Chorus pedals are a touchy subject for me. I find most of them to be disappointing. Usually, either they are too subtle (EHX Small Clone) or when you try to make their effect more pronounced the depth is too extreme and makes the guitar sound out of tune. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the new Blue Hippo MK II from Way Huge/Dunlop, is an exception. With the depth close to max and the rate around 9 o’clock some great slow lush chorus tones (A’la CE-2) can be achieved. The pedal also (thankfully) doesn’t have the age-old issue of making your tone brighter which many chorus units do.
With both controls around 1 o’clock some surprisingly convincing rotovibe-ish tones emerge, which are a great asset for comping in blues or jazz when a little more texture is desired. Moving on, there is a switch in the middle of the pedal, effectively making this the only 2-in-1 Way Huge pedal since the Camel Toe. Flip the switch up and you get a charming vibrato. Magnatone fans rejoice! Great for spacey indie rock passages, or to make otherwise bland arpeggiated chords really stand out.
The guts of this pedal are equally impressive, boasting a NOS MN3007 IC chip, (used in the original Boss CE-2’s, as well as the original EHX Clone Theory, among others) for authentic vintage pedigree, in this modern pedal. There are only 900 of these units being made, so if you want one act quickly. At $169.99 with an NOS chip and Jeorge Tripps-designed circuitry this pedal is a great deal. Already spotted on Mike Landau’s new pedal board, the WHE601 Blue Hippo is sure to become a modern classic.
