Signal Vampire

[Markedman]

I was lazy and bypassed my pedals last week, played out Sunday and had a gig Thursday so I went direct into the amp, sans effects to learn a song quickly. Well, I learned the song but it could use a phaser, octave double, reverb and echo so I plugged in my pedals and the attack and dynamic range was compromised. I started backwards from reverb - phaser and it turned out that my MXR Zakk Wylde phase 90 was the culprit. I tried it alone with a new battery and then a wall wart and it just sucked the tone away anyway I tried it. I'm glad I was lazy enough to fix a problem I didn't even know I had, it makes me wonder how many more things in my life that need a look at!

 

[elvis]

Could be an impedance mismatch problem. Input impedance is 1Meg, which should be fine, but output impedance is 10k, which is awfully high. If you run it into another pedal that has a lot of input capacitance or low input impedance it will have trouble. A long cable run after this pedal will kill your highs. A good buffer after the pedal might help.

 

[SonVolt]

That why they make GCX loop switchers.

 

[Markedman]

The pedal just kills the tone all alone. So does my older phase 90. I tried my buddy's roto-vibe type unit, but it didn't have what I like. I do like using the phase 90 for Robin Trower and Hendrix songs so I'll insert it per song. Basically any kind of "chugging" sounds lame with the effect in line, but until I find something I like without having to get nutty with the set-up, I'll just keep using it.