What it does
The AP-7 puts a fuzz stage in front of a phase shifter, so a player can push the phaser with distortion in a single pedal. That fuzz-plus-phasing combination is what the pedal became known for, and it is the feature later builders have recreated: the Fuzzrocious Electric Ocean, a fuzz and phaser pedal designed with Dunwich Amplification, was inspired by the AP-71.
The pedal is a large, feature-rich unit. Paolo De Gregorio of Delicious Audio, writing about a pedal inspired by it, described the AP-7 as an "expensive, heavy, vintage pedal" with more features than he used, quoting owner Ryan: "I (Ryan) have owned the Roland AP-7 Jet Phaser a few times" and "struggled with having such an expensive, heavy, vintage pedal where I didn't use half of the features"1.
History and where to find one today
The AP-7 is a discontinued vintage pedal. Several modern builders have made recreations of it, listed below.
Modern pedals based on the AP-7 include:
Videos
TheJRGuitars
voodoowrench
I Berner
Questions
When did Roland release the Jet Phaser AP-7?
Roland released the Jet Phaser AP-7 in 1975, following its 1974 AP-5 Phaser. The pedal was discontinued in 1978, the year after the launch of the Boss compact pedal series, which ended the Roland-branded effects line-up.
Are there modern recreations of the Roland AP-7?
Yes. Warm Audio launched a Jet Phaser recreation in 2020 priced at USD 199, PastFx released a Jet Phaser reproduction documented in a 2021 manual with a new Flip Switch Mod, and Loud Button Electronics announced the Morphine Dream in 2012, an eight-stage phaser with fuzz based on the AP-7.
Sources (1)
- Fuzzrocious Electric Ocean Fuzz+Phaser, Delicious Audio, 2021-11-10
