Phaser Pedals

Phaser pedals are guitar effects that shift the phase of part of the signal and mix it with the original tone. The result is a swirling sound that breathes gently at slow speeds and resembles a rotary speaker or a passing aircraft at faster settings. On this page you'll find classics such as MXR Phase 90, Electro-Harmonix Small Stone and Boss PH-3, alongside phaser pedals from Behringer, Joyo, TC Electronic, Strymon and smaller makers. Most pedals produce only a phaser effect, while a few modulation pedals include it as one of their modes.

What does the number of stages change in phaser pedals?

The stages in the circuit create notches in the frequency spectrum that move up and down: more stages mean more notches. A four-stage phaser has a gentle, classic sound like pedals from the 70s; both TC Electronic Blood Moon Phaser and Tone City Summer Orange use this design. More stages give you a deeper, more pronounced movement: Strymon ZelZah has one phaser with 6 stages and another with 4, Electro-Harmonix Mod 11 switches between 4, 6 and 8 stages, and Behringer Dual-Phase combines two phasers with 12 optocouplers.

Is one knob enough, or do you want more control?

• A single Speed knob – MXR M101 Phase 90 and Joyo JF-06 Vintage Phase: you adjust only the speed, with everything else determined by the circuit.
• Two sounds in a small pedal – MXR Phase 95 packs Phase 90 and the gentler Phase 45 modes into a mini enclosure.
• Speed and a Color switch – Electro-Harmonix Nano Small Stone and Behringer VP1 Vintage Phaser; Color changes the character of the effect.
• Manual phase control – Electro-Harmonix Bad Stone has Manual, Feedback, Rate and an Auto / Manual switch.
• Tap tempo and waveforms – Lichtlaerm Audio Kassandra has 8 waveforms and can also be switched to Univibe.

Can you use a phaser with bass and keyboards too?

Yes. MXR also lists Phase 90 for bass guitar, keyboards and vocals, and describes MXR M279 Deep Phase as a pedal that sounds good in the low register too. Behringer Dual-Phase has a CV input, so you can connect it to a synthesizer. You'll find pedals designed specifically for bass guitar in the Flanger / Chorus / Phaser for bass guitar category, and other modulation effects in the Chorus / Flanger / Phaser category.