Subdecay: Quasar Phaser (A blast from the past!)
60http://subdecay.com
https://reverb.com/marketplace?query=subdecay+quasar+phaser&_aid=kingman
I began this Youtube channel for something fun to do with my then young daughter, Sadie, back in 2008. At that time I was working for a distributor in Melbourne who suggested I hunt down some cool pedal lines to introduce into Australia. Catalinbread and Subdecay were the first two brands we brought in. Through email and phone conversations I came to know the late Nicholas Harris, founder of Catalinbread, and Subdecay's Brian Marshall, quite well. The odd thing was that they were both geographically close, working out of Portland, OR. They even collaborated once or twice, their most famous result being the mighty Buster Jangle boost/drive. Only around 24 or so of those were built and are much coveted these days. Rightly so.
Both companies went onto bigger and better things and are still thriving today. Catalinbread and the pedal world at large suffered a major loss less than a year ago with the untimely passing of Nicholas Harris who was taken in a freak storm accident. Despite this tragedy, Catalinbread are still kicking goals and show no signs of slowing down. Brian Marshall is still sailing the Subdecay ship into greater waters and continues to offer us cutting edge pedals, many being of the modulation variety.
The Quasar Phaser was one of my first introductions to Brian's work. It was regarded as top-shelf then and I still think it competes easily with the best today. It has the headroom to avoid clipping and one of the coolest opamp/vactrol based 4-stage phase-shifting sounds ever. It's a smooth ride!
So here's my little homage to something cool, a friend lost and friend retained and something from a younger, simpler stage in my Youtube career. The Subdecay Quasar Phaser.
Guitar: '65 Strat replica built by DeluxeTone in QLD, Australia.
Amp: Achillies Amps Vibrolux Reverb Replica with 2 x Jensen G10Q speakers (See: http://www.achilliesamps.com/blackface-vibrolux-reverb-combo/)
Extra effects: N/A
Cables: Providence
Power Supply: Voodoo Lab MONDO
Mic: Violet Design The Amethyst (Vibrolux); Samson Airline77 (me)
Camera: Canon 60D (me) and iPhone 6+ (pedal)
Soundcard: AVID Mbox Pro 3
Computer: Apple iMac 27" i7 3.4 GHz 16 GB RAM
Software: Pro Tools 12.4, Waves CLA Guitars (slight comp over input track), Waves L3-16 Limiter (to keep levels in check at output), Apple Final Cut Pro X (video editing and Youtube compression).
This clip goes out to Toby Bailey, current keeper of the mighty Quasar.