DEMO Caesar Chorus (Walrus Audio Julia)

[MichaelW]

You mean the Blueshift ? Of course, this is the hard and rewarding path... Are you ready for such perfection ? Will you be able to build a Blueshift ?

https://aionfx.com/app/files/docs/blueshift_documentation.pdf

This one is based on an older version of the circuit, not exactly the same as the unit currently in production. I looked on the web to see how much they are priced these days... old DC-2 version from the 80's can go up to 600 or 700 us $... You would be lucky to find a real one somewhere...

This is two choruses criss-crossing each other, so you can't really feel the modulation going up and down : when one goes up, the other goes down... Giving the sensation that the modulation last for ever, with no beginning and no end.

Aion's Blueshift can be calibrated without oscilloscope, it takes some time to find the perfect spot on both trimmers, but it's perfectly doable.

Whoa, that looks pretty intense. I dunno man, I just got the nerve up to build the Caesar hahah.....I may need some additional life coaching from @fig before tackling a double PCB build.......!

 

[MichaelW]

I just had to share this.....for you Larry Carlton fans (and those that aren't familiar with him....)

This is the original album version of the "Song for Katie" (written for his niece).

I just listened to this again for first time in decades......and realized how I'm playing it wrong hahahah! I learned the intro when I was a kid.

Featuring a very young Jeff Porcaro on drums....and I'm pretty sure it was Abe Laboriel on bass. The arrangement, rhythm section is so tight and "in the pocket". As with most Larry Carlton tunes the genius is in his fills.....when he comes in with the 335 in an answer/call section to the main Strat....so good. The synth accompaniment sounds pretty dated now in 2022 but oh the guitar playing.......

 

[eh là bas ma]

.I may need some additional life coaching from @fig before tackling a double PCB build.......!

I am sure Fig would approve, and I am sure he's playing something beautiful with his Blueshifts as we speak...

I was afraid too... Both boards are connected by pin headers. That's the only real sensible point, you don't want to mess with these, they need to be carefully soldered straight up on both boards, so they are aligned with each other and "easily" connected.

Other than that, there are many components, so you need to measure each and everyone before soldering. This way you won't make mistakes.

"If you haven’t successfully built at least ten or fifteen, including a few choruses or delays, you may not be ready for this one yet."

Well, haven't you ?

If your mind is pure and your hands steady, it's easy. That's what I discovered when I built mine.

 

[MichaelW]

If your mind is pure….

Ok that totally rules me out, my mind typically filthy…..

 

[Cvoxdog]

Whoa, that looks pretty intense. I dunno man, I just got the nerve up to build the Caesar hahah.....I may need some additional life coaching from @fig before tackling a double PCB build.......!

I too am scared of double pcbs hah.

 

[eh là bas ma]

“Art begins with difficulty.” said André Gides, with calm and composure.

“We lie when we are afraid.” as Tad Williams would put it.

"Why be afraid of happiness?" asks Virginie Despentes, her finger pointing to you...

 

[fig]

The only real added bits are spacing consideration and any b2b connections. Maintain a balanced focal point, keeping both the “big picture” as well as ”attention to detail” @ 12 on the dial. The rest should be like making toast….mmm

 

[DAJE]

I'm not noticing any high end loss but would characterize this as a "warm" chorus pedal. As opposed to say the re-released TC Electronic Classic SCF which a brighter more glassy sounding chorus. I have not tried the Caesar with any other pedals yet except boosting it with my Clandestine and pushing it with a compressor. It sounded best in that clip without either and just naked by itself with a slight bit of software reverb and delay.

One thing I did notice when dialing in the trimmer, in some of the settings the whole pedal was a lot darker. I biased it by ear with all the knobs set at noon and tweedled the trimmer until it sounded good to me. I was reminded of the scene in the movie "Contact" when the young version of Eleanor was being taught by her father to use the ham radio and he kept saying "Small moves Elly, small moves..." heh. Minute moves of the trimmer had a pretty big impact to the sound.

Thanks, interesting. I set the trimmer by ear, and tried a few BBD chips, which all seemed pretty similar. I had a fair bit of range in the usable section, it was really only at the far ends of the spectrum that weren't. I'll give it another try and see if I can get it sounding less dark.

 

[MichaelW]

Nice one! His first foray into an analog BBD mod pedal and I think he's hooked next it will be an analog delay. Do a mistress next, it can do some much more than flanging. Faux Leslie, chorus, filter, vibrato and of course flanger.

I'm open to suggestions, A Mistress would be super cool. Which PCB do you recommend? Also, I'd love to do an analog Delay. I'm really not too familiar with the offerings outside of PPCB and Aion.

 

[Funnel]

Well done and well played! I think I might have to start building the chorus pcb I’ve had sitting on the shelf for the past few months

 

[MichaelW]

Well done and well played! I think I might have to start building the chorus pcb I’ve had sitting on the shelf for the past few months

Thanks to all for the kind words. I'd love to record more demo's of my builds if I could just stop building long enough to do it hahah!

 

[Alan W]

Beautiful build. Sounds great too—nice playing. Go for the Blueshift! You can do it. When I’ve done multi board projects ( hi fi stuff, not pedals) I tend to put the stacking sockets and pins in first, so everything is aligned, and then go from there.

I just finished my Ceasar a bit over a week ago. No hf drop off. I did tune, first by ear and then on my scope. I use a fair amount of chorus, and my favorite is a 15+ year old HBE THC. It can be exceedingly lush. But it also is very colored (luckily in a way that sounds great with chorus). Part of me is happy to now have a more “pristine” chorus, and part of me would like to dirty up the sound some—my plan was NOT to have 2 choruses on my board.

 

[eh là bas ma]

I'm open to suggestions, A Mistress would be super cool. Which PCB do you recommend? Also, I'd love to do an analog Delay. I'm really not too familiar with the offerings outside of PPCB and Aion.

Check https://www.musikding.de/guitar-effect-kits-amp-kits

Even if you don't order from them, you will discover a lot of diy brands, like Lectric-FX, TH custom effects... You will have to look at the instructions for almost each pcb, to know exactly what is the original circuit.

Some builders advise to "stay the #%$¤ away from pcb guitar mania" as they often take circuits from their peers, make mistakes, and sell them cheaper, or design some of their own clones quite poorly. I would suggest to make your own opinion about them. I think they are in a grey aera... I am sure they have good things too.

 

[Andrion]

it's always fun to have something to drink and read your build reports
your storytelling skills are