NAD!!! Phaez-Canadiancool Funkmonster!
- Thread starter Thatbastarddon
- Start date
Session 5
Ambassador of Strings & Wings
Windsor Ontario.
He’s been building variants of these(and others) for around a decade. I came close to popping for one back when he was starting out, but decided to build my 18 watt instead.
His website is...flakey... Phaez Amps
He has a bunch of stuff “in stock” at any given time, but he will build by request too.
I saw this one, and couldn’t resist...channel switching is something he does as an add on, but this one was done already, and it had the two channels that I wanted. Plus...this is my first 6V6 amp.:dood:
Well done Don!!!! And from Windsor you say? A couple of hour drive from me.
Session 5
Ambassador of Strings & Wings
There is something “special” about the two channels, I guess would be the proper response for me.
The Daisycutter channel was one of his early preamp/tone stacks that was popularized by its hot gain, Marshallesque, vibe. He used to do a lot of straight up Daisycutter heads.
Now with the Duophonic heads, he pairs up different channels with each other.
I’ve been curious about the Corona channel too...was hoping it would be reminiscent of my Silkyn in its abilities to take pedals. If the latest session through the Marshall 1960 straight cab is any indication, the answer is a resounding YES!
I was running through some Sabath standards with my SG P90 Standard, and when I engaged the Corona channel, and the Muff-brew...it was fantastic!
Drop C sharp, with the Gladiator (LP style), 57/57+, through the Daisycutter channel; I got a great sound for some Counterparts era Rush “Stick it Out”...maybe a little more energetic/gainy sounding, but the tone from the amp/guitar made me want to play that...excellent note clarity, good eq controls there.
Overall, through the 1960 straight cab....BEEFY.
the three guitars played for variety:
View attachment 23625
The P90s were my favorite!(go figure)
Awesome guitars and amps you have there Don!!!! You just need a NICE Godin to complete the mix!
RVA
Ambassador
I think his work looks quite good. Nice score. Nothing left to do but post a sound clip!
OP
syscokid
Ambassador of War & Peace
The layouts are very interesting. All power filters and their respective components are semi-isolated from the preamp circuit and from the power tubes.
The wiring is a hybrid of true point to point wiring. There's no pcb, or turret board, or tag strips for the preamp circuit. This is why it looks a bit sloppy. Have you ever seen the inside of an older Matchless amp?
I think this might be a Matchless Chieftain... True point to point:
OP
That’s not mine....
This is mine....
Way less complicated.
Oh yeah...when I said “sloppy” earlier, I should have said something more like “non-traditional build style” for the hybrid PC-point to point style. It looks chaotic to some(I’ve read), but makes perfect sense to me. I looked at this gut shot, and thought to myself “I can follow that layout”. It makes sense to me.
OP
Re:the daughter boards- They look to me to be the channel switching relays. I haven’t pulled the chassis yet though...to trace it myself.What part of the circuit is that small board on the left?
What about the medium sized board on the right?
Oh... and I'm not done... What do you know about toroidal transformers? They remind me of a freshly baked, heavily glazed donut... Yum...
View attachment 23654
Re: toroidal transformers- I know that Laney switched to them in the early 90s for their bass amps, and then on to their guitar amps later on. To me, it’s the power transformer- it needs to deliver the goods on demand...I don’t care about the orientation.
OP
I just spent around an hour and a half on the Phaez. This session was through my Orange PPC112 that has been loaded with a WGS GreenBeret...I was in a happy place with this set up.
Did some more exploring of the controls on both channels, and the master section. Lots of good options to play with, but I’m still getting used to things. I am having fun doing so.
Ray, you asked about headroom:
I’d like to revise this. Using the clean channel gain control in conjunction with the master volume, I can get some sweet breakup at a fair volume level...Especially with some hot pickups.
Or I can keep a fairly pristine clean beyond fair volume levels.
Speaker choice is, of course, a factor too...and I was using one that I like for its breakup characteristics.
This amp seems totally gigable to me. There’s plenty of usable power in the 22 watts advertised.
I can’t imagine a setting that we’ve played in the last 15 years that would require more than this little purple beast has been putting out.
Maybe my next session will be through the Recto cab.
Did some more exploring of the controls on both channels, and the master section. Lots of good options to play with, but I’m still getting used to things. I am having fun doing so.
Ray, you asked about headroom:
I snapped off a quick response of “almost too much”.
I’d like to revise this. Using the clean channel gain control in conjunction with the master volume, I can get some sweet breakup at a fair volume level...Especially with some hot pickups.
Or I can keep a fairly pristine clean beyond fair volume levels.
Speaker choice is, of course, a factor too...and I was using one that I like for its breakup characteristics.
This amp seems totally gigable to me. There’s plenty of usable power in the 22 watts advertised.
I can’t imagine a setting that we’ve played in the last 15 years that would require more than this little purple beast has been putting out.
Maybe my next session will be through the Recto cab.
OP
I just annihilated an hour of wash cycle with the Phaez through the Recto cab. I also decided to get some quality time in with the Silver Horse, cheapie Klon Klone.
The Phaez definitely likes the Mesa Vintage 30s! Really good cleans, but high gain shines for playing some Toolish stuff especially. I couldn’t find my Sabbath sound as readily as with the other cabs I’ve run it through so far, but with some fiddling about...I got most of the way there eventually.
The Silver Horse turned out to be a good compliment in many circumstances.
The guitar for the session was this SG with some screaming hot Manlius Goats Growl P90s.
These pickups take some getting used to. They are extremely hot, but hold good tone right down the volume control. In situations where I would play most P90s on 7, these wind up at 3-4, and still sound nice and clear. Wind them up though, and watch out!
The Phaez definitely likes the Mesa Vintage 30s! Really good cleans, but high gain shines for playing some Toolish stuff especially. I couldn’t find my Sabbath sound as readily as with the other cabs I’ve run it through so far, but with some fiddling about...I got most of the way there eventually.
The Silver Horse turned out to be a good compliment in many circumstances.
The guitar for the session was this SG with some screaming hot Manlius Goats Growl P90s.
These pickups take some getting used to. They are extremely hot, but hold good tone right down the volume control. In situations where I would play most P90s on 7, these wind up at 3-4, and still sound nice and clear. Wind them up though, and watch out!
OP
So, I went back, and made a sound sample mix with the Recto cab. I did switch up the guitar, and used my P90 Standard SG.
There were 2 mic’s in play.
One close mic- Audix I5 (lower right speaker in the following pic)
One room mic- an old Apex 210 ribbon (following pic foreground-about 6 feet from the cab)
There are some trailing artifacts in the room mic track. It’s a figure 8 mic, and it was closer to the drum kit than the guitar cab. I’m pretty sure it’s some resonating snares, and other drum kit bits, since it’s only on that track...I suppose it could be the mic though...I’ll be looking in to that...I haven’t used it in a while.
Pic:
The clip goes like this:
Clean with no fx.
Clean with delay and reverb in the fx loop.
Clean with delay and reverb in the fx loop, and Silver Horse on.
Same as the last, but I’m using a pick, and not playing lightly anymore.
Same as the last, but not the clean channel anymore...Daisycutter channel.
Guitar pickup selector in middle position, volumes set around 8 neck, and 9 bridge...
Bits of two original songs...
Phaez Sample Recto Cab.wav
There were 2 mic’s in play.
One close mic- Audix I5 (lower right speaker in the following pic)
One room mic- an old Apex 210 ribbon (following pic foreground-about 6 feet from the cab)
There are some trailing artifacts in the room mic track. It’s a figure 8 mic, and it was closer to the drum kit than the guitar cab. I’m pretty sure it’s some resonating snares, and other drum kit bits, since it’s only on that track...I suppose it could be the mic though...I’ll be looking in to that...I haven’t used it in a while.
Pic:
The clip goes like this:
Clean with no fx.
Clean with delay and reverb in the fx loop.
Clean with delay and reverb in the fx loop, and Silver Horse on.
Same as the last, but I’m using a pick, and not playing lightly anymore.
Same as the last, but not the clean channel anymore...Daisycutter channel.
Guitar pickup selector in middle position, volumes set around 8 neck, and 9 bridge...
Bits of two original songs...
Phaez Sample Recto Cab.wav
Last edited:
chilipeppermaniac
Ambassador of Decibels
Waiting for me today, as I arrived home from work, was a really well packed box. Inside, was a Phaez Duophonic. It’s a two channel beast, pushing out 22 watts via two 6V6 tubes. One channel is a fairly clean, Blackface-ish thing, called a Corona. The second channel is fairly high gain, lots of usable gain, called a Daisycutter. It has an effects loop. It’s actually foot-switchable. It even has a head cab. Although purple is not my first choice, I still have some black vinyl dye and I know how to use it.(this guy sells a lot of bare chassis amps for fairly short money). He even threw a simple foot switch in the box(it didn’t say that one was included, so I was pleasantly surprised).
I’m just getting acquainted right now. :dood:
View attachment 23613
I want to thank @alligatorbling for re-kindling my interest in these amps.
First impression, from running it through a 2x12(pictured), loaded with some old WGS Reapers(one regular, the other a 55Hz version)...Crisp! Responsive! Solid! LOUD!
The clean channel takes pedals like a champ. Muff, and clean boost sound great. Delay, reverb, and my Shaky Jimi sound great in the loop.
Next session will be through the usual Marshall 1960 straight cab...then maybe over to the Recto cab...then.....
Now I have to get back to running this thing through, probably, every cab I own...
This could take a while.
$200 not $1 more