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Chorus vs. Flanger, and what's good?

I've never thought of a chorus and flanger as being very similar. IMO phasers are more similar with flangers. Both great for bass. I've found use for them anywhere and everywhere.

To hear both in action on bass, check out the some albums by The Cure (Seventeen Second, Faith & Pornography for sure!) as for which ones, the Boss BF-2 is a favorite and can be had pretty cheap, as for chorus, it really depends on what you like to hear. Lots of people like the Boss CEB-3, I however prefer an analog chorus, and am currently using a CE-3.
 
You have to play and experience these things. You can't decide on paper.
MXR makes a great flanger chorus combo pedal for bass; it might not be the very best chorus or the very best flanger but it gives you both in a single pedal that sounds great and preserves the bottom really well.


The pedal is the MXR M89 Bass Chorus deluxe.
 
I play a lot of different instruments in several different bands including Electric, Fretless and Upright Bass, Electric and Amplified Acoustic Mandolin, Electric and Acoustic Guitars and Keyboards (Rhodes MK 80 and Nord Lead 2).

The one Pedal I almost always use for any amplified music is my TC Electronics Stereo Chorus/Pitch Modulator/Flanger.

These units aren't cheap but they can be found on the used market pretty easily.

The main attraction here is the lush chorus. The Pitch and Flanger functions are kinda meh but can be subtly useful.

The Chorus is perfect without being stupid or tone sucking.

Can't recommend this enough and I've had mine for more than 25 years.
 

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i aggree it may not be the best chorus and flanger, but pedals sound better in person and mxr makes good stuff, but i don't want to get 2 pedals for 2 effects i may seldomly use. that is why the mxr bass chorus deluxe is what i want to pick up.

i only have a mxr bass fuzz deluxe at the moment but i'm working on getting my dream board.

gretsch g5123b -> wah -> octaver -> mxr bass fuzz deluxe -> mxr bass chorus deluxe -> amp

i want a small pedal board.
 
Does anyone have experience with a DOD FX72 flanger?

I do. I sold two earlier this year.
Very nice flanger. Not as nice as a Boss BF-2 IMHO but flangers are a matter of taste. Can be often found for $30 to $40 and at that price point it's a solid value and performer. Note there are at least two versions of this pedal, the later version with DOD embossed on the footswitch sounds better than the earlier version without DOD on the footswitch.
 
I play a lot of different instruments in several different bands including Electric, Fretless and Upright Bass, Electric and Amplified Acoustic Mandolin, Electric and Acoustic Guitars and Keyboards (Rhodes MK 80 and Nord Lead 2).

The one Pedal I almost always use for any amplified music is my TC Electronics Stereo Chorus/Pitch Modulator/Flanger.

These units aren't cheap but they can be found on the used market pretty easily.

The main attraction here is the lush chorus. The Pitch and Flanger functions are kinda meh but can be subtly useful.

The Chorus is perfect without being stupid or tone sucking.

Can't recommend this enough and I've had mine for more than 25 years.
TC Electronics know their tech. I have a TC Electronic BH250 mini bass head with a tone print option, and these days it is loaded with a Chorus Tone Print that is subtle and nice. I think it was called "The Widener".

The tone prints from TC adds a new world of possibilities to the pedal format.
 
Maybe they make several power supplies, but the DC2 that is mentioned for the chorus pedal only outputs 100mA and the pedal manual says 100mA minimum.
By the way, would having a power supply with more than 100mA output benefit the Tech 21 pedal in any way? Or would I just have a more versatile power supply if I wanted to use it with something else?
 
I imagine I'll just get the Tech 21 power supply then. Cause I'm pretty sure that's going to be my pedal. Now to find a place to buy from...

(But golly, I think the Orbital Modulator would be a great choice too. I'm thinking either way I go I can't lose, but the Tech 21 seems to have a really thick tone on bass, which is nice)
 
And so I emailed Chad at bassefx.com about the Tech 21 (and also mentioned the Orbital Modulator) and this is the response I got (I'll include the brunt of it)

Thanks for getting in touch with me! Both choruses will do what you want them to. The Orbital Modulator is vastly more variable and includes flangers, resonator flangers, phasers, and tremolo in addition to various chorus options. It's also programmable, has an expression pedal input, and can be controlled by the Source Audio Hot Hand 3. It's completely digital, which is interpreted by some as a negative, but it actually sounds amazingly analog. And in the context of playing in a band, you'd be hard pressed to tell a big difference between analog and digital. The Source Audio guys are very smart and have dealt with the digital vs. analog scenario correctly.

The Bass Boost Chorus is an excellent completely analog pedal that has a very rich '70s sound and a high degree of tweakability (yep, I got spell-checked on that word,) that will help you get that one chorus sound you might be looking for. It's got blend from 100% dry to 100% wet, detuning capability, speed and depth, and a multi-voice control that further modifies the chorusing.

So, they kinda reside on opposite ends of the spectrum: totally digital and programmable, totally analog. I like both and have used both. If you are just starting your search, it might be a good idea to get the Orbital Modulator just so you have a range of different types of modulation to experiment with. You may find that a flanger or phaser better suits you, in which case, you can look for a better pedal option later. However, if you want a great analog pedal, the Tech 21 is a great choice, but there are plenty of other chorus pedals in that realm that could be up for discussion.

I offer a 60 day trial period on any pedal you buy. So, if you can't make nice with certain effect, you can return it for full refund or credit toward a different pedal. Of course, it does have to be return in re-sellable as new condition, but I haven't run into a situation yet where a return has failed in that regard.

So, one, what a cool guy to send me such a thoughtful and helpful email on the same day. And two, I thought my mind was made up about the Tech 21 Bass Boost Chorus. Ah shucks. Hell, whatever I decide I might order from this guy just because of that email, plus that return policy is pretty darn nice. (I must say though that based on the videos I saw, while flanger/phaser seem kind of cool, I'm not sure I'm all that interested in them. Right now what interests me most as a solo player is chorus and maybe adding a reverb/delay at some point.)
 
And so I emailed Chad at bassefx.com about the Tech 21 (and also mentioned the Orbital Modulator) and this is the response I got (I'll include the brunt of it)

So, one, what a cool guy to send me such a thoughtful and helpful email on the same day. And two, I thought my mind was made up about the Tech 21 Bass Boost Chorus. Ah shucks. Hell, whatever I decide I might order from this guy just because of that email, plus that return policy is pretty darn nice. (I must say though that based on the videos I saw, while flanger/phaser seem kind of cool, I'm not sure I'm all that interested in them. Right now what interests me most as a solo player is chorus and maybe adding a reverb/delay at some point.)

So it's kind of like new school vs. old school. And i must say that is an awesome return policy, and he seems quite eager to help. The Soundblox really does seem awesome, and has tons of options. You could pull a lot of sounds from that. Personally for me though, the Tech 21 is still winning. It just has a warmer, almost vintage sound that i love. The soundblox would be a lot of fun for a long time, however.
 
Yeah that sounds like a fair assessment. I came across this video for the Bass Boost Chorus today. What a cool video. (You'll see my comment that says it's a "Cool ass video.") He pairs it with other effects in parts but does plenty of it by itself as well. It seems to really fatten up your tone.

It's such a hard decision to make. I think either pedal would be a victory. But the reputation the Tech 21 seems to have of working in a band mix is a selling point, which is kind of weird that I keep mentioning that because I'm a solo player right now. Both of these pedals seem like top class though.
 
Yeah that sounds like a fair assessment. I came across this video for the Bass Boost Chorus today. What a cool video. (You'll see my comment that says it's a "Cool ass video.") He pairs it with other effects in parts but does plenty of it by itself as well. It seems to really fatten up your tone.

It's such a hard decision to make. I think either pedal would be a victory. But the reputation the Tech 21 seems to have of working in a band mix is a selling point, which is kind of weird that I keep mentioning that because I'm a solo player right now. Both of these pedals seem like top class though.

Well I'm sold.