52 pedals, week 7—MXR Phase 90

As I mentioned in my previous article, time has slipped away from me lately. Not posting my weekly articles on time bothered me greatly. I’d let myself down. My family however did not share my pain. Actually, they didn’t appear phased at all. That’s when it came to me. They should be phased. This is a big thing. And when it comes to big things in the phase pedal market, few come close to the MXR Phase 90. It’s been the pedal others aspire towards since 1972.

Time to get phased.

It’s most likely that the first time I really noticed a phase pedal was when I heard Van Halen using it. Eddie Van Halen’s use of the phase pedal is so huge that he has his own signature model Phase 90. Apply the Phase 90 with the right level of distortion and you’ve captured the epic sounds of some of the best music to ever grace the 80s. You can hear some of that tone in the following Dunlop MXR Phase 90 demo video.

Very cool right? The Phase pedal has been one of my favourite pedals to add after a distortion pedal on a pedal board for as long as I’ve had a pedal board. They’re a perfect combination. Of course not everybody is as huge a fan of distortion as I am.

I feel for those people.

Luckily though, the phase pedal (the MXR Phase 90 in particular) is as useful without a distortion pedal as it is with it. The following MXR pedal video proves that fact. In fact, it speaks for itself because this video has no commentary.

The other advantage to this second video is that you can hear the Phase 90 applied to a single coil pickup setup (the first video used a guitar equipped with a humbucker pickup).

Clean, distorted, single coil pickups or humbuckers … This simple pedal with it’s single Speed knob allows you to dial in anything from subtle to crazy. It’s a pedal after my own heart. I fluctuate between those two settings myself. I have a phase pedal. Just not the Phase 90. I may have to change that.

Disclaimer: I’ve not played this guitar pedal. I have not experienced first-hand the sound or effects of this guitar pedal. That doesn’t matter. It looks awesome, it’s obviously played by winners and I want one.