Used PH-1r - is it really in original condition?

[zentropa]

Weird, everyone seems to be recommending the PH-1 now.
A few months ago I asked for opinions on which one to buy, and most said to get the PH-1R...

They are definitely different. I believe the PH-1 behaves a lot more like a "vintage phaser." It will distort if you feed it too much signal (sort of like how a BF-2 does) and it is has a bit more warmth and organic feel.

The PH-1R solves a few of the problems with the PH-1 and has quite a bit more headroom and feels "more stable" when I play it. I have silver screw versions of both. I like the tone of the PH-1 slightly more but I think the PH-1R is friendlier for most people.

[Pepe]

The (original) PH-1R has a drastic volume bosst that I really dislike. That's why my exemplar had to go. I'm much happier with the performance of my recently purchased PH-1 from 1981.

[zentropa]

The (original) PH-1R has a drastic volume bosst that I really dislike. That's why my exemplar had to go. I'm much happier with the performance of my recently purchased PH-1 from 1981.

I found its volume boost was pretty inline with the BF-2 and CE-2's volume boost. Do you find it more significant than that?

[Pepe]

Yes, absolutely. At least my model had an annoying volume boost. I think that the CE-2(B) and BF-2 are well-balanced.

[zentropa]

Yes, absolutely. At least my model had an annoying volume boost. I think that the CE-2(B) and BF-2 are well-balanced.

Interesting. I have silver screw versions of BF-2, CE-2, and PH-1R on a single board and I found all of them have a volume boost, moreso than later versions. In order of most to least boost, I would say it goes CE-2 > BF-2 > PH-1R. I play humbuckers most of the time, so it is probably less noticeable for me than if I were playing single coils. My PH-1 has a slight bit of boost, but it tends to distort if I hit it with a lot of signal.

[Pepe]

You can hear it in my demo video. Especially those volume level jumps like at around 2:00 min are really frustrating. That's an example without feedback. When I use the same settings with the PH-1, the sound is richer, plus it is pretty much on par with the guitar volume.

[zentropa]

You can hear it in my demo video. Especially those volume level jumps like at around 2:00 min are really frustrating. That's an example without feedback. When I use the same settings with the PH-1, the sound is richer, plus it is pretty much on par with the guitar volume.

Good sounding video. The jump is noticeable, but I guess I don't see it as being more than my other vintage modulation effects, including my Ibanez 9 series stuff.

[Pepe]

Thanks!

Nevertheless BOSS did it right with the predecessor. I don't know why the follow-up model needed such a volume boost.

[zentropa]

Thanks!

Nevertheless BOSS did it right with the predecessor. I don't know why the follow-up model needed such a volume boost.

Funny thing is that I didn’t like the CE-2W because it didn’t have a volume boost

I also removed the volume reduction resistor from my CE-3s and DC-2 because they were always on boards that had other modulation pedals with volume boosts and it would screw up my levels to have 2-3 with boost and 1 that wouldn’t.

[René1983]

Good morning and thanks for your comments/ reply
@Pepe : your videos are great but not good for Gear Aquisiton Syndrome ...

Actually I have another Phaser pedal, a Pearl PH-03 (which has a volume drop) that I use with my keyboard. For guitar, I like the Boss sound and format of the stomp boxes.

@Laurie: thanks for you suggestion. I am not sure I can do this mod myself but will ask a tech guy I know