Struggling to find Chorus bliss

[spanndrew]

I have had many, many choruses (Chorusi?) over the years - Boss/DOD/TC/etc and currently have an AnalogueMan bi-chorus... but they never make me happy. Either too much effect, too little effect, too big/small/deep - just not right.

I want a nice, transparent effect that would add that nice "shimmer" that a good chorus does without making the mids go crazy, sapping the bass, warping the tone...


My buddy NoStatic is recommending the Jam pedals "Waterfall" (nice and spendy, of course) - I heard it once on his board and it sounded nice - but I played it for all of 2 minutes.

Any other suggestions?

Maybe adding a blender pedal to your existing chorus? That way you could retain your tone and just sprinkle the chorus one top.

 

[gadgetgirl]

Catalinbread Callisto Chorus.

 

[jrick7]

I used to have a Diamond Halo Chorus that I loved. Also could double as a phaser, really great pedal. Right now I have s Neunaber Stereo Chroma Chorus v2 because it's much more controllable with my EXP, and it can get multiple chorus sounds. Diamond is the best I've ever heard though.

 

[rtav]

Check out the Markbass Chorus Flanger. Don't like the sound? It lets you store, edit and call up 3 different chorus effects and 3 flangers - you can edit the sounds on your PC or Mac with a USB cable and free software.

VERY nice if you like to edit and tweak your effects with a nice GUI.

 

[Susqmike]

I currently have a MXR Bass Chorus Deluxe, a Earthquaker Devices-Sea Machine and a Tech 21 Bass Chorus deluxe. Have tried many others..I find the Bass Chorus Deluxe to be such a great pedal. You have the option of going with a traditional type chorus, using rate and depth, or you can set those to 0 and use the detune. I use the 3 different pedals for 3 very different chorus sounds. I've been eyeing the Taurus pedal though...(but am finally happy with the expensive and painstaking processing of finding the right one(s) for me...) Good Luck!!

 

[ColonelZulu]

Eventide Modfactor or H9

 

[bikeplate]

I saw u mentioned Analogman. I have the mini w deep switch and had the full size version. Both were killer. Surprised to hear yours didn't do it for you

 

[GrizzleTone]

I recommend the MXR Analog Chorus. It's blendable between wet and dry, and you can control/cut the high frequencies separately from the lows, helping you maintain the bottom and mids in your tone. All at a great price.

 

[jacolyte]

for me, my favorite "chorus" sound is actually a harmonizer - it gives you the detuned thickness without the modulation which, to me, sounds mechanical and distracting. you just detune the input signal by a few cents and voila, you're chris squire. i use an eventide eclipse for serious business and a boss PS-5 for quick-n-dirty. (the boss pedal is a shi**y harmonizer but it does a nice job with detune.)

 

[Chrisk-K]

I've owned a lot of Chorus pedals and no other pedals are more transparent than the Boss CE-5 to me.

 

[DavC]

lately my favorite chorus pedal is my TC Flashback .. ! with the Tri mode on , super short delay ... mix to taste ... more like a mix of chorus /flanger without the regeneration ... on my Yamaha keyboards , they call it a ' symphonic ' effect ... I had a TC Corona , but the Flashback setup sounded better to me .. ? and I rarely us it for a delay ...

 

[lowerbassment]

Check out the Providence ABC-1 Anadime Bass Chorus. It sounds great, is very versatile and gives you great control over how the effect is applied to lower frequencies.

 

[basszoned]

I just got the Aguilar Chorusaurus,, very happy with it, goes from a mild to crazy and everywhere in between.

 

[bassrich]

Best chorus I ever had was on my Peavey TNT-150

 

[lemongrenades]

I loved the boss chorus ensemble for years. But once I tried the Warped Vinyl I was hooked. It is perfect to my ears. Definitely a darker chorus. But you could use the mix knob and dial in some high end. It also does vibrato and tremelo, and does both well. Plus there are three presets, analog signal path with a microprocessor. So even though it's pricey ($350) new, with all that considered it is the best chorus pedal available right now in my opinion.

 

[jimfist]

I'm also a fan of pitch shifters for a thickening "chorus" type of effect, but yeah, that's not a modulated tone. It works for me, though. Set your + and - detune to taste. I find it is also key to have the ability to high and low pass the pitch shifting to tame the effect, keeping it in the dead midrange (say 250-800hz, thereabouts) and reducing the attack portions above 1k or higher, so that the effect is much more subtle. It also allows you to get a bit more radical with the shifted spread without it sounding totally out of whack, if thats' your thing. I use the bass detune in the Zoom B3 for this, and it sounds fine to my ears.

 

[hennessybass]

Not a lot to compare with, but I have a Earthquaker Devices-Sea Machine, and find it to be a very nice, versatile pedal. OP might like it because it has a blend knob (called "Depth"), so you can dial in the effect. Can do quite a few different sounds from a rotating speaker kind of thing, to classic 80s chorus, to space-jam-freak-out stuff.

 

[xtrparts]

I have a Strymon OLA chorus and find that it's many features work really well for both bass and guitar.
The pedal operation is VERY quiet, it has a Deep/Lush Chorus and a Vibrato effect, but has also has "MIX" control, which is a Nice feature as you can Blend in just how much modulation effect
you want integrated into your Bass sound, plus it's Not too pricey.
There are some other interesting adjustments too, the chorus effect can be set to ramp up or down with your "Finger Attack", so it has a Sensitivity setting/mode.

It's worth buying it to try it IMO, but as stated here, there are a lot of good sounding choices, frankly, I usually like most chorus pedals I have ever heard,
but the Strymon stands out to me because of the Sound Quality, Features, MIX (blend) control and it's silent operation.

 

[DavidG]

"...My buddy NoStatic is recommending the Jam pedals "Waterfall" (nice and spendy, of course) - I heard it once on his board and it sounded nice - but I played it for all of 2 minutes."

I second the Jam Pedals Waterfall. This is also the chorus that Anthony Jackson uses! Kind of pricey and hard to find but a great piece of gear.

Left field choice would be Earthquaker Rainbow Machine (with an expression pedal). You can set the expression pedal to a nice chorus sound then move it up or down to get into really crazy pitch shifter territory.

 

[higain617]

I like my old Ibanez BC10, but I use it sparingly.