The History Of Phaser Pedals

In this week's episode, Nick and I jam with the greatest phasers ever made, though-- to be clear --I'm talking about the guitar pedals, not the phasers from Star Trek. We explore everything from the MXR Phase 90 to the Kent Black Gold Phaser, and we do it with style

Chapters:
0:00 Intro
0:19 The Classics
0:50 1967 Japan
1:54 "Vibe Snack"
2:07 1970s
4:18 "Shifty Jones"
4:43 1973/1974
5:51 "The Jello is Alive"
6:39 Phase 90
8:37 "Mars Bound Honky-Tonk"
9:27 It's Just a Phase
10:15 Colorsound
11:17 "Phaze Nugget"
11:22 Electro-Harmonix
13:14 "Subatomic Car Chase"
13:55 Roland
15:37 "Not That One Song"
15:58 Traffic Light Trio
16:35 "Green Means Go"
17:04 Mu-Tron
19:04 "Cow Says Mu"
20:18 DOD
21:09 "Space Station Boardwalk"
21:43 DOD 490
22:33 PH-44
23:43 "Good Morning, Earthworms"
24:26 1999
26:39 "Self-Aware Cactus"
27:25 Honorable Mentions
28:58 Record Time
30:25 Thanks for Watching!
30:51 Hidden Track

Gear in this Episode:
Univibe
Eventide PS101
Maestro Phase Shifter
Oberheim Electronics Phasor
Maestro Mini-Phase
Maestro Octave Box
MXR Phase 90 Script
MXR Phase 100
MRX Phase 90 Block Logo
Colorsound Phazex
Colorsound Supaphase
Electro-Harmonix Bad Stone Phase Shifter
Electro-Harmonix Small Stone
Roland Jet Phaser AP7
Roland Phase Five
Boss PH-1 Traffic Light Trio Series
Boss PH-1R
Mu-Tron Phasor II
Mu-Tron Phasor III
DOD Phasor 401
DOD Phasor 201
DOD Phasor 490
Pearl Effector PH-44 Phaser
Ibanez PH7 Phaser
Ibanez AP7 Analog Phaser
Ibanez PM7 Phase Modulator
Univox Micro Fazer
Kent Black Gold
The Sweeper
Top Gear Funky Phaser
Top Gear Phaser
Maxon Phase Tone
Ibanez PH10
Ibanez BPL

Record Time:
Pearl Jam - Yield
Josh’s record player is by U-Turn Audio:

The Oberheim Electronics Phasor "The Jello is Alive" Jam

The jams from this episode are on BandLab! Head over to the link below to jam with us, download the stems, and create your own samples from our sounds... or all of those things.

#jhs #thejhsshow #phasers

[logan_robes]

Wouldn't have been surprised if this was just 30 mins of phase 90 love

[violao]

Josh is one of the coolest nerds EVER... All of these historical category deep-dives are just golden.

[davidroys]

Just wanted to take a second to appreciate Nick's drumming! I'm not a drummer, but he is killer even when playing softly, very good dynamics

[naylor]

Michael Einziger from incubus is my favourite phaser user….the way he combines it with delay and volume swells on Pardon Me is pure art. Of course on morning view he went to town on it also.

[PLopGLop]

When you are Jimi Hendrix the world is your pedalboard, that's why his pedals were laying down on the floor 😎

[pauljtonehead]

Shout out to the great Electronic Projects for Musicians book, Phase shifter/ Vibrato. 5 stage ( well five CLM6000 opto isolators anyway). I absolutely loved mine. I built every project in the book except the chromatic tone tuner and the little solid state bench amp. Phase shifter was number one! The vibrato can go ultra slow and it can be downright evil sounding. Tom Oberheim also invented the Ring Modulator, aka Maestro RM1 for his college thesis. That pedal is pure gold for experimental musicians. The RM1's control voltage input ( CV-in ) was my introduction to electronic music and multimedia. I used $5 Coron DS7 drum synth, a Yamaha Electone B4CR organ I found on a pile of dirt, and made countless tape loops on my Wollensak table top portable reel to reel recorders, copping drum beats from records. Ah' the days when gear was utility and could be rummaged together.

[brettmarlar]

The melody is a blend of "Hot Blooded", "My Woman From Tokyo", and "Third Stone From the Sun". I would've called it "My Third Hot Blooded Stone From Tokyo".
The Date is April 16th. 😜😂😂 I'll show myself out.
"Yield" was a great record! For me it was their return to form established on "Ten" and "Versus". I would rank them: "Ten", "Yield"/"Versus" (based on my mood for the day) then "Binaural" then all others. (Haven't heard the new record so not sure where that fits.) I couldn't stand "Vitology" though. Hate me if you want, but that's how I feel.
That thing at the end sounded more like a Ring Modulator than a Phaser.

[domidigital]

The Pearl PH-03 phaser was one of my first ever pedals. It's great because it has its own distinct voice and great tweaking potential. Downsides, as usual with phasers, a slight volume drop and a noticable swoosh even when you don't play. I'd never get rid of it!

[ChienandKun]

'Cow Says Mu' really captures the harsh realities of being out there on the streets, passing out Phasor literature in a t-shirt that says 'It's only a Phase', whilst listening to Faith No More's 'Kindergarten' on repeat, lonely night after lonely night.

[michaelsnydermusic]

Yield is my favorite PJ record. Oh man, so good. And you’re totally right with Given to Fly’s phaser guitar. My favorite phaser use was Korn on Follow the leader’s tracks. They really took it to a new level.

[nickbenjamin]

So grateful to the guy that sold me an old Phase 45 in the late 80s for £14 when I told him I wanted a wobbly organ kind of sound like JH: I didn't know what a univibe was but the P45 actually nails it 90%

[rogerneill]

I have the coveted Oberheim Phasor. It was given to me just last month by my brother-in-law, a doctor and amateur musician. It's a beautiful piece of gear. One knob - that's all you ever really need.  
My brother-in-law passed away just two days ago. His soul is in the Oberheim. I am so happy to honor him with the electronic signal that flows through that extraordinary piece of technology.

[MrJbonilla]

“Smell the box. Love the box” - Josh Scott 😂

[foujj]

I like that you're so knowledgeable, and simultaneously such a goofball.

[El...Presidente]

I was getting JHS Show withdrawals this week.... it’s all good now guys!

[hailmaryrecordings]

The drums sound remarkable this week. ✊🏻

[matheusbarud]

the guitar solos in Siamese Dream, that was the first time a phaser caught my ears

[ChadWork]

Phasers are cool and all, but after watching these jams for a few years, I'd really like to see an in-depth rundown of how you mic and process the drums. They sound so PHAT with so few mics. Way to go guys!

[Chord_The_Seeker]

Well, if the Univibe counts as a phaser, then I would have to say that Robin Trower’s “Bridge of Sighs” is my favorite phaser song of all time.

[ross]

I'm so glad I rewound to find out what "you know who you are" was about. Josh helps make my day again.