I was just listening to an old ELO album (Face the Music) and was struck, in particular, by the Phaser effect on the track ‘One Summer Dream’ and it put me in mind of the very first FX pedal I bought, a Guyatone PS007 Phaser.
It sounded great on the bass, but the comb-filter effect made the volume of the bass rise and fall (as different frequencies were emphasised)
…so it was quickly joined by a Vox 1903 Compressor
(images from www.effectsdatabase.com) in an effort to tame the dynamics
…which resulted in a seriously over-compressed sound and, more significantly, the beginning of my journey into using effects pedals with bass.
I don’t particularly miss these two pedals (unlike some other gear I’ve written about previously) but hearing that sound sure took me back!
Are there any bits of long-lost gear you remember when you hear music from a ‘certain’ era? Go on, do tell!
