[Harp-L] Phaser

["John F. Potts" <hvyj@xxxxxxx>]

For no particularly good reason, I was fooling around with a Retro- 
Sonic Phaser pedal.  3 knobs:  Speed, Depth and Level.  I was  
surprised to find that turning up the speed (2 o'clock and above) and  
turning down the depth (9-10 o'clock) while boosting the level  
slightly produces a fat, warm, somewhat overdriven tube compression  
sound without any crunch or harshness--sort of like James Cotton's  
sound on Muddy Waters' "Live at Mr. Kelly's"  album (on which he's  
credited as Joe Denim).

Interesting effect.  If the Depth control is turned up much past 9  
o'clock, there will be a low  throb in the tone if you hold a long  
note or chord, which is certainly not a traditional Chicago blues  
sound, but sounds pretty cool.  But, if you keep the depth control  
set very low, there is no audible throb and the overdrive effect is a  
little more pronounced.

This would allow me to set up for the cleaner tone i prefer, but have  
a warm, fat, overdriven tube compression sound (without harshness or  
crunch) every now and then on demand for certain tunes. The pedal is  
true by-pass so when it's not engaged it's like it's not there.   
There is a slight click or pop when you step on it, but not loud  
enough to be audible at performance volumes.  Very intriguing effect  
and not at all what i was expecting from a Phaser.

Anyone else have experience using a Phaser this way?

JP