Option 5 Destination Phase

Very easy to use. Tweak the three knobs until you find your sounds. Anything from a light shimmer to a thick, lush 70s phase. If you need a manual for this, then you probably also need a manual on how to breathe.

I play a '76 Les Paul through a Peavey Ultra and an '83 Strat through a Music Man. I have bought and sold 100+ pedals over the past two years searching for the perfect sound, but only 10 pedals have made it to my pedal board one of which is the Option 5.

I have an original Mu-Tron Phase II phaser that I bought in the 70s which sounds great but I was looking for a smaller pedal for my pedal board. The Option 5 Phaser fits the bill perfectly. It comes the closest of any pedal to sounding as good as the Mu-tron and is much smaller. It can go from a shimmer to a thick 70s phase. It sounds good clean or with distortion (no clipping!!) and blows away the MXR Phase 90 and Phase 45, the Maxon PT999, the Maestro, and Systech pedals. I have owned all of these pedals at some point and they just don't compare with the Option 5.

Also, it's dead quiet when off. No hum on mine. It's not quite a perfect 10 but it is closer to a 10 than a 9, especially when compared to what you can buy these days.

I've had it 2 months and have gigged without a backup. The switch seems sturdy enough. No problems yet and I don't anticipate I will have any in the future.

Haven't needed to call them.

I play 70s classic rock covers in my band. This the best phaser I have ever played in this price range and nails the 70s phase sound that was probably over-used but sounded oh so good. I haven't tried phasers that cost three times as much but I don't see a need to because this pedal gives me the phase sounds I was looking for without the clipping on distortion like some of the other phasers. I don't write many reviews here, but I wanted to write about the Option 5 pedal because it's a fantastic pedal. Good enough that I will be checking out their other pedals. It is well worth the dollars.

Three knobs!

I was going to order one a while ago but there was a little bit of volume drop when the pedal was engaged. Jay has since fixed that and man did he do it right. There is no difference in tone or volume when off or engaged except for the sound of the effect.

Jay made this a simple 4 stage phaser and I already had my mooger phaser so wgy get this one ? I need two. One for vibey thick and jiucy tones and extreme sounds. The mooger does this the best for me as its warmer than the others and fatter sounding. The OPTION 5 PHASER though is warm but more transperant and also gives that small stone, phase 90 tone but better than either pedal and with more control. Jay nailed the more simple phaser tones in this pedal but you can get far out with the reg knob. It has theee knobs rate,depth and Reg!

Also its stereo and I dont even run stereo so I might have to check that out but I use a mono set up. Who knows it might sound even better in stereo.

The coolest feauture is the depth knob. WHY ? Because it also acts like a mix knob so when counter clockwise the phaser cant really be hear heard. And then the more you turn it up the better and deeper the effect gets. Most depth knobs dont do this that well. I run it in front of the amp and I think it sounds as GOOD as say the way Halen or someone who runs his amps into his effects then to a slave amp sounds. Its simply awesome~! I hate running a slave amp and all that. I like pedals in front that sound as good as a rack setup but there are few out there that do. The Option 5 phaser, foxrox TZF and the Mooger phaser sound better in front than slaved or in a loop. Keep your loop for delay anyway.


If you like juicy phaser tones then check this out. Jay will send you sound clips if you e-mail him. They were great and a good demo of what this pedal sounds like so check it out.


PS - This pedal will be addicting

How about this! I am a day away from x-mas and I call Jay. Jay I am in the middle of my cd tracking and I really would like to get one asap. He stops me and says I can get one out tomorrow and you'll get it the day aftyer x-mas. The man cares and if someone called me to get a pedal out and I was a day away from x-mas I probally say not til next week. He is Customer support

For the money its the best 4 stage I ever heard

This unit sounds good right out of the box. It has controls for Speed, Depth, and Regeneration -- set them anywhere and you're off to a good start. The pedal comes with a manual that explains what the controls do.

My personal setting is Speed @ 10 o'clock, Depth @ 5 o'clock, and Regen @ 2 o'clock. This setting gives that Van Halen I "Eruption" swoosh. The best feature of this phaser is that it can go VERY slow -- slower than my Line 6 MM4 and MXR Phase 90. Plus, with three controls, there is plenty of control over the sound.

The pedal has STEREO outputs. Although I've only used it in mono, I bet the stereo tone is super.

The pedal does NOT have true bypass, but the buffering is great. You get crystal clear tone in bypass with no capacitance issues.

All in all, the sound is great. I've deducted 1 point to reflect that (1) there is a slight volume drop when the effect is engaged, and (2) there is some hum when using the supplied 9v adapter and running the phaser into a distorted amp. Now, this hum can be eliminated by using a battery or by using a regulated 9v supply. However, the supplied adapter allows for the best tone of this pedal -- I compared it with batteries, Boss PSA, Dunlop regulated supply, and Voodoo Lab pedal power. With these power supplies, the sound is less deep and more midrangey. But with the supplied adapter, the sound is perfect -- I can live with the hum!

Seems to be built very well.

Jay Woods has been very helpful with all my questions. I'm sure I'll be in good hands on the off chance something goes wrong with the pedal.

For under $150, you can't beat this. Check one out!