I have got Wet Reverb and i was trying Chorus and Delay in it. Good but not so great for me, IMHO.
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Hell just froze over...chorus content
- Thread starter JimmyM
- Start date
This is larger than the 1590A pedals but a bit smaller than a Boss pedal:
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I got one a few weeks ago and really like it so far. It has a couple of nice features like a wet/dry blend and the ability to lock in a setting even if the knobs get bumped. Under $40 too!
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I got one a few weeks ago and really like it so far. It has a couple of nice features like a wet/dry blend and the ability to lock in a setting even if the knobs get bumped. Under $40 too!
Too bad you say Boss pedals are too big for your board, because the CE-3 I have is just so awesome. It has a very rich, warm analog sound to it. But given your options, I'd say you should pick the MXR, which is currently the only chorus I'm using at the moment.
I'd like to hear your opinion on the flanger relative to other flangers after you've had some time with the BCD.
The MXR Micro and the old Boss BF2 are just too murky for me in the mix.
The best chorus I have ever had was onboard my old TNT-150, the MXR Bass Chorus Deluxe can get that sound and others quite easily
I have a Tech 21 Bass Chorus that's my favorite by far. But it's big and is gumming up the works with it's size. Let's us know what you end up with Jimmy.
Having owned a Boss CEB-3, MXR BCD and TC Corona, I'm really happy with my TC Dreamscape. It's super versatile and (surprisingly) the VIB-2 setting is almost always on as just a subtle thickener.
I've had a few chorus pedals and other pedals that did similar sounds
Digitech bass multi chorus
Digitech whammy 4
Digitech bass whammy (newer model)
Boss bass chorus
Boss chorus ensemble
Line 6 m5
Hardwire reverb (modulated setting)
Currently have the ce-5 on the board but might go back to the m5 just for versatility onstage. The m5 is advertised as one effect at a time but it has several settings with modulation. For example my favorite delay on it is the modulated delay which has some chorus flavor. The Hardwire reverb on the modulated setting was fantastic, should have never sold that one.
I know your looking for a smaller pedal but have you tried an m5? The dirt stuff is horrible, but it does a lot of sounds very well. Might free up room on your pedalboard if there's a couple out of the hundred plus sounds that you really like.
Digitech bass multi chorus
Digitech whammy 4
Digitech bass whammy (newer model)
Boss bass chorus
Boss chorus ensemble
Line 6 m5
Hardwire reverb (modulated setting)
Currently have the ce-5 on the board but might go back to the m5 just for versatility onstage. The m5 is advertised as one effect at a time but it has several settings with modulation. For example my favorite delay on it is the modulated delay which has some chorus flavor. The Hardwire reverb on the modulated setting was fantastic, should have never sold that one.
I know your looking for a smaller pedal but have you tried an m5? The dirt stuff is horrible, but it does a lot of sounds very well. Might free up room on your pedalboard if there's a couple out of the hundred plus sounds that you really like.
It IS digital (+150mA) and sounds great, so far...quiet (no digital whine like MS60b) and fairly natural sounding. I got one a few weeks back but haven't had a chance to really run it through its paces. I do remember really liking the tone of the reverb, though. It didn't sound like it was cutting any lows at all and had a velvety tone in the highs. Also, Brian was absolutely awesome to deal with. I had an issue with one of his other pedals, and he was quick to reply every time I emailed him and even repaired the pedal for free (I was not the original owner, btw).
I'd like to mention that Malekko also makes a nice 1590a Chorus pedal.
I like my MXR M134. Very subtle sounding but gets the job done. 
A few examples:
Heres the older model:
A few examples:
Heres the older model:
Jimmy, not sure how fond you are of tinkering.... but I recently got the tc electronic corona mini. Straight out of the box it sounded kinda meh. After messing with the toneprint editor a bit I was impressed enough that I bought the hall of fame mini and the flashback mini for my pedal steel rig.
I have the MXR BCD and do experience the signal boosting issue. As you mentioned, it is pretty minor, but in certain tunes I've found it to push my signal just enough, especially if combined with some sort of distortion, that I jump out of the mix more than I would like. I try to simply play with a lighter touch in those instances and that does the trick. I hate the flanger and X-over functions on that pedal. The flanger sounds cheesy, and the X-over basically makes the chorus sound too subtle to be heard in a mix. Good pedal, but not a great pedal.
I tried an Iron Ether Polytope, but I couldn't get along with it. Much better for whacky sounds than traditional ones. It could do them, but I thought my MXR did them better.
My absolute favorite is the Tech 21 Bass Boost Chorus. It sounds FABULOUS. It's probably too big of a pedal for your needs, which would rule it out.
I tried an Iron Ether Polytope, but I couldn't get along with it. Much better for whacky sounds than traditional ones. It could do them, but I thought my MXR did them better.
My absolute favorite is the Tech 21 Bass Boost Chorus. It sounds FABULOUS. It's probably too big of a pedal for your needs, which would rule it out.
Most important thing for me and a chorus pedal is the input headroom. Most of the boxes I've tried distort when you push on them. I always want to like chorus sound but hate it too for the reasons Jimmy said. The old TC SCF set on VERY mild pitch mod is my favorite chorus in stompbox format. I've had a few different TC SCF's..and they all sound a little different. That being said if the MXR Analog chorus sounds anything like the old MXR rack mounted Digital Delay's (big blue one) slow flange/chorus setting, and it doesn't distort like most chorus pedals do with bass, I'd be interested.
Hey Jimmy,For years I have hated chorus. Loved it at first...finally a modulation effect that sounded good on bass without washing you out of the mix. Had a Boss CE-3 for years and it got a ton of use in the 80's. Once the 90's hit, every time I heard a chorus it sounded completely dated to me and still does to a large degree. I played with a guitarist at that time who used chorus as an always-on pedal, and he was great and still is, but his sounds could have been so much better if he'd turn it off once in a while, and he refused. Grated on my nerves after a while. And every time I heard it, all I could think was 80's...gated drums, digital synths (blech!), and lots of chorus on everything, including sax. Dropped chorus after that band split up, never used it again.
Cut to last week when I got one of those new MXR Bass Distortions, and remembered how one of the best distorted tones I ever got was in that old band using a vintage Rat 2 and my Boss chorus into channel 2 of my 69 SVT, and blending it with the clean sound of channel 1. Ended up writing the music to what I thought was a very cool song we used to do around that sound. Fortunately, bass pedals have come a long way, and the Bass D is a Rat modded for bass use with its own wet and dry knobs, so that greatly simplifies the process of making a Rat work with bass. But I'd play with that pedal and start remembering that tone I had on that song, so I set my EHX Pitch Fork on detune to see how close it got, and it wasn't quite the same but it wasn't bad. I started using it on gigs as a pseudo chorus and I liked it there, too. Didn't like the too-fast rate and not being able to adjust the intensity, but it did make me think maybe I shouldn't give up on chorus.
And now I must get another one, as the Boss got sold long ago. My only big requirement is it has to be a 1590a or smaller. I see no reason to buy big pedals anymore when they can cram pedals that are just as good in much smaller boxes. Went and tried a few at the store. The newest Boss choruses weren't bad, but there's something grindy about the sound of Boss choruses that gets on my nerves. Small Clones are cool but I never thought they gave me enough control. For me, the standard has been the original TC chorus. If all choruses sounded that good, I doubt I'd have grown to hate it. That's why I was quite shocked at how little I liked the Corona. Sounded digital to me. I guess that's because it isbut still, I was hoping for a miracle.
So far the one leading the pack for me is the MXR Bass Chorus Deluxe. Really wanted to like the MXR Analog Chorus because it's a lot cheaper, but while I could have done fine with the Analog Chorus if chorus was all I wanted, the Bass Chorus Deluxe has a pretty sick flanger built into it that's pretty gnarly at very slow rates. Always a bonus if a pedal can pull off legit double duty. But they both had a nice smooth sound that wasn't all grindy chorus-y, but still got pretty intense on higher knob settings. I've heard stories of the BCD having a boost when you kick it on, but it didn't come across that way to me. Maybe a very slight one at worst, but so slight that it seemed immaterial to me.
Looking at the boutique stuff, seems like the Iron Ether Polytope is a sick little puppy. I would probably enjoy it if my band was more experimental, but for my situation, it's a lot of stuff I'll never be able to use and a whole lot more money than I wanted to spend. But while I haven't done an exhaustive search of boutique choruses, the ones I've seen aren't giving me a compelling reason to go with them over the BCD.
Just wanted to see what you all thought since you're all probably way ahead of the curve. Probably going to go with the BCD anyway
And if any of you hard-ons tell me to do a search, why I'll...
I was watching a video of Bryan Beller going over his pedalboard and he was super pleased with his new chorus pedal. Of course i can't remember what it was but I think it replaced his old Boss pedal? Hope this confuses you more?
Take care,
Brent
I tried the mxr BCD and it was a little too subtle for me. The flanger feature was great though. At least for me. I considered keeping it just for that. I am liking the mxr analog chorus now. It's a nice sound and it is tweakable enough to work great with bass. My all time favorite is the ibanez CE-7. It is digital but it has settings that sound more like modulated delay that really make the bass sound huge. But that is a bigger pedal...
I love the JAM Waterfall. Beautiful, very musical sounding pedal. It's even got a great vibrato switch that can really add something nice. Check my disclosure though, I'm a bit biased I guess. But I played and loved the pedal before the endorsement.
You can hear it mixed in with the JAM Red Muck on this track. It comes to life around the 30 second mark with the vibrato switch flipped -
And you can hear it blended in and adding some sheen on this track -
May not be to everyone's taste, but you can get an idea of what it could add.
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Would you mind explaining? Although not many reviews here on TB, from what I had gathered on them internets left me under the impression that it was very similar to the Boss CE2 and some have even reported liking it better.
I used to have a Roland JC series amp, that I would use as a chorus unit, fed into the bass amp's fx loop, via line out. . with blend, it would leave the bottom alone...
