Spaceman Effects downsizes its cult classic Deluxe phaser with the powerful Explorer pedal

Spaceman Effects has introduced a compact version of its six-stage Explorer Deluxe phaser pedal, the Explorer.

Available in either a Silver, Red or Black chassis, the rejuvenated Explorer takes inspiration from Spaceman Effects’ first-ever phaser pedal, and aims to cram the original’s deluxe features into a more pedalboard-friendly housing.

Much like the now-discontinued Deluxe, which was named after the first satellite put into orbit by the US in 1958, the Explorer is an optical six-stage analog phaser, and is said to be suitable for everything from unrelenting ebbs to liquid-smooth sounds.

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At the heart of the Explorer is the Shape mode selector knob, which offers up five LFO wave shapes – Sine, Ramp Down, Ramp Up, Triangle and Square – and a Manual mode. While the first five will be familiar territory for any phaser fan, the sixth voice disconnects the LFO and freezes the phase sweep.

In practice, that means in Manual the Rate knob – which can also be controlled by an expression pedal thanks to the Expression/CV jack input – is responsible for serving up off-the-cuff sweeps.

Elsewhere, the Rate knob is joined by Res and Range parameters, which dial in feedback and dictate the low-frequency extension of the phasing, respectively, as well as self-explanatory Volume and Mix controls.

And, according to the pedal’s manual, a whole range of alternate wave shapes can also be accessed when power is applied while the footswitch is depressed. Such extras include a trio of arpeggiated shapes, a four-step pattern, an MW wave and an Inverted Manual mode.

The Explorer is available now for $279, and you can find more about it over at Spaceman Effects.