Maestro PS-1A Phase Shifter

Easy. Rocker switches for speed. One rocker for on/off.

Can be spacey if you know where to tweak it. Can be lush with no whompf whompf whompf too if you know where to go.

I prefer the full lush sound to the deep rolling phase shifts myself. So I spent some good time tweaking the three little trim pots that are on the ciruit board to get just the beginning of dive and shimmer. Sounds awesome.

The pedal has to be on all the time or no signal will pass through it. Too, it takes some high end off your signal. You don't notice because the pedal has to be on, and when on, whether phasing or not, that high end is stripped away.

I replaced the on/off rocker with a stomp switch and have true bypass on it now. With the phase effect off (Slow rocker in off position), toggling back and forth between bypass and effect shows the tone suck clearly.

I also tried to increase the effect output volume by tweaking some components on the circuit board. Someone else may be able to figure it out, but when I finally got more volume, I'd added some distortion to the sound. That's no good so I put that back to stock values.

It's solid enough that I don't worry about support.

na

Get one. The phasers with the Balls and Speed controls are *not* the same. Those sound like you're playing in a cave at the bottom of the phase sweep. I put the trim pots on my Maestro Stage Phaser to their minimum settings and still got a sterile phase compared to the PS-1A. And the PS goes for $125 on ebay while the stage phaser will cost you $250.

THIS is the pedal used by Lifeson of Rush on those early albums. NOT the Balls/Speed pedals.

Easier than a three knob guitar.

Amazing!!! I have purchase 9 new pahse shifters...they dont cut it.

alomst 30 years old I broke the fuse hold when i dropped it. Still works great.

N/A

Steely Dans Josie sounds better with this

This is THE STANDARD by which all other phase shifters should be judged. Three buttons, slow/on/off, medium and fast speeds. What could be easier. (Note: the last of these phase shifters added an intensity knob to the top...not necessary...why mess with perfection?)

Thick and chewy phase shifting. Minimal noise considering the relatively cheap op amps used inside. The slow and fast speeds mimic the speeds of a Leslie rotating speaker, albeit a single rotor Leslie, like the Fender Vibratone, or Leslie 16. The thing even ramps up and down like a Leslie. For those who think the fast speed of a Leslie is too warbly, there is a medium speed.

This doesn't do the heavy, jet-phasing of a unit with more stages and heavy regeneration/feedback, but it's perfect as is.

30 years old and sounding great...who could ask for more. The design is actually and Oberheim circuit...a classic early synthesizer manufacturer.

Masetro was owned by Gibson, and schematics are readily available and I've found the folks at Gibson to be helpful with providing schematics. My Maestro phase shifter is actually built in to a Gibson/Norlin SG guitar amplifier...a real boat anchor with a SS preamp and tube power amp from the mid-late 70's. The phase shifter is the same board that is in the Maestro phase shifter and it also has the 6 pin plug for external switching. I built my own external switch.

But because Gibson put out such strange amps (8417 obsolete power tubes) and because their guitars are WAY overpriced considering the lousy quality control, I'll gig them a couple points.

I played in a band in the mid 70's...a hard rock band out of Minocqua WI called "Home Grown." We actually ran a whole backline of Norlin/Gibson SG amplifiers. The guitar amps had six 10" speakers and my bass amp had a 15" and two 10"s. I found a 4X10 version last year and bought it for nostalgia purposes and especially to get my hands on that wonderful phase shifter.

I play nearly anything, from classic rock, to country, bluegrass and metal. I also played in the worship team in my ex-church for 17+ years before getting kicked out. We did the usual praise choruses, and a lot of original praise and worship music. Being that the church had it's origins in the "Jesus Freak" movement in Southern CA in the late 60's, an effect like this fits the music perfectly.

A piece of the proverbial to use! An on/off switch and three large organ-like rockers like me mum used to have on her old electric organ! There's a six pin socket on the back for a dedicated footswitch to control the speeds - slow, medium and fast. Mine has the on-off switch that lights up to tell me the unit is on. I've seen others with a just a plain white plastic toggle switch. You can use the switches in combination but the slow phase switch must always be on - I suppose because it is the first stage of the effect. Cut it out and you'll get nothing. The unit always stays on - if you switch it off while connected to your valve amp you'll get a nasty, orrible crackle and everything shuts down! Leave it!

Right - first thing is that to turn the effect off when connected you just make sure that the rockers are not on - or just switch off the slow phase setting. It then behaves like a perfik gentlemen. Totally hush. Second thing - has anyone noticed that when you plug into an effect of this quality it improves the normal guitar tone? I get the same improvement from a J Everman lo-fi filter - try finding one of those on ebay! I got lucky. The Maestro makes my tone clearer and more solid when it is not phasing. Amazing. Wot about the effect itself? There really is nothing like this unit - beautiful, deep classic phasing and leslie effects. This has the deepest phasing I've come across yet. It is really difficult for me to turn this thing off. Any combination sounds bloody fantastic, even the fast ones and every sound is eminently useable. The unit is very big, but the way I set up my effects this really does not matter. Why sacrifice your sound for something that'll fit on your pedal board? Use yer loaf! I run it off a step-down transformer, cos I live in Blighty. It's AC aswell, so easy to add in yer chain.

The units from the early 70's. It works like a dream. The insides look like they were built by an audiophile. Strong casing, but you'd be a twat for stepping on the rocker switches. You'll break them, and your life will be in ruins until you got em fixed. Don't come crying to me then or any of the other reviewers here who have warned you off this dodgy practice. I reckon this is dead reliable - never let me down yet.

Support? That would be like calling General Motors about your model T Ford. However, simply looking at the integrity of the electronics, I reckon a good technician will know what to do if it needed attention. I'll give it a high rating because it looks easy to fix e.g. easy to replace each component seperately.

I play pop, funk and jazz with an experimental twist I guess. All my effects are table top so I can manually control their parameters while playing. I do not play in any convential way or style. I leave that to all the good-looking bastards with their button-down shirts.

Oh Gawd! I don't rate things 10/10 simply because nothing in life is perfect. Except for chocolate. I think that this unit deserves nothing less though. It is simply the best classic phaser sound I've ever heard. It's the sound from so many of my favourite songs. It's a sound that will always be useable - it adds a wonderful dimension and richness and sweetness to my tone. The sound of the maestro phase shifter has got me in a half nelson on this one and the ref has counted to ten. The bell goes and The Maestro wins! If I gave it less than 10, I would be in physical pain for weeks. And the guilt!

This was a great unit. I used to have a mic stand screwed into the plate on the bottom of it and kept it within arm's reach to turn it on or off, or to change speeds. The 6 pin plug in the back was for the optional footswitch. It had three "stomp box" type switches for the speeds, plus there was a white led lamp next to each switch that would light up to show you what speed your were on. The footswitch was rectangular, probably 8" long or so, and about 2 inches square, if my memory serves me correctly. The cord was hard-wired into the switchbox at one end.

I was playing a trio at the time..guitar,bass and drums with vocals.We played cover tunes....It was a great effect.I really enjoyed the way it would wind down when changing from fast to slow.

Bonehead simple- probably why I used it for so many years!

I bought one of these back in 1971, when they first came on the market, and used it well into the early '90's. During that time, I used a number of guitars, from a 59 Gibson Super 400, mid 60's 335 and 335 12 string (man what a sound that was!) to a strat. The sound never failed to please. The effect that I liked best was the Leslie simulation, with the "spooling up" between phase speeds. I almost always used it on the low speed, with accents supplied with faster speeds. The low speed "spread" my sound and made it thicker without really changing the color of the sound. The thing that made me give it up was getting a JC120 with its lush chorus. I am reacquiring another with an eye toward using it for the leslie effect again.

The original unit was like a tank. I used it for better than 20 years, and the only time it ever failed was when I accidentally kicked the on/off switch and broke it. I replaced the original switch with a toggle switch and we were back to the races. If only all my other gear was as simple and bulletproof!

N/A

Playing a variety of music, from country to folk rock to blues to jazz to pop, the Maestro PS1 was an integral part of my sound for the majority of my career(35 years). I think it sounds best with a large hollowbody played through a Fender tube amp, and I am obtaining another. As mentioned earlier, my favorite feature is the Leslie emulation that it does.

I'm just responding to one of the posts asking what the additional input was on the phaser. It was for a remote footswitch that was used to change the speed of the phaser.

Regards,
Chuck Bruce
charlesdbruce@hotmail.com

Doesn't get much simpler... I do wish I knew what the plastic jack on the back is for. Six holes maybe for six pins? If anyone knows please tell me, or just post it here.

Seems to me this is a very clean phaser. Used it plenty of times in the studio and sounds great on tape too.

Never had a problem, nor do I ever intend to.

Yes, please.

Works great, sounds great, easy to use, picked it up cheap. If I solve the mystery of the plastic jack on back, I'll give it a ten. If youhave a manual, let me know.

This phaser is very easy to use. It has three color coded rocker controls that you manually press to get your effect.

I use to own one of these until some looser ripped off my valued bag of effects. "vintage stuff" When I was using the phaser my set up was Maestro PS-1A,MXR Flanger,EH Big Muff Pi,EH Clone Theory,EH Deluxe Memory Man, and a Vox Wah. Those where the good ole days. Most of that stuff is gone now, but that was my set-up. The sound quality of the phaser was great, the best out there at the time. I bought mine new and was still one of the best phasers made. Very basic phaser, slow, medium, and fast with gradual change of speed when switching.

This unit was very dependable. Never needed a backup. Just dont stomp on the rockers, it's plastic. The unit is built very sturdy.

Never needed repair. Never had to deal with them.

The time that I had the unit I played jazz/fusion, some r&b and rock. I play "Contemporary Christian" now. I wish I still had the phaser. I've been playing for thirty-six years now and have owned some really great sounding effects. I now use mostly the Boss DD5 for delay, a Line 6 MM4 Modulation unit and a worthless piece of crap wah called the GCB95 Cry Baby.

What can you say Three buttons. DONT STEP ON THEM!

Here is my set up. Big muff->BOSS OD1 ->Boss TW1 ->Maestro paser -> DANO fish chips eq -> BOSS delay ->Guyatone Tremo -Crate amp. I was blowen away by how subtal the effect was. I know that I could adjust it internaly. But it was a nice breese to my small stones gail. I relay liked it the second I got iT. Dose not dirty the signal @ all But I do not like that if you turn it off you loose the signal going through it.

I bought it not working. After repaired by Ron Sound. I think it will last just as long as I do not step on the rockers.

NA.

I play smooth sigur ross / mello smashing pumpkins sort of sounds and this effect it great. Get one if you can!

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.