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  • Chase Bliss Audio Wombtone Analog Phaser

    By Chris Loeffler |

    Return to the Womb with the Chase Bliss Audio Wombtone Analog Phaser

    By Chris Loeffler

     

     

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    The Chase Bliss Audio Wombtone is an analog phaser effect pedal that uses digital controls to allow a greater level of customization of waveform and effects parameters than is possible with most analog (or even digital) modulation effects. Controls include Volume, Feed(back), Rate, Depth, Form, Wave Shape, and Tempo-Divide as well as outputs for Tap-Tempo or Expression pedals. The pedal features true bypass, tap-tempo, and runs on a 9v battery or standard Boss-style adaptor.

     

    What You Need to Know

    The Wombtone is a feature-heavy effect with extremely deep parameter controls. While it is important to understand these controls (they are the star of the show) it is worthwhile to cut right to the chase as to how it sounds… the tone is pure buttery, liquid phase. The circuit features a voltage-doubler that gives the modulation more headroom and clarity than, say, a Small Stone without losing the chewy, shimmering tone associated with the best vintage units. Subtler phase mixes shimmer, while deeper mixing of the wet signal thickens the phase sweep to the point of overtaking the original signal in extreme settings. The controls may be digital, but there is no denying the effected signal is all analog.

     

    The Volume control allows for a volume cut or boost when the effect is activated and is useful to adjust to any perceived changes in volume that may occur with phasing effects. The Feed control determines the amount of phasing feedback that occurs, from barely there to flanger-like interdimensional tears. Traditional, Univibe-style phaser effects can be found in the first third of the Feed control, middle settings yields vowel-like vocalizations, and the final third of the sweep introduces a three-dimensional swoosh that splashes over and under the direct signal. where the modulated signal thickens or adds movement to the direct signal.

     

    The Rate controlsets the speed of the waveform. When the momentary footswitch is hit twice in less than three seconds the Rate control is overridden and speed is dictated by tap-tempo. The moment the Rate control is adjusted it takes over again as the speed manipulator. Two DIP switches on the bottom of the pedal allow for selection of even or odd modes (1-2-4 or 3-6-8) to set the beat division and choosing whether the tap tempo controls the speed of phaser (Rate) or the Ramping control. A Tap-Tempo ¼” jack can be used as either a tap input OR output for players looking to incorporate the Wombtone into a MIDI ecosystem. In addition to tap tempo, MIDI devices can recall presets, activate/deactivate the effect, and control the Ramp effect (more on that shortly).

    The Wombtone is a DEEP pedal. While the standard controls mentioned above are intuitive and familiar to even the most casual user of effects (how fast, how deep, how much), the ModuShape control section and back DIPs take the effect far beyond where any other phaser effect stops. The ModuShape section is entirely dedicated to the shaping of the waveform through Depth, Form, and Left and Right Wave Shape controls. Depth intuitively sets the width of the pitch modulation, with the lowest setting resulting in subtle tone thickening and the highest setting yielding multi step pitch bends.

     

    The Form control sets the location of the peak, or center, of the modulation LFO: the lowest settings result in a rapid ramp up with a slow ramp down, the highest settings reverse the shape with a slow ramp up and rapid ramp down. Right in the middle yields a perfectly symmetrical wave. Thoughtful dialing in of the Warp allows players to avoid the monotony of a perfectly symmetrical waveform by creative, doppler effect style "hangs" in the sweep.

     

    The Left and Right Shape toggle switches allow for even deeper waveform shaping as they allow different wave shapes to be set on either side of the peak of the wave. Whereas most phaser units offer a single type of wave form for the entire cycle, the Wombtone allows different wave shapes on either side of the peak. Each side of the waveform can be set for either sine, triangle, or square wave shapes, making it possible to dial in extremely different and unusual wave behavior before and after the center. A wave form that uses a sine wave for a smooth ramp up to the peak and a square wave on the tail of the peak fora hard chop to the end of the wave can exhibit gradual swells peaking into a wrenching drop, while a square wave with an early peak that ends in a triangle wave causes odd-order harmonics to dominate with a linear drop.

     

    I’ve held off on discussing the Ramp control until last because it is probably the most unique and therefore difficult to describe aspect of the Wombtone. The single Ramp knob on the pedal belies the depth and magic the control gives players. The bottom of the pedal features two rows of eight DIP switches that control what the Ramp switch does (as well as a few other settings). Volume, Feed, Rate, Depth, and Form (all controls on the front) can be set to be modulated with the wave via the Ramp controller and can be individually set to occur in either the rise or the fall of the wave. For instance, activating Volume to be controlled by the Ramp creates a tremolo (volume amplitude) effect, whereas turning on the Feed setting in rise and Depth setting in fall creates an effect where the phassed effect gets exponentially more pronounced as the wave peaks and then drops in tandem with less depth (perceived phaser effect) as the wave ramps down. The Sweep control dictates whether parameters controlled by Ramp move from the current position of the front control to the maximum position or to the lowest position. 

     

    An expression pedal input allows players to use an EP-1 style expression pedal to manually control the Ramp effect. When used, all the Ramp settings assigned on the bottom of the pedal are controlled by the expression pedal and the Ramp control is disengaged.

     

    Other controls on the bottom of the pedal include Bounce, which determines whether the parameters operate in a normal LFO fashion or ramp and hold, Stages, which selects between six and four phasing stages to diall in the range of phasing, and MoByp, which selects between full bypass or momentary bypass.

     

    An additional virtue of all the controls being digital is the ability to store two presets in the pedal in addition to whatever the controls are currently set at. I dialed in a preset for an almost wah-like vocal sweep with a bit of volume throb on the decend of the wave, a preset for subtle, shimmery waves that subtly animates arpeggios, and had phyiscal settings on the pedal set to mimick my old Maestro phaser. The ability to have three unique analog phasers available at the flick of a switch certainly takes the sting out of the (justifiable) price.

     

    Limitations

    None

     

    Conclusion

    Without abusing hyperbole, the Chase Bliss Audio Wombtone is the most flexible, full-featured phaser this side of the now defunct ProphesySound Infiniphase MKII (without taking up half your pedal board or having 18 knobs) and it just sounds good. Classic tones are easily accessible, and adventurous tone explorers will find dozens of in-between sounds sure to inspire. Joel hit his sophmore effort out of the park, and one can only speculate what the next Chase Bliss Audio creation will be.

     

    Resources

     

    Chase Bliss Audio Wombtone Phaser Product Page

     

     

     

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    Chris Loeffler is a multi-instrumentalist and the Content Strategist of Harmony Central. In addition to his ten years experience as an online guitar merchandiser, marketing strategist, and community director he has worked as an international exporter, website consultant and brand manager. When he’s not working he can be found playing music, geeking out on guitar pedals and amps, and brewing tasty beer.




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