OptaHog Optical Phaser

The classic phase shifter is a real head turner. We gear geeks can recognize it instantly while the layperson struggles to put a finger on it. To the casuals, phasers are about as far-out as guitar effects get. Jimi Hendrix was among the first popular guitarists to use one of the first two-stage phasers and crowds the world over lost their minds. Some of the earliest ones featured components called optocouplers; they translate light to resistance and move the waveform along its merry way. These are widely regarded as being the smoothest of the phaser tech that now exists, but also the most complicated.

The OptaHog throws this notion of complexity to the wind to deliver you a unique phase shifting experience unlike anything else out there. While traditional optocouplers feature a fixed color LED or incandescent bulb, the OptaHog utilizes a color-changing light element that imparts an extremely organic and subtle warble to the phase shifting as the wavelength changes. This meta-modulation becomes richer and more pronounced as you toy with the Depth, Rate and Feedback knobs. The light wavelength fluctuates at a fixed rate regardless of the phaser’s frequency, leading to some pleasing subtle dynamic shifts when you switch from one speed to another while the Depth knob dials in the intensity of the light. The Feedback control lets some of the phaser signal back into the input to thicken it should you desire some extra chewiness. Place the OptaHog directly after some fuzz for an outstanding synth-like tone that you might not be expecting, but secretly wanted the entire time.