Despite the fact that the sounds of the ’80s are everywhere again, the chorus pedal remains a rather unfairly maligned member of stompbox society. But that doesn’t mean chorus
Despite the fact that the sounds of the ’80s are everywhere again, the chorus pedal remains a rather unfairly maligned member of stompbox society. But that doesn’t mean chorus isn’t capable of doing cool things in the right hands. And you could probably blame a lot of the misunderstanding about chorus pedals on user error and a lack of understanding about the musical contexts in which they work best. Mad Professor seems to understand that truth. And with the Electric Blue Chorus, they set out to design a chorus for guitarists who suffer from ’80s post-traumatic stress.
In the process, Mad Professor created a chorus that can have a profound but subtle effect on your tone in ways you might not even expect. What’s doubly cool is that for all the understated tone-fattening potential of the Electric Blue Chorus, you won’t sacrifice the capacity to get into the realm of classic chorus tones.
That Magic Blend
Mad Professor designed the
Electric Blue Chorus to be very
simple to use, and it’s built
around three basic parameter
controls that are common to
most modulation effects. A
blend knob controls the mix of
the wet and dry sound, a depth
knob controls the modulation
and intensity, and the speed
knob lets you adjust the rate of
the internal oscillator. Together,
they put a very pleasing array of
vibratos, doubling effects, and
freaky sounds at your fingertips.
Like all Mad Professor pedals,
it’s both rock solid and slender,
which are huge plusses when it
comes to real-world pedalboard
use. It’s true bypass and powers
up with a 9V battery or a standard
9V adapter.
Sound of (Andy)
Summers Past
To put the Electric Blue Chorus
through its paces I used a
Telecaster, Stratocaster, and a
Fender Pro Reverb and Peavey
JSX. With all controls on the
chorus set to 12 o’clock, you’ll
hear a very faint fattening of the
signal—the first hint that this
is a very conservative sounding
chorus. That subtlety is a real
plus if you’re trying to avoid the
more heavy-handed chorus tones
of say, mid-’80s Smiths or Rush.
Instead, these more reserved
settings add dimension, complexity,
and a restrained dreaminess.
These subtler settings can
make a boring amp sparkle with
personality too, even when the
effect is almost too subtle to be
distinctly chorus-like.
Ratings
Pros:
Ranges from subtle and tasteful tone thickening
to wet chorus that retains detail.
Cons:
Blend knob could have a slightly wider
wet range.
Tones:
Ease of Use:
Build:
Value:
Street:
$195
Mad Professor
mpamp.com
You really have to max the depth knob to get the liquid crazy stuff of Police records. But even at blend and depth levels where you get blankets of falling water, the Electric Blue Chorus is a tight and complex sounding pedal. And faster speed levels will deliver a cool warbling effect that’s as much vibrato as chorus, depending on how aggressively you use the depth control. With my rig set up for heavy crunch, Alex Lifeson-style riffs and leads still shimmered through the distortion and splashes of sustaining open string and punchy lead remained clear and remarkably free of treble loss or icky metallic sounds.
The Verdict
The Electric Blue
Chorus is a mild and
very contemporary
chorus pedal that’s
equally effective at
low levels, where it
adds just a touch of
movement to otherwise
lifeless tone, or
heavy levels where
it stays detailed and
delightfully free
of the clanging
sounds that evoke
the cheesiest ’80s
applications. And
although it can
be pushed to
take on ’80s-era
characteristics
that will save you when you have
to fill in with a Police cover band,
its strengths are clean, rich, and
transparent tones that enhance
rather than dominate your sound.
At the right settings, you might be tempted to leave it on all the time—especially at low volumes where tone fattening rather than chorus effect will be more apparent. With that range of color at hand, the Electric Blue really does have the potential to reshape your perception of what chorus can do. But in a more practical sense, it gives you the means to reshape your sound in fresh ways you might have never expected. And an effect by any name that can pull of that trick is worth a listen.