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ULTIMATE CHORUS THUNDERDOME

#21
I'd have to hear more of the Polytope doing not psycho effects. But at the moment I'm trying to make up my mind between the Tech 21 Bass Boost Chorus and the Orbital Modulator. The ability to retain your lows with the Orbital Modulator is a selling point for me since my solo composing style tends to have chords or notes that I hold down while playing other notes on top of it. I'm worried that have chorus on both the low notes and the high notes at the same time will make things too jumbled, which is really the only reason I'm hesitating on the Bass Boost Chorus.

I mean at this point I could probably just flip a coin but since I'm not Two Face I'm trying to make the best decision.
 
#24
I used the Tech21 BBC in full band setting tonight and it was just great ... only a touch of the detune and it sounds perfect in the mix. Nods from all in the band. The keyboard player actually said he didn't know I used chorus before (which I think is due to the MXR chorus being way too subtle).
 
#25
I really like my big box EHX Small Clone. Adds some great "presence" and can go from mild sweetening to over the top crazy sounds with just a knob and a switch. Sounds better for what I like than every other chorus pedal I've tried (and I've tried a lot, from the MXR Bass Chorus to vintage Boss CE-2s to the TC Corona, and others).
 
#26
Sir Sly Ry said:
I kind of wish the Visual Sound H20 V2 was still being made. =\
That seemed promising.
Click to expand...

You can still get their Liquid Chorus, which is roughly the same as the H20, but without the echo. I haven't used that one (but had a H20 for a while).

I've used a number of choruses and still have most of the ones I've tried. Aside from the old Danelectro Cool Cat 18v (very important!) Stereo Chorus, our Rocktron Dreamstar Chorus is one of my favorites. It's basically two choruses together, allowing you a lot of depth (if you have one set at a very slow, deep setting and the other at a bit faster, more shallow one), without losing much low end, if any at all.

Here's an old demo I did of it on my Warwick Streamer LX (read: active bass).

Dreamstar Chorus - Fretted
 
#27
So been playing around a little with the Tech 21 Bass Boost Chorus.

I've noticed that if I crank the bass knob all the way up, it's easy to cause the pedal to distort. That's a shame. I don't normally crank the bass knob but there are times when it's appropriate. I wonder if any pedal would have that problem....

The detune with multivoice sounds great. Wish I could tweak that sound more though. Not sure there's as much of a use for the depth and speed knobs since the detune is there? What do you guys think?

Still only been playing on my practice amp, more thoughts to come later.
 
#28
I have quite hot levels from my active basses but have not noticed distortion. Maybe you could use your amp to add lows instead of the cranking it on the bass though? Personally I don't feel chorus works that well with a very bassy sound, but that's maybe a matter of taste.

The depth and speed knobs represent the traditional modulated chorus sound to me, and you could either use them separately from the detune knob or mix everything for something different. I like to use only the detune, set at or slightly beyond the hash/sharp sign.
 
#29
I sent the Tech 21 back. Maybe I should have played with it longer but once my refund goes through I'm going to try the Orbital Modulator next. The traditional modulation on the Tech 21 only seemed to have the benefit of messing with the speed knob to me. The speed knob did absolutely nothing if depth was turned down: it had no effect on detune.

With that said, I found turn the detune knob flat and turning on multivoice made a really nice sound. Unfortunately, it seemed like the only sound I would really use. I don't imagine myself have a huge pedalboard in the future, I just want to find a few really solid pedals. I'm not ruling out the Bass Boost Chorus because that detune with multivoice is so nice, but I really do need to try to Orbital Modulator for myself and if it fits my style.
 
#30
So it's possible the distortion I was hearing with the BBC was just my practice amp and not due to the pedal. Unfortunately I sent it back for a refund before I tried it out on my big rig. It's still a possibility.

Orbital Modulator seems pretty good for phasers but I have nothing to compare it to. I haven't been able to get a chorus/flanger sound I like out of it yet, it sounds too hollow for those effects.

I'm thinking about putting in a bid for the MXR Stereo Chorus on ebay. Think that is a wise move?
 
#32
And as I'm thinking about possibly bidding on the stereo chorus, I'm also thinking about what will happen when I combine effects. For one, I know I'll eventually get a reverb. The Bass Boost Chorus, I hypothesize, might be ideal for combining with other effects if you're only using its detune function, since it keeps things nice and thick and doesn't get too crazy on its own.

Hmm. So many possibilities. Too many options.
 
#34
One thing at a time, my man. =)

The BBC and Dispatch Master sounded SO GOOD TOGETHER but the Dispatch Master had too many flaws for me to keep it.

One thing is for sure (well, so far), the Orbital Modulator is NOT my chorus pedal. Maybe worth keeping for phaser? I wish I could get my hands on a EBS Dphaser to play around with.
 
#35
All right, EFF IT, calling my chorus hunt over. Just ordered a bass boost chorus again. The Orbital Modulator just is not giving me any chorus sounds that I like. And I don't have time to keep trying to find that "perfect chorus." I'll be happy with the BBC for a long time I think.

Now just to decide if the Orbital Modulator is worth keeping for the phaser side, or if I need something else.
 
#37
Ok my BBC arrived. My second go with it, but now I'm playing on my big rig (SVT4 Pro, 4x10, 15) and wooooowwwwwwwww. Haven't had much time to playing with the settings too much, but mix, depth, speed at 12:00, multivoice on, detune a *good deal* flat, hollllyyyy hell. Deep, rich, kickass chorus to my ears so far. It seems to work great for both melancholy material and slamming it hard rock-out material.

Sorry Obrital Modulator, you have to go. Just not cuttin' it as far as chorus is concerned.

I will add it IS possible to clip the BBC. I have an active bass and if I crank the volume and one or two tone knobs, it starts distorting. I *do* have instances (well one) where I crank the mid and treble knobs at the end of a song, but I also turn down the volume knob to compensate. It doesn't distort when I turn the volume knob down. Just be aware it is possible to make the pedal distort (in a bad way) but I think the chances of that happening during 95% of songwriting (rough estimate) is unlikely.
 

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