The DOD Phasor 490 is a phaser pedal made by DOD, a maker whose older pedals have been finding new audiences years after production. Pedal of the Day dates it to around 1978, though the reviewer noted that dating was uncertain, and calls it "a vintage classic that features some wild tones"1. It is a simple pedal by design: two knobs, nothing more.
What it does
As a phaser, the 490 sweeps a moving notch through your signal, producing the whooshing, spacey effect familiar from phaser pedals generally. Pedal of the Day describes its character as having "a very Uni-Vibe-esque auditory texture at times," and sums the pedal up as "definitely a bad-ass phaser"1.
Its control layout could hardly be smaller. As the reviewer put it, "Can't get much simpler than two knobs"1:
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Speed | Controls the speed/rate of the LFO wave that controls the effect1 |
| Regen | Sets the intensity of the phasing effect1 |
The Speed knob governs how fast the effect sweeps, from slow drifts to quick warble. The second knob shapes how pronounced the phasing gets, which is where the pedal's wilder tones come from1.
What reviewers said
Pedal of the Day's 2017 review is the main published account of the pedal. The reviewer liked the effect itself but flagged one practical drawback: bypassed tone loss. In the reviewer's words, "Although not horrible, it was still present, and would probably benefit from a true bypass loop pedal to keep it out of the signal path when not in use"1. That is a common trait of pedals from this era, and players who use the 490 on a larger board sometimes route it through a switching pedal or true bypass loop to manage it.
Where it fits in DOD's phaser line
The 490 sits among several phasers DOD made over the years. The company's Phasor 201 is its better-known two-knob phaser, and the FX20B Stereo Phaser and FX20C Stereo Phaser are its stereo takes on the effect. The 490 is the rarer and less documented of the family, which is part of why it turns up mainly in vintage gear discussions rather than current production lineups1.
In use
JHS Pedals, in a piece recreating a guitar rig from around 2000, placed the Phasor 490 near the end of a pedalboard, describing it as "the second-to-last pedal on the board"2. The writer estimated it "probably cost 15 bucks" at the time, which gives a sense of how inexpensive these pedals were secondhand around 20002.
"It probably cost 15 bucks and I was in a band"
Videos
Zaloral’s Test
isonsov
Pedal of the Day
Questions
When was the DOD Phasor 490 made?
Pedal of the Day narrowed the production date down to around 1978, though the reviewer noted that dating was uncertain. DOD built the pedal decades ago, and it has since become a sought-after vintage effect that players encounter on the used market rather than in stores as a new product.
Does the DOD Phasor 490 lose tone when bypassed?
Pedal of the Day's reviewer found some tone loss when the pedal was bypassed. It was described as not horrible, but the reviewer felt the pedal would probably benefit from a true bypass loop pedal to keep it out of the signal path when not in use, a common consideration with vintage phasers.
Sources (2)
- DOD Phasor 490 Phaser Effects Pedal, Pedal of the Day, 2017-06-12
- RECREATING MY GUITAR RIG FROM 20 YEARS AGO, JHS Pedals, 2020
