Warm Audio has announced it is launching the WA-C1 – an “authentic” analog take on the vintage Boss CE-1 chorus pedal beloved by the likes of John Frusciante. The original unit debuted in 1976, aiming to repackage the chorus tones of parent firm Roland’s Jazz Chorus amps into a floor-friendly unit – and it remains one of the most prized early chorus units. The CE-1 is particularly lauded for its preamp, which helped it become a cornerstone stompbox in the tone of Frusciante and many other players.
However, modern-day takes on the unit often fail to accurately recreate that signal path, favoring digital substitutes, which is where Warm Audio hopes to win hearts – and ears. As such, the WA-C1 aims to be more faithful recreation of that original circuit, using an all-analog preamp and pairing it with a modern recreation of the BBD chips used in the Boss unit. “The WA-C1 Chorus Vibrato not only brings back that iconic, lush chorus sound and rich, three-dimensional vibrato,” says Warm Audio’s founder, Bryce Young.
“But the high-quality preamp inside delivers pure, all-analog tone that just can’t be replicated by digital emulations.” As you’d expect the control set remains pretty true to the CE-1, but here offers separate ‘Depth’ and ‘Rate’ dials (as opposed to the original ‘Intensity’), which open up some new options for players. Warm Audio’s press release also notes that the pedal has been “carefully clocked to match the depth and rate of.