Maestro Comet Chorus review

We were hoping that Gibson might delve into their past and give us a new stompbox with PS-1 phaser sounds but the sole modulation pedal in the first issue of new pedals is the Comet Chorus. 

Following the standard paradigm of any chorus pedal, this has knobs to control the modulation’s Depth and Rate (Speed) but also has a feature that’s becoming more common in this type of pedal – a Mix knob that sets the dry/wet blend of the effect, allowing nuanced setting up of the sound so you get a full range from adding an ear-candy whisper of effected sound to your dry signal for subtle interest right through to a full-on effect.

The two toggle-switched options here are ‘Earth’, which is a standard chorus effect – swirly, floaty and rich – that sounds instantly familiar and ‘Orbit’, which is a little more intense. Switching to Orbit appears to add a tremolo effect to the chorus to create something that sounds more like a rotary speaker. 

That tremolo aspect is most apparent with the depth turned up full, where the on/off sharpness of the effect can really be felt. 

The amount of the tremolo can be adjusted by an internal trim pot which you can turn clockwise to increase the effect or counter-clockwise to decrease it, but straight out of the box our pedal was turned up full, which we liked.

Between those two effects types and the juxtaposition of Depth and Speed knobs there’s plenty that you can call up, but it’s by using the Mix knob that you unlock the pedal’s flexibility: the blend between dry and effect really does make a difference and will reward experimentation; we found a sweet spot at around 11-o’clock, where there’s a washed out flange-like effect.

Specs

• PRICE: $159 / £149
• FEATURES: True bypass
• CONTROLS: Depth, Speed, Mix, Earth/Orbit switch, Bypass footswitch, internal trim pot for rotary speaker effect
• CONNECTIONS: Standard input, standard output
• POWER: 9V battery or 9-12V DC adaptor 
• DIMENSIONS: 84mm (w) x 126mm (d) x 60 mm (h)
• CONTACT: Maestro Electronics