Modded my Phase 90 (with clips)

[JakeAC5253]

I did some research on phase 90 mods and it seems that the newer models have three components that when taken out of the circuit makes the unit sound much closer to the vintage units. I eat this kind of shit up, and I've never really liked using my Phase 90 ever since I got it because I thought it sounded like shit, so I decided I had nothing to lose and did it. I made before and after clips and what a difference. I'll shut up now and I'll let you decide.

Stock:
https://soundclick.com/share?songid=9632540

Modded:
https://soundclick.com/share?songid=9632541

 

[emunder]

Wow man that was a pretty big difference. The modded clip had way less distortion to the effect and it sounded all around better. I'm buying one of these soon and would be interested in what you did if ya don't mind sharing.

 

[JakeAC5253]

Wow man that was a pretty big difference. The modded clip had way less distortion to the effect and it sounded all around better. I'm buying one of these soon and would be interested in what you did if ya don't mind sharing.

Here is the site that I referenced for the mod. I didn't adjust the trimpot though. I still may, but I need to do some more research first.

http://lycidas512.blogspot.com/2009/01/ ... 0-mod.html

Thanks for listening

 

[JakeAC5253]

bump.

 

[Code001]

Huge difference, nice job!

 

[IndyWS6]

I was expecting another one of those A/B comparisons where I couldn't tell a difference, but that was quite pronounced. Much cleaner and clearer post-upgrade. I don't care for the fist tone at all, but like the second. Nice mod

 

[gbsmusic]

WOW! Thats a huge improvement! Did you clip them or remove them all together?

 

[JakeAC5253]

Huge difference, nice job!

Thanks!

I was expecting another one of those A/B comparisons where I couldn't tell a difference, but that was quite pronounced. Much cleaner and clearer post-upgrade. I don't care for the fist tone at all, but like the second. Nice mod

I know that's how I feel as well. I can't for the life of me figure out why if the pedal sounds great without the components there, why in the hell the company would spend money for the extra components to make the pedal sound like shit I'd like to meet the asshole in the engineering department that suggested those modifications to the vintage circuit. Asshole.

WOW! Thats a huge improvement! Did you clip them or remove them all together?

Removed them. One of the caps broke in the process, after hearing the results I could give a shit less, I'm not going to revert this mod lol.

I seriously can't believe that the tone of the stock circuit is one that comes from a mass produced pedal. It sounds like something somebody made in their basement as opposed to a big name pedal with lots of prestige.

 

[gbsmusic]

I just did my pedal this morning and WOW what an improvement! I'm going to keep the pedal now. I ended up drilling a hole above the speed dial so I could adjust the internal pot if I needed to. Thanks for the info!!

 

[JackBootedThug]

big difference.

 

[some dude]

I know that's how I feel as well. I can't for the life of me figure out why if the pedal sounds great without the components there, why in the hell the company would spend money for the extra components to make the pedal sound like shit I'd like to meet the asshole in the engineering department that suggested those modifications to the vintage circuit. Asshole.

The stock block logo blends better with distortion and the more extreme sweep is more pronounced in a live mix.

 

[Nico]

can this be done to the MXR EVH as well??

 

[JakeAC5253]

I just did my pedal this morning and WOW what an improvement! I'm going to keep the pedal now. I ended up drilling a hole above the speed dial so I could adjust the internal pot if I needed to. Thanks for the info!!

Same thing happened to me. A friend of mine did the mod so I decided to do it and now I am keeping the pedal as well Glad I could help!

 

[JakeAC5253]

I know that's how I feel as well. I can't for the life of me figure out why if the pedal sounds great without the components there, why in the hell the company would spend money for the extra components to make the pedal sound like shit I'd like to meet the asshole in the engineering department that suggested those modifications to the vintage circuit. Asshole.

The stock block logo blends better with distortion and the more extreme sweep is more pronounced in a live mix.

This may or may not be true, I won't argue that, but the tone I am getting now is the reason I bought the pedal in the first place. I do not think I am alone in thinking that.

 

[some dude]

This may or may not be true, I won't argue that, but the tone I am getting now is the reason I bought the pedal in the first place. I do not think I am alone in thinking that.

Neither do I. It's why I use a script logo version. But the first thing I noticed when I started using it was that it didn't stand out like the block logo did. I ran both for awhile, but that got old so I sold the block logo and kept the script logo.

Anyway, my point was to point out why MXR may have added parts to make the Phase 90 sound "worse". I figure that 'back in the day' people were buying them to cop EVH's sound, only by this time they were using JCM-800s and complaining that the effect wasn't strong enough, so MXR added some parts in to help emphasise the sweep.

 

[JakeAC5253]

This may or may not be true, I won't argue that, but the tone I am getting now is the reason I bought the pedal in the first place. I do not think I am alone in thinking that.

Neither do I. It's why I use a script logo version. But the first thing I noticed when I started using it was that it didn't stand out like the block logo did. I ran both for awhile, but that got old so I sold the block logo and kept the script logo.

Anyway, my point was to point out why MXR may have added parts to make the Phase 90 sound "worse". I figure that 'back in the day' people were buying them to cop EVH's sound, only by this time they were using JCM-800s and complaining that the effect wasn't strong enough, so MXR added some parts in to help emphasise the sweep.

That is probably an accurate assessment. Oh well, the mod is easy enough that I guess it isn't that big of a deal. Now the new Muffs, don't get me started on those.

 

[duodecim]

[...]
Anyway, my point was to point out why MXR may have added parts to make the Phase 90 sound "worse". I figure that 'back in the day' people were buying them to cop EVH's sound, only by this time they were using JCM-800s and complaining that the effect wasn't strong enough, so MXR added some parts in to help emphasise the sweep.

Sounds reasonable. I guess they do the same with wah pedals with either fixed values or internal/external pots, because the sweep sounds quite different on a clean amp versus a heavily distorted one. I find it quite difficult to find a nice sweep that sounds good for both clean and high-gain; you'd practically need two pedals to get the best results.

 

[gbsmusic]

I know that's how I feel as well. I can't for the life of me figure out why if the pedal sounds great without the components there, why in the hell the company would spend money for the extra components to make the pedal sound like shit I'd like to meet the asshole in the engineering department that suggested those modifications to the vintage circuit. Asshole.

The stock block logo blends better with distortion and the more extreme sweep is more pronounced in a live mix.

This may or may not be true, I won't argue that, but the tone I am getting now is the reason I bought the pedal in the first place. I do not think I am alone in thinking that.

 

[Erock]

wow, did not care for that first tone at all. The second sounded wayyyy better. That was all the same settings, just doing the mods?

 

[JakeAC5253]

wow, did not care for that first tone at all. The second sounded wayyyy better. That was all the same settings, just doing the mods?

yes sir. Pedal was DI'd through my Countryman Type 85 with peaks between -12 and -8dB. Reamped through Radial Pro RMP and recorded using identical gain structures. The only thing that changed was the pedal itself. Shocking isn't it?