I'm sure this has come up, but searching the forums has not generated anything useful to me. Is the Choralflange Mike Fuller's answer to the Electro-Harmonix Polychorus? Because if it is, I want it - the Clyde Deluxe has instilled a sense of faith in Fulltone (even though the Bass Drive wasn't one of my favorite pedals, I give it high marks for attention to detail, and it's pretty good for what it does, even if that's not in line with my goals).
I've played the Choralflange at my guitar shop and it's pretty sweet. Now I haven't played the Polychorus so I have no room to compare the two.
I know the Choralflange doesn't have a definite Filter Matrix, but that is meaningless to someone who has no idea as to what that means. It does have true bypass, and it's a Fulltone, so it's nigh invulnerable (like the Tick), but EHX pedals are like sheet metal sheds that you find on the tops of skyscrapers. They seem to be durable enough. As a side note: it ain't easy being white...
The Polychorus is the warmest, lushest sounding chorus I have ever played. I don't have any experience with the Choralflange, though. The only turn offs for me were the form factor and power supply, and the fact that it was easily overloaded by active basses. I bought it twice, and sold it twice. I used it extensively on Chapman Stick, acoustic guitar and abg in both stereo and mono in all modes- chorus, flange, and double track, all with excellent results. The filter matrix mode went largely unused. The feedback control allowed for crazy oscillations and the knob was large enough to tweak with the toe of my shoe. I did not realize the Choralflange was Fulltone's version of the Poly. Is this true? I know my response is kinda' vague, but if you have any specific questions about it, ask away.
This is precisely what I'm trying to determine. Anyway, I understand the Polychorus can do both chorus and flange. But how...shall we say, orthodox...are either, in terms of sound?
I have no idea if it's their version of anything, but I like my choralflange. I had some issues with it (I blame the music store, not fulltone... they actually did about what could be expected of them looking back at it) and even after that and being kinda pissed about it, I think that the choralflange is a great pedal if you don't mind the space it takes up. I find it to be really warm, and has a really good range from subtle to obvious... the delay time control is great for that. Can't compare to the EHX for you though. The flanging isn't super metalic, but actually pretty "natural" for a flanger. Can get pretty intense with some settings, bubt not as much as some of the dedicated flangers I've played with. I don't know if this is old news, and I think I read somewhere that they've been saying this for a while, but apparantly there's going to be a versiion 2 out at some point. Don't know what the changes are, but apparantly it does vibrato too. Even though with the blend knob so does the original.
Like I said, the Polychorus is, hands down, the best sounding chorus I have ever played/owned/heard. It is similar, tone wise, although far more tweakeable, to the EHX Clone style pedals. The Flange is good on the Poly, but the chorus is the standout effect on this unit. Double track was like a tuneable short delay and was very cool on guitar. I am fairly well versed in terms of chorus as I've owned/used: Boss, Line 6, Lexicon, EHX, Eventide, etc. and hundreds of software modulation plugs. But, the kicker is that I've never A/B'ed it against the Choralflange...
I've never been impressed with the flange section of the polychorus. It isn't extreme enough for my tastes. I like the hard metallic sweep of the Electric Mistress.