I'm posting this in the hopes that people considering the Custom Shop MXR line will be better informed:I recently purchased an MXR Custom Shop Phase 90, thinking that I would treat myself to a reproduction of a vintage pedal. In the late 80's, I bought a mid-70's script Phase 90 for $20 and sold it a few years later for about the same. I often regretted it, so I bought the Custom Shop version, thinking it would be close enough.
The Custom Shop Phase 90 did indeed sound better than the standard Dunlop Phase 90, which has a touch of distortion and a rather harsh phase sound. I took the pedal apart to see if I could install an LED and found out that it is an EVH Phase 90 in a different enclosure. It isn't like the EVH pedal. It is the EVH pedal. It says EVH on the board (see left center of photo) and has the script switch (upper left), which is inaccessible with this enclosure. Installing an LED appears to be a simple job, but I was so disappointed by the surface mounted, decidedly un-70s vibe of this pedal that I sold it immediately and bought a '79 Phase 90 on ebay for $80, and it is chock full o' creamy goodness. I think the pedal was only $80 because (I was told) it is a transitional Phase 90 -- script guts, but with the block logo, characteristic of many MXR pedals in the late 70s. Even if it's not script electronics, it sounds gorgeous.
The Custom Shop Phase 90 does not sound bad at all, but I wanted either an old pre-Dunlop Phase 90 or a modern hand-wired version. I'm not ashamed to admit that I am among the majority of guitarists who would not be able to discern the difference between the Custom Shop/EVH Phase 90 and a 70's version (or handwired repro). But the simplicity and relative inconvenience (e.g., lack of DC adapter jack and LED) of the original have an allure that is difficult to explain.
2 comments:
Very interesting & useful information, thanks very much.
Since you wanted to install an LED, I presume you had purchased the 74 Custom Shop Script 90. Because theres another Custom Shop Script 90, but that one does come with an LED and a power jack.
Just to conrirm -- which of these two was it you took apart, the 74 (w/out LED) or the Custom Shop Script (with LED)?
Thanks
This was not the 74 Custom Shop, which looks like the original Phase 90 (handwired, no LED, no DC jack). I sold this a while ago, but if memory serves, it was a CSP101 -- just like the CSP101SL, but without the LED. I bought the 74 Custom Shop and the CSP101SL (with LED) to compare, and they were very close as far as I could tell. However, the CSP101SL had a different board -- it was the modern MXR board, with a lot of surface-mounted components (not handwired), but it was NOT the EVH board described in this post. Hope this helps too. Thanks!
Post a Comment