Which Chorus Pedal?

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braintheory

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I used to own a TC Electronic SCF and it wasn't for me. Even though it was much better than most choruses at preserving my dynamics and original tone, it still wasn't as good for that as I would have liked and my main complaint was it didn't make my existing tone more lush or pretty. So, I'm looking for a new chorus pedal and I narrowed it down to: Dr. Scientist Cosmichorus, Retro-Sonic CE-1, Analogman, Providence, Moog Cluster Flux, Red Witch Empress, and the Diamond Halo Chorus. Which one do you think would work best for me?

Again I want a chorus that sound very lush and pretty (not too cold like the SCF) and please don't mention choruses other than the ones I listed.
 
Rezamatix":3bt2xuqr said:
What if I don't want to pick from the ones you listed?
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This.

Know what? Fuck it.

On the cheap, MXR Analog Chorus. You'll be a fool, IMHO, to forego this pedal just cos' it ain't boutique or expensive enough.

If you have the $$$, JAM Pedals Waterfall.

But of those you listed, I love the Providence Anadime Chorus and the Red Witch Empress the best.
 
The MXR Analog Chorus is the one I chose and it works just fine.
 
Retro-sonic for me but not sure he's still making them, was out of the original chips last I heard
 
RG955TT":2xfodei3 said:
Retro-sonic for me but not sure he's still making them, was out of the original chips last I heard
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^ This. I don't think they're currently available. You could always grab a used one - there's one on TGP right now for around $350. :shocked:
 
I'm going to defy you and suggest the Strymon Ola. A superior chorus to any you've listed.

-C
 
Rezamatix":3ru2xodt said:
What if I don't want to pick from the ones you listed?
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This is what I thought immedialty when I read his post. So I didn't bother
 
Ok, I give up :lol: :LOL: , you can name other pedals, but remember it needs to preserve tone and dynamics even better than the SCF did, and I doubt most non-boutique brands (and even many boutique brands) like MXR would be able to do that, but maybe I'm wrong.

Also, let me know if you think any of the choruses I listed are not as good as others.
 
I would go with the red witch or diamond, heard great things about both. I problem i have with chorus pedals in general, is that for the little i use one, they are pretty expensive.
 
On the high end, you can't do better than a Strymon Ola.

On the low end, the Mooer Ensemble pedal is REALLY good & not just for the price.
 
I have a Red Witch and didn't care for it...don't remember why but it didn't make my board to replace the Retro Sonic. PM me if you want to buy it, its brand new in box....
 
The Danelectro Cool Cat chorus, has never been surpassed for my liking.
 
Jacque Meistersinger. I didn't jive with the Retrosonic for some reason. Preferred the Jacque to MXR.
 
braintheory said:
I used to own a TC Electronic SCF and it wasn't for me. Even though it was much better than most choruses at preserving my dynamics and original tone, it still wasn't as good for that as I would have liked and my main complaint was it didn't make my existing tone more lush or pretty. So, I'm looking for a new chorus pedal and I narrowed it down to: Dr. Scientist Cosmichorus, Retro-Sonic CE-1, Analogman, Providence, Moog Cluster Flux, Red Witch Empress, and the Diamond Halo Chorus. Which one do you think would work best for me?

Again I want a chorus that sound very lush and pretty (not too cold like the SCF) and please don't mention choruses other than the ones I listed.
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Necro…..What did you end up settling on Sam?
 
Bxlxaxkxe said:
Necro…..What did you end up settling on Sam?
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Hahaha this was from almost a decade ago when I had way less gear experience and was a different person in some ways lol. If I recall correctly I went through a few including the cosmichorus and none of them did it for me. Fwiw I’m just not a chorus guy or into modulation type fx in general and really don’t like hearing them in clips (especially gear demos of all things lol, seriously wtf is up with that). That being said, I did later borrow an original ‘70’s Boss CE-1 from a friend as well as his others (maybe it was CE-2 or 3, can’t remember) and I gotta admit if you are into chorus the CE-1 was head and shoulders above the others. It was lush, warm, organic the way you’d expect from a vintage piece of gear and was actually successful unlike the others in making my existing tone more pretty sounding without that awful filtered/plastic-y thing 99% of pedals made today seem to do to my core sound (pedals in any category). It actually had an authentic great sound for what it is, while these others I had or tried sounded more like gimmicks that have no chance in standing the test of time. The SCF I could see having it’s place for some, but to me it was just too inherently cold sounding, but not in an artificial/ugly tonal artifact way like the Empress or Strymon pedals if that makes sense. Anyway, hope that was in some way helpful my long rambling lol. There are also other vintage chorus’s that look cool that maybe could be as good or better potentially as the CE-1, but not worth it for my interests to try them
 
braintheory said:
Hahaha this was from almost a decade ago when I had way less gear experience and was a different person in some ways lol. If I recall correctly I went through a few including the cosmichorus and none of them did it for me. Fwiw I’m just not a chorus guy or into modulation type fx in general and really don’t like hearing them in clips (especially gear demos of all things lol, seriously wtf is up with that). That being said, I did later borrow an original ‘70’s Boss CE-1 from a friend as well as his others (maybe it was CE-2 or 3, can’t remember) and I gotta admit if you are into chorus the CE-1 was head and shoulders above the others. It was lush, warm, organic the way you’d expect from a vintage piece of gear and was actually successful unlike the others in making my existing tone more pretty sounding without that awful filtered/plastic-y thing 99% of pedals made today seem to do to my core sound (pedals in any category). It actually had an authentic great sound for what it is, while these others I had or tried sounded more like gimmicks that have no chance in standing the test of time. The SCF I could see having it’s place for some, but to me it was just too inherently cold sounding, but not in an artificial/ugly tonal artifact way like the Empress or Strymon pedals if that makes sense. Anyway, hope that was in some way helpful my long rambling lol. There are also other vintage chorus’s that look cool that maybe could be as good or better potentially as the CE-1, but not worth it for my interests to try them
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Totally get it. I’ve come a loooong way since 2013 myself lol.

Putting together another board for home use and checking out some different chorus pedals that I havent tried yet

Nothing really beats running the pcm80 in a WDW rig for chorus tones but running a pedal up front has its own vibe for different textures. No interest in dealing with an OG ce1 though I can tell you that lol. I’ve got a few pedals incoming I may try to record some clips
 
Bxlxaxkxe said:
Totally get it. I’ve come a loooong way since 2013 myself lol.

Putting together another board for home use and checking out some different chorus pedals that I havent tried yet

Nothing really beats running the pcm80 in a WDW rig for chorus tones but running a pedal up front has its own vibe for different textures. No interest in dealing with an OG ce1 though I can tell you that lol. I’ve got a few pedals incoming I may try to record some clips
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Sounds cool. The one thing I do like sometimes is reverb on my clean tones and I do have a ‘70’s Furman RV-1 that imo sounds gorgeous. Best rack reverb I’ve tried so far and makes any reverb pedal I’ve had/tried sound like an embarrassment lol. I’ve not explored racks for stuff outside reverb, PQ, preamps or poweramps, but I’d bet they can also be better for chorus and stuff like that as well
 
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