Yes, Phil's cheek is telecaster upper body curve shaped so clearly he was destined to be a great guitar guy. This pedal is great but it's not a stereo chorus with 2 outs like my aria chorus pedal.
Chorus is the best when your picking notes, I love chorus and think it's underrated. I get it, they played too much chorus in the 80's but there needs to be more now.
For 20 years I've used a chorus just because I like the sound on certain songs, but never had it explained like you have. Thank you, this really helps me determine what tone to go for.
Phillip, I love what you do. And you are correct on the sound effect of a chorus. However Rate and Depth are not quite as you have described. Fortunately this Boss is simple compared to much more complicated Chorus. 1. Indeed Chorus is a delay. I don't care what any you have heard, Chorus is a mixture of your original guitar mixed with a modulated delay. 2. Modulated? Yes in a chorus the delay time is not fixed, but it changes. For example your signal is delayed by 25ms, then 26ms, then 27ms, then back to 26ms, back to 25ms. This is what we mean by modulated. The delay time is not the same. The RATE knob on the Boss pedal determines how fast or how slow the delay time is modulated. The RATE knob does NOT increase or decrease delay time. It simply makes your delay time move faster or slower. 3. Now that the delay is not constant but always moving, we have to decide how far we should go. Do we go from 25ms to 27ms as in my example above? Or do we want a deeper chorus? Maybe we would like to go from 25ms to 35ms. This is what the DEPTH knob does. It adjust how deep you want to go with the your changing delay time. Its this constant changing delay time which gives you the pitch change. A Delay time which stays the same doesn't give you a pitch change. And for you real tech geeks out there, inside the circuitry is an LFO (Low Frequency Oscillator), and its this LFO that you are controlling with the RATE and DEPTH knobs. If you don't understand Chorus that well guys, I suggest you start with Rate and Depth at 12 o'clock. Then adjust only one knob either up or down and listen to what it does to your sound. If you start tweeking both knobs at the same time, you will be quickly confused by what you are hearing or doing.
Great explanation! Describing the rate as "delay" and the depth as "pitch" really solidified how it works for me. I use a detune effect and a delay while playing bass, so I guess I have created my own chorus effect.
one of the few effects I absolutely dig! Overdrive, chorus and flanger are the 3 things I need. Nothing more. Chorus and flanger I use 99% of the time for CLEAN stuff and chords! This cheap BOSS pedal is AWESOME!
Yes, I think chorus similar to double or quad tracking guitars - slight differences make it fuller. Never thought of it in terms of singing together though!
You do an excellent job of breaking down each aspect and making it easy to grasp the concepts. Love the way you organize your thoughts and clearly communicate the information.
Thanks for the video Phil. As a beginner, having somebody that can explain what these pedals do and show how to achieve different sounds is very helpful. More videos like this would be awesome.
Thank You Phillip I learn a lot of info from Your UA-cam videos I play Praise Worship and Old Gospel hyms on My guitars and seven piece drum set I have ten guitars PRS 245 stracoasters telecasters es335s Grover Base 6 string and more plus lots of amps and I get a lot from You .Your demonstrations and guidance way You explain thangs on Your videos is a blessing You teach a lot .Be more blessed You and Your Phillip.
Ahhh chorus... the sound of the Eighties! One great chorus pedal is the Danelectro Cool Cat. You know its good when it commands 18 volts!😜 Think of "Under the Milky Way" by the Church. Great song, great use of chorus.
Chris Shawn, thanks for the update! That would make sense too however the guitars in the video are six strings. Also between an electric twelve string and a six string with a chorus pedal which one would be easier to purchase and less expensive? Either way you get the sound, it still sounds great!
I thought depth was actually how far back the delayed signal goes and rate was the period between which the delayed signal hits the depth and then oscillates back to the original signal? The pitch modulation is achieved by varying the amount of the delay (which inherently means the pitch shifts).
RE: Chorus: 1. Can have that pleasant "Wow!" factor initially, 2. Perhaps over used in 80's corporate rock...easy to over use, 3. Can have a side effect of, at times, sounding 'tinny/solid state-ish', 4. Prefer the effect (slight use) on acoustic guitars, 5. SRV "Cold Shot"...worth a (deep chorus) listen, 6. Old Fender Princeton Chorus amps (from the 90's) sound lush. Great vid, Phil! Thanks!
The Boss Dimension C was a chorus without the warble because it has two chorus circuits which always have the modulation rate 180 degrees out of phase with each other, so you get the chorus effect WITHOUT the pitchy warble.
Out of all my effects Chorus is pretty much the only one I really use. Stereo. I have an old Arion Stereo Chorus I love it, it sounds better than my boss and other brands for my ears that is. Great Video
Hey Phil! This kind of video is really cool. You should do a follow-up to show different ways to blend the Chorus effect wtih overdrive and distortion for creative effect. Cheers!
Hey Phil, enjoy your informative vids always. Just need to point out slight misunderstanding on this. Depth control alters the max Delay time and therefore max depth of pitch change. Rate varies the speed at which the delay time is changed (oscillated).
Phil... didn't YOU just describe a 'doubling' pedal ... Chorus has the addition of a Phasing element to it also... in addition ....a Doppler effect there.... henceforth the 'Leslie Chorus" type effect of the horn movement. There's a bit of 'Phasing' going on in a most chorus pedals besides doubling and pitch/time variance.
Partially Correct Aimi... Higher is PART of the Doppler effect..Doppler also 'DROPS" in frequency as moves away....Hence the spinning horn in a Leslie...moving towards you and away from you in a very rapid movement in a confined space. Creating a Phasing...and a Chorus Effect with the COLLISION of the jumbled different acoustic waves meeting each other...that's how every LESLIE SIMULATOR reproduces the 'LESLIE SOUND' of the doppler effect... without a spinning horn...that's why there are so many versions of these Leslie Simulators on the Market, It's hard to get those ratios corrector with just solid state circuits...very hard. ( But they are getting those algorithms better all the time I must admit). Cheers.
Have others said this? Rate is the frequency of the oscillator attached to the delay. Depth is amplitude of the oscillator. I don’t think I’m too off on this.
Thanks for the info!!!! Never thought of it like that. Moving forward, I'm totally better educated on how to set and use my Boss Chorus ( I have the same one)!
I love chorus! I mainly play heavy, so I use it to thicken distorted rhythm tones - the trick is to keep the rate low(NOT the Nirvana sound!) & the level so it's just *barely* perceptible... I do the same thing with reverb, if I'm not doing some other space-y stuff.
Any good chorus pedals or should I just get the boss? I plan on using chorus to thicken up my distortion similar to what Dimebag did with the flanger/doubler unit he had.
In his past life, Phillip Mcknight was a monk. A monk in control of all ceremonious music and activities during ceremonies. In a stone temple, somewhere in Celtic Europe during the Middle Ages, he was leading druidical chants, and playing a lyre. And everything was done right... his robe was always freshly washed. Kings sought his guidance.
This explanation seems a bit off to me. The rate control controls the rate of an internal low frequency oscillator that's sweeping the delay time. The rate control is not a control of the millisecond delay other than to sweep it at a given rate. Some more sophisticated delays have both a rate and a millisecond-delay control to set the start (center) point of how many milliseconds desired- say 16ms, and then the depth control determines if it's sweeping from 14-18ms or 12-22ms (for example) with the rate control determining how fast that sweep from 12ms to 22ms is occuring. When you sweep delay times there is a natural pitch shifting effect that occurs and that is the heart of the chorus sound.
Ok so is this how we get a close to Perfect ear pleasing cords produced sound like on a 1970s Tom Petty album from our tube amp. If not how do we make our tube amps sound as close as we can to a 1970s Tom Petty vinyl record. Because they were using tube amps. It’s the slow parts I have so much trouble reproducing in my DAW
May I suggest a trick? You can obtain the exact same effect, only more subtle (and less.. 80ies, if you will) by simply adding delay and slightly moving your whammy bar. This works, of course, for single notes kind of situations, where you let the notes ring; it doesn't work for strumming (where, let's face it, chorus is annoying anyway, unless you are covering "Purple rain" dressed like Prince!). You could use this on your next "things you didn't know about delay"! ;)
i love neoclassical shred like yngwie, jason becker, luca turilli and marty friedman.... to geta thiker solo tone shuld i use reverb, corus or delay???
Can you explain how Zakk Wylde uses his chorus in front of his dirty amp and it still doesn't sound muddy. What settings should there be on the chorus? He says he gets his amps to sound like Malcolm Young and then adds the rest with the OD pedal. The chorus is also in front (after the OD ofc). Cheers!
Nice description, I just can't come to grips with a chorus pedal. I never find a sound I like, perhaps because to me it sounds out of tune, which it is and supposed to be.
The easy way to understand is Rate is how fast the waves,the more means more faster it is kinda like vibrato rate, depth is how deep you want the sound to mix with your original signal, exp: depth at 0, Level at 10 means nothing
Help... I want to buy a fender stratocaster my problem is I don't know which one is good or decent to play, American made or made in Mexico what is the difference? Which one should I buy.
I love listening to your videos you're a very entertaining person. Last night I searched through your videos and I may be wrong but couldn't find anything where you talk "acoustic" (I get it )specifically action I have a Yamaha 700, I believe SX,anyway it has the electronics on it. Don't like the height at the 12th fret its about 5/32nds and was wondering should I adjust the neck first or sand down the bridge.What would you suggest Thanks for all your info.
I like your theory in the beginning, props for that. but I wished you would have gotten into more depth. even the basic level of analog and digital or BBD's etc. still a great video though.
Hey Dr.Phil thanks for the tutorial on Choruses.Anyway, please tell me that Model Fender you have there and where can i order one same specs but maybe Pearl White?Thanks for your kind & timely reply!!
The placement of that tele at the back is so perfectly aligned to phil's head like a puzzle piece.
I actually slapped my knee. Ha. Cannot unsee.
Yes, Phil's cheek is telecaster upper body curve shaped so clearly he was destined to be a great guitar guy.
This pedal is great but it's not a stereo chorus with 2 outs like my aria chorus pedal.
I can’t unsee it now 👀
Chorus is the best when your picking notes, I love chorus and think it's underrated. I get it, they played too much chorus in the 80's but there needs to be more now.
For 20 years I've used a chorus just because I like the sound on certain songs, but never had it explained like you have. Thank you, this really helps me determine what tone to go for.
Phillip, I love what you do. And you are correct on the sound effect of a chorus. However Rate and Depth are not quite as you have described. Fortunately this Boss is simple compared to much more complicated Chorus.
1. Indeed Chorus is a delay. I don't care what any you have heard, Chorus is a mixture of your original guitar mixed with a modulated delay.
2. Modulated? Yes in a chorus the delay time is not fixed, but it changes. For example your signal is delayed by 25ms, then 26ms, then 27ms, then back to 26ms, back to 25ms. This is what we mean by modulated. The delay time is not the same. The RATE knob on the Boss pedal determines how fast or how slow the delay time is modulated. The RATE knob does NOT increase or decrease delay time. It simply makes your delay time move faster or slower.
3. Now that the delay is not constant but always moving, we have to decide how far we should go. Do we go from 25ms to 27ms as in my example above? Or do we want a deeper chorus? Maybe we would like to go from 25ms to 35ms. This is what the DEPTH knob does. It adjust how deep you want to go with the your changing delay time.
Its this constant changing delay time which gives you the pitch change. A Delay time which stays the same doesn't give you a pitch change. And for you real tech geeks out there, inside the circuitry is an LFO (Low Frequency Oscillator), and its this LFO that you are controlling with the RATE and DEPTH knobs.
If you don't understand Chorus that well guys, I suggest you start with Rate and Depth at 12 o'clock. Then adjust only one knob either up or down and listen to what it does to your sound. If you start tweeking both knobs at the same time, you will be quickly confused by what you are hearing or doing.
God damn this comment was helpful thank you
Thank you for making that so much simpler than the Box instructions to understand the controls.
Great explanation! Describing the rate as "delay" and the depth as "pitch" really solidified how it works for me.
I use a detune effect and a delay while playing bass, so I guess I have created my own chorus effect.
one of the few effects I absolutely dig! Overdrive, chorus and flanger are the 3 things I need. Nothing more. Chorus and flanger I use 99% of the time for CLEAN stuff and chords! This cheap BOSS pedal is AWESOME!
Thorough yet easy explanation of all chorus pedals
Using a chorus on a dirty channel with overdrive makes your guitar sound like a jet engine. So much power.
I've always loved the sound of a subtle chorus *in front* of the amp
Yes, I think chorus similar to double or quad tracking guitars - slight differences make it fuller. Never thought of it in terms of singing together though!
video quality has improved so much looks great everything looks so much brighter and colorful
Always find I go back to the Boss super chorus. Always great. ( Love know your gear )
The whole time I was thinking "Come as You Are" and then you played it.
You named that tune in one note!
i think im the only one who thought of zakk wylde instead
Hoshi Hearts Oh yeah Zakk came to mind as well
Hoshi Hearts
I thought of Dirty Magic and Rooster
Yeah. Played it wrong.
You do an excellent job of breaking down each aspect and making it easy to grasp the concepts. Love the way you organize your thoughts and clearly communicate the information.
An excellent description of a Chorus effect, thank you Phillip.
Melbourne , Australia.
Thanks for the video Phil. As a beginner, having somebody that can explain what these pedals do and show how to achieve different sounds is very helpful.
More videos like this would be awesome.
The best illustration of Chorus on UA-cam.
Thank You Phillip I learn a lot of info from Your UA-cam videos I play Praise Worship and Old Gospel hyms on My guitars and seven piece drum set I have ten guitars PRS 245 stracoasters telecasters es335s Grover Base 6 string and more plus lots of amps and I get a lot from You .Your demonstrations and guidance way You explain thangs on Your videos is a blessing You teach a lot .Be more blessed You and Your Phillip.
I just added an Electric Mistress to my pedalboard. The combo of chorus and flanger in one is fantastic.
Picking up my CH-1 today. can't wait.
The Digitech Whammy V has a nice chorus effect with the shallow/deep detune setting
Ahhh chorus... the sound of the Eighties! One great chorus pedal is the Danelectro Cool Cat. You know its good when it commands 18 volts!😜 Think of "Under the Milky Way" by the Church. Great song, great use of chorus.
Gringo Green I believe a 12-string was used on that as well.
Chris Shawn, thanks for the update! That would make sense too however the guitars in the video are six strings. Also between an electric twelve string and a six string with a chorus pedal which one would be easier to purchase and less expensive? Either way you get the sound, it still sounds great!
In the 80s they used it so much, when it became available as a digital effect.
I thought depth was actually how far back the delayed signal goes and rate was the period between which the delayed signal hits the depth and then oscillates back to the original signal? The pitch modulation is achieved by varying the amount of the delay (which inherently means the pitch shifts).
Mr. McKnight, I love you and your videos! I promise, one day I will make it to your shop. Keep up the fantastic work!
Good explanation of the chorus effect. I like to think of it as a way to simulate a 12-string guitar by using slight rate and depth settings.
I love your hair Philip! What kind of conditioner do you use?
Also, can I have that telecaster? It's gorgeous.
you're a great one...
Ooh, Charley you card!
FunkyDrummer you be a duches bag for your momma hair, tell,her I said hi. Your mother is a nice lady.
You really managed to explain the whole concept to me. Thanks bro!
How to Alex Lifeson 101, get a good dirty amp and a good chorus and there you go, the tone for Hemispheres through Grace Under Pressure
Very useful and easy to understand
my favorite Chorus is the Arion stereo chorus! I can get à pretty good Leslie speaker effect with it!
RE: Chorus: 1. Can have that pleasant "Wow!" factor initially, 2. Perhaps over used in 80's corporate rock...easy to over use, 3. Can have a side effect of, at times, sounding 'tinny/solid state-ish', 4. Prefer the effect (slight use) on acoustic guitars, 5. SRV "Cold Shot"...worth a (deep chorus) listen, 6. Old Fender Princeton Chorus amps (from the 90's) sound lush. Great vid, Phil! Thanks!
Your videos are very informative and I appreciate your insight. Thanks Phillip!
The Boss Dimension C was a chorus without the warble because it has two chorus circuits which always have the modulation rate 180 degrees out of phase with each other, so you get the chorus effect WITHOUT the pitchy warble.
Out of all my effects Chorus is pretty much the only one I really use. Stereo. I have an old Arion Stereo Chorus I love it, it sounds better than my boss and other brands for my ears that is. Great Video
Phil love the video. I hope you will break down more pedals like you did this one. Really helps new pedal users like me.
Love my BOSS CH-1 from Adawliah Al-Khobar Saudi Arabia
That Fender Deluxe Jazz Bass in Candy Tangerine is my dream bass! Used by Chris Wolstenholme from Muse for many years!
Hey Phil! This kind of video is really cool. You should do a follow-up to show different ways to blend the Chorus effect wtih overdrive and distortion for creative effect. Cheers!
Hey Phil, enjoy your informative vids always. Just need to point out slight misunderstanding on this. Depth control alters the max Delay time and therefore max depth of pitch change. Rate varies the speed at which the delay time is changed (oscillated).
Phil... didn't YOU just describe a 'doubling' pedal ... Chorus has the addition of a Phasing element to it also... in addition ....a Doppler effect there.... henceforth the 'Leslie Chorus" type effect of the horn movement. There's a bit of 'Phasing' going on in a most chorus pedals besides doubling and pitch/time variance.
Partially Correct Aimi... Higher is PART of the Doppler effect..Doppler also 'DROPS" in frequency as moves away....Hence the spinning horn in a Leslie...moving towards you and away from you in a very rapid movement in a confined space. Creating a Phasing...and a Chorus Effect with the COLLISION of the jumbled different acoustic waves meeting each other...that's how every LESLIE SIMULATOR reproduces the 'LESLIE SOUND' of the doppler effect... without a spinning horn...that's why there are so many versions of these Leslie Simulators on the Market, It's hard to get those ratios corrector with just solid state circuits...very hard. ( But they are getting those algorithms better all the time I must admit). Cheers.
This is my favorite UA-cam channel
I really want the julianna pedal
Have others said this?
Rate is the frequency of the oscillator attached to the delay.
Depth is amplitude of the oscillator.
I don’t think I’m too off on this.
Your videos are always so informative, thanks for all you've taught me :]
Great video, love the explanation. Thank you.
Thanks for the info!!!! Never thought of it like that. Moving forward, I'm totally better educated on how to set and use my Boss Chorus ( I have the same one)!
Great way to explain the effect. Thanks
Do u have shirts with just the words "know your gear"?....
Thanks for explaining that really helpful and informative Steve Manchester UK ✌️
Thank you for an excellent explanation! i too have the boss zh1 ( ZAKK). But you gave me a better understanding of how to use mine!!!!
Excellent as Always! Congrats!!!
I love chorus! I mainly play heavy, so I use it to thicken distorted rhythm tones - the trick is to keep the rate low(NOT the Nirvana sound!) & the level so it's just *barely* perceptible... I do the same thing with reverb, if I'm not doing some other space-y stuff.
Thats the best use - Almost inaudible but still there, to improve the singal
Thats George lynch told me he used to thicken his tone
Any good chorus pedals or should I just get the boss? I plan on using chorus to thicken up my distortion similar to what Dimebag did with the flanger/doubler unit he had.
Excellent explanation, Phillip.
In his past life, Phillip Mcknight was a monk. A monk in control of all ceremonious music and activities during ceremonies. In a stone temple, somewhere in Celtic Europe during the Middle Ages, he was leading druidical chants, and playing a lyre. And everything was done right... his robe was always freshly washed. Kings sought his guidance.
I think that the EHX Clone Chorus Cobain used was a perfect choice for its tone.
Thanks, had no idea what it was actually emulating.
I just order a CE-2w from GC. I'm so hype
How’s it been for you
I love classic KYG
This explanation seems a bit off to me. The rate control controls the rate of an internal low frequency oscillator that's sweeping the delay time. The rate control is not a control of the millisecond delay other than to sweep it at a given rate. Some more sophisticated delays have both a rate and a millisecond-delay control to set the start (center) point of how many milliseconds desired- say 16ms, and then the depth control determines if it's sweeping from 14-18ms or 12-22ms (for example) with the rate control determining how fast that sweep from 12ms to 22ms is occuring. When you sweep delay times there is a natural pitch shifting effect that occurs and that is the heart of the chorus sound.
I like 80’s Chorus, like the Jazz Chorus pedals
Love the video. Love the videos man! Keep them up.
Very nice explanation Phil, great vid!
This is timely. I'm trying to decide on a chorus pedal. I like the TC Electronics Corona
Ok so is this how we get a close to Perfect ear pleasing cords produced sound like on a 1970s Tom Petty album from our tube amp. If not how do we make our tube amps sound as close as we can to a 1970s Tom Petty vinyl record. Because they were using tube amps. It’s the slow parts I have so much trouble reproducing in my DAW
Great video and yes I noticed no faded edits! Keep up the great work!
Darn it, Philip. You should have used a chorus effect on your intro riff. Love your channel!
Question maybe an idea for a video? Stacking overdrive and distortion pedals properly?
May I suggest a trick? You can obtain the exact same effect, only more subtle (and less.. 80ies, if you will) by simply adding delay and slightly moving your whammy bar. This works, of course, for single notes kind of situations, where you let the notes ring; it doesn't work for strumming (where, let's face it, chorus is annoying anyway, unless you are covering "Purple rain" dressed like Prince!).
You could use this on your next "things you didn't know about delay"! ;)
Love your channel anyway, keep up the good work Phillip!
I'm really starting to appreciate Boss pedals.
Really well done. Very informative.
good explanation and breakdown. thinking to use this effect on my next guitar recording. subbed. cheers!
Yay! I bought a T-shirt!
I like Chorus pedals. Explain the Flanger next Phil!
Awesome vid Phillip. Thanks much.
Who could give this a thumbs down? Thanks Phillip!
Thank you for the great ideas.
Very clear explanation. What about using it it with the dirty amp channel?
Thank you Phillip. I’d be interested in how you use the pedal with an acoustic guitar.
I found this video very helpful. I think my guitar playing would benefit greatly from a video on the proper use of fuzz pedals. I don't get them
I also use it to split to a second amp.
Not "harmony"; you mean 'unison'.
Good explanation, nobody says that. 🙌
What pedals are used in Cindy Louper's time after time?
i love neoclassical shred like yngwie, jason becker, luca turilli and marty friedman.... to geta thiker solo tone shuld i use reverb, corus or delay???
Can you explain how Zakk Wylde uses his chorus in front of his dirty amp and it still doesn't sound muddy. What settings should there be on the chorus? He says he gets his amps to sound like Malcolm Young and then adds the rest with the OD pedal. The chorus is also in front (after the OD ofc).
Cheers!
Nice description, I just can't come to grips with a chorus pedal. I never find a sound I like, perhaps because to me it sounds out of tune, which it is and supposed to be.
The easy way to understand is Rate is how fast the waves,the more means more faster it is kinda like vibrato rate, depth is how deep you want the sound to mix with your original signal, exp: depth at 0, Level at 10 means nothing
VERY INFORMATIVE. THANKS
Another great video, Phil. Love the Strat and the color. Is it an American Professional series?
Great explanation. Thanks!
Help... I want to buy a fender stratocaster my problem is I don't know which one is good or decent to play, American made or made in Mexico what is the difference? Which one should I buy.
I dime the level and depth and turn up the rate half way. I also dime the tone if the pedal has one. Works great for bass.
I love listening to your videos you're a very entertaining person. Last night I searched through your videos and I may be wrong but couldn't find anything where you talk "acoustic" (I get it )specifically action I have a Yamaha 700, I believe SX,anyway it has the electronics on it. Don't like the height at the 12th fret its about 5/32nds and was wondering should I adjust the neck first or sand down the bridge.What would you suggest Thanks for all your info.
Great video ! Thanks man !
Very cool explanation bro.. Thanks
I like your theory in the beginning, props for that. but I wished you would have gotten into more depth. even the basic level of analog and digital or BBD's etc. still a great video though.
Nice review man!
Thank you so much
Hey Dr.Phil thanks for the tutorial on Choruses.Anyway, please tell me that Model Fender you have there and where can i order one same specs but maybe Pearl White?Thanks for your kind & timely reply!!