The Dark Arts Tap Tempo Phaser is a phaser pedal from maker Vein-Tap.com. The maker's product page lists it at £ 149.951. It weighs 0.75 kg and measures 120 × 65 × 40 mm1.
The price shown on the maker's product page is £ 149.95, in pounds sterling rather than US dollars1.
An analog phaser with tap tempo
The Dark Arts is an all-analog effect designed and built in Plymouth, UK, as gearnews.com put it in its launch coverage3. Vein-Tap.com describes it as offering control over "90 degrees of fully analogue phase"1. What makes it unusual for a phaser is the tap tempo: the left side footswitch sets the phase speed in time with your playing, and tapping it overrides the Rate control1. Turning the Rate control resets the tapped tempo1. The right side footswitch handles bypass, using soft-touch, true bypass switching1.
The pedal carries the Vein-Tap.com Lifetime Guarantee1.
The controls
The v2.0 control layout gives you several ways to shape the phase beyond simple speed1:
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Rate | Sets the phase speed; tapping the left footswitch overrides it, and turning the knob resets the tapped tempo1 |
| Tempo Ratio | Multiplies the tapped tempo by half, full, one-and-a-half, double, triple or quadruple time1 |
| Depth | Controls the ratio of affected to dry tone1 |
| Center Shift | Moves the center of the wave shape1 |
| Feedback | Feeds the phase tone back into itself, making the depth of the phase sound more pronounced1 |
| Phase / Vibe switch | Chooses between phase and vibrato tones1 |
The Tempo Ratio control is where the tap tempo becomes powerful: tap a tempo that matches the song, then use the ratio settings to run the phase at half time for a slow sweep or quadruple time for a fast shimmer, all locked to the tempo you tapped1.
Sixteen wave shapes
Beyond the knobs, the Dark Arts offers sixteen unique wave shapes, which Vein-Tap.com says "allow you to create brand new phase sounds the world has literally never heard before"1. gearnews.com noted that the sixteen wave shapes "allow you to create all manner of phase and tremolo effects"3. The right LED flashes in a pattern that reflects whichever custom wave you have dialed in, so you can see the shape as well as hear it1.
gearnews.com's reviewer was positive about the package overall:
"There's plenty to like here. Combined with those sixteen waves, all those features will should get you plenty of useful"3
Version 1 and v2.0
The Dark Arts has gone through two versions. Version 1 had a single Voice control, which let you choose ratios between Vibe and Phase mod tones, or between Phase and Dry signals1. In v2.0, Vein-Tap.com split that one knob into a separate Depth control and a Phase / Vibe switch, which the maker presents as giving more direct control: phase and vibrato tones can now be individually chosen, and the wet/dry ratio gets its own knob1. V2.0 also brought the updated control structure and the improved Feedback control1.
If you find a used version 1 unit, the main practical difference is that blending phase and dry signal, or vibe and phase, is done with one knob rather than a knob plus a switch1.
Phase, Vibe and the Uni-Vibe question
The Phase / Vibe switch moves the pedal between phase shifting and vibrato. In the Vibe position you get vibrato-style tones on their own, but Vein-Tap.com points out that blended phase and vibrato tones are still available: set the switch to Vibe and introduce phase tone back in with the Feedback control1. Players chasing classic Uni-Vibe territory, which is itself a blend of phase and vibrato character, can get there by that route.
LEDs, build and maker
Two LEDs sit on the face of the pedal. The left LED shows the tempo the Dark Arts is set to. The right LED reflects your custom phase wave as it flashes, and doubles as a status light: green when bypassed, yellow when active1.
Vein-Tap.com says each unit is hand made in Devon, UK, and describes the construction as "bombproof"1. The maker's product page also notes a player, stephen.v.williams, who wrote of the pedal: "It's on my pedalboard now as my phaser of choice"1.
Videos
Vein-Tap.com
Vein-Tap.com
Questions
Is the Dark Arts Tap Tempo Phaser true bypass?
Yes. Vein-Tap.com describes it as having soft-touch, true bypass footswitching, and both Guitar World and gearnews.com also report true bypass with soft-touch footswitches. The bypass switching is on the right side footswitch, while the left side footswitch is used for tap tempo.
Can the Dark Arts Phaser do Uni-Vibe sounds?
It has a Phase / Vibe switch, and in the Vibe position it produces vibrato-style tones. Vein-Tap.com notes that if you like blended phase and vibrato tones, you can set the switch to Vibe and then introduce phase tone back in with the Feedback control, so a blend of both effects is possible.
Where is the Vein-Tap Dark Arts made?
Vein-Tap.com says each unit is hand made in Devon, UK, and gearnews.com reported the effect as designed and built in Plymouth, UK. Plymouth is a city in Devon, so the two descriptions agree. The pedal is covered by the Vein-Tap.com Lifetime Guarantee.
What do the two LEDs on the Dark Arts show?
The LED on the left shows the tempo the pedal is set to. The right LED flashes in a pattern that reflects your custom phase wave, and it also shows status: green when the pedal is bypassed and yellow when it is active, so you can tell at a glance whether the effect is engaged.
Sources (3)
- Dark Arts Tap Tempo Phaser / Phase Shifter, Vein-Tap.com, 2026-09-01
- Vein-Tap Introduces Dark Arts Tap Tempo Phaser, Guitar World, 2019-02-01
- UK pedal maker Vein-Tap conjures the Dark Arts Tap Tempo Phaser, gearnews.com, 2019-02-03
