Bargain Hunting for Chorus Pedals

This has been an interesting journey that is by no means over. Beyond thickening your guitar sound (making a 6-string sound like a 12-string) a chorus pedal can do so much more - spanning that super clean, 1980s icy shimmer favored by Andy Summers of The Police to swirling Leslie tones used by players like Stevie Ray Vaughan, Michael Landau and others.

After a lot of research and trials at local music and pawn shops, I narrowed my search down to two main price points. First, there's the $50 group where you will find the likes of a used DODFX65, a used Boss CH-1 Super Chorus and the brand new Danelectro Cool Cat CC-1.

Jump up to around the $100 mark and you could pick up two pedals that have become the industry standards for their respective sounds. There's perhaps the most famous chorus pedal ever made - the Made in Japan Boss CE-2 - which you can pick up for around $100-120 on eBay. For the swirling Leslie sound, the industry standard is the made in Japan Arion SCH-1 despite the plastic case and knobs that fall off. It is/was used by both Scott Henderson and Michael Landau so who am I to argue.

If your budget doesn't stretch to $100+ you could also consider the very popular Small Clone from Electro-Harmonx, which gets consistently good reviews and is priced around $80. The good news is that these are all decent units and all would work well.

So what's on my current board? While I seriously considered the Cool Cat CC-1, which I felt was decent on many chorus tones but never excelled at any of them, I picked the DODFX65 based on its great price and excellent performance.

I think the DODFX65 is a screaming (and somewhat unknown) bargain. I believe it has the same BBD chip/clock driver as the CE-2 and is almost $100 cheaper. I got mine used for $25 and it is an excellent unit overall and amazing value for money at this point in time. It has a heavy, metal casing and is built like a tank. In addition to the Rate & Depth controls like the CE-2, you also get a Delay Time control which gives you a bit more versatility. I am noticing a slight volume increase when engaged and the on/off switch is not as good as the Boss units, but overall I am very happy with its very warm and lush analog tones. With the speed set at 11 o'clock and the Delay Time and Depth both cranked it is super thick and rich. With the rate control set fairly high you can also achieve a decent Leslie sound. I am not noticing any additional noise when engaged or tone suck, which is very welcome.

I also purchased the Boss CH-1 for $40 and it is almost the polar opposite of the FX65. It sounds very cold, sterile and somewhat digital in comparison, but it does the 80s clean sound quite well. Besides the Rate and Depth control, you also get very useful Level and EQ controls which provide great insurance against tone sucking and volume drop/boost when engaged. With four controls you have a lot of control at your feet, but the overall tone is mediocre at best so this pedal is going back up on eBay.

I'm extremely happy at this point with the "tone per dollar" I am getting from the FX65. I can see myself using this chorus pedal for many years - assuming I don't get a killer deal on a Boss CE-2 or Arion SCH-1 in the meantime.