Best Chorus Pedals (our top 5 picks)

One of the coolest guitar pedals I ever managed to get my hands on was an old Danelectro chorus when I was 11 years old. It was one of the smaller ones, from the series that were all named after some kind of food. This one was the "milkshake chorus." In my young, new-to-the-guitar mind, that was the most awesome guitar pedal I could have ever purchased. And while I don't remember what I paid for it, the little pedal couldn't have been worth much more than 20 bucks. These days, I've moved onto better chorus pedals.

I'm going to focus on a total of five chorus pedals for guitar players, based on our first-hand testing. 

Looking for cheaper options? Checkout our cheap chorus pedal recommendations

All the pictures, some of the videos, and data are here to prove we've done the work of using and rating these pedals honestly. For each chorus pedal featured, I'm looking at primarily the following criteria, which you should also be considering if and when you're buying one for yourself:

• Tone quality
• Versatility of control
• Features (bypass type, stereo connection, etc.)
• Reputation and community consensus
• Cost and value

Our Best Chorus Pedal Picks

1. MXR M234 Analog Chorus Pedal (best analog)

Tone Comparison

Textures resulting are lush and liquid, ideal for layering lead melody. We really like the M234 with the rate lowered, giving you a soft sheen of modulation that doesn't impact the pitch of your clean sound. If you want more of a noticeable pitch shift, just turn the rate up for a deeper cut. For a really subtle clean rhythm layer, turn depth down and leave the rate control at about 50 percent.

Overall, the tone profile is really warm and would pair well with a tube amp where you're playing a lot of cleans and need some simple effects layering. 

EQ and Tweaking

As I've already touched on, you'll get a lot of variety out of just the depth and rate controls. I worked a lot with those before even touching the level knob. The High and Low knobs (at the top) function as a two-band EQ for the wet portion of your signal, which were harder to get much variety out of unless we had the mix entirely on the wet side.

When we did, the high/low controls were really useful.

Still, getting a chorus pedal with a five-band EQ is a real treat, especially when you're working with a completely analog pedal. It would be interesting to see Dunlop put this control scheme on the MXR Phase 90.

Value

As MXR is known to do, they've managed to produce a great-sounding, analog pedal in a small box for a really decent price (check the price guide below for updated numbers). This is where the M234 ultimately beats other pedals. Because while there are chorus pedals that sound better and that might even have more control, they tend to be way more expensive compared to the M234. If you're looking for value, the M234 is a clear winner out of every chorus pedal we've tested.

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2. Boss CE-2w Waza Craft Chorus (best vintage style)

The original Boss CE-1 chorus pedals still show up on Reverb, but most of them are crazy expensive just because they're so rare. I've seen $1000 or higher pretty regularly.

For the vintage CE-2 enthusiasts, the typical used cost hovers around $300.

I suppose the good old days (the early '90s) are just hard to beat.

But Boss is actually coming close with the Waza Craft series, which has re-introduced several of these classics with analog circuits and some modern touch ups. The CE-2w is one of them.

I did a full review of the CE-2w, which you can check out here:

Read the full review: Boss CE-2w Waza Craft

Tone and Sound

Modulation layers are smooth without a ton of fluttering or pitch shifting.

You can dial it in, but it's not the CE-2w's strong suit.

If you set the rate and depth to higher levels, it's not overwhelming or pulsating. I did notice that the rate in the CE-2 setting seemed slightly faster and more intense, but still tame compared to the typical chorus pedals we see, especially the digital circuits.

Here are the three modes (models) included:

• Standard (CE-2 model)
• CE-1 Chorus
• CE-1 Vibrato

I have zero complaints about the tone.

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3. Walrus Audio Julia Analog Chorus (best boutique)

Tone Comparison

You get a good blend of vibrato and chorus that does a nice job of respecting your clean tone, which we've noticed is a common characteristic of analog chorus pedals. They just seem to preserve your amp's natural sound a lot better, which alone could make them worth the additional cost. The Julia is a much clearer modulation with less emphasis on pitch shifting and more of a focus on shimmer and layering, similar to the CE-2w, above.

While we've graded it below the M234, an argument could be made for either of those pedals being higher than the other.

EQ and Tweaking

When you use the d - c - v knob you'll move between dry, chorus, and vibrato modes or any blending thereof. As you move between these modes, the results you get out of the rate and depth knob will change, depending on which effect you're using. If you're judging purely on the chorus, it doesn't have quite as much versatility as the M234, though it does have the waveform mode selection.

Value

For boutique-level single button pedals, the going rate seems to be about $200-$350. This is a lot for a chorus pedal, but you're getting a lot of quality in return, especially if you're interested in the vibrato additive.

If that's not something you're looking for, I'd advise going with the M234 and saving some money.

Make sure to check the price guides we've added here for updated numbers.

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The TriceraChorus has four major components:

• Three modulation modes: Chorus, vibrato, and chorale
• Delay and filters for each chorus voice
• Detune option that adds a unique layer of depth to the pedal's sound
• Finally, the swirl mode adds a flanger-like tone to the mix

The demo video doesn't really convey the versatility of this chorus (that's my fault) but it does give you a good feel for the clean layers and how it responds to basic tweaking. 

I really liked the delay control. Modulation with a little bit of ambience has always been one of my preferred ways to doctor up a clean tone.

I particularly enjoyed the swirl button, which produces a flanger-like effect. Flanger and chorus are similar enough effects that they often show up in the same pedal, which really expands your territory.

Read the full review: Eventide TriceraChorus

Some settings sounded a bit generic, like a copy/paste chorus algorithm. For instance, the classic chorus with all knobs set at 12 o'clock is decent but not particularly memorable.

But starting with a simple foundation and expanding from there is not necessarily a bad approach.

As I've mentioned, even slight knob adjustments can lead to a more pulsating sound. Many of the tones have a rhythmic and punchy quality, especially when experimenting with the delay.

Considering the pedal's punchy nature, I am surprised that a tap tempo function was not included. My suggestion would be to make the Swirl bypass a panel switch and use that bypass as a tap tempo button.

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Tone Comparison

While the CE-5's effect sounds good, I didn't find it quite as warm or inviting after using the M234 and CE-2w. Even compared to something like the TC Electronic Corona, the tone of the CE-5 sounds a little more processed and digitized.

That isn't necessarily a bad thing. It's just the reason I didn't want to score it as high as the others.

It's a great-sounding chorus, though with a higher price tag than the M234, I'd like to be a little more wow'ed by the tone quality, and it was just par for me.

EQ and Tweaking

The CE-5 uses the exact same control scheme as the M234, again making the higher price a disappointment. There also just isn't as much variety in the depth and rate control as what we got out of some of the other chorus pedals in this list. Still, all the basics are there and it is a five-band EQ for a single chorus effect.

It's less of a superstar on this list, but still one of my top recommendations.

Value

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Our Chorus Pedal Testing and Rating Process

Chorus pedals are a little harder to test because a lot of them sound really similar. It's one of the most subtle and un-intrusive effects, especially when you aren't dialing in any kind of intense pitch-shifting. Our process had to take this into account and make sure that we looked for more nuanced differences between each effect. How usable are they when the rate is turned up? How good does it sound over a strumming chord progression? 

We take each chorus pedal and rate them on tone, controls, versatility, and price/value.

It's a really simple system (we used to do something more complex), but it's just to give you a general idea and a few ways to compare similar products.

Pinpointing High Value

This also helps to avoid simply providing you with the most expensive chorus pedals. Instead, you should aim for a mix of a good price and high grades in the rating categories we've established.

Overall Tone Grade

The tone grade is simply meant to denote how good the pedal sounds and how effectively it accomplishes its said goal. When assessing tone quality in a chorus pedal, we look at several nuanced aspects of the sound:

• Is the chorus effect true to what most would expect a chorus to send like?
• Does it sound good when used as a light layer and as a heavier pitch shift?
• Does it preserve the quality and nuance of your clean tone?
• Does the effect side of the mix match the volume of the clean side?

These are just a few of the ways you can grade tone quality. And while it's true that there's some subjectivity involved with this process, we try to be as objective as possible and analyze the sounds of the pedal based on concrete factors, like those I just mentioned.

Versatility Grade (modern/vintage)

We grade pedal versatility based on how applicable they are to different styles. Broadly, this can be broken down into modern and vintage tones. The clearest example of this is with distortion pedals, where you often have types of distortion that are either modern or vintage, but not both. With chorus pedals, this is a little more ambiguous because modulation can generally be applied to a wide range of styles.

An example might be the EHX Small Clone chorus that Kurt Cobain used. While we've never tested that particular pedal, it's widely considered to be a more vintage-style chorus. The Earthquaker Sea Machine would be considered a more modernized style of chorus. A pedal will get a higher grade in this area if it's usable in a wider range of styles.

Control/EQ

This is a more concrete rating, based on the exterior control available to you on the actual pedal. For chorus, this should mean at least rate and depth. These are considered baseline modulation controls.

The nicer chorus pedals will go above and beyond this scheme, adding things like waveform selection, hi and low EQ knobs or other controllable parameters.

Not only are we rating on the available knobs but we're also looking at how effective those knobs are in terms or providing variety. For example, how usable is the pedal when the rate knob is turned low? What about when it's turned up high?

Does each control actually make the pedal better and more usable, or is it just something you won't really use? Typically, we see analog and digital chorus pedals providing a decently wide range of control, as we see in both the M234 and the Julia.

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