Duff chorus on a budget?

[uk_lefty]

Hi everyone, I'm looking for a good quality chorus pedal. I'm liking the Duff McKagan style sound rather than anything too radical. I'm also on a budget (aren't we all these days!), so don't want to be spending more than £70ish. I'm open to secondhand but wary of buying from random people after a few bad experiences.

 

Chorus pedals I've owned in the past:

Eden 18v thing, hated it.

Behringer bass chorus, bought two brand new, neither worked.

Hartke, was dead cheap and surprisingly good, sold when I went to multi fx.

Boss Bass Chorus, just found it so bland and not effective. 

 

I like the look of the EHX Bass Clone but to be honest as much as I want to like EHX pedals they just never, ever stay on my board. 

 

[Stylon Pilson]

I have a TC Electronic Corona Mini on my board. While I appreciate that it's slightly above your budget, I can vouch that it is well made and has plenty of tricks up its sleeve.

 

S.P.

[d-basser]

Similar to S.P., I'd grab a second hand Corona Chorus if I were you. There is a specific Duff Toneprint on there

[Baloney Balderdash]

Mooer Ensemble Queen maybe, which is essentially a Boss CE-2 clone, but specifically tuned for bass and with a dedicated tone and mix knob.

 

Or a Joyo Analog Chorus, which is a straight up Boss CE-2 clone.

 

Or the now out of production, but should be cheap if you can found one used as this too was a budget pedal when it was still being made, the Valeton Aquaflow Vintage Chorus, which is a take on the legendary Boss CE-1 circuit, but, unlike the original, with a dedicated respectively depth and rate control, and an added mix and tone control as well.

 

I personally use the Valeton Aquaflow Vintage Chorus in my current setup, and am really satisfied with it.

 

It can go from extremely subtle to really lush chorus and sounds absolutely beautiful.

 

Mind though that the taper of the knobs, bar the rate knob, which seems to function as one would expect, act bit weird on that Valeton chorus, that is that while the full range of the respective parameters are in fact actually there it mostly seems to happen within a relatively small part of the knobs entire travel, like within the last 1/3 or so of the travel of those knobs (on the tone control that would be 1/3 or so of the travel on each side of the noon position, though as said the entire range from very subtle to very lush is in fact covered there).

 

 

Edited September 16, 2022 by Baloney Balderdash

[sk8]

Ibanez CS9 clone? 

[Baloney Balderdash]

14 minutes ago, sk8 said:

Ibanez CS9 clone? 

The Joyo Classic Chorus is supposed to be an Ibanez CS9 clone, whereas the Joyo Analog Chorus, as I mentioned, is a Boss CE-2 clone.

 

The current production Ibanez Mini Chorus is also based on the CS9.

 

Edited September 16, 2022 by Baloney Balderdash

[T-Bay]

I know your history with EHX hasn’t been great, but their Small clone is brilliant on bass. For £70 you could probably get one new. Second hand they go for £30-50.

[Baloney Balderdash]

41 minutes ago, T-Bay said:

I know your history with EHX hasn’t been great, but their Small clone is brilliant on bass. For £70 you could probably get one new. Second hand they go for £30-50.

Just don't get the EHX Nano Small Clone, its' a different circuit and doesn't sound as great as the models mentioned following, get either the original big box Small Clone, which I think is actually still in production, the Neo Small Clone, or the Bass Clone.

Edited September 16, 2022 by Baloney Balderdash

[T-Bay]

3 minutes ago, Baloney Balderdash said:

Just don't get the EHX Nano Small Clone, its' a different circuit and doesn't sound as great as the models mentioned following, get either the original big box Small Clone, which I think is actually still in production, the Neo Small Clone, or the Bass Clone.

The big box small clone is still available new, I have one. And it is BIG

[Greg Edwards69]

Another vote for the TC corona mini.  I bought one specifically for the Duff toneprint and with all knobs pointing to 12:00 it definitely had "that sound".  You should be able to find a used one within your budget.

Here's an example of the toneprint. The engineer explains that it's a tri-chorus effect, so that's also worthy of exploration if the TC pedal is out of reach.

 

 

Edited September 16, 2022 by Greg Edwards69

[TeresaFR]

Whilst I'm very much a fan of the EHX Bass Clone and it gives me the chorus sound I absolutely love, the TC Corona or the Mooer Ensemble Queen might suit you more.

[oluolugbenga]

On 15/09/2022 at 11:08, uk_lefty said:

Hi everyone, I'm looking for a good quality chorus pedal. I'm liking the Duff McKagan style sound rather than anything too radical. I'm also on a budget (aren't we all these days!), so don't want to be spending more than £70ish. I'm open to secondhand but wary of buying from random people after a few bad experiences.

 

Chorus pedals I've owned in the past:

Eden 18v thing, hated it.

Behringer bass chorus, bought two brand new, neither worked.

Hartke, was dead cheap and surprisingly good, sold when I went to multi fx.

Boss Bass Chorus, just found it so bland and not effective. 

 

I like the look of the EHX Bass Clone but to be honest as much as I want to like EHX pedals they just never, ever stay on my board. 

 

EHX do a great Bass Chorus Nano now that is worth a look, I'd say.

[uk_lefty]

Thanks everyone. I'm gunning for a Corona Chorus, either mini or full size, seems like that will do what I need. 

 

I'd love to love the EHX one but the number of their pedals I've had that just turned out to be disappointments is too many. It sounds great on demos but their pedals just don't seem to be up to much when I play through them sadly.