Cool Gear Alert: MXR EVH5150 Chorus

Some of my favourite recorded chorus sounds are courtesy of one Mr. Eddie Van Halen. Whether using an actual chorus pedal or setting his Eventide harmonizers to a slight pitch-shift, Eddie’s given us a lot of great chorus sounds over the years. And now you can get ’em too with the new MXR EVH5150 Chorus pedal, based on Eddie’s chorus unit from the early 80s (think Diver Down).
What I really like about this pedal is that more than any other chorus pedal on the market, this one is totally optimised for your rig regardless of whether you prefer chorus going into your amp’s preamp or in the effects loop, with three input level and two output level settings to make it play nicely with the rest of your gear. It has mono or stereo output, controls for Tone and Intensity, and a Volume control (not something you usually see on a chorus). It’s interesting to note that there’s no Rate control for the chorus, and as Pete Thorn notes in the video below, this is a little more static like the sounds Eddie got with his harmonizer until you really crank up the intensity.
This one was announced at Summer NAMM a few days ago and isn’t on the market just yet but I can’t wait for it to hit the streets.