By the early 1980's, Electro Harmonix was out of business as the rise of digital, compact effects and rack units became the thing to have. As the price of vintage Electro Harmonix units shot up Mike Matthews decided to start up the Electro Harmonix operation again, making a small range of pedals in an ex-munitions factory outside of St Petersburg, Russia. The Small Stone and Big Muff pedals were put back in to production was reborn, and these Sovtek made units have since gained cult status over the years.
This 1993 Small Stone Phaser is one of the earlier 'Tall Font' models. These models are distinguishable by not only their taller, thinner font than later runs, but also their incredibly flakey paint, as can be seen from the pictures. This Small Stone is unique in that it has had an unusual mod at some point in its life. We can't determine for sure whether this was done in the factory or aftermarket, but it has certainly been done professionally. Four switches have been added to the top of the pedal, each control a frequency band for the Phaser. This means that you can isolate certain frequency ranges for the Phaser to operate in. With all the switched engaged, you get a traditional, colourful Small Stone sound, but you can also achieve High Pass phasing sounds and an almost Low Frequency Oscillator synth-like tone when only phasing the lowest frequency band. An incredibly unique and usable take on a vintage Small Stone pedal!
