Maestro PS-1A Phase Shifter

This old stomp bow is AWESOME! Great Bill Connors old Fusion sounds and old Rush sounds from the 70's.

No manual- bought it used on ebay.
A crackhead dummy could figure out how to use this.

This box is set up with my guitar rig- using vintage Gibson hollowbodies, Electric Mistress, CE-1, G-Force, GP-16, VHT 2052 amp, Egnater pre-amp- all through old 4X10 Marshalls.

Not too noisey for such an old effect. This UNIT ALWAYS sounds GREAT. I can DEFINITELY get THE vintage sounds of Alex Lifeson (Rush through 2112 and All the World's a Stage), Bill Connors (Return to Forever), and old Al DiMeola (Casino, Elegant Gypsy)-

Seems like this box is built for a nuclear war.

Don't need a back up- even though I just bought another one!

No support- not available

I play everything from pop-rock to Jazz/Fusion/Progressive Rock.
I love the sound of this machine. It reminds me of 70's Jazz/Fusion.
The switches are the only somewhat annoying thing about this unit- (they are too small and too close to each other- for the different phasing speeds)

If you are thinking of getting one of these- DO IT!!! You won't be dissapointed!

Simple, as said, three switches. Never had the optional footswitch and never needed it probably because I didn't know it existed and learned to use it as is. If you want you can play with a coupe of pots inside to adjust the sound further and that's where the fun starts with these babies.

I've had this thing since 1978 and still love it, the spin-up as you change speeds is endearing although sometimes annoying like most vintage pedals. Like I said before you can get inside and play with two pots to tweak it, one controls the sweep and the other the intensity. If you max out the intensity you get and interesting effect; with the first rocker switch in one position it acts as normal, in the other it adds a funky gain which will overdrive your amp's preamp and give crusty distortion with a milder phasing effect... there is no "off" position, it's either phasing standard or crunchy. Try it out if you have one, it's a great "low tech" way to get a nice transition from a quiet passage to a louder one.

Hey, it's worked for me since '78, and I got it used.

Gone before I ever needed them.

A+ piece of work, one of the few things I've lugged around for this long along with the old Morley Power Wah Fuzz pedal I got with it, shoulda bought the damn Mutron III too!

The simplest of pedals, just 3 rocker switches. The first switch turns the pedal on to slow phase, the other two increase the rate.

I love this phaser! I'm using it with a Les Paul through a gazillion other pedals into a Marshall 30 Anniversary head and cab all switched by a Ground Control system and by far it is my favorite effect. Simple, yet the best phase sound ever. (never tried a Mutron bi-phase though). I find it noisy, but this doesn't bother me (come on, the things 30 years old) and it eats your tone when not on (no true bypass here) so I used to run it through a Boss LS-2 Loop Selector (highly recommended)until I got my GCX switcher system.
If you are as big a Rush fan (pre 1982) as I am (fave album of all times...1976 All the World's a Stage) this is THE sound. Think Soliloquy from 2112 and you have this sound. It was Alex Lifeson's modulator of choice until he discovered the Boss CE-1.

It's lasted thirty years without dying, so I hope its good for at least 30 more. I only have the one so I'd be lost without it. Some duffus tromped on it and bent one of the rocker switches. It's now safe in my rack set on med phase for the rest of its life.

What!??

I play a combination of ambient, ethereal, atmospheric, Lillith Fair type adventerous pop/ Rush influenced prog rock. Try explaining that one to radio! In other words, many many styles/moods, and other than my guitar, this is my most treasured piece of gear. If it were to go missing, I'd not hesitate to buy another or two. As you can probably tell, I LOVE this pedal. I'm a phaser junkie, at one time I've owned a Boss ph1, MXR Phase 90, MXR Phase 100, EH Bad Stone (another great one!) and tried almost every other one in search of the elusive Rush phasing sound. This is it! I'm happy.

Nothing could possibly be easier to use.... This unit has a power switch, and rocker switches for selecting the 3 preset rates. The input/output jacks are even labeled for you. ;) If you can score the optional footswitch (like I did), you'll be even more stoked (like I am).

I use this with a copy of the lucite Dan Armstrong through a Kustom 250 on top of a Kustom 2X15. I play in a psychedelic/drone/space rock band, so this is perfect. The slow and medium speeds are ideal for playing clean rhythm parts, and during any spontaneous noise freakouts, I get a swirling jet engine sound when I kick on the Big Muff. Maybe not as clean as digital, but I bought it for the warmth.
The fast speed setting will blow your mind.

Never had any problems with it. The housing is totally rugged, but I am always cautious with the plastic rocker switches. Some idiot actually used to step on this thing, so one of the switches is bent. The optional footswitch solves this.

Customer WHAT??

This is a must for any psychedelic/space rock type stuff. It's just simple and cool. I've seen ones that have been modded with a rate adjustment knob. This is kinda cool, but I wouldn't do that to mine.
I would replace this in an instant if anything happened to it. (Don't even think about it. ;)

It is very easy to use. It has the famous three rocker switches. It could be operated by hand or foot.

My setup is a Fame (Hondo) Mastercaster, a Crate CR-212 amplifier, a Guild Foxey Lady fuzz box, a Vox V-847 Wah Wah, a Roger Mayer Octavia, and the classic Maestro PS1-A Phase Shifter. As far as the noise, it has the classic sounding phase shifting sound that I heard on the Isley Brothers classic song from 1973 called "That Lady". It never hums the tone when I'm using it with other pedals.

It is very dependable. I've had it since 1995 via mail order. If I were gigging, I would have to take another phaser with me just in case if the fuse blows out. Other than that, I haven't had any problems.

I've never dealt with the company. I bought the effect from an ad that I put in a magazine. I had not have any problems with the effect.

Overall, I play all kinds of music. I am not in a band right now. Although I have have done a couple of open night blues jam sessions. I have yet to use the effect onstage. I'm sure I will one of these days.

This is an original Maestro Phase Shifter from 1971 with the three rocker switches (like on a Lowery organ). The one I own I bought off of E-Bay and it is a bit scuffed up but in great condition otherwise. This effect is very easy to use, and brainiacs aren't necessary. The only pain in the ass is if you don't have a footswitch that goes with it (mine doesn't). Then it's just confusing to hit the switches, especially if your feet are wide....you end up hitting two switches at once.

This is used in my Eric Johnson setup which I am still trying to complete for two years now. I play this one through my Fender Princeton Chorus while I throw my dist. units and delay through my Fender Deluxe. This is an analog effect, and it really doesn't hum or hiss at all.....it seems to be very passive. That's especially nice when for years you're used to using DOD effects and plastic crap.

This is a very reliable pedal, especially since it requires a fuse. i'm not really one to know code names for the long tube fuses, but it's the one that looks like a tiny version of the ooze canister from Ninja Turtles II (not funny, I know....) I could use this thing on a gig without a backup because it never quits on me.....I usually leave my pedalboard plugged in 24 hours a day and it's never shorted out. If it does, the circuitry is so basic and I have small board experience to be able to fix the thing.

I've never dealt with the company personally. Possible reason is that Maestro doesn't exist anymore (sarcasm)

But these are the same guys that developed the Echoplex, so you can figure how long ago this company went out of business.

Overall this pedal is unique in sound, shape, and quality. The unit itself is massive, has three organ switches, and it has such a warm analog phase sound just like the one you hear on the breakdown of "Life In The Fast Lane" by the Eagles. Nice sound, and these aren't really that hard to find. Before I had one I could never find them....now they're all over E-Bay left and right. Everyone and their mother has this thing. It's a really cool pedal. Pick one up, and try to get it used.

The Maestro Phase Shifter has three rocker (slow, medium, fast) switches. Thus, it is rather easy to use. One would think that controlling the rate of phase without a potentiometer would be limiting and therefore undesirable. The truth is, it is limiting. However, who really uses phasers with such slight differences in phase that it really matters?

The device is over twenty-five years old, but it sounds perfect. The sound quality is acually really amazing. The closest thing I can approximate it to is when a digital effect is impersonating an analog effect and doing a really good job. Actually, it sounds like noiseless analog.

It seems to be reliable. I've never had trouble with it.

Customer support? I think not.

This pedal is great. I highly recommend picking one up. The thing that I've found it equally useful for is phasing vocals. The medium and slow setting give a particularly nice sound. (Not unlike Robert Plant on, "The Rain Song," or Thurston Moore on the live versions of, "The Diamond Sea.")

Couldn't get much easier - 1 input, 1 output, 1 power switch and 3 large rockers for slow, medium and fast speeds. I believe this was one of the first phase shifters on the market. You are limited to 3 fixed speeds and have no control over intensity. The rockers were not meant to be stepped on - there is a remote footswitch for this.

Even though you are limited to 3 speeds, each one sounds good. I think they were going for a Leslie-like sound - it does the gradual speed up/ slow down thing when switching speeds, just like a rotating speaker. Switching the slow speed rocker to off bypasses the effect, and I didn't notice any effect bleed-through.

The one I have must be at least 25 years old, and it's still going strong. Large metal case, plastic rockers. Not meant to be stepped on, but switched by hand. I do think you could switch it with your foot if you're gentle. Otherwise, find one with the remote footswitch.

The unit was built for Maestro by Oberheim. Since Gibson shut Maestro down some years ago, I doubt I could get support from them. On the other hand, I doubt I'll need it.

If you don't mind the limitations on speed and intensity, it's not bad. I tend to like old effects better than the new ones, both for the sound and because they're uncommon. I have noticed that these are now selling for $100 and up, so as an investment it's not a bad choice.