I’ve been playing guitar in a live band for a lot of years now and I’ve come to rely on some basic guitar effects to help shape my sound. One of the most important effects you can add to your guitar effects collection is the Chorus effect. If you don’t know how a chorus works its quite simple. Chorusing makes your guitar sound like multiple guitars being played, hence the name Chorus. It accomplishes this effect by putting a slight delay and modulating the original signal then mixing the modulated signal with the original.
Today I’m going to talk about an incredibly affordable chorus pedal called the FAB Chorus by Danelectro. The FAB Chorus is a colored a metallic blue, has an on/off indicator light, an on/off button and 3 knobs that control Mix, Speed and Depth. The FAB Chorus is a mono chorus as opposed to more expensive stereo chorus effects. As you know, a stereo chorus effect will yield a wider and more ambient chorus effect split between two stereo channels. The FAB Chorus is made to be used with a mono guitar amplifier.
Stereo chorus units are excellent when employing stereo amplification but most guitar amps simply run a mono feed to the guitar speakers. A lot of stereo chorus units sound weak and thin when run through a mono amplifier. The FAB Chorus is built to have a thick, rich chorus sound when run in mono. It really is suited to being plugged right into the guitars signal chain which feeds the amplifiers input jack. The FAB Chorus sounds excellent when used with an amplifier like the Fender Frontman 212R which is a functional but somewhat boring amp on its own. If you plug a Danelectro FAB Chorus into the Fender Frontman 212R it really thickens up the sound and makes the amp sound a lot more full.
The FAB Chorus really does create a thick and beautiful mono chorus sound. It’s very easy to dial up a broad range of different sounds using the 3 control knobs. You can go from a light, shimmering chorus to a wildly modulating outer-space type chorus effect and everything in between. It’s really shocking the difference it will make when you put this chorus effect in your signal chain. I justcan’t give the FAB Chours high enough praise for it’s versatility and overall excellent sounding chorus effect.
The FAB Chorus feels weighty enough that it has a good quality feel to it. You can feel some plastic but the pedal is built with a metal bottom and a heavy rubber base. Still, I wouldn’t recommend stomping too hard on this chorus pedal or dumping a drink on it. If you take care of it, I imagine the pedal will last you for years to come.
The FAB Chorus runs on one 9 Volt battery and it also has a jack for an AC adaptor. I have only used it with a battery and the FAB Chorus is silent in terms of signal noise. The only thing you hear is rich chorus when it’s turned on. I have heard from other people that using an AC Adaptor will introduce some hum to the signal. I didn’t test this but I figured I would note it here.
Now here’s the kicker, this incredible sounding Chorus pedal only costs $14.99 from Musician’s Friend! That is an unbelievably low price for such an excellent sounding guitar effect. The Chorus effect is essential in creating thick, modern guitar tones and is one of the core effects every guitarist should have. You just can’t go wrong getting a great chorus like the Danelectro FAB Chorus at such a low price. Get one today!
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