Phaser Pedals

Phaser pedals are part of the modulation family of effects, alongside chorus and flanger stompboxes. A phaser pedal colours your guitar tone via signal processing, to create a warped and pulsating vocal-like effect. Because of its abstract sound, many players will use a phaser to excite their guitar tone and accentuate certain parts - think Van Halen’s “Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love”.

A phaser pedal processes your guitar’s signal. Essentially splitting it into two, one of the signals is left dry while the other has its waveform adjusted and manipulated. This is achieved via an ‘LFO’ (low-frequency oscillator). The frequencies from the affected signal will cancel-out some of the frequencies from the dry signal, causing that distinctively warped and wavy sound that phaser pedals are so known for.

A phaser pedal should be routed through an amplifier's ‘effects loop’ - between its preamp and power amp sections. This results in a balanced and natural sound. Phaser pedals can be connected to an amp’s main input, but this can cause an overly-processed tone with an unwanted boost in volume. Phaser pedals should be placed before any delay or reverb stompboxes in your signal chain. Using a phaser pedal after these effects will colour and potentially hinder the sounds of their ambient trails.

Both phaser and flanger pedals process your guitar’s signal. Essentially splitting it into two, these stompboxes will leave one of the signals dry and manipulate the sound of the other via an ‘LFO’ (low-frequency oscillator). With a phaser pedal, the frequencies from the affected signal will cancel-out some of the frequencies from the dry signal, causing that distinctively wavy and vocal-like sound that phaser pedals are so known for. A flanger pedal is slightly different as it mixes the dry signal with a delayed signal that sways between 5-25 milliseconds. The delayed signal is then fed back into the chain, which creates harmonic feedback and that iconic jet-engine flanging effect.