
It’s the ’80s in a box—just add hair spray.
A portable, user-friendly path to tri-stereo chorus sounds. Presets make it easy to find ’80s guitar tones. Good analog BBD-style chorus tones. Sensitive controls allow for refined tweaking.
Dual-control knobs make it difficult to visualize settings.
$299
Eventide TriceraChorus
eventideaudio.com
The 1980s were a decade of big hair, big amps, and big guitar tones. But while those stacks of cabinets certainly made things louder, behind-the-scenes rackmount chorus and in particular, the tri-stereo chorus units available under various names such as Dyno-My-Piano, Dynotronics, and Songbird, did a lot to make ’80s guitar sound bigger still. Once these rackmount units reached the rigs of guitarists such as Michael Landau and Steve Lukather, pop radio didn’t stand a chance.
After a period of relentless ubiquity, heavily chorused guitar tones went the way of Aqua Net. But chorus made a comeback, and even rare rackmount versions of the effect have been distilled into pedal form. Eventide does a swell job cramming complicated effects into compact stomps. This time around, they’ve fit the giant tones and deep functionality of rackmount tri-stereo chorus into the pedalboard-friendly TriceraChorus.
Eventide TriceraChorus Review by premierguitar
Recorded using a G&L Legacy through a Fender 5A3 Deluxe (left) and silver-panel Fender Deluxe Reverb (right), each miked with a Shure SM57 through an SSL 2+ interface.
- Neck pickup, chorus mode, rate at 10 o’clock, detune at 10 o’clock, chorus levels at noon
- Same settings in swirl mode
- Neck pickup, swirl on, vibrato mode, rate at 3 o’clock/rate envelope cranked, detune at 3 o/clock, pitch at 11 o’clock
- Rhythm on bridge/middle, chorale mode, rate noon, detune noon, all three levels at 2 o’clock. Lead with same setting but with Klon KTR
- Same settings on bridge/middle, delay knob cranked (clean)
- Same settings but with Klon KTR
Is Three Better Than One?
Anyone who’s ever used a stereo chorus effect knows the depth and dimension it can add to a guitar tone. A tri-stereo chorus takes that idea and runs with it—creating three separate chorus signals and placing them across the stereo field—left, center, and right. The result is just as vast as you’d hope, evoking big-stadium vibes even with a pair of small combos.
Like the other pedals in Eventide's dot9 series, the TriceraChorus' dual-function knobs offer a wide range of control. On the TriceraChorus, users can use them to choose between three effect modes (chorus, vibrato, and chorale), tweak rate/rate envelope, detune amount and pitch, left/center/right levels, delay time, and filter settings. The complex nature of the pedal’s capabilities means specific settings are easy to forget, and first-time users face a bit of a learning curve. But the five factory presets are good jumping-off points for exploring possible extremes. And with the option to create 127 presets of your own you can create and recall many simple or radical formulas to suit your musical moment.
By cranking up the rate and detune past noon and playing around with a little micro-pitch shifting to taste, it was easy to evoke the Mike Stern-playing-with-Miles tones of my dreams.
Tracing The History of Chorus
In some ways, the TriceraChorus enables users to be tone archeologists and trace the history of the chorus effect to its early days. At its simplest settings, the TriceraChorus offers bucket brigade-inspired tones that evoke the sound of those ’70s stomps. And in chorus mode, with the rate at slow-to-moderate settings and the detune below noonish, the pedal offers warm gooey delights. Kick on the swirl switch and you unlock even warmer phase- and flange-style modulation. If it’s subtle sounds you seek, dialing back one or two of the three chorus level settings offers more vintage-variety sounds. On the other side of the coin, keeping the swirl engaged and switching into vibrato mode at high rate and detune settings creates worlds of weirdness.
When it’s time to lean into ’80s vibes, you’ll want all three chorus levels to be audible. I found the most hi-fi tones in chorale mode with the swirl function off. Here, tight, single-note riffs and leads sing, especially with a touch of overdrive in front of the pedal. By cranking up the rate and detune past noon and adding a little micro-pitch shifting to taste, it was easy to evoke the Mike Stern-playing-with-Miles tones of my dreams. Cranking the delay knob can deliver the pedal’s most arena-ready tones and I had a blast faking my way through everything from Alex Lifeson-style suspensions to “Purple Rain.” Whatever the settings, with all three chorus voices activated, the TriceraChorus adds a lush sparkle to clean tones and buffs out the rough edges of distorted tones to create ’80s radio-ready majesty.
The Verdict
Though tri-stereo chorus was immensely popular in its heyday, its potential is still underutilized. And while I’ve never played through a vintage Dynotronics unit to know how close Eventide got to the original vibes, I’ve played through enough chorus pedals to know that the TriceraChorus does something very different. If you want quintessentially ’80s sounds, this pedal will get you there instantly. If that’s not your bag, you might not need all the extra fuss. But this Eventide has plenty of sonic rewards to offer anyone who’s even a little curious about chorus exploration and wants to embiggen their tones.
The MXR Rockman X100 Analog Tone Processor is designed to revive the signature sonic character of that headphone amp in stompbox form.
In 1982, Tom Scholz—visionary guitarist and founder of pioneering hard rock band Boston—designed and released the Rockman X100 headphone amp through his electronics company Scholz Research & Development. But it was more than just a headphone amp—with recording console connectivity and several tone tweaking features and built-in effects, the X100 became the secret weapon in the studio that would go on to define the polished, chorus-laden sound of 1980s arena rock.
Aided by veteran MXR engineer and SR&D alum Bob Cedro, the MXR design team captured the same crystalline cleans, crunchy harmonics, and shimmering modulation as the original. With the same four tonal presets, carefully calibrated compression, and bucket-brigade chorusing, this all-analog recreation also features both mono and stereo modes and optional external mode switching for an enhanced user experience.
RE-COMPRESSED
A key component of the original X100’s sound was a complex compression circuit for keeping the signal clear whether clean or dirty. The MXR Rockman X100 Analog Tone Processor comes equipped with the same circuit, tuned for a slow release on clean modes and a fast release on dirty modes. The overall amount of compression is tied to the Input Gain level—more input gain means more compression.
MODED OUT
Like the original, the Rockman X100 Analog Tone Processor features four different presets, selectable via the MODE button: two differently equalized clean modes with high-power sustain and two distinctively gritty dirty modes. The default setting, CLN2 mode, provides a clean, crystal clear tone, while CLN1 mode offers a mid-focused EQ curve for a tight, punchy sound. On the dirty side, Edge mode boasts moderate clipping that’s highly sensitive to Input Gain adjustments and cleans up nicely at low guitar volume levels. Distortion mode delivers high-energy overdrive and sustain that’s perfect for easy, fluid lead tones.
ON THE LEVEL
Tailoring your levels is simple with dedicated Input Gain and Volume sliders. Input Gain adjustments affect how your incoming signal interacts with the X100 Analog Tone Processor’s four modes—especially the Edge setting—while Volume sets the level going to your amplifier.
THE BUCKET BRIGADE
Equipped with the same classic MN3007 bucket brigade chip found in the original headphone amp, the Rockman X100 Analog Tone Processor will infuse every riff and lick with bucketfuls of expansive, shimmering chorus with a simple push of the Chorus button.
DIG DEEPER
Like a more advanced setup? You can connect an off-board switch such as the MXR TRS Split + Tap for foot control of the Mode switch. And if you’re into stereo, this pedal stereo allows you to send the signal of your selected mode to L/R channels while varying the chorus between the two sides for a more spacious and dynamic effect.
ARENA ROCK IN A BOX
The MXR Rockman X100 Analog Tone Processor brings the same rig-in-a-box tones that the original did—but this time, it’ll fit right onto your pedalboard. There’s never been a better way to capture the big tones and texture of the arena rock era. Get yours now.
- The defining sound of arena rock in pedal form
- Crystalline cleans, crunchy harmonics, and shimmering modulation
- Same four tone presets—two clean, two dirty—as the original headphone amp
- Complex compression circuit tuned for a slow release on clean modes and a fast release on dirty modes
- Original bucket-brigade chip for lush, expansive chorusing
- Advanced features include off-board switching, stereo mode, and more
- AVAILABLE NOW
- $229.99 street
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