Just got a chorus pedal, need a little advice!

[Venom of God]

Hey all
So, today I bought a Boss CH-1 Super Chorus on an impulse, as I know that Duff from Guns n Roses uses a chorus and I LOVE his tone (on Appetite especially), though I don't really have any idea of what I'm doing with the thing! My amp is at our rehearsal space so I only had a little time to play around with it before we had to get into it- any clues on some good starting positions for it tomorrow that I can tweak from there?

I don't want it to be an overbearing thing, just to thicken up my tone and perhaps make it cut through a little more if that's possible? Today I found it a little muddy to be honest.

I play a Jazz bass (with Basslines pickups, J on the front and a humbucker at the bridge) into my tuner > booster pedal (only used under guitar solos as we're a three piece) > Sansamp > new chorus pedal > amp.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

[Venom of God]

Oh, and if hearing our music helps:
www.myspace.com/highclassrocknroll

On The Run is probably the best one to listen to as it's the most current!

[Bish42]

Well I find that's the problem with chorus. You're basically making your own tone more layered, so if you're playing in a setup that's got lots of layers as well, then you're going to get lost.

I played in a GnR cover band for a while and used a CEB-3. I found that I could get a nice sound out of it when I played by myself, but behind two guitars I might as well have had it switched off because it doesn't cut through.

[bassteban]

IME chorus usually does NOT help *cutting through*
On the same note, *thickening* can often equal a loss of clarity(to some extent).
I have a CEB-3 & like it on occasion, but lately I've gone more often to an old DOD FX20B phaser- I can get thick & cutting at the same time w/it no prob, and at low depth settings it's fairly similar-sounding(to me)to chorus.

[Venom of God]

Hrmm, starting to feel like I may have bought the wrong pedal here, haha. How would Duff have used his on Appetite? I think I can hear some at the start of My Michelle, is that about it? I was told by another bass player that it would help me get more attack (me being a finger player), is there ANY truth to that..?

[Bish42]

I think Duff used it on most of the Appetite stuff, at least when playing the songs live. But it only really stands out during intros or less layered sections of the songs. 'You Could Be Mine' uses it prominently during the intro.

I don't really think it can improve your attack, unless it's designed to be reactive to your playing - but I don't think it is. I may be wrong.

[kreider204]

Try it with the rate and depth fairly low, and turn the tone know up - see if that works.

[Venom of God]

I'm just going to trust that Duff had it in there for a reason and keep experimenting with it then, haha.

And I'll give a lower rate and depth a go tomorrow, thanks!

[Crystalman85]

Originally Posted by Venom of God

I'm just going to trust that Duff had it in there for a reason and keep experimenting with it then, haha.

And I'll give a lower rate and depth a go tomorrow, thanks!

If that doesn't help, try a lower rate and a higher depth setting. this setting can give you a lush chorus sound. that's how I set my chorus sound, but that's just a suggestion.

[ric stave]

The best sounds I've gotten out of a chorus on bass is either Low Rate and High Depth, or High(er) Depth and Low Rate. Anything else has been to copy a specific sound or use of someone else's chorus settings in a particular song.