The Laney Black Country Custom Spiral Array Chorus is a stereo chorus pedal from UK builder Laney Amplification, part of the company's Black Country Customs series of pedals. Its idea is simple: instead of one chorus voice, it houses three classic chorus sounds, recreated from the classic era of chorus, the mid 1970s to the mid 1980s, and a toggle switch lets you move between them. Delicious Audio's Paolo De Gregorio described it as "a Chorus pedal with a difference" and, more plainly, "It is actually three distinctly different chorus pedals in one box."1
If you are new to chorus pedals, the effect doubles your signal and detunes the copy against the original, giving a shimmering, widened sound. The Spiral Array does this in stereo, which is where reviewers found it at its best, adding it to their Best Stereo Chorus Pedals list overall1.
What it does
The pedal's center toggle switch selects between three distinctly different flavors of stereo vintage chorus, labeled An, TSC and DIM. Each mode is its own take on a classic chorus circuit from the mid 1970s to the mid 1980s, so the pedal covers a range of vintage chorus characters without needing three separate units on the board.1
Stereo operation matters here. A stereo chorus processes two channels separately, and the widened, swirling effect it produces across two outputs is generally considered the strongest form of the effect. Delicious Audio's reviewer put it this way:
"Few effects beat the sound of a gloriously lush chorus, in particular in stereo, and the Spiral Array ... promises exa"
The same review found the pedal lush, especially in stereo, and on 28 August 2020 the site added the Spiral Array to its list of the Best Stereo Chorus Pedals overall.1
Where it sits on a board
The Spiral Array is a dedicated chorus, so it pairs naturally with the other time-based and modulation effects on a board. Players building a signal chain around it commonly combine a chorus with a delay pedal, a reverb pedal or a phaser pedal, with drive from an overdrive pedal or a distortion pedal earlier in the chain. Laney's Black Country Customs line also includes other effects, such as the Secret Path, a pedal noted for features like stereo outputs.2
Videos
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Laney Amplification
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Questions
What are the three modes on the Spiral Array Chorus?
A toggle switch in the center of the pedal selects between three modes labeled An, TSC and DIM. Each is a distinct flavor of stereo vintage chorus, with the sounds recreated from classic chorus designs of the mid 1970s to the mid 1980s. In practice it works like three different chorus pedals sharing one enclosure.
Who makes the Spiral Array Chorus?
The pedal is manufactured by Laney Amplification, the UK builder, and is part of the company's Black Country Customs series of pedals. Delicious Audio featured it in 2020 and added it to its list of the Best Stereo Chorus Pedals.
Sources (2)
- Laney Black Country Custom Spiral Array Chorus, Delicious Audio, 2020-08-28
- Laney Black Country Custom Secret Path Reverb, Delicious Audio, 2019-03-05
