The Other Classic 70's Phaser | EHX Small Stone V1

[@LeonTodd]

What's your all time favourite EHX pedal? POG for me, although this gets close along with the OG Mistress.

[@coldacre]

Deluxe Memory Man, Tap Tempo 1100... from 2011... the original with the Panasonic MN3005's. 300 made then discontinued.

[@LeonTodd]

@@coldacre duuuuuude that's a gold nugget right there!

[@armoredsaint6639]

Dude, you just took me right back to 1978 hanging out in my friends, older sisters room, smoking something listening to Pink Floyd, Zeppelin and exploring the glories of life. Thank you very much yes it was glorious! Thank God for phasers and tube tops.

[@LeonTodd]

What a time that must have been :D

[@philneedham508]

Totally enjoyed this. Your obvious affection for this style of sound was fantastic to see and hear.

[@JackPeloquin]

This simply reminds me how sweet single coils sound! Probably been ten years since I’ve played one.

[@kevinkinnu341]

Vintage Small Stone is one of the best sounding guitar pedals ever

[@Tordenstein]

The small stone has been on my board for years and years. Colour switch down, and rate at 9o' clock just hits the spot for me

[@peterharvin2775]

Even though the 70's were my music era, I don't think I realized just how phaser drenched things were back then until you started playing tunes here. A wonderful reminder, and a truly classic sound. Thanks.

[@LeonTodd]

Nobodys Fault Like Mine is another killer phaser tone that comes to mind

[@janvanzuilekom]

Great video Leon and amazing playing , i got inspired by it too, today put my old forgotten vintage small stone on my board (in the H90 loop) and i couldn’t believe how great it sounds , thx again , you made my day

[@LeonTodd]

Sounds great!

[@coldacre]

love the Big Box Small Stone. have a V1 & a V4. got Analogman to address the volume drop in the V1. sounds great with synth as well.....

[@krimsonlediable]

I love my 1974 Budbox MXR Phase 90.

[@davidyates8880]

that sounds superb!! I really wasn't expecting it to be that good to be honest.

[@LeonTodd]

Simple and effective!

[@hoosierdaddy2308]

Very cool.. I also thought of the Phaser with a clean tone and David Gilmore! Very cool.. Yesterday was my Birthday.. I'm 62 and still cat nip to the ladies.. LOL.. NOT.. 😛 Great playing man.. Wow.. Sounded great brother! I saw Pink Floyd on the Animals tour in 1977 in Lousiville KY. I remember they only advertised it once in the Sunday paper at the time and it sold out in like 2 days.. I was lucky enough to get a ticket with a friend. It was amazing. First time I'd heard sound in Stereo and with a film behind the band.. Loads of Synths too! I just remember being wowed so much.. I was too young to really appreciate it as much as I would now, but it still left a huge impression on me.. Pink Floyd and Rush live really wowed me.. Great video and great tones.. Man, that thing did sound great.. It just sounds warm as you said.. Very cool.. Great video brother.. Thanks so much man.. Tim

[@drockny]

I love the note selection in your soloing at 1:16 with the key change. Sounded awesome!

[@LeonTodd]

Thankyou! Copping that Dorian vibe

[@heavybrett-al4082]

Wow that is a clean version! Loved it with your Strat...which I just realised that Strat is the same age as me 🤣 .

[@LeonTodd]

Clearly a good year :D

[@bbbro34]

EHX just released a new version of the Electric Mistress too, this time with Andy Summers name on it, and it's called "Walking on the Moon." I do like EHX pedals, made here in NYC and Matthews is an eccentric character that just knows what he's doing, and been doing it for such a long time now. His factory is in Long Island City, NYC just across the east river in Queens.

[@LeonTodd]

Yeah that looks very tasty indeed. The "Elastic Mattress" by PastFx is my favourite flanger ever, they rewally captured the magic of those old EM's.

[@DunsysGuitarWorld]

Definitely my go to phase pedal - although I have one of the later iterations. Simple, effective and great sounding. Props for the 70’s Gibbo with the scratchy volume pot and the 70’s riff about a big fish. We need to see more of this kinda thing on KZbin 👌

[@LeonTodd]

That old Gibbo definitely brings a vibe

[@jantzenallen3077]

Hello Leon hope your having an amazing day ❤

[@LeonTodd]

You too!

[@edlib02169]

My first pedal! Found one stuck in the back of an amp I was borrowing. When I gave the amp back, I was told I could keep the pedal. I eventually bought another one just in case I was ever asked to give the first back. I was surprised at how different they sounded. I eventually lent them out myself after I got a bunch of rack processors. Never saw them again. But they are my #1 go-to effect built in the HXFX. Great classic sound!

[@LeonTodd]

Thanks for sharing! Wild how gear comes into our lives sometimes

[@BobGuido]

This Small Stone is one of the secrets of the Occult Sciences

[@LeonTodd]

Modulating space and time itself!

[@zombiemosher1139]

I have the latest one with the psychedelic paint job. I love it & agree with your evaluation of it. The colour up is great on lead stuff but in saying that i find the down mode works better in a band situation. For clean, either or.

[@colevanwoert9958]

Just had an older fella waltz into the music store where I work and I ended up with a 1979 EH4800 for $50! As a Phase90 user, I love how this bridges the gap between the P90 and a Univibe

[@LeonTodd]

😍😍😍

[@theanalogkid4171]

2:45 Triumph Blinding Light Show! Would love to see this in the Fractal world.

[@bthjf12003]

Love it

[@jpalberthoward9]

I have a buddy who's had one of those things since the 70s. He said he could never figure out what to do with it, so he gave it to me. I figured out what to do with it.

[@LeonTodd]

:D

[@jpalberthoward9]

@@LeonTodd I can think of 3 things that would improve the Stone and make it just a bit more practical for use today: 1: Replace the 1/8" phone jack with the standard modern 2mm barrel style 2: A little red LED so you can see if it's on 3: A wet/dry knob like delay pedals have, so you can dial some of the effect out for more subtlety when needed. Those 3 upgrades could be done in about an hour, and it would be way more user friendly, but I don't want to drill holes in mine to make those changes. It'd be like putting a Floyd Rose on a 59 Les Paul. Maybe there's a dead one out there somewhere that could could be a donor for the box.

[@jstephenrussell6443]

Welcome to machine? (Album) Pink Floyd. Hart . Rush. Awesome sounding ! 😊

[@LeonTodd]

Rock on!

[@libertywormfarm3819]

Sounds ace mate! Magic box for sure.

[@LeonTodd]

So nice!

[@markhammer643]

The earliest six-chip Small Stones had an interesting design tweak that would slightly reduce the width of the sweep and reshape the sweep once the speed got over 2 cycles/sec or so. This feature was NOT part of the later 5-chip issues, as far as I can tell. A clever design quirk. In more common 3-knob phasers (Rate/Speed, Depth/Width, Feedback/Regeneration), one typically turns the Depth *down* as Speed is increased. The 6-chip SS does it automatically for you.

[@LeonTodd]

Autodepth! Brilliant!

[@markhammer643]

@@LeonTodd I thought so, too. I like to implement what has been referred to as the "phasefilter" mod. The OTA-based phase-shift (or more formally: "allpass filter") stages are easily converted to lowpass filters, by simply reconnecting one end of the capacitor in a stage from the input of that stage, to ground. Forty-four years ago Craig Anderton touted this modification, first conceived and offered by the late John Blacet. It used a more synthesizer-oriented chip (the SSM2040), but it occurred to me that the Small Stone may have used individual OTA chips, instead of the four packed into the SSM2040, but was fundamentally the same thing. So, I tried it out, and loved it. I use 2 allpass stages and 2 lowpass stages to produce a sweep that has one moving notch and a moving treble rolloff. Lift the dry signal, such that you only have the effect signal remaining, and it can be a very sexy swampy tone that seems to combine a bit of vibrato, tremolo, and auto-wah, all in one.. Look up my video here for the Phasefilter (NOT a commercial product or plug for one). The effect begins around the 1:40 mark.

[@GuitarGears4544]

Wow. Led Zep, Pink Floyd, and the mighty Ed? That thing was everywhere in the 70's. Really a unique, evocative sound. I wonder why it's fallen so completely out of favor. I mean, nobody thinks distortion sounds "dated."

[@tolchok89]

I saw Josh Scott of JHS compare a newer Small Stone to a vintage version, and he concluded that they not only sounded practically identical, but the newer one didn't have the volume drop of older models. Personally, I prefer chorus to phaser, but I like how it sounds more like a wah/flanger cross with the colour switch up. Apparently, this pedal was also used for the rotary sound on Powderfinger's "My Happiness".

[@LeonTodd]

Really! That's gonna be forever lodged in my brain any time I hear that song now

[@michaelgallegos8811]

Its sounds great. Your dads gibson is awesome man..

[@LeonTodd]

It is! I need to use it on the channel more

[@AngusClarkGTR]

Small Stone all day every day for life. Never been a phase 90 guy. It sounds the most like phase shifter Blackmore used on “On Stage” - which is a Compact Phasing A.

[@LeonTodd]

Man I love how RB had such a seemingly "normal" rig until you dive into the specifics. I guess Purple and Rainbow toured Europe way more than any American bands did so the gear selection would have been very different from the usual MXR/EHX stuff.

[@AngusClarkGTR]

@@LeonTodd he’s a tweaker for sure. It’s understandable to think it’s simpler than it actually is, cause he always sounds like him. But with the custom electronics in the guitar, the transition from treble booster/ac30 (Machine Head) to the Reel to Reel preamp and Marshall Majors, which were mostly modified, there’s an enormous rabbit hole to go down.

[@ΑβρααμΠαπαδοπουλος-β9χ]

I am definitely looking for a close to Schulte phaser RB sound. Do you propose the Small Stone?

[@AngusClarkGTR]

@@ΑβρααμΠαπαδοπουλος-β9χ its the closest of the readily available phasers to my ear.

[@chickenlickin3820]

Yo Leon! sounds ike a uni-vibe has a great throb to it.

[@LeonTodd]

It's overflowing with throb

[@markmills586]

I love phasers! I have over 25 of the buggers at the moment. I built myself a rev. J Small Stone clone but added a couple of mods. First was a fix for the volume drop. Second was an extra pot so I could dial in the resonance (colour) to taste. IMHO the factory set resonance amount is a tad too high. For me the magic happens with the resonance set between 10-25%. Honestly, it sounds so good and it’s such a shame that those tones are locked away out of reach.

[@Allan-ts1ux]

What then is the best other than your modded one.. Eh or Eddie's or ?.. I love to play with phase and delay with a cool groove

[@markmills586]

@@Allan-ts1ux My favourite phaser (that I own or have tried)is the Ibanez PT-9. It's a 4-stage FET phaser not that dissimilar to the Boss PH-1r. It's the one I keep coming back to.

[@Allan-ts1ux]

@@markmills586 I'll check them out now that I have a good opinion. Thanks Mark

[@GRBAquatics]

Very Cool, Thankyou. Stunning playing and sounds form that pedal. I only have an Azor Mini Phaser Pedal and a Behringer Multi FX Pedal with a Phaser. Both provide an awesome range of Phaser tones although I prefer quite a 'Mild/Mid' Phase setting. Really enjoy this effect, and will no doubt end up with a Phase 90 and Small Stone soon, lol. Cheers

[@LeonTodd]

Phase 90's are abundant, cheap and they always sound great!

[@mikestroud9969]

Nice pedal you have some great sound on your KZbin videos. Great Quality 👍👌💯🎸🎸

[@LeonTodd]

Thank you kindly!

[@eoinjennings519]

I just bought the Maestro reissue yesterday to get Lifeson tones and already have 3 other phasers - now I need another one thanks mate 😅

[@LeonTodd]

How you liking that maestro?

[@eoinjennings519]

@@LeonTodd hasn’t come yet will report back - want to pair it up with the stone deaf pdf 2 which should get about as close to Lifeson 70s tone as is possible

[@carvalho1672]

@@eoinjennings519 There is a pedal, Mr O - Phase Shifter from MOJO HAND FX, that according to them it's a clone of the PS-1 Maestro Phase Shifter.

[@jamiefookes1579]

It definitely can EVH!

[@LeonTodd]

That definitely impressed me!

[@jamiefookes1579]

I'm looking at the getting the EH4800 reissue of this, just because of this video. Would be a great addition to my small collection

[@hoosierdaddy2308]

Oh.. I almost forgot brother. I was watching your podcast the other day and your cat made me laugh.. She or he just loves to get in front of your camera and try to get your attention. My cat does that all the time! 😛 Those furry animals are just too much fun!

[@LeonTodd]

They're hilarious hey

[@hoosierdaddy2308]

@@LeonTodd Yeap.. They help make life interesting. I try to pet a cat at least once a day!

[@johnerodz7]

the best pedal great video thnx From orlando Fl

[@LeonTodd]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@inyourarea9292]

I just got one of these at a flee market for $30, guy didn’t know if it worked, took a chance, new battery and it sings

[@satchrules101]

Cool channel and great player.

[@sirgerbilmacintosh9101]

I have a 'Bad Stone' from the 70's. It's bigger and has more knobs on it, which I know isn't necessarily better. I never really use it though, it's just in the closet. I want to dig it out after watching this.

[@LeonTodd]

Do it! Let me know how you like it :D

[@ianfurqueron5850]

I have a couple of vintage E-H pedals and one of them is a Small Stone. Among the pedals I bought back in the early 90's before the idea of pedals being collectible became a thing. Mine is a lot noisier than the one you borrowed, so I don't use it that much.

[@LeonTodd]

Shame. I wonder how easy it would be to get fixed up?

[@ianfurqueron5850]

I'm not sure. One of my old band friends builds pedals and I may let him fiddle with it. It would also be nice if it could take a standard power connector rather than the 1/8" mini.

[@TheEricsnet1]

I used mine from the late 70's throughout the 80's until it didn't work anymore. In the early 90's I had switched to Boss pedals.

[@torroidal7545]

*waiting for Oxygene pt. 1* ;)

[@greg6L6GC]

I bought the original v.1 new back in the day. Used it back in the day but not lately. Is your distortion all amp?

[@LeonTodd]

yes

[@745bob]

nice

[@LeonTodd]

Very nice!

[@sadwingsraging3044]

_Yo Leon! You sending my phaser back?_ **runs up black flag** 🏴 Let none survive! 🗡😬💫

[@LeonTodd]

Here's hoping PastFx come out with a clone of this. It's so darn good!