Boss CE-2 Chorus

Well, I want to submit an english + italian revision!
Only 2 knob, speed & depth...
(solo 2 manopole per velocita e profondita; piu facile di cosi!)

My setup is: RG550, CS-2, DS-1, GE-7, CE-2, a delay and some other pedals...
A very analog, warm tone, swirling around my ears...
I've got also a CH-1 but, of course, CE-2 sounds more warm, depth and natural. New CH-1 Super Chorus are really cold...
(beh, suono con una RG50 Ibanez, piu i suddetti pedalozzi;
il suono del CE-2 e molto caldo e analogico; ti circonda proprio le orecchie...
ho anche un CH-1, ma e piu freddo e meno profondo del CE-2...)

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Whats to say?!

When i first began gigging in about 1980, the CE-2 was my 1st chorus. Back then there weren't but maybe 2 or 3 options for chorus pedals, so i didn't know what was good or not. In fact, at that point my ear wasn't nearly developed enough to know what was good or bad as chorus pedals go. But i sold it after a couple years and got an Ibanez, then sold that, etc etc.......had probably 10 various chorus' since then. My memories of the CE-2 were that it may have been better than all of them, but you know how old memories are. I didn't know if these were just fond memories or if it really was the best i'd ever had.

Well, i just bought my 2nd CE-2 some 23 years later and i now know without a doubt those memories were accurate. Actually, i played a friends CE2 a couple weeks ago which made me realize what i'd been missing all these years, so i bought one. I should never have used anything but the CE-2 !! As others have said, it's just so mello, round and round without a trace of obnoxious high end. It's subtle, but it does exactly what a chorus should do with no unwanted artifacts.
If your tonal tastes are refined, this chorus will satisfy you better than 95-99% of whats out there.

It's a boss.

don't know. Doubt you'll need it, and if you do i doubt they'd be helpfull. And of course being that they haven't made these in about 20 years, it wouldn't matter anyway.

I rarely play any longer, so i really didn't need it. But playing my buddy's CE2 made me realize that i had to have it, and i'll definatly draw my last breath with this pedal in my possesion.

Apart from the MXR Micro Chorus, which only has one control, the Boss CE-2 is literally idiot-proof. 'Rate' and 'Depth' controls enable you to get a myriad of chorus tones out of this little box.

My set-up is straight forward. The signal goes from my guitar(s) through my effects into the amp. The CE-2 can be noisy when used with distortion, but that's just the analogue character of the unit. I mostly use it with a clean amp tone. The sounds are very enveloping and rich, no matter how the effect is set. I'm using an all-valve, hand-built amp, and I like to run a Boss CS-2 Compressor in front of the CE-2 to produce that cluster-like chiming sound. The compressor gives the chorus a sweet shimmer without making my tone pokey.
The guitar player that immediately comes to mind when I hear the CE-2 is Andy Summers (The Police). He was one of the first players to bring the chorus out into the spotlight. I think he did that because he was the only guitarist in the band, so he needed to broaden the guitar sound to fill in the space. The CE-2 just has that sweet character about it, that boxy chorus sound. It's a sound that I've heard on so many records, so it was impossible for me to resist the temptation of getting one.

This box is actually a 1979. It has the black label on the back. Apart from a few paint chips, the stompbox is in a great condition and hasn't failed to function perfectly. It wouldn't be hard to find a backup, because I have seen a few of them floating around. But if for some reason it would go down one day, I would get another just like it. They're just too irresistable.

Never dealt with Boss. There's no need.

I play in various cover bands. The great thing about the CE-2 Chorus is that no matter where I need that sound, it always cuts through. You can always hear its distinct character, even when playing in a band with lots of other musicians. I wouldn't want to change anything about this little box because its simplicity is what attributes to its charm. I think that no matter how many chorus effects are out there, the CE-2 will always remain a true classic, just like its older brother, the CE-1.

Only two knobs.

I don't particularly like chorus as its too "tinny" in general but I got this pretty cheap and I'm not real enthused about my Boss CH-1 or Danelectro Cool Cat or POD. So I'm not the best source for chorus info. I DID however, try tweaking my Taiwan CE-2 interior pot and I want to verify that as previously stated, the best, round-ish tone seems to occur when rolling *back* the interior pot. For my box, I rolled it back between where it was set(12:00) and where the effect turned off(8:00). For those time-challenged, that would be 10:00. ;)
My test equipment was on a cheapo strat copy into the CE-2, into a clean digicrap amp in the theory that if I can improve *that* mess, then I've achieved something. However, the change is really, really slight at low volume. However, I have pretty good ears for tone so it is real. But I can't tell you exactly what changes though it appears to be a background phase timing. Line it up and it warms up a bit. Crank it up and you get crystal mush in really small amounts. But tech-head tweakers live for this stuff ! Enjoy !

Solid as a rock of a rock.

Only experience I had with Boss is with Roland. And they seemed to support the VS1680 sorta ok for a while. Then they stopped short of a conversion feature for mp3s, etc. Too bad !

Someday I'll hear a smooth, clear, analog chorus and fall in love. But not with any crystalline icepicks digging into my ears, and the CH-1, POD, Cool Cat and CE-2 don't seem to avoid that without eq in my (limited) experience. But the CE-2 isn't bad relative to the others. And, hey, BONUS ! You get to tweak it to your hearts content !

CE2 is ridiculously easy to use. Footswitch, rate knob, depth knob, how can you go wrong ?

Very good for a two knob pedal !! Chorus is very lush and spatial, when you dial it up to 12 on the rate and 3 on the depth, it's a tremendous and wonderfully thick swirly tone. Not quite as obvious as some of the early 80s high chorused sounds, more of a subtle tone expander. After having read some of the notes here about the internal trim pot, I'm excited about having even more range to work in !!!!

I've owned mine since '85 and it hasn't broken down once !!!!!!!

Haven't dealt with Boss.

For general chorusing abilities, it is unmatched. If you can pick this pedal up used for $60 to $80 dollars, it would be a wonderful investment for your sound. As others have said, it is mono only, so if you're looking for true stereo chorusing, you'll have to look elsewhere.

2 Knobs:depth and rate. I don't give 10 because i wish it had a third pot instead of the hidden trim.

Before buying this i used a Boss digital Chorus.This sound much better,the sound is fatter and bigger,it works well both with passive and active electronic (i use a Telecaster and a Charvel).It is mono,it's the only complain i can make.

mine is almost 15 years old. It's a BOSS!!!

I play in 2 band,one is a cover band(mainly modern rock,from R.H.C.P. to Garbage to Lenny Kravitz) the other is Funky-Acid jazz.
This pedal is perfect for all these styles.

2 knobs, if you can't figure this one out... ;-)

9 for what it is, of course rated against stereo it would fall way short. Playing through an SRV strat and Traynor YCV80. The effect itself is very clean and seems to preserve the original tone fairly well. I have not tried many other units at all so cannot offer comparison.

Slight noise in the input jack. The ON light seems to vary significantly in intensity depending on the power source (any of which should be very adequate.)

NA

First, Trim Pot notes: This is a green label Japan version. After reading the threads here, I wanted to boost the trim pot. Sure enough there is was, complete with blue glue on it. Once you break that seal, it turns freely. (I recommend needlenose pliers to initially twist through the glue, on the square top of it. None of my 12 Craftsman screwdrivers would fit right and plastic was soft. Careful on the initial twist!) Turning it all the way clockwise gave me no sound at all and I thought I broke it. Dialing back just a tad gave me the sound though. In total it was about a quarter turn. Tried a quarter back as well which diliuted the effect to about nothing. So what do you get with this? It's not "night and day" like I expected. I just gives you "more effect" so the depth knob goes further, more range which is obviously a good thing. Now full depth for me goes just to the point which is "too much," so I know I have full range of what I would use. It's almost like a Flanger at that point. I read some commenting on a rotary simulation with this pedal - I don't hear that myself.

I'd probably be more excited about this pedal if I had never heard stereo chorus, but I don't have a stereo setup, so... But I can recognize that is does sound really good for mono. I would probably buy another if lost at this point, because I'm not going stereo and I don't know of anything that would be better.

For me, I'm a 20 year player, little bit of everything. Modern Rock, SRV, classic rock.

Very very easy to use. There's not much to it - two knobs to adjust Rate and Depth. Dialing in a good sound can be easy.

I actually have two of these CE-2's. My first one, which incidentally is a Japanese 'green label' one, I've had for about 2 years. The second one - a Japanese 'black label' one, I just got very recently. Why two? you may ask. Because I picked up the black label one for dirt cheap in a cash-converters shop and I wanted to see for myself if there was any truth to this label-colour superiority debate.
So after doing a half-hours work of AB'ing the two, I have reached this conclusion: YES, the Japanese black label is smoother and more articulate than it's Japanese green label sibling. BUT, the difference is *very, very* slight. Perhaps a comparison with a Taiwanese CE-2 may have brought a more dramatic outcome, but unfortunately I don't have a hold of one. Were I to score each pedal separately:
Japanese Green Label - 9/10
Japanese Black Label - 9.25/10
Simple as that.
The sound of both CE-2's is very liquidy and can be altered to be as subtle or strong as you like. IMO the chorus sound compliments a clean sound much better than either an overdriven or distorted tone. Some words I would describe the clean CE-2 sound are lush, dynamic, and full. When used with overdrive/distortion, the chorus effect is not as noticeable but it thickens up the tone quite a bit.
Right now the CE-2 sits at the second last spot in my effects chain: VOX wah --> DS-2 --> CE-2 --> DD-3. Use it as late in the chain as possible. Settings I'd normally use it at would be Rate at 11 o'clock and Depth at 12 o'clock. Nice, subtle effect. It can become extremely swirly and watery when turned up full on both settings, which is cool in itself but personally I can't really find a realistic use for it. The noise level is very quiet to the point of unnoticable.
I cannot compare this pedal to any other brand's/types' chorus because I haven't heard any other with my own ears - the CE-2 is the only chorus I've used as yet - but I still thoroughly recommended it. So if you see one, just grab it. They aren't made anymore and judging by the trend, they'll become more and more desirable for guitarists.

Reliability seems to be BOSS's standard. The older black label one is pretty beat up cosmetically but still works perfectly, which is great.

Only decided to write a review to share my thoughts and personal experiences in having two versions of the same type of pedal. Hope it helped any of you out there who have also been interested in the CE-2 and/or the ongoing debate of which one is "the holy grail" version, so to speak. Both Japanese versions are excellent, don't know about the Taiwanese one because I haven't heard it.
If they were lost or stolen I would be sad because of the mere fact they're hard to get a hold of these days. But if I saw one I'd buy it straight away. I love the subtlety of it with my clean tones. It's there if I want it to be. To me it's a great little pedal and I think it's a very good reason to why it's becoming (is?) so sought after.

Rate and depth. Quit easy. Got it second hand. It's made in japan. Some seem to think the country of origin is of importance.

I got years of experience with the CE 5 and the Roland JC120. I prefer the JC120 over the CE5 and CE2. But . . . . the CE2 is coming closer to the JC120 than the CE5 does. It's a shame u can't run it stereo, since any chorus sounds better stereo. That's the major difference between the JC120 and the CE2 i guess. The JC120 is stereo. Apart from that they sound pretty similar. I'm running it through my Mesa Boogie Studio .22. It works great with that amp. It's subtle but present. It blends in very nice with the sound of the amp. With the JC120 there is a abrubt change in sound when u switch of the Chorus. This is not the case when i run the CE2 through the Mesa. It works great with the distortion of the amp. Very smooth.
Oh, before i forget. Use a battery or get the right adapter. This thing sounds like a distortion with a AC adapter. U really need a ACA adapter.

Tank.

No need

I've been playing for a long time. Playing all kinds of stuff. Use a Santana SE through a JC120 or a Mesa Studio .22. Very nice chorus. Pretty much what i want from a chorus.

The CE-2 is pretty straight forward as far as controls go - rate and depth is all you get. Luckily, with this pedal, it's all you need. I usually set the rate somewhere between 10 and 11 o'clock, and the depth at about 4 o'clock and it sounds great.

I have Gibson, PRS, Fender, and Washburn guitars and a Peavy Transfex Pro 212 amp. I use the CE-2 in front of the amp along with a Dunlop wah, an Ernie Ball volume pedal, a Danelectro Hash Browns flanger, and a Ross phase/distortion pedal. I haven't found it to add any noise to the signal when the effect is on or off. The chorusing that this pedal produces is thick and lush, but not overwhelming and it sounds good on clean and overdriven amp settings. It is easy to get sounds similar to Rush, King Crimson, and the Police with the CE-2.

I picked the unit up used. It's over 20 years old and the outside of the pedal shows it. It is faded and scratched/chipped and it was a little rusty in spots, but it works perfectly. I have found that it's hard to find pedals that are any more reliable than Boss.

I have never needed to deal with Boss.

I play all kinds of music and have been playing for about 25 years. During that time I've been through a lot of chorus devices (Boss CE-3, CH-1, CE-20, ME-10, ME-5, Dano Cool Cat, Digitech DSP 128, Rocktron Intelliverb, and likely more that I don't remember!) and the CE-2 is certainly the one for me! Although other units have been more versatile, this is the one that SOUNDS the best to my ears, and I really do like the simplicity of it. At this point, I can't imagine not having a CE-2 on my board.