This big brother of the Phase 90 offers an even broader range of sounds. Along with the speed control there is a 4-position rotary switch that selects between four different intensities, defined as preset waveform patterns. Great for guitar, bass, keys, vocals, and more!
MXR’s phasers are considered to be the staple of this effect category. Van Halen was crazy about the old Phase 90, and the Phase 100 made that package even better. By today’s standards, neither of these two pedals are all that sophisticated, but they offer a sound that people got used to.
MXR Phase 90 was as simple as they came back in the day. At the same time, it was a state-of-the-art effect pedal that attracted a lot of well-known and not-so-well-known guitars into its camp. MXR M107 Phase 100 took that successful design and built on it until it reached a new level. Overall, it’s the same orange box only this time it’s a double-wide.
Phase 100 comes with an additional knob in addition to the one we are familiar with from the Phase 90. Build quality is as robust as you would expect it to be. Both the case and the innards can take any amount of abuse you are capable of dishing out. Having that kind of reliability is paramount to a lot of users, which is why the orange camp keeps on growing.
Controls you have available on the MXR Phase 100 are not modern in terms of range nor capability, but they definitely allow you to shape the tone with enough precision. Aside from the standard Speed knob that Phase 90 came with, this time you get an additional one described as Intensity control.
This feature offers four different phaser ‘shapes’ which are neatly described below their respective positions. While these are not too flexible, in other words you get to pick very specific phaser shapes, they offer a good amount of versatility. More than you would expect when you see them laid out on the paper.
The type of tone Phase 100 has to offer hasn’t changed much over the years. The tone is pretty pure and clean. Different phase contours are well defined and respond pretty well to both clean and distorted channels. Even though you only have Speed and Intensity controls, with a bit of tinkering you can dial in a great phaser configuration for whatever music you’re playing at the moment.
MXR M107 Phase 100 is a great example of quality not necessarily requiring complexity. The pedal is an old design that is still going strong to this day. Compared to some modern solutions, it does come across as conservative, but that is exactly what a lot of users are looking for these days.
Power consumption: 9V DC center negative (power supply sold separately) 6 mA
Dimensions: H: 5,3 cm (inkl. knobs) W: 9,2 cm D: 12,3 cm
Weight: 663 g
