Set Phasers To Kill (Solid State Amps)
Like a fair portion of the guitar playing community I prefer valve amps. I prefer their tactile nature and organic response. With this in mind it’s fair to say that I’m not so keen on the majority of solid-state amps, mainly for their often sterile and lacklustre tones but also because the majority of gigging sized ones come with some pretty naff digital effects loaded in as a sort of compensation from the manufacturer. Most likely by way of apology for the sinfully cardboard ‘rock and roll’ tones the amp is possible of producing. This post isn’t an invitation to throw your solid states from the top of a cliff or multi-story car park though, it’s about these naff effects and how they’ve turned an entire generation against the sounds of phasers and dare I say it, flangers.
Many guitarists these days cut their teeth on the sort of small combo amps that cater for a strictly ‘rawk’ sort of player, something high-gain and bells and whistles laden. These hissy and crackling buzzboxes do nothing, I believe, but turn us off very usable and atmospheric flange and phase stompboxes for fear of sounding a bit tacky or a bit too 80’s.
Boutique makers have lately taken a keen interest in trying to replicate the pulsating warbles of the Leslie spinning speaker units beloved by George Harrison and other tone cognoscenti. Be aware though that a boutique product costs as much as it does because the R&D involved is usually done on a microscopic scale, the construction methods are labour intensive and the parts are usually bespoke or difficult to source. This is justified and fair enough if you’re a fully fledged touring professional musician or a hedge fund manager on a crazy wage or just crazy and willing to go without food for a month or two to own these units.
If you have a shred of sense and the price of a round of pints and scampi fries in your pocket I suggest you hit the auction sites or local pawn stores for some ‘sleeper classics’ that will not only give you your own sound but could also become collectable. Slowhand himself, Eric Clapton, once reportedly favoured an Arion SCH-1 Stereo Chorus. Not only that but Jimmy Page apparently also enjoyed a cheapie in the Yamaha CH10 MkII chorus. While this is perhaps admittedly nerdy stuff it just goes to show that even the high priests of guitar are partial to a bit of cheap modulation fun.
I’m always on the lookout for cheap and interesting pedals, I recently picked up an Ibanez FL5 Flanger from their criminally underrated Soundtank series for very small change. With the ‘Regen’ (not Ronald Reagan) control fully clockwise this makes the zaniest raygun/Looney Tunes falling sound I’m ever likely to hear. Interestingly enough: Andy Summers of The Police created that chorus sound with none other than an Electro Harmonix Electric Mistress Flanger, while I’m not saying this unit will capture that holy grail of flanger sounds it’ll get pretty close and you’ll have fun playing a few of his classic chord sequences. I was chuffed to receive an old Rocktek Phaser as a Christmas present from my fellow Wood Burning Savage, Tom. These things are entirely plastic and look like something an eastern bloc spy would use to jam radio signals. It sounds great and with some tinkering some great tremolo-like pulses can be created, I had hours of fun creating layers of looped swells and organ like tones with the help of an octaver pedal.
I’ll end by saying a Phaser isn’t just for Christmas, to be honest it isn’t even for life but for that lead lick or middle eight that needs something different that’ll add texture to your records and grab the audience by the ear lobes, you can’t go wrong with a cheap Phaser/Flanger stompbox.
(Unless you happen to be Eddie Van Halen.)
