Easy Chorus Build Recommendations?

[steveyraff]

Hi guys,

I am looking advice into a good chorus pedal build for beginners?

I'm currently making my first ever pedal. Its a drive pedal that I picked for its simplicity, as I am an electronics beginner. I have been reading and learning a lot from scratch, and I have a good friend who teaches electronics who has been a great help too.

So my current drive pedal project is just for practice/learning. If I were to make a pedal that I actually NEED it would be a chorus pedal, as I currently don't have one on my gigging pedalboard and could really do with one. I am in a blues band so I do not need anything very complex or extreme - just simple, light chorus. Mix and Rate would be the only controls I'd need I guess.

I HAVE read the forum before posting. I find there aren't many Chorus Pedal build guides out there, and the ones that are there seem to be regarded as a little advanced. I've also seen the Zombie Pedal come up a lot. No matter what Chorus pedal build I read about, none seem to be very straight forward. They are generally always accompanied by discussions which detail people having a lot of issues and bugs, noise interference, ticking etc.

I guess I'd just like a few build suggestions and links to look into! I'm not interesting in creating my own design. I just want to try copying something fairly basic!

Thanks!

[duck_arse]

welcome to the forum.

I know nothing of choruses except what I've read hereabouts. the main point being to avoid the zombie. I'd suggest going with one of the pt2399 designs like the "little angel", because so many here have built them and will be able to offer assistance if needed.

or wait till deadastronaut comes by, he'll know.

[steveyraff]

welcome to the forum.

I know nothing of choruses except what I've read hereabouts. the main point being to avoid the zombie. I'd suggest going with one of the pt2399 designs like the "little angel", because so many here have built them and will be able to offer assistance if needed.

or wait till deadastronaut comes by, he'll know.

Cool - and are they considered a decent sounding chorus? I'll start doing my research on them now. Thanks for that!

I can only presume, speaking as a complete novice, that they aren't as popular on these DIY pedal sites as they are more difficult to build correctly? Either that or drive pedals are just more popular in general, I guess?

[KazooMan]

Chorus pedals are much more complex than simple drive or distortion pedals.  It might be too big a leap to go directly from your first build to a more advanced build.  The basic process is identical, but with the greater number of components the chance for a mistake such as a solder bridge or over heating a component increases.  Also, the off board wiring gets a bit trickier when you have more pots to hook up, want to install an led, put in both a DC jack and battery source, and want a true bypass stomp switch.  I don't know what instructions you are following for your drive pedal, but it would provide an opportunity to learn about all of the above before you move on to a more complex design.

The Small Clone Chorus pedal at tonepad is really great. However, it is listed as an "advanced" build.  Actually, I don't think it would be too hard for most, especially if you purchase a board.  If you want to etch your own board you are opening up a whole new can of worms to deal with.   I would recommend that you purchase sockets for the ICs and transistors so you don't overheat them while soldering.

http://www.tonepad.com/project.asp?id=8

The kits from Build Your Own Clone are good, but the chorus pedal is not cheap.  You would have to compare the cost of the kit to purchasing all of the components separately.  You would also need some additional tools such as gear for drilling the box if you don't go with a kit.

http://buildyourownclone.com/analogchorus.html

[Govmnt_Lacky]

Cool - and are they considered a decent sounding chorus?

If you are asking about the Little Angel........ NO! It is more of a tone "coloring" pedal than a chorus.

As others have stated, most "good" chorus builds (CE-2, Small Clone, etc.) are a bit advanced. It all depends on how comfortable you are with your skills. If you try to tackle the CE-2 or the Small Clone, I HIGHLY suggest you get a pre-fabricated PCB from Tonepad, madbean, or at BYOC. Save the etching for when you have some builds (and especially... Debug time!) under your belt.

Unfortunately, you wont find any "easy" and good Chorus builds out there. It is kinda like RG Keen's idea on parts sourcing

"There is cheap, fast, and good...... Pick 2!"

[MrStab]

hadn't Mark Hammer corrected the ticking issue with the Zombie by giving the LFO its own bias network or something? i've considered building it a few times, and i'm sure i read that somewhere. i can't vouch for the quality, though  - maybe that deters people, too. personally, the Small Clone seems more attractive to me.

i've built the Little Angel chorus, and it does the job. i don't know if i'd use it outside my bedroom, as it sounded a tad on the sterile side iirc, but maybe that was just me. in any case, i recommend the Little Angel for simplicity's sake. it was my 2nd or 3rd build, the first being a buffer, so while it's a bit more complex than an overdrive, it's still do-able imo.

[Scruffie]

You can correct the ticking and bias issues in the zombie chorus, but it's still going to be noisy (hiss) at the end of it. I mean it's decent for what it is... but i'd still go with a more advanced chorus at the end of it, such as the small clone as you say.

Don't forget another hassle of building the chorus is sourcing the BBD, ebay is rife with fakes, if you don't know what you're doing, a duff component can make debugging a whole lot harder so I would suggest you either find a 3207 chorus, or source your MN3007 from smallbear which is about $10.

As others have stated, you'll be better off buying a fabbed board this go round or waiting until you have more experience to etch your own.

I'd say as long as your soldering is good though to go for it, I think a small clone was my third build? And it still works fine to this day.

[steveyraff]

Thanks all, you've all gave me a good deal of info to at least point me in the correct direction for researching.

Yea, I think its too early in the day yet for me to build one of these. I'll do a few basic drive circuits first. I only enquired about the Chorus as it is something I do actually need for my live gigging rig at the moment - in saying that, I'd need something decent in terms of low-noise and something that won't destroy my good amp tone. I don't really need much in terms of features so I guess when I do reach a stage where I feel confident to tackle it, I may have a look at that Small Clone. I already had seen that build project but I think a lot of people had issues with it too, as far as I read.

Thanks for the great info so far.
Steve.

[Mark Hammer]

1) Yeah, chorus effects are just a bit too complex for beginners to attempt.  If you want to learn to cook, learn to make omelets before you attempt soufflés.  A fuzz is the omelet, and chorus is the soufflé: not highly recommended until about your 5th or 6th build.

2) The Zombie should not be "avoided".  It is just a little incomplete as originally designed.  By the time one has added all the various things needed to make it a foolproof chorus, you've pretty much ended up with a Small Clone or a CE-2.  If all the needed additions were incorporated into an existing layout, so that adding "flying leads" was not required, and if it were redesigned around the cheaper and more available MN3207, then it would be a recommended circuit.  But I know of no such layout where a novice would only need to stuff the board with the indicated parts, wire it up and fire it up, without having to figure out any changes on their own.  The Small Clone and CE-2 layouts have taken care of all those details, and allow for a more paint-by-numbers approach to building, which is what a novice wants and needs.

[deadastronaut]

or wait till deadastronaut comes by, he'll know.

what?...i haven't a @#$%ing clue...

+1 on the small clone tonepad as others have said, ....sounds nice and lush as a chorus should.. well worth the extra effort, sourcing parts etc...

@mark: yes, i agree i built a zombie with the de-tick mod and it was lush....my mate bought it off me eventually , and still uses it 3 years on...

[mremic01]

Cool - and are they considered a decent sounding chorus?

If you are asking about the Little Angel........ NO! It is more of a tone "coloring" pedal than a chorus.

Really? I thought my LA builds got a pretty good chorus sound. Not quite as tweakable as I'd like given the range on the pots, but dialed in well, they sound great. You can always use a different pot. I've built two Tonepad CE-2s, and they're nice and warm, but one of them had ticking issues. That and there are a lot of resistors and the chips are expensive.

[Govmnt_Lacky]

Really? I thought my LA builds got a pretty good chorus sound. Not quite as tweakable as I'd like given the range on the pots, but dialed in well, they sound great. You can always use a different pot. I've built two Tonepad CE-2s, and they're nice and warm, but one of them had ticking issues. That and there are a lot of resistors and the chips are expensive.

I have build 2 little angels and both had there place but... I would not venture to call them a "chorus"

I have heard that people love them and heard that people hated them. Its really up to the ear but, if the OP is looking for a chorus based on what has been heard in the past.... the LA is probably not a good alternative.

@stevey

Have you considered picking up a used/broken CE-2 or other chorus second hand or on eBay and repairing?

[steveyraff]

Really? I thought my LA builds got a pretty good chorus sound. Not quite as tweakable as I'd like given the range on the pots, but dialed in well, they sound great. You can always use a different pot. I've built two Tonepad CE-2s, and they're nice and warm, but one of them had ticking issues. That and there are a lot of resistors and the chips are expensive.

I have build 2 little angels and both had there place but... I would not venture to call them a "chorus"

I have heard that people love them and heard that people hated them. Its really up to the ear but, if the OP is looking for a chorus based on what has been heard in the past.... the LA is probably not a good alternative.

@stevey

Have you considered picking up a used/broken CE-2 or other chorus second hand or on eBay and repairing?

Yet more excellent info above! I think it is conclusive that I put this idea on the backburner until I get a few basic drive pedals out of the way. At this stage I am still learning my electronic basics so its a little far flung. Its ok though, I am patient and I can wait. Just curious about chorus builds for when the time comes.

Believe it or not I hadn't considered repairing as for some reasing, in my novice mind, I thought this would be more complicated as I'd be working with a ready made, complex circuit and trying to figure out what could be wrong with it! I my mind, it seems easier to start with a basic circuit and basically copy it best I can verbatim, like glorified lego lol.

Thanks for putting up with my noobish queries, its all helping a lot.

Steve.