Emerald Phaser

[Thewintersoldier]

This week's build reports in my boss collection comes by way of Aion and is the emerald phaser and is a clone of the ph1-r phaser. The ph1-r is in a lot of ways the evolution of the phase 90 4 stage jfet phaser. I have been using ota phasers for years and I revisited the phase 90 earlier this year and built one with many of the features that this circuit features. I like 4 stage phasers. 2 is too subtle for me, more an on/off switch. 6 or more stages is too synthy for my taste, so this one works well for me.
I like having the depth to control the width of the phasing and the resonance knob can add the feedback of the output back into the input and can make it more dramatic or subdued depending on the the mood you want to set. The range of the speed knob is broader than a phase90 but not as extreme as a small stone. A very versatile phaser. One common complaint of the ph1-r like the phase90, is the perceived volume jump caused by the mixing of the dry and wet signals at the output stage This is made more apparent with higher resonance settings, as the higher peaks will drive the output more. This is handled with the volume knob. Full CW is the stock setting and rolling back will attenuate the volume to unity depending on what settings you have.
The build itself was simple and straightforward. I decided to order the matched set of jfets because I did not want to go thru all my smd jfets. Word of advise to anyone who builds this, watch the mounting of jfet adapter boards to the main board as there is a 100n cap under them. I like things neat and clean so I addressed this with headers and angled pins to clear the cap and keep everything lined up. This is also the cleanest wiring I have done on an Aion build and will do it this way from here on out. I went with a lawn green tayda enclosure and UV print. Instead of doing the typical green characters I went down the road less traveled and used Dr. Theodore "Ted" Sallis aka the Man-Thing.
If you're looking for a smooth versatile jfet phaser that has more options and tones than the typical phase90 then this is a great project you should check out.

Sent from my Pixel 5 using Tapatalk

[harryklippton]

Man-thing is great, this build is great, the photos are great

[Govmnt_Lacky]

Awesome showing as usual Chris!

Question: Any reason you favor the larger DC power jack over the smaller form-factor jacks?

Been thinking about switching and wanted your thoughts on the matter.

[Thewintersoldier]

Awesome showing as usual Chris!

Question: Any reason you favor the larger DC power jack over the smaller form-factor jacks?

Been thinking about switching and wanted your thoughts on the matter.

Thanks. For the jacks, it depends on the build. Some builds will have multiple wires going to ground or the positive lug. The larger holes will make it easier to feed the wires in. Most of the time these days I use the smaller jacks, especially for tight spaces.

[Bio77]

Man, that thing is spotless!   The joints on the foot switch lugs are next level. 

[Thewintersoldier]

Man-thing is great, this build is great, the photos are great

Thanks Will, I always know it's good when you think it's cool.

Man, that thing is spotless!   The joints on the foot switch lugs are next level. 

Thanks John, still trying to do better, but your last build was pretty spotless inside.

[zombie_rock123]

Wow! Don't know how but you get better at this stuff! Super smart, inside and out. The green works fantastic with your artwork.

Had a two knob PH1 in recently for fixin', really enjoyed the sound but then checked out the prices. Glad I looked after I'd worked on it.

[Thewintersoldier]

Wow! Don't know how but you get better at this stuff! Super smart, inside and out. The green works fantastic with your artwork.

Had a two knob PH1 in recently for fixin', really enjoyed the sound but then checked out the prices. Glad I looked after I'd worked on it.

Thanks, it's easy to keep learning when I see all the cool things other people do. I had never played a ph-1 prior to this, had a ph-2 before but that is totally different. I was really surprised with this one.

[blackhatboojum]

Absolutely stellar work on this one.  This is one of the tightest builds I've ever seen.

[Thewintersoldier]

Absolutely stellar work on this one.  This is one of the tightest builds I've ever seen.

Thanks Clinton, but I'm just getting warmed up 😂

[gordo]

I can't believe how the character pops in the pictures.  Damn.  I also had to go back and see what Jon was talking about with the footswitch, and it's just crazy flawless.

I like this circuit and honestly maybe I've never played an original but this is a really nice phaser.  Synthy was the word I was looking for when you mentioned it.

[Thewintersoldier]

I can't believe how the character pops in the pictures.  Damn.  I also had to go back and see what Jon was talking about with the footswitch, and it's just crazy flawless.

I like this circuit and honestly maybe I've never played an original but this is a really nice phaser.  Synthy was the word I was looking for when you mentioned it.

Thanks Gordy, flawless is not a word I would use in anything that touches my bench lol. In these builds I'm doing now, I'm taking my time and using everything I've learned and really enjoying myself and the process. And yes. It is a really nice sounding pedal.

[gordo]

Yeah, the devil is in the details.  I need to follow suit and slow way down to get these kinds of results.

[harryklippton]

Yeah me too Gordo. I still get a little too eager oftentimes when building. Chris has a laser focus

[Bret608]

I haven't yet built an Aion board in this format, so am really glad I saw how you wired this first. I was wondering what option there were for keeping it neat. Intrigued to hear the circuit sometime too.

I really like how the diffused red LED looks on that green!