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Chorus, chorus everywhere, and yet the tone did stink...

Lowtonejoe

Lowtonejoe

Supporting Member
Jul 3, 2004
2,849
90
Pasco, WA
www.lowtones.com
#1
When I played guitar, I used tons of effects. Distortions, flangers, choruses, delays, yada yada yada.

As a Bass Player I have shunned all effects. Everyone knows that a great sounding bass tone needs no effects.

At least that's what I thought until recently.

I own a Boss Bass Chorus. Bought it used on e-bay a few years back. Plugged it in to make sure that it worked and then never used it until recently.

I find that I really like the chorus effect when used judiciously, however my bass seems to overload this pedal when turned up to full volume. I have this problem with both my active and passive basses.

Sure, I could just turn down but then there goes my signal to noise ratio.

All that being said, I am looking for a high headroom, great sounding bass stereo chorus. The only one that I have heard great things about was the T.C. Electronics chorus/flanger...and that was for guitar. I have no idea how it sounds in a bass application.

What are the better ones out there? It doesn't matter to me if it uses batteries or needs to be plugged in but I would prefer that it be in a pedal format.

Your help is appreciated.

Thanks!

:D

Joe.
 
#2
I'm very picky about chorses. To me, chorus usually sounds very cheesy, but I have finally found a chorus that I like.

I love the Rocktron Deep Blue Chorus, however it is mono. Rocktron has a Tsunami Stereo Chorus Pedal that may suit your needs, though.

Also, Line 6 ToneCore Space Chorus is very versatile. It's stereo, but it will run you a little higher than Rocktron. I prefer a warmer chorus rather than a bright chorus, which Line 6 can acheive very well. If I used chorus more, I'd probably get the Line 6, but I dig the Rocktron for sure!
 
#3
I always recommend the Fulltone Chorlaflange. It sounds fabulous and handles all my passives and actives with no problem. It even has a little knob for gain so you can adjust for different input levels depending on the bass.

It's also a flanger which is what I use it for mostly. The mix knob is really the part I love about this pedal. You can mix in the perfect amount of effect with your original signal. It's also dead quiet, you don't get a lot of the "pumping" or hissing sound you might find with lesser pedals.

It cost around $250 - $300 new but can be found for less on ebay.

Hope this helps.
 
#4
Love my Analog.man chorus, very clean and real sounding, if that makes sense. Sounds absolutely incredible with fuzz.

Currently having an issue with high output basses overdriving it, but it's rare, minor, and hopefully getting straightened out soon.
 
#6
the t.c. has a dedicated input gain control...no overloading here.
i do prefer the sound of the boss ce-2b though. handled all basses so far, no overloading either. another super-headroom chorus is the carl martin bass chorus. runs on +/- 15v internally with its own transformer, plugs into the mains outlet (just like the t.c.).
small clone, could not get it to distort, either.

the ebs was overloading with hot basses, as was the stereo clone theory (reissue).

from how i like it tonewise, i´d rank ce-2b, carl martin, t.c., small clone. but the carl martin is definitely worth checking out - it has a very distinct voice of its own, haven´t heard anything else like it. modulates right down into the low freq´s, but still does not loose power and bass.

cheers,
lowstar
 
#10
I am very interested in this aswell, I just want the juiciest chorus I can get. By that I mean, true bypass, and NO toneloss and no overdriving!

Never heard anything bad about the Analog Man for bass until this thread, how about the HBE one? I really like the HBE phaser, but is the chorus as good on bass ?
 
#11
I've got a Danelectro Cool Cat 18v Stereo Chorus that sounds good to me. The entry point is pretty cheap (used) and if you end up hating it you won't take a hit. Not true bypass though. Additionally I don't have a ton experiance with other chorus pedals so I can't say how it compares or if it is really BETTER than anything else.
 
#13
The Analogman Chorus is the best bass chorus I've found- lush tones abound. I borrowed one from a freind and was simply floored. It must have the deep toggle/mod in order to get this tone though. It is a mono chorus.

However, Analogman makes a Bi- Chorus . When ordered, you can have the jack configured to to top or side configurations. The "deep" option can be had on these also, but not with a toggle.

It is true bypass (as is all of his pedals, IIRC).

Here is info on this pedal.

Lowtonejoe said:
When I played guitar, I used tons of effects. Distortions, flangers, choruses, delays, yada yada yada.

As a Bass Player I have shunned all effects. Everyone knows that a great sounding bass tone needs no effects.

At least that's what I thought until recently.

I own a Boss Bass Chorus. Bought it used on e-bay a few years back. Plugged it in to make sure that it worked and then never used it until recently.

I find that I really like the chorus effect when used judiciously, however my bass seems to overload this pedal when turned up to full volume. I have this problem with both my active and passive basses.

Sure, I could just turn down but then there goes my signal to noise ratio.

All that being said, I am looking for a high headroom, great sounding bass stereo chorus. The only one that I have heard great things about was the T.C. Electronics chorus/flanger...and that was for guitar. I have no idea how it sounds in a bass application.

What are the better ones out there? It doesn't matter to me if it uses batteries or needs to be plugged in but I would prefer that it be in a pedal format.

Your help is appreciated.

Thanks!

:D

Joe.
Click to expand...
 
#14
MXR makes a very sturdy stereo chorus pedal that ive had my eye on. a local shop let me try it out and i liked it alot, but i dont think i would use it enough to justify the $170 price tag.
it is the only chorus pedal that sounds good with my jazz bass.
 
#15
How about the Electro-Harmonix Stereo Clone Theory? It's what I use, and I think it sounds great for the price. If you've tried and liked the Small Clone, it's something to consider if you want a Small Clone with more flexibility.

I've heard awesome things about the T.C. Electronics chorus pedals, too, but I haven't had the pleasure of trying one out.
 
#16
I love my Small Clone chorus, but a hot signal will overload it. My main bass is a Rickenbacker 4003 with somewhat hot, high-output pickups, and aggressive double stops high on the neck (in particular) will make the pedal distort a bit.

Actually, it's kinda cool. :D It doesn't bother me much since I tend to play with a little dirt in my tone more often than not anyway. (My fretless with lower-output Bartolini pickups doesn't overload it, and neither does my guitar, by the way.)
 
#17
I'd second the choralflange, although I think it'd be tough to go wrong with an analogueman, or carl martin. I went the choralflange route as I like flangers, I enjoy the delay time control (gives a variety ofchorus flavors) and I liked the range on the rate and depth knobs. Compared to the ebs directly, and wasn't a fan. Added bonuses on the choralflange are the stereo outs (can only be buffed output) or switchable buffered/true bypass in mono.

However, the analogue man is often loved around here, and looks very simple. You can taylor them to give you the add ons you want to a certain degree I believe.
 

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