Skip to the Chorus

So, you want to add a thick, rich, lush, multi-dimensional shimmer to your guitar tone?  You need a chorus pedal!

The chorus effect first became available to guitarists with the 1976 release of Roland’s Boss CE-1 Chorus Ensemble with chorus and vibrato effects.  The effect was taken from the Roland Jazz Chorus amplifier, first released in 1975.  Chorus ensemble effects had previously appeared on keyboards.  Fortunately, today’s chorus pedals are not as big or heavy as the CE-1, may not disappoint you with a slight drop in volume when they’re on, and may feature true-bypass so as not to mess with your tone when they’re off.  In spite of these modern improvements, there are many who regard the CE-1 as unsurpassed for its thick, rich chorus and dreamy vibrato, and they continue to change hands for handsome sums.

What does a chorus pedal do, I hear you cry?  Put simply, the input signal is repeated in close intervals (milliseconds) to make the output sound like multiple voices.  The depth control increases the intensity of the effect and the rate control alters the delay time of the repeats.

I first encountered chorus when a friend loaned me a light blue Boss compact pedal.  It may have been a CE-2 or perhaps a CE-3.  I was blown away by it and I’ve been hooked on chorus ever since.  When I eventually purchased my own chorus pedal, it was a Boss CE-5 Chorus Ensemble.  If I’m honest, I would say it was okay, but it lacked some warmth.  The CE-5, I believe, uses a digital chip, unlike some of its analog predecessors.  Maybe that was the problem!

The CE-5 ended up on eBay (and I hope the new owner was pleased with it) and I spent the money on a second hand Jacques Meistersinger, also an eBay purchase.  The seller told me he had an Electro Harmonix Poly Chorus and he couldn’t justify putting both pedals on his pedalboard.  My initial impression, on beholding the Meistersinger, was that it was housed in a particularly unaesthetically pleasing case.  Let’s be honest - it’s an ugly pedal, but what a sound!  Jacques says he took his inspiration from the TC Electronic Chorus/Flanger, the Boss CE and Dimension products, and the Electro-Harmonix Small Clone.  Interestingly, Jacques has recently changed the housing of his pedals, but looks aside, I love this pedal!  What makes it so special?  Could it be that it uses true analog delay chips?

Modern technology continues to push the boundaries of what effects pedals can do.  Eventide’s line of stompboxes has presented guitarists with a huge pallet of choice.  The Mod Factor offers four different chorus effects: liquid, shimmer, organic and classic, with deep editing of the parameters and MIDI control.  All of this is perfect if you need lots of different chorus options, but to my ears the Mod Factor sucks some of the tone out of my sound and adds a bit of noise.  The Mod Factor is a truly wonderful creation, but if I was going to be stuck on a desert island with just one chorus pedal, I’d take the Meistersinger, thanks very much!