Ross Phaser

[Tim Marcus]

JHS pedals re-launched the Ross pedal line a few weeks ago.

The Ross Phaser pedal is probably the best phaser I have ever used with my pedal steel setup. Thought I would share that information.

Theres also a univibe mode (button on the side) that is pretty fun - but for a slow phaser that seems to be able to handle a steel guitar this is it. It gets a little chewy but not nearly as chewy as others I have found.

[Keith Murrow]

Very nostalgic! I bought the phaser and distortion pedals back in the late 1970s when they were manufactured in Chanute. I liked the phaser best of the two and got some pretty interesting tones for pedal steel and even bass guitar.

[Len Amaral]

I just bought the Ross phasor and compressor for my home pedal board to use with guitar. Very nice old school style pedals.

[Brad Sarno]

There's a great video where JHS tells the whole story.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJKrIUNXVv8


It's amazing to me watching this evolution since the 90s. I'd argue that this entire Ross phenom is because of Trey Anastasio of Phish. He's literally the only famous player to have built a sound around the Ross Compressor pedal. Around '98 I was wanting to re-make that compressor because they became scarce and expensive. I found people discussing it on some internet newsgroups. One guy named Robert Keeley and I chatted on the phone about it. He was already ahead of me by about 20 pedals. I got one from him. He and his wife made it on their kitchen table and it had a Radio Shack proto board inside it, all hand wired. Then it started to take off, then a couple years later won pedal of the year, then Nashville discovered it. Keeley's brand was fully launched.

I don't think this would have likely happened had Trey never made this a high demand vintage pedal.

I have an original orange Ross Phaser, and I agree it's about the best I've ever heard. I have the old Grey compressor too, instant Phish. Great for country clean picking.

Brad

[Jeremy Reeves]

wasn't the ross stuff just MXR clones?

[Brad Sarno]

wasn't the ross stuff just MXR clones?

Kinda. Their famous Ross Compressor that has been cloned and copied by Keeley, Analogman, and a few others was Ross's take on a MXR Dyna Comp. They actually improved the Dyna Comp. You can modify the MXR to get there, just a few things, but it's a legit improvement which really makes the Ross a spectacular guitar compressor. They copied but then modified it.

Their Ross Distortion is pretty much a copy of the MXR Distortion +.

The old Ross Phaser is similar sounding to the MXR Phase 90, also orange, but it's a different sound. I'm not sure what they did there, likely took the Phase 90 and tweaked it. The result is a Ross Phaser that some consider the best there is. I have an original and it's really quite awesome.

So short answer, to your comment, yeah, they definitely took from MXR, but they also did some authentic work of their own improving SOME of the designs.

I haven't heard any of the new JHS re-creations, but I look forward to it. Knowing Josh at JHS, they likely did an amazing job of it and paid attention to the component selection. JHS is a great operation.

Brad

[Tim Marcus]

they definitely made it their own - theres a button on the side which turns it into a Univibe!

I never heard the original Ross phaser but I will have to keep an eye out for one if its anything like the JHS re-creation

everybody borrowed from MXR. I do not think thats a secret - but every pedal company changes something and I guess thats why you have to have a lot of pedals. I think I have 5-6 different phasers and they all sound completely different. This Ross by JHS is my favorite right now

[John Larson]

wasn't the ross stuff just MXR clones?

Their Ross Distortion is pretty much a copy of the MXR Distortion +.

The DOD 250 as well. That circuit has been copied and modified almost as much as a tube screamer.