer > MXR 10-band > Boss Tremolo Tr2 > Fender Bassman 50. I am not at all happy with the sound. It overdrives like mad, and not in a nice way. The sound gets midrangy and muddy. So, to make it work, I should invest in 2 volume pedals (pre/post) and an extra eq....that is not going to happen. Maybe the original, non-Dunlop version is better in that respect. You can forget about external power as well, since a nice pronounced and phased 50Hz tone is introduced.

Worked fine, built like a tank.

not dealt with them

It is a classic effect for the Rhodes, and I simply love the phased sound for my funk and acidjazz music. But the buzz, the muddiness and the terrible distortion make it useless to me. I like the looks and how it is built, but as an effect it is an expensive nightmare. I prefer the Boss phaser by miles, and even the modelled VST version of that beats the MXR.

One knob=simplicity. No manual needed. The classic sounds are in there, I tend to like the slower settings. Faster ones yield wild pulsations that can fit in for "special moments" but the slow swirl is what I wanted to hear and it delivers. This is a new model - in the classic orange box.

No noise and no leaking of the effect when bypassed as was the sad sympton of other flawed phasers that I've had. It sounds best with lower powered pickups--either P90s or single coils, or lipstick tubes/Danelectro.

Mainly using this with the SonicCord Bantam, a 1x15 combo. The amp and the Phase 90 mate well. I can get the classic phase tones and find new ones too. Mainly using on clean settings for chord work; definitely seeing why this is considered one of the hallmark phase shifter sounds. Humbuckers can overdrive the input - so, I stick to the single coils for this sound to work best.

More versatile than you might think for a single knob phaser. Funk sounds are in there--dreamy slow pulse sounds are in there too, just play and turn the knob judiciously and you'll find what you need. Fun and musically relevant sounds all over the range in this one.

Rehearsed with it several times and then brought to the gig -it performed flawlessly at the show. Will keep it secure on the pedalboard for more gigs-no backup, build quality looks dead on solid. A no nonsense phaser, I expect many years of solid service with it.

MXR has an excellent website with sound samples. All my interactions with them have been superb.

I play modern janglepop with flume (www.flumetheband.com). I wish I had this pedal when we recorded our cd. Been playing for about 20 years. I would certainly replace this with another if I lost it. I've been through other phasers, new and old, this modern reissue is reliable, and reasonably priced. Would be nice if the power input was on the top of the pedal not the side, but that's a minor refinement. I use the phase shifter in specific places in our music and it really works to fit in with the mood, rather than mask or overwhelm the song. Very organic pleasing tone. Phasing as it was meant to be methinks.

It's one knob. . .even little Annie can figure it out. I have a Phase 90 from 97' and of course I did the R28 mod thanks to Kalaab's easy directions (below me). This pedal is 100 times better with the mod so I will review it as an R28.

HOLY SH*T. Really amazing and SO WARM. It just sounds freakin big through my JMP. The mod cut the boost and distortion that MXR added for some reason (which is kind of cool in it's own way). When you cut out the R28 it's clean and round. I keep mine at 9 oclock for a long swoop. Sounds killer with the Keeley tube screamer cranked. You can be Edward, or Gilmour. Any colour you like!

Built like a beast (on the outside that is). Let's hope she stays together.

I started with MXR in 83' and will continue to use them till the end. The Phase 90 is essential. Great, deep tone. This pedal gives you the ultimate brown sound. I give huge props to Analogman and Keeley for doing all kinds of cool mods (true bypass, pots, etc.) For $61, I have the best pedal I ever owned. I CAN'T TURN IT OFF!!

really easy to use,just one knob for speed of the effect.maybe to easy:i would have liked a depth knob.

i'm using it with:american strat->rmc wah->whammy 3->ernie ball volume->mxr double shot->boss ge7->tc chorus->PHASE 90->line 6 delay->mesa blue angel
in first,i was really disappointed by this unit because of a boosted sound i didn't want!my clear sound was a little crunchy ! but i heard about r26 mod in harmony central and i contacted a guy called kalaad(i saw is review talking about this mod)and he nicely send me a picture of the phase 90 electronic board and the r28 resistor to cut(thanks again)
now,it sound great and i can do george duke's"reach out" or no doubt's"it's my life"
i still miss a depth knob but i'm preatty satisfied

i don't have it for long but it seems solid

i'm not satisfied as they didn't answer me really clearly about r28 mod.explaination was short as if they didn't care about my request!

i don't have it for long but it seems great:i'll keep it

This thing is cake. Look at it... One speed knob, one on/off footswitch.

The key to this pedal is the R28 mod. Many of the R28 mods on the net aren't very detailed, so I'll give you the skinny as best I can:

To do the R28 mod, you have to fully disassemble the pedal and pull the circuit board out of the case. After you pull the board out, on the "guts" side of the board you'll see capacitors (vertically-mounted and maroon in color) and resistors (horizontally-mounted and blue in color with stripes). The resistor in question is mounted directly above the output jack, and is in the bottom of three in a row. To add detail, the R28 capacitor is offset just slightly from the other two. At any rate, you'll either want to remove or clip the resistor. The easiest way to get to it is by clipping the connection on the left side, which is right next to the edge of the board. Wire cutters will be a bit clumsy for such cramped space, so you might need a small pair of scissors. Once this resistor is disconnected, your Phase 90 will be a mellow, clean, and more Script-sounding.

Anyway, before the R28 mod, this pedal was a disaster. Unusable for anything clean, and irritating with distortion, because it adds it's own brand of accidental and bad-sounding distortion. Anyway, after the mod, the sound was crystal-clear. It sounded like the quintessential "holy grail" phase pedal. Perfect for ringing chords, wobbly leads, and everything in between. Nails the Floyd sound (even though he was using a Small Stone) and for EVH fans, it is quite similar to the Script Logo Phase 90. Either way, it's handy for what I bought it for, which was making smooth, ringing rhythms and gently rolling leads. Excellent.

However, I have to give it an 8 because you have to disassemble it and void the warranty to get a good sound out of it.

If it's anything like the Script Logo, it'll be around for a while. My Blue Box reissue has held up very well, so I trust their reputation.

I made an email inquiry at jimdunlop.com concerning the R28 mod, and I got a response back within hours. While not a very detailed response, the email was prompt and easy to understand.

I highly recommend this pedal to anyone looking for a good phase pedal, but be prepared to crack the case on this bad boy and void your warranty. I have no regrets; the mod was simple to do, and the post-mod sound was absolutely terrific. I was really quite surprised at the versatility of such a sparsely adorned box.

If it were lost or stolen, I'd replace it for sure, but grudgingly; leaving out that R28 resistor wouldn't be that hard to do at the factory, and any factory-stock floor model that you try out in the shop is going to sound abysmal enough to make you look elsewhere for your phase pedal. Although worming around the guts can be daunting to those not electronics-savy (myself included), the aforementioned instructions will be easy to follow and well worth the trouble. Do yourself a favor and pick one up. $70 is a good price.

Please feel free to email me with any questions on the R28 mod.

Take a deep breath, hmmmm....
COME ON!!!! ONE KNOB!!!!

I'm using a tube amp, it's a little noise (at the moment you turn it on/off)but with a Hum Eliminator everything is ok. I just loooooove that kinda warble (is that well written?, my english sux!), at 3 near to 4 o'clock it's sort of playing under water. SO AWESOME!! I mostly use this effect to make textures, so it just fit right. I got a reissue one (most ppl say that the REISSUE ones are a HUGE piece of CRAP, but I completely desagree. Why? Because I found this little white (filled with wax) switch that help me take control of the depth of the effect, which is FUCKIN' GREAT!!)
I got a Mesa amp, FUCK YEAH! I can easily get the sound of a lot of songs of incubuzz (pardon me, warning, under my umbrella, and stuff like that) and Van Halen. I just love to play w/this little orange box. I can get some weird sounds as some soft and warm ones.It's just great.

I've gig w/it. I really DEPEND on it, why? Because I don't use a backup or anything, (sort of risky, but there you go..)

Never had to deal w/them. (I REALLY feel this answer is wrong, like misspelled or something..)

I play sort of Vintage Rock with sort of experimental sounds. This phaser helps me A LOT, cuz it's "warmer" than other phasers (boss ones, for instance) it has a lot of balls, it can sound heavy and cool with a tube distortion, but it also can sound soft and warm (almost like playing under-water) w/out any effect or w/a chorus or a delay.)

One "speed" knob. As simple as it gets. And you can get several great-sounding settings VERY quickly, so you can spend your time playing music instead of tweaking and twiddling.

Here's the deal: I ordered Phase 90 #1, played it constantly for two weeks, loved the tone. Read about the "R28 Mod" and was dying to try it, but was afraid of losing the tone of the stock unit, which, as I said, I was diggin'. So the only obvious solution was to ORDER PHASE 90 #2 and mod it, which I did. So now I have both units to compare and contrast. After A/B-ing them for a week, here's my conclusions.

The R28 Mod definitely makes a big difference, and in a very good way. I love the tone of the stock Phase 90, but it did boost the signal a bit too much. And more annoyingly, when playing with a clean tone, there is a midrange spike in the phase cycle that distorts (especially when strumming chords or picking moderately heavy) and it does not sound good at all when it does this. So basically, if you plan on playing with a clean or semi-clean tone, you HAVE to do the R28 mod to make the Phase 90 usable. If you only use distortion tones, the stock Phase 90 works very well and gets a great tone (though many will probably still find it a bit too much).

Doing the R28 Mod decreases the volume boost slightly, mellows out the tone of the phase cycle, and almost completely eliminates the midrange spike. There is still a slight volume boost (which is a GOOD thing; makes the effect stand out more) but the tone is smoother and richer, and there is practically no unwanted/bad-sounding distortion (unless you really strum the hell out of the strings!!). After the mod, the Phase 90 sounds great with both distorted tones AND clean tones. It will also get you dangerously close to early Van Halen sounds. So if you're an Eddie-head, definitely do the mod!

Haven't really owned them long enough yet to be able to rate reliability, but they seem well-built and able to take lots of use and abuse. Plus, lots of "vintage" ones that are 20+ years old are still floating around and working, so they must be built to last.

Any company that will tell you how to mod its products to get the tone you're looking for deserves a "9" on this one!

Here's the bottom line: I love the tone of both the stock Phase 90 and the modded Phase 90, and I'm keeping and using both. But if I had to pick just one, I'd go with the modded Phase 90. In other words, DO THE R28 MOD, YOU WILL LOVE IT! And, if you take care, this mod is reversible. Instead of removing the resistor, just de-solder one of it's "legs" and gently bend the resistor slightly off the circuit board so the "leg" sticks up in the air. The resistor is stable in this position and will not move if you keep the mod, and if you don't like the results, you can easily return it to stock by re-soldering it.

Either way, stock or modded, the Phase 90 is an awesome-sounding pedal. Definitely check one (or two!) out.

one little knob that does oh so much....

my set-up: Fender Heartfield EX or '76 American Fender Strat -> dyna comp -> crybaby -> digitech whammy -> phase 90 -> boss os-2 -> boss bd-2 -> uni-vibe -> boss dd-3 (all powered by ADL Juicebox) -> 1973 Marshall 100 watt super lead (running on two power tubes, so 50 watts)

four words: do the R28 mod!!!! i feel like an idiot for even owning this thing for a year without it. absolutely NAILS the early VH recordings. no noise, no volume increase, no bull, just pure vintage bliss. it has to be put BEFORE the distortion and overdrives, otherwise, it's worthless.

to do the mod, you can read down lower, as someone included their e-mails from the dunlop techies. it involves removing the R28 resistor. "The resistor (R28) is the bottom resistor on top of the output jack to the left ofthe stacked capacitors. This is if you're looking down at the board (top view)." there's three resistor's positioned horizontally next to each other. R28 is the bottom one. e-mail dunlop with any questions.

through countless gigs, never had a problem with it, nor with other dunlop re-issues, such as crybaby, uni-vibe, or dyna comp.

dunlop has always been quick to e-mail back about suggestions or concerms, especially with the R28 mod. haven't had to send them anything for repair though.

i've been playing classic/modern rock for 13 years, and this is a pedal i couldn;t live without. would definitely buy another, probably another re-issue and do the mod, sounds good to my ear and sure is alot cheaper. and the mod is simple!!!

One knob. 'Nuff said.

Sound quality initially was ok...but then I did the R28 Mod...and WOW!! Vintage Script tone.

Running Les Paul Standard / Am. St. Strat to Morley little alligator volume, Bad Horsie 2, TC electronics Chorus/Flanger, into the Phase 90, then into Mesa Boogie Road King Combo. Running an Alesis Midiverb 4 into the 2 effect loops on the Road King for Dig. reverbs and delays.

After the mod, this thing is great, subtle, cool vintage.

Built like a tank...all my mxr stuff in the past lasted for decades.

no opinion, never used 'em.

I play classic rock, steely dan fusion, southern rock and progressive (Rush). This pedal is a perfect match. I have been playing for about 26 years, and really value the vintage sounding stuff. Before the mod, the pedal was only about a 5 or 6 over all...but after removing the R28 resistor, I give it a solid 9. The only thing I can suggest is that you place it in your chain BEFORE your distortion/overdrive. If you don't, you will have an overbearing heavy effect. Placing it before the distortion will give you that elusive VanHalen sound. If this was ever stolen, I would replace it with a vintage script model (if I could find one) or another reissue that has the R28 mod.

Only One Knob Rattles my brain!

Its a little noisey without the R28 Removed, and the Mid sweep is a little too much. But when you take the R28 out it is worth 4 times the cost atleast. Ill give this rating with the R28 Removed. The highest speed setting is kind of useless though, just gets an irritating Bubble kind of sound to it.

Very Sturdy, easy to loose, but does eat up the battery after a while, its good to get a 9 Volt Adapter to hook it up to so it doesnt quit on you in mid gig.

Never used it personally, but for telling us how to take out the R28, Dunlop gets a 10!

I play mostly 80s style Van Halen metal and some shredding. I think this is great for having background, especially if your trying to play Van Halen stuff. I would take out the R28 ASAP when you get it, unless you are not sure what your doing, its not worth the wasting money.

Very Very Very easy. Its just one knob, and can easily be switched in between songs, or even (as i often do) in the middle of a song.

Well i run a Boss ODB-3 Overdrive, into a Digitech Bass Synth Wah, into an old Shinai Wah, and then into this. And it adds some of the craziest tones to it. Once you find the legnth of the part you are using it on, everything seems to sound smooth. The only thing is that i got mine used, and i believe it is one of the first ones and the input and output seem to be a bit smaller and hard to get the cables into it, but thats just in my opinion. And even the slightest touch to the cables will send a POP through your amp. But other than that its FANTASTIC!

I havnt used it for a show yet, i guess ill see tommorrow how well it works.

I dunno!!! Ummmmmmmmm, it was used!!! I bet the old customer support people are dead!!! So ill give them a 10!!

Its quite a fine and wonderful effect!

Please!
But the 2 things I don't like about this pedal is that the battery compartement is a bitch to open and the switch hurts your feet if you don't wear shoes.

AWESOME!!!!
I can get really cool sonds with this baby!
With a low tone distortion, and the speed knob at max, you can get a "Queens of the stone age" sound, or a Jimi Hendrix or Jane's Addiction sound.
I can even make it sound "kindov" like water.
It's the best sounding Phaser out there, it beats the boss pedals too. When bypassed, the signal isn't changed by the pedal, there's no hum or buz. The only thing I would wish for is that there would be more speed on the thing, but then I guess it would sound to digital, but that's OK with me.

This is a little tank, or a mini bomb shelter, the one you prefer, this thing is totally reliable, bring it to all my gigs, even dropped it a few times, the enclosure is thick, and only a coupple scratches.

Never delt with them

You put all my last comments together and you get the best Phaser made to today (the reissue), the one before was to subtle for me.

Wow. I just started experimenting with single effects. This was one of my first single effects pedals. This is easy. A little baby could operate this thing. All you do is just plug it in , plug it in. The only thing is that if you are at home stomping away, you need to put shoes on or else you will hurt your toes trying to stomp on that small switch.

As for the sound. It is a very good phaser considering it only has one option . And that is the speed. It serves its purpose adding that unique swooshing sound. I managed to achieve a similar sound that may be heard in "that lady" by the Isley Brothers with the solo done by Ernie Isley back in I think 1973. To do this you have to add some sort of distortion. It phase is very clean and doesn't sound digitized. I use this through a 10 watt amp and a 20 watt amp. either way sound is good. if the phase sound was able to go faster on the "speed" knob it would be even better.

Oh it is reliable . very. actually I only use it when doing certain songs but it is very reliable for those purposes. I have yet to gig because I am just trying to develop my skill right now but I am sure if I were to gig or something I would use it.

I never got into a situation where I had to contact the company so I couldn't tell you.

It suits me. I find I can use this for all styles of music. When adding the phase 90 to a wah wah, I get a funky sound = funk style. when adding it to distortion it works for rock . when playing it by itself it does smooth chorus and fill-ins when playing pop, r&b. I would definately buy another if I lost it. The only thing I don't like about this is that the max speed is not that fast, but I guess too fast would sound too digitized.