Chorus Off or Chorus On?

[Jim Soloway]

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At the risk of hijacking the thread, anybody got a different idea for thickening the sound of a single high note?

With the understanding that no one is likely to ever describe my tone as thick, my firm belief is that you can get a thicker sound and more sustain by playing with a lighter touch. I know this feels counterintuitive but when you hit a string hard, the energy dissipates very quickly so there is more emphasis on the attack than what follows and that means a thinner more percussive tone.

[Woody Sound]

They both have their place, both very nice.

[Zigracer]

For that passage you played, I'd vote for chorus off. But in general, I like chorus a lot.

[wildschwein]

On all the time and then Off for effect!

[yebdox]

Still have a thing for Metheny’s tone from the 80’s and 90’s (yes, I know he says it’s technically not chorus, with 3 sound sources, but it’s chorus…). Those live gigs of his back then would fill the room with such a warm, 3 dimensional tone, coming literally from everywhere. Heavenly band, tunes, so different and new… dynamics, compositional writing, plus there was Lyle! Great memories and that tone was so pivotal.

I lived in LA in the 80’s for a while and would listen to Robben Ford in clubs whenever I could. He had a dbx rack compressor with either some type of chorus or a slap back delay that fatten up a strat beautifully.(would trade off with his 335 at the time mostly, as well as his Esprit).

Of course, he had begun using his Dumble amp by then, as well. It was a great tone in his hands, though not part of his sound since.

And I loved all the Brit pop guitar tones, as well…. Jamie Oram-West, Alan Murphy, Andy Summers…. The “KERRANGGG” of rhythm guitar with a hard chorus…”One Thing Leads to Another”, “Walking on the Moon”, etc.

It’s just a flavor. Anything of value can be abused. Which reminds me, time to re-read The Fountainhead.

[Sigmund451]

I like the first off version better but I might like the second one if it was less effect.

This thread had me dig out my age old chorus and try it. I quite enjoy it when its just a little bit there.

I even had my wife check. When she heard me play a passage with it off and then on she could tell the difference.
She didnt immediately notice any impact without the comparison.

Once compared she knew what to look for but liked it.

Oddly enough it seems to fix the acoustics of my room. I guess the modulation keeps a couple of my bass notes from being eaten. Ive improved the room a lot but a couple of things continue to evade me. I probably need to treat the ceiling which I really dont feel like doing.

Anyway...spare chorus is nice. Heavy...Im not a big fan.