Chorus pedal

Chorus pedal
A chorus pedal creates a floating effect that occurs when multiple sources emit sound of nearly the same pitch. The effect naturally occurs in choirs where voices are often not quite the same pitch. This creates a thick and wide sound.

A Chorus pedal imitates this analog effect by splitting the incoming signal into 2 and delaying one signal. The pedal mixes signals back together to create the familiar floaty effect. Sometimes a low-frequency oscillator is also present to set the height of the second signal. Also, there are sometimes other tools to further adjust the effect to your liking, like depth and speed. The depth knob adjusts the amount of effect and the speed knob adjusts the speed of the low frequency oscillator.

Chorus is a very welcome effect for guitarists, especially when playing in a trio. The Police’s guitarist Andy Summers is arguably its most famous user. In addition, well-known chorus users are John Frusciante and Mike Stern and Kurt Cobain also loved it. The effect was perhaps most popular in the 80s and 90s. Almost every guitar player had one on their pedalboard. The effect was also available in large 19 inch rack versions. Nowadays the 19 inch rack effects are mostly replaced by stomp boxes.