Supro Chorus
CHORUS
SHORTLY AFTER RE-ESTABLISHING their amp line a few years ago, Supro’s new owners set about introducing some solid and great-sounding pedals. The fact that they are the same people behind the prolific Pigtronix effects undoubtedly has something to do with their success. That wealth of design experience and creativity is felt strongly in the new Supro Chorus, a feature-laden and fully analog pedal with stereo inputs and outputs, and several bonus functions.
The Chorus sits in the same rectangular, folded-steel box as the rest of the Supro pedal range, this one adorned in something akin to Daphne (or Carolina) blue, and topped by four knobs, a mini-toggle switch and a true-bypass stomp switch. Speed and depth knobs control the usual chorus parameters of modulation frequency and intensity, while the next two do something quite different, delivering impressive soundscape-crafting potential.
Time increases the chorus delay time in one channel while decreasing it in the other, dramatically enhancing the differentiation in the stereo spread when used with two amps. Dimension variably intermingles the left and right signal paths to produce further depth-defying aural stunts. The vibrato switch takes the clean signal out of the output, inducing a warbling, vibrato-like signal. The four quarter-inch jacks for stereo input and output are on the front face of the enclosure, although you can also input a mono signal and have it split into the stereo effects described above.
Inside, a pair of genuine MN3007 bucket-brigade ICs in the engine room promise good things for fans of seminal vintage chorus pedals of the late 1970s. That said, it’s worth resisting taking a look for yourself, as there’s no internal battery, and accessing the interior requires the removal of the nuts securing the jacks, pots and switches, and risks damaging components on the circuit board.
I tested the Chorus pedal into a Friedman Dirty Shirley Mini and a custom tweed-Deluxe style affair — individually and together
— using a Collings I-35 LC Vintage with humbuckers and a Novo Serus J with P-90s. While this is a great-sounding mono chorus pedal by any measure, it’s hard to go back to a single amp once you’ve spent time with it in stereo. Either way, the lush, rich, watery analog tone at the heart of this Supro pedal is its real strength, whether you’ve got the benefit of two amps to give it room to breathe or just one, but the creative potential of the time and dimension knobs blows up in a big way once both outputs are in play.
If you’re just looking to replicate some of the classics, the Supro Chorus can do all of that with ease, from the textured “Message in a Bottle” arpeggio enhancer to emotive Small Clone–like “Come As You Are” movement. One of its great plusses is that the stereo bonus features work just as well at inducing a sense of subtle motion and thickening that doesn’t overtly scream “chorus effect on.” While the vibrato options on many chorus pedals are often ignored, this one can be used subtly enough that it’s not as immediately sea-sickening as some, and becomes a valid and appealing option.
There’s a little white noise amid it all when the pedal is switched on, which is standard for most analog chorus pedals, but it’s really not intrusive when you start playing. Otherwise, there’s little to fault here, and while chorus flavors can certainly be a matter of taste, this is one that many fans of the cuisine will likely want to sample.