MXR Phase 90 mods, hooray!

[patricks]

I build a Tonepad Phase 90 years ago and I've been meaning to mod it for a while now. Finally got a round to it yesterday, in between waiting for clear coats to dry on a couple of other pedals.
Super happy with how everything's turned out, I did the:
- Flashing LED mod
- Vintage/modern switch
- 90/45 switch
- Depth pot mod.

Details of the mods are here (look for Groove Electronics build report for the best account of details) for the flashing LED, vintage/modern, and depth mod, and here for the 90/45 mod (it also has the vibe/phase mod, but I didn't do that one).
A tip for the flashing LED mod, all the posts I've read say to attach it to pin 7 of IC1 - this pin is connected to lug 3 of the rate pot so that makes a much easier point to solder to. Also don't forget to include the current-limiting resistor, or the LF won't O 

Mark's also posted about an improved version of the depth mod using a 510K or 560K resistor in series with a 500K linear pot.
I only had a 1M linear pot on hand, I tried modding the pot with 510K resistors across lugs 1-2 and 2-3 but because the depth pot only uses lugs 1-2 I think I turned my 1M linear pot into a 500K log, and the response wasn't what I wanted. Instead I've used the 1M linear pot, and added a 220K resistor in series; with just a 680R in series there's too large a  "dead spot" at the start of the pot's rotation. Mark's version should work much better, and I might swap out the 1M linear for Mark's version at some point in the future.
I did also try a "Phase 67.5" version, connecting the 90/45 switch to the output of the third phase stage rather than the second. The "45" version had too much of a "dead zone" in the depth pot with 680R or 150K in series with the 1M pot, so I tried moving the lead from the second stage to the third. That was just a bit too much, and with the 220K in series with the 1M pot I'm much happier with the "45" setting (connected back to the output of the second stage).

I looove the new modified pedal, originally there was a bit too much distortion of the guitar's signal, which got me started looking for the vintage/modern switch mod and started me down the path of chasing the other mods.

Outcomes:
The flashing LED seems to have partially cured that issue with the distortion, and looks great.
The vintage/modern switch does exactly what I wanted it to do, and mellows it out a bit/reduces distortion.
The depth pot gives some great variation to the sound, and helps it get some subtler colours.
The 90/45 mod does a similar thing, more subtle over the whole range of other changes (speed, depth, vintage/modern).
At some settings (45 vintage modes with speed and depth right down) it's too subtle to be useful, but the pedal's so much more versatile now. Two in a box for a dual mono/pseudo stereo effect would be fun for synths or for post-distortion, pre-reverb subtle swoosh-wobbles