Boss PH-1 Phaser

This is one of the most legendary phaser pedals in the world. When Boss set out to start building compact pedal they introduced three new pedals. They has the Boss OD-1, the Boss SP-1, and this pedal the Boss PH-1. Compounding on the success of these pedals launched a marketing campaign that would put Boss into the most successful guitar pedal company in the world. they have remained on top even since its inception. Several pedal like the TS9 and others have gotten a great hold on the market but nothing like Boss.

This is pedal that is design to phase much like you would hear a Leslie speaker do but much more versatile than a Leslie speaker. This pedal has only two control knobs and those are Rate and Depth. this will control the speed and how much mix will be in the dry tone.

UTILIZATION

Specifications

Controls: Rate, Depth
Connectors: Input, Output, AC Adaptor
Current Draw: 7 mA (DC 9V)
Weight: 400 g.
Input Impedance: 220kOhm
Output Impedance: Over 600Ohm
Signal/Noise Ratio: Over 80dB
Recommended AC Adaptor: ACA Series


SOUND QUALITY

The tone of this pedal is quite good. Even though it was the first pedal that Boss made it still holds its great ability to be one of the every best that has come out. Sure there are others now with newer technology and such that can crush this pedal in versatility, but this is one of the pedals that started it all. It is kind of like saying without Sinatra there would not be a Buble. Buble is much more talented but there needs to be something for the original.

This pedal has a great sound no matter where you get this thing dialed in. The rate and depth are very easy to control and find a good tone out of. I think both of them in the 11:00 position is the best sounding for what I do. I like a little phaser in some applications but not something that takes over the tone too much. This is nice setting where you can get a good sounding phase effects and still hear the rest of your dry tone in the mix.

OVERALL OPINION

These pedals were made form 1977 through 1981. The used market is the only way to go at this point. There are much better phasers now a days so this one is obsolete to me. I wold recommend getting an MXR phaser and that pedal is even easier to dial in than this one.