Chorus and Delay Pedal Recommendations?

[Sauntman]

Nowadays there are dozens if not hundreds of pedals to choose from.  Choosing a chorus and delay pedal is turning out to be a daunting task!  Way too many choices to sit down and try them all.

What are your recommendations for a chorus pedal and for a delay pedal?  Mainly, looking for current models that can be had at most retailers today, not so much looking for a vintage or discontinued model I would have to get off ebay or something.

For a chorus pedal, I am considering (amongst others) the TC Electronic "The Dreamscape" John Petrucci signature pedal, which has flanger and vibrato effects as well as chorus.  Anybody own try one of these?

Anyway, looking for your chorus pedal and delay pedal recommendations (excluding discontinued models)?

 

[goodhonk]

what style of music?  will you be using the chorus and delay with high gain?

[Sauntman]

I play mainly classic hard rock and 80s & 90s metal, but dabble with blues. The chorus and delay pedals would run through the effects loop of my Mesa Mini Recto. Right now I have a Vox V847 wah wah and a Boss SD-1overdrive for in front and EH Holy Grail reverb pedal that will go through the loop. Now I am looking for chorus and delay. May end up putting a noise gate at the end of the chain.

[Sauntman]

I should mention the I would use the the chorus mainly with a clean tone for arpeggiated stuff. The delay would likely get use with clean and high gain stuff. Ideally, I want pedals that go well with both low gain and high gain.

[theroan]

I think the Dreamscape is a good choice for a chorus pedal. I'm usually willing to comprimise a bit in order to get flexibility.

You may be better off with an M9 or something. You can get them used $250-$300

 

[Sauntman]

So, I ended up going with the TC Electric Corona chorus and the Flashback delay. I had strongly considered the Boss CE-5 and the DD-7 and honestly it was a toss-up. I could go back and forth all day and not make up my mind. Also, the GC near me doesn't carry Mesa Boogie amps so I was unable to a/b them through a I Mini Recto.

Also, the GC did not have a CE-5 in stock, it did have a DD-7 though. Didn't check for used, but I had it in my mind I was buying new. I think the CE-5 may be in the process of being discontinued. Musician's Friend doesn't seem to carry them at all anymore.

Another thing that swung me towards the TC pedals is that this manufacturer is running a special right now, if you buy two pedals you can send in a rebate and receive a Polytune Mini tuner. These tuners typically sell for $90 retail. Now, I wonder how many months it will take for me to get my free tuner?

[captain insane-o]

sounds reasonable - It sounds like having a ducking feature on a delay (I believe on that delay it's called "dynamic") could be helpful.

delay is one of those where there are so many choice, because there really are a number of ways to use it.  So if this is your first foray, a decently simple delay that gives you some options to explore is a good balance.  You can get more "picky" when you integrate it with your music

 

[Guitar George]

The first version of the Retro-Sonic chorus sounds a lot like the original Boss Ce-1 minus the size. This is my favorite

The old Ross Chorus is pretty cool and similar to the old blue Boss CE-2
I have one for sale if interested.

Delays are a bitch as nothing nails the Echoplex....so far.....I just got the Strymon El Capistan but have not played with it enough yet. I hear "it sounds like an echoplex" but I have two and so far I havent gotten there with it. At any rate, for as good as the echoplex sounds its just as easy to get great organic tone out of it. The new stuff isn't that simple but I think the El Cap is pretty cool so far.

The TC Flashback is also pretty cool but there is that digital artifact in there that gets in the way...still its a very good tool for the bag of tricks.