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Chorus Unity Volume

silky smoove

silky smoove

May 19, 2004
13,687
19,696
44
Seattle, WA
www.aroguestory.com
#1
Is a slight volume bump always a thing with bucket brigade style oscillator chorus pedals? I’ve owned two choruses that use a bucket brigade oscillator style circuit (an MXR Bass Chorus Deluxe and an Analogman Mini Chorus) and they both increase the output volume of my board whenever they’re engaged, regardless of knob settings. By comparison, the detuner type pedals I’ve owned (a Tech 21 Bass Boost Chorus and an Iron Ether Polytope) were quite easy to achieve unity gain. I consistently love how the bucket brigade oscillator types and dislike the detuner types, so it’s been a compromise I’ve just lived with.

What say you Talkbass? Has anyone else noticed this behavior? I’ve seen lots of references to the pedals in question bumping the volume. Are there any of these types that don’t have the volume issue and don’t happen to be detuners?
 
#3
I played a very small venue recently and went straight from my bass and pedals into the desk. As the desk was literally right next to me I was lazy and went straight in with no DI. Classic mistake I know and I paid for it because the volume of my chorus and octave pedals boosted when engaged. For me I needed to use a DI which fixed it, never an issue when using my amp.
It can be your pickup type too. The boost using my P bass was far greater than using the Jazz.
I'm not saying this is your problem but something to watch out for. Do you always get a volume boost using the chorus in your amp and/or front of house?
 
#7
Using a volume pedal at the end of my board allows me to achieve some semblance of unity gain, but that's one more pedal to deal with, and also some additional pedalboard gymnastics required whenever I use a chorus. That said, the times I've done it I did not feel like the effect or my overall tone was lost in the mix when putting the volume pedal at what I perceived as unity gain. If my Analogman pedal had an output knob it would be perfect, but alas...
 
#8
silky smoove said:
Is a slight volume bump always a thing with bucket brigade style oscillator chorus pedals? I’ve owned two choruses that use a bucket brigade oscillator style circuit (an MXR Bass Chorus Deluxe and an Analogman Mini Chorus) and they both increase the output volume of my board whenever they’re engaged, regardless of knob settings. By comparison, the detuner type pedals I’ve owned (a Tech 21 Bass Boost Chorus and an Iron Ether Polytope) were quite easy to achieve unity gain. I consistently love how the bucket brigade oscillator types and dislike the detuner types, so it’s been a compromise I’ve just lived with.

What say you Talkbass? Has anyone else noticed this behavior? I’ve seen lots of references to the pedals in question bumping the volume. Are there any of these types that don’t have the volume issue and don’t happen to be detuners?
Click to expand...

Just grab a Southampton Utility Knife with a volume knob and it'll be irrelevant. :)
 
#9
blindrabbit said:
Just grab a Southampton Utility Knife with a volume knob and it'll be irrelevant. :)
Click to expand...
Definitely a good sounding pedal with a lot of utility (pun intended). It even has top jacks so it would fit on my board. From the clips online it definitely doesn’t sound as good as my Analogman or the Providence I had before it. It’s like there’s a battle between my ideal chorus sound and unity volume.
 
#10
silky smoove said:
Definitely a good sounding pedal with a lot of utility (pun intended). It even has top jacks so it would fit on my board. From the clips online it definitely doesn’t sound as good as my Analogman or the Providence I had before it. It’s like there’s a battle between my ideal chorus sound and unity volume.
Click to expand...

For as many chorus pedals that I've owned and tried (a lot...lots and lots...), I can say that the Utility Knife is right up there at the top, and certainly close enough in the top grouping that it is spitting hairs with the competitors.

That said, I've not tried either of the two you mention, at least not that I can remember (I may have tried the Analogman once long ago, but don't remember it).

Anyway, I think if you give it a shot you would be pleasantly surprised. The top jacks are awesome, of course, and the...er...utility of the pedal is a nice addition. It is the current modulation pedal on my board, and it leaves me not wanting anything else.
 
#11
I've owned several Analogman Choruses and they all added a slight boost. With that said, guess which chorus pedal I use :woot:? I've mainly used them for guitar. For bass, I leave it on at a low rate and depth (my mini is the fully loaded version).
 

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