NPD Variphase

[Luke51411]

Musicians friend had this on their super discounted special for $80 bucks so I figured I'd give it a try, new wah enclosure and wah pot... Almost worth the price just for the parts but I digress. So this is supposed to be a phase 90 with some features of volume and mix adjustment and an internal block/script switch. There is also an internal trimpot in the battery department that looks like it is made to be adjusted but it didn't seem to do a whole lot. The mix knob is cool for some vibey sounds when rolled back. The treadle seems a bit stiff, maybe it just needs to be broken in? I've never had a new wah before. So anyway to the sound... I was a bit underwhelmed, the sweep doesn't seem super smooth and not as musical compared to my p90 clone. It just isn't terribly even and the bandwidth seems to be shifted a little bit lower, there is not as much sparkle. The volume knob bottoms out at unity and maybe a bit above still which ideally I'd like it to go a bit below unity at the bottom just to have a bit more fine tune ability. Ok so of course I opened it up. The JFETS are through hole 2n5952 while everything else is smd. I wonder how closely they are matched and if that is part of what I'm hearing that is less pleasing than my p90 clone? The circuit board looks like it is set up for a heel down switch but has has a toe down spst. I think heel down might be better for a treadle that controls lfo speed but not a big deal. So anyway I'm done rambling now. In conclusion I'm not unhappy with the $80 I spent but if I had to do it over again I'd just build a p90 in a crybaby shell.

[Luke51411]

Upon playing with this pedal a bit more it's not bad, I think it has the univibe cap values which makes sense since you can change the mix for more vibe like sounds. This was the difference I was hearing in the sweep. It's a fun pedal but I'm still bothered by the stiffness of the rocker, maybe it just needs a little wd40 or something...