Chorus Off or Chorus On?

[Jim Soloway]

[nyc chaz]

Chorus off for me is my preference.

[DawgBone]

It sounds nice both ways really. My humble suggestion is to set the Chorus mix control right at the spot where it's not noticeable until it's shut off. Effects that don't sound like they are there until you remove them are my personal favorite way to use them, as I love the basic sound of a nice electric guitar played well.

[MiniMerckx.22]

Chorus in the closet until it finally sells on eBay.

[Greywolf]

+1 on Dawgbone's subtle answer .

My feeling towards all effects, I want them so people question if they are in use .. just enough to add flavor.

[kris]

I prefer chorus off but it can be with chorus also but not too much effect...You can also set the parameters of the chorus differently.
Best
Kris

[John A.]

I think it's impossible to say from an isolated short solo sample like this. Chorus on everything all the time (especially mono chorus, though I realize you're asking about stereo chorus here) gets fatiguing and annoying, I wouldn't want to listen to an entire album with that sound. But as a color that drops in and out in an overall recording it can be a refreshing contrast (especially a very light stereo chorus; I'd probably go even lighter than what you have here).

[darkwaters]

Not an effect that I like (but then I’m not a fan of effects pedals generally), so I vote no.

[Unclegrumpy]

Chorus off. I agree with the sentiment that if you can hear/define it, it’s too much.

[jads57]

Chorus is subtle, and I like it! But your playing with fingers and gently is what appeals most to my ears!

[Aiq]

I like reverb, delay, and chorus but like spices in food enhance not dominate.

Turned up until audible then down a touch.

[Jim Soloway]

Thanks all for the input. I really like this idea of turning the effect up until audible and then don a touch. I will definitely give that a try.

[DawgBone]

Thanks all for the input. I really like this idea of turning the effect up until audible and then don a touch. I will definitely give that a try.

If you check my gigging pedalboard thread you'll see I have a spaceman meridian that I use as very slight doubling effect that is set to a way that just makes my note sound bigger, rather than doubled. The only trouble I've had is that it seems to be triggered best by solid picking and the guitar's volume control set higher. If I roll my guitar vol back and pick lightly for a couple of the slower more soulful tunes on my set list the effect doesn't engage correctly so I've had to shut it off during those songs. Might be worth checking on during your experimenting to make sure that isn't the case with the chorus. Good luck Jim!

[mr. beaumont]

I'm a child of the 80's, I like chorus a little too much.

[Bob_Ross]

I'm a child of the 80's, I like chorus a little too much.

LOL! I love heavily chorused clean guitar when playing 80s-influenced pop music, those chimey/cloudy chords like Andy Summers or Jamie West-Oram or Steve Lukather et al.

But I detest the sound of chorused guitar in jazz, especially on the solos. Seems to rob the lines of their impact, drama, and dynamics, turning everything into undifferentiated soup. I think my aversion to that sound started when I used to hear Mike Stern playing around Boston in the late 1970s; he had one of those yellow MXR Stereo Chorus stompboxes feeding a Fender Twin and an Acoustic combo amp, and it was just the noisiest mess of cheese I'd ever heard from a guitar. Nowadays I throw up in my mouth a little whenever I hear a jazz guitarist dial in anything resembling that sound.

[mikeSF]

chorus ON sounds lovely. Since you are asking us, it is clear you like the chorus on too, so never be dissuaded by anyones opinion but your own.

I was a "no pitch shifting in jazz" kinda guy, but my tastes have really changed. In fact, I bought that Magnatone amp, mainly because the pitch shifting vibrato is so mind bendingly freaky.

[Strat-itis]

I dislike chorus so much on any instrument that even tho using the motor on vibraphone is standard for jazz I never use it.

[Jim Soloway]

chorus ON sounds lovely. Since you are asking us, it is clear you like the chorus on too, so never be dissuaded by anyones opinion but your own.

I was a "no pitch shifting in jazz" kinda guy, but my tastes have really changed. In fact, I bought that Magnatone amp, mainly because the pitch shifting vibrato is so mind bendingly freaky.

I'm actually undecided. I've been tuning down for several years anywhere from two to five semitones depending on the scale length and the condition of my hands on any given day. I picked up a Mustang a few years ago just so I could have a guitar that I kept at standard pitch. It's now what I refer to as a Frankenstang without much remaining from the original guitar and it both sounds pretty good and plays really nicely. The problems with my left hand have deteriorated to the point where it's really the only guitar that I own that I can still play for any amount of time (and even that requires really light strings). I actually like the guitar but having gotten accustomed to the extra thickness that comes from being tuned down to C or B, it sounds a bit small too me. To my ears, a touch of chorus gives it a bit more size. The flip side is that, again to my ears, the extra size comes at the cost of some of the tonal sweetness. So I've been going back and forth for about a week. Playing alone all the time is not conducive to objective listening though so I finally decided to just throw it out to people who know my playing to get some input.

[Jim Soloway]

Chorus is subtle, and I like it! But your playing with fingers and gently is what appeals most to my ears!

Thanks, It's the verse to Little Girl Blue, a song that I truly love. I've been playing it for about 20 years and recently I decided to challenge myself and let the intro morph a bit. It continue s to change a bit every day. I love when that happens. To me that's probably the most joy I get out of playing: looking at a piece of music as a puzzle and trying to crack the code only to find out that there's no real end to the process. BTW, the song is now 91 years old. That just blows me away.

[rpjazzguitar]

I also like chorus a little too much.

But, the search is about thickening the sound of a single note, especially a high note.

For a while I did it regularly with an octave down added to the original note. I liked the sound for a while, but it was too easy to forget to switch it off when chording.

Then I went to harmonizer set on zero. It does something that people mistake for chorus. I don't know if that's the same thing as chorus at the electronic level. But it thickens the note and adds some sustain. Makes it easier to solo because the notes don't die quickly.

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

[GuyBoden]

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

Thicker strings?

Or, play a Sax instead.

[John A.]

I also like chorus a little too much.

But, the search is about thickening the sound of a single note, especially a high note.

For a while I did it regularly with an octave down added to the original note. I liked the sound for a while, but it was too easy to forget to switch it off when chording.

Then I went to harmonizer set on zero. It does something that people mistake for chorus. I don't know if that's the same thing as chorus at the electronic level. But it thickens the note and adds some sustain. Makes it easier to solo because the notes don't die quickly.

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

Live, I use a short (mono) delay with very few repeats, very low in the mix. I typically go slightly longer than a true slapback, with slightly more repeats, and lower mix. I usually make adjustments according to the room and the overall band sound (though, truth be told, I mostly play without delay at all). On recordings, similar tactics except usually a stereo delay and more experimentation with delay length and regeneration.

[DawgBone]

I also like chorus a little too much.

But, the search is about thickening the sound of a single note, especially a high note.

For a while I did it regularly with an octave down added to the original note. I liked the sound for a while, but it was too easy to forget to switch it off when chording.

Then I went to harmonizer set on zero. It does something that people mistake for chorus. I don't know if that's the same thing as chorus at the electronic level. But it thickens the note and adds some sustain. Makes it easier to solo because the notes don't die quickly.

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

I wound up with a spaceman meridian which is a modulation pedal but (I think) I'm using the double tracking part of it, set so slight that you don't notice it until it's off. It has quite a few capabilities, chorus, flanger, vibrato etc and was a spendy unit for me to only use it for such a subtle effect but I only like analog guitar stuff. Plenty of other units will give you a similar effect. I was playing with a cheap-o Movall Falling Star Delay when I realized it might be very useful but the noise floor on the unit was ridiculously high. You can kind of hear what I'm talking about at 4:32 except mine is likely set even more subtle. Edit: No idea how this would work with a 100% clean tone.

[Bob_Ross]

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

High ratio, low threshold compressor...but (this is critical) with a parallel dry blend so you can mix uncompressed with compressed signal.

[bluejaybill]

Live, I use a short (mono) delay with very few repeats, very low in the mix. I typically go slightly longer than a true slapback, with slightly more repeats, and lower mix. I usually make adjustments according to the room and the overall band sound (though, truth be told, I mostly play without delay at all). On recordings, similar tactics except usually a stereo delay and more experimentation with delay length and regeneration.

I was going to say the same, except for me it doesn't have to be too short, and I like a bit of modulation as well. I wouldn't say that I like that specifically to thicken the high notes however, although it does do that a bit.

And even though I still have a chorus on my board, I'm pretty off of the chorus sound. I actually like my VB2 better.