Hatsubai « True bypass Phase 90 »
Published on 03/20/11 at 07:34The BYOC Phase 90 has gone through some changes throughout the years. At first, it was just a normal one knob phaser that everyone knows and loves. Later on, they added a depth knob which helps make this pedal even more versatile. However, if you turn it fully clockwise, it'll sound similar to the original Script version of the famous MXR Phase 90. I say similar, but I'll get to that later on. Everything is housed in a 125B enclosure and is true bypass. There's also an LED which the original never had.
UTILIZATION
BYOC is a master at laying out well written instructions. Every single capacitor, resistor and every other component is laid out so there's very little that can go wrong. Polarized capacitors are also labeled so you shouldn't have to worry about messing up their polarity. If something were to go wrong, there's a helpful forum which you can go to, and they'll get you straightened up right away.
SOUND QUALITY
A lot of people liked this pedal, and I can see why. However, mine didn't have the sparkle and depth the original did for whatever reason. I checked my circuit over many times, and I couldn't find anything wrong at all. On top of that, there was some odd noise problem in my circuit. Every time the phase would come around, there would be a faint click. You could hear it whether it was bypassed or on. Using shielding didn't seem to fix it, either. My build was built correctly, so I think it was just the nature of the circuit.
OVERALL OPINION
Those wanting to build a phaser pedal should be interested in this kit. However, given how cheap you can find the MXR Phase 90 and EVH Phase 90 on the market, it might be wiser to just buy one of those. You'll lose the true bypass feature, but you can fix that with a mod.
UTILIZATION
BYOC is a master at laying out well written instructions. Every single capacitor, resistor and every other component is laid out so there's very little that can go wrong. Polarized capacitors are also labeled so you shouldn't have to worry about messing up their polarity. If something were to go wrong, there's a helpful forum which you can go to, and they'll get you straightened up right away.
SOUND QUALITY
A lot of people liked this pedal, and I can see why. However, mine didn't have the sparkle and depth the original did for whatever reason. I checked my circuit over many times, and I couldn't find anything wrong at all. On top of that, there was some odd noise problem in my circuit. Every time the phase would come around, there would be a faint click. You could hear it whether it was bypassed or on. Using shielding didn't seem to fix it, either. My build was built correctly, so I think it was just the nature of the circuit.
OVERALL OPINION
Those wanting to build a phaser pedal should be interested in this kit. However, given how cheap you can find the MXR Phase 90 and EVH Phase 90 on the market, it might be wiser to just buy one of those. You'll lose the true bypass feature, but you can fix that with a mod.