Retro-Sonic Chorus - slightly gritty/distorted when engaged?

[JimHalinda]

I've been digging my Retro-Sonic Chorus for the last few days. I just noticed that there seems to be a bit of grit in the sound when engaged, in both Chorus and Vibrato modes. Bypassed it's perfectly clean.

I've tried it with several guitars, straight into the chorus and straight out to the clean channel (set very clean) on my Mesa Boogie Mark V. I don't have high output pickups on any of them, and even with the guitar volume at 5, I still hear that sound, almost like the signal is just a little too hot for the input.

The only other analog effect I have to compare it to is an old Rockman Stereo Chorus / Delay, which is squeaky clean by comparison.

Is this normal for the Retro-Sonic chorus? Was that a property of the original CE-1 as well, and the RS is just doing the same thing?

I find it really annoying to hear that fat, lush chorus being polluted by grit.

RS Chorus owners, does yours do this too?

Please advise,

Jim

(BTW I'm using a standard, brand-new Boss 9 volt power supply)

 

[8len8]

Mine's clean - no grit.

 

[JimHalinda]

Yeah I just went back and listened to a bunch of youtube clips, something is definitely not right with mine.

Guess I'll have to take it back for warranty exchange / repair.

Thanks,

Jim

 

[evanderbelt]

Resurrecting this old thread. My Retro-Sonic Chorus has developed the same issue. It's more than a little gritty though. Mine is the 9v version that can't be run at higher voltages. Anyone else have experience with this?

 

[evanderbelt]

Still no leads on how to get the RS running well again. Had to buy a cheap(er) replacement for some shows coming up but these are big shoes to fill. Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[v75swd]

Mine was doing that too, it's on my board with a few other pedals. Gtr-wah- RC Booster-Bombastortion - RS ST Chorus-Rocktron Banshee- input of amp. When the effect is engaged I can really hear it clip, when it's bypassed it's clean.
I just wanted to verify, so I took it off my board and ran straight into the input of my practice amp and it was clean; effect on or off. So in my case, it's either where I have it in the chain (even though I'm not engaging either drive pedal) or it's a bad cord. Mine is an older unit, really like the thing, it's a great chorus pedal. I like it better than my SC9 for sure.

 

[Angle Loss]

I've had around 7 or 8 of them. They have been every bit as inconsistent as a 70's Big Muff. My current one has nice chorusing, but is dark and pretty noisy. Had others that were were quieter, but the chorusing was off on them...didn't sound like the original CE-1s I've had. All of them have been darker than my originals also.

I really like the idea of a small box CE-1, but the execution from Retro-Sonic is really lacking. They never responded to my last couple of emails either.

 

[Rick Towne]

I've had one for almost ten years and have never had a noise or grit problem running of a One-Spot.

 

[v75swd]

Mine was doing that too, it's on my board with a few other pedals. Gtr-wah- RC Booster-Bombastortion - RS ST Chorus-Rocktron Banshee- input of amp. When the effect is engaged I can really hear it clip, when it's bypassed it's clean.
I just wanted to verify, so I took it off my board and ran straight into the input of my practice amp and it was clean; effect on or off. So in my case, it's either where I have it in the chain (even though I'm not engaging either drive pedal) or it's a bad cord. Mine is an older unit, really like the thing, it's a great chorus pedal. I like it better than my SC9 for sure.

Well, since the previous post, the clipping has gotten much worse. Tim did respond a while back and said it may need a new chip. A few weeks ago I sent a message asking how to proceed, haven't heard anything back. I like the pedal, I've had it for years, but, it's losing its appeal. I ordered a Hardwire CR-7, I've been using that, it's not quite as analog-ish, a little more metallicy, but it super clean and dead quiet.