Chorus... A thing of the past

PolarityMan

My main clean tone has chorus

meltedbuzzbox

PolarityMan said:

My main clean tone has chorus

Then it's not a clean tone innit

builttospill

I still love chorus, good to see bands like Wolf Alice etc using it in a tasteful way, was testing my analogue CE-5 through my Princeton with an EP Booster instant Jeff Buckley. 

Grangousier

When I was young I always wanted the chorus on, but as I've come back to playing electric properly over the last couple of years, I've realised that what I wanted it to do was make the chimey sound that good strat or tele pickups do anyway, but using the indifferent (or, at least, high-gain-friendly) humbuckers and single coils in the somewhat cheaper guitars I was playing at the time. 

My experience with the chorus on the JC40 I play into a lot of the time is that when I turn it on, it's kind of amazing (and better, strangely, the less of it there is),  but when I turn it off again I feel strangely relieved. 

I do use it sometimes on songs that would, in an ideal world, benefit from a 12-string.

In conclusion, chorus is a land of contrasts. 

57Deluxe

I prefer a vibe or flange for modulation, but in reality they same bedfellows.

However, Chorus ALWAYS instantly impresses ppl who don't play guitar when you rattle through an arpegiation though...

PolarityMan

meltedbuzzbox said:

PolarityMan said:

My main clean tone has chorus

Then it's not a clean tone innit

Its not distorted....kinda like how the fillet of fish is vegetarian.

TTBZ

In hindsight my initial reply was a bit dismissive.. having thought about it a bit more I actually don't mind a bit of chorus if it's done in a fairly subtle way just to add a bit of texture, ie not like Alex Lifeson with it slathered on everything and sounding awful.

I had a neo clone for a bit and didn't mind that. If I was buying one again it'd probably be the Boss Dimension C as it seems to be the chorus pedal for people who don't like chorus, it sounds cool in the demos I've seen. I still prefer univibe though.

Fenderish

what's great about the dimension is that you don't have to fiddle with settings : 4 modes and you go (all sounding great).

But of course you can't have very subtle or "out of the box" uses of chorus which can be interesting sometimes.

ICBM

I've never liked the Dimension. For me they're irritatingly neither one thing or the other - the chorus for people who don't like chorus probably sums it up, because they don't really sound like a proper chorus, they sound like a half-hearted apology for using it .

Fenderish

that's why everyone needs a boss MD-500, you got the dimension + chorus ensemble + tri-chorus + flanger + leslie + univibe + tremolo + vibrato + phaser etc.

saves space AND money and gives great modulated sounds

ICBM

Fenderish said:

that's why everyone needs a boss MD-500, you got the dimension + chorus ensemble + tri-chorus + flanger + leslie + univibe + tremolo + vibrato + phaser etc.

But also shitty un-Boss-like footswitches. Deal breaker, for me.

robinbowes

I have to say, the best chorus sound I've ever heard is when I play through my Vibratone cab with the rotor on slow - it's magical. I'd use it more if it weren't so big and awkward.

meltedbuzzbox

ICBM said:

Fenderish said:

that's why everyone needs a boss MD-500, you got the dimension + chorus ensemble + tri-chorus + flanger + leslie + univibe + tremolo + vibrato + phaser etc.

But also shitty un-Boss-like footswitches. Deal breaker, for me.

Also a very shitty flanger and phaser amongst other irritations

ICBM

robinbowes said:

I have to say, the best chorus sound I've ever heard is when I play through my Vibratone cab with the rotor on slow - it's magical. I'd use it more if it weren't so big and awkward.

That's like saying that the best Marshall In A Box pedal is a cranked 2203 and a 4x12" in an isolation booth .

crunchman

I find I very rarely use my chorus these days.  I tend to use modulation on delay or reverb instead.

robinbowes

ICBM said:

robinbowes said:

I have to say, the best chorus sound I've ever heard is when I play through my Vibratone cab with the rotor on slow - it's magical. I'd use it more if it weren't so big and awkward.

That's like saying that the best Marshall In A Box pedal is a cranked 2203 and a 4x12" in an isolation booth .

Heh, sadly, all too bloody true.

I love my Helix, it sounds great and is really convenient in a live situation, but there's something about that amp-in-the-room feel/sound...

theflyisback

I think Ryan Adams has been the only guy over the last few years to make chorus cool and hip but obviously he’s made himself not so adorable for tone nuts recently.

ive found that chorus works amazingly if blended correctly with a hefty bit of dry tone. On It’s own it’s a bit too metallic and sickly for me. 

That said, I think a good bit of proper ‘double tracking’ is a good effect. I’ve always wanted to have a go of a strymon deco for that reason but it’s too expensive for something I’d only play about with and not truly ideal unless you’ve got a good stereo rig I’d imagine.

Ddigger

A thing of the past... I hope not as my very first chorus pedal arrived on Saturday (from the for sale section on here).

I am not really a fan of chorus, but the pedal has a mix level control (0-14) so you can make it subtle as you want and roll the tinkle off with your tone control.

It's a pity more pedals don't have a mix control.

Calum13

I never use it with the rate above 2 and depth about 6 like John Squire does. Don’t like any sound with the rate above 2.

richardhomer

I have two old CE-2s - and I’m considering adding a Wazacraft Dimension C....