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The King of Chorus? The Analogman Bi-Chorus

After spending time with the Retro-Sonic Stereo Chorus I found that I loved having two chorus tones at my feet, but I really wanted the ability to control the speed and depth of both of them. The Boss CE-1 style controls of the Retro-Sonic unit weren't cutting it considering the range of chorus settings that I tend to favor, and Leslie tones are a one-trick pony--albeit a very nice one. Luckily my chorus feature-lust has already been addressed by Analog Mike, boutique pedal maker extraordinaire and owner of analogman guitar effects. Mike can craft a chorus to match your every whim, but I was only after one--the Analogman Bi-Chorus, stereo flavor. Lets take a look at it shall we?

Analogman Bi-Chorus

You can think of the Bi-Chorus as two choruses (chori?) in a single box with completely individual controls, a switch to swap between each settings group, and another switch to turn the effect on and off. Bingo! With the Bi-Chorus we have the versatility of two completely independently configured chorus effects and the ability to switch between them on the fly--but this is too good to be true right? Surely the tone isn't up to snuff? Wrong. The Bi-Chorus is a very rich and lush analog chorus that shimmers like an ocean sunset. The clips below will prove it.

In addition to any other feature your heart desires, Mike can add a depth switch to the Bi-Chorus, which I highly recommend. This allows for three different settings on the Bi-Chorus: deep, thin, and normal. Each setting has it's own voicing and figuring out the setting that is your favorite requires some experimentation but the general idea is this: deep emphasizes lower frequencies and has a wider depth range, thin is a very subtle and shallow chorusing effect, and normal is standard operation. Tones from all three modes are spot-on and usable depending on the application. Gorgeous leslie tones are easily dialed in and retain a subtle shimmer from the voicing of the chorus circuit.

Check out the following two clips for a demonstration of the stereo Bi-Chorus. For both clips, the Bi-Chorus was set to "normal operation" mode on the depth switch. In the ambient clip, I start out with the bypass signal, move into an ambient low intensity chorus and then into a more shimmery Leslie mode; near the end of the clip I engage the series pickup switch on my Telecaster for a variation in tone. The blues clip has a leslie tone dialed in and is played entirely on the neck pickup. Both clips were recorded on my Telecaster plugged directly into the effect, and then straight into my Orange AD-30R.

Check the ubiquitous Pro/Con table above for a nice summary of the unit. In Summary, based on the ratio of feature set to sound quality the Analogman Bi-Chorus is hands down the best chorus that I have ever encountered. Single coils will sound a little hollow due to the shimmery voicing of the circuit but I don't hold a grudge simply because it's expected behavior and a classic chorus sound. If you can afford it, grab one of these guys. I recommend shelling out the additional money for the depth switch, as it really opens up an incredible number of chorus tonal characteristics on the fly and can help you tame the hollower sounds on single coil guitars by adjusting the depth and frequencies affected at the flip of a switch.