After you’ve settled on your overdrive and gain tone, picked out your favorite delay, and bathed it all in a glorious reverb, you might start to long for something a little more interesting. Something that provides texture and interest to your notes. For that, we call on modulation effects, staring with chorus and flanger. When someone says it sounds “big,” it’s usually thanks to a combination of reverb and the doubling effect of a chorus. Dramatic use of the flanger was popular in the 80s, lending the jet-like sound to many a solo. Add movement and intrigue to your guitar tone with the best chorus pedals and flanger pedals, two related but notably different effects.
Boss offers not one, not two, but a total of four chorus pedals – and that’s just the single-function stompboxes. If you add in the MD-500 and the new MD-200, Boss has you covered for chorus sounds.
What sets the CE-2W apart is that contained within it is the circuit to Boss’s first-ever effect pedal, the CE-1 Chorus Ensemble. That’s the same circuit that lives inside the Roland Jazz Chorus that we put on our best amps under $1,000 post. It also has the CE-2 Chorus circuit and the CE-1 Vibrato, each selectable with a simple switch. Otherwise, you get Rate and Depth knobs and stereo outputs. Any of those three pedals are basically worth the money on their own, but having all three in one enclosure should cover all of your needs.
The Waza Craft line is a bit on the pricey side, so if you want to get into a Boss chorus for less, you’ll probably want to start with the CH-1 Super Chorus or the CE-5 Chorus Ensemble. If you were to acquire both and a/b them with similar settings, especially subtle ones, you might not detect much of a difference. The circuits are very similar and they use the same delay chip. The primary difference seems to be the LFO. In the Super Chorus, the effect is deeper, which perhaps makes it better suited to being a guitar modulation effect. The goal here is to add texture and excitement, so it makes sense to go with the pedal that has more effect in it. Conversely, you might choose the CE-5 if you’ll also use it for bass or just want a very clean, studio-like doubling effect.
You could also go a slightly different direction with a more interesting control set in the recently re-released Dimension C. It’s a chorus at heart, but definitely stands apart from the pack.
Without a doubt one of the, if not the, most popular chorus pedals of the last few years. The Julia is an absolutely beautiful device, voiced for sea-inflected tones. The unique control set allows for a subtle multi-function approach that should prove useful to anyone.
The pedal’s function revolves around the D-C-V knob, which stands for Dry, Chorus, Vibrato. Dry is the all-analog dry signal path and as you turn it clockwise, it mixes in the LFO over the top for the Chorus function. As you keep turning, the dry signal is decreased, leaving behind only the detuned sound of the Vibrato signal. Julia’s other party trick is the Lag knob, which sets the center delay time of the LFO and means you can go from super-subtle to fully seasick.
Aside from those, you get a Rate and Depth knob, as well as a swtich to alter the wave of the LFO between triangle and sine wave.
As with most of Chase Bliss Audio’s offerings, the Warped Vinyl is what you’d get if you shoved multiple other offerings on this list into one enclosure and controlled them with an advanced computer. The heart of this unit is an all-analog signal path controlled by digital means.
Controls on this unit are plentiful and mostly relate to controlling the shape and timing of the wave. The obvious knobs are Mix and Depth, which do their expected function. RPM is the rate knob on this device, while Lag sets the delay of the chorused signal compared to the dry signal.
Warp sets the center point of the modulation, essentially the ramp up and down speed. This is key because the two waveform switches control the front and back half of the wave, respectively, between sine, triangle and square wave. That means you can set a ramp up of a sine wave, a ramp down of a square wave, and the length of both.
The 1/2/4 button controls subdivisions of the tap tempo, which is achieved with the left footswitch. 3/6/8 are also available via a dipswitch on the back. You can also use this to set the function of the left footswitch to Hold, which allows you to manually ramp the effect.
The Tone knob it an animal unto itself. If there are no dipswitches engaged, it works as a traditional tone, shaving low end at right-of-center settings and high end at left-of-center settings. With the dipswitches enabled, this knob controls Lag, Mix, RPM, Depth, or Warp – or all of them at once. These can also be controlled via external expression pedal, assignable by the same switches.
There are a few more options with those dipswitches, so a peek at the owners manual will help you get familiar before you buy. You can also set two presets using the toggle switch at the bottom.
Alex Price has a lengthy demo of this complicated, ambitious unit.
This offering from JHS combines two novel aspects you are unlikely to find in other chorus pedals: 1. It’s voiced to sound like the Arion SCH-1 of the 80s, which is well known for its versatility. 2. It has tap tempo, accessible via a JHS Red Remote or similar remote tap device.
Controls include the easy-to-understand Volume, Speed and Depth. There’s an EQ knob that helps to correct low-end loss that other chorus pedals suffer. A wave selector switch allows you to choose sine, square, or triangle waves, while an internal switch allows for buffered or true bypass operation depending on your needs. The final control is a Chorus/Vibrato switch, which allows you to defeat the dry sound and use it just as a vibrato.
JHS also offers the Space Commander, which combins a boost, chrous, and reverb into one handy unit.
Old Blood Noise Endeavors are not the sort of outfit to offer a straight-ahead take on a standard effect. This Reflector unit is at its heart a chrous pedal, but each of the three modes adds something else for a unique approach.
Three of the controls are fairly standard, being Rate, Depth and Mix, the last of which is capable of 100% wet. The last knob works in conjunction with the mode switch and allows you to dial in the amount of additional effect added. In Wrinkle mode, the Modulate knob controls a pitch shifter from an octave down to an octave up. In Washed mode, it controls a reverb feeding into the chorus, and in Mirrors mode, a resonant filter.
There’s also an Expression pedal input that can control either the Rate or the Modulate knob.
Now on its third iteration, the Sea Machine from EarthQuaker Devices now offers more range on each knob, of which there are six. Of all the chorus pedals on the list, this is probably the one most likely to produce bizarre, sickening sounds, so look here if you’re into that sort of thing.
Those six controls include: Animate, Dimension, Intensity, Depth, Shape, and Rate. Animate controls the range of the pitch shift, with typical chorus range at lower settings. Dimension adds a short delay which enhances the depth of the chorus and is capable of self-oscillation.
Intensity is the mix knob, with unity at noon, while Shape changes the wave from triangle to square wave. Depth and Rate are pretty straightforward, with the mini LED always blinking in accordance with where the rate is set.
Since chorus and flanger are more or less related, it makes a certain amount of sense to combine them into one pedal. The Electric Mistress is an iconic pedal that many claim has a certain magic that other choruses and flangers can’t quite replicate. This is the pedal you want for Hendrix-style modulation.
Controls include Rate, Chorus Depth, and Flanger Depth. Simple controls, but a lot of versatility. With either the Chorus Depth or the Flanger Depth at zero, the pedal functions as an independent effect. This gives you good flexibility by allowing you to call up a chorus or a flange whenever you need it. There’s also a Filter Matrix mode that lets you manually move the flanger. For maximum effect, combine them. I recommend choosing one to dominate and one to subtly color, but let your ears decide what’s best. It’s also stereo, again giving you the option to widen the sonic field.
Naturally, EHX also makes the Small Clone, which is widely used and widely loved. It’s a little more limited option-wise and isn’t stereo, but this is the chorus sound. This also comes in the nano form factor as the Neo Clone. The cheapest and simplest option is the Nano Clone, which gives you only a Rate knob. Best for choosing one chorus tone and kicking on when you need it. Yet more options the Clone Theory, which combines two choruses with vibrato, the Mod 11 or the Stereo Polychorus. EHX never knew how to say no to putting a pedal into production.
The Stereo Mistress is still our pick, especially because it combines both the flanger and chorus function as seen in this product demo.
The price of these varies new, but under $100 isn’t hard to find on Reverb.
Way Huge pedals tend to have a certain vibe about them and the Blue Hippo chorus is no different. In fact, it even has a Vibe right in it (pun intended, I guess), in addition to the chorus mode.
The original version of this pedal sells for crazy money, usually north of $1,500. It very simply makes a good noise, so this reissue is a welcome relief from the scarcity of the secondhand market for the originals.
Other than that switch, you have two knobs: Speed and Depth. If the other options are too much for you, this is a great-sounding chorus that’s worth a look. A nice touch is that the LED blinks in time with the Speed setting. The mkIII downsizes this quite a lot to a more pedalboard-friendly format.
The purpose of a chorus pedal that you’re most likely to hear is to “thicken” a guitar part. To that end, Malekko have released this pedal called Thicken, which does just what it says on the tin.
This pedal acheives this by essentially being two delay pedals stacked into one another, with an optional separate chorus delay. The controls on this are definitely unique, though C Rate, C Depth, and C Vol are obvious enough, each controlling the parameters of the chorus. With C Vol all the way down, it’s just the two delays. S Vol controls the volume of those delays, while Spread controls the rate of the delays.
As you turn Spread up, the second delay becomes exponentially longer than the first delay while in Delay Mode. To access Random Mode, hold the stomp button during power up. This will change the Spread knob’s function to controlling the overall smoothness of the thickening. Finally, the Preamp controls the signal being fed to the chorus and delays, which allows you to control how much the effect is being driven.
To get the most dramatic effect out of your chorus pedal, you’ll want to run a stereo rig, which is usually accomplished with two amplifiers or with a direct out to the house mixer. In stereo configurations, the two channels are modulated opposite one another — when the right channel is on the longest delay, the left channel is on the shortest. They share one LFO, set backwards from one another, which means they move simultaneously. This creates a wider field for the chorusing effect.
Probably the most popular version of the stereo chorus is the MXR M134. For controls, you get Intensity, which controls the amount of the effect, Rate, which controls the speed, and Width, which controls the amount of delay. You also get knobs for Bass and Treble so you can dial in the exact right tone. I find chorus to be pretty bass-heavy, so this is a handy option. There’s a Bass Filter button, too, which means the tone knobs only effect the higher frequencies of the pedal.
If you want essentially the same controls, but can’t make use of the stereo outputs, you can opt for the cheaper M234 Analog Chorus, of which there is a Zakk Wylde version voiced for heavier tones. If you want something simpler (and even cheaper), there’s the one-knob M148 Micro Chorus, which retains the voicing but ditches the extra knobs.
Much like the Ibanez CF7 of years past, the Nautila from DigiTech bridges the gap between chorus in flanger in one unit, which makes sense, given their function. In some ways, this somewhat underrated pedal offers more flexibility than other units since it offers some EQ shaping and voice selection.
This is possible due to concentric knobs in the bottom of the control set. The left set of knobs control the Speed and Depth, while the right control Emphasis and Voices. In chorus mode, the Emphasis controls the amount of high frequencies in the chorus effect, while in flange mode, it controls the regeneration. The Voices knob sets the number of additional voices added, with a max of four for flange and eight for chorus.
There’s also a Mix knob and a Drift knob, which alters the shape of the modulation. As a nice bonus, this compact pedal has stereo ins and outs.
In many ways, the Pyramids follows EQD’s Avalanche Run, which we included on our best reverb delay pedals post. It uses the same DSP architecture and the same enclosure, as well as a similar control set. That makes sense, of course, since flanging is just a modulated delay line over the top of the dry singal.
While a few of the chorus pedals on this list got the all-out deluxe treatment, EQD gave almost as many controls to its flanger. Manual controls the delay time and is controllable via expression pedal. Rate controls both the LFO and rise or fall time in Trigger Up and Trigger Down modes. Width is analagous to a depth knob on a chorus and controls the sweep of the LFO. Mix controls the amount of the effected signal.
Feedback is the regeneration knob, which can really dramatically increase the flanging effect. Modify is a tone control in most modes, but can also act as a delay time, sensitivity control, or a glide control, depending on which of the eight modes you have selected, which are selectable with the Mode knob. The Rate & Tap toggle adjust the spread of the Rate knob or the division of your tap tempo input.
To control all of these, you can set up to five different presets to help you control these many variables. In addition, the footswitches are Flexi-Switch, which means they can be either momentary or latching depending on your needs.
The latest version of the F.13 from Alexander gives this pedal a number of interesting features, to include MIDI control possibilities. There are four modes onboard, as well as hidden controls for when you need them.
In Auto mode, the four knobs control the obvious functions and include Rate, Depth, Mix, and Regen. By holding the select button, you can access sweep offset (Alt. 1 for the Rate knob) and Level (alternate function on the mix knob). These alternate functions change depending on which of the modes are active, but you can store all of these settings to one of four on-board presets, which expands to a total of 16 when you use a compatible MIDI controller.
Those other modes include Step, which forces the LFO to step to certain values depending on the pattern set by the alternate function of the Rate knob; Dyna, which acts as an envelope, setting the flanger time based on the input signal, adjustable using the Rate knob to set the sensitivity; and Echo mode, which controls a separate delay for expanding the flanging effect.
In addition to the MIDI control, you can also use an expression pedal, which is assignable to the sweep you determine for any of the knobs. There’s quite a lot of depth to this pedal, but even if you plug it in and use the bog-standard flanger setting, you won’t be disappointed.
Just as with the Reflector, OBNE have combined the flanger function with three additional effects to create something unique. And just like the Reflector, operation of the Flat Light is pretty simple.
Rate, Depth, and Mix all do their expected jobs and change the parameters of the underlying flanger effect. The Mix knob is capable of 100 percent dry or 100 percent wet.
Shift controls the added effect, controlled by the toggle switch. In Detune, this adds a shimmering pitch shifter and in Echo mode, a reverb-eqsue delay. In Resonate, multiple lines of flanging are added, akin to a feedback knob you might find on other flangers.
In addition, you can max out either the Shift or Rate knob using the Tilt footswitch or an external expression pedal of your choosing.
As Dan says in the 12-minute technical demo, if you don’t like flanger, this is the flanger for you.
Counted among the first, if not the definitive first, flanger pedal that actually worked to any impressive degree, the A/DA Flanger immediately set the bar pretty high for flanger pedals for years to come. The original design called for a SAD1024 chip, which was a Reticon BBD delay chip. The 1980 version uses a Panasonic BBD, and it’s this version they chose to reissue. Between the controls and the extremes, nothing has quite matched it since.
The controls on this unit are especially interesting. There is, of course a Speed knob that is fairly straightforward, as well as the Range, which is roughly the depth. Manual sets the center point of the sweep.
You also get Threshold, which is essentially a gate, and Enhance, which also affects the depth and intensity. A switch controls the harmonics between evens and odds. Bucket-brigade designs like this tend toward the dark and warm, and with this all-analog unit, you’ll be capturing some of that vintage tone that is in some ways irreplaceable. At the same time, the unique controls will give you access to some outrageous sounds.
For something completely different, take a look at this Catalinbread option. The genesis of the Zero Point comes from the genesis of the flanger effect itself.
In the studios of the 50s and 60s when the effect was catching on, it was achieved by putting a finger directly on one of the two playback tapes. As a result, that meant two things in particular: 1. It wasn’t on all the time, but used as an accent to a particular passage. 2. You had finite control over when it appeared and when it didn’t.
By eliminating all controls outside of a momentary switch, you can emulate this experience with the Zero Point. Press down on the switch whenever you want the flanger effect. That’s it. Just as they did it in the old days. Of course, there’s still a bypass switch if you don’t want it at the ready and in your signal path at all.
Naturally, this is a fully modern machine, so you have more options than that. If you hold the button down when you power it up, the LED turns red and puts the pedal into inverse mode. This means that when the switch is held, it ramps the signal down through completely silent. When you lift off, it cycles back through the phase as though an LFO was controlling it.
Additionally, there’s a trim pot underneath that controls the gain when the pedal is engaged. Turned all the way up, you can unleash a hidden fuzz effect for a savage sound. It’s certainly unique in the world of flangers, and makes up for its lack of controls with increased playing expression.
Strymon effects are generally the top-of-the-line, everything-to-everybody machines that will do pretty much anything you ask of them. The Timeline (which we featured here) is the final word in studio-level delay in a to-go package. Their DSP technology is finely honed to emulate virtually every effect that’s ever existed. Their Orbit is no exception.
On this be-all beast, you get controls for Speed, Width, Mix, Regen, and Manual. What’s perhaps most compelling about this unit is that you can use an expression pedal to control any of them. If you want to set the effect and then control its presence in your signal, set your expression pedal to change the Mix. If you want to swap the frequencies, use Manual. It’s a high degree of control that isn’t available on other pedals at all.
You also get a three-position switch for positive, negative, and +/- feedback. Positive produces the jet-like sounds, negative the watery sounds, and +/- combines the two in deference to the frequencies chosen on the rest of the pedal. The other switch controls which LFO the pedal is using between LOG (logarithmic, or even sweep), LIN (linear, changes speeds with higher and lower frequencies), and Thru0 (advances the wet signal ahead of the dry for the most dramatic effect).
Even better, the Orbit has a Favorite switch which can be programmed with your favorite setting for easy switching between whatever the knobs are doing and a reliable standby.
The BF-3 is a feat of engineering from Boss. In this compact unit, they manage to cram both a momentary flanging feature, stereo outs and tap tempo. There are also four modes to choose from, making this quite fully featured.
Controls include the concentric Res (resonance) and Manual knobs, which control the feedback and center frequency, respectively. Depth and Rate do their expected function, and of course Mode selects the flanging type.
Among thoes are Ultra, which is for extreme flanging; Standard as in the old BF-2; Gate, which acts either as a volume ramp in mono mode or as a stereo pan when using stereo outputs; and Momentary, which changes the footswitch to a manual trigger, always starting from the low end of the flanger effect.
Ultimately, it’s a utilitarian piece, but it has the necessary flexibility to keep up with more modern and fully-featured offerings.
If you want access to that huge array of sounds, but don’t want to spend the money or sacrifice the pedalboard space, you’ll have to go digital. This TC Electronic Corona Mini is based on its big brother, though in a tiny package and at a lower price. If you can imagine it or create it on something like the Red Witch, you can certainly have access to it in this configuration. Sure, it isn’t analog like some of the others, so that might give up a little mojo, but the emulation in TC Electronic pedals is excellent, so you may not notice.
Controls include Depth, Speed, and FX Level. The controls can be simple because all the magic of this little wonder happens with TC’s TonePrint. Plug this thing into your computer and download or create your own chorus effect using their free software. Once you dial in the effect you want, you’re good to go.
The flexibility of this pedal is a bit slower than some of the others, in that you’ll have to spend some time on a computer to generate new tones. Nevertheless, at this price, you could buy two, set each to wildly different chorus sounds, and still not spend as much as others on this list. Unfortunately, though, you also give up stereo outputs with this option.
