Maxon PT999 Phase Tone

E-Z to use. One knob to dial to your taste. No need for the manual but it is better than most other manuals I've seen.

Sounds very good. Similar to the MXR Phase 90 but more transparent and subtle; perhaps too subtle. Used it with a 1996 Les Paul Studio and Fender Tele Plus through a Mesa/Boogie Studio Caliber or Vox AC-15. Noticeable drop in volume when activated (I don't know if this is a common problem or not). I think my MXR Phase 90 boosted the signal a little when activated.

No problems with this pedal.

Never had to contact support.

I play several styles of music and used this pedal more often than the MXR, but was never happy with the slight drop in signal level when the pedal was activated. I did prefer the transparency of this pedal over the MXR. Rarely use it anymore but it stays in my arsenal for the odd day when I do need it.

Easy to use. One pot moved counterclockwise/clockwise. There are two internal trimmers. One for compression and the other for intensity. These really augment for versatility of the product. There was manual for it but it was written in Japanese and is thus useless to me.

Sound quality is excellent. I find that it blends with your existing tone and colors it in a pleasant way. I am not really using the effect for heavy phasing but rather to add a hint of movement during solos. I am using it for arpeggio work using a clean sound with a touch of reverb and with a "clean boost" (Time Machine Boost) during overdriven lead work. In both of these settings I couldn't ask more from the pedal. Guitar is a Strat w/ Kinmans and amp is Deluxe Reverb.

I will say that I imported my PT999 from Japan because I prefer the orange color over the US blue version. As far as I'm aware there are no circuit differences.

I have adjusted the interal trimmers. I reduced the intensity slightly and kept the compression exactly where it was. I found that even the slightest adjustments made to the compression trimmer unfavorable, but could see unconventional applications for the results. Perhaps an additional reason to buy a backup?

This stompbox is superbly made. The script is gorgeous and the orange rich without being harsh. Battery is accessed via four screws on the bottom. Try a carbon/zinc battery and see what you think. It might be something you prefer.

Havn't needed it yet and I have had it for a year with consistent usage.

I play jazz, blues, funk, surf and roots-rock. I use the phaser exclusively for the funk and R/R purposes and sometimes for a blues solo.

I was considering the Sobbat PB-2, script logo Phase 90, vintage Small Stone or the other Maxon phaser. This won out on simplicity, aethetics, footprint and of course tone.

Its little buddies are a Teese Picture wah, London Fuzz, Vintage Rat, DM-2, DD-5 and Time Machine Boost.

I would love to hear about neat little tricks for this pedal from other users ;-)

1 knob

i hate to give a 10, but wow, this thing is cool. i got this to complement my small stone, i thought it did better clean phasing, where the sm. stone excelled with more gain (ala billy corgan). i haven't messed with the internal trimmers, i'm just afraid to mess it up. seems to be really versatile, very quiet. small volume drop, but i tend to either use it with rhythm only, or when i do use this for lead i will roll the volume up a tad on the guitar anyway, so all is well. some compression, but i think personally that is part of the sound intended and i don't struggle with clarity in chords or single-note lines with it on, so i can't complain. i can see where some might want more intensity(internal trimmer?) as i tend to prefer my effects to be somewhat transparent to maintain the characteristics of my playing and overall tone. i think it favors single coils (strat w/tex. spec. and gib. blueshawk w/ p-90) for clean sound and humbuckers (hamer with duncan 59's and epi 335) for lead sound, but that is probably my personal taste coming through. i can get some pretty cool page-like tones when used with fuzz. i run it into a del. rev. reissue, peavey delta blues, and sovtek mig 50, also i use a friend's univalve through 2 vintage 30's when jamming with him. seems to work well with a variety of gear. very quiet when bypasse and when activated, no clicking and very little swooshing sound.

i got it use from a friend, so it's about 1-1.5 years old, no problems at all. seems solid, no worries mate!

no experience here

i mostly play blues/rock/alt.(sm. pumpkins, pearl jam, hendrix, zep, clapton type stuff) i've been playing 6-7 years now. not overly talented, but i know what i like. i got this used from a jamming partner who bought it mail order and discovered that phasers just weren't his thing, i borrowd it for about a week and was ready to buy it.as stated earlier i bought this to augment my small stone, but shortly thereafter my small stone developed some problems and hasn't made it back into my rig yet, so this is my full-time phaser. great all around pedal. i would definitelly replace it if lost/stolen. works very well with my fulltone ult. octave (really just a fuzz pedal with a switchable octave effect i rarely use) and thankfully retains clarity when used with reverb and light delay (eh polychorus). for me, this is the best phaser out there and is the most essential part of my effects rig but it is probably not suited to those wanting a very intense phase unless the internal trimmers can be adjusted adequately. i hate to give such a glowing review as i believe nothing is perfect but i've never come across a phaser that fits my needs better, and thanks to this i've quit looking!

Piece of cake Man!

When i first got it I noticed a slight drop in volume {nothing major at all} Also alittle to much compressin in the tone. Maybe thats the cause of the tiny drop. Sooo I opened it up and started tweaking! There are to internal trimmers inside on the board. The top left hand corner trim is for the compressin which i turned just a tiny bit to the left {counterclock wise} Just a tiny bit bit makes a big difference. To far and nasty treble. The other one is near the middle and adds intensity or depht. I turned it all the way counter clockwise. Which gave it as much of the effect that its got. I made sure to mark the original spots with a sharpy marker before doing this. Now i think i've got it. Much better sound! Much clearer and i dont notice the tiny volume drop either. I will say the phase effect isnt as pronounced as the Phase 90 but i dont mind. It is real close though. Switching is dead quiet which is a bonus. It is not noisy for a phase tone either. No major Swooshing!

Looks good enough

All in all a good phase pedal. I would buy it again but would have to tweak it a bit. I hope this helps anyone else thats wishs to tweak their's.

Very Easy...one knob...no brainer.

The sound quality is EXCELLENT. I compared this to the MXR Phase-90 re-issue and a Boss PH-3. There was no question. The Maxon beat them fair and square. I was looking for a smooth phaser that wouldn't alter or dominate my tone and this is it. Like the previous reviews said, you can get an awesome 70's-style tone with this pedal.

Built solid, nice and compact, fits well into the pedalboard.

Never dealt with them. Shouldn't have to, it's pretty solid.

I really like this pedal a lot. I was using a Line-6 Modulation Modeler to have that all-in-one box. I found that the only effect that I used consistently was a phaser, so I sold it and bought the Maxon unit tonight.

Here's my line-up: Various American Deluxe Fat Strats Strats plugged into a TU-2 Tuner, Crybaby, Vox Valvetone Overdrive, Maxon Phase Tone, Ernie Ball Volume Pedal. I use a 2001 Fender Twin Amp (2x12 Pro-Series, not the Cyber-Twin!) with a Line-6 Delay Modeler in the effects loop. I originally had the Phaser in the effects loop, but it was a little too 'heavy', so I put it in front of the pre-amp and it settled down nicely. This is not a real overbearing Phaser. Like the man said, don't expect "Atomic Punk" type phasing. Think of David Gilmour's opening chords to "Dark Side of the Moon". On the dirty side, it's very Robin Trower, Peter Frampton, Frank Marino and early Alex Lifeson. Those were some of the guys I was influenced by (playing 25 years now), so this was an easy choice. I like my effects very subtle and this fits the bill. My only complaint is that it's a little pricey ($135), but it's a keeper. Beats anything else I found, regardless of the price.

Just plug in and dial in the phasing speed you want (one control aboard). At slower settings one may think that hearing the actual effect to be a little difficult, especially when playing chords through your clean channel (the effect doesn't really come out at you, but becomes a part of your actual tone; maybe it depends on what you're expecting). There are 2 internal trim-pots, but if you're hearing something pretty healthy, I wouldn't mess with'em (an improvement won't happen).

I play through a Peavey Classic 30 with a Les Paul and Strat; Not a noisy pedal. You don't hear the swirl when not playing as you would on the Phase 90 re-issue or Boss Super Phaser. But then, the PT999 doesn't quite have the depth or intensity of the Dunlop 90, which is one quality I believe it does lack (however, the Dunlop 90 adds a bitey upper midrange element and interestingly boosts your signal). The Maxon PT999 is smooth and definitely not bitey. When sliding between single notes -- lets say a whole step -- you hear the phased tone immediately (the Dunlop 90 falls short of this, because hearing it's brittle emphasis can be easily noticed); The Maxon PT999 shines best when used with an overdrive [I'm using a Tube King (sweet) and Fulldrive-2 (great overdrive volume boost) amongst others, including a Maxon OD808 re-issue (don't believe that it's leaps and bounds better than a TS9 re-issue -- they're nearly identical in sound)]; Through your clean sound you will notice a little darkening of your tone. A slight bass emphasis is added and a little volume loss on your high end is what I hear. With overdrive, there is a seemingly improved transparency.

Looks and feels reliable. A backup shouldn't be needed unless a phase sound is what you're about (but then you'd probably have other flavors of phase present to cover in case of a break-down). I bought it to replace my Dunlop Phase 90 which just decided to die.

n/a

This pedal is great for a warm mellow element to be added to any form of music. For single note playing (also double-stop intervals) there is a quality of phase smoothness that a Dunlop Phase 90 re-issue doesn't even approach; At full throttle, this Maxon doesn't get as
radical as the Dunlop, it just sounds nicer. The fastest swirl is about near the vibrato rate of a relaxed singer (not as fast as Cher; Hey ya'll, the soothing and warm wavy tones will stir your soul man...heavy -- I hope this will help me to forget how much I had to pay for another Maxon without true bypass switching). Perhaps a musician may want more depth than this effect offers. The phasing does not stand out more than it is a phasing which becomes part of your tone. For a slow speed phase like on Van Halen's "Atomic Punk" intro, it would fall short of the intensity needed though (but who knows what a high volume could do); Playing with overdrive is a noticeable environment where this pedal has superiority over the upper midrange bite of the Dunlop MXR Phase 90 re-issue (which just gets almost horrible); The Maxon PT999 does sound very good. I do feel that the price for the PT999 stomp box is a little too high for a simple featured phaser.

A speed knob and a footswitch..easy!

Used it with Fuzz and Overdrive...sounds excellent! I compared this with the reissue Dunlop and this one nails the old MXR Phase90 sound and more, better than the Dunlop! Using the fuzz-DynaComp-Phasetone(dynacomp in full) really scary sounding!

Built like those old MXR pedals!

Never dealt with them

A must have for every phasing needs, you'll find a way to use this, you'll be inspired. At lower levels very Pink Floyd, at around 1 o'clock excellent for 70's blues rock solos(think Johnny Winter, Frank Marino) early Van Halen no problem! I was originally gonna get an MXR phase90, but I heard these can sound like the original one.....No regret at all! Highly recommended

One of the easiest pedals to use. Plug it in and adjust the speed, thats it.

I've had it on the road for over a month (about 27 gigs) and it works great.

If you're looking for that old 70's phaser sound the pt999 is it.