DOD Mini Chorus 460

Chorus is one of those effects that is nearly impossible for me to separate from a certain decade. Every time I step on a chorus I can’t help think 80s. This is probably due to its overuse in that decade. The chorus adds a beautiful sheen to everything so I reckon a lot of 80s guitarists thought “what’s wrong with beautiful?” and stuck it on everything. I sort of feel that modern modulated delay is the chorus of the 2010s/20s. But we’ll have to wait 30 years or so and see if I am right.

I picked up this DOD 460 Mini Chorus a year or two ago partly out of nostalgia. I had one of these in 1982 (or thereabouts). I bought it off a guitar player in another band when my band was playing at a Holiday Inn in Midland, MI. I gave him a crisp 20.00 bill and he dropped the pedal in my hand. I asked him how to use it and he said. “You are the only guitarist in your band so use it to fill out your sound.” I stepped on it that night at the beginning of the set and used it as an “always on” pedal for at least a year. It did “fill out the sound” and made everting sound a little sweeter.

I hung on to that pedal for years and only unloaded it when I made my move to Seattle in fall of 1990. I think. I may have still had it here in Seattle for a few years??? At any rate, I stopped using chorus in the mid 80s. By the 90s it started sounding really dated for the stuff I was into.

The 460 is a really organic sounding pedal. It’s pretty subtle but nice and liquid-y sounding. It almost reminds me of a phaser in the way it thickens things. I had an 80s BOSS CE-2 on loan for a bit and was able to A/B that and the 460. The pedals couldn’t be more different. The Boss was very 3-D like, lush and shimmery. That classic 80s chorus sound. In comparison the 460 was darker and less 3-dimensional. If you are going for that ethereal 80s chorus sound you’ll definitely want the BOSS but the 460 has something else a little more unique going on. Being subtle, it’s easier to use it in less obvious ways. Crank the Rate up and you can get nice organ-y swirl. Dial back the Depth, lower the Rate and add a little delay and get a really nice doubled guitar effect.

The 460’s downsides are that there is a slight drop in volume and a noticeable amount of white noise when engaged. Neither of these would be a deal breaker for me using it live or recording but they are there.

Thinking back on how much hate there was for chorus in the 90s I have to give kudos to Kurt Cobain for not only busting one out but making it the key component to certain riffs like on Come as You Are. I believe he was using an 80s Electro Harmonix Small Clone. I have heard rumor that the the DOD 460’s circuit was based the the Small Clone but mine doesn’t seem to have the warble that the riff on CAYA does so who knows?