Way back in 1976, the first commercially available chorus pedal was released. The massive tank-like piece of hardware is still touted by many guitarists as the finest chorus ever crafted due to its thick, watery, and rippling chorus (and vibrato) tones. The UAFX Brigade is Universal Audio’s ultra-precise sonic tribute to that long-discontinued pedal, sporting an immaculate bucket brigade chorus/vibrato digital emulation that builds off of UA’s modern-classic Astra Modulation Machine algorithms. However, unlike the pedal of Brigade’s inspiration (or even the Astra), this pedal comes equipped with a supremely straightforward setup of three simple knobs and a 2-way switch to swap between chorus and vibrato. Furthermore, the Brigade features spot-on modeling of an analog preamp modeling section to impart your signal with a touch of old-school character and potent vintage-style punch. Capture the chorus tone that started it all with Universal Audio’s UAFX Brigade!
Why do so many chorus pedals also feature a vibrato effect? Easy: chorus is simply a mixture of a dry signal and a pitch/time modulated signal. When both signals meet, you get the beautiful and lush sound of chorus. However, remove the dry signal, and it leaves you with the funky warble of pitch-bending vibrato. Like the original 1976 creation that inspired Brigade, this pedal arms you with both effects.
Universal Audio’s legacy lies in the studio, and that fact often shines through its pedals’ predilection for diverse and complex sonic sculpting possibilities. Frankly, few pedals can match the sheer depth of UAFX designs, but sometimes, a slightly more straightforward design can be preferable. Universal Audio’s scaled-down UAFX pedals pack the same studio-grade sound as their bigger brothers — often with the same algorithms — but with an intuitive knob-per-function design that’s just at home on the stage as it is in the studio.
