Using too much chorus effect

[blackba]

One thing I have noticed is the overuse of Chorus. It seems to be more common with SS amps. I know a couple of guys, one plays through a Line 6 spider III, the other through a Spider Valve MKI, both use way too much chorus on their clean sounds. Any Clean sound must have chorus it seems in their minds.

When I starting out I had a peavey transtube supreme head. I had a DOD G10 rack effects processor and just had to have chorus on the clean, well 90% of the time. I found the clean on the peavey pretty dull and lifeless, so I used Chorus to liven it up. When I switched the tube amps, I found I didn't use Chorus much and that continues to this day.

I have heard some clips of guys on here using chorus and they use it really tastefuly, but that seems to be the exception.

So anyone else noticed that SS or modeling amp + your player = too much chorus?

 

['63-Strat]

I've definitely noticed it, but I think it's more a question of some people get stuck in the mindset of having to use their gear/fx to its full potential/feel like just using an uncolored sound just isn't as good as if they "get the right settings, bro" etc. Just because your rack fx/pedalboard can do pitch/filter/mod/reverb/delay etc effects all at once doesn't mean you should, and definitely doesn't mean you should never use a dry sound. A good clean or overdrive sound often doesn't need anything. I've got a gsystem that can do all sorts of crazy effects but I *try* to use them tastefully.

 

[Chris6870]

Most o f the modelers/Mutli FX presets I have hear are over the top by default. Maybe they are not tweaking them and just using factory presets.

 

[blackba]

Most o f the modelers/Mutli FX presets I have hear are over the top by default. Maybe they are not tweaking them and just using factory presets.

Good point, that is alot of the issue right there.

 

[fek]

Zakk's live Ozzy tone has a ton of chorus. Always has. I have never been able to use chorus on my gainy tones. Either I just can't dial it in the right way or I just don't like it.

 

[Gsxrbusa]

So what do you consider an acceptable amount of chorus when playing clean? Not trying to be a dick or anything just curious what is considered ok. I grew up in the 80's and it seems everyone used the shit out of chorus on a clean sound and even on dirty(Zakk) for some dudes. Sometimes I like chorus on my clean parts but a good sounding clean channel doesn't really need it. I still use chorus on occasion.

Do you have any clips of an acceptable amount of chorus? Or tastefully done chorus? Would like to hear what your thoughts are.

Also, When I think of chorus I instantly think of Ozzy No rest for the wicked and Iron Maiden Somewhere in time.

 

[rcm78]

I prefer a little bit of delay to chorus.

 

[blackba]

So what do you consider an acceptable amount of chorus when playing clean? Not trying to be a dick or anything just curious what is considered ok. I grew up in the 80's and it seems everyone used the shit out of chorus on a clean sound and even on dirty(Zakk) for some dudes. Sometimes I like chorus on my clean parts but a good sounding clean channel doesn't really need it. I still use chorus on occasion.

Do you have any clips of an acceptable amount of chorus? Or tastefully done chorus? Would like to hear what your thoughts are.

Also, When I think of chorus I instantly think of Ozzy No rest for the wicked and Iron Maiden Somewhere in time.

I don't have any clips of an overdone chorus or one done more tastey. To me too much chorus is when every clean tone on every song is drenched in chorus. No clean with little or no chorus is every used. I used to be guilty of this when I had a SS amp, every time I played clean I had to have tons of chorus whether the song called for it or not.

 

[rupe]

I think part of the issue, in addition the aforementioned overly "wet" presets, it that too many players dial in their tones in isolation and at a lower volume than they gig/record with. What sounds "cool" in a room frequently doesn't translate to the stage or a recording.

 

[boost]

I think part of the issue, in addition the aforementioned overly "wet" presets, it that too many players dial in their tones in isolation and at a lower volume than they gig/record with. What sounds "cool" in a room frequently doesn't translate to the stage or a recording.

No truer words...

Even if you dial in your rig at gig levels by yourself, things change when you add other instruments to the mix. Dial it in again and you're good to go...until you get to the gig and then have to fine tune your sound to the room. Then when people fill the room things change...and then your amp gets hot and the tone changes...

Wait, why do we put ourselves through this shit again?

If I learned one thing from Indians, peyote, and the desert, it's that change is the only constant.

 

[Shiny_Surface]

Guilty

I've taken my chorus pedal out of the chain and set it aside in an attempt to re-program my habits...

My own personal use doesn't really have anything to do with using "lower volume house type tones" in a band situation though. It's not always about that, alot of home players were in bands/played out live and just out of the scene and relegated to home jamming. So they are aware of the adjustments that need to be made in that type of playing environment...

 

[ACShreds]

I like using chorus on my lead tones, almost as much as zakk uses but not quite that much

 

[petejt]

One thing I have noticed is the overuse of Chorus. It seems to be more common with SS amps. I know a couple of guys, one plays through a Line 6 spider III, the other through a Spider Valve MKI, both use way too much chorus on their clean sounds. Any Clean sound must have chorus it seems in their minds.

When I starting out I had a peavey transtube supreme head. I had a DOD G10 rack effects processor and just had to have chorus on the clean, well 90% of the time. I found the clean on the peavey pretty dull and lifeless, so I used Chorus to liven it up. When I switched the tube amps, I found I didn't use Chorus much and that continues to this day.

That's exactly why a lot of chorus effect was used- to liven up the dull sound of their amp. It makes it extra thick, like a good bolognese sauce.

A lot of the guys you know that are using the Spider amps, are probably just copying a few of the famous examples of chorused clean tones, so think they have to do that any time they have a clean tone.

And also, a lot of session guitarists during the 1980s, when recording for poppy soppy romantic ballads & radio songs and the like, they drenched their signal in so much chorus and harmonising and pitch shifting etc. so that they would stand out in the mix, amongst the massive banks of cheesey synthesisers. It's almost like they were making their guitar appear to be synthesised as well, to fit into the producers' ideals.


Andy Summers is one of the most famous musicians to effectively use a modulated, chorused guitar signal. In fact he used a flanger most of the time (but it sounds really chorusy), but the trick is that he'd switch it on and off for different parts of the song, and sometimes wouldn't even use it for a song. That way you don't hear the same chorused sound all the time. It's just the same with effective use of any effects.



I personally really like the Chorus effect, but try to use it moderately so it's not overdone. I also tend to use a swirly flanger for clean tones rather than just a straight-up chorus effect. I really like using chorus on dirty tones as well, but it's a trickier thing because chorus can shift the midrange a bit- it can take the low mid guts out and make it sound muddy or honky. Or it just sounds seasick. It can sound cool for a little bit, but gets overbearing after a while.

 

[petejt]

Also, When I think of chorus I instantly think of Ozzy No rest for the wicked and Iron Maiden Somewhere in time.

I should give both of those a good listen...

 

[blackba]

One thing I have noticed is the overuse of Chorus. It seems to be more common with SS amps. I know a couple of guys, one plays through a Line 6 spider III, the other through a Spider Valve MKI, both use way too much chorus on their clean sounds. Any Clean sound must have chorus it seems in their minds.

When I starting out I had a peavey transtube supreme head. I had a DOD G10 rack effects processor and just had to have chorus on the clean, well 90% of the time. I found the clean on the peavey pretty dull and lifeless, so I used Chorus to liven it up. When I switched the tube amps, I found I didn't use Chorus much and that continues to this day.

That's exactly why a lot of chorus effect was used- to liven up the dull sound of their amp. It makes it extra thick, like a good bolognese sauce.

A lot of the guys you know that are using the Spider amps, are probably just copying a few of the famous examples of chorused clean tones, so think they have to do that any time they have a clean tone.

And also, a lot of session guitarists during the 1980s, when recording for poppy soppy romantic ballads & radio songs and the like, they drenched their signal in so much chorus and harmonising and pitch shifting etc. so that they would stand out in the mix, amongst the massive banks of cheesey synthesisers. It's almost like they were making their guitar appear to be synthesised as well, to fit into the producers' ideals.


Andy Summers is one of the most famous musicians to effectively use a modulated, chorused guitar signal. In fact he used a flanger most of the time (but it sounds really chorusy), but the trick is that he'd switch it on and off for different parts of the song, and sometimes wouldn't even use it for a song. That way you don't hear the same chorused sound all the time. It's just the same with effective use of any effects.



I personally really like the Chorus effect, but try to use it moderately so it's not overdone. I also tend to use a swirly flanger for clean tones rather than just a straight-up chorus effect. I really like using chorus on dirty tones as well, but it's a trickier thing because chorus can shift the midrange a bit- it can take the low mid guts out and make it sound muddy or honky. Or it just sounds seasick. It can sound cool for a little bit, but gets overbearing after a while.

I thought Andy Summers used a Chorus pedal, not a flanger. I know the Ibanez CS-9 and Maxon CS-9pro can get pretty close to those tones. Andy uses chorus pretty tastefully IMO.

I have never owned a Flanger, do you have one that you like in particular?

 

[Chris O]

While I liked it, Jake E Lee used wayyyyyy too much chorus, etc in Ozzy's stuff most of the time. Good thing he was by himself. He would have gotten lost otherwise.

I like a solid, barky tone with a little delay. Chorus has a place too, but I don't use it much.

 

[Mr. Willy]

I used to use a bit of chorus on my dirty sound, but I've gone away from it. Now it's guitar, od, amp. Much cleaner sound. I only use my chorus now for a warble effect occasionally. I like a hint of chorus on clean tones a la Eric Johnson or Andy Summers, but it's easy to go overboard.

 

[mentoneman]

guys in the 80s were using chorus to approximate and blend in with keyboard parts so part of that sound was to be more transparent and a supportive texture and not stand out.
i take the same philosophy today, playing alongside a piano, keyboard player and two other guitar players, and 5 singers.
sometimes i don't want to "cut" per se, just add a color.

 

[AmpliFIRE]

I recently picked up an old MIJ CE-2 and I can't seem to turn it of. It's very addicting

 

[petejt]

Andy Summers is one of the most famous musicians to effectively use a modulated, chorused guitar signal. In fact he used a flanger most of the time (but it sounds really chorusy), but the trick is that he'd switch it on and off for different parts of the song, and sometimes wouldn't even use it for a song. That way you don't hear the same chorused sound all the time. It's just the same with effective use of any effects.

I thought Andy Summers used a Chorus pedal, not a flanger. I know the Ibanez CS-9 and Maxon CS-9pro can get pretty close to those tones. Andy uses chorus pretty tastefully IMO.

I have never owned a Flanger, do you have one that you like in particular?

Nope- it was a flanger! He used the Electro Harmonix Electric Mistress. It has a very warm, swirly sound that sounds really syrupy when set to a slow rate. I think it has a longer Delay Time, so sounds very close to a chorus rather than other airy-sounding flangers.

He didn't use a chorus until later- well it was the Roland Jazz Chorus amp, that he used for Every Breath You Take in 1983. Later when he went solo, he used dedicated rack choruses but personally I think his flanger sound was much better. For the reunion tour a few years back he did use a chorus pedal- the Red Witch Empress. It has a Delay Time knob (called 'Voice') so you can get it to sound like the old Mistress flanger. It works really well.

I've got the Deluxe Electric Mistress. Mine is pretty old, from 1978 or something. It's almost the same as the original, barely any difference I reckon. I love it! I prefer it to other flangers. Most folks go for the EVH-style MXR flanger or the A/DA, but I like the EHX version. I love its swirl and it sounds very warm and full. If I didn't have one I'd probably buy the Red Witch Empress chorus.

I'll do some new clips of it when I can.



The Ibanez/Maxon is a pretty versatile chorus device, so I guess can replicate Andy's modulated tone fairly well.