A Tour de Chorus

I've been talking a lot about chorus on my mastodon, like, A LOT. + So I thought it would be fun to explore my chorus pedals a bit and + present this information in some shareable way, since no one wants to + listen to 18 minutes of audio in a row.

What's on display

So I have three chorus pedals to show off today:

Boss CE-20
Warlus Audio Julia
Multivox CB-1 Chorus Box

The other gear

I will be playing each of these pedals through my THR-100HD (see + my previous music blog post in which I deep dive a + bit into this amp). It's running on the crunch channel, just at + the edge of breakup, with little to no reverb.

As for guitar - I am using my Reverend Descent RA Baritone.

The demos

For each of these demos I will be playing the same loop (mostly). I + recorded a loop into my Boss RC-3 to remove any playing bias towards the + more warbely chorus tones, and to make it easier for me! Each demo is + about 48s long (depending on how good my trimming was). I added a bit of + EQ in post to cut out some digital hum introduced when pairing my CE-20 + with my RC-3 so sorry about that...

Let's start with the clean tone:

+ This loop is something I had been noodling on all week, while on + my chorus kick. I feel it's actually a decent demo because it calls + on a lot of classic chorus sounds. Individually picked notes, bright open + strings, and then at the end some Nirvana-like dark power chord picking. + All classic chorus sounds to me. +

CE-20

Next we can go through the CE-20. The CE-20 has 4 modes we'll be + demoing, but there are a total of 6. We are demoing the "Rich", + "Standard", "Dimensional D", and "CE-1" + settings. I skipped the "Acoustic" and "Bass" + settings as they've always felt like some slight EQ on the + "standard" mode.

Standard

We can start with "Standard" as it's the most "boss + chorus". Though I personally feel it lacks a bit of the bite the + CE-1 and CE-2 offer. But it wouldn't surprise me if + "Standard" was just a CE-2.

+ CE-20 Standard Mode - Rate 10 o'clock, Depth 2 o'clock +

+ +

+ CE-20 Standard Mode - Rate 2 o'clock, Depth 10 o'clock +

+ +

Rich

Let's compare this with the "Rich" mode. And keep in + mind the only settings I will be changing between these CE-20 modes is + the rate and depth. There is actually quite a bit of tone controlling you + get in the CE-20. But I generally keep those fairly static based on my + guitar and amp settings, and for the purposes of these demos are + static.

+ CE-20 Rich Mode - Rate 10 o'clock, Depth 2 o'clock +

+ +

Dimensional D

This mode is a recreation of the SDD-320 Dimension D effects unit, + later made into the Boss DC-2. This effect is one of my favorite + choruses. It's so unique. On the CE-20 there are 7 modes: 1 - 4, as + well as 3 "combo" modes: 1+4, 2+4, and 3+4. These map directly + to their SDD-320 counterparts, which also let you stack the modes + together. This really shines in stereo, but since the Julia is mono, I + felt it's only fair to use these how I use them on my board.

+ CE-20 Dimensional D Mode - Mode 3 +

+ +

+ CE-20 Dimensional D Mode - Mode 4 +

+ +

+ CE-20 Dimensional D Mode - Mode 3+4 +

+ +

These are always so cool to hear. When you get into the combo modes + you start getting more "chorus" and less just + "width/movement". But these are interesting to listen to + compared to the clean. There is subtle differences - but they're + there! It's almost like it is now less stark and smoother. Like the + notes are lathered in butter, mmm!

CE -1

Okay, now on to the real show, the CE-1. Not much to say about this + one. It's a CE-1, you have an "intensity" knob, and + it's so rich. The delay rate is much slower than you would expect, + almost logarithmic. But when you get past noon it starts to get quite + seasick.
+ Editors note: 7 o'clock may be a bit higher than 7. None + of these pedals have freaking numbers on their knobs, so it's all a + guess. But it's a bit up from off

+ CE-20 CE-1 Mode - Intensity 7 o'clock +

+ +

+ CE-20 CE-1 Mode - Intensity 10 o'clock +

+ +

Multivox CB-1 Chorus Box

The Multivox CB-1 Chorus Box is a CE-1 clone, according to the gear + page, it's literally just the same circuit and components. I got my 5 + years ago because, well, I love chorus. Currently, a part of my rack unit + to be used with my synths, this chorus is just so smooth. But the biggest + trouble is dialing in the right level. You'll notice for the CB-1 + demos it's a different demo recording. I had to move my setup and I + accidentally wiped the RC-3. But because the CB-1 can be a bit tricky to + dial in, it's a bit quieter than the other demo tracks. But the level + control is one of my favorites, as it can add some crunch to the tone on + the peaks, adding a lot of flavor. I am running my guitar through the + "hi" input, because it gives me a bit more play with the input + level.

Chorus

+ CB-1 Chorus Mode - Intensity 7 o'clock +

+ +

+ CB-1 Chorus Mode - Intensity 10 o'clock +

+ +

+ CB-1 Chorus Mode - Intensity 2 o'clock +

+ +

Vibrato

While this is mono, so it's acting like a straight vibrato. When + playing in stereo this creates it's own chorus, the stereo outs are + "dry" and "wet". This differs from the CE-1 chorus + too, so it's like 2 chorus pedals in one. These demos are in + mono.

+ CB-1 Vibrato Mode - Rate 10 o'clock, Depth 2 o'clock +

+ +

+ CB-1 Vibrato Mode - Rate 2 o'clock, Depth 10 o'clock +

+ +

CB-1 Off with Level Boost

The CB-1 when over driven (just by the guitar itself) gets really warm + crunch to signal, and it's a lot of fun. I usually run my Model D + through this and I love it.

+ CB-1 Off - Level to a point where when I dig in it clips heavily +

+ +

Walrus Audio Julia

I picked up the Julia because it's such a versatile chorus: giving + you control over the rate, depth, lag, waveform, and mix. This lets you + craft basically ANY chorus sound you want. Exploring sounds, I've + noticed the major limiter being the rate. The Julia is just SO fast. Even + at min rate, it's still faster than like 1/3 of the Boss rates. But + the sounds are still amazing!

+ Julia - Triangle Wave, Rate 7 o'clock, Depth 2 o'clock, Lag 3 + o'clock, Mix 12 o'clock (chorus) +

+ +

+ Julia - Sine Wave, Rate 10 o'clock, Depth 2 o'clock, Lag 9 + o'clock, Mix 12 o'clock (chorus) +

+ +

+ Julia - Sine Wave, Rate 9 o'clock, Depth 3 o'clock, Lag 9 + o'clock, Mix 12 o'clock (chorus) +

+ +

+ Julia - Triangle Wave, Rate 8 o'clock, Depth 12 o'clock, Lag + 12 o'clock, Mix 5 o'clock (vibrato, max) +

+ +

Thoughts

Realistically? I love every single one of these choruses. It's + such an amazing effect, and I was messing around with the dirty channel + too, which still sounded great! The CB-1 was by no means a steal, but + it's my favorite chorus tone. But it comes with some quirks being a + late 70, early 80s device. The CE-20 is amazing but very much a "mid + 00s digital pedal" giving some of that digital-ness to it, + especially when mixing with other digital pedals. I'm sure you heard + the high pitched wine in the background. I EQ'd it out, but it's + there, and it bothers me. I think getting a CE-2w would give me a lot of + the options I want from this, without those digital artifacts. The CE-20 + would be perfect if it had a vibrato mode, given the CE-1 has one, and + really make it the perfect all-in-one. But given I've had this pedal + for at least 12 years (probably closer to 13. I can dig out the box and + see if I kept the receipt). I got in in college as my first ever chorus. + I was enamoured with it. I'd be on my board today if it wasn't so + big. The Julia is the perfect multi-tool chorus, and I've been really + happy with it. But it lacks that really SLOW rate that the Boss pedals + have, making it a BIT harder to really dial in the CE-1 tones.

I joked on mastodon that I was did this to convince myself I don't + NEED a CE-2w or DC-2w...and now I want them even more!