“A pint-sized powerhouse that’s built for performance”: Nobels stuffs three chorus flavors into its tiny new pedal, the CHO-mini

(Image credit: Nobels)

NAMM 2025: Nobels is combining the best of its budget-friendly and space-saving tech with the CHO-mini – a tiny chorus pedal that builds on its “tradition of ageless chorus sounds and versatility.”

For those who haven’t ditched their pedalboards for amp modelers, chorus pedals aren’t typically the first stompbox on people's ’boards. However, one this small – but still packing a variety of flavors – is bound to appeal to many as it saves space for the big hitters.

Choose from mono and stereo sounds, with two traditional chorus types and a flanging-type effect, which have been “carefully crafted to capture iconic modulation tones of past and present,” and are toggled by a mini switch.

The first flavor emulates the coveted bucket-brigade style chorus pedals that shimmered throughout the ’70s. The second differs by “allowing for a higher rate towards the end of the control range, enabling pleasing vibrato-like textures.”

Despite the name, the Flanging mode is not a flanger pedal in the traditional sense. Instead, Nobels is emulating another unspecified ’70s favorite, which it says comes with a hefty price tag on the second-hand market.

“Think of this as a comb-filter phasing of the signal, like feedback on a delay, focussing on its luscious general character and without becoming too extreme,” Nobels explains.

The personality of each mode can be further sculpted via controls for Rate, Width, and Depth.

All three modes feature tap tempo functionality to ensure they swell and sing in tune with songs and solos, and hinges off a single switch design. Holding the footswitch for two seconds engages the Tap Tempo Mode, synchronizing the effect with foot tapping.

Other toggles are dedicated to switching between mono and stereo (TRS) operation and true or buffered bypass modes, “making the pedal suitable for almost any musical situation, anywhere, any time.”

Glow-in-the-darker pointer knobs ensure it's gig-friendly, while integrated fold-out mounting plates make slapping it on pedalboards is quick and easy.

All in all, Nobels promises this pedal to be “a pint-sized powerhouse that’s built for performance.”

The Nobels CHO-mini is available now for $102 at Thomann.

Head to Nobels for the full scoop on the tiny pedal.

A freelance writer with a penchant for music that gets weird, Phil is a regular contributor to Prog, Guitar World, and Total Guitar magazines and is especially keen on shining a light on unknown artists. Outside of the journalism realm, you can find him writing angular riffs in progressive metal band, Prognosis, in which he slings an 8-string Strandberg Boden Original, churning that low string through a variety of tunings. He's also a published author and is currently penning his debut novel which chucks fantasy, mythology and humanity into a great big melting pot.