Chorus pedal suggestions?

[electricteeth]

I just bought an 8-bit fuzz (was really stoked to see how simple its innards were and how quality its construction was) and ran it through my boss chorus. I used an SG style bass with two humbuckers. The resulting sound was reminiscent of a fat vintage analog bass synth. I am willing to bet that if I can hash together my own handmade chorus and my own gated fuzz that I can get a better more tailored version of this sound. So my question is...
What is a good quality and thick chorus circuit? Is it the type of thing I could solder together with the little bit of experience i have? The hardest things I have built are a skyripper and an ugly face. Is there a kit I can buy? Not that I mind doing perfboard but I would prefer to just drop the components in. If anybody has a pcb for a good THICK chorus for sale I would love to buy one. If someone has a good schematic or layout with soundclips then that would suffice as well! Thanks-Teeth...

[nexekho]

I've been experimenting with some dead thick synthy chorus sounds too, albeit with cheap DSP pedals.  I've found that reverb after distortion before chorus and an octave pedal at the end make it stupidly thick.

[electricteeth]

Awesome! I feel like this build is going to have alot of circuits in it so I would like a PCB of one if at all possible. Anybody? I also dig the sound of ZOMBIE CHORUS! Is someone willing to sell me a verified PCB? (I may need two if i mess one up) Im going to skip the reverb but an octave up circuit sounds good! I could do the classic opamp+transformer+diodes circuit for the octave up and that would sound like some good wreckage. What say you pedaly pedal peddlers  out there in stomp box world?

[nexekho]

Awesome! I feel like this build is going to have alot of circuits in it so I would like a PCB of one if at all possible. Anybody? I also dig the sound of ZOMBIE CHORUS! Is someone willing to sell me a verified PCB? (I may need two if i mess one up) Im going to skip the reverb but an octave up circuit sounds good! I could do the classic opamp+transformer+diodes circuit for the octave up and that would sound like some good wreckage. What say you pedaly pedal peddlers  out there in stomp box world?

I meant octave down sorry.

It doesn't really thicken the chorus as such (it's a DSP clean octave down) but it makes the sound dead thick.

[egasimus]

There's not much in the way of DIY chorus.

It's easiest if you went the digital way, with the PT2399, and build a Little Angel or a One Chip Chorus; the Echo Base and Magnus Modulus are also capable of chorus sounds. However, the PT2399 cant't get too deep or lush.

As for analog chorus, I only know of the Zombie Chorus and Heladito, the Tonepad clone of the EHX Small Clone. I think PCBs for the latter are available at Small Bear.

[Mark Hammer]

"Thickness" of chorus is generally a function of the delay range chosen by the designer/builder.  Flangers can also achieve "chorus" sounds, but they aren't quite as "thick" because the delay range needed for flanging is shorter than that attainable by other categories of effect.

I have an old rackmount MXR Digital Delay that provides different narrow ranges of delay time, up to 320msec, with modulation applicable to each.  If you select a range that will let you modulate delay anywhere in the 25-40msec range, you get that nice thick Pat Metheny kind of chorus.

So, a PT2399-based chorus (which has a hard time getting VERY short delays) may well be just whatyou're looking for.

[Earthscum]

Sorry, Adam... I gotta disagree with you.

Anchovie did the "One Chip Chorus" recently, and on Bass, it is LUSH (it has a chip selection issue... some thump, some are quiet).

Rick's Little Angel Chorus is awesome. Look in the thread, about page 6, I did some Bass mods to it. With Bass, you need to increase the delay a little bit, and there's a mix mod to it. I still use version 1, but have a board ready for the anniversary edition. Mods should apply to newest version. For being a full range chorus (not just chorusing the highs) it sounds incredible with Bass. My TKO does the crossover-style chorus (only chorus' highs in attempt to allow the bass to remain fundamental). It hurts my ears, and works more for a way to step up with the guitar solos without stepping ON them. The LA just makes my sound... Angelic, lol.Really no other way to describe it.

There are actually LOTS of chorus pedal DIY, just that most are analog, and forgotten about because the analog chips are obsolete and no longer available. The PT chorus' are a fairly recent phenomenon, thus the lack of numbers of projects. I would recommend at least breadboarding Anchovie's chorus, since it is so simple. If it doesn't work, move on to the LA. The Little Angel threads are ripe with information. Both projects have multiple PCB layouts posted.

[Mark Hammer]

Yep, for bass chorus you really need to separate the lows and mids/highs.  Bass needs to feel solid, and too much pitch wobble gets in the way of your playing partners using you as a point of reference.  So trimming off a bit of the low end before feeding whatever delay path you end up with, is a good idea, as is including some form of blending, so that you can mix the delay a little further into the background to keep the swirl but lose obvious wobble.

Dave's got it right.

[Flooflox]

Here's an article dealing with thickening sound with delays.

http://www.recordinginstitute.com/da154/ARP/chap3Sig/0306delmid.html

[arawn]

the ce-2 had a bass versiononly takes two mods to make it  a 2b

[electricteeth]

Okay, I'll bite into that one chip! I have found a couple of pcb layouts online but would someone be willing to etch me one as I have no experience or resources whatsoever to making pcbs. I can definitely read it off of the schematic and know what is going on but I just really want to avoid using perf or vero this time around. I like the sound of it. Really off kilter weirdness and fun. I think the mods are easy enough. If there is a chip selection issue with it should I socket the ic and order a couple of them?

[oldschoolanalog]

Since I believe in DIY all the way I feel a bit "dirty" even suggesting this; but if you want maximum bang for the buck this would be pretty hard to pass up:
http://www.behringer.com/EN/Products/CC300.aspx
About $40-$50 when all is said & done.
Save your money and make a nice delay...
Now I'm going to go and take a long hot shower.

[anchovie]

If there is a chip selection issue with it should I socket the ic and order a couple of them?

It seems I got lucky when I first designed it and had a batch of chips that are brilliant for it (bought from Hong Kong about 3 years ago). Definitely use a socket and if it doesn't work after debugging then consider a chip from a different supplier. Any chip that doesn't perform in the 1CC will most likely still be good for a straight delay, it's just not guaranteed for my non-datasheet abuse.

[egasimus]

Mark, Dave, my mistake   I know that long delays equal more chorus, just got it the wrong way around
What you say about bass chorus is interesting, though. I'm kinda ambivalent about bass chorus, but I might try this out.
And a great many thanks to Dennis for the Recording Primer, it's a great read