Electro-Harmonix Small Stone Settings Guide
The EHX Small Stone is one of the original phase shifter pedals — a four-stage analog phaser with Rate and Color controls first produced in 1974. The Color switch changes the resonance character of the phase sweep; the Rate knob controls LFO speed. It is the phaser associated with David Gilmour's Animals and Wish You Were Here era tone, and with Slash's clean and lightly driven leads.
Used by: David Gilmour, Slash
The best Electro-Harmonix Small Stone settings start with: Rate at 4/10, Color at 3/10. Adjust from there based on your amp, guitar, and room volume. For Classic Rock: Rate 3/10, Color 3/10.
⚡ Start Here — Recommended Settings
| Control | Starting Position | Range |
|---|---|---|
| Rate | 4/10 | Slow → Fast |
| Color | 3/10 | Off → On |
These are universal starting points. Adjust based on your amp, guitar, and room. Scroll down for genre-specific settings and artist-documented positions.
What Each Control Does
Recommended Starting Settings
Safe starting positions for any style. Adjust from here based on your amp and room.
All values on a 0–10 scale. These are starting points — fine-tune by ear.
Settings by Genre
Color off at slow Rate — the Gilmour Animals-era phaser setting. The Small Stone with Color off and Rate 3 produces the subtle, slowly sweeping phase that Gilmour used on Pigs and Dogs. It adds movement to clean guitar without an obvious 'effect' character.
Color on, very slow Rate — the Small Stone with Color engaged at slow Rate produces the most dramatic, resonant phase sweep the pedal can produce. The Color switch significantly increases the intensity and self-resonance of the phase notches, creating a more dramatic, psychedelic sweep.
Color on, moderate-fast Rate — the Small Stone for funk and R&B phaser. Color engaged at Rate 6 produces the kind of fast, intense phase sweep associated with late 1970s funk guitar. The Small Stone's analog character adds warmth to the effect that digital phase pedals don't fully replicate.
Color off with a very slow Rate produces the subtlest setting the pedal offers — barely-there movement that adds dimension to a clean tone without drawing attention to itself.
A middle-ground Rate with Color partially engaged gives a lead tone gentle animation without competing with note articulation — closer to Slash's use of the pedal on clean and lightly driven passages than Gilmour's slower, more ambient setting.
Artist Settings
Documented settings used by professional guitarists on this unit.
Gilmour used the Small Stone throughout the mid-to-late 1970s — Animals and Wish You Were Here. He typically used Color off and a slow Rate, using the phaser as a subtle, atmospheric movement effect rather than a dramatic modulation. His phaser was usually in front of the amp rather than in the effects loop.
Slash has used the Small Stone on cleaner and lightly driven passages for subtle motion rather than an obvious swirl — a moderate Rate and partially engaged Color keeps the effect textural rather than dominant.
Also in Our Rig Database
Guitarists who feature this gear in their documented rig — explore their full setup.
Tips & Common Mistakes
- The Small Stone's Rate knob has a significantly non-linear response — the useful range for most guitar applications is between 7 o'clock and 1 o'clock. Above 1 o'clock the rate becomes too fast for most musical applications; below 7 o'clock it's barely perceptible. Work within that range and the full sweep is available.
- The Color switch is a bigger tonal decision than the Rate knob — Color off is the vintage, subtler voicing; Color on adds resonant peaks that push the effect toward a more obvious, almost filter-like character.
- Placed before an overdrive or fuzz, the Small Stone's phase sweep gets driven along with the rest of the signal, producing a more chaotic, swirling saturation than placing it after the gain stage.
- As an always-on "color" effect rather than an occasional special-effect pedal, the Small Stone rewards very conservative Rate settings — most classic uses (Gilmour included) treat it as a texture, not a feature.
- True bypass on most reissues means no tone loss when off, but the Small Stone's phasing can leave a brief audible tail when switched off mid-sweep — timing footswitch changes to bar boundaries avoids an awkward cutoff.
- Battery-only power on some vintage and reissue units means checking battery health before a gig — a weak battery causes audibly unstable, warbling phase rather than a clean on/off failure.
FAQ
Electro-Harmonix Small Stone — Common Questions
Best starting settings for Electro-Harmonix Small Stone: Rate at 4/10, Color at 3/10. Adjust from there based on your guitar, room, and playing style.
For Classic Rock: Rate 3/10, Color 3/10. Color off at slow Rate — the Gilmour Animals-era phaser setting. The Small Stone with Color off and Rate 3 produces the subtle, slowly sweeping phase that Gilmour used on Pigs and Dogs. It adds movement to clean guitar without an obvious 'effect' character.
For Psychedelic: Rate 2/10, Color 8/10. Color on, very slow Rate — the Small Stone with Color engaged at slow Rate produces the most dramatic, resonant phase sweep the pedal can produce. The Color switch significantly increases the intensity and self-resonance of the phase notches, creating a more dramatic, psychedelic sweep.
Rate: LFO rate — slow produces deep, musical sweep; fast produces dramatic wobble. (Slow to Fast). Color: Resonance switch — Color On produces a more intense, resonant phase sweep with stronger notches. (Off to On)
The Small Stone's Rate knob has a significantly non-linear response — the useful range for most guitar applications is between 7 o'clock and 1 o'clock. Above 1 o'clock the rate becomes too fast for most musical applications; below 7 o'clock it's barely perceptible. Work within that range and the full sweep is available. The Color switch is a bigger tonal decision than the Rate knob — Color off is the vintage, subtler voicing; Color on adds resonant peaks that push the effect toward a more obvious, almost filter-like character. Placed before an overdrive or fuzz, the Small Stone's phase sweep gets driven along with the rest of the signal, producing a more chaotic, swirling saturation than placing it after the gain stage. As an always-on "color" effect rather than an occasional special-effect pedal, the Small Stone rewards very conservative Rate settings — most classic uses (Gilmour included) treat it as a texture, not a feature. True bypass on most reissues means no tone loss when off, but the Small Stone's phasing can leave a brief audible tail when switched off mid-sweep — timing footswitch changes to bar boundaries avoids an awkward cutoff. Battery-only power on some vintage and reissue units means checking battery health before a gig — a weak battery causes audibly unstable, warbling phase rather than a clean on/off failure.
David Gilmour settings: Rate 3/10, Color 3/10. Gilmour used the Small Stone throughout the mid-to-late 1970s — Animals and Wish You Were Here. He typically used Color off and a slow Rate, using the phaser as a subtle, atmospheric movement effect rather than a dramatic modulation. His phaser was usually in front of the amp rather than in the effects loop.
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