Guest Pedal Review – Grumpy Toad FX Pork Barrel Chorus

The following is a guest post by Kevin Ian Common. If you are interested in guest posting, please contact me!

Hello Kind Readers!

The pedal I am reviewing today is The Pork Barrel Chorus by Grumpy Toad FX in Sacramento. Grumpy Toad is a small pedal company that specializes in built clones of your favorite vintage pedals. Todd –the builder– also slightly modifies pedals according to his customers’ wishes and has a great reputation for producing quality work.

I recently met him and put in an order for a custom boost pedal (which I will review when it arrives), but I had the pleasure of playing through one of his latest builds, a pedal he dubs the “Pork Barrel Chorus.”

The first thing I notice upon playing through it is the tremendous warmth and bass response. This is not your average chorus pedal, which tends to thin out your sound. This packs some serious bottom. I took it for a test run on my Peavey Classic 30, Vox, and my bassist’s GK rig, and the pedal stood up to all three tests.

The range of the rate knob goes from subtle to lush to seasick. I found myself more in favor of the subtle and lush sounds, which have yet to be rivaled by any chorus pedal I’ve played since. The depth can go from almost non-existent to extreme as well, giving you a vast array of tones at your disposal.

Todd also added in some switches to the pedal. The first one is a Depth switch. It changes the range of the Depth knob. The second –and my favorite of the switches– is a Vibrato/Trem switch that takes the dry signal out, leaving you with a vibrating tremolo sound. However, it wouldn’t be wise to call it a vibrato or tremolo because it’s still a chorus effect, so the effected signal is still detuned! This was a really unique addition to the chorus and one that was surprisingly musical and useful.

Grumpy Toad FX can be found here:
http://s422.photobucket.com/albums/pp301/Toadlc/Grumpy%20Toad%20FX%20Pedals/

Here is a modest video with me going through a bunch of settings on the Pork Barrel Chorus.

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Go through what he has done and talk to him about what you are looking for. I found him to be friendly, and helpful!

– Kevin Ian

Kevin Ian is a multi-instrumentalist and Internet Radio DJ. His current project, The Common Men can be found at www.thecommonmen.tk