Static or gain from SMall Clone?

[jimbob]

It seems when I hit a chord hard I hear a small but audible amount of gain/static as though there a very small  overdrive pedal connected? Anyone have any idea. The sound of a chorus pedal should be clean and clear, even full and chimey.

Anyone have this issue with any of thier effects? Solution Im over looking?

[george]

sounds pretty normal to me.   My small clone and CE-2 both do that, probably because running on 9V the headroom is limited for an MN3007. 

I also have a big ole' CE-1 which doesn't distort like this. It runs internally on 12V, which is providing extra headroom.

Solution: Don't play so hard, turn down the guitar volume or use pickups or pickup settings that have less output.  A compressor may help too to limit the transients.

hth ...