Boss CE-1 Chorus

The only trick is setting the gain for optimum performance. There is an overload LED to help with this. For chorus, a single knob increases both intensity and speed. This is a bit limiting, but 12 o'clock is perfect for me.

Not for everyone. It's a thick dark chorus. Something I prefer. Incredible for jazz chords. Many prefer the ce-2 which is a bit thinner but with more bite.
The vibrato is the first I've come across that I will actually use.
Very warm, round quality. Seperate chorus and vibrato controls are a plus.The unit is quiet, but watch for ground loops due to 3-prong power chord.

If you get a working one, it will probably work forever. It's a big chunk of metal with quality footswitches. The internal wiring and PCB are clean and solid, nice beefy power supply for a pedal too, but as with all used gear, beware: in 20 years, who knows who may have been inside the thing.

You probably won't get help from boss, but schematics are available:
http://www.tdd.lt/~antonas/guitar/gifs/BossCE1.gif
Aside from the LEDs and power transformer being epoxied to the case, all components are easily replaceable with a little electronic knowledge.

I personaly love this pedal. Really fattens a single coil pickup. I own a t.c. chorus flanger, Fulltone Dejavibe II, and a ce-2, but this is the chorus I use. Again, it is not for everyone, as it lacks a certain bite that many prefer. I like the warmth though. The vibrato is just icing on the cake for me. If I see another one, I will buy it.

Very easy to use.

I Use Fender custom shop strat, Ibanez Artist and Gibson Les Paul with the following amp, Carvin x-100b, Rivera Rake and Fender Prosonic. I believe this pedal sounds good but is EXTREMELY over-rated. I have not tried any other CE-1's for comparison, so can only speak for mine. This pedals sucks the tone out of your guitar. When engaged, it easily distorts as you raise your volume in cjhorus mode. Mine definitely does not have true bypass. Vibrato is a pretty cool feature. Just for reference, I am a chorus junky and think that the Ibanez CS-505, CS-9, Boss ce-2 & 3 and Rockman chorus all sound better than the CE-1.

Have had no problems and i belive it is very reliable.

Never had to use.

Very easy to use one knob for chorus intensity, two for vibrato Depth and Rate, one on off switch and another to switch between Chorus and Vibrato.

I use it in the FX loop of My Mesa Dual Rectifier, my guitars are PRS with EMG's. It is very low noise for an analog Chorus pedal made in 1976. The soud is very good, it's warm and not like the new digital ones that have that high end bite that kills your ears. The Vibrato shifts the pitch, it really sounds good almost like a leslie. I know that John Fershante (Red Hot Chili Peppers on mothers milk, B.S.S.M, and Californication) uses it, besides him I don't know who else uses it. I would not be suprised if David Gilmore used one, he had every stomp known to man back then.

It's a boss. This thing is 23 years old and their is not even one problem with it. Who do you know that has ever had a problem with a boss stomp box.

Never have and probablly never will have to deal with Boss\Roland.

This is the greatest Chorus I have ever herd and will be the last I will ever buy, and I plan on keeping it for the rest of my life. The thing is a part of history (the first Boss Chorus peddal). The only other product I would buy would be an original Uni-Vibe Because it's even older and is like the first Chorus\Vibrato unit ever. The CE-1 is Boss's response to the Uni-vibe.

Dead easy. From left to right: a slider switch for High/Low; a knob for chours rate; knob for vibrato rate; knob for vibrato depth; and an on/off rocker switch. It's A/C. Two big stomp switches, one for effect on or bypass, the other (right) for switching between chorus and vibrato. The pedal also features two red LED's. One lights up to show the intensity of the signal, and one for the rate of the phase shifting. (I'm very happy that it doesn't get too crazy with knobs, they could have really gone nuts with both functions in one pedal - as they have before.)

I was surprised with the age of this guy, that it wasn't noisy. It's great sound just rings through. Great vibrato. (There are some real cheesy vibratos out there.) The effects produced are not overwhelming, that jump out at you and steal your tone. It's just lush chorus and a solid, warm vibrato like it's suppose to be. This guy can also be run in stereo which is slick. Currently, I am using this guy right before a Sweetsound Ultravibe. I have a great favorite setting on my Ultravibe and don't want to tweak it, and wanted to add some width with chorus at times and a vibrato for some passages/songs. This is a killer combination by the way. The Ultravibe gets a little woozy machine gun thing going while the CE-1's vibrato can get a great vibrato pulse thing going. Great pair of options that I don't use all the time, but enjoy having at the ready. Soundwise, I could see how someone would leave the chorus of the CE-1 on all the time. I have used it for bass a little bit, but the high/low slider switch stunk on the low setting, so you have to leave it on high and may lose some of your signal. (The Ultravibe kicks on bass however, it is a solid part of my sound on bass.) For reference I am running this with Fender guitars, Fender tweed amps.

Well, they are a Roland/Boss product, although I don't know what year they were made. It is actually a 'CE-1 Chorus Ensemble' if you are looking for a picture or someting on the net. It is a big, heavy, solid piece of machinery that's going to take up some serious pedalboard real estate. Solid stomp switches, casing, recessed LED's, sturdy power cord - it's going to be a lifetime pedal. One of my knobs did crack though, but it was easily glued back together with some of the old ladies' nail glue. (good stuff) If you think the new Boss' are solid, you could swing this around by the A/C cord and use it as a wrecking ball.

N/A

I think it's a great pedal. They are moving up in price, so if you want one, you may have to pull the trigger soon. It's such a solid pedal with great sounds. It doesn't kill your tone or steal your signal which is nice too. In a pedal to pedal shoot out it would kill all the little stompers out there soundwise (perhaps with the exception of the TC Electronics - which is actually too digitally clean for my tastes), but personally, I love the Ultravibe. The Ultra gets a bit woozy sometimes, but its a vintage/warm/liquid Hendrixian thing, whereas the CE-1 is just a solid, clean, lush, versitile, great sounding pedal. Together they're great.

Can't go wrong, knobs for chorus rate, vibrato rate and depth. Great sounds without a lot of effort.

Excellent. Second best chorus I've ever had (see review of Fulltone Stereo Deja Vibe) and best Vibrato (even compared to a vintage Magnatone amp).

Built like a tank. If it dies, though, who ya gonna call. Does Roland even remember they made this thing!

I've only called once, got a machine, no luck so far.

Why didn't they reissue this one?

3 knobs, 2 switches, easy to understand, sounds great right out of the box.

The best pitch shifting vibrato out there. I've got a Magnatone amp (the only other straight pitch shift vibrato I'm aware of) and this is at least as good. The chorus is very good, just one knob for intensity/rate. It's not the best I've heard (Fulltone Deja Vibe), but it's definitely #2 with a bullet. I can't see using this for hard rock, but blues, folk etc, it's perfect.

Built like a tank.

Who cares, it's 20 years old.

Just a beautiful sound, and well worth finding. A much more useful effect than 90% of the digital thingy's out there.

Great sound with very little tweaking, Just plug & go.

Awesome sound. I am running a system as follows: guitar to modified crybaby to Tube Screamer to CE-1 then stereo to 2 Peavey Blues Deluxes. The chorus is thick and lush and the vibrato is right there without being uncontrollable. I leave the chorus on 95% of the time.

The unit is over 10 years old. I've had it for at least 7 years and have never had a problem with it.

Never needed it with any Boss product I have had. Since this one is out of warranty I doubt I would ever even use it.

I got this pedal along with an original tube screamer for free from a friend who owns a music store. I was helping him clean out his storage room and he passed these along. Turns out that they were brought in to have the pots cleaned and were never picked up. I love the sound of the CE-1 and if I had too would probably replace it with a Voodoo Labs Analog Chorus. I hope I never have to replace it.

just four knobs

am.standard strat.with texas specials no noise sounds good on any setting except the obviously extreme ones hot rod deville 2-12

definately

don't know

i'm only writing this in response to others claiming that the unit is noisy i use it in conjunction with a compressor, blues driver, overdrive, delay all boss...unless there are a few lemons of this unit i have to honestly say i haven't experienced any noise at all,other than that slight swoosh apparent in all pedals of this type but again very slight...

This unit is easy to get a terrific sound out of--there is only one knob for the chorus effect. There's also a neat vibrato circuit that is also very intuitive. The only problem is messing with the level and input controls to get a comparable sound as you're used to without the effect (no true bypass).

This unit is as quiet as can be expected. The chorus effect is lush and warm, but gets quirky at high settings. The vibrato effect rivals anything I've heard--everything from a slow MBV wobble to fast trills. In stereo it represents the height of analog technology!

This unit is built like a tank. It's big, solid, no scratchy pots. The built in power supply means no batteries and no wall warts. It's been going strong since the early 80's or so and will continue!

Few at Boss would probably recall this particular model, let alone give any assistance.

Great deal if you can find it. I've seen 'em cheaper and more expensive than what I paid. They all sound slightly different, too. True bypass would be cool, but there are ways around that problem.