The Universal Audio UAFX Brigade Chorus is a compact digital pedal that delivers chorus and vibrato, voiced after the vintage BOSS CE-1 Chorus Ensemble. Delicious Audio's Paolo De Gregorio described it as "voiced after the iconic, vintage BOSS CE-1 Chorus Ensemble," offering "the two modes of the CE-1 (Chorus and VIbrato)"1. It arrived in 2023 as part of Universal Audio's UAFX compact pedal series, released alongside the Teletronix LA2A and the Flow tremolo12.
What it does
The Brigade is a digital emulation of an analog original. The CE-1, BOSS's chorus ensemble from the company's history, used "all-new analog BBD circuitry," as BOSS's own history article puts it: bucket brigade chips that produced the unit's chorus and vibrato3. The Brigade recreates that design in software. gearnews.com's Bob Malkowski wrote that the pedal "emulates the classic BOSS CE-1 Chorus Ensemble, a bucket brigade-based device"2.
Like the CE-1, it gives the player two distinct effects. The original was, in TONEHOME's description, "a mains powered unit that features both chorus and vibrato modes"4, and the JHS Pedals history piece singled out the vibrato side: "It has an amazing vibrato setting"5. The Brigade carries both modes on its single footswitch format1.
The pedal also models a part of the original that many emulations skip: the CE-1's preamp stage. Delicious Audio notes that the Brigade "also simulates the original's preamp, which can be bypassed via a switch on the back"1. That means the pedal can push a little of the CE-1's input character into your signal, or stay out of the way, depending on the setting.
The controls
The Brigade keeps its top panel simple, with three knobs in the manner of the original1:
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Rate | Sets the speed of the chorus or vibrato modulation |
| Depth | Sets how strong the modulation is |
| Level | Sets the pedal's output level |
On the back panel, two switches shape how the pedal behaves: one selects true or buffered bypass, and the other engages or bypasses the simulated CE-1 preamp1.
Mono, and how it sits in the UAFX range
The Brigade is a mono pedal. Delicious Audio makes the comparison directly: "it's mono just like it (the Astra is stereo)"1. The Astra in question is the Universal Audio UAFX Astra, the company's larger multi-modulation pedal, and the Brigade is described as about one-third of it: a CE-1 setting has been offered on the Astra since the early days of the UAFX line12. A player who wants only the CE-1 voice, with dedicated knobs for it, gets it here in a smaller, mono footprint.
If your board runs stereo effects at the end of the chain, the Brigade's mono signal path is worth planning around. The Astra covers stereo modulation duties in the same UAFX family1.
Where it came from
Videos
Andertons Music Co
Sweetwater
Universal Audio
Questions
Is the UAFX Brigade Chorus analog or digital?
It is a digital pedal. Delicious Audio describes it as a digital recreation of an analog classic: the original BOSS CE-1 Chorus Ensemble used analog BBD, or bucket brigade, circuitry, and the Brigade emulates that design digitally rather than reproducing it with analog chips.
Does the Brigade Chorus have a vibrato mode?
Yes. Like the CE-1 it is modeled on, the Brigade offers two modes, Chorus and Vibrato. The CE-1's vibrato setting has long been praised in its own right, and the Brigade carries both modes of the original.
Is the Brigade Chorus true bypass?
It can be. A switch on the back panel lets you choose between true bypass and buffered bypass, so you can set the pedal to suit the rest of your board.
Is the UAFX Brigade Chorus mono or stereo?
The Brigade is a mono pedal. Delicious Audio notes that it is mono just like the CE-1 itself, unlike Universal Audio's stereo UAFX Astra multi-modulation pedal.
What pedal is the UAFX Brigade Chorus based on?
It is based on the BOSS CE-1 Chorus Ensemble, the vintage chorus unit that used analog bucket brigade circuitry and offered both chorus and vibrato modes. Universal Audio's pedal emulates the CE-1, including its preamp, digitally.
Sources (5)
- New Pedal: Universal Audio UAFX Brigade Chorus, Delicious Audio, 2023-11-06
- UAFX Brigade Flow LA2A: New additions to UAFX Compact Pedal series, gearnews.com, 2023-10-24
- The Legend of the CE-1 and RE-201 Preamps, BOSS (articles.boss.info), 2023-10-26
- TONEHOME, TONEHOME (www.tonehome.de)
- 12 LEGENDARY CHORUS PEDALS, JHS Pedals
