This was in the workshop last week for repair and made quite a stir on FB so I thought I'd do a quick story about it.
Released in 1975 along with a bunch of other really cool stuff like the JC120 amp, the Revo Leslie simulators and the great Bee Gee Fuzz and the big brother to this, the AP7 Jet Phase this was the AP2 Phase.
It´s a 6-stage Fet-based Phaser using LM324 chips. For the non nerds among you, it basically looks like the phase side of the Jet Phaser or a cut down Phase five with just "rate" and "resonance" knobs. This doesn't mean it isn't as nice as it's bigger (and much more expensive) brothers. It just doesn't have all the options. The phase on these is still amazing and among the best out there I think.
These are powered by two nine volt batteries in series giving 18V and have no external power adaptor. This enclosure was used for a few years before the BOSS compact pedal came along for the AS-1 (sustainer) and the AF-60 (Bee Gee).
These few years for Roland were big. Although effects pedals weren't yet as popular as they were to become, Roland pushed the envelope with ideas and eventually in 1977 released the BOSS style pedals we all know so well. The OD-1 overdrive and the PH-1 Phaser were the first two BOSS pedals released with the PH-1 being a "compact" unit of this with only four stages instead of six. It's still a great sounding phaser.
The following year (1976) Roland came out with the now legendary CE-1 Chorus which was in the same enclosure as the Phase five and the Jet Phaser. It has become one of the most sought after early effect for it's lush chorus.