The PH-2 adds an effect similar to that of a rotary speaker, with a phase shift circuit that provides twelve stages of adjustment for smooth, professional-sounding phasing. Two modes give you completely different tonal characteristics.
PH-2 Super Phaser
Reviewed by:
unregistered, on october 28, 2003 1 of 1 people found this review helpful
Price paid: $ 90
Ease of Use: Simple enough, resonance, rate, depth, mode (1 & 2). There isn't a manual, but one of the other reviewers gave a tip to mod the pedal a little so there is a manual type function. // 10
Sound: The sound on this is tops. I use a '92 Gibson Les Paul Studio and an mid-90s Mexican Fender Strat, and play through a variety of amps, including Marshalls and Fenders. With both guitars it creates a lush sweeping sounds great for all types of music.
I've owned this pedal for about five years, and just today I discovered a previous reviewer who talked about looking under the main board and turning the white trim pot. I tinkered with that a little bit and found that, as that guy said, it gives a much fuller bodied sound. I would recommend doing this to your pedal if you find that when activated, the pedal sounds too trebley -- That's why I did it. (If I rated this before, I probably would have only given the pedal an 8 or 9).
Caution: Just make sure not to bend any wires inside or bump anything around too much. There's one wide set of wires that connects the board to the pedal frame that you may worry about bending, but it was perfectly sturdy enough to bend up so you can turn the white plastic knob. // 10
Reliability & Durability: Like a rock, without the weight. It's been gigged, dropped, messed with and still works fine. // 10
Impression: I've been playing for about 8 years now and have been playing rock, jazz, funk, fusion, techno (not with a guitar), alternative rock, etc. and this pedal works well for everything. It thickens the tone when it might normally be thin. Regarding the techno, I've run drum loops and some of my synthesizers throught this green box, and it can definately make some awesome sounds. There aren't any features I hate, but I never use mode '2' that much. It seems to make the center frequency (that the sweep is concentrated around) a little too high pitched and even biting at times, but I do just great using mode '1', which delivers a nice frequency sweep for lower frequency playing, like rhythm parts.
When I was buying, I was considering other Boss effects like the BF-2 flanger, and one of the Boss chorus pedals. After trying all of them out, I decided that this phaser had the thickest tone and the most versatility, as it can create chorus-ish sounds, sounds good for chord work, cutoff frequency type effects, etc. If it were stolen I would replace it for sure (given that I have the cash). // 10
PH-2 Super Phaser
Reviewed by:
unregistered, on november 02, 2004 0 of 0 people found this review helpful
Price paid: $ 40
Purchased from: Music eXchange
Ease of Use: It's not that hard to get a good phase sound out of the Ph-2. It's so easy that it doesnt need a manual you'd have to be a complete idiot or musically challenged person not to be able to use this right away. // 8
Sound: I'm running this through my PRS Tremonti SE and a Marshall AVT100 and this thing sounds pretty good. It gets a bit noisy on mode 2 but I rarely use mode 2. This pedal has been made famous by Mike Einziger from Incubus and you can totally recreate all of his phase sounds from the Make Yourself and Morning View era. // 10
Reliability & Durability: Built like a tank this pedal has seen its bad days but it is stil here so obviously it is dependable i'd use it gigging hell i already have. // 10
Impression: I bought this pedal blind and I didn't even know the person that inspired me to play guitar in the 1st place made this one pedal so famous. Overall a great pedal if you can find it. Boss has discontinued making this great stompbox. I've been playing for 4 years and I know a great sound when I hear one. And this pedal has a great sound. // 10
PH-2 Super Phaser
Reviewed by:
unregistered, on october 28, 2003 0 of 0 people found this review helpful
Ease of Use: This unit is easy to get goods sounds out of it only if you know what you want. That's what I like about stompboxes as oppossed to rack effects, they make you work a little bit but utimtely you find a unique sound or your trouble. Boss make great pedals that usually have four knobs that really give you alot of options. // 6
Sound: I got this thing because of mike Eniziger's(INCUBUS) playing and I thought there was something wrong with it becaue the battery light would only light up full red in certian sequences in my chain. It seemed to have a overly metalic sound that I didn't really like at first untill I discovered it's potential using this unique phase sound. I also have a MXR phase 100 pedal in my chain which is real warm and subtle and I was gonna get rid of the PH-2 untill I realized all the sounds I loved and couldn't figure out from Incubus' albums "make yourself" and "morning View" were created using this thing.The break down in "The warmth" where the guitar freaks out in harmonic overtones is mode 2 with depth and res cranked and the rate at about 7 or 8 o'clock.It's also used for the metallic haze sound for the guitar break in "wish you were here" Pretty much the same settings but the rate is faster. I was amazed when I captured the sounds exact. "Nice to know you" intro is mode 1 rate 1 o'clock, depth at about 12 or 1 with some delay and volume knob manipulation.This is why he has two of these things in his rig, there is great sounds on both mode 1 and two for those who look for them and tweak it to perfection. // 8
Reliability & Durability: No one complains about Boss. // 10
Impression: Overall it is invaluable in my signal chain for the flexibility it provides. Once you find the cool effects it provides you may spend a little time bending down to change them on the fly but there real easy to remember and the mode switch is like two different worlds of tone. Or you have to get two set differently, which is kind of a bummer so I just change it before a song beings.Just remember if you want this thing, nothing is cool right out of the box, maybe we as guitar player's think we'll buy effects plug em in and I will make us sound great but you have to put some work in to it to find the hidden tones (Boss pedals are great for that)And also this pedal is kind of a specialized type of phaser in that it has some great sounds but it is not a be all end type of deal. I need the MXR Phase 100 in my rig for a more tradional sounding phase that is smooth and subtle. The Super Phaser is far from that, in that it is astrongsoundineffect. I would suggest to listen to the aforementioned Incubus songs to hear it in action becauseyou can get those tones exact with it with some tweaking. // 8
PH-2 Super Phaser
Reviewed by:
GRAND MASTER, on march 17, 2007 0 of 1 people found this review helpful
Purchased from: A Friend
Ease of Use: Got this pedal from a great friend, he gave it to me because he bought an effects rack. So I didn't have the manual. Well guess what? You don't need it. The pedal is easy to use. You have to play with the knobs a bit to get what you want but it is worth the time. // 10
Sound: I am using it with a Fender strat mexican with a spider 3 75 watt amp. The sounds you can get are awesome. I played around with this and my spiders delay and I got a close sound reminiscent of "the warmth" by Incubus. There is no extra noise and it seems to work well with a lot of different pedals and doesn't interfere with them but makes them sound cooler. This pedal sounds cool when are performing arppegios and single note things. // 10
Reliability & Durability: It's a Boss! It is like a tank. This was thrown out a bedroom window (not be me, 3 stories high) hit concrete and still worked! Over time the knobs have lost their color, but still turn with no issues and extra noise. I have used the same one for over +200 gigs (at least) and have had no issues (knock on wood) and never needed a backup. I would suggest getting a power supply. This pedal doesnt't suck up the 9v like other pedals but it will safe you money in the long haul. // 10
Impression: I play alternative rock, some prog, metal, this thing is killer. I wish that the guitar gods would give everyone this pedal, the world would be a better place. I have been playing for 13 years and this pedal is one of the few items I have not replaced, if someone stole this, I would hunt them down and hurt them bad. Get this pedal, you will not be disappointed. // 10
PH-2 Super Phaser
Reviewed by:
unregistered, on april 27, 2005 0 of 3 people found this review helpful
Price paid: $ 106.65
Purchased from: Long And McQuade
Ease of Use: This pedal is a metal heads dream. This pedal is fairly easy to use but the equalizers can be very tricky. // 10
Sound: I am running a 1962 Gretsch Malcolm Young model through a Marshall DFX50 and let me tell you this Metal Zone makes all the differnce in the world. I also have the Eric Clapton Crossroads pedal the Boss Power Driver and Dunlop Cry Baby 535Q Wah Wah. If you want to get a Metallica sound go get the Metal Zone it is by far the best pedal I've ever used for calssic Metallica solos and killer riffs. // 10
Reliability & Durability: It is a pretty reliable pedal but I find it drains your batteries very quickly. // 8
Impression: I like different genres but I play metal Death Metal and calssic rock, this pedal gives you the versatility you need to achieve many tones and sounds. // 10
i have been looking around and some people have said that the "easy" modification of turning the white trip pot ruined thier pedal and made a whoshing sound directly after stomping it on. i myself have done the c4 mod to my tremolo; and was very happy with it. could you all kindly give me some feedback as to whether or not i should do the white trim pot mod?
