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pdecirce
Published on 08/01/08 at 09:31
Boss is an admirable company because they actually do some very difficult things. They make relatively sturdy gear at relatively affordable prices. Their higher end gear is even better in this way. And looking at the BOSS SUPER CHORUS CH-1 analog pedal, one of their more affordable units, it's easy to see. Featuring the usual 1/4 inch in and two 1/4 outs (one is mono), this foot pedal probably makes it pretty high up the professional food chain. It's called SUPER Chorus because of it's unique, shimmering tone, almost like a lower and wider wave pattern than some of the first REALLY chintzy pedals. It's thicker midrange allows the player to get into some seriously different sounds.
UTILIZATION
Chorus in general is best used in the 'chain', in my opinion, AFTER things like wah and distortion and of course compression. Putting it near the end keeps the impact hot for things like tube drive or distortion, so I place is toward the end. This is a great first pedal and you may find it's your last for a while as the diversity of sound in its spectrum is surprisingly wide. Please note that sometimes the powering of chorus pedals is tricky; make sure you either use 9-volt battery or get a well-shielded chain for your pedalboard.
SOUND QUALITY
The most important aspect -- the tone -- is where this affordable pedal shines. Understanding what chorus does: imagine your tone coming down toward your amplifier and suddenly amazingly quick snippets of the tone were totally removed, like half a second's worth. Then imagine this 'ribbon of tone' moving as slowly or quickly as you'd like, causing at fast speed a 'shimmering' and at slow speed a rambling 'warble'. To the ear (and mixed in with the band) it sounds so shimmery and washy it almost could be two guitars. That's why chorus is excellent in one guitar band's arsenal: it's a go-to for me almost anytime I'm playing rhythm. I don't solo w/ chorus pedal, you may like to. Now the chorus is most effective at a quicker "rate" (thus the rate knob), the output level has to be above 12 o'clock due to a slight deflating in tone from the pedal and there's also a 'depth' which sounds exactly like that. All the while, it's "super" chorus. See, it says so right there on the pedal, mate. It's not just chorus. It's super chorus.
OVERALL OPINION
Ultimately I've tried other analog chorus pedals and have returned, oddly, to this one. For any kind of clean channel strummin', pickin' or cluckin', it just totally brightens up the tone (try it low rate). Or use it with drive and a high depth and jam some Smashing Pumpkin chords. It really is one of the pedals Boss got right, whereas other of their comparable low-end stuff (distortion, phase. etc) doesn't sound it.
UTILIZATION
Chorus in general is best used in the 'chain', in my opinion, AFTER things like wah and distortion and of course compression. Putting it near the end keeps the impact hot for things like tube drive or distortion, so I place is toward the end. This is a great first pedal and you may find it's your last for a while as the diversity of sound in its spectrum is surprisingly wide. Please note that sometimes the powering of chorus pedals is tricky; make sure you either use 9-volt battery or get a well-shielded chain for your pedalboard.
SOUND QUALITY
The most important aspect -- the tone -- is where this affordable pedal shines. Understanding what chorus does: imagine your tone coming down toward your amplifier and suddenly amazingly quick snippets of the tone were totally removed, like half a second's worth. Then imagine this 'ribbon of tone' moving as slowly or quickly as you'd like, causing at fast speed a 'shimmering' and at slow speed a rambling 'warble'. To the ear (and mixed in with the band) it sounds so shimmery and washy it almost could be two guitars. That's why chorus is excellent in one guitar band's arsenal: it's a go-to for me almost anytime I'm playing rhythm. I don't solo w/ chorus pedal, you may like to. Now the chorus is most effective at a quicker "rate" (thus the rate knob), the output level has to be above 12 o'clock due to a slight deflating in tone from the pedal and there's also a 'depth' which sounds exactly like that. All the while, it's "super" chorus. See, it says so right there on the pedal, mate. It's not just chorus. It's super chorus.
OVERALL OPINION
Ultimately I've tried other analog chorus pedals and have returned, oddly, to this one. For any kind of clean channel strummin', pickin' or cluckin', it just totally brightens up the tone (try it low rate). Or use it with drive and a high depth and jam some Smashing Pumpkin chords. It really is one of the pedals Boss got right, whereas other of their comparable low-end stuff (distortion, phase. etc) doesn't sound it.