Top 13 Chorus Pedals From $30 to +$200
The Chorus Guide
Where Can I Find The Best Chorus Pedals?
Top 6 Chorus Pedals Under $75
Tom’sline ACH3S
The Tom’sline ACH3S Analogue Chorus pedal is easily the best chorus pedal your money can buy.
Simple but effective Simple but effective
It does its job providing an excellent analog chorus sound and a build qualitythat you can only find on pedals for double the price of this tiny beast.
Although the pedal name can lead to you to think that this is an analog pedal, it is not. This pedal emulates an analog chorus sound through a digital circuitry.
- Standard volume, speed and depth knobs
- Low noise IC chip inside works good for analog chorus sound
- True bypass
- Tough aluminum case
- Slip resistance bottom
One of the problems of compact effects pedals is that you can accidentally movethe central/bigger knob when you stomp on it.
To solve that issue, this pedal has a metal bar between the switch and the central knob. And believe me, once you use this pedal, you will try to add a bar like this one to all your other mini pedals.
NUX Chorus CH-3
Released in 2013, the Nux Chrous CH-3 has garnered many positive reviews from around the world.
Ease of use Limited sound, compared to high-end models
This pedal is yet another classic analog chorus effects pedal BUT with some unique features which make it stand out from the competition:
- Instead of the typical Volume knob, this pedal introduces the Blend knob which increases the number of different sounds you can get from the Nux CH-3
- Unbeatable price (around $30)
Other than that, it also has other features that you can only find in more expensive pedals:
- Whole aluminum-alloy case
- Low noise BBD, bringing a natural and clear sound
- Standard true-bypass
- Standard size, so you can use it either with a 9v battery or an AC adaptor
You can check the official pedal manual in this link.
Donner Tutti Love
The Donner Tutti Love is a pure analog chorus effects pedal offering what we can always expect from this brand: awesome quality at lowest prices.
Price tag Fragile small knobs
This sky blue mini pedal encloses all its power in a strong and durable aluminum case to ensure a long lifetime under heavy use.
- Classic, easy to use analog chorus effect
- Standard Rate, Level and Depth controls to fully customize your sound
- Zero-noise true bypass
- +150 positive reviews on Amazon
What else can I say? If you are looking for a good sounding chorus pedal on a budget, this is clearly one of the best options out there!
Joyo JF-37
The Joyo Analog Chorus JF-37 pedal uses a classic BBD chip to give you that iconic analog warm chorus.
Straight to the point Two knobs
Very similar to the Boss CE-2, this warm and simple chorus pedal is an excellent choice for lush 80s style guitar choruses and watery wetness.
- Simplest analog chorus pedal
- Two knobs: depth and rate
- True bypass
- Sturdy aluminum alloy case
- 9V battery or standard Boss style adapter
As a negative point, I would say that having only two knobs (rate and depth, but NO volume) can be a negative differentiating characteristic that would push me to look for other options.
There are other options offering more sounds variety options and similar quality like the NUX Chorus CH-3.
My recommendation: check some pedals of the same price range and get the one that sounds best to you.
Valeton CCH-1 Aqua Flow
The CCH-1 Aqua Flow is a vintage sounding chorus pedal from Valeton based on the tone of JAZZ CHORUS-120 (JC-120) amplifier.
Although not a widely popular pedal (yet), this compact chorus effect pedal is getting more loyal customers every day.
Compared to its direct competition, it includes four knobs to fully customize the chorus effect and any of them is wasted on controlling the volume…
- Tone: controls the brightness (treble equalizer)
- Mix: mix level of dry and wet signal
- Speed: controls the chorus period (frequency)
- Depth: controls the chorus amplitude
It provides a lush, warm and natural chorus tone with a 100% analog signal path in a compact aluminum case.
Does it worth the price? If you are tired of the more common chorus sounds, then I’d recommend you to give this a try to experiment with something different.
If you are looking to buy your first chorus pedal, then pick something cheaper as you won’t note a big difference.
Don’t forget to check how it sounds clicking on the youtube icon next to the pedal image!
Deadbeat Wet Dreams
Available since early 2017, the Wet Dreams chorus pedal by Deadbeat is doing it pretty well.
It’s just everything you need from a chorus pedal. It includes just the three basic knobs for Depth, Speed and Level.
Straight to the point without any fancy extra add-ons, it delivers a clean classic chorus sound and it does it well.
Although a little bigger than a standard compact-sized pedal, the Wet Dreams is still tiny enough for compact setups. More precisely, the pedals dimensions are: 60 (W) X 96 (D) X 55 (H) mm.
Just like the other effects pedals from Deadbeat Sound, the Wet Dreams includes a 9V DC power supply and two patch cables.
Top 7 Chorus Pedals Over $75
Electro-Harmonix Small Clone
Reliable and durable Solid sound response Too mainstream Unjustified size
Getting Into Nirvana
This is a rather simple pedal with one single knob to control the chorus rate, yet it offers a top-notch sound in majority of cases, providing enough room for tweaking it on your own and craft your signature tone.
This is, in fact, the pedal that Kurt Cobain used to play the “Come as You Are” riff.
Features
Built to be passed to your children in “as new” condition, the Small Clone is an analog true bypass chorus pedal with one control knob, one two-way switch, a master on/off foot-switch, one In jack input, one Out jack input, and a LED status indicator.
Like you could expect from a pedal of this size, it can be powered through a single (included) 9V battery as well as via a standard 9V DC adapter.
As for the aesthetics, the chorus machinery is protected by an angled grey metal case (be careful if you play barefoot) covered with black and purple decals.
Sound
The Small Clone provides rich, spacey, and totally analog tones and it has proved itself to be a must-have chorus pedal for more than 20 years now.
You can take it from a subtle shimmer to a pulsating warble to crazy Leslie-style effects. If you’re after a chorus with real mood, real vibe… you’ve found it. The Small Clone.
TC Electronic Corona Mini
Getting Your Own Tone
Small Footprint with 3 Controls TonePrint software Complex for beginners
You can make the TC Electronic Corona Mini chorus pedal sound like virtually any chorus pedal ever created, and it’s small enough to fit even on highly packed pedalboards.
The secret to this tiny pedal’s massive palette is the extra parameters inside the TonePrint software. For instance, you can not only fine tune the external speed and depth ranges but gives the chorus a wetter sound by adjusting the feedback and delay time and even the change the overall tone or type of modulation.
It doesn’t have just one sweet spot. Right out of the box, without any TonePrint manipulation, you can get awesome tones for almost every playing situation.
How It Works
Although this is a small factor pedal, it has all the controls you can imagine to personalize the tone to your own needs… and let me tell you that you won’t be able to digest the huge customization level it gives. That’s why the Corona Mini is the perfect chorus pedal to explore new tastes and move away from the classic tones.
- Speed knob: control the speed of the chorus effect – from slow smooth “Hi-Fi” to a much more significant “Leslie” types at high speeds
- Depth knob: set the intensity of the modulation effect
- Fx Level knob: control the level of the modulation effect
MXR M234 Analog Chorus
The Analog Chorus uses bucket-brigade circuitry to create classically lush, liquid rich textures that you can be quite hard to find using a digital chorus pedal.
Real analog chorus sound Compact size Four-screw battery access
Rate, Level, and Depth controls, as well as knobs for cutting High and Low frequencies allow ultimate tone control.
Like all MXR pedals, the Analog Chorus comes in a heavy-duty housing with durable jacks and switches for a lifetime on the road.
There’s just something magical about real analog chorus. That’s exactly what makes MXR’s M-234 Analog Chorus pedal the perfect addition to your guitar rig. Tweak the controls to go from subtle shimmer to dizzying swirl and everywhere in-between.
It also includes two eq knobs, one for high and one for low, so you can dial your tones in just so (these controls are also very handy for matching your effected tone with your un-effected sound). Like all of MXR’s pedals, the M-234 Analog Chorus comes housed in a tough, lightweight, and compact aluminum chassis.
Overall, this is a really good true analog chorus pedal for a great price.
Boss CH-1 Super Chorus
Classic Chorus Tones
Excellent sound Boss build quality Slightly colors the tone
The Boss CH-1 Super Chorus is yet another classic analog chorus pedal used by countless professional musicians for its versatility and lush, stereo swirl.
It provides a very smooth and clean sounding chorus effect, that compliments any clean guitar signal beautifully (always works great on overdrive). It works great in mono, but the real deal starts you make use of the stereo output, allowing you to split your signal between two amps for even more spacious chorus effects.
Also, the smooth character and flexibility of the Boss CH-1 Super Chorus make it excellent for bass and keyboards as well as guitar.
The Boss CH-1 Super Chorus features controls for rate, depth, and effect level, as well as an EQ knob for boosting or cutting treble frequencies. Stereo outputs allow you to split your signal between two amps for even more spacious chorus effects.
And Classic Chorus Controls
The features and controls are fairly standard for a chorus pedal: rate, depth, and effect level (acting as a wet/dry mix), as well as an EQ knob for boosting or cutting treble frequencies giving a really strong, bright and shimmery chorus sound, whilst boosting the depth at the same time, can create a sound verging on the edge of vibrato!
The CH-1 is an excellent chorus pedal, offering a flexible modulation which is easy to use. There are many chorus pedals on the market, many with more features, but the CH-1 sounds great and can hold it’s own amongst its competition.
Even if you are not the biggest fan of Boss pedals, you could definitely fall in love with the CH-1 Chorus as soon as you try it once.
Ibanez Chorus Mini
When Size (Inversely) Matters
Vintage chorus tones Tiny footprint The two extra-small knobs
Made in Japan, the Ibanez Chorus Mini features two small Depth and Level knobs and a significantly larger Speed knob in the middle. A true bypass switch provides the shortest, most direct signal path as well as the cleanest tone. The 100% analog circuitry helps to add a natural magic to the sound.
Based on the Ibanez’s CS-9 stereo analog chorus (now discontinued), the new mini version possesses many of the same sonic attributes that make it unique.
And while it lacks the stereo functionality of its bigger, older cousin, its small footprint, robust build quality, and low price make it equally appealing to chorus fence-sitters who occasionally dabble, and more discerning, to regular analog chorus users who like to save space.
Echoes From The 80’s
This tiny purple thing provides a sweet, syrupy chorus that’s very 80s, which can be customized with the level control – a new addition for this mini version – adding extra versatility, with near-vibrato wobbles at higher levels and speeds, while you can nab a decent flanger approximation down the other end of the rate knob.
The magic of the Chorus Mini lies in its deep dimensionality. And at the proper rate and depth settings, it comes deliciously close to the sound of a well-recorded Leslie. Needless to say, there are no digital artifacts to highlight metallic out-of-phase sounds.
Truetone V3 H2O Liquid
The Perfect Couple
Two REAL pedals in one Endless customization No stereo outputs for the delay No tap tempo
The Truetone V3 Series H2O Liquid Chorus & Echo is, as the name suggests, a two-in-one effects pedal.
There are tons of two/three/all in one pedals out there, but this one is special in its own way, including the full functionality of two separate pedals in a single box, that delivers more than the sum of its parts.
The H2O has entirely independent hybrid analog/digital echo and analog choruscircuits, each of which sounds fantastic on its own. But the pedal’s true magic is how it organically blends both effects in a way that two separate stompboxes rarely replicate.
By patching, you can reverse the order or use separate inputs and outputs giving you endless combinations to test. Each channel can be set to buffered or true bypass via internal switches.
The custom designed Forever Footswitch is rated for up to 10 million hits, which interact with relays with gold-plated contacts.
An Improved Revision
The V3 H2O Liquid Chorus & Echo is a carefully thought out redesign of one of the finest dual pedals of all time.
It keeps the classic tones from its predecessor, yet the capability to give the user the otherworldly tones of what is yet to come. To make the V3 H2O more pedalboard-friendly and rugged, the housing and footswitches have been updated.
And, to provide a more versatile chorus effect]], knobs for chorus/vibrato, and tone, [[along with switches for detuning have been added.
The echo effect keeps its stellar warmth, yet now has the trance-inducing ability to go into controlled oscillation.
Probably, one of the finest, highest quality echo and analog modulation pedal available.
Seymour Duncan Catalina
Boutique Chorus
The “Expression” toggle Works well with other pedals No battery option
Some guitarists like their chorus to be subtle and traditional. Others prefer bold and unique. The Catalina Dynamic Chorus is designed to do both, with analog character and a high customization level.
It has controls for Mix (from silent to unity to a +3dB boost for the wet signal), Rate, Depth, and Delay, as well as a treble-attenuating Tone control for dialing in the clarity or warmth of the wet signal.
The Catalina has a mono input and stereo outputs, and the footswitch is True Bypass. When in stereo, you can easily dial in a 60ms doubling effect for some serious spatial exploration.
Hard Expression
The best feature of this pedal is its Dynamic switch which allows you to interact with the Depth control as you play. The Hard mode signals the chorus depth to increase as you play with more intensity or flip it to Soft mode and you will receive more effect as you play lighter. You can dial in the sensitivity of the Dynamic feature thanks to the Threshold control.
Overall, this is a really versatile analog chorus with an innovative depth regulation, which varies depending on how hard you play. And, like all Seymour Duncan’s pedals and pickups, the Catalina is manufactured at Seymour Duncan’s facility in California, USA.
Wrapping Up!
We have reviewed some of the best analog and digital chorus pedals, covering a variety of form-factors, delay types, features and sounds.
As a final advice, I would recommend getting a +$80 pedal if you want a durable and gig-ready pedal. But if you want to experiment with new sounds and features or you are just looking for a pedal to use at home, then go for it and try any of the cheaper models!
If you really want to play with chorus, I can’t recommend enough the TC Electronic Corona Chorus. Their Toneprint feature is really awesome.
I leave you with an awesome video from Roland to close this up, where you can learn all the basics of chorus pedals. Johnny DeMarco guides you through every knob in the Boss CH-1, which are pretty common in other models, explaining the effect that they have on the tone. Enjoy!