JHS 3 Series PHERB combines dark, lo-fi reverb with a four-stage phaser for sweeping ambience, pulsing pads and broken textures. Reverb runs into phaser before being recombined with your guitar signal. Three controls and the BREAK switch take you from subtle movement to expansive, distorted soundscapes.
Reverb and phaser working as one effect
The reverb has a deliberately dark, grainy character with chorus-like movement. Longer decay settings introduce a slight pulse that suits sustained chords and synth-like drones. The vintage-style four-stage phaser has no feedback, with its sweeps shifted higher in frequency to leave space for the reverb's low mids.
Speed ranges from barely moving to fast, pronounced modulation. In normal mode, turning Speed fully counterclockwise disables the phaser and leaves the reverb on its own. Otherwise, both effects work together in a fixed signal order.
BREAK: from ambience to fractured texture
Flip BREAK up to apply analog-style clipping and asymmetric bitcrusher processing to the input signal before it reaches the reverb and phaser. Short Length settings create a raw, fuzz-like voice for riffs; longer settings extend the distortion into sustained, intense textures. The Speed control cannot disable the phaser while BREAK is engaged.
Controls and applications
- Mix: adjusts the level of the reverb/phaser effect.
- Speed: controls phaser rate. Fully counterclockwise disables the phaser in normal mode.
- Length: controls reverb decay and pre-delay. Pre-delay increases proportionally with decay time.
- BREAK: up engages the distorted mode; down selects normal processing.
Start with PHERB after your drive pedals, where you would normally place reverb. Low Mix and short Length provide subtle space and movement. Long Length with slow Speed creates a pulsing layer beneath the guitar. Its character particularly suits shoegaze, ambient, industrial sounds and experimental pop.
Specifications
- Effects: reverb into four-stage phaser, recombined with the dry signal
- Phaser rate: 0.05–5Hz
- Reverb decay, RT60: 241ms–49.83 seconds
- Controls: Mix, Speed and Length, plus BREAK switch
- Input: 1/4-inch jack, right side
- Output: 1/4-inch jack, left side
- Power: 9V DC centre negative, 70mA
- Maximum supply voltage: 9V DC
- Dimensions: approximately 112 × 60 × 31mm, length × width × height
- Model code: 3SPB
