Emperor V2 Chorus / Vibrato Pedal with Tap Tempo Review

Wide ranging sound; low noise

After repairing my vintage chorus pedal, I determined that even though it had a great sound, it had a pretty high noise floor and a low bandwidth. My more modern chorus pedal was very generic And slightly swirly. This one gives you the option of type of chorus (sine/square/sawtooth wave) with quiet operation. You may have to turn up the treble and/or select sine wave to get it to… read more sound like some of the vintage models.

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2 Great Effects From a Great Company

The JHS YouTube channel has helped me learn so much about instrument pedals and how to build out a pedal board. Their pedals offer tons of value for the price and offer unique features. The chorus effect sounds great and is flexible and easy to dial in. When you turn the depth and speed down in almost becomes a Leslie speaker effect. Tap tempo, stereo output and the EQ dial makes… read more this a very powerful pedal.

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This One’s for the Chorus Haters

Far and away the best chorus I've ever played. I've heard it criticized as being too subtle. It's not, though. It's TASTEFUL. I can't get a bad sound out of it, and that goes for the vibrato side too; it can get weird but stays musical. If you hate chorus effects, at least plug into one of these before your next anti-chorus tirade. You'll realize how wrong you've been. Great work,… read more JHS (it's about time I bought one; Josh taught me almost everything I know about effects, so I felt like I owed him one), and thanks as always to Nick Rice, Sweetwater Sales Engineer par excellance.

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Sounds Amazing

Chorus is basically the only modulation effect I use regularly so I wanted to get a premium pedal to upgrade from my MXR Analog Chorus. As soon as I clicked it on the first time I thought oh it sounds better; now twice as much money better is debatable though of course. I'm not much for Vibrato but I'm glad that it is on there. Like every other JHS pedal that I have, all the knobs… read more do really good stuff. I still have my MXR at the ready but I have no regrets about this one. Oh yeah, it's purple and it has a penguin on it.

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A wonderful chorus pedal with lots of options

Wow, a very nice pedal indeed. It is a sturdy little purple box with an emperor penguin on it! What's not to love? Anyway, this is one of the more functional and option-packed pedals that I own. I'm a simple guy and don't like fiddling around with interfaces and the like too much, but I also want tonal options available. What a conundrum. This pedal solves that issue. Let's talk… read more chorus first. You have the ability to change the type of chorus (sine/square/sawtooth wave), each with its own unique characteristics, and the ability to change the frequency, depth, eq, and volume. SO many options already. You can achieve that shimmering chorus sound of the 80's, add to a grungy 90's distortion, or just add a tiny touch of flair to your sound. It can do a back and forth waddle of sound between your original pitch and the shifted pitch, which can be super subtle or up to approximately a half step away! I've been using this towards the end of my effects chain, right after my pitch shifter pedal but before the reverb. When clean, it adds a smooth and rippling glisten to the tone. With dirt and crunch, it thickens the sound a bit and adds depth and wetness. Very functional and I really like what it does. The tap tempo on the right makes it very easy to dial in the rate of chorus sweeps without having to play with the knob. Something I never thought I needed in a chorus pedal, but now I think it's a requirement! Now let's talk vibrato. I'm not too well versed with vibrato pedals, as I'm used to creating vibrato with my fingers. Like the chorus, we have 3 types and the ability to change all the aforementioned parameters. You can dial in something SUPER subtle that mimics a very gentle and relaxed vibrato all the way to what I think of as a ping pong effect. I haven't done too much with the vibrato function just yet, as I've only had the pedal for 2 days and it's already earning a permanent place on my board. Will report back and update once I've had a little more time with it. Build: Sturdy, metal, durable. But I'm also one who is extremely careful with my stuff, so I don't throw and bang my gear around, so I can't say whether it'll survive being launched across a room, but I wager it might survive that! Excess noise: very low, one of the lowest I've experienced. Excellent, but not perfect. But SUPER low noise compared to every other tone modulating pedal I've ever used. Noiseless when off. Ease of use: very easy. Plug, dial in, play. Functionality: lots of easy to change options, adaptable to a very wide spectrum of music. Tap tempo option is the secret of chorus pedals you never knew you needed. Or at least, for me lol. Tone: Beautiful enhancements, keeps the original sound but adds to it, or if you turn everything up, you can get pretty spacey and crazy. Aesthetics: purple and penguins. I love it. Overall: so far, it's definitely earning a permanent place on my pedal board.

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