Chorus pedal with good headroom - (no distortion with high gain)

boristhespider7

boristhespider7

Jan 27, 2008
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#1
Can anyone recommend a chorus pedal with high headroom that won't distort with hot pickups?

I love my Clone theory and Bass clone (and tend to prefer analogue chorus for their warmer sound) however i've noticed all the ones i've tried tend to have some distortion with hot pickups such as on my Spector Pulse II (EMJ P/J set). They also distort when i'm on guitar playing humbuckers.

Are there any out there that won't?
I'd prefer a 9v pedal as i don't want to have to upgrade all my power to accommodate 18v.
I have a TC Juno V2 chorus which has an internal line level switch, that works but has the opposite problem (way too too quiet).
I'm aware something like the TC Electronic SCF has an input gain to adjust to signal level coming in, which i'm thinking might be what i'm after, although sounds way to subtle for me on all the clips I've heard online.
I'm also looking at he EBS Unichorus which is marketed as having cleaner headroom.
Any other recommendations?
 
#3
I've used a CEB-3 for years and it's a very capable pedal. It handles anything I've thrown at it. I would like it if the effect were a little more pronounced; the main weakness of the CEB-3 is that it's a more subtle chorus. But, there are worse things in the world.
 
#4
IronLung1986 said:
I've used a CEB-3 for years and it's a very capable pedal. It handles anything I've thrown at it. I would like it if the effect were a little more pronounced; the main weakness of the CEB-3 is that it's a more subtle chorus. But, there are worse things in the world.
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Me too, used to own a CEB-3 but sold it many years back when I discovered EHX as I found the Boss way too subtle, unless the controls were maxed out. However, never tried it with high output pickups
 
#6
Eric Cioe said:
The Jam Bass Waterfall sounds great and has headroom for days.
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Not one that's on my radar, but checking it out on their webpage it says:

Please note: Vintage-style BBD chip chorus pedals like the Waterfall are designed to work best with passive pickups/electronics.
Hot-output active instruments might clip the pedal's input stage depending on your settings
 
#7
I mean I'm sure it can clip, but it had noticeably more headroom than the CE-2W. At the time I was playing a 5 with medium output pickups, mostly with its preamp bypassed. My use case at the time tended to have it at the end of a synth chain with octave, overdrive or fuzz or both, and a big stanky filter. So maybe that contributed to the headroom issue with the CE-2W.

If I needed a chorus again in my use case today (often I would use it by itself, sometimes with octave, rarely with anything additional), I would try the CE-2W first because the Boss form factor is better than Jam Pedals for me. But either would work fine.
 
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#8
Any others?
I've put a bid on the 'bay for a TC Corona chorus as they are supposed to handle line level so figured they should work with high output pick ups. Digital, but at least they are very tweakable so hoping I can warm it up with one of the tone prints.
 
#10
boristhespider7 said:
Any others?
I've put a bid on the 'bay for a TC Corona chorus as they are supposed to handle line level so figured they should work with high output pick ups. Digital, but at least they are very tweakable so hoping I can warm it up with one of the tone prints.
Click to expand...
I just attempted to clip my Echo Fix Chorus Vibrato by running a +40 dB boost into it and failed. Beautiful analogue chorus, and can do a univibe effect with the “resonance” (feedback) control dialled up (and chorus off, of course). I’ve only had a couple of choruses before this, so not reams of experience with them, but I don’t think there’s anything that would count as an upgrade. Different, of course, but not better in terms of build quality and the like.
 
#12
GrowlerBox said:
I just attempted to clip my Echo Fix Chorus Vibrato by running a +40 dB boost into it and failed. Beautiful analogue chorus, and can do a univibe effect with the “resonance” (feedback) control dialled up (and chorus off, of course). I’ve only had a couple of choruses before this, so not reams of experience with them, but I don’t think there’s anything that would count as an upgrade. Different, of course, but not better in terms of build quality and the like.
Click to expand...

Another one that's not currently on my radar....will have to check this out, cheers! 👍
 
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