Warm Audio’s WA-C1 stereo chorus/vibrato pedal conjures up boutique analog modulation that few pedals can match, save for the rare vintage pedals that inspired Warm Audio’s homage. The WA-C1 is rife with premium features, starting with an analog preamp that lets you juice guitar signals for an ultra-responsive feel that bristles with midrange detail and a hint of bite — the preamp is virtually its own effect! The WA-C1 provides separate Chorus and Vibrato control sections, plus separate mode and bypass footswitches that let you toggle between both effects on the fly. When it comes to tone, this is bucket brigade performance at its finest. There’s no emulation, just lush, organic modulation that only happens when vintage-spec parts are meticulously sourced. Stereo outs bring opportunities to revel in the warmth and width of stereo modulation. What’s more, Warm Audio adds a hi-Z switch to the rear panel, which means the WA-C1 can handle any guitar pickups as well as keyboards and other instruments. Lastly, pedal hounds appreciate that Warm Audio tests each unit carefully in the USA to make sure each unit is ready to wow customers like you.
Contrasting its humble yet sleek housing, Warm Audio’s WA-C1 offers a suite of sonic contouring that transcends both time and instrumentation. Where vintage pedals faced limitations where modulation, the LFO’s shape and speed, and the BBD chip’s delay time converged, the WA-C1 shatters those boundaries to support finer, nuanced control of the depth and dimensionality of your spatial contouring without sacrificing the hallmark analog warmth. Its expanded palette of chorus hues begins with a ‘70s-style shade, often considered to be a “darker” form of the effect popularized by the lush, modulated tones of the era. With the hi-Z engaged, you’re instantly jumping through time to the maximalist panache of the 1980s: shimmering harmonics, expanded upper-mid and treble frequencies, and a crystalline character that screams arena rock. But tone-crafting opportunities for the heightened input sensitivity don’t stop at stadium-worthy sound shaping, as this setting lets you amplify the headroom and clarity of the pedal’s tone profile, even when modulation is at a minimum. Plus, the true stereo output lets you dial in a slew of three-dimensional vibrato effects, from subtle rotary-style guitar effects to Leslie-inspired electric keys, making the WA-C1 as formidable with the strings as the ebonies and ivories.
