Chorus- are you a yay or a nay?

dindude

I like it on delay and I can also tolerate it wet/dry as in Roland JC. Don't like it applied to the whole signal so much.

Sassafras

My problem with chorus is that some people don't know when to switch it off.
Many a good recording has been ruined by being drenched in the sickly effect.

JezWynd

JDE said:

Almost always had a chorus on my board, but was never overly thrilled with the sounds I was getting (had a lot of different chorus pedals over the years). Turns out, it's actually stereo detune I like rather than chorus specifically. I now use a pitchshifter for that sound and am much happier with it.

The Boss PS-3 does that sound really well. I think it's because it uses 2 instances of the sound, so you can detune up and down simultaneously.

ToneControl

a few  albums out there sound good with it. loads sound awful
I've never found a chorus patch that works for me

professorben

I hate it on the direct sound, but on delay repeats it's magical. 

UnclePsychosis

I want to like it but have never made it work.

Jimbro66

For electric guitar: Rarely and only under duress.

For electro-acoustic: Never never never. That's a sound I really detest

robinbowes

Best sound ever - running through my Vibratone on slow mode. A barely-perceptible swirling but oh so lush.

Fez

I'm a yay but I do believe that less is more.

JDE

JezWynd said: The Boss PS-3 does that sound really well. I think it's because it uses 2 instances of the sound, so you can detune up and down simultaneously.

That is currently what I'm using for exactly that. I've just got a PS5 from here, so I'm hoping to A/B them and see which I prefer. 

viz

I quite like it on stereo setting through 2 amps (despite not having stereo hearing) because it makes the sound huge, and I sometimes have to use it for various specific songs that use it heavily. But I normally don't use it. 

ICBM

Yay, but only sparingly. I'm not a massive fan of the classic CE-2 syrupy thick chorus either, I prefer it more airy/phasey or more shimmery/vibey, or even more metallic/flangey.

I agree that anyone using it on a piezo-pickup electro-acoustic needs to have their fingers broken, too...

equalsql

I'm telling you son that good ol' Chorus pedals, like me, never go out of style!

xSkarloey

I think the 80s a sufficiently behind us now for chorus  to be almost cool again, in a retro rediscovery kind of way. 


Of my favourite 80s type chorus tones though, only one I believe (Cyndi Lauper, Time After Time) is a pedal. The rest are studio trickery, to wit: 


Zakk Wlyde on Ozzy's Miracle Man sounds for all the world to me like a Boss Chorus, but apparently it's double tracked. 

INXS's Kick has lots of chorusy rhythm guitars/ riffing (e.g. New Sensation/ Need You Tonight) but it's actually Tim and Kirk playing said parts simultaneously. 

The bridge on Def Leppard's Hysteria song is Collen and Clarke recorded playing each note of each chord on each individual string, the whole thing being played back as a big multi layered part. So that's why I could never get it sounding right....

ThePrettyDamned

Yup. Love my dod fx65. Bit noisy, but such a classy sounding chorus. 

xSkarloey

I forgot another 80's fave, Robert Plant's Big Log which I should note for the benefit of our mate @icbm sounds for all the world like an out of phase Strat through a syrupy Boss CE1 or 2 .

Sporky

Only before dirt. And preferably a DC-2.

ICBM

Skarloey said:

I forgot another 80's fave, Robert Plant's Big Log which I should note for the benefit of our mate @icbm sounds for all the world like an out of phase Strat through a syrupy Boss CE1 or 2 .

Great song, but… seriously, a strong contender for one of the worst guitar sounds ever recorded .

I had it on 12" single back in the day. Just listening to it again now - "of its time" is about the kindest thing I can say about the guitar. I think it was this era Plant was talking about when he said something similar in that rather good documentary about him that was on a while back.

xSkarloey

No seriously, I like it.

I think chorus plus out of phase Strat is good. Think Richard Thompson

slacker

Sort of-I had a CE2 and I sold it, possibly to Sporky. I then got a Mojo Vibe (I know it isnt a chorus even though it sez it on the box) and then sold it to some bloke in Belfast. I then got a DMM as a delay (obviously) and liked the modulation options (keep the delay time very short). 

Although I love effects and have two boards full I view them as an effect and the off switch is there for a reason. My base sound is clean and unaffected. Dirt is from a pedal and everything else is to add colour or space or difference.