Carl Martin Chorus XII

Two knobs per preset channel. Nearly everything sounds great. I haven't found a use for the cranked-up-all-the-way-fast setting

Dead quiet. No change in tone when plugged in and effect bypassed. Really. It sounds perfect. That seems like a cheesy cop-out but I love this pedal. It gives you the perfect chorusy Strat sound you've heard everywhere, on all 5 positions. It sounds like a piece of studio rack gear. If you pop it open, it looks like one inside: high quality componentry and efficient layout with 8 or so ICs. Who puts that much electronics into a pedal?

I plan on gigging with it without a backup. If it breaks, so what? No chorus for the rest of the job. Boo hoo.

I'm sure they're nice. Hopefully their the nice kind of Danish folks.

I use this pedal mostly for the "'90's and Now" stuff we play and it's right on target. I can't imagine anything I'd do to improve it except to add a clock and rate of sweep control so that it'd flange. I don't think anybody'd steal it because, really, who's heard of Carl Martin? I would have to replace it, though.

This is an easy pedal to use. The manual is poor, but do you really need it for a chorus pedal?

LED's show the tempo of the delays (depth of the chorus).

The real beauty of this pedal is the two high quality chorus effects in one box, one rich sound and one slightly chorused to fatten the sound. Or one lush and one mad sicko chorus effect.

I've played this with humbuckers and single coils and its a high quality sound. Its been used with a variety of amps with good results.
The only negative is sometimes if used in the loop of my hot rod deluxe with high levels of drive you get a click in time with the led light - not good. I doesn't do it unless the drive levels are high and it doesn't do it if you put the chorus before the distortion (not the best place for it).

If it wasn't for the click I would give full marks and I do want to, but I just can't with the clicking noise.

Had it for many years now no problems at all. I would trust it totally.

Never dealt with the company. But I have used the forum on their site and one of their engineers is often on there answering questions. Much better than many. EHX for example.

I have been playing for more years than I can remember, teaching for the last 16 years.
I am very picky about my sound and gear and would not put up with anything that didn't cut it. I own a custom shop strat, a killer Les Paul standard amongst others. Played through a hot rod deluxe or a blues junior.
I also have a deluxe memory man but prefer to use that for delay sounds and use the chorus from this pedal. My pedal board is Budwah+ into the front of the HRD with the memory man and the carl martin through the loop.
I can't think of another chorus I would use instead.

The product is easy to use. Plug it in, no batteries or external power supply to work with. It has two chorus settings that you can footswitch between. Each setting has a depth and speed control. But, it needs to be a little more difficult to use because it needs a MIX control. The mix is set. Unless there is trim pot that can back off on the wet/dry ratio, the chorus is too intense.
I went to the website to get the manual. The manual is ridiculous. There's nothing there but a few sample settings. Who cares about that?

The sound quality is OK, but it is digital sounding. It is a quiet pedal in that there is no background hiss. BUT, here's the problem, your guitar sounds digital when this effect is in-line - even when the effect is off. Now, I'm wondering if it has something to do with the Output L and Output R. Typically output L is mono, so that is what I have been using. But, like I said before, the manual provides no guidance at all when it comes to these outputs.
I am using this with a variety of amps. I won't bore with the all of the amps, but I am using a Carr Rambler, a Fender Reissue Deluxe Reverb, and a Victoria 310. I use mostly single coil guitars - several Tom Andersons, Strats, and a Les Paul Elegante.
Also, the lack of MIX control soesn't allow you to add "just a little bit of effect"....it's whatever the mix Carl pre-programmed at the factory. That sucks.

Yes, I have other Carl Martin effects. They appears to be universally reliable. The box is solid and they spent time engineering a real internal power supply. That's good. The effect has a price premium because of it. Unfortunately I gigged without a replacement last night. I wish I'd had a replacement with me due to the digital sounding nature of the affect on the guitar sound even when the effect was not on!

The website is not very useful. I guess the marketing aspect of the website is OK, but the support section is worthless. They need to spend a little time and put more detail into the manual both that are shipped with the product and are available on-line.

I play blues, classic rock, some old-school R&B. Sorry, you don't use chorus much on blues tunes! It would be a good match if they add the feature I suggested and fix the digital sounding degradation of the guitar signal. I've been actively playing 35 years. I have Fulltone Effects (yes, I have their chorus which is good but doesn't have dual settings like Carl Martin...arghhh!) Fulltone OCD, Phaser, FD2, tremolo unit, H&K Rotosphere, Memory Man Deluxe, MXR Clone, Carl Martin Compressor (very good), phaser (OK), Plexitone, DeLayla (both good but have performance issues).

Very easy to use.

A lot like the TC Electronics.

Never had a problem in 3 years.

Very friendly.Never needed them fo service but other helpfull advise for routing atc.

I would replace this if lost.

Very easy to set up, intuitive and rather obvious - takes abit of time to figure out speed/depth settings - you need some ears for this and less is often better in my opinion - it will go into bonkers territory.

I am submitting this review because of a recent recording experience - Don't get excited I'm talking about a mate of a mate who has a studio and does Ad jingles - he came to record us live in the Pub!!! Anyway he wanted to know what chorus I was using, "soooo lush and easy to record"!

Thought I would pass it on - I use it on only one of our current songs - Old Love - and have it permanently wired into my effects loop on a Rivera M60. It is super quiet, very lovely sound.

Absolutely totally reliable for the last 5 years

Never used them

I play in a covers band - all types of rock - some country - some blues and funk. Playing electric for 6 years. I would comment on the mains supply, it has been a burden and an advantage - tricky to accommodate in an effects line (you need separate 240v supply) but a good thing if wired into your effects loop - I have it pre-set and on a dual IEC lead Amp/Chorus and switched in and out by the Rivera footswitch. It means I only use half the x11 part of the pedal. This is a shame because it works very well to slightly fatten your sound and add shimmer - just a touch of chorus on pretty much anything.

While this offers essential two chorus units in one it is far more easy to use than the TC Electronics unit the added ease of footswitchable choice of either chorus a or b and the LED shows speed by flasing fasterer or slower, cool..

The fact that this is simple to use is partially becuse you really can not find a bad tone on it. It is clean but not sterile like TC pedals. The chorus is deep and warm like an old Bosss cE pedal but cleaner. The leslie is very usable but not spectaluar.Still you have two sounds at the touch of a switch that are tough to beat unless you by two different pedals.

Like a rock.

Probably the best unit on the scene today.

As easy as it can get: Two pots for each chorus (depth and speed), one footswitch to enable the effect, another footswitch to chose one of the chorus presets.

Great sounding analog chorus. I adjust one preset to give me a lush, more intense chorus (both knobs on 2 o'clock) for clean arpeggios and so on. The other preset is about 10 o'clock on both pots. I use this to enhance crunch and lead sounds out of my Baldringer Dual Sound preamp.
Into two Marshall DSL100/TSL100 halfstacks the stereo effect is amazing.
I had a TC SCF pedal in this position which is a very good chorus too. But I always had to find a compromise to fit the clean and distorted sounds. I now prefer the Carl Martin pedal, it's just perfect.

Built in 230 V power supply, strong metal housing. Seems very reliable.
I keep the SCF in spare but don't assume I'll ever need it.

Never dealt with them.

I play a lot of styles from blues, bluesrock to 80s heavy metal and back to jazzy and avantgarde stuff. This chorus fits them all. But it doesn't produce any 'freaky' sounds. If you're into that you should propably look for some other device. Compared to the TC SCF the signal to noise ratio is a little bit lower, but no problem at all in the post preamp position. Yes, I would definetely look for another one if it were stolen. Playing guitar since the 1970s I've had a lot of chorus pedals already but I think this one is the best. I loved the EH electric mistress in the late 70s but, like most of the EH pedals it was noisy and not reliable at all.

Couldnt be easier... two controls for each chorus..(depth and rate)
two switches... one to turn on the unit and the other to switch between the two chorus sounds....

each chorus has an led under the controls to give you a visual show of the speed of the chorus... also lets you know which one you are using at that moment...

no batteries... powered via connected cord.

This thing sounds great!! I had just seen Eric Johnson recently and was really into his chorus sound. Very transparent..did not color the guitar at all... He uses the legendary TC electronics chorus. So I went to the local store and they had the TC pedal and a used Carl Martin pedal as well. I had heard great things about both so I A/B'd them against each other and for my taste the Carl Martin was better!The TC came off sounding a little metallic compared to the Carl Martin, the Carl Martin was a little more "organic sounding".
Both were very smooth and transparent, nice chorus without coloring your sound, just the pure tone of your guitar with a nice shimmering chorus on it. I was using a EH Small Clone (which is still cool, btw) but it just colored the sound of the guitar too much. The Carl Martin also sounds awesome in stereo... I put it into my fender deluxe reverb and my fender musicmaster bass amp and it was pure, clean stereo chorus. Sweet.

Bought it used, sooo... it looks like it could take a beating though....

Hope I never need to find out!

Would buy another in a second!!! Compared to any of the boss,dod, digitech, etc....This pedal is in a class of its own... You may pay more ($270.00 retail)but there is such a massive difference.

Who knows... maybe eventually get the TC as well since it has a cool Pitch modulation mode on it....

2x deep & rate controls. 2 identical chorus can be setted indipendetly. Nothing more to know

I play blues/rock with a Clapton Strat and JCM2000 Marshall.
The sound is really natural, warm and the tone of your guitar is unchanged. Did you realize that there are no "tone" control? Did you ask why?

1 year of gigs, no problem til today.

Never needed. Anyway once I wrote a mail for questions about another pedal and I received kind and satisfactory answer.

There are pedals that I won't ever sell. This is one of these. Great sound, grat versatility because of double pedal with indipendent settings and power suplly included. A fantastic pedal.

2 chorus pedals in one 2 Depth 2 Speed controls 2 footswitches turns pedal on or off select A or B. I set one side slower chorus type of effect the other as a faster Leslie type setting both work great I don't like the cord coming out of the pedal but I guess I will learn to live with it. No problem getting the sounds out of the pedal.

Check out my Xotic RC Booster or Keeley Comp. this pedal is not noisy and I like the clarity of the Pedal. It works fine for me

The switches don't feel real strong but where I bought it from they said they have't had any problems time will tell

The Bi-Chorus by the time I landed it in Canada would have been to much for me. That was the only other consideration I had. I wanted a Chorus that was stereo with 2 different sound, I have that and so far I am very satisfied. It's a wonderfull pedal except for the cord

Stupid simple.

Well, I wrote a review here in 2002 when I bought it. I bought a Pod Xt live when they first came out and have put away my pedals since. I broke the power socket on the POD and took the Carl Martin and Aphex Acoustic Exciter to play live acoustic at a wedding.

I like the convenience of the line6 but the great tone and ease of use have me thinking pedals again.

Bottom line...I could hear how good this sounded...and got tons of compliments. This chorus is really nice...best when modestly applied like all effects.

No issues since 2002.

NA

I'm keeping it. And like it.

Ease of use from a standing position was clearly a criterion used in designing this pedal. You can toggle between settings with a toe tap.

Yes, you'll lose some high end, such is the nature of chorus pedals, but the Carl Martin has more headroom than other chorus pedals (including my 2002 Fulltone Choralflange). The lush chorus comes from BBC analog chips. My only criticism is that the x2 does not offer many configurable settings, and its most extreme setting isn't impressive. For the basic chorus guitar sounds though, this delivers.

I've never had a malfunction while using a CM pedal. I've bought one or two second hand with malfunctions. I'm a little wary of the tiny footswitches, but no problems so far.

My experience is that these guys stand by their products, even when purchased second hand.

If you want to color your sound with some basic analog chorus and you are particularly interested in having an effect that is easy to use during a performance, I would recommend this.

Very easy to use, there are some sample settings on their site.

Lush analog sounds, sounds good in mono, the real shocker comes when you use two amps, huge sound.
Warm and a wellvoiced chorus unit.
Use it with an AC-15 and a Fender Deluxe reverb.
Really brought a spacious quality to my setup, love the two independent settings, I use one for fast leslie like sounds and one for that spacious wide chords and soundscapes.
My overdrives sounds very good through this one, I have the pedal after my delay, it creates a nice modulation on my delays.

I bought it 8 months ago, it has seen quite a few gigs by now.
Sofar it has worked without any glitches, solid made.
Dunno what they use for parts, but some thought has gone into make this a sensible product.
Will not say any names, but sometimes people gets too hysteric about what parts is used, if it sounds good then it sounds good, they have build this pedal for along time now, says too me that CM knows what they are doing!
Cool in my book.

Had a few questions for some other of their products, got a swift polite answer.
Seems like good people to me.

I play various styles, and it fits my needs, it is a quiet good analog stereo pedal(really makes it wide) the monoside sounds good, but it really shines with two amps.
Recomendable piece of equipment.

Only two controls, speed and depth, times two. It's very convenient to be able to switch between two different settings.

It is designed to produce a very thick and mellow chorus sound. No extremes in the settings possible. In bypass is sounds almost neutral and acts like a unity gain buffer.

But: If compared to the TC Electronics SCF, it is a lot noisier, especially when the chorus is switched on. And it has no gain control. The TC has adjustable gain, which makes it a lot quieter whe used with low input signals.

The TC is designed much more professionally and is more flexible, however, the sound is generally a little thinner and a little more glassy. But the difference is hard to determine since the TC has much more possibilities of adjustment, which are not always useful...

Compared to most digital modeling devices, both sound definitely much better.

I bought the device about 10 years ago. It was probably one of the first units. The p.c. board looks as if it was made by an amateur.

My unit seemed to be rather poorly designed. Worst of it: The built in 220 volt mains supply transformer injects hum ito the input if the guitar volume control is in a middle position, presenting a high impedance to the unit. Internal inspection shows that the sensitive input lead is rather long, unshielded and close to the 220 volt line.

Some of the components seem to be bad quality. After some years, it started producing a pop noise each time the rate LED goes on and off. Later it started producing much more hum and noise, actually it worked as a RF transmitter. The jacks are low quality and loose firm contact after long use. One of the Switches had to be replaced, too.

n/a

I am primarily a jazz player. As long as it works, it is a very useful peace of equipment and very easy to use. It is super for for both electric and acoustic guitars.

Extremely easy to use. There's no instruction book at all. You basically have two parameters, depth and speed. It has two channels so you can preset 2 different chorus settings and switch between the two. Anyone can figure it out in 60 seconds.

The other posts are true. It's quiet as a mouse and doesn't shift the tone brighter. It doesn't go into extremes but I don't find extreme sproingy chorus useful anyway. The range is more in the sensible area anyway. I'm playing it through Fender tube amps clean. I don't know how well it mixes with other pedals but i assume like most chorus it favors a clean amp/effects chain. It doesn't color the guitar tone at all so it might be better if you do use a lot of effects in keeping the sound real. I haven't tried the "stereo" configuration out of 2 amps but if I have a problem I'll post it.

so far no problem. but I've only had it a few days

no opinion. Never dealt with them.

Clean chorus. This is a great pedal and I'm very critical.It's very efficient. it gives you everything you need in a chorus pedal , nothing you don't. No noise, coloration of your signal, and a lush low end. See if you can find one cheap before these become popular.

Fairly easy to get decent sounds out of it. Doesn't do extreme chorus sounds, but you can get a great shimmery chorus with relative ease that adds a little sparkle to your tone with just a few minutes with the pedal.

Ok... this is hard for me, because I really liked the pedal overall, but I had some problems with my setup that I just realized were due to this pedal. My setup is this: Fender custom strat > RMC III Custom > Keeley Comp > Analog man Sunface > Loooper 3 Channel. Channel 1: Two TS 808's Channel 2: Carl Martin Channel 3: Boomerang Loop pedal All into a Fender twin reverb with Celestion Century Vintage speakers (Why yes, my setup DOES rock!!) ALl the effects are powered by a VOodoolab power supply. For some reason, I was getting a GOD AWEFUL hiss when my wah was on, despite the fact that I sent it back to be triple-shielded to block electro-magnetic interference. Still, the hiss was there, and my single coil hiss was pretty bad too. As soon as I unpplugged the carl martin (regardless of whether or not it was on), the hiss went away. So I just sold it. Aside from that, it sounds great, and I'll miss it, but I'm getting an Analogman Clone Chorus which should be just as good and a bit cheaper.

Didn't have it for very long, but no problems. I never have backups.

I sent them an e-mail and it was responded to in a matter of hours, from Denmark!!

A great sounding pedal... too bad it didn't work in my setup.

It's a chorus pedal....

Excellent sound quality - I agree with the other statements of transparent sonic quailty

I've had to re-solder a resistor attached to the speed select switch 3 or 4 times. For some reason it keeps detaching itself. After a couple of years the bypass switch has given up the ghost which in itself isn't a big deal, but read on - it gets worse.

The US distributor (who was very cordial and pleasant) doesn't stock parts or do repairs. All units have to be returned to - get this - DENMARK! The distributor said he might be able to get one sent with the next shipment - due in 2 months! I cannot believe that I am the only person to ever have a switch fail and need replacement parts in the United States. This is unacceptable.

Great sounding unit - but who cares if it doesn't work and you can't get replacement parts in a timely manner. As of right now, it's a very attractive, very expensive doorstop. This will probably be my last Carl Martin product because of this foolish policy of not allowing anyone but the factory to do repairs.

It's a 4 knob chorus - 2 pairs of knobs (depth & speed) so you can switch between two degrees of chorus intensity. I set one pair for a very slow speed and mild depth as a tone thickener and slight volume boost which the unit does (I've noticed the more chorus depth you use the greater the level of the boost). The 2nd pair of knobs I set with a faster rate and more extreme depth for a strong chorus color. Each pair has a LED indicator to show which is on and how fast the rate is. There's also a larger LED to show effect in or out. When playing live I found I would get confused with the LEDs as to if the effect was in or out so I put black tape over the knob pair LED that is set to the mild chorus and this made it easier for this bonehead to differentiate.

I use this with many other pedals (let's face it,,you don't care which) and it goes into a Bassman head set clean. I run the chorus before my dirt pedals because I like that analog chorus into distortion sound. If you run the dirt through the chorus into a clean amp you get quite a boost which may or may not be desirable (with me it wasn't).

About the chorus quality - listen to me - I believe it is the best analog chorus I've heard,,,,here's why: It does not change your tone - most chorus units will put increase in the treble register and it's usually an undesirable frequency. Yeah I know I said it kicks the volume up a bit,,,but it IS just a tad and it's not a change in tone. I can see why this unit is popular with bassists because it won't thin your sound - You just hear a luscious chorus period - sounds similar to a TC.....I think I've read somewhere the designer of this unit is the same cat as who did the TC so that would explain the similarity. I do think this unit can get a bit more dramatic than the TC plus you have the 2 pairs of Depth/Speed controls; like having two chorus pedals in one box. When you kick the chorus in you get a bit of hum - obviously more noticeable when you're on a dirt setting - perhaps a design flaw in the PS.

I had a problem with this unit - the higher I set the depth the more I would hear a slight clip when playing a clean tone. I will address the service of this malady below - otherwise I think it is made very well and should not be problematic.

Ok, here's the shining mark for the Carl Martin company. I had the clip problem I mentioned above, emailed Martin in Denmark and had my first reply from a guy named Soren in a few hours - he told me offhand he didn't know what it was but send it to them and he assured me he'd fix it for free and send it back.
- He received the unit in Denmark, fixed it and had it back on its way to me one week from when I sent it! That would be impressive if it was a company in the states but here's someone in Denmark. Every email I've sent them has had a response within a few hours. All companies should learn from such excellence.

Look,,,I'm like the other reviewers you've seen,,played for 30 years, play all styles,,yadda yadda and that part is true - here's what you need to hear; this is a fine chorus pedal and the company backs its product!

easy

Is it on? All the benifits of chorus without the cheezy 80's effect. Goodbye to the old swoosh...swoosh. Does what chorus is supposed to, not the lame cartoon effect you've come to expect from a chorus pedal. If you wan't that get a vintage chorus ensemble or something. Personally that type of sound is what turned me off chorus pedals so many years.

I like this one better than the t.c. electronics pedal, the chorus in the g-force and the chorus in a roland jazz chorus all of which i also own, but rarely use. This is the only chorus i would not consider selling.

A few of these reviewer's must have gotten broken pedals or need their ears checked. There is no better chorus pedal that I am aware of.

point off for flimsy switch. I've had a few carl martins for a couple years. I've never had a problem.

We'll see

Best chorus pedal ever! but it does cost a bit to much, so a point off here. look around. carl martin pedal are kind of overpriced new,but they have a way of hanging around untill they end up in the clearance section! Patience.

A very simple pedal to use..has two sets of two knobs. Cake. No need for additional control as they will just suck out tone anyway.

I have a huge pedal rig which has taken me a significant amount of time to build. I have tried to assemble a board that contains the best effect for each category. Having tried every chrous pedal widely adored the Carl Martin was the answer for me. Bear in mind I realized I needed two choruses of different depths for clean and distorted channels. I also had a need for a space saving answer: enter Carl Martin Chorus XII. I tried the Boss Ch-1 (eww), CE-3 (good value), CE-2 (great for clean eats distortion alive), MXR Micro Chorus nice but not for both channels, Tc Electronics (why is that thing $350???) and they all paled in comparison to this gem. Space saving, versatile, well built, quiet as a churchmouse = perfect.

It's been kickin' for a year now and I bought it used! No backups on my board.....I give it a 9 ONLY because I have only had it a year...can't say how reliable it is, but I imagine it will last as long as I don't fry, it, feed it a beer or drive over it!

Never had to deal with them.

I play a huge variety of music but mostly different shades of rock. At home I'll play anyhing from Fleetwodd Mac to death metal. My badn is a mixture of Perfect Circle, Fear Factory, Alice IN Chains and others and this pedal keeps up with all styles.

No bad sounds, Just depends on what you want, slow/gentle through fast deep. two knobs per channel. Sounds Great in stereo but I'm too lazy to cart a second amp to gigs. BTW Both outputs into one amp will cancel the whole effect. Duh..

Lonestar Strat w Dimarzio Virtual vintage PU's, Buddah Boost Wha, Keely mod TS9, Tech 21 comptortion, Keely compressor, Carl Martin Chorus XII, Line 6 Delay Modeler, 65 RI Deluxe Reverb W/ ruby tubes ext.cab (big JBL inside.)
Dead quiet.(unless you crank your amp up in an electronilally challenged room and listen to nothing except your amplifier breathing)<Which, let's face it, we all do at times.>:-) Always sound great. Lets me get my own sounds. I like Gilmore and Garcia. Ability to switch from light effect to faster heavy effect with one tap is awesome.

Giging/rehearsing for over two years. No problems. Recording too. Pro quality. What back up? Something goes floowie I yank it out and keep on playing. Ps when all else fails, pull out of your FX and stab the cable direct into your amp. Fix the prob. after the song if a tap and a wiggle doesn't do the trick.

Never dealt with them, Is that a Ten?

Alt rock, Rem, Bowie, U2, Floyd, tasty stuff. It's a great pedal. If you like it. If yo don't then it s%#*s. I like it. I have never yanked it or shifted it's spot in my chain since the day I got it. It doesn't sound like the choruses I had when I was a kid, Boss relics now, and you know what, they were always to syrup-y, not refined and dignified like this. Nothing is worst than listening to the sweep of your effect while you are not playing. Not an issue here at all. I tried the tc pedal and it reminded me of thase old pedals, no subtlety at all. took it right back. Line 6 Mod ulater sounds like a$$, (like the distortion mod) The Martin is very musical, if you use a two amp set-up already, click BUY NOW. (or) shut-down and go try one out. No pedal is for everyone. If something better came along I would not be tempted to swap cause I'm covered. (Recovering GASaholic)9 only because you have to bleed money out the nose to get one, as I recall. Once you do though, that should be the proverbial IT.

How simple can it get?

Switch on, clean chorus. Switch off, same level your guitar less chorus.

This is just the ticket for my acoustic rig. I paid some good $$ for my Taylor and it's great to hear the tone with some quality chorus to fatten it up on the right tune.

Seems sturdy, switches might be a ?

No experience

I've played a bunch and bought this guy based upon reviews here. I got a great buy on a very quiet, quality pedal. I did not play the T.C. SCF but it was selling on EBAY for about $180-200.

Really like it.....

The controls are intuitive and interactive. For me to be able to immediately dial in a great usable tone is almost unheard of. For that matter, it is dificult to dail in a bad tone. It's great having two channels you can set differently and toggle between while playing. I particularly like the flashing LED's that let you know which channel you are using and the fact that the flash rate increases as the speed and depth increase.

I'm primarily using a G&L Legacy and either a Fender Hot Rod Deville 4x10 and a Fender Deluxe Reverb RI. The pedal is quiet, dead quiet. No weird buzzes, hums or other audio-electronic fizzes like you get with many other pedals. And the tone...all I can say is WOW! You guitar sounds just like your guitar, your amp just like your amp, but the chorus effect is pristine, responsive and dynamic. I read with some amusement that previous posts indicated a lack of concern that this pedal didn't change the sound of the guitar?! If you want to change the sound of your guitar, get another guitar! I don't pay the money I pay for an instrument and then search the world over to change the sound of the basic instrument. The instrument has to have good tone, a complimentary amplifier to begin with, but of course, your milage may vary, etc...

I've only had it for a little while, but it seems to be built very well. At the price I paid for the unit, I can't afford a backup. If it broke down I'd wipe the tears from my eyes and do the rest of the gig without it. But I take good care of my equipment and doubt it will break down. It's not built like a tank, but it is built like a Hum-Vee or a Land Rover...

The unit came with no manual, which steamed me because I the manuals make for good bathroom reading and I am forced to keep looking at my old amplifier manuals. But, I was able to download a tech sheet from the web site, and "Soren" (customer service rep.) has e-mailed me twice regarding techincal questions I've had. Both times he has gotten back to me within twelve hours. More than I can say for Fender...I'm impressed.

I play roots rock, classic rock and blues primarily. I think the pedal fits these styles excellently. You can also tweak it and get tone that could be used for alternative rock etc. I've been playing on and off for about 20 years, the last four years regularly. Lead guitar for four years, and gigging 3-6 times poer month during that period. I have only recently begun to use effects, basically because I'm so blasted picky I couldn't find any to my liking. I did with this one. It's a keeper. I love the fact that it does not alter my guitar or amplifier's basic tone. The playing attack, string to fret interaction and playing nuances all come through. Absolutely the sweetest chorus I've heard, although I must admit that the choruses I've previewed before buying this pedal were of the lower end variety. It's dead quiet- if your not playing the only reason you knbow it's on is the LED's. I like the fact that the power supply is built in and that it's hard wired. If it were stolen I'd hunt the dirty dog down and hard wire him! He'd be playing choruses in another world. I'd definately replace it if I lost it somehow (it's so large..how would I lose it?)

The most transparent effect that I use in my rig by far. Carl Martin has a reputation for great pedals with lots of headroom and outstanding tone. I can see that's well deserved.

I'm using a variety of guitars: Tele, Strat, LP, ES-335 all with fine results thru a Matchless DC-30 and Blackface Fender Super Reverb. The richest sounding chorus out there IMO. Plus you get two for the price of one! Great value.

Have had mine for almost two years now. Gig regularly and have not had a problem. I did hear from a salesman at the local music shop that they had some problems with switches on some units in the past, but that they have been using a stronger switch from a new supplier for the past year without any problems.

I have spoken with the US distributor several times about the Chorus and some of the other CM pedals. They were always helpful, taking the time to speak with me about the pedals as well as my setup (amps, etc). Struck me as folks who care about the product and their customers.

Been playing Rock, Blues and R&B for over 25 years now. I use the CM Chorus and Compressor/Limiter on every gig. If lost or stolen, I'd buy another of each immediately. Having two different preset chorus settings available (without having to lean over mid song) is a fantastic idea! Why didn't anyone else think of it? The built in power supply is another fantastic idea. No batteries, wall warts, etc. Just plug it into the wall and go! Makes you wonder why more manufacturers don't do it?

this unit is simple yet versatile, it offers two chorusses for the price of one (even though one of the more expensive units). Just two knobs for each chorus, thank god no wall wart, and easy to view speed leds for each chorus even when not activated.

EB VH-model, EB mono volume pedal, Morley Bad Horsie Wah, Carl Martin chorus XII, left out to Soldano Atomic 16 combo, right out to Marshall DSL 2000 401 combo with for the time being a boss RV3 in the effects loop. Everything is connected with George L's cable.
Because the Soldano combo has no effects loop I have to set the chorus before both amps. This has advantages and disadvantages. The advantage is that the chorus is being used stereo where it really shines and it is very pristine in sound because it is not fed with preamp distortion. The disadvantage is that it takes away a little of the direct feel between guitar and amp, this however is only noticeble on the Marshall, not on the Soldano. In mono use the chorus is great with the Soldano but is very dull sounding before or in the effects loop of the Marshall amp. This is not a problem for me but if I had only had the Marshall amp I would probably still be looking for another chorus and I know I would have never found one because I already tried a lot of them. The Carl Martin topped them all by far including the TC electronics pedal. That one is great on clean to very mild mid 80's crunch sounds but hopelessly limited in width and even for these kind of sounds the chorus XII is deeper, more open sounding and less, or even better said totally not processed feeling or sounding. It is a chorus with more than enough speed options, you can set it from a whisper to a wild pulsating speed but it doesn't do the leslie effect. You can get the speed and depth correct but it remains a deep pulsating chorus, not a leslie in a box. That to me is actually a blessing in disguise because it sounds, at least to me, more attractive than the leslie sound, it is without a doubt 'the Carl Martin sound'!!!
The chorus does only produce a little hiss at higher speed settings but is totally quiet when not in use.
This is by far the best chorus I ever heard or played with and I'm not saying I've heard them all but more than enough to make a very positive statement. This one is a piece of equipment that will stay, just like my EVH, my EB volume pedal, my Soldano atomic (a really great amp in a little box) and my Morley wah (don't like their other products but this one has the perfect range (even though others offer greater band width) is completely silent and doesn't break down like Jim dunlop's cry baby's and others, I went through a total off five of them within a week just by stepping on them in the privacy of my own home and my god where they noisy!!!)
Sound Quality a really diserved 10 because nothing else can top this, maybe in the best case equal the chorus XII

It is built to last but I know of one that fell of a flight of stairs and one of the leds wasn't working any more, but without scratches or other damage it sounded exactly like mine. And lets be honest if you throw a light bulb of a flight of stairs it will also break, won't it?! And by the way the other two leds were still in working order so I must give this one also a perfect 10.

emailed them a couple of times about their new delayla echo and always got a quick and elaborate reply. Guess what I ordered as my next and possibly final effect????

I play mostly classic to high gain rock with a nod to classiscal mucis and blues feeling rock. However I feel the chorus XII will match almost any style. I would replace it if lost or stolen and find it a part of my sound. I never turn it off.

easy to use and has a great, transparent sound. i really like the fact that it's two choruses in one. run in stereo, oh my, how sweet!!

strat, gibson the hawk, and a custom strat type, mahogany w/ maple top and hot rails, budda twin master and sometimes stereo w/gibson ga-20t. great chorus effect. i was using a boss, or should i say i had one and don't know for the life of me why. i must have been out of it the day i bought that thing. anyways, this pedal dosen't suck your tone, change it or color it in any way. very transparent. definity shines in stereo set up. gets that ej chorus sound, in fact, i tried the tc electronics chorus, and yup, it sounds great, but this thing matches it in my opinion.

haven't had any problems yet. don't have a back up for it, so yeah, i guess i would gig w/o a back up. i certainly wouldn't run down to my local music store and buy another boss!!

never dealt with them.

i play a blues, rock, jazz infulenced gospel, pop. it fits all those. with the two choruses in one, you can set one of them up to give you that leslie-type sound and that's great for some things and you dont have to readjust between songs if you dont want!! i've been at this music thing for 20 years. my pedal board goes like this (for now): ernie ball volume, boss acoustic simiulator(sometimes, depending on the gig, but i'm not too sure about it staying), menatone blue collar overdrive, rat, the carl martin chorus xII (usually split stereo) and then one side run into an old ibanez ad-9 analog delay. i'd buy another if i needed. i love the fact that its so transparent, it is two choruses in one, it's stereo. gives a nice lush sound when run in stereo, dosen't sound bad at all in mono.

As far as easy goes, it is very simple and a clever design to boot. Two seperate pairs of controls, switchable between two settings. If only...

..the tones were more satisfying. I wanted a pedal that could go from that creamy Boss CE-1/CE-2 old school massage into the TC SCF hi-fi modern deep sparkle. NOT! Although it's quiet, there is no depth to the effect and it feels like the width of the frequency response is limited

The switches on the carl Martin pedals are super shakey, and when my buddies compressor switch blew out, the company couldn't fix it and he had to complain to Musician's Friend to replace the pedal. You can't even fix your own switches???

Yikes

Wouldn't miss it. I own a TCSCF, Boss CE-1/Ce-2, and used to own a Rocktron Tsunami chorus. If I needed to replace all of them, I'd get the Line 6 Modulation pedal--it does it all and then some!

I neglected to include three other chorus pedals I also have in my collection that I have used for comparison, Dan Electro Cool Cat, Roland BOSS CH-1 and the Rocktron Tsunami. The Tsunami is an excellent piece also, but is not as transparent as the Carl Martin.

Just an addendum to my previous review. That's the problem with trying remember all of your stuff.

As simple as it gets for a stereo chorus, except it does require 110V, but so does my T.C.Electronics SCF. Getting a good sound out of this thing is easy, every setting I tried produced a great sound. The problem most people will have with this chorus is it is not your typical BOSS chorus. One thing I have noticed with all Carl Martin boxes is that they do not change your tone from your guitar at all. Where as most other brands do and some people have come to expect that sound. The case is die cast and is substantial, but the knobs are sitting right on top. So a swift kick could clean off a few knobs - at minimum move your settings. This unit does differ from other choruses in that it has two settings that can be switched between. There is two groups of two knobs, each group has a speed and a intensity. So it does offer you twice the versatility than the typeical chorus. There are three LEDs on this unit. One to indicate that the chorus is turned on and one beneath each set of knobs which flash at the rate in which it's speed knob is set, pretty cool!

The sound quality is fantastic! The intensity setting can be set to almost nothing, so you just get a little thickning of the note. In a direct comparison to the T.C.Electronics SCF there is a difference. The Carl Martin does not seem to produce as wide of a stereo image, which is actually very good. With the T.C.Electronics the stereo image is always very wide and lush, but it like eatting to many sweets that after a while it just gets to be too much. As I listed earlieer in this review this is a non-coloring chorus, your guitar's tone going in is exactly what is coming out, it doesn't squash the note or dull the articulation of the picking, which lower end choruses seem to do. This chorus is dead quiet, no noise at all. Once I got this thing home I plugged in my PRS CE24 Maple Top into it and the connected the outputs to a Groove Tubes Soul-O 45 and a Soldano Atomic 16. I can say that this chorus is amazing, but some people may not like because it a chorus where as alot of other "choruses" seem to throw in a little flanging to fatten up the tone. It has more of a chime tone to it than a swish. I have heard others talking about this unit as that their MicroVibe produces a better chorus, I have a MicroVibe and the two are night and day.

ve a total of now 211 pedals, of which 6 are Carl Martin and all of them have never had a problem. My Compressor Limiter has been in my pedalboard for over 1-1/2 years with no signs of any problems. I have only had this chorus for a couple of weeks, so it's a little early to commit to a score but based on my experience with other Carl Martin products I will give it a ten.

I have spoken to the US distributor a couple of times to find dealers who may have what I am looking for in stock. They where helpful. The dealers seem to be discontinueing carring these pedals because they are not selling alot of them. Because most people are satified with the cheaper brands, but what the stores should do is set up both pedals and let the customer A B them, I think this would help move some of them. Since I have not had any service issues I can only comment about their customer service in relavance to info and being professional and they where great in both catagories.

I was fortunuate enough to come accross a great deal because the music store was discontinueing selling Carl Martin products and where blowing out their last pedal. Had I know they where a dealer I would bought a few more earlier on. But this is a store about 45 miles from my home that I went to for a Taylor Guitar Clinic. If you are serious about your tone check out Carl Martin pedals, if you want an outstanding chorus check out the Chorus XII, it may seem a little different from what you are used to but listen and I think you'll end up buying it. I have the benefit of having a massive amount of equipment, 27 guitars, 15 combo amps, 12 heads, multiple speaker cabinets and over 250 spaces of rack gear(16 different preamps). Yes it is a disease, but I can live with it. In retrospec if I would of heard the Carl Martin boxes years ago I probably wouldn't have purchased as many toys in search of that magical elusive tone. For reference I also own BOSS CE-1, Voodoo Labs Analog Chorus, MXR Stereo Chorus(Original), Electro-Harmonix Small Stone, DOD Performer chorus and the T.C. SCF. They all are good in their own right, but the Carl Martin is equal to the T.C. Electronics in quality and tone, but it is slighty different in it's presentation of the chorus sound.

This is the new Carl Martin Chorus XII pedal , I saw it in the flier that came with my new Carl Martin Compressor/Limiter pedal which I loved ... So I bought it sight un-seen from MusiciansFriend. its a two in one pedal, in that it has two sets of Speed and Depth knobs which can be set individually, and then you can switch between them, totally simple.

I use a Marshall JMP-1 pre-amp , I wanted to use this pedal in the effects loop ,because the pedal has stereo outputs, and the JMP has stereo inputs on the effects loop (duh) its not noisey, BUT sounds Terrible, Weak and Digital, I still can't believe it, and what a tone sucker! I also tried it in front, at the guitar input, while somewhat stronger, it defeats the purpose of stereo output, Plus it can't compare soundwise to my old Boss CE2,(with its JRC4558 op-amp). After fidling around with it for a couple of weeks I returned it to MusiciansFriend, they took it back NO problem.

If it doesn't sound good who cares! But for 295.00 it better be good.

never dealt with.

I didn't like it, even a little, others may have a different experience, Its not that I'm against digital gear, I have a Rocktron Intellifex XL which I like very much, also a Marshall JFX-1 which I like very much also. I was trying to get away from dependance on SO much rack gear and Midi, and go with pedals only, I'm not having much luck.