The phaser is one of the classic guitar effects made popular by artists such as Jimi Hendrix and Eddie Van Halen – now it’s back and in a smaller package than ever.

Tone:

If you know, you know. MXR’s phaser sound is the one.

The Phase 95 gives us the full gambit of MXR/Dunlop’s ubiquitous phase sounds by combining their Phase 90 and Phase 45 into one small box of wonder. Not only that, but you’ve got the option to get the “Script” sound as well, all of which is controlled using mini-toggles.

The classic MXR sound can be characterized by a warm coating of phase blending perfectly with your tone. Part of what made these units so popular is their tonal fingerprint, which adds a phaser into your tone, rather than the sound of an effect over top of your tone. The difference is a much less distracting and over-the-top effect that prevents any muffling of your guitar parts.

When on its lowest settings it can be extremely subtle, adding nothing more than a light touch of “movement” to your guitar tone. It’s become a fairly common technique among modern and vintage guitarists alike to simply leave it on all the time on the lowest setting for this very purpose. It’s an added touch of life that doesn’t sacrifice the tone you’ve taken the time to craft in such intimate detail.

Build Quality:

It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that this unit is rock solid.

Even the small toggle switches feel sturdy and while you likely shouldn’t be stomping on a mini-toggle, it’s good to know that you could.

Input and output jacks don’t feel like they’ll need tightening anytime soon, which is one task I seem to have to perform every few weeks on something in my pedalboard.

 It’s MXR, what’s there to say?

Features:

The only thing we could ever fault the Phase 90 for was its distinct lack of features. It sounds incredible, but with so many variations of the Phase 90 on the market (Phase 90, Script 90, Reissue 90, Phase 45, EVH Phaser, etc.) it would be nice to have some options.

Now we no longer have to choose just one, we’ve got several iconic flavors in an even smaller pedal than the original. We had two flavors available in the Eddie Van Halen model, but now tone-chasers have far more peace of mind buying the Mini Phase 95.

Not many additional features could be asked for with any Phaser, and with the MXR units, you know exactly what you’re buying. No more complaints here.

Final Thoughts:

While the MXR/Dunlop units never found a permanent place on my live pedalboard, I did spend plenty of time with the Phase 90 in my high school days and early university years. I can confirm, it’s still just as fun to use at is was when I was 13.

That same classic sound just makes me want to experiment with my tone and playing, while simultaneously begging me to play those iconic EVH licks I learned during those same years. MXR have fed that desire to the fullest by fixing my biggest gripe with the unit: having to choose just one.

No corners have been cut in order to deliver this upgrade, and for that, we have to salute MXR to the fullest.

About The Author