Guitar Tech Vintage Chorus review

The Marmite of the effects world rears its head once again

  • £49
Reviews
By
( )
published
The control set gives you three familiar controls for chorus: Speed, Mix and Depth.

MusicRadar Verdict

Not bad, but not amazing.

Pros

  • +

    Affordable analogue sounds.

Cons

  • -

    Annoying pulse sound.

MusicRadar's got your back Our team of expert musicians and producers spends hours testing products to help you choose the best music-making gear for you. Find out more about how we test.

When most people think of a typical chorus effect, '80s cheese-mongers come to mind. However, a nice analogue chorus is a versatile effect suitable for plenty of genres, from funk to metal.

"As far as a range of sounds from one pedal goes, the Vintage Chorus has pretty much got you covered."

As with the rest of the Guitar Tech range of pedals, theVintage Chorus is handcrafted into a metal housing and uses true-bypass circuitry. It features the usual controls for Speed, Depth and Mix, and is about as straightforward as they come.

As far as a range of sounds from one pedal goes, the Vintage Chorus has pretty much got you covered. It can be used as a shimmering thickener to your clean sound, add gloss to a distorted solo, or create a lo-fi stretched tape-style vibrato.

One caveat, though: our review model emitted a slight pulse in time with the Speed rate when our amp was at higher volumes, and this became more noticeable with higher gain settings.

While £49 doesn't make this entry-level as such, it does make this pedal affordable. The audible pulse doesn't make the pedal unuseable but it is a bit of a let down, and at this price it has its work cut out to draw users away from products like the Electro-Harmonix Small Clone.

Stuart Williams
Stuart Williams
Drums

I'm a freelance member of the MusicRadar team, specialising in drum news, interviews and reviews. I formerly edited Rhythm and Total Guitar here in the UK and have been playing drums for more than 25 years (my arms are very tired). When I'm not working on the site, I can be found on my electronic kit at home, or gigging and depping in function bands and the odd original project. 

Billie Eilish and Finneas

It might not have won her a Grammy, but Billie Eilish’s Birds of a Feather is the Record of the Year nominee that most guitarists and pianists want to play
Timothée Chalamet as Bob Dylan in a black-and-white still from A Complete Unknown. He plays a Gibson J-45.

“It dawned on me, ‘Wow! I think that we’re learning how to do this just how Bob learned how to play’”: How Timothée Chalamet went from a complete guitar novice to become Bob Dylan onscreen
Black Sabbath in 1970

“I thought it was too pop. I rebelled against it”: How Ozzy Osbourne learned to love a song that was written and recorded in one hour and ended up becoming Black Sabbath’s biggest hit
See more latest