The MXR Phase 90 is a legendary phase pedal used by many artists, most notably Van Halen. Check out any early VH recordings and the pedal is all over it. Van Halen used this for a slight phasing sound to many of his licks and solo’s and it also adds a light treble boost. The pedal can also be heard on many of those 70’s funk and pop recordings.

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?So what’s the specs on the model? Well it’s about as easy as it gets, one knob for phasing marked “speed” and that’s it. I love the simplicity of this but it can be limiting in the performance of the unit, it’s just not as versatile as many new phasers that can just do more degrees of phasing. This is not a stereo unit, mono only so it’s really a vintage type pedal lacking in many modern features, you can run on a battery or a power supply so that’s real cool. One jack on each side for input and output, and a LED light when the pedal is on. So really super simple to use. These are very affordable at $70?everywhere and feature a very solid well made housing that's small enough to fit in the?Boss pedalboards with ease. This unit is not true bypass but I found it really didn't suck tone at all!

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?How’s the Phase 90 sound? Well I think the pedal really nails all the vintage tones from the 70’s recordings and just makes the Van Halen licks sound very authentic. It’s tones are subtle, not overpowering in any way. If you’re looking for a big phasing sound and big regenerations then this isn’t for you, I would check out the Digitech or Maxon super phasers. If you’re looking for subtle to a medium type phase unit this baby really sounds great! It really keeps your original tone intact and adds a nice “organic” type phasing tone, "swooshy and swirly?" I think best desribes the tone.?There is a slight treble boost to it and I think this enhances the tone of the unit. Perfect for that funk type music that is so prevelant on vintage recordings, but it’s also a nice touch for rock and country licks. I did do some recording with this and I will have to say for some reason it sounds better recorded than live, live it could stand to be a hair louder in the mix but on playback it sounds perfectly “organic” and “rich”, just plain lovely. First rate all the way, but definately more in the subtle to medium side in the mix.

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? What’s the verdict? Well the unit is simple and it sounds great with a very rich, smooth, and beautiful phasing sound.? Drawbacks:? I wish it had a mix knob to make it a tad bit louder when engaged and that the degree of phasing would be more to help it in being more versatile. This being stated these drawbacks would not keep me from buying it, it’s just too cool not to have on the pedalboard. So if your looking for a very rich, organic type phaser? that's more on the subtle non overpowering side than this is for you.

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Guitar Guru