Electro Harmonix Nano Clone Chorus

[tunghaichuan]

http://img3.musiciansfriend.com/dbase/pics/products/0/4/3/465043.jpg

Picked up one of these a while back at Guitar Center on closeout.

The chorus sound is pretty good. There is only one knob to control the rate of the effect. Low settings give kind of a lush chorus sound (obviously), higher rates give almost a kind of vibrato/phaser effect. There is also a hint of slapback delay in the sound, which is actually kind of cool. It has a different sound than the ubiquitous Boss Chorus pedals. Other cool features: made in the USA.

Now for the bad news: this pedal is very noisy. When the chorus effect is turned on there is a lot of white noise in the signal, a kind of whooshing sound in the back ground. It is very obnoxious. Thinking it was broken, I contacted EH tech support and they confirmed that the "noise floor is higher" in the Nano Chorus than their other pedals. This is a huge problem for me as I play at home in my basement, mainly. It probably wouldn't be so much a problem for someone who plays out. Or someone who has a noise gate/noise suppressor.

The pedal is mono, which may or may not be a problem. I already had a stereo Boss Chorus when I got this, I main bought it as a back up, or for use with another amp setup.

The case is unpainted, and looks kinda cheesy if you ask me. The artwork looks silk screened on.

Looks like its off to Craigslist for the little guy. :thwap:

Edit: some pix:

http://www.diycustomamps.com/images/EH_nano_chorus1.JPG
http://www.diycustomamps.com/images/EH_nano_chorus2.JPG
http://www.diycustomamps.com/images/EH_nano_chorus3.JPG
http://www.diycustomamps.com/images/EH_nano_chorus4.JPG

tung

[Tone2TheBone]

I've heard the same noise issues about all the Nano series pedals from friends of mine. That's too bad cause the smaller enclosure seems like a great idea. Since you're knowledgeable about these things why do you think this is?

[tunghaichuan]

I've heard the same noise issues about all the Nano series pedals from friends of mine. That's too bad cause the smaller enclosure seems like a great idea. Since you're knowledgeable about these things why do you think this is?

The only experience I have with them is the Chorus and the Dr. Q. The Dr. Q is dead quiet, it makes no noise at all when turned on. I tried to get a schematic to look at the circuit, but was unable to find one. When turning the chorus on, I get lots of white noise, sort of like snow on a TV.

The pedal looks well made and laid out, so I would guess it would have to be something in the circuit making the noise. But it is a chorus, not a high gain distortion pedal. Very odd.

tung

[Tone2TheBone]

Hmm check it out and post your conclusions.