Carl Martin Classic Chorus review

An old school chorus that offers more wibble for your wobble

  • £79.99
  • $198
It certainly does look nice

MusicRadar Verdict

Subtlety is not the Classic Chorus´s forté but, for a warm and expressive modulation that we feel you may use only sparingly, the pedal priced well enough.

Pros

  • +

    Lovers of analogue vintage-style effects pedals and their associated idiosyncrasies will be in their element.

Cons

  • -

    Too much throb and not enough control for fans of digital chorus units.

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The valve is, as we know, a terribly quaint method of amplifying the signal of an electric guitar but the sound produced can be wonderful, and it follows that there will be many an effects buff who enjoys the creaky throb of a vintage chorus above the pin-sharp tone of a digital unit.

This nicely retro pedal falls firmly in the former camp and is designed to produce a warm and girthsome wobble that's far removed from that of your trusty BOSS CH-1 or similar. Beneath the Art Deco chassis resides not only a chorus but also a vibrato of sorts, selected via a dedicated footswitch.

In keeping with the vintage roots, the level control actually allows you to drive the front-end of the amp - just as certain older effects do - and, when set to zero, the wet signal is of equal output to that of the dry.

Sounds

On first impressions the modulation, although certainly warm, seems a little limited and the actual wavelength of the effect seems extreme to us: too much throb with not enough control, in other words.

The vibrato seems to do little else other than add a modestly increased level of waver to the chorus, although using the rate control actually allows you to mix the chorus and vibrato effects for the best of both worlds. What's more, driving the amp with the level control opens up more possibilities...

Here are a couple of sound clips:

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