Boss PH-3 Phase Shifter

The BOSS PH-3 Phase Shifter pedal offers distinct new “Rise” and “Fall” modes for truly unidirectional phased effects, as well as a variety of vintage and current phasing effects. An optional expression pedal allows realtime adjustment of the PH-3’s Rate, Filter, and Tempo, while syncing these phasing effects is as simple as tapping the pedal to the desired tempo.

The PH-3 is a versatile, all-in-one phase shifter that packs an arsenal of phaser effects from vintage sounds to cutting-edge tones. Rise and Fall modes, as well as multiple-stage phasers, adjustable stages, and Rate/Depth/Res knobs are all available on the pedal.

This phaser does stuff that most other phasers at this price point don’t do. It has multiple stages and “directions of phases” to allow you to find a feel that really fits what you’re doing. With the res knob cranked and the stage on “step” you will get some bizzaro crazy space robot sounds that I don’t think I’ve heard from any other pedal. That’s not to say that it doesn’t do regular phasing well, because it does. It may not be top-shelf in this regard, but it will certainly work well for most applications. But the reason to get this pedal is to explore a wide variety of sounds. It offers a lot of options. Great for knob-tweakers and noise artists. Still good as a straight phaser.

Features Boss PH-3

• BOSS phasing is available on the compact pedal, which also has vintage and modern sounds.
• Unidirectional phasing is created by the new “Rise” and “Fall” modes.
• Multi-stage phasers with customizable stages are included.
• Optional expression pedal control allows for realtime rate modification.
• Synchronize phasing effects with the tap of a button.

Boss PH-3 Phase Shifter – “Rise” and “Fall” Effects

The new PH-3 Infinite Phaser may create completely upward or downward moving sounds via its new Rise and Fall effects, in addition to conventional up and down cycles. A Step effect is available in addition to the four, eight, ten, and twelve-stage phasers.

By simply tapping the PH-3 pedal to the desired tempo, you may sync the phasing effects. Connect an optional expression pedal to the rate and filter controls, which may be adjusted in real time while you play, for even more control.

Boss PH-3 Phase – Video YouTube

Benefits PH-3 PH-3 Phase Shifter

Good workhorse pedal that brings solid phaser sounds to your rig. There is the standard phaser sounds that are all tweakable from the knobs, plus some cool experimental ( at least for me!) sounds to be had here. Yes it is a Boss pedal and not a boutique phaser, but for a used price point, all but the most discerning should be satisfied with it. There is a reason that Boss pedals have been around so long and many players use them in their setups. Compared to my TC Electronic Blood Moon Phaser (inexpensive phaser with true bypass), the Boss phaser has more sounds available and is more pedalboard friendly.

A fun pedal. It phases with funky sounding enveloping waves, almost flange like but not exactly that. It can go from a simple clear sounding phase that is good for playing funk chords to a space laser. On step mode it is fun to strum chords and listen to it blink through octaves. This pedal is definitely one to have if you like to explore and find new sounds while at same time being able to use it just as a phaser , and definitely a must if you are a collector.

Conclusion

Like any Boss pedal, this thing is built solid and it good at what it does. It sounds like a good phaser, but not a great phaser. This Phaser can get really weird and does that well. The sound of this pedal is THICK and soupy. I have other chorus, phase, and modulation pedals that can be dialed in from very subtle sounds up to super weird and wobbly wetness. This pedal does the weird end of the spectrum much better than the subtle side in my opinion. It’s got the range but doesn’t do the tucked back in the mix end of things as well as my Alexander Pedals Phaser. I honestly bought this phaser because I LOVE THE STEP FUNCTION mode.

Even if I did try to use it subtly, this pedal is so thick sounding that it’s almost hard to ignore. There’s definitely a wash of phaser tones when this thing is on so I don’t really try to pull it back. I let this thing be as wild and weird as it wants to be. It’s not a “light use” effect. It’s a wash of sound type thing.

I’ve never used the exp input, but I’m glad it’s there. I’m sure I’ll enjoy this pedal more once I start messing around with that extra bit of control that it offers. I already have an Alexander pedals Calavera phaser phaser on my board that I prefer. This Boss phaser is for studio use and the mini “reject” pedalboard. Tweakable, tweaked out, weird.

There are better phasers for those classic phase tones, but this one is great for stoner rockers that want the wettest, thickest, nastiest, and weirdest phaser they can find. It’s honestly a little seasick and gross sounding and that’s what I enjoy about it.

This is a really great-sounding, versatile, creativity-boosting phaser. For a digital pedal, the sound is surprisingly warm, and there are a lot of options to choose from. But… So what was my problem? I mean, I love Boss pedals, and I’ve owned many of them over the years, so I was predisposed to accept this pedal wholeheartedly. The different stage options were super cool, and the rise and the fall settings were very intriguing. The Step mode was a blast to use, and the pedal was a really cool, Kermit the Frog green. But there were two things that threw me off.

First off, there was a slight volume drop when engaged. This wouldn’t be so bad, and maybe Boss worked this out in later production runs, but it bothered me, especially because I’m going to be using a phaser with both an overdriven and a clean sound. The second thing was that it seemed like engaging and disengaging the phaser was not 100 percent seamless, in terms of maintaining the analog signal. Maybe this is because it’s a digital pedal, or maybe it was reacting to one of my other pedals in my signal path – I don’t know.