Guitar Phaser
Build this easily constructed, cheap, compact and versatile phaser. An ideal project
for the professional or amateur guitarist.
MANY MUSICIANS WILL know the
electronic effect known as phasing.
The sound produced by such a unit
gives a pleasant, rhythmic,
modulation of the source to which it
is connected and can often, with a bit
of imagination, create the illusion of
flight. For this reason the effect has
been referred to in the past as
"sky -riding". With this unit the
speed of the effect is continually
variable over a wide range.
Of the many designs for phasers,
featured in various magazines, noise
has been an over-riding disadvantage
for serious work by musicians.
The HE Phase 1 overcomes this
and other problems by the use of
some of the latest technology from
Texas Instruments (TI). Recently, TI
introduced a new family of
operational amplifiers known as
BI-FETS. For the technically minded,
the abbreviation BI-FET means that
the op amp has a high impedence,
JFET input stage combined with a
low -distortion bipolar output stage.
They also feature further
improvements such as low noise and
Hobby Electronics, September 1980
low power, both vital for a The PCB is constructed as follows.
professional phasing unit - low The overlay shows the location of the
noise for a high quality sound and components with special attention
low power for a long battery life! drawn to the FETs, which are
Phase 1 uses a particular IC from mounted with the flats facing the
this family of BI-FETs having four op board, and the capacitors, as shown
amps in the one 14 -pin body (known in Fig 3.
as a quad device). The use of this
chip, the TL 064, obviously keeps Take care
the size of the complete phaser to a
minimum, enabling its construction No special precautions are
in an extremely small and neat case. required for ICI except that it should
be inserted the correct way round as
should the tantalum capacitors and
Automatic switching FETs. Although we normally
advocate the use of IC sockets, in this
An override footswitch is provided particular case, space requirements
so that the musician can bypass the mean that the IC must be inserted
phasing effect when it is not directly into the PCB. You must,
required. Another important feature therefore, be careful not to overheat
is the lack of an on /off switch. We the device when soldering it in -
have used a stereo input socket to likewise the FETs! When the board is
switch the unit on whenever a jack completed, attention can be turned
plug is inserted into the socket. The to the case.
circuit is automatically switched off The alloy box is easily drilled with
when the plug is removed. normal drills, alternatively the larger
holes may be punched with a Q -max
type of punch. When the machining
Construction
The method of construction of the
unit is entirely up to the individual,
but if you want to build the unit as
illustrated, the full description
fqllows. Although a PCB is
recommended the unit could be
successfully built on veroboard,
though we give no details. When
designing the unit the primary
concern was to produce a low noise,
low power, high performance phaser,
at a reasonable cost. With this in
mind we then considered the use to
which the unit would be put, eg.
stage use, with all the abuse which
that entails. The case chosen to fulfil
these requirements was a strong
alloy enclosure, of small physical size
yet easy to work with.
Due to the limitations of size, we
used jack sockets that are smaller
than usual, along with a slightly
unusual method of PCB construction.
A PP3 battery is used to power the
unit, being the smallest of the 9 V
range.
49
 Guitar Phaser
+9V
R

R7 R11
150k 100k
R22
10k
C5 10n R9
147" 12
gf Q1 2k7
RV1 14
C11 ZD1 IC1d
220k d
10u
R23 R4
10k 270k
COLOUR CODE OF WIRE
G = GREEN R6 2M2 R8 150k
R = RED C10 RV2
B = BLUE 10u 470k
O = ORANGE RE R4 C8
22k 10n antilo
Y= YELLOW 470k SPEED
GR = GREY
BL = BLACK 10 C2
GR
47n C3
8 5
Y R20 47n
C7 R15
10k 9 7 3
JACK 1 lOn l 10k
IC1b T 10u
R17
IC1a O
BL OBL 10k R18 C1 SW1
R21 .----/VVV\--.2"
10k R24 47n JACK 2
-i\/VV- 10k
10k
R1
0y
100k R25
10k
R3
150k
R2
100k
BL

BL
NOTE TIS88A
IC1 IS TL064 PIN
01 & 2 ARE TIS88A 000 VIEW Figure 1 (above). The complete circuit diagram of the HE Phase 1 phaser. Note the use
ZD1 IS 5V1 ZENER 400mW
d g s of colour coded interconnections.

How it Works
The unit was designed around the TL 064, a
BI-FET quad operational amplifier. Three of
the amplifiers are used in the audio chain and
the fourth is used in a multivibrator circuit,
to give the low frequency modulated phase
sound. The audio processing chain is split
into four distinct sections, these are an input
buffer, two active phase shift networks and a
summing mixer. The circuit diagram is
shown in Fig. 1.
The input buffer is formed around the
operational amplifier, ICIc and has a gain of
1. The gain of the two phase shift networks is
also 1 and so the unit as a whole has a unity
gain. The phase shift networks consist of,
respectively C2 -Q1 and C3 -Q2. At some
frequency, say, fo, each network causes a
90° phase shift, thus 2 90° phase shifts in
series give an anti -phase signal i.e. 180° out
of phase (see Fig. 2). R19 feeds a portion of
the buffered input signal direct to the output
and if this is mixed at the output in a 1-1
proportion with the anti -phase signal the
effect is to cancel out the signal at the
frequency lo.
In this application the FETs function as The I/P signal at frequency, fo
voltage controlled resistors in the phase shift
networks. These resistances determine the
frequency of fo, so by applying a varying
voltage to the FETs the notched out
frequency can be made to sweep up and
down the audio band.
The signal of frequency, fo after the
ICld forms a simple triangle waveform first phase shift network - it is now
90° behind the original signal
generator whose frequency is variable over
the range approximately 0.1 Hz -10 Hz. This
waveform is fed to the FET gates via resistors
C
R6, 13 and 14. It is this varying voltage that
modulates the FET gates and so gives the
well-known phasing effect. SW1 is a single After the second phase shift network
pole changeover switch to bypass the unit the signal is 180° behind the I/P
when not required. A stereo socket is used on signal ie; out of phase
the input of the unit to eliminate the on/off'
switch by connecting the negative battery
lead to the earth tag, and the negative circuit The signal obtained lie; nothing), by
mixing in equal proportions, the signals
wire to the ring tag. Inserting a mono plug of A & C
will connect the earth and ring tags and
performAhe_switchingraction.
Fioure 2. Waveforms within the circuit.
 is complete it can be rubbed down
with fine wet and dry paper to
provide a good surface for a primary
coat and then finally a top coat of
good, hard paint.
When the top coat is dry, the
sockets, pot and switch can be fitted the wiring is complete a thorough
in their respective places. The board visual inspection should be made,
i. wired up as shown in Fig. 3,
remembering to make the earth
connection to the back of the pot by
scraping off the plating and soldering
the wire to this point.
Due to the fact that the wiring
connections in the phaser are quite
complex, we have tried a new
technique to make things easier for
you in construction - the colour
coding of connecting wires. The use
of colour coding is self-explanatory,
really, and will present no problems JACK1-
SIN1
BYPASS
SWITCH
SOLDERED CONNECTION
TO THE BODY OF RV2
to the builder - on the contrary you
should find it much easier to
construct a project in this way.
The tags on the sockets will have
to be bent inwards to clear the PCB
when the lid is screwed down. When
'
especially of the PCB. The unit is now
ready for setting up. With the preset
at its centre position, fit a battery and
INPUT (ON/OFF)
NOTE RESISTOR R
IS CONNECTED TO
THE SOCKET
plug a connecting lead from an on the front. This completes the
amplifier into the 0/P socket. Turn construction, except for the cutting of
the unit on by plugging a lead from a a piece of foam plastic to protect the
guitar or similar instrument into the board from short circuits. HE
I /P socket. If the sound you hear has
no modulation present, press the foot
switch. There should be some sort of
phasing though it may be irregular.
Now adjust the preset for a smooth Buvlines
phasing sound with no discontinuity
at the end of the sweep. It will now We are not quoting an approximate price
for components in this project because
be found that the speed of the Watford Electronics are offering a com-
phasing can be controlled by the pot plete kit of parts, including the case and
PCB for the remarkably low price of £12.
If you prefer to buy the components
separately, the only problems may be with
the antilog pot RV2, (try Electrovalue) and
the jack sockets.
Figure 3. The overlay of the
PCB and interconnection Parts List
details. Remember to insert
Q1 and 2 flush to the board. RESISTORS (All 1/4W, 5%)
R1, 2, 11 100k
R3, 7, 8 150k
R4, 12 470k
R5 22k
R6 2M2
R9 2k7
R10 120k
R13, 14 270k
R15-27 10k

GR POTENTIOMETERS
RV1 220k miniature horizon-
tal preset
RV2 47k antilog
ri CAPACITORS
Cl, 2, 3, 4 47n miniature ceramic
C5, 6, 7, 8 lOn miniature ceramic
RV2 C9, 10, 11 10u 16V tantalum
SPEED
SEMICONDUCTORS
ICI TL 064 quad op amp
Q1,2 TIS 88 FET
ZD1 5VI 400 mW zener diode
+Ve
NOTE:
COLOUR CODE OF WIRE O = ORANGE MISCELLANEOUS
POWER SW 1
G = GREEN Y = YELLOW double -pole, double -
-Ve BL R = RED GR = GREY throw foot switch
B = BLUE BL = BLACK SK 1 Stereo 'A" jack socket,
Cliff Products ref S3
JACK 2 - OUTPUT SK2 mono '/4" jack socket,
NOTE RESISTOR R2 IS Cliff Products ref SI
CONNECTED TO THE N.cr/ Case to suit, PP3-type battery connector,
SOCKET R2 knob, foam plastic.
C11 C11 & 2 ARE SOLDERED FLUSH
TO THE CIRCUIT BOARD
PCB Foil Patterns
For the benefit of our confused
readers who have been rushing
around, frantically turning over
pages, trying to find the foil patterns
for the projects they are wanting to
I
m
build - here they are!
We have collected all the track
layouts or foil patterns (call them what
you will) together on one page to
make things easier.

O HE REACTION TIMER

y0i: ..
).0:-1c,1
\I:2.=
R4F

73
Hobby Electronics, September 1980