Recording - July 2013 - 21
or thread onto a mic stand (a remote foot
control was optional). It had only three
controls: Slow, Medium, and Fast Phase
buttons.
What made the PS-1A especially cool
was that switching between speeds wasn’t
instantaneous; the effect would ramp up or
down in speed, much like a Leslie speaker
rotor speeding up or slowing down. This
was and is a very musical effect, and combined with the sweet tone of the phasing,
it made the PS-1A a popular box in the
’70s and a much-sought-after rarity today.
Heptode has reimagined the PS-1A as a
floor pedal; with only three buttons, it doesn’t exactly cry out for easy access by hand!
The pedal has three footswitches and three
LEDs (in the same colors as the original buttons, no less), Input and Output jacks, and
a standard 9 V DC jack (it also runs on a
9V battery). Housed in a nicely-finished
metal case, it provides the original
Maestro sound with no added frills.
While Heptode makes much of the
improved signal-to-noise ratio in the modern design (and the Virtuoso is in fact a
really quiet pedal), a less-touted electronic
difference between the original PS-1A and
the Virtuoso is its bypass circuitry. The
Virtuoso uses relays for true bypass; when
the effect is turned off, the box is a straight
wire that doesn’t mess with your guitar
tone. True bypass was pretty much
unheard of in 1970, and many guitarists
noted that with even the effect turned off,
the PS-1A altered the guitar’s tone pretty
significantly, with a top-end rolloff and an
audible mid boost. Some guitarists grew
to love this tone tweak, while others found
it annoying; without a PS-1A to compare
directly, I’m afraid I’m going to have to
leave this question for the vintage-pedal
collectors to discuss.
That having been said, it takes about ten
seconds to hear why the PS-1A was such a
sought-after pedal; the phasing is sweet and
lyrical and plays well with other effects,
whether a vintage fuzz box or a modern
digital multieffects processor. The Lesliesque
speed ramping works beautifully, and
switching is pop-free and clean. The effect
peters out at very low frequencies, so it’s not
suitable for basses or downtuned/7-string
guitars, but it works a treat on guitars and
keyboards. If you’re in the market for a truly
vintage-sounding, easy-to-use phaser, the
Virtuoso makes a strong case for itself.
Price: $285 street
More from: Heptode,
www.heptode.com; dist. in USA by
European Musical Imports,
www.europeanmusical.com
Special thanks to Brad Ford of
Wingspread Records (wingspread
records.com) for sharing his collected
tech information and pictures of the original Maestro PS-1A.
RECORDING July 2013
21
http://www.heptode.com
http://www.radialeng.com
http://www.europeanmusical.com
http://www.wingspreadrecords.com
http://www.wingspreadrecords.com
http://www.radialeng.com
Recording - July 2013
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - July 2013
Recording - July 2013
Fade In
Contents
Talkback
Fast Forward
Sontronics Halo Guitar Cabinet Microphone
Radial Engineering StageBug SB-1 and SB-2 Direct Boxes
Zoom MS-100BT MultiStomp Guitar Pedal
Heptode Virtuoso Phase Shifter
Roland GC-1 GK-Ready Stratocaster and GR-S and GR-D V-Guitar Pedals
A Guitar Recording Primer. Part 1: Electric Guitars
Sage Electronics SE-DI3 Mighty G Active Direct Box
Sonic Farm 2DI4 Pentode Direct Box
Nine Guitar Recording Ideas
KEF LS50 Monitor 50th Anniversary Model
Millennia HV-37 Microphone and Instrument Preamplifier
Marty Stuart’s Grammy®-Winning Guitar Sounds
Readers’ Tapes
Recording Fundamentals. Chapter 19: Headphones—Part 2
iOS Music Tools: MIDI Designer
iOS Music Tools: A Tasty Pixel/Audanika Audiobus
Plug-in Outlet: PSP Audioware PSP SpringBox
Advertiser Index
Fade Out
Recording - July 2013 - Intro
Recording - July 2013 - Recording - July 2013
Recording - July 2013 - Cover2
Recording - July 2013 - 1
Recording - July 2013 - 2
Recording - July 2013 - 3
Recording - July 2013 - Fade In
Recording - July 2013 - Contents
Recording - July 2013 - 6
Recording - July 2013 - 7
Recording - July 2013 - Talkback
Recording - July 2013 - 9
Recording - July 2013 - 10
Recording - July 2013 - 11
Recording - July 2013 - Fast Forward
Recording - July 2013 - 13
Recording - July 2013 - Sontronics Halo Guitar Cabinet Microphone
Recording - July 2013 - 15
Recording - July 2013 - Radial Engineering StageBug SB-1 and SB-2 Direct Boxes
Recording - July 2013 - 17
Recording - July 2013 - Zoom MS-100BT MultiStomp Guitar Pedal
Recording - July 2013 - 19
Recording - July 2013 - Heptode Virtuoso Phase Shifter
Recording - July 2013 - 21
Recording - July 2013 - Roland GC-1 GK-Ready Stratocaster and GR-S and GR-D V-Guitar Pedals
Recording - July 2013 - 23
Recording - July 2013 - A Guitar Recording Primer. Part 1: Electric Guitars
Recording - July 2013 - 25
Recording - July 2013 - 26
Recording - July 2013 - 27
Recording - July 2013 - 28
Recording - July 2013 - 29
Recording - July 2013 - 30
Recording - July 2013 - 31
Recording - July 2013 - 32
Recording - July 2013 - 33
Recording - July 2013 - 34
Recording - July 2013 - 35
Recording - July 2013 - Sage Electronics SE-DI3 Mighty G Active Direct Box
Recording - July 2013 - 37
Recording - July 2013 - 38
Recording - July 2013 - 39
Recording - July 2013 - Sonic Farm 2DI4 Pentode Direct Box
Recording - July 2013 - 41
Recording - July 2013 - Nine Guitar Recording Ideas
Recording - July 2013 - 43
Recording - July 2013 - 44
Recording - July 2013 - 45
Recording - July 2013 - KEF LS50 Monitor 50th Anniversary Model
Recording - July 2013 - 47
Recording - July 2013 - Millennia HV-37 Microphone and Instrument Preamplifier
Recording - July 2013 - 49
Recording - July 2013 - Marty Stuart’s Grammy®-Winning Guitar Sounds
Recording - July 2013 - 51
Recording - July 2013 - Readers’ Tapes
Recording - July 2013 - 53
Recording - July 2013 - 54
Recording - July 2013 - 55
Recording - July 2013 - 56
Recording - July 2013 - 57
Recording - July 2013 - Recording Fundamentals. Chapter 19: Headphones—Part 2
Recording - July 2013 - 59
Recording - July 2013 - iOS Music Tools: MIDI Designer
Recording - July 2013 - 61
Recording - July 2013 - iOS Music Tools: A Tasty Pixel/Audanika Audiobus
Recording - July 2013 - 63
Recording - July 2013 - Plug-in Outlet: PSP Audioware PSP SpringBox
Recording - July 2013 - Advertiser Index
Recording - July 2013 - 66
Recording - July 2013 - 67
Recording - July 2013 - 68
Recording - July 2013 - 69
Recording - July 2013 - 70
Recording - July 2013 - 71
Recording - July 2013 - Fade Out
Recording - July 2013 - Cover3
Recording - July 2013 - Cover4
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