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So I ordered the following from Musician's Friend so I could take my time at home and do a thorough evaluation of chorus pedals: Boss CH-1, TC Electronics SCF, Line 6 MM4.
Upon receiving the pedeals and reading everyone's thoughts, I was sure I would like the TC the best, that the Boss would be good, and the Line 6 would be cool but not perfect. Turns out I was correct.
I tried each pedal through my Boogie DC5 head with the headphones on first. The next day I ran them in front of my VHT combo. The headphone sound was good, not great; however it was a nice first test. All effects were run in front of the amp.
So here's the dirt:
Boss CH-1 Super Chorus
http://www.rolandus.com/products/det...&prodid=CH%2D1
This pedal has very simple documentation but doesn't give examples of good first settings. This pedal has a nice, warm sound. The EQ control is a nice touch; depending on which way you turn it, it will accentuate high or low frequencies when the pedal is on. It can go from a shimmering chorus to a warm dark chorus very quickly. On clean settings, this pedal really sings. Although if you pick too hard, you will get some distorted signal. That's not a good thing for me. When played through a dirty channel on high gain this pedal works well for single notes but with chords it's not very clear. I like this pedal and I'm sure it would suit most people's needs. At around $50 or so used, it's a tough deal to beat.
TC Electronics SCF
http://www.tcelectronic.com/SCF
This pedal is the SHIZ-NIT!!! I can't say enough good things about it. It's actually 3 effects in one: Chorus, Flanger, and Pitch Modulator. AND it has a gain control for 0 to +15 db of signal boost that works regardless if the pedal is on or off. The thing I love the most about this pedal is that it's SUPER quiet and transparent. You will hear your amp's tone wonderfully through this box. Even on super high gain channels while playing barre chords this effect still sings; you won't hear the swirl when you're not playing, either. If I had to compare it to the Boss, I'd say the Boss is warm while the TC is *slightly* metallic and a lot more shimmery. The flanger is awesome and not overdone. On clean channels it sounds like an enhanced chorus while on dirty channels it's a jet fighter. I haven't played with the pitch modulator much; it's like a subtle chorus. The manual is very simple and gives lots of good explanations over the controls and gives about 10 sample settings. Another nice feature is the hard wired power chord; no wall wart is necessary. The on/off switch looks like the old school MXR switch but only takes a light touch to turn it on or off. The LED flashes at the effect's rate when engaged which I found to be a nice touch. I don't think this sounds sterile at all. It just sounds perfect!
Line6 MM4 Modulation Modeler
http://www.line6.com/productpage.asp?productID=41
I really really wanted to love this box. It's huge. It's metal. It's true bypass. It models 16 vintage modulation effects: chorus, flanger, vibrato, etc. The manual is VERY well written and very witty as well. Most of the Harmony Central reviews are pretty positive but the biggest complaint was the volume drop when the pedal is engaged. I'll get to that in a moment. This pedal allows you to choose from 16 effects, set the parameters for each effect, and even preset 3 effects to the 4 footswitches (switch 1 acts as an overall bypass). You can even add an expression pedal. You can choose total bypass or to leave the DSP on; leaving the DSP on allows you to turn off an effect but still have it fade out so you don't get a "hard" turn off. So why don't I love this pedal? First of all it's a bit confusing to use. It seems like when I chose an effect, went to another effect, then back to the original, my settings had changed. The 3 presets worked fine though. Second, the volume drop, or apparent volume drop. If you set the mix control less than 1/2 you'll get mostly dry signal. At 1/2 setting, it's nice blend. Anything more than 1/2 and it sounds like you volume level has dropped on *most* of the effects. AND it's not that noticeable on the dirty channels of an amp. You still with me??? I think what's happening is that so many of the higher frequency notes are being modulated that it sounds like they're being supressed; I don't think the volume is actually dropping though. Third, I found the effects to be good, not great. This pedal does the job. It's versatile. If you need a ton of effects at a reasonable price ($245 street price) and you're not super picky, then this is the pedal for you. If you don't want to tweak a lot, then don't buy this one. If I sat with it for a few days, I'd probably get the hang of it and be really happy. But when I go back to the TC, there's no comparison. I don' think this box sucks. It's just, um, different, and takes some getting used to.
The final verdict: I'm keeping the TC!
Upon receiving the pedeals and reading everyone's thoughts, I was sure I would like the TC the best, that the Boss would be good, and the Line 6 would be cool but not perfect. Turns out I was correct.
I tried each pedal through my Boogie DC5 head with the headphones on first. The next day I ran them in front of my VHT combo. The headphone sound was good, not great; however it was a nice first test. All effects were run in front of the amp.
So here's the dirt:
Boss CH-1 Super Chorus
http://www.rolandus.com/products/det...&prodid=CH%2D1
This pedal has very simple documentation but doesn't give examples of good first settings. This pedal has a nice, warm sound. The EQ control is a nice touch; depending on which way you turn it, it will accentuate high or low frequencies when the pedal is on. It can go from a shimmering chorus to a warm dark chorus very quickly. On clean settings, this pedal really sings. Although if you pick too hard, you will get some distorted signal. That's not a good thing for me. When played through a dirty channel on high gain this pedal works well for single notes but with chords it's not very clear. I like this pedal and I'm sure it would suit most people's needs. At around $50 or so used, it's a tough deal to beat.
TC Electronics SCF
http://www.tcelectronic.com/SCF
This pedal is the SHIZ-NIT!!! I can't say enough good things about it. It's actually 3 effects in one: Chorus, Flanger, and Pitch Modulator. AND it has a gain control for 0 to +15 db of signal boost that works regardless if the pedal is on or off. The thing I love the most about this pedal is that it's SUPER quiet and transparent. You will hear your amp's tone wonderfully through this box. Even on super high gain channels while playing barre chords this effect still sings; you won't hear the swirl when you're not playing, either. If I had to compare it to the Boss, I'd say the Boss is warm while the TC is *slightly* metallic and a lot more shimmery. The flanger is awesome and not overdone. On clean channels it sounds like an enhanced chorus while on dirty channels it's a jet fighter. I haven't played with the pitch modulator much; it's like a subtle chorus. The manual is very simple and gives lots of good explanations over the controls and gives about 10 sample settings. Another nice feature is the hard wired power chord; no wall wart is necessary. The on/off switch looks like the old school MXR switch but only takes a light touch to turn it on or off. The LED flashes at the effect's rate when engaged which I found to be a nice touch. I don't think this sounds sterile at all. It just sounds perfect!
Line6 MM4 Modulation Modeler
http://www.line6.com/productpage.asp?productID=41
I really really wanted to love this box. It's huge. It's metal. It's true bypass. It models 16 vintage modulation effects: chorus, flanger, vibrato, etc. The manual is VERY well written and very witty as well. Most of the Harmony Central reviews are pretty positive but the biggest complaint was the volume drop when the pedal is engaged. I'll get to that in a moment. This pedal allows you to choose from 16 effects, set the parameters for each effect, and even preset 3 effects to the 4 footswitches (switch 1 acts as an overall bypass). You can even add an expression pedal. You can choose total bypass or to leave the DSP on; leaving the DSP on allows you to turn off an effect but still have it fade out so you don't get a "hard" turn off. So why don't I love this pedal? First of all it's a bit confusing to use. It seems like when I chose an effect, went to another effect, then back to the original, my settings had changed. The 3 presets worked fine though. Second, the volume drop, or apparent volume drop. If you set the mix control less than 1/2 you'll get mostly dry signal. At 1/2 setting, it's nice blend. Anything more than 1/2 and it sounds like you volume level has dropped on *most* of the effects. AND it's not that noticeable on the dirty channels of an amp. You still with me??? I think what's happening is that so many of the higher frequency notes are being modulated that it sounds like they're being supressed; I don't think the volume is actually dropping though. Third, I found the effects to be good, not great. This pedal does the job. It's versatile. If you need a ton of effects at a reasonable price ($245 street price) and you're not super picky, then this is the pedal for you. If you don't want to tweak a lot, then don't buy this one. If I sat with it for a few days, I'd probably get the hang of it and be really happy. But when I go back to the TC, there's no comparison. I don' think this box sucks. It's just, um, different, and takes some getting used to.
The final verdict: I'm keeping the TC!