Clean to Mean Rack Tones 12/27/25

[mentoneman]

Definitely agree there. Boss/Roland, TC, Dyno, Yamaha, all are different enough to warrant using them all. Chorus was the first effect that I really loved, my first two pedals were a CE-2 and a DM-3, well, after the obligatory distortion pedal. That old CE-2 is still my favorite chorus, too.

Have you ever tried the PastFX Chorus Ensemble? That's my current favorite CE-1 tone. I've got a newer JC120, which sounds awesome, but the PastFX is even better, I think, because it sounds more vintage.

Random thought, maybe I'll have to try running 3 CE-2s in a L/C/R configuration like a Dyno. Of course, the LFOs wouldn't be linked, but it still might be an interesting sound.

FWIW, my dream amps used to be a Fender BF Twin Reverb, Vox AC30, and Marshall 4104 (a 1962 would be closer to a Plexi, but I was a young metalhead ). I've always had a thing for 2x12s for some reason. But yeah, that Plexi/AC/Blackface trilogy is hard to beat.

this 77 is an oldie and the reverb doesn’t work but the chorus has that dense CE-1 dark throaty mucous especially when you feather in a dash of the distortion circuit.
have not tried the past fx but would like to. before them retrosonic was holding down king of the ce-1 clones. i’ve had several ce-2s which are also sweet, but Wayne’s CE-MOD checks that box for me with a nod to the CE-1 warmth and sounds better imo than the waza chorus.

you reminded me that the old roland/boss chorus effect is separate and apart from the equally great yet unique modulation in the sde and sdd units.

by contrast the tc chorus to me is more sparkling and wide with beautiful fidelity ala split pitch shift with stereo motion vs the deep dense boss warble.

 

[ChurchHill]

I've got a couple of PastFX pedals that I really like, mostly chorus and phasers. I've got the Retrosonic Chorus, too, and you're right, it's really nice. I find the PastFX to be a little less noisy, a little clearer sounding, and a little more vintage sounding. It was one of those pedals where, when I plugged it in and hit the first chord, I went, wow, there's the sound!

On the flanger side, I've got several PastFX including the Elastic Mattress, the Retrosonic Flanger, the Hartman Flanger, and they're all great. Of those, I'd probably go with the Hartman as my favorite, but there's just something about the OG Electric Mistress that's just so good, even with all the noise.

Come to think of it, I've never found a rack flanger that sounded as good as several pedals, like the MXR Flanger or the Chicago Iron Pedal Flanger. The TC1210 is great and Eventide and Lex have some great ones, but in my use, they're just not quite the same. I usually run the rate low and the resonance very low or off. Closer to a chorus, but with some of that well defined motion. Probably why I like the Yamaha Symphonic, it sounds more like a flanger without that jet plane whoosh that I usually don't care for except for special effects.