# Chorus Pedal Poll



## 2005fz1

Which Chorus Pedal :confused-smiley-010 

1.IBANEZ 










2. Electro Harmonix 










3. Boss 










FZ1


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## Chito

You might want to include this too which is at the same price range as the ones above. I've not tried it but have read some good comments about it.


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## Milkman

I have this one.


Believe it or not it's not as "digital" sounding as I normally prefer, but it has a wide range of chorusing sounds and it's pretty quiet. Also, the delay is very nice.


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## david henman

Chito said:


> You might want to include this too which is at the same price range as the ones above. I've not tried it but have read some good comments about it.


...the cool cat is an astounding chorus, and unbelievably cheap if you can find one second hand. i have one on my pedal board. before i bought i had a unique opportunity to a/b it with the boss ch-1 and with the very expensive tc electronics chorus/flanger. it sounded about 95% as rich and lush as the tc electronics, at about 1/8th the price!

-dh


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## Chito

That's what Ive been hearing about the Cool Cat. 

I've used a CH1 for years but now I want a more richer sounding chorus. I tried the EH Nano Small Clone but with just one knob, it didn't really give me much in terms of being able to dial in the type of sound I like. I could probably get the more expensive Analogman, Voodoo Labs and the TC Electronics, but I figured for the amount of time I use the chorus pedal, spending that much money on the boutique ones is overkill. Just my opinion tho.

BTW, the new version of the CC uses 9volts rather than the original 18volts, I wonder if there would be a difference between the 2.


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## david henman

Chito said:


> That's what Ive been hearing about the Cool Cat.
> I've used a CH1 for years but now I want a more richer sounding chorus. I tried the EH Nano Small Clone but with just one knob, it didn't really give me much in terms of being able to dial in the type of sound I like. I could probably get the more expensive Analogman, Voodoo Labs and the TC Electronics, but I figured for the amount of time I use the chorus pedal, spending that much money on the boutique ones is overkill. Just my opinion tho.
> BTW, the new version of the CC uses 9volts rather than the original 18volts, I wonder if there would be a difference between the 2.



...i doubt it, but check out the reviews. i wish i had the nine-volt version, as it would mean one less power supply.

-dh


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## Ripper

I use an old Small Clone, an old CE-3 and a really old Guyatone PS series chorus. I like'm all for my needs and they haven't failed me yet.


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## Stratin2traynor

I use the EHX Small Clone Chorus. I love it. Very warm sounding. I also have the Deluse Memory Man and Small Stone Phaser. I've tried Boss pedals but I found them to be very tinny sounding.


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## iggs

Analog Man Clone Chorus ... not cheap but very warm, rich and lush sounding, definitelly the best I have heard, on my pedalboard and not going anywhere any time soon.


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## scottomy

:wave: 

How about a Boss CE-1 Chorus ensemble? I'd post a pic but I don't know how!


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## devil6

Milkman said:


> I have this one.
> 
> 
> Believe it or not it's not as "digital" sounding as I normally prefer, but it has a wide range of chorusing sounds and it's pretty quiet. Also, the delay is very nice.


Excellent Pedal...i have it on my Pedal Board and it's quite versatile


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## Milkman

jroberts said:


> I vote to banish chorus pedals altogether. There's nothing you can play with chorus that doesn't sound better without it. Worst sound on earth:
> 
> Ovation acoustic --> chorus pedal --> DI --> Board.


Run Like Hell without chorus would sound like a$$.

Used with discretion chorus is a beautiful enhancement. 


Same goes for phase shifters. Some people just use them too much.


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## david henman

jroberts said:


> I vote to banish chorus pedals altogether. There's nothing you can play with chorus that doesn't sound better without it. Worst sound on earth: Ovation acoustic --> chorus pedal --> DI --> Board.



...i agree, for the most part. i get more use out of mine than most would, playing in a trio. i use it on one cover: runaway train (soul asylum), all the way through and, for that song, it really does seem to enhance rather than detract. 

generally, however, i find a thick chorus often works on a specific phrase, or section of a song. 

less, as always, is best.

-dh


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## bickertfan

I'll vote for the Ibanez since it's the one I use. I play in a band which covers a lot of Fleetwood Mac and I get a lot of mileage out of the pedal, probably more than any other on my board.


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## 2005fz1

Got the Small Clone today and looks like a Vintage IBANEZ CS9 from one of my friends.. time will tell which one i keep.
Thanks for all of the recommendations guys :bow: 
FZ1


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## Dave

My favourite is the new Diamond Halo chorus. 










Best sounding (to my ears) that I've heard.


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## Robert1950

I've just started using chorus pedals. I picked up a couple of used ones a week apart. I got the Boss CE-3 for $70 and the Boss CH-1 for $41. Right now, I've got the CE-3 set very subtle to add some body and colour to the sound through my Gibson GA-5. The CH-1 is set for a nice mild to moderate chorus with the Roland Blues Cube. I like them so far. After all, I am very to chorus so I'll be tweaking for a while.

I discovered Chorus while using my Line 6 GuitarPort. When I added a small amounts, it was like, "Hey, I like this"

I tried to get an Ibanez CS-9 on eBay but got outbid in the last 15 seconds. Thing about pedals, is that you can try a half dozen or more and always resell the ones that don't fit what you are looking for. With little loss if they are purchased used I might add.


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## nine

m9-guitar's rampage of spam (spampage?) continues! I think he's running out of pedals to shill though.


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## ne1roc

I use the Visual Sound H20. It is beautiful. The Voodoo labs Analog Chorus is extremely warm. I will own one soon.

Digitech make a nice new pedal called Chorus factory which models 7 of the most popular chorus's. I am impressed with most Digitech products!

http://www.digitech.com/products/CF7/index.htm


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## mandocaster

Chorus: to be used sparingly.....

There's a couple of fellows in the Cowtown scene who are addicted to it to the point that you can tell who is playing immediately if you don't see them. They never use any other effect. Pleeeease!

I use a Boss, once in a blue moon.


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## Lemmy Hangslong

I use a Visual Sound H2O but my fav chorus ever was an el loco chorus i used to own. I also had an el loco delay which too was my fav... both anolog both very transparent and quiet with great effects... wish I had kept them.

The H2O chorus does add mids to your tone so beware of that.

Khing


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## Wild Bill

*"Just the same, only different!"*

The electronic tremolo circuit and the chorus pedal were attempts to copy for guitar the sound of a Leslie. 

I've done a few over for guitarists. Easiest way is to pull the amp and run the Leslie as an extension speaker for the guitar amp. You can make up a foot pedal to switch it on or off and change speeds. A small motor speed control works great to adjust the slow speed to the slowest point without having motor stalling problems.

It sounds absolutely heavenly! SRV used Leslies for his guitar a lot. Back in the 60's there were a whole slew of guitar Leslies offered but I haven't seen any being made today.

Anyhow, it's like the "British" sound on a "Line Pod" compared to a real JMP feeding a dual stack of 4-12 Vintage Celestions...:rockon2: :bow:


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## Lester B. Flat

In the first band I was in, our organist used a homemade Leslie some guy in town had built. The speaker baffle was run by a sewing machine motor with a peddle that would get really hot if you kept it pressed down too long. It also made a crackling noise through the amp. The upper horn was a fixed front facing horn from Radio Shack and didn't rotate. What a rig, but it worked!

The only chorus I used was analog, a Washburn Stereo Chorus. Only used it on a few tunes and hardly ever on solos. I've still got it but haven't used it in years.


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## Tarbender

I'm another user of the CoolCat Chorus. It does everything I want and the price was right - $35.00 brand new off eBay. I only really use it for 1 song and I use it with my acoustic for Hotel California - just adds that little something to the mix. Some times if I'm just fooling around I might step on it to see what positive influences it'll bring to other songs but I really haven't found that many - electric version of House of the Rising Sun and a couple of other Electric Prune songs


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## Solid_Gold_Soundlabs

I use a moddedCE-2, EH small clone, EH deluxe memory man and a korg pme40x analog chorus.


Each have their own advantages, but the most versatile is by far the modded ce-2

Greg


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## Big White Tele

The H2O is a great Delay, Chorus. Ive also got a Boss Digital Dimension pedal, which is very nice also. Use it sparingly, Nothing worse to me than to much Chorus!


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## valen

Well it ain't cheap but the Retro-Sonic Chorus has a great reputation. It is a recreation of the Chorus that started it all, the Boss CE-1. And, it's Canadian !


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## violation

I use the Boss CE-5... it's also the only one I've played, lol.


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## Mooh

Boss CH-1 Super Chorus in moderation. The pedal is always in the signal chain, but only used without distortion to fatten up the clean sound slightly, and only then some of the time. 

Peace, Mooh.


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## valen

Yeah I noticed the guy is shilling for T. Miranda (who ever that is) pedals. Low class if you ask me.


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## Chito

valen said:


> Yeah I noticed the guy is shilling for T. Miranda (who ever that is) pedals. Low class if you ask me.


I've seen him spamming other forums with the same pedals.


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## allthumbs56

Not a big chorus user (I love using it at home but not as much in a band setting). Aside from the JC amp I had, probably the nicest chorus I've owned was an Ibanez CS-9, as much for it's vibe as anything else. Currently, I have an old CE-2 and an H2O, both of which cycle on and off my board. The H2O is great because of the amount it can be tweaked (and the delay is ood too) but I tend to like things simple and that's where having only 2 knobs on the CE-2 is great because there just isn't a bad tone in it.


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## valen

Anybody use the Boss CE-20 (the big one ?) I am in the market for a Chorus and these can be had for around $100 on Flea Bay.


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## Cowinacape

I'd pass along a vote for the Small Clone as well, simple and elegant, to my ears about the best sounding unit out there, considering the price range it resides in.


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## jcayer

I use the Dod Ice box stereo Fx64. Got it cheap on Ebay. It does a nice job...
I like the chorus when playing in the clean side.


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## Guest

I've been an Ibanez CS-9 user for a long, long time. Great unit. It was a budget buy in the early 90's from Songbird and it hasn't let me down. But I'm a 80's music nut and it's definitely got a dated chorus sound to it. You can hear it use on the solo in this song and on all the clean guitar on this live track.

I've got a strong desire to acquire a Retro-Sonic Chorus (made in my home town of Stittsville) and a TC Electronic SCF for a little choice in my chorus arsenal.


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## gtrchris

I have a Retro-sonic chorus and its really nice, though it's rather thick, so if i want a more transparent chorus I use an Ibanez Bi-chorus. The Ibanez can be aquired for $40-60 and is WELL worth it.(It does a great Leslie swirl through the reverse input)Drool


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## Rong

The TC Elecronics is my fave after owning Ibanez and Boss. Does suck some top end out of my sound. That is why IMHO it works great with SC pick ups.

It is just a great subtle chorus. The flanger and PM are also pretty good and actually make the pedal a good deal.


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## Evilmusician

I have a Carl Martin XII chorus and i love it nice dual chrous that u can change on the fly ,also a have a boss CE5 decent for the price cheers!


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## 4STYX

I can't believe nobody's mentioned the BYOC Analog Chorus yet!
The sound of a Small Clone with the versatility of a depth knob. :rockon:


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## Eric Pykala

My old CE2 is a staple on my board, as I agree there isn't a bad sound in it. I got really "chorused-out" in the 80's when everytime you turned on the radio there was someone with a Strat in middle-plus-bridge with comp and chorus. Talk about beating a long-dead horse. Of the new offerings, the Diamond Halo is just superb, as is everything else Diamond makes. I'd buy one in a second, except I'm one of those "less is more" guys that might only use it once or twice a night, and the CE2 is good enough for that. 
Side note: One of my old guitarists, Brian Miller (awesome!) once said "If you can't cut it with an overdrive, a little chorus and a delay into a decent tube amp, shut up and learn how to play". Less IS more.-Eric


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## Schluppy

I'm torn.

Today I picked up both a Small Clone and a CH-1 to try out.

I really like the subtlety of the CH-1 when it's dialed back. The SC, on the other hand, appears incapable of subtlety; it's a one trick pony.

I really like the overall sweetness and warmth of the SC but I also really like the overall cleaner palate and cooler tone of the CH-1.

If versatility was the only deciding factor, the CH-1 would win hands down.

If build quality was the only deciding factor, the CH-1 would probably win again.

If the quality and tone of the effect itself was the only deciding factor, the SC would take the crown.

It's a tough call. One has to go back. 

My gut (and my SO) says "SC!", my head says "CH-1!", my ears say "both!", my wallet says "NO YUO!". 

I'll definitely need to experiment more with their placement in the chain but overall I believe that it would be hard to go wrong with either of them.


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## Schluppy

I guess I'll have to toss my vote in for the SC as that's the one I kept. It pained me to return the CH-1 but it had to be done.

On the up side I also kept the Boss ML-2 (Metal Core) I was evaluating... for the odd and infrequent times I need some positively ridiculous distortion.


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## GuitaristZ

Milkman said:


> I have this one.
> 
> 
> Believe it or not it's not as "digital" sounding as I normally prefer, but it has a wide range of chorusing sounds and it's pretty quiet. Also, the delay is very nice.


+ 1...visualsound is amazing


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## Gtrminator

I have an Ibanez dcs10 in my rig, and I love it. It's very warm sounding. It's got a colour knob which controls your wet/dry mix, so you can dial in how much chorus comes through. Very versatile. Almost an analog sound; even though it's digital. I had a boss ce-3 before that, and IMO it was a tone sucking monster by comparison. I've never tried an EHX chorus, so I can't comment on that one, but I bet they're great too. The Ibanez chorus I have actually warms up your tone; so out of experience, my vote would go to the Ibanez 9 series chorus.


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## Lemmy Hangslong

I'm all about the Visual Sound H2O.

Khing


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## ne1roc

KHINGPYNN said:


> I'm all about the Visual Sound H2O.
> 
> Khing


Got it! Love it!.........Although I am really impressed with Voodoo Labs Anolog Chorus. It is sooooo warm!


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## Jeff Flowerday

Well after all the suggestions I went the crazy route.

I ordered the Analogman Mini Chorus with the added mix control.

I like the small foot print, and haven't found a bad review.


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## Emohawk

Since my roommate is going through a big chorus (and delay) GAS thing at the moment, I thought I'd chime in.

I have a banged-up Boss CH-1 Super Chorus that I still think is a fine pedal. Haven't found one yet that would make me want to abandon it. It's gotten a bit noisy lately so I'll have to pull it apart & see what's up there.

We had a loaner H2O rig (Liquid Chorus & Echo) for a couple of days - the one pictured in a previous post. The chorus sounded nice, but lacked subtlty. It has a slightly "glassy" feel that can't be dialled out. Just not my cup of tea I guess. We did try it in the parallel loop on one of my amps (has send & return mix levels), but it wasn't happy there. The pedal was also insanely noisy when running between the guitar & amp, but fine in the series loop. As a side note, the delay was nice but not as warm as my Echo Park.

I've tried the Danelectro chorus and it is pretty nice. Didn't spend a lot of time with it though.

I've just ordered the BYOC Small Clone Clone kit from Scott at axeandyoushallreceive (along with several other pedal kits) so we'll see how that turns out. I've always liked the original Small Clone - simple elegance as someone previously stated.


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## FetusFajitas

none of the above. im currently using a Boss CE-2. the CH-1 is nice for stereo purposes though.

lately ive been using a Rocktron Deep Blue and ive been very surprised by it. its cheaper in price, but sounds more high end. very surprised.:rockon2:


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## adamthemute

FetusFajitas...haha.


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## Mr. David Severson

GuitaristZ said:


> + 1...visualsound is amazing


I have the visualsound H2O and it sounds great!! I got it new for 150cdn..


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## Milkman

Paul said:


> You can go here to get the Leslie:
> 
> http://www.hammondsuzuki.com/
> 
> And there are several companies that make pre-amp pedals so you can connect your weapon of choice. Speakeasy Vintage Music is one, Trek is another,a nd I think there are a few others.
> 
> I've got a 147 with the Leslie combo pre-amp pedal. I've not been a fan of the high speed spin, but I've yet to hear a better chorus/chorale effect than the slow speed setting.
> 
> There is no substitute for moving air.



Absolutely! There is NO chorus that approaches an actual Leslie for quality of sound and the spacial effect.

We drag one around (147 model), but it's used for the organ. I've pumped my guitar signal through it a couple of times and it was entoxicating.

Of course, you're dealing with a seperate preamp and amplifier as well as the physical nature of the counter rotating horns and baffle.

There's just nothing like it.

Slow rotor is breathtaking.


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## Guest

Speaking of Chorii -- has anyone tried the DigiTech CF-7 Chorus Factory? I'm tempted. All those models in one little compact pedal. Could be tasty.


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## LowWatt

4STYX said:


> I can't believe nobody's mentioned the BYOC Analog Chorus yet!
> The sound of a Small Clone with the versatility of a depth knob. :rockon:



+1 on that. I have it, and out of the 20+ choruses I have tried in my life (used to work in a guitar store), it is my favourite. 

Having said that, I only use chorus (and most modulation effects) for F'ing around at home. I'm just not a chorus guy. I find it amusing and interesting, but on the rare times that I want to go swirly live, I'll always pick a phaser (BYOC Phase 90 copy).


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## stratovani

I've got one of those Danelectro Fab Chorus pedals on my pedalboard. Does the chorus thing for peanuts ($15US). I'm really happy with it. Remember, you can't do Rush or The Police without a chorus pedal!:wink:


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## Emohawk

I just built a BYOC chorus tonight and I have to say it is one sweet sounding unit. For a two-knob toy it's really versatile. I also added the "vibrato" mod (switchable). It's cool in its own way. If one has the patience to build the thing it's well worth the coin. Heck...it was less than I paid for my old Boss Super Chorus used some years back...


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## DavidP

*Hey Emohawk...*

can you elaborate on the 'vibrato mod' for the byoc chorus--I can't find it on the byoc site. This may be the incentive I need to build one!


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## Robert1950

Paul said:


> I've got a 147 with the Leslie combo pre-amp pedal. I've not been a fan of the high speed spin, but I've yet to hear a better chorus/chorale effect than the slow speed setting.
> 
> There is no substitute for moving air.



I can't exactly pack it in a suitcase though. :wink:


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## Emohawk

DavidP said:


> can you elaborate on the 'vibrato mod' for the byoc chorus--I can't find it on the byoc site. This may be the incentive I need to build one!


I got the mod from the BYOC forum. It's part of the "Fully Loaded Chorus" schematic from here...

http://www.bmfeffects.com/BYOC.htm

It just lifts the 22k resistor with a SPST switch (i.e., you don't wire the 22k to the board...you wire it to the switch as indicated instead). I can't really explain the effect easily except to say that it pulls the "lush" part of the chorus effect out, and leaves a kind of warbly vibrato effect. It's a real simple mod and is kinda cool.

Note that I think there might be an error in the description - see page 22 of the PDF, description of Step 11. This section says it's for the "speed mod", but it's actually the Vibrato mod.


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## DavidP

*BYOC vibrato mod...*

thanks for the link--did you get the case with the switch hole already drilled or did you have to do this yourself? A pic of switch placement would really be helpful!


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## Emohawk

I drilled the extra hole myself. I put the switch in the top (face) right corner...or was it left...doesn't really matter.

The only problem with mounting the switch there is there's not much wiggle room in the case. I used a sub-mini SPST toggle switch from Radio S...err...The Source and it's big enough that the board doesn't clear it with the stock stand-offs. I may try a mini-toggle instead for a bit more space.

If you don't mind mounting the switch on the sides of the case rather than the face there's more room to work with.

I'll try to post some pics when I get home this evening. I was gonna wait until I painted them but no big.


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## DavidP

*Thanks Emohawk!*

Good thing to get the heads-up on board clearance issues!! Looking forward to any pics!


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## Emohawk

See new thread with pics...


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## bluesbird

CE-2 is one of the best analog chorus out there ever. I'm sure I would appreciate the CE-1 Chorus Ensemble more, but I haven't yet had the pleasure of trying it out !!


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## a Pack of Wolves

i use a boss ce-2

old now,but always works perfect and i dig the 'unharshness' of it

at less than $100 i was pleased


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## rockgarden

2005fz1 said:


> Which Chorus Pedal


Originally a Boss CE-2 (which I still own), but now I just use the digital chorus in the Roland GP-8, or the chorus on my Tube-Works 6130 amp. I'll probably start digging out the pedals for playing with the combo amp at some point. I'm not all that picky about *which* chorus, but I do like the CE-2's range.


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## Mooh

The Boss CH-1 has served me well for a long time because I generally don't want lots of chorus and it hasn't overly coloured my tone. That said, there are times when a second chorus setting on the fly would help. To that end I'm acquiring another chorus pedal (Danelectro Cool Cat) to use when I feel the need for a different chorus setting or sound. At the very least, it will give me choices, or I'll put it in the acoustic rig. 

Peace, Mooh.


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## blackspy

After messing with about every chorus pedal on the market I finally settled on the TC Electronic chorus. I don't know why it sounded better (to me) than all the rest but it did.


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## Stratin2traynor

4STYX said:


> I can't believe nobody's mentioned the BYOC Analog Chorus yet!
> The sound of a Small Clone with the versatility of a depth knob. :rockon:


I want to try one of those BYOC choruses. Is it really like a small clone??


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## plumber666

CE-1 deffinitely. I owned one for 20 years, and sold it a year ago because I hardly ever used it. DOH! What a mistake....


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## Geek

Chito said:


> You might want to include this too which is at the same price range as the ones above. I've not tried it but have read some good comments about it.


As a proud owner (through a great GC member) of one of the 18V original ones, I can certainly attest to this being a spectacular chorus :rockon2:


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## Mooh

I did get that Cool Cat I mentioned earlier and prefer it to the Boss CH-1, though I continue to use both in seperate signal chains. There's something more organic about the Danelectro, if that makes any sense. The controls are simpler too, more like an older Boss.

Peace, Mooh.


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## mhammer

I've got a bunch of chorus pedals. Some are shown here, but there are more than that.








The CE-2 (#1) is made from the Tonepad layout, and is quite nice. The Clone Chorus (#12) is also made from a Tonepad layout, and is a modded copy of the EHX Small Clone. The Zombie Chorus (#4) is a modded version of John Hollis' minimalist design. The Washburn Chorus (#7) has a few changes too. The MXR Stereo Flanger (#11) and the Boss BF-1 (#8) are not chorus pedals, strictly speaking, but can do chorus-type sounds. Missing from the picture is the Line 6 Space Chorus, the Line 6 Roto-Machine, my mini-Leslie and maybe one or two others and some rack stuff. I lose track.

There are a few "default" mods I generally do. First, I usually install a toggle to cut the dry signal (design permitting, not ALL commercial products accommodate this) and get vibrato. Second, I usually install a "mix" pot to adjust the level of the wet signal mixed in with dry. This lets you achieve a nice subtlety to the chorus tone. Many commercial chorus pedals could benefit from this, and I often think its absence accounts for why some players are averse to using a chorus. Too often it just sound either too in-your-face or too thick and muddy. Dialing it back a bit makes it more usable sometimes. 

Another mod I like to do is a bass-cut mod for the wet side. Thicker chorus sounds come from shifting the overall delay range towards the longer end (e.g., 10-20msec as opposed to 4-14msec). Unfortunately, when you do that, the amount of pitch wobble introduced can be objectionable, *very* objectionable if you're applying chorus to bass guitar (whose fundamental needs to be rock solid all the time). By chopping the bass content of the wet signal, the fundamental gest moved to the background, while the chorussing remains as strong as you want for the harmonics and higher notes. Adds a nice subtlety, and most bass players report back to me that it makes their chorus far more usable for them.

Finally, It is a piece of cake to mod the delay range in virtually ANY analog chorus. Chances are very high that the pedal will use a Matsushita MN3007/3101 or MN3207/3102 chipset, or perhaps a workalike. The MN3101/3102 clock generator (or CD4047 clock generator) will have a small value capacitor (usually, though not always, less than 470pf) snuggled up right against it. If you reduce the value of that cap, the delay range shifts downwards (shorter delays), and if you increase it the delay range shifts upwards. In many instances, I find the fundamental difference between many chorus designs is simply which delay range they aimed for. A couple of msec in one direction or the other makes a big difference in tone. So, I often stick in a toggle to shift ranges. Some chorus pedals have a continuous control for initial delay range, but I find it simply more expedient and repeatable to use a toggle, usually a 3-position. The Zombie, Clone and Washburn have range-shift toggles in them. The Zombie, in particular has one range that does slow Leslie sounds very nicely.

Speaking of Leslies, Wild Bill is quite correct when he speaks so glowingly of lleslies. Tim Larwill, who makes the Retro-sonic CE-1 clone, came over to my place once, and when I inquired, I found that he had never played through one. I told him that he owed it to himself (as does every guitar player) to play through a Leslie at least once before you die. He plugged in and was knocked out. There is a certain chimeyness and spatial swirl that you just can't beat. Perhaps the most pleasing aspect of it is that it comes at the very end of your signal chain, so that it is mapped onto all the harmonic content you've accumulated between pickup and speaker, almost like a post-production effect. 

I did a gig many years ago where I had my Leslie on slow speed to one side of me, and another amp with a slow tremolo on the other side. I don't think I could have been more distracted if I was drugged and receiving a hand job at the same time. Couldn't remember ANY of the words to the songs. There are other pedals out as well, but the Line 6 Roto Machine does a very nice job modelling Leslies IMHO. Ceratinly nails mine nicely in A/B testing. Not just the ramp-up, ramp down, but the grind and the spatial swirl. Note that if you want to be impressed with this pedal, you MUST use it in stereo. Mono usage is like trying to eat a picture of a steak; a long way from the complete experience.

I know a lot of folks rave about the original CE-1, and the Retro-sonic clone, but neither really do it for me. The Retro-sonic captures all the finer parts of the original (I've repaired one of those for a friend and put it through its paces), and sets aside the flaws. Tim and I have discussed all the various changes/improvements he's made to it along the way, and I have to tip my hat to him, given what I know about what's inside it. Still, I think the original was an attempt to aim for a fake Leslie for keyboards, and the design just isn't that spectacular for guitar. At least not how I think of guitar. YMMV.

The Boss Dimension C has to be one THE greatest chorus pedals of all time. It achieves this status because it uses two counterswept delay chips. One of them is always flat and the other one is always sharp. The result is a nice thick chorus that has no (or at least MUCH less) perceptible pitch wobble. Just a pleasingly thick spacious sound. Behringer was supposed to come out with their inexpensive clone of it over the summer. Never managed to find one to try out. The Line 6 Space Chorus includes a digital model of the Dimension C (they call it tri-chorus) that sounds really nice in either mono or stereo. The Dim C was not the only analog chorus to use multiple delay chips. Indeed, a number of early Roland and other keyboard synths would use multiple BBDs to achieve acceptable string-section sounds.

In sum, I find there are a few real standouts for doing certain things, but a great many commercial choruses are pretty much the same thing with a few minor internal changes here and there. Just about any of them can be turned into just about any other. Of the ones I have, though, I find the CE-2 is a nice "meat and potatoes" chorus, with little audible noise. Being able to dial back the wet signal, and being able to make it do vibrato, complete it.

Incidentally, the Washburn is NOT "stereo". Not by any stretch of the imagination. Basically, what it has is a second "through" jack wired to the input jack, so you can run a cable elsewhere with an unaffected signal.


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## Mooh

mhammer wins, LOL!

Peace, Mooh.


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## mhammer

No. If I had spent all that money on a decent guitar that stayed in tune, or a better car, I would have "won". But thanks for the award anyways.


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## allthumbs56

I've had a CS-9, a CE-2, and an H20 (which I still use). Chorus to me is one of those effects that works well when you're playing alone but (to me anyway) never seems to sit as well in a band mix - the guitars always seem to sound out of tune.

Having said that, nothing ever sounded better at chorus than my JC-55.


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## mhammer

allthumbs56 said:


> I've had a CS-9, a CE-2, and an H20 (which I still use). Chorus to me is one of those effects that works well when you're playing alone but (to me anyway) never seems to sit as well in a band mix - *the guitars always seem to sound out of tune*.
> 
> Having said that, nothing ever sounded better at chorus than my JC-55.


The part I highlighted is the very reason why a) I do the bass-cut mod to my choruses (when feasible) and b) the Dimension C is such a fabulous chorus.

Choruses function by having a copy of the signal falling behind and catching up. When it does that, the pitch changes. The time lag adds some "thickening" to the sound, but the more time lag you add, the more pitch deviation you tend to get, unless you design to avoid it. The Dim-C, by being always sharp *and* flat at the same time, avoids the pitch *seeming* to change. The result is a chorus that doesn't feel like it's getting in the way. Folks tended to steer clear of them when they came out, perhaps because they only had 4 pushbuttons rather than a couple of knobs. The irony is that the Dim-C doesn't have knobs because it never really needed them to provide compensation for the perceptible pitch-wobble inherent in "regular" chorus pedals.

I have one of those old blue rackmount MXR Digital Delay units. Although there are a number of ways that more contemporary digital delays can kick its ass around the block, one of the more interesting aspects is that it can produce some very interesting chorus effects at much longer delays than one is accustomed to. Think Pat Metheny and what some folks like to call "automatic double tracking". 

Ironically, this is because it can't sweep very wide; generally only a maximum 4:1 sweep in delay time when modulating. Makes for crappy flanging, but it also means that it's a breeze to set it to provide gentle modulation from, say 40-43msec. That's long enough for a truly discernible delay, but with very little pitch wobble. The result is an extremely spacious-sounding chorus.

Speaking of spacious-sounding, the neat thing about the JC series of amps was that the amps have built-in stereo. Many choruses have true stereo capability (one output of undelayed guitar, one output of delayed guitar), but guitarists generally don't use it because it requires lugging two amps around. The JC amps solve that by using two power amps connected to dedicated speakers in the same cabinet. The distortion has a reputation as sounding like crap, but then one can always use a pedal for that. The stereo separation of dry and wet signals, on the other hand, lends a spaciousness that is simply hard to achieve in mono, no matter what kind of pedal you use. That spaciousness, as I indicated (and as did Wild Bill) in a prior post, is a big part of what makes rotating/Leslie speakers so special. They just sound ....."big". (The SMF amps, I think, use a similar strategy for their reverb, and reviews have been gushingly positive about how good the reverb sounds)

We could debate until the cows come home about whether the CE-1 into two amps, or the JC amps, "sound like a Leslie", but the fact of the matter is that once you've started using a chorus in stereo, you've gone a long way towards achieving a major aspect of why Leslies are so damn satisfying and inspiring to play with. The swirl makes even the simplest little Steve Cropper style figures sound majestic and.....enough.

If you haven't tried one out yet, check out either the Boss RT-20 ( http://www.roland.com/products/en/RT-20/index.html ) or the Line 6 Roto-Machine ( http://line6.com/tonecore/rotomachine.html ). Just make sure that, even if sales staff give you "the malocchio" (evil eye), you *insist* on plugging it into two amps at once. My guess is they probably have never done so themselves, and will be impressed by qualities of the pedals they never realized were there.

Stereo movement is where it's at, baby!


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## Mr Yerp

CE 2 all the way for me. These days I've been running it into a stereo DOD Ice Box, with the Ice box running slow, and the CE 2 rate faster. Cool effect in stereo.
Gotta agree w/ Thumbs about the JC 55 tho', nice effect from the smaller (as opposed to the 120) speakers.


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## Chito

Mhammer, have you had a chance to try out the Digital Dimension DC-3? What is the difference between the two outside of one being analog and the other being digital? Thanks.


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## Vincent

Next Chorus pedal I would like to get is the MXR stereo chorus 

Click on sound clip off then on in grey area to hear it.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/MXR-M134-Stereo-Chorus-Pedal?sku=151119


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## mhammer

Chito said:


> Mhammer, have you had a chance to try out the Digital Dimension DC-3? What is the difference between the two outside of one being analog and the other being digital? Thanks.


Nope, haven't had a chance to try it.

Thing about the DC-2 is that it's an *extremely* tightly packed pedal. In order to do what it has to do, there is a lotta stuff required, so I imagine that Boss opted for digital technology because it simply cost them less. Besides, for a little while there, the delay chips required for it were unavailable in the quantities Boss would need. If they were going to have to redesign around chip availability, may as well move to digital since many of their pedals are migrating that way already.

If Line 6 can do a digital emulation of the DC-2, I would expect that Boss could pul it off too. Just never heard it in person, though, myself.

Note that while I mentioned the rotary controls were not needed, that doesn't mean they can't be useful. The rackmount version of the Dim-C had continuous controls for speed and once you have that you need a control for depth. It was a hit, too.


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## hollowbody

mhammer said:


> The Boss Dimension C has to be one THE greatest chorus pedals of all time.
> 
> I find the CE-2 is a nice "meat and potatoes" chorus, with little audible noise. Being able to dial back the wet signal, and being able to make it do vibrato, complete it.


I've been looking into finding a DC-2 for a while now, but haven't come across one. I saw a DC-3 for sale for roughly 150 or so, which seemed like a good deal, but I've never actually tried that one, so I'm not sure if it's as good as the DC-2. 

In the meantime, I'm relatively happy with my CE-2, though I'm interested in this bass-cutting business you're talking about. What exactly is needed for this mod for the CE-2? Sounds like maybe just a cap switch here and there, or I am totally off-target?


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## mhammer

No, you're bang-on target.

In particular, that would be C14 in the CE-2 : http://www.mif.pg.gda.pl/homepages/tom/files/ce2.gif

Reducing it by half raises the bass rolloff pint by an octave. You will likely have to reduce it from the current value of .033uf to .001uf before you start hearing a difference. I realize that moving the lower boundary up by 5 octaves seems a bit much, but it starts out reeeeeeally low.


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## bluesbird

I own 2 CE-2 MIJ, Green Label & Black Label. I know that the black label is more rare, so I want to keep the black. Is there a way to find out the year of production by analyzing the serial #. 


Great analog pedals, I use both of them at different settings.


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## 4STYX

Dave said:


> My favourite is the new Diamond Halo chorus.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Best sounding (to my ears) that I've heard.


Hey Dave.Can the Halo do a good Uni-vibe sound?Thanx.


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## cbrown0019

I'm using the BBE Mind Bender right now. Its a chorus/vibrato pedal. The vibrato isn't the greatest. But I really like the chorus on it. Its modeled after the Way Huge Electronics Blue Hippo. I can get a huge variety of sounds out of it. You can get CE-2 sounds out of it but with more speed and depth potential out of it.


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## Stratin2traynor

I'm test driving a Fulltone ChoralFlange right now. Sounds pretty good. Anyone try one? If so, what were your impressions.


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## Spikezone

I'm another CE-2 user. Love it, then stupidly talked myself into buying a Marshall SuperVibe, which I have never been all that happy with. It's built like a tank, but has a few too many parameters, like wave shape, and such, and I can't really get a lot of sounds out of it that I am happy with. Good thing I kept the CE-2, but I am also thinking about trying out a Cool Cat as well. I'm curious, do the Cool Cat versions with 9V or 18V sound or perform any differently? 
-Mikey


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## bluesbird

Spikezone said:


> I'm another CE-2 user. Love it, then stupidly talked myself into buying a Marshall SuperVibe, which I have never been all that happy with. It's built like a tank, but has a few too many parameters, like wave shape, and such, and I can't really get a lot of sounds out of it that I am happy with. Good thing I kept the CE-2, but I am also thinking about trying out a Cool Cat as well. I'm curious, do the Cool Cat versions with 9V or 18V sound or perform any differently?
> -Mikey



Do u prefer a stock MIJ CE-2 over a modded CE-2 ? I'm kinda undecided whether to mod the pedal or not, since i love the pedal the way it is. Would you personally mod the pedal, or would you leave it as is ? A psa conversion is a must; however, would the rate speed mod change the overall tone of the pedal ?


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## CocoTone

scottomy said:


> :wave:
> 
> How about a Boss CE-1 Chorus ensemble? I'd post a pic but I don't know how!


The only chorus. I use the vibe side mostly.



CT.


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## Scottone

CocoTone said:


> The only chorus. I use the vibe side mostly.
> 
> 
> 
> CT.


Amazing chorus. A few years ago, I found one at a "Cash Converter" for $75.00 in mint condition with the original box. I loved the sound, but it was too nice to use :smile: Sold it to a collector in the states at a substantial mark-up.


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## Spikezone

neno said:


> Do u prefer a stock MIJ CE-2 over a modded CE-2 ? I'm kinda undecided whether to mod the pedal or not, since i love the pedal the way it is. Would you personally mod the pedal, or would you leave it as is ? A psa conversion is a must; however, would the rate speed mod change the overall tone of the pedal ?


Mine is just stock...I don't really see the sense in modding it, and wouldn't know how to if I did.
-Mikey


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## Guiary

valen said:


> Anybody use the Boss CE-20 (the big one ?) I am in the market for a Chorus and these can be had for around $100 on Flea Bay.


I'd like to hear some opinions on this one too. I have a BYOC Chorus and I love it but I'm needing/wanting something with stereo ins and outs and the CE-20 seems to be the best priced one.


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## Guiary

Geek said:


> As a proud owner (through a great GC member) of one of the 18V original ones, I can certainly attest to this being a spectacular chorus :rockon2:


Glad to hear you're still digging it!


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## Robert1950

Scottone said:


> Amazing chorus. A few years ago, I found one at a "Cash Converter" for $75.00 in mint condition with the original box. I loved the sound, but it was too nice to use :smile: Sold it to a collector in the states at a substantial mark-up.


Unfortunately - there's an old time musician working at the local cash converter where I am. Anything like that wouldn't see the light of day. I bought an Ibanez 80s Flanger from him on eBay and only found out I knew him afterwards.


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## Budda

modded JoBo boss Chorus:

http://www.bodenhamer-electronics.

i want one of those bad boys.. but no money.


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## leeds

Of the chorus pedals you have listed I would pick the Ibanez.
However you might like a CE-2 or ARION. The CE-2 is very lush and the ARION is very hi-fi.
ymmv,
mark


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## guitarman2

Chito said:


> You might want to include this too which is at the same price range as the ones above. I've not tried it but have read some good comments about it.



I had this one. I got rid of this one. Now I kick myself.


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## devnulljp

I see it very quickly veered off from advice on the three models you listed to a 'my favourite chorus' thread.

So, my favourites are the Boss DC-2 providing you run it in stereo and the TC Electronics SCM.
There's a guy on TGP making a clone of the DC-2 too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZvP_inKbas


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## Lemmy Hangslong

thought I'd update... after a few years with the Visual Sound H2O I've switched over to the BBE Mind Bender Chorus... sonically it is far better thn the H20... it's very warm and very fidelic at the same time. It has a big wide tone with much better clarity.

I'm sold on the BBE stuff... I use the Green Screamer and Sonic maximizer 482I now as well. I have a Soul O Vibe and Two Timer on the way. 

Cheers
Craig


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