Megadeth bassist David Ellefson has teamed up with Pro Tone Pedals to launch a chorus box that holds the power across low end notes when the effect is engaged.
Ellefson says he had tried numerous other chorus pedals to fill out his live sound on “Dawn Patrol” and the intro to “Poison Was the Cure” from 1990’s Rust in Peace. “It’s important because they’re solo feature moments with me and the drums so I’m hanging out there,” he says.
“The problem that I’ve had is just the bottom end falling out with every single chorus pedal that I’ve used,” he says. He also found that they tended to distort the sound if played through a high-gain setting, on occasion leading to a “deer in the headlights” feeling when he clicked into the effect.
All it took was a call from Pro Tone Pedals founder Dennis Mollan to get the sound and functionalities he wanted. “When he sent me this prototype it was just like ‘man, he frickin’ nailed it,’ ” says Ellefson.
The resulting Dawn Patrol Chorus costs $209 and is one of only three pedals that Ellefson uses for his sound, alongside the Providence Dual Bass Station for live work and his preferred studio box the Hartke Bass Attack.
It’s housed in a durable aluminium chassis, has a super-bright LED for easy onstage identification, a stomp switch and, at Ellefson’s request, is solely AC-powered.
Those wanting to emulate his use of the effect should turn the depth control slightly to the right of 12 o’clock, set the mix at two and turn the speed knob back to 8 o’clock, he says. “I think sometimes you can go way deep into effect land, which you can do with the Dawn Patrol Chorus, but I use it much more subtly,” he says.
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Features: • Mix, Speed and Depth controls • Operates on a standard 9-volt negative tip BOSS style adapter (not included) • True Hardwire Bypass with grounded input for noise free operation • Stomp switch built to withstand years of hard stomping shows • Durable aluminum housing • Super-Bright LED for easy onstage identification • Proudly built by hand in the USA.
