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 the original pedal to reproduce the detail expected from the most sought-after vintage pieces.”
A few nods to modernity have been made in the case of a selectable impedance (offering a choice between the period correct 50k ohm and a new 1.1M Hi-Z setting – which should help offer a crisper high-end, if need be).
There’s also an internal voltage converter, allowing it run off of the standard 9V power supply, but still deliver the same voltage internally as the original’s 120V mains power supply.
We think this is a pretty savvy move from Warm Audio. Behringer teased plans for a CE-1 clone back in 2022, but that unit has not made it to the market yet – and the prices for vintage CE-1 pedals remain prohibitively high for many.
Indeed, a glance at CE-1 prices on Reverb range from $500 to $1,500. Given those factors, Warm Audio’s $189 price tag is looking pretty attractive.
Elsewhere, the company has also announced plans to repackage its rack-mounted WA76 compressor (itself a recreation of the enduringly popular Universal Audio 1176) into a ’board-based all-analog compressor pedal, the Pedal76.
There’s been a trend for taking studio compressors into pedal formats in recent years, but Warm Audio has significant experience in studio builds, so is in a good position to adapt the design.
The Pedal76 uses a custom CineMag transformer to adapt the circuit to its pedal setting, and offers switchable buffered or true bypass, plus options for input sensitivity, ground/lift, pad engagement and high/low gain modes (both for DI operation). There’s also a handy balanced DI output that you can send straight to a mixer.
Price-wise, the WA-C1 comes in at $189, while the Pedal76 is $269.
For more information, head to Warm Audio.
