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Behringer has forged a reputation for its ability to make affordable versions of high-end and sought-after stompboxes, so when it announced it was making a Boss CE-1 clone in 2022, it caused great excitement. Now, at long last, the Chorus Symphony is finally here.
The very first iteration of a chorus pedal, the Boss CE-1 can be heard all over the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ catalog, and is famously John Fruciante’s favorite chorus stompbox.
Its essence has now been captured and repackaged as the Behringer Chorus Symphony. Its makers talking up the return of “an icon of an era” and it arrives with a tidy $79 price tag.
Boss launched the celebrated CE-1 in 1976, and it made waves with its BBD shimmer and sizable stereo sounds. It was sadly discontinued long ago, with Frusciante – who has used it throughout his career – Rush’s Alex Lifeson and Andy Summers among its most famous admirers. Listen to Message in a Bottle and you’ll instantly know what this pedal is all about.
Few would have expected a nearly three-year wait for its release, but fortunately the Chorus Symphony is here at last and it’s eager to charm its way onto pedalboards.
Behringer is urging guitarists to “strike a chord and let it shimmer”, with the pedal’s all-analog BBD circuit serving “a rich warm sound that helped shape many hits”.
It’s said to be suitable for “any instrument”, and comes bottled with the “thick, syrupy and multidimensional sound” of a Roland Jazz Chorus amplifier alongside those much craved CE-1 tones.
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Introducing Behringer CHORUS SYMPHONY: Huge sounds since 1976 – YouTube
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The employment of a bucket brigade circuit is crucial for that, with Behringer eager to follow the CE-1’s recipe as closely as possible.
Housed in a full metal enclosure with vintage visuals, the chorus’ Speed and Depth controls have been streamlined into one dial. A High/Low switch, which sits beside a Level control for adding “crunch and drive” to the signal, “can add lot of body to your sound or push the preamp – also lifted from the Roland – into overdrive territory.”
(Image credit: Behringer)A second footswitch is present to activate the pedal’s vibrato mode, which gets controls for Depth and Rate. There’s also a dip switch inside the pedal for switching between true bypass and buffered modes.
It’s a fairly comprehensive suite of effects and tones, helping the pedal stand out for its versatility as much as its vintage charm – and its $79 price tag is hard to ignore.
The Police – Message In A Bottle (Official Music Video) – YouTube
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“The Behringer Chorus Symphony is a pillar in the monument of modulation, and now, with a bit of Behringer magic, it’s more accessible than ever before,” the firm says. “It’s a pedal that’s touched every corner of music history, it’s too prolific to avoid.”
Head to Behringer for more info.
The release follows Behringer’s other budget revivals of some other bygone classics, including its $65 Fuzz Bender, which clones a fuzz adored by Eric Clapton. The firm recently hit back at its critics, saying “No other company delivers as many innovative and affordable products as we do”.
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